Life as a Vegetarian Tibetan Buddhist Practitioner

[Guest guest]

Life as a Vegetarian Tibetan Buddhist Practitioner

 

A Personal View

 

By Weintraub

 

Compassion is at the heart of Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana, the " great

vehicle, " is the prevalent form of Buddhism practiced in China, Japan and

Tibet. The central theme of this vehicle is the aspiration to attain

enlightenment not for oneself alone but the sake of all sentient beings.

Protecting beings is second nature to many Buddhists. All would hesitate to

kill anything and many would go out of their way to save even an insect's

life.

 

Why then do many Buddhists eat the flesh of other beings? In Tibet, killing

and hunting were traditionally discouraged by the clergy, but climatic

conditions made successful year-round agriculture impossible. The solution

was to rely upon a class of individuals to slaughter animals. The

interpretation of Buddha's teaching was that it was OK to buy and eat meat

if the being wasn't killed directly for you. Tsampa (ground barley), meat,

yogurt and tea were the basic diet for those living on the " Roof of the

World. " Tibetans generally ate sheep and yak-which were cultivated by the

nomad culture and kept individually by families. One yak was enough to feed

a family for perhaps a whole season. In the U.S., it is ironic that some

people think that by consuming chicken and fish they are further on the path

towards vegetarianism than by eating " red " meat. Consuming meat from a

larger animal means that fewer animals are killed for food.

 

After fleeing Tibet, many lamas went into exile in India. There they did not

change their diet from the one they had eaten in Tibet-in spite of the

predominantly vegetarian Indian culture that served as their new home.

 

Sticking to Meat

 

It was not until the mid-1970s that mainstream Tibetan lamas started

visiting America. Often their first contacts were with people from other

Eastern spiritual traditions. American disciples were attracted to Tibetan

Buddhism and migrated over from the mostly vegetarian Hindu traditions,

including yoga and Transcendental Meditation practitioners. Did the Tibetans

try to change their own meat-based diets? Did they try to embrace a new

healthy, ethically conscious diet that was now available to them? More

commonly the reverse happened-many Westerners graciously embraced the

Tibetan diet. Students who were used to eating salads, brown rice and tofu

learned to cook and eat lamb, beef and other Tibetan-style dishes to please

their teachers.

 

Except for some purification days, meat was served at many Tibetan Buddhist

centers at most meals (however, recently this has changed and retreat

centers now offer vegetarian options.) Disciples became adept at fielding

questions from surprised newcomers as to why Tibetan lamas, who would never

kill an animal, ate meat. Why did meat have to be offered at the tsok pujas

(group prayers with food offerings on special lunar days)? For some

outsiders this was seen as nothing less than hypocritical. Those of us who

were offended eventually stopped making it an issue. As the incongruities of

this diet were pointed out we shrugged and parroted the party line. After

all, the important part was that we prayed for the liberation of all beings.

 

In certain Tibetan Buddhist circles that developed in this country,

meat-eating-and some other more controversial habits-were promoted as part

of the Tantric lifestyle. " Tantric " in this case meant not getting hung up

on conventional morals or concepts of purity. In other words, to embrace

life fully was to consume it literally. Other lamas acknowledged that it was

meritorious to stop eating meat, if one could manage it. Yet there was more

important work to be done, like taming the mind and praying for the benefit

of all sentient beings. Besides, once you became enlightened you had set up

a link with all those beings you had eaten (or perhaps a heavy karmic

trail). If one was enlightened like the 10th century Tibetan saint Tilopa,

one could send the consciousness of the being to the pure land before eating

the flesh.

 

Both lay and ordained Tibetans are known for their extraordinary compassion

for animals. One Tibetan lama performs powa (liberation after death) for

street dogs in Nepal that are poisoned by the government. He whispers

mantras in the dying dogs' ears. Powa is commonly done for animals whenever

possible. The Abbott of the Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Woodstock, NY

confessed in his life story that the most painful part of his escape from

Tibet was when his party was forced to shoot a wild boar to keep from

starvation. In Heinrich Herrer's account of his time spent in Lhasa, Seven

Years in Tibet, he told how building projects would halt to protect even the

lives of insects. When possible, killing is avoided at all costs.

 

Practicing Ahimsa

 

Trying to follow ahimsa (non-violent) principles, I have been a vegetarian

for 25 years. But it has been a challenge to be both a Tibetan Buddhist

practitioner and a vegetarian. My own teacher had a good laugh when I

insisted on staying vegetarian during visits to him in Tibet. And in Tibet

my meat-eating travel mates joined me once at a vegetarian noodle stand-only

when it became apparent that the tukpa (soup) they were going to have was

going to be prepared from the chickens that were still running around

outside the restaurant!

