Hero #137: Will Tuttle … (01/17/16)
Will Tuttle is an author, scholar, ex-Zen-monk, vegan educator, musician, philosopher, musician, and animal rights activist. After receiving a Masters Degree in Humanities from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (where his doctoral dissertation focused on educating intuition and altruism in adults – a treatise that was nominated for the University’s Best Dissertation Award), Will Tuttle taught a wide variety of college courses in philosophy, religion, mythology, humanities, music, literature, history, writing, and creativity. Since 1995, however, Will and his wife Madeleine have dedicated their lives to a different cause – living out of their solar-powered mobile home and travelling the world fulltime, presenting 100-150 lectures, workshops, and concerts every year — primarily to colleges and universities, progressive churches, conferences, and for yoga, meditation, vegetarian, environmental, peace, and social justice groups and communities.
Will also offers online training in the main ideas found in his bestselling (and quite brilliant) 2005 book, The World Peace Diet – which was the first book to give the big picture of the consequences of eating animal-sourced foods, and which focuses on spreading the vegan message of health, sustainable living, justice, and compassion.
“My perception of veganism is as a modern expression of “ahimsa,” the ancient core of all spiritual teachings, which is essentially non-violence. Whatever we sow, we will inevitably reap, and the key to true happiness lies in blessing others and being loving and kind to all beings … Most of us are born into a culture that forces us to participate in regular rituals of violence (a.k.a. “meals”), and therewith we are injected with a mentality of reductionism, exclusion, privilege, and the immoral myth of “might-makes-right;” tending to see others as mere instruments to be used for our own pleasure or gain. In contrast, I teach veganism, which is nothing more than a coming home to one’s true Heart by seeing other beings as Beings instead of commodities; by respecting them and honoring them as equally sacred manifestations of life.” ~ via Will Tuttle
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