The Dalai Lama Eats Meat
Oct. 30th, 2009 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liveonearthI heard it in nutrition class. Then again on the Buddhist group. Apparently the Buddha ate meat too. I looked up the Dalai Lama's meat habit and discovered that it's old news. He has been eating meat on and off for a very long time. Tibetan Buddhists apparently would rather not talk about it. It seems there is some embarrassment that their holy leader doesn't follow the entire doctrine. To some of them it is wrong to eat meat, that it is contradictory with the teaching of compassion for all living beings.
Some people think the Dalai Lama is a hypocrite. They say that he cannot be a Buddhist monk, or he cannot be enlightened, if he eats meat. To me the Dalai Lama is a man, and to me it does not appear that he is enlightened. Privileged, yes. Fulfilled. He has lived a blessed life and it is his duty to speak for what is right. What a wonderful duty to have, except when it's not utterly clear what is right. As in with eating meat.
I do not know if a person has to abstain from meat to become enlightened. It might be true. I have not seen enlightenment yet. And I do know that I feel different based on what and how much meat I eat. I can reach a cleaner and clearer state of mind on a light vegetarian diet. But I do not know how long my body would remain happy while my mind was enjoying the unpolluted atmosphere. I wonder if Buddhist belief that vegetarian is essential for enlightenment is based in long experience with meditation. Perhaps there is a difference in the quality of spiritual experience based on diet that underlies the belief. Just a theory.
the International Vegetarian Union seems to be tracking the mans diet carefully:
http://www.ivu.org/people/writers/lama.html
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_vegetarianism
Some people think the Dalai Lama is a hypocrite. They say that he cannot be a Buddhist monk, or he cannot be enlightened, if he eats meat. To me the Dalai Lama is a man, and to me it does not appear that he is enlightened. Privileged, yes. Fulfilled. He has lived a blessed life and it is his duty to speak for what is right. What a wonderful duty to have, except when it's not utterly clear what is right. As in with eating meat.
I do not know if a person has to abstain from meat to become enlightened. It might be true. I have not seen enlightenment yet. And I do know that I feel different based on what and how much meat I eat. I can reach a cleaner and clearer state of mind on a light vegetarian diet. But I do not know how long my body would remain happy while my mind was enjoying the unpolluted atmosphere. I wonder if Buddhist belief that vegetarian is essential for enlightenment is based in long experience with meditation. Perhaps there is a difference in the quality of spiritual experience based on diet that underlies the belief. Just a theory.
the International Vegetarian Union seems to be tracking the mans diet carefully:
http://www.ivu.org/people/writers/lama.html
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_vegetarianism