 

There are Tibetan injunctions, however, to refrain from eating meat. For

example, an 18th century Tibetan saint named Shabkar was a spokesperson for

the virtues of not eating meat. In The Life of Shabkar, the Autobiography of

a Tibetan Yogin, he wrote: " Eating meat, at the cost of great suffering for

animals, is unacceptable. If, bereft of compassion and wisdom, you eat meat,

you have turned your back on liberation. The Buddha said, 'the eating of

meat annihilates the seed of compassion.' " Shabkar articulates the most

sweeping indictments against meat-eating found in Tibetan literature. This

was particularly relevant at a time when the prediction the Buddha made in

the Lankavatara Sutra had already become a reality: " In the future,

meat-eaters, speaking out of ignorance, will say that the Buddha permitted

the eating of meat, and that he taught there was no sin in doing so. " And

also from this Sutra: " Those who practice loving-kindness should consider

all sentient beings as their own children; therefore, they must give up

eating meat. "

 

Another 18th century Tibetan saint was lama Jigme Lingpa. A commentary on

his autobiography (Apparitions of the Self, the Secret Autobiographies of a

Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso) recounts: " Of all his merit-making, Jigme

Lingpa was most proud of his feelings of compassion for animals; he says

that this is the best part of his entire life story. He writes of his sorrow

when he witnessed the butchering of animals by humans. He often bought and

set free animals about to be slaughtered (a common Buddhist act). He

'changed the perception' of others, when he once caused his followers to

save a female yak from being butchered, and he continually urged his

disciples to forswear the killing of animals. "

 

Respecting Buddha Nature

 

According to Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, humans and animals are the only

visible realms of the six classes of beings. Plants are non-sentient and do

not inherently contain Buddha nature (the seed of enlightenment within all

sentient beings). Although it has been said there may be nature spirits,

which protect the plants, their lives are not taken when we harvest

vegetables. Buddhists are admonished constantly to work to save all sentient

beings yet little thought may be given to sitting down to consume even a

whole being for lunch!

 

The harvesting of beings for their flesh could be seen as the supreme form

of exploitation. I see vegetarianism and veganism as a boycott of all that

abuse. Even making a partial effort is commendable. If not eaten solely as a

necessity to sustain life, I believe that flesh eating as a culinary

preference will be considered barbaric in the future. If concerns arise

regarding the karmic consequences of eating flesh, to whom should we give

the benefit of the doubt? The living beings who were raised in obscene

conditions and who died in terror in slaughterhouses, or our own habitual

patterns and taste addictions? Even if health benefits are thought to be

obtained by eating meat, this should be considered very carefully. With our

abundant food markets in the U.S., satisfying alternatives can always be

found.

 

In his 1995 Seattle public talk, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, said he tried

being a vegetarian all the time but found it too difficult. At the time of

the talk he said he eats meat every other day. This makes him a vegetarian

six months of the year. By making an example of cutting his meat consumption

in half, he is trying to gently influence his followers. It should be noted

that this recommendation received little applause from the audience.

 

While many of the great Tibetan teachers did and do eat animals, the Dalai

Lama has broken new ground by publicly stating his case for vegetarianism.

If we seriously consider the compassion inherent in His Holiness' advice and

actions, Buddhist meat-eaters could similarly try to eat vegetarian at least

every other day to start out with. The power of each human being becoming

vegetarian releases the most intense suffering of the animal realm-the agony

of factory-farmed animals. This profound action can help slow the grinding

wheels of samsara, bringing to a halt the cycles of suffering of the entire

animal realm and influencing their eventual liberation. When animals are not

just looked upon as creatures to fill our stomachs, they can be seen as they

really are-beings who have the same Buddha nature as we all do.

 

***

 

 

Weintraub has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism since 1976. She made

three extended trips to China and Tibet to visit her Buddhist teacher who

returned to re-establish his monastery in Tibet after exile in India and

America. She lives in Seattle, with her husband and rescued companion

animals.

 

 

--

[Guest guest]

Thank you for Very informative and thought provo0king article.

Sandeep K.Jain

Kim Bartlett <anpeople wrote:

Life as a Vegetarian Tibetan Buddhist Practitioner

 

A Personal View

 

By Weintraub

 

Compassion is at the heart of Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana, the " great

vehicle, " is the prevalent form of Buddhism practiced in China, Japan and

Tibet. The central theme of this vehicle is the aspiration to attain

enlightenment not for oneself alone but the sake of all sentient beings.

Protecting beings is second nature to many Buddhists. All would hesitate to

kill anything and many would go out of their way to save even an insect's

life.

