[topbonusescod]

I read last night that the Dalai Lama eats meat 'only' ever other day, apparently because his doctors have told him he needs it.

Hello milly,

Maybe I will sound rude but leave the Dalai Lama issue about meat. Just do what you think is good as a discernment practice. If giving up meat makes you feel good... Great! If not... its great too. The Buddha Dhamma practice is beyond eating or not eating meat.

I quit meat because I know I am pushing forward the meat industry. We do not need meat to be healthy. But there can be some exceptions as the case of the Dalai Lama. I don't know. Meat is not needed in our diet. We evolve from apes and apes do not eat meat. Our metabolism works well (maybe better) without meat. So, to eat or not to eat meat is a very personal choice. A choice we do, and it is so because we do not need it. I have stopped eating meat for 23 years.

[icyfreshy]

Actually, I am very troubled by this subject. I cannot compute in my brain how a Buddhist monk can possibly eat meat under any circumstances. I could not sleep last night and could not enjoy reading about Buddhism as I have been doing. I cannot get past it until I have sorted it out for myself. I have printed a load of stuff from Wikepedia (not to be relied upon 100% I am aware).

Perhaps, you can ask yourself this question. Aren't living beings killed or injured in agriculture? In most cases they do. Does that mean you should not eat vegetables?

It is best not to speculate too much about what you eat. When a Buddhist monk goes arms rounds, he takes what is offered to him and eats just enough to maintain his body because it is required for practice.

[Inettypofonee]

Hi Milly,

I'm quite puzzled about why you seem to be so troubled about other people eating meat when you're a meat eater yourself. When I stopped eating meat when I was young and before I got involves with Buddhism, it was because I decided that I didn't want to eat my friends, because I liked all animals so much - and it was a very personal choice because I didn't know any other vegetarians at the time. Lets not forget either, that being a veggie doesn't necessarily make one a good person - Hitler was a vegetarian.

HH Dalai Lama isn't the head of the world's Buddhism by the way, nor is he even the head of Tibetan Buddhism, he is an exiled head of state, who is also head (or second) in the Gelugpa school. He gets a lot of publicity because of his non-confrontational attitude to the Communist take over of Tibet and his teachings given at large public venues.

The Buddha and his monks didn't 'sit down to a nice bowl of meat for lunch' they went forth with their begging bowls on alms rounds and accepted whatever they were offered to eat which was placed in their bowls by lay people. This was part of the monks discipline and they just ate the one meal and nothing after middday.

I have been eating meat all my life through ignorance but what can a self-professed Buddhist's excuse be? In Buddhism we each try to look inwards to deal with our own delusions, not try to change everyone else. Its also a mistake to think that monks or teachers are automatically perfect themselves. They still study and practice like the rest of us.

Does not the knowledge of the cycle of Karma mean we come back as any being? So when we eat meat we could be eating our own ancesters? Far-fetched maybe, but Buddhism's own belief indicates this could be so.
For myself, speculation about past and future lives and possible connections with others is just that, - speculation. Fantasising about things we cannot prove one way or the other simply diverts us from practice in the here and now. This lifetime is the one thats important !

To quote the wise words of Ajahn Sumedho "Let go, let go, let go !"

Kind regards,

Aloka

[noingenah]

Just a few more ideas,

Mayan culture before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors had neither meat as a main ingredient as a nutriment nor milk and its derivatives. They built and outstanding civilization based in astronomy, medicine and mathematics.

[CathBraun]

They built and outstanding civilization based in astronomy, medicine and mathematics.

And vegetables

[Dastyh]

And Chocolate!!!

[autoloanexpert]

And Chocolate!!!

no milk and its derivatives

[Saduyre9de]

And vegetables

Oh yes... sure Deshy

And Chocolate!!!

no milk and its derivatives

Well Chocolate is original from the Pre-colombine America... it is prepared without milk from the Cacao plant.

[ordercigsnick]

Friends

Many years ago I was out of work and the only job I could get was in a slaughter house. I that time I knew nothing about Buddhism but I used to think to mself while walking to work, "This must be my Karma coming back at me" It was the most horrible time of my life.

I do eat some meat but try to keep it at a minimus. In fact, we spend twice as much at the green grocer's that at the butcher's.

