Thursday, April 20, 2006 ++

VEGETARIANISM

''If a person does not harm any living being...
and does not kill or cause others to kill
-that person is a true spiritual practitioner.''

Must Buddhists be vegetarian?
No.

Why the fuss then?
Though the Buddha never made it a compulsory rule that all His followers have to be vegetarians, He strongly encouraged us to be. In the Bodhisattva practice of minimising harm to all beings and benefiting them as much as possible, the practice of vegetarianism as far as possible plays an essential role. We can see this in many of the Buddha's recorded teachings.

If being vegetarian is so important on the Bodhisattva path, why was the Buddha not one?
The Buddha and the Sangha in His time were not total vegetarians as they consumed alms food offered by lay followers, whom they encountered ''randomly'' from place to place. Though the Buddha never requested specific food to be offered, He spoke against the intentional acquiring of meat for Him and the Sangha. In this way, the Buddha neither directly nor indirectly cause the death of any being for His food. On the other hand, we have the freedom of the choice of our diet, since we do not eat alms food. Why not make the kinder and wiser decision?

Can't I be a good Buddhist who is not vegetarian?
Of course we can. One who eats meat can cultivate a pure heart just as one who is vegetarian might have an impure heart. But why not cultivate a pure heart while making the extra effort to further the practice of Compassion by being vegetarian?

*But didn't the Buddha say there is pure meat?
The Buddha advised monks that meat should only be accepted when certain conditions are met. Meat may be eaten by one who does
(1) not see,
(2) hear of,
(3) or doubt about the animal having been killed purposely for him to eat,
(4) but is certain that it either died naturally,
(5) or that its flesh had been abandoned by birds of prey.

Isn't meat from the markets and restaurants considered pure meat?
No, because demand creates supply.
Once, a disciple of the Buddha asked a man why he kept buying meat. The man replied that he did so since the meat-seller kept selling meat. When the meat-seller was asked why he kept selling meat, he replied that he did so since the man kept buying from him. When the Buddha was consulted as to who was the unskillful (in Compassion and Wisdom) one, He replied that both were unskillful.
Supply and demand is an obvious vicious cycle. The whole universe of meat eating and animal slaughtering is an intricate web of interdependence, of related cause and effect. When we buy meat, we play a part in the circle of life and death of other beings.

What is real pure meat then?
Here are some forms of meat that can be considered pure meat.
1. Meat ordered or received by mistake.
2. Leftover or discarded meat.
3. Meat from animals that have died naturally or by accident for at least 16 hours (The number of hours is to ensure the consciousness has left the body).
4. Meat from random alms rounds as practised in the Buddhist tradition.

Isn't killing vegetables taking life too?
Yes. However, plant life is not sentient life- they are not beings with reason and emotion.

Doesn't growing vegetables kill many insects too?
This is not true if we choose organic food, which are grown without the use of pesticides (which can be harmful to humans too). In comparison to eating non-organic vegetables, pesticides are used fifty times more when we eat meat- to kill pests to produce animal feed. It takes ten kilos of vegetable protein to produce only one kilo of animal protein!
Much of our daily products also involve animals- such as leather shoes, milk from cows, honey from bees, soap from animal fat, drugs with animal serum (that might be tested on animals)...
However, there are many new products today that are free from animal derivatives. Given more choice, we are at liberty to make wiser decisions on how to live life in a more harmless way. Consider becoming a vegan!
Despite all we can do, merely to live is to deprive other beings of their food, habitat and/ or life to a certain extent. Therefore, Buddhists practising the Bodhisattva path should do all they can in their ability to avoid killing, and to protect life instead.

Can you further convince me to be a vegetarian?
Here are some good reasons to be a vegetarian.

1. Personal well-being- No disease can come from a balanced vegetarian diet. Medical proof states that all kinds of diseases can spring from meat-eating, while having a vegetarian diet can not only prevent, but help cure many diseases. Our body constitution is also not designed for meat digestion. For example, our teeth and intestine structure are virtually identical to that of herbivorous, not carnivorous animals. Eating animals which die in great fear and hatred, we devour along their toxins of fear and hatred, which affects both our spiritual and physical health.

2. Well-being of animals- Animals live imprisoned and tortured lives before the final horror of being slaughtered. While alive, they suffer from overcrowding, castration and countless other cruelties.

3. Well-being of the environment- Animal-rearing depletes the Earth's resources of energy, land, crops and water. It also creates large amounts of harmful animal sewage and greenhouse gases..

4. Well-being of fellow humans- More than two-thirds of the Earth's cropland is used for cultivating animal feed for animals to be slaughtered as meat. No human starvation would exist if animal rearing for the rich meat-consumers was lessened, converting the crops as food for citizens of the Third World Countries.

5. Peace on Earth- Wars, racial riots and other forms of related human unrest are collective karmic results of generated hatred when group-slaughtered animals, which die in great fear and hatred, are reborn as humans.
9:57 PM

Saturday, April 15, 2006 ++

C.O.M.P.A.S.S.I.O.N.

'' It is by having compassion and the thought of universal responsibility that one finds the happiness of life, the real joy of life, the real meaning of life: one feels real peace and happiness in one's heart. ''
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche
9:44 PM

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