"Because I am talking to animals, the more you talk to
them, the more you can’t eat them," said Rosina. She told me a story of one
of her young female students. The girl was standing in front of a fish tank
outside a restaurant and was talking with a fish. They became friends. She then
entered the restaurant and when the meals were served, she realised that the
fish lying on the plate was her newly made friend. Her fish friend’s sudden
death and becoming human food made this little girl feel so shocked and sad for
a long time.
Like many internationally renowned animal communicators,
Rosina is a vegan. Veganism is a more compassionate and respectful lifestyle
for our animal friends. Being vegan means not eating any meat, eggs or milk,
and not using any animal-related products, such as leather shoes, fur, animal
hides, etc.
Although Rosina is a vegan, she would not force others to
eat a plant-based diet. She hopes humans change from their hearts and let their
conscience decide which kind of diet to eat, then, such a change would be long-term.
Therefore, Rosina encourages her new students to watch “Earthlings” and to make
their own assessments. Earthlings is a documentary about society’s treatment of
animals, unveiling the hidden truth behind the production of meat, fish, eggs,
milk, leather and other animal products and how our human society is making a living
from the exploitation and abuse of animal lives. She said that many of her
students, after becoming animal communicators, gradually change to become vegetarian
or vegan. Rosina thinks that a good animal communicator should not eat animals.
If animals know you will not eat them, they will feel at ease while talking
with you.
In Rosina’s Mid- Level’s office, I was very curious to ask what
her faith is. She said her grandfather was an Italian who immigrated to England Hong Kong and came
in contact with Asian culture for the first time. She likes Quan Yin
Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara) very much. She describes her faith as “fusion”.
She has been to Mount
Putuo
Animal communication refers to the art of communication with
animals without the need of spoken language. Animal communication uses
telepathy to communicate with animals directly, sending and receiving messages
through the heart and mind in forms of images, sensations, feelings, smells,
intuition and dialogue. Some animal communicators are born with this ability,
while others can be trained. Rosina is a natural telepathic animal
communicator. Since the age of five, she has been able to communicate with
animals. She said animals are sentient beings of love, feelings, emotions and
thoughts. The main difference between animals and humans is the outside
appearance. Many people think that animals have no soul. “This is not true, animals
do have souls inasmuch as humans have souls,” said Rosina. When Rosina is
communicating with animals, the animal companions will project their feelings,
emotions and thoughts to her, so that she is fully aware of their happiness or
sadness.
Rosina's husband is a veterinary surgeon. I asked Rosina how
her scientific and logical minded husband views her telepathic communication.
Rosina said that although he is a very academic person, he is also very
open-minded. Being a doctor for so many years, he has seen a lot of medical
miracles. He knows there are some things in the world which scientific theory
cannot yet explain. Because her husband is a vet, Rosina can interact with many
different kinds of animals. In some special cases, she may communicate with
sick animals to help a vet get more information to find the proper treatment.
She added that scientists are studying the ways in which animals communicate,
but these are still early days in such studies, with so many different species
of animals to try to understand. But she is also very optimistic to say that
science is progressing, and our learning continues. She said that if 50 years
ago she had told her grandmother about the iPhone, she might have been regarded
as ridiculous. But now even children may feel the iPhone is a very common
everyday item.
The minds of humans have become complicated as a result of
the ways in which human society has developed. Humans worry about past, present
and future, especially worrying about the future. Animals do have memories, and
learn from the past. But animals seem to focus more on the present, keeping
thoughts simpler, and so the natural quality of animals tends to be more free
and relaxed. In contrast, humans often harbour negative memories of past
experiences, and allow these to affect their
worrying about the future. Animals do not necessarily fear natural death.
However, they do fear being slaughtered by humans. This sense of fear brings a
lot of pain to them daily, and their bodies are filled with distress, fear and
anger.
The factory farming of animals produces a lot of methane
gas, contributing to global warming and climate change, and in turn climate
conditions are becoming more and more unstable. Animal waste from factory farms
pollutes land, air, underground water, rivers, oceans, a lot of which have
become dead zones. I asked Rosina how the current environmental situation
affects wildlife. She said that wild animals are struggling to survive with no
homes (loss of habitat), loss of natural food sources, fewer places to shelter,
fewer and fewer trees.
Rosina stressed that factory farming of animals is the cruelest
industry in the world, followed by the fishing industry and then experimentation
on animals. The reason the fishing industry is so cruel is because the fish
suffer when caught in the nets and when the fishing nets are hauled out of the
water, thousands of fish will suffer, struggling and suffocating to death,
while even under the water marine mammals, turtles and other creatures can
drown slowly when caught in the nets. After animals are slaughtered, all the
fear, anger, pain and negative energy will stay in their dead bodies. If humans
eat this meat (including。 fish), their health, thoughts and emotions will be negatively
affected. Rosina said she cannot go near the cold section at the supermarket,
where the meats are full of heavy and negative energy, because it makes her
feel very uncomfortable. Also, she cannot go to the meat and fish markets,
because she once heard fish screaming for help there. Rosina has a wish that
she can see a vegan world within her life span.