 

Why then do many Buddhists eat the flesh of other beings? In Tibet, killing

and hunting were traditionally discouraged by the clergy, but climatic

conditions made successful year-round agriculture impossible. The solution

was to rely upon a class of individuals to slaughter animals. The

interpretation of Buddha's teaching was that it was OK to buy and eat meat

if the being wasn't killed directly for you. Tsampa (ground barley), meat,

yogurt and tea were the basic diet for those living on the " Roof of the

World. " Tibetans generally ate sheep and yak-which were cultivated by the

nomad culture and kept individually by families. One yak was enough to feed

a family for perhaps a whole season. In the U.S., it is ironic that some

people think that by consuming chicken and fish they are further on the path

towards vegetarianism than by eating " red " meat. Consuming meat from a

larger animal means that fewer animals are killed for food.

 

After fleeing Tibet, many lamas went into exile in India. There they did not

change their diet from the one they had eaten in Tibet-in spite of the

predominantly vegetarian Indian culture that served as their new home.

 

Sticking to Meat

 

It was not until the mid-1970s that mainstream Tibetan lamas started

visiting America. Often their first contacts were with people from other

Eastern spiritual traditions. American disciples were attracted to Tibetan

Buddhism and migrated over from the mostly vegetarian Hindu traditions,

including yoga and Transcendental Meditation practitioners. Did the Tibetans

try to change their own meat-based diets? Did they try to embrace a new

healthy, ethically conscious diet that was now available to them? More

commonly the reverse happened-many Westerners graciously embraced the

Tibetan diet. Students who were used to eating salads, brown rice and tofu

learned to cook and eat lamb, beef and other Tibetan-style dishes to please

their teachers.

 

Except for some purification days, meat was served at many Tibetan Buddhist

centers at most meals (however, recently this has changed and retreat

centers now offer vegetarian options.) Disciples became adept at fielding

questions from surprised newcomers as to why Tibetan lamas, who would never

kill an animal, ate meat. Why did meat have to be offered at the tsok pujas

(group prayers with food offerings on special lunar days)? For some

outsiders this was seen as nothing less than hypocritical. Those of us who

were offended eventually stopped making it an issue. As the incongruities of

this diet were pointed out we shrugged and parroted the party line. After

all, the important part was that we prayed for the liberation of all beings.

 

In certain Tibetan Buddhist circles that developed in this country,

meat-eating-and some other more controversial habits-were promoted as part

of the Tantric lifestyle. " Tantric " in this case meant not getting hung up

on conventional morals or concepts of purity. In other words, to embrace

life fully was to consume it literally. Other lamas acknowledged that it was

meritorious to stop eating meat, if one could manage it. Yet there was more

important work to be done, like taming the mind and praying for the benefit

of all sentient beings. Besides, once you became enlightened you had set up

a link with all those beings you had eaten (or perhaps a heavy karmic

trail). If one was enlightened like the 10th century Tibetan saint Tilopa,

one could send the consciousness of the being to the pure land before eating

the flesh.

 

Both lay and ordained Tibetans are known for their extraordinary compassion

for animals. One Tibetan lama performs powa (liberation after death) for

street dogs in Nepal that are poisoned by the government. He whispers

mantras in the dying dogs' ears. Powa is commonly done for animals whenever

possible. The Abbott of the Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Woodstock, NY

confessed in his life story that the most painful part of his escape from

Tibet was when his party was forced to shoot a wild boar to keep from

starvation. In Heinrich Herrer's account of his time spent in Lhasa, Seven

Years in Tibet, he told how building projects would halt to protect even the

lives of insects. When possible, killing is avoided at all costs.

 

Practicing Ahimsa

 

Trying to follow ahimsa (non-violent) principles, I have been a vegetarian

for 25 years. But it has been a challenge to be both a Tibetan Buddhist

practitioner and a vegetarian. My own teacher had a good laugh when I

insisted on staying vegetarian during visits to him in Tibet. And in Tibet

my meat-eating travel mates joined me once at a vegetarian noodle stand-only

when it became apparent that the tukpa (soup) they were going to have was

going to be prepared from the chickens that were still running around

outside the restaurant!

