Sentientism
Those who see all creatures in themselves
And themselves in all creatures know no fear.
Those who see all creatures in themselves
And themselves in all creatures know no grief.
How can the multiplicity of life
Delude the one who sees its unity?
-- Isha Upanishad
Ramana Maharshi and Lakshmi. Like
St Francis of Assisi and
Ramalinga,
Ramana was an exemplary and saintly
realised being, who did not discriminate between human and non-human sentient beings. Few understand the true import of his life and teachings, preferring to concentrate on the surface words, fewer still have the
egolessness to live such a life, but to me he exemplifies the sentient ethic and ideal in practice. Yet while complete Enlightenment is a very difficult goal, the ideal of compassion and
empathy for all sentient beings, and living a
Vegetarian or Vegan lifestyle that does not require the slaughter of innocent beings for one's gross palate, is something that anyone can do.
Sentientism is the philosophy that all sentient beings - all beings that feel and can suffer - have intrinsic moral value and rights. Therefore, we are obliged to treat all sentient beings with kindness and compassion, regardless of their external form or level of intelligence
I affirm that no ethical system can be valid if it does not acknowledge equally all sentient beings. I have felt this for a long time, but now I feel it much more strongly than ever, especially having known Bonnie, a domestic hen. As Mahatma Gandhi, the great exponent of Ahimsa, said:
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
and
"I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."
These pages, perhaps the most confronting of any of my website, are dedicated to this subject.
A few important Sentientists
Sentientist Topics
image from
Protect A Cow, an ISKON (Hare Krishna) blog. url

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page by
M.Alan Kazlev
page uploaded 12 November 2008, last modified 8 January 2010