She said, “Animals know you, more than you know yourselves.”
Then she told me a story about a cat. Rosina said that cats are sometimes
difficult to communicate with and that some cats feel important and may speak
bluntly. Rosina first met her husband-to-be at the UK Vegetarian Society. One
time, before they were married, she went to visit his home. Her future husband
had a cat and the cat knew that Rosina could talk with her. While he was away
for a moment, the cat argued with Rosina and talked to Rosina about him. Later,
her husband-to-be came back and she told him what had happened. He wondered why
his cat knew so much about him!
Rosina is a supporter of animal welfare. All her pet dogs
are rescued from animal shelters and she would never buy a pet. She named the
dogs after precious stones, giving each dog a noble name. Giving animals a good
name is very important, as they will feel respected and regain confidence. In
addition, a good name will bring them good energy. In the interview I brought
up the topic of neutering male dogs by saying “Many people say that to desex a
male dog will make him very upset.” She replied that, in our present state of
science and options, desexing dogs is still necessary because, without this, so
many dogs will be produced as new puppies which will suffer and eventually die
or be killed. The dog itself does not mind, but in some cases it’s just the dog’s
male owner that would mind it!
In order to rationalise the eating of meat, our human
society classifies some species such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, etc. as
food animals while, because of personal preferences, cats, dogs and other
species are classified as pets, not food. The term for this is
‘speciesism.’ Rosina feels that it is
unreasonable and unfair to say that some species should not be eaten while
others should be. Horses can be pets but some people eat horse meat. In
addition, many people keep pet fish, and some keep pet pigs, sheep, cows and chickens.
Rosina stressed that species are different merely in external forms, but that they
are all sentient and can suffer. She very much hopes that human consciousness
can be raised to a point where animals are no longer eaten, and where we no
longer make a distinction between animals that are to be eaten and those that
aren’t.
~ Interviewed by Shara Ng of
Hong Kong Vegan Association Dated 23 August 2013
難定分界：食物還是寵物？ - 與Rosina探討動物的世界
Rosina Maria Arquati 是一位在香港和國際上都很著名的動物傳心術師(animal communicator)。她是香港第一位公開教授動物傳心術的老師。現在香港很多動物傳心術師都是她的學生。Rosina在動物傳心術界有祟高的地位。
Rosina 說：「因為我可以和動物談話，你愈跟動物談話，愈不可能吃他們。」
她說了一個年青女學生的故事，這個女孩在一間餐館門口的魚缸和一條魚談話，大家交了朋友，隨後她進了餐館。上菜時，她發現其中一碟魚就是她剛認識的朋友。看見這位魚朋友的突然死亡和變成人類的食物，這小女孩非常震驚，傷心了很久。