 

There are Tibetan injunctions, however, to refrain from eating meat. For

example, an 18th century Tibetan saint named Shabkar was a spokesperson for

the virtues of not eating meat. In The Life of Shabkar, the Autobiography of

a Tibetan Yogin, he wrote: " Eating meat, at the cost of great suffering for

animals, is unacceptable. If, bereft of compassion and wisdom, you eat meat,

you have turned your back on liberation. The Buddha said, 'the eating of

meat annihilates the seed of compassion.' " Shabkar articulates the most

sweeping indictments against meat-eating found in Tibetan literature. This

was particularly relevant at a time when the prediction the Buddha made in

the Lankavatara Sutra had already become a reality: " In the future,

meat-eaters, speaking out of ignorance, will say that the Buddha permitted

the eating of meat, and that he taught there was no sin in doing so. " And

also from this Sutra: " Those who practice loving-kindness should consider

all sentient beings as their own children; therefore, they must give up

eating meat. "

 

Another 18th century Tibetan saint was lama Jigme Lingpa. A commentary on

his autobiography (Apparitions of the Self, the Secret Autobiographies of a

Tibetan Visionary by Janet Gyatso) recounts: " Of all his merit-making, Jigme

Lingpa was most proud of his feelings of compassion for animals; he says

that this is the best part of his entire life story. He writes of his sorrow

when he witnessed the butchering of animals by humans. He often bought and

set free animals about to be slaughtered (a common Buddhist act). He

'changed the perception' of others, when he once caused his followers to

save a female yak from being butchered, and he continually urged his

disciples to forswear the killing of animals. "

 

Respecting Buddha Nature

 

According to Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, humans and animals are the only

visible realms of the six classes of beings. Plants are non-sentient and do

not inherently contain Buddha nature (the seed of enlightenment within all

sentient beings). Although it has been said there may be nature spirits,

which protect the plants, their lives are not taken when we harvest

vegetables. Buddhists are admonished constantly to work to save all sentient

beings yet little thought may be given to sitting down to consume even a

whole being for lunch!

 

The harvesting of beings for their flesh could be seen as the supreme form

of exploitation. I see vegetarianism and veganism as a boycott of all that

abuse. Even making a partial effort is commendable. If not eaten solely as a

necessity to sustain life, I believe that flesh eating as a culinary

preference will be considered barbaric in the future. If concerns arise

regarding the karmic consequences of eating flesh, to whom should we give

the benefit of the doubt? The living beings who were raised in obscene

conditions and who died in terror in slaughterhouses, or our own habitual

patterns and taste addictions? Even if health benefits are thought to be

obtained by eating meat, this should be considered very carefully. With our

abundant food markets in the U.S., satisfying alternatives can always be

found.

 

In his 1995 Seattle public talk, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, said he tried

being a vegetarian all the time but found it too difficult. At the time of

the talk he said he eats meat every other day. This makes him a vegetarian

six months of the year. By making an example of cutting his meat consumption

in half, he is trying to gently influence his followers. It should be noted

that this recommendation received little applause from the audience.

 

While many of the great Tibetan teachers did and do eat animals, the Dalai

Lama has broken new ground by publicly stating his case for vegetarianism.

If we seriously consider the compassion inherent in His Holiness' advice and

actions, Buddhist meat-eaters could similarly try to eat vegetarian at least

every other day to start out with. The power of each human being becoming

vegetarian releases the most intense suffering of the animal realm-the agony

of factory-farmed animals. This profound action can help slow the grinding

wheels of samsara, bringing to a halt the cycles of suffering of the entire

animal realm and influencing their eventual liberation. When animals are not

just looked upon as creatures to fill our stomachs, they can be seen as they

really are-beings who have the same Buddha nature as we all do.

 

***

 

 

Weintraub has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism since 1976. She made

three extended trips to China and Tibet to visit her Buddhist teacher who

returned to re-establish his monastery in Tibet after exile in India and

America. She lives in Seattle, with her husband and rescued companion

animals.

 

 

--

 

 

For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature on

the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at:

aapn

Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at

aapn

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the informative article. Unfortunately many Buddhists (and

many

in my State of Western Australia) apparently eat meat even though they

make a big effort not to hurt small living things (eg they remove

insects

and such from their homes). I was approached some time ago to write to

the

Buddhist Association here and I will do so and forward them a copy of

the

article posted previously (Life as a Vegetarian Buddhist Practitioner).

 

I read " The Dalai Lama alternates veggie days with days containing other

 

than vegetable sources. " Perhaps it would be a good idea if all

religions

keep evolving and that some re-examine their basic

principles eg should Thou shalt not kill be applied to non-human beings?

(ie animals). Should the Buddhist religion take in female as well as

male monks/trainee monks just as some Western religions are re-examining

the ordination of women? Many people believe that women's role in

supporting Jesus (both as benefactors and as disciples) was marginalized

in the bible. With regards to Buddhism, I saw a good program on TV about

a Buddhist monk (female) who has started a monastry? in India? for

women.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if religious leaders such as the Dalai Lama, who is

in a

position to be fully vegetarian, set a precedent by being fully

vegetarian?

 

Kind regards,

 

Marguerite