Cariños

Robert

[Uzezqelj]

it is prepared without milk from the Cacao plant

Really....lol, wonder how they stomached it

[bettingonosports]

Really....lol, wonder how they stomached it

Its really delicious. I drink chocolate like that. It can be taken as a cold or hot drink depending on the season. Cold in hot seasons and hot in winter season with brown sugar if you want it sweet.



Also we have a kind of sauce or dish called "Mole" wich is made with that same chocolate and with may different kinds of Chiles.

[24MurinivaMak]

It was the most horrible time of my life.

Hi Robert, I can imagine it would be. I know of people who became vegetarians immediately after visiting slaughter houses and they visited them for that reason - in order to see the process before they bought meat in the shops and then give it up.

Nice to hear from you again.

with kind wishes to you and your wife,

D.

[maxfieldj1]

Actually, I am very troubled by this subject. I cannot compute in my brain how a Buddhist monk can possibly eat meat under any circumstances. I could not sleep last night and could not enjoy reading about Buddhism as I have been doing. I cannot get past it until I have sorted it out for myself. I have printed a load of stuff from Wikepedia (not to be relied upon 100% I am aware).

I read last night that the Dalai Lama eats meat 'only' ever other day, apparently because his doctors have told him he needs it. Sir Paul McCartney wrote to him and took him to task over this but received no satisfactory explanation. Could this story be true? The Dalai Lama sets THE example so if he is only partially doing it, what chance has anyone else? There are millions of vegetarians who are healthy and well, certainly prominent ones like Paul McCartney and Joanna Lumley (such a marvellous lady) who look absolutely fine without killing and eating anything.

Part of the very foundation of Buddhist belief is never to hurt fellow sentient beings. I cannot equate the image of a nice peaceful Buddhist monk going out of his way not to hurt so much as an insect and then sitting down to eat a bowl of meat for lunch! Does not the knowledge of the cycle of Karma mean we come back as any being? So when we eat meat we could be eating our own ancesters? Far-fetched maybe, but Buddhism's own belief indicates this could be so.

I have been eating meat all my life through ignorance but what can a self-professed Buddhist's excuse be?

Vegetarianism was never practised or recommended by the Buddha for either monks or laypeople, as far as I can determine. It's a cultural accretion totally unrelated to the teachings.

The Buddha, unlike most other-worldly, pie-in-the-sky teachers, was supremely realistic. He undoubtedly knew that people would continue killing animals despite his advice against it. Not only was Buddhism not the only religion in the world, he never claimed that his advice was either divine or absolute, qualities that many have since tried to pin on it.

He acknowledged reality as it was/is. People eat animals. He made it abundantly clear that he did not consider eating meat to be ethically equivalent to killing the animal. Even a monk who accepted meat from an animal that was killed specifically as an offering to that specific monk did not incur the same punishment as one who killed, and laypeople weren't enen included in this precept. Neither were novice monks, as far as I know. (I'll check if you want.)

There is no ethical dilemma here. Reading the Pali suttas should make this perfectly clear. Why cling to values that have nothing, in the Buddha's estimation, to do with attainment? That very clinging seems itself to be a potentially major obstacle, directly proportionate to the amount of importance you assign to it. While I was ordained, the other monks and I simply accepted what was offered, with no metaphysical attachments.

[casinobonusese]

Btw. I hope millyone is fine. He hasn't replied back after that troubled post

[BliliBoopsy]

I hope so too.

[bug_user]

Btw. I hope millyone is fine. He hasn't replied back after that troubled post

Maybe she is dropping away all the meat from the fridge...

Just being a little bit naughty...

I hope so too.

Yes I hope so too...

[Immusaatmonna]

Hi Kaarine

You are being a little bit mischievious there I think! But you are right, I am indeed re-assessing my dietary habits. I already own a tava (upon which I can make chapatis) which mum gave me years ago and I have dug out her recipes for wonderful vegetarian dishes of the Sikh diet. I am looking forward to buying and cooking in a different way from now on and no doubt feeling healthier in body, mind and spirit. That is my personal decision.

[UtidaBrar]

You are being a little bit mischievious

So sorry Milly, some forum members know I am at times a little bit naughty but never with an evil purpose.

[wvbwxol]

Maybe we should have a label under the user name showing the person's gender (male/female)

[rsdefwgxvcfdts]

Maybe we should have a label under the user name showing the person's gender (male/female)

Yes I agree... sometimes I think of a she when is a he and otherwise.