跟國際上很多著名的動物傳心術師一樣，Rosina也是一位純素食者，因為純素食是一種更慈悲對待和尊重動物朋友的生活方式。純素食是指不吃肉、蛋、奶、和不使用任何與動物有關的產品，例如不用皮鞋、皮草、皮革等。
雖然Rosina是一位純素食者，但是她不會強廹他人吃素。她希望人類透過內心的改變，打從心底、思想開始食素，讓自己的良知當主人來決定飲食方式，這樣的改變才會永久。所以Rosina都會向新來的學生播放《地球上的生靈(Earthings) 》這一套記錄片, 讓學生們了解現在供應人類的肉、魚、蛋、奶、皮革等動物產品背後不可告人的真相，使他們明白人類社會是如何以剥削和榨取動物為生，讓他們自己評估。她說，很多學生當了動物傳心術師後，都慢慢改變成為素食者或純素食者了。Rosina
認為一個好的傳心術師應該是素食者，動物知道你不會吃他們，他們才會安心和你談話。
在Rosina中半山的工作室訪問她時，我很好奇地問：她的信仰是什麼？她說，她的祖父是移居英國的意大利人，她在英國出生，從小便信仰天主教。在教會的信仰中，800多年前的聖方濟(St. Francis of Assisi)更是一位被很多人視為可與動物溝通的大師。西方聖人聖方濟也是一位素食者，他向雀鳥傳道，和野狼定立和平協議，他拯救和醫治很多受傷的動物。三十多年前Rosina來香港後，接觸了東方文化，發覺自己很喜歡觀音菩薩。她形容她的信仰是Fusion
(融合式)，她曾經去過普陀山，她也上教堂和寺廟。在Rosina眼裡，東方的觀音菩薩和西方的聖方濟，都是大慈悲心的代表，不分種類，平等博愛。
動物傳心術是一種不需要用口說語言，直接以心靈感應與動物溝通的藝術。彼此心連心地透過腦袋和意念，發放和接收訊息。訊息可以是影像、知覺、感覺、直覺和對話。動物傳心術師可以是天生或後天訓練出來的。Rosina是天生的傳心術師，她自5歲起便能和動物溝通。她說動物是有愛心、感覺、情緒、思想的有情生命。動物與人類的主要分別是外形。很多人認為動物沒有靈魂，Rosina
說：這是不對的，動物跟人類一樣是有靈魂的。Rosina說，她與動物溝通時，動物會投射他們的感覺、情緒、思想到她身上，所以她能深深體會動物朋友們的苦與樂。
Rosina的丈夫是一位資深獸醫。我問Rosina，學邏輯科學的丈夫對她的傳心術有什麼看法？Rosina說，雖然他是一位學術性很強的人，但也是一位開明的人，他從事獸醫生很久了，看過很多醫學上的奇蹟，知道世上事物有些是現今科學理論未能解釋的。因為丈夫當獸醫，她可以接觸很多不同種類的動物，對於一些特殊情況，她可以透過與動物溝通，幫忙醫師判斷治療。她補充說，科學家正在研究動物的溝通方法，但都是屬於初期的探討，因為需要研究的物種實在太多了。不過她也很樂觀地說，科學是不斷進步的，我們的學習是持續的。她說如果在50年前跟她祖母說iPhone的功能，可能被視為天方夜談，但現在連兒童都認為iPhone是生活中理所當然的用品。
受到人類社會演變所影響，人類的思想變成複雜，憂慮着過去、現在、未來，特別是對將來的憂慮。動物是有記憶的，可以從過去的經驗中學習。但動物所關注的集中在目前的情況，思想變得很單純，他們是活在當下，在大自然生活的動物本質都是自由自在。反之，人類經常受到過去負面經驗的影響，因而對未來產生憂慮。動物對自然死亡其實不恐懼，但是動物懼怕每天將會被人類宰殺，這些恐懼感帶給動物很多痛苦，讓他們身體充滿悲哀、恐懼和憤怒的情緒。
工廠式飼養動物產生大量甲烷氣，使得地球升溫，氣侯愈來愈不隱定。飼養動物的排泄物嚴重污染土地、空氣、地下水源及河流海洋，很多海域都變成死亡區域。我問Rosina，現在環境對野生動物有什麼影響？她說，野生動物都是為生存爭扎，沒有家(棲息地消失)，他們現在很難找到食物，樹林越來越少，很難找到一個安身之地。
Rosina強調工廠式飼養動物是世界上最殘忍的工業，其次便是捕魚業和動物實驗。她說，捕魚業之所以殘忍，是因為捕網離開水面後，成千上萬的魚類會缺氧窒息，受盡折磨而死去。還有被困在捕網內的海龜、海洋哺乳動物和其他生物都會在網中慢慢的被海水淹死。被宰殺後的動物，其所有恐懼、憤怒、痛苦所產生的負面能量會留在屍肉裡。人類吃了這些肉和魚，對他們的健康、思想和情緒都會有極負面的影響。Rosina說，她不能靠近超市的涷肉部，那裡的肉充滿沉重和否定的能量，令她感到很不舒服。她也不會進去香港的賣肉和魚的街市，因為她曾經在街市聽到魚大叫救命的聲音。所以Rosina有一個願望，就是在她有生之年可以見到一個純素食世界。
她說，動物對人類的認識比人類認識自己更深入。她說了一個貓咪的故事。Rosina說，貓有時是很難溝通的動物，覺得自己地位祟高，說話很直率。她和她的丈夫是在英國素食會結識的，當時他們還未結婚，有一天她到未婚夫家探訪，客廳有一隻貓，這隻貓知道Rosina可以聽懂他的話。剛巧她未婚夫離開一會，這隻貓咪便借著機會和Rosina討論她未婚夫的事情。後來她的未婚夫婿回來，她告訴他這個事情，他覺得很奇怪，為什麼這只貓咪知道他那麼多的事情。
Rosina也是一位動物福利支持者，她所飼養的狗都是從動物收容所拯救出來的，她絕不會買寵物。她以寶石命名，給每隻狗一個高貴的名字。Rosina認為給動物一個好名字是很重要的，動物會覺得被尊重而重拾信心，好名字會帶來好的能量。在訪問時我問了Rosina一個公狗絕育的問題。很多人說，幫公狗做了絕育手術後，公狗會很不開心。她說，以現今科學狀況和選擇之下，狗狗做絕育手術仍是必需的，因為如果不做手術的話，很多幼犬便會出生，這些犬隻最終都會被殺或受苦而死。公狗本身是不會介意做絕育手術的，只是一些公狗的男飼主可能會介意而已。
為了食肉合理化，人類社會將部份物種如牛、羊、豬、雞等劃分為食用動物，而以本身的偏好將貓、狗等物種列為寵物，不可以食用。這就是所謂的“物種歧視”。Rosina認為，如果認定寵物不可食用，但其他動物可以被食用是不合理和不公平的，因為什麼是寵物是很難界定的。有些人養寵物馬，但有些人又吃馬肉，另外很多人養寵物魚、寵物豬、寵物羊、寵物牛、寵物雞等。Rosina很清楚物種只不過是外在形態不同，都是有意識和會感受痛苦的。她很希望人類能提升覺醒，到達不再吃動物的層次，這樣的話就不需要再分什麼動物可食，什麼動物不可食。
Hong Kong Vegan Association
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