[world-vedic] Dalai Lama and meat

[Guest guest]

In response to Laxmi N. Gupta's comments on the 'tenuous link between

vegetarianism & spirituality' :

 

Dear Ms. Gupta,

Rather than look for examples of some contemporary religious groups & their

leaders who may eat meat, perhaps we might approach the issue on a more personal

& experiential level. If I may share the road which brought me to accept

vegetarianism as an important landmark to

realize in my journey....

I was raised in a Canadian family with a strong tradition of hunting & fishing

which I relished with my father, grand-fathers etc.. I recieved my first hunting

gun for my 9th birthday- a single shot 4/10 shotgun. For several years I found

the hunting experience to be

exhilarating- & also a type of rite of passage into the adult world.

The first experience which started to open my eyes to compassion, was when a

rabbit ran into a snare I had set earlier, & I had to bludgeon it to death in

spite of it's baby-like screams & the sobbing of my younger sister who was

accompanying me on the 'snare route' that

morning.

Later events such as wounding animals, running out of bullets, & having to crush

their head furthered my introspection.

The final experience which encouraged my compassion was when I came upon a

mother & baby porcupine in the oat fields of my grand-father . I was inspecting

steel traps which I had set to control such varmints from ruining the feed crop.

Since they were not aware of me

initially, I was able to observe her scolding her child when it ventured too

far, & the baby responding- the obvious verbal exchange floored me ! She then

saw me- she exapanded her body- the baby ran behind her- & I saw myself as the

danger they percieved me to be. I

believe there is a line from Robert Burns- "Oh what gift the giver gee (give)

us, to see ourselves as others see us."

I was humbled by the glimpse of my own brutishness afforded me by these little

creatures. I walked back through the fields to the farmhouse in a thoughtful

state. Within a few days I announced to my family that I was going to eat no

more.

I encourage anyone who is vascillating on the issue of vegetarianism, to go out

& try killing a few animals with one's own hands. If that is too difficult, a

visit to a slaughterhouse will probably be a good substitute. I believe the

experience will be effective in one's

determining if you are ready to accept the principle of compassion for all

creatures as an important signpost on your personal journey.

 

 

"Laxmi N. Gupta" wrote:

 

> It is common knowledge that Dalai Lama and practically all Tibetans are

> meat eaters. I remember reading in one of his books, that he gave up

> eating meat for a time but then started again at his physician's

> advice. A couple of years ago, Dalai Lama was invited to a Zen Buddhist

> restaurant in NY city and was served a vegetarian meal. He was unhappy

> with it; went to Waldorf Astoria and ordered steak. This was written

> about in the New Yorker magazine. Generally a Buddhist will eat meat

> if it was not specifically prepared for him and the animal was not

> killed just for him. Practically all Thais, Cambodians. Laotians and

> Vietnamese eat meat and they are predominantly Buddhists. Lord Rama was

> a meat eater as any serious reader of Valmiki Ramayan knows. Swami

> Vivekananda and Paramhamsa Ramakrishna were also meat eaters. I think

> the link between vegetarianism and spirituality is very tenuous.

>

> Sincerely,

> Laxmi N. Gupta

[Guest guest]

Prabhuji,

 

I've been as busy as heck lately. I'll write by the end of the week. I hope

you like the joke.

 

YS,

 

Dharmapada Dasa

 

 

 

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for six days.

Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He

inquired of God, "Where have you been?"

 

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards

through

the clouds, "Look Michael, look what I've made." Archangel Michael looked

puzzled and said, "What is it?"

 

" It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call

it

Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

 

" Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to

different parts of Earth, "For example, Northern Europe will be a place of

great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be poor; the

Middle East over there will be a hot spot and the Antarctica in the south

will be very cold. Over there I've placed a continent of white people and

over there is a continent of black people."

 

God continued, pointing to different countries. " This one will be

extremely

hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice. "

 

The Archangel, impressed by Gods work, then pointed to a large land mass in

the top corner and asked, " What's that one? "

 

" Ah, " said God. " That's Canada, the most glorious place on Earth. There

are

beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, streams and an exquisite coast-line. The

people from Canada are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and

they're going to be found traveling the world. They'll be extremely

sociable, hard-working and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout

the world as diplomats and carriers of peace. I'm also going to give them

super-human, undefeatable ice hockey players who will be admired and feared

by all who come across them. "

 

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed. " What about

balance, God? You said there will be BALANCE! " God replied wisely. " Wait

until you see the loud-mouth bastards I'm putting next to them. "