to meat or not to meat

November 24, 2004

Dear KK [and my other new friends],

I have been contemplating, researching and composing a reply to you re: diets. The long version will come later, but I must get this short note to you on the eve of "Thanksgiving" in hope that you, and perhaps others who are anguishing over the pending celebratory meal, might consider this message.

It saddens me that you are suffering over the issue of whether to eat or not to eat meat. Eliminating meat from your diet does not mean that you must adopt some other unusual form of diet.

The main concern is singular and clear: do not eat meat. It is simple, KK. If you accept the Four Noble Truths, then the Eight Fold Path points you to your solution: #4. Right Action - "...right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life... and doing harm intentionally or delinquently...."

KK, there is so much more I want to share with you about sentient beings... but, that will have to come later. What we have to deal with in the mundane realm is the moral/ethical decision of whether to support an industry that has convinced so many that they cannot live without killing animals and eating the meat. The argument comes "well, we need the protein that only meat can provide...." KK, there is protein in everything. Amino acids are another story, but there are other sources for complicated amino acids that are good substitutes for those found in meat.

Further more, the industry of providing meat for mankind has become dependent upon adulterating the life forms with chemicals to encourage meat production and other chemicals to keep the first ones from killing the life form. Also, in the tissues of meat, heavy metals and other poisonous elements and chemicals and carcinogens accumulate, and you are feeding those things to yourself and your loved ones unnecessarily.

KK, I experienced my first satori in 1961 but was detoured by parental expectations and then raising a family.... My ex-wife and I tried several different diets, she trying to help me get closer back to the spiritual path I wanted to follow.... We tried Macrobiotics... it has its purposes.

But, it wasn't until about 30 years ago when I dedicated myself to doing the "homework", the research into my path that I began to understand Buddhism and the beauty that it opens to those who commit to it. 10 years ago, I quit eating all types of meat.

KK, I have not eaten any meat or meat by-products from any sentient being for over 10 years and during that period of time to this present moment I have not been sick. Believe me, not a single day. Sentient beings are my brothers and sisters. One does not eat ones own kind.

It is not a matter of eating only potatoes or vegetables, or only rice or only one thing of any kind.... One of my favorite all-time meals was/is Thanksgiving dinner. But, without the meat... look at it, think about it, all the many, many wonderful dishes that make up Thanksgiving dinner.... but just eliminate the meat... who needs the meat? It is a dead animal... it is one of your own....

Do not eat the meat. I do not eat chicken, fish, escargot, ants, whatever is a sentient being, no living creature that has a central nervous system. There are so many other incredibly delicious foods on this earth and great recipes for others that you can enjoy without eating dead animals... I do not support any industry that kills sentient beings....

KK, you don't have to eat any meat.... I do not eat eggs, they are part of the reproductive system of chickens, who would eat a fetus? who would eat semen? Some yogis eat animal defecation, but that is another matter and another discipline.... I eat cheese and drink milk, but that does not kill the animal that provides it [although there is probably a concentration of pollutants in those products, so I limit my intake of those].

So, I guess I am opening myself to all kinds of rabid reactions against such a notion of not eating ANY meat or meat by-products. But, it is a very, very pour means of acquiring the protein that we need and that we feed to animals. We could end world hunger tomorrow if we stopped feeding cattle and other meat industry animals the grains and other nutrients we give to them and gave it to starving peoples in poverty ridden and famine ridden countries.

Have a great Thanksgiving dinner and feel good about it by not eating a dead animal with all those other wonderful dishes. You will feel something open inside you, you will realize that you are not supporting the killing of your sentient brothers and sisters. And you will begin a wonderful road to detoxifying your body and becoming ethically and morally healthy to match your spiritual health.

Bless you my friend. "Namo Amita Buddha"

Your friend,

Dipamkara