Good morning all! Yeah, that's us having our breakfast - Ning, Tai Ko (Big Brother) and me. Oh, I forgot to introduce T.K. He has been with the temple for a long time too and is in fact quite old. But he gives nobody any trouble and is the strong, silent type.
Every morning we tuck in to whatever Head Nun serves us. Most of the time, it's nuggets from a bag but sometimes, a kind hearted devotee of the temple will donate fresh fish for Ning and T.K. I'm strictly vegetarian of course but I too sometimes get vegetarian "fish", which Head Nun buys off and on. We are indeed very lucky to have cat lovers in the temple who give us three square meals a day! Head Nun often reminds us not to waste food, bearing in mind so many unfortunate people in the world who don't have anything to eat. So the nuns are very frugal and polish their plates clean at every meal. Not a grain of rice goes into the drain!
It is very sad to hear how much food is wasted everywhere, especially in restaurants. I am told that anything left over on a plate at the end of a festive or special occasion is simply thrown away. Just think how many hungry mouths those leftovers can feed! I've seen pictures of scrawny children with their bones sticking out, in some places they even search the rubbish bins for food. And here we are complaining and throwing away food. What about Lord Buddha? He went out everyday begging for alms and accepted and ate whatever was given to Him. He certainly didn't waste anything.
So the next time you want to throw away food, even if it's only a morsel, stop and think of a hungry child (or cat for that matter) who hasn't had a decent meal for goodness knows how long and thank your lucky stars you have so much to eat!
Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.
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