[ACOWPAL] Diet

[Guest guest]

 

Idris [idris365]

Monday, May 17, 1999 6:20 PM

ACOWPAL

Re: [ACOWPAL] Diet

 

"Idris" <idris365

 

Salaam. Harsha and all,

 

Please take one thing into consideration, before setting up vegetarianism as

a dogma. Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama himself, are meat eaters.

Tibetan climate is harsher even than European. Some western Buddhists are

scandalized by this fact (that Tibetans eat meat). There is no

rationalization, except to say that the body needs protein and there are

fewer vegetarian sources in such an environment.

 

Just something to consider.

 

Peace,

 

Idris

 

Harsha: Thanks for pointing that out Idris. Dietary needs are indeed unique

and vary from individual to individual based on a variety of factors such as

the environment, physical makeup, culture, etc. There are some very

knowledgeable people on these lists about nutrition such as Jan and David

and Linda and Jill and others. I do not view them as dogmatic. They give us

the benefit of their experience and knowledge. Each person must find the

Truth within. Diet is no exception to that rule :--).

[Guest guest]

> "Idris" <idris365

>

> Salaam. Harsha and all,

>

> Please take one thing into consideration, before setting up

> vegetarianism as a dogma. Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama

> himself, are meat eaters. Tibetan climate is harsher even than

> European. Some western Buddhists are scandalized by this fact

> (that Tibetans eat meat). There is no rationalization, except to

> say that the body needs protein and there are fewer vegetarian

> sources in such an environment.

>

> Just something to consider.

>

> Peace,

>

> Idris

[...]

Wrong diet could be called harming one's body or violating Ahimsa. A

definition for unfit food could be, that food which leaves toxic waste in

the tissues, causing untimely death. So one can compare average age - to my

knowledge, for Tibetans and Inuit it was something like 35.

 

Another issue is climate. If one agrees that a calorie is always a calorie,

there isn't a difference in calories from bananas and calories from

yak-brains. So what matters is, how much energy has to be invested by the

digestive system in order to make the calories available. From the behavior

of predators like lions, snakes and crocodiles, one sees a lot of energy has

to be invested in the digestion of meat as the animals will doze off after a

meal. Humans aren't any better off. In countries with a hot summer like here

in Spain, people are consuming two hot meals a day, of course with meat and

it is a major reason for the siesta

 

What remains is to look for toxic waste, left by the consumption of meat.

Apart from the saturated fat and cholesterol issue, this is uric acid and

any animal, fit to consume meat, has the enzyme uricase to get rid of this

harmful product. From this perspective, a human being isn't equipped to eat

meat (or any other protein-rich food) but a rat is. There are tribes where

evolution caused adaptation to the lack of vitamin C in food (among others,

the Inuit) and the body produces the vitamin. Yet, nature didn't manage to

fit humans with the enzyme uricase, despite ages of meat-eating like the

Inuit. They just die at a young age.

 

The only tribe that has managed to avoid the dangers of animal food

consumption is the Masai; they don't kill many animals but drink unprocessed

milk and blood from their cattle which keeps their blood alkaline; average

age (long ago) 80 years. The tribe still exists despite the fact that Africa

could be called the continent of tribal wars.

 

So I see no justification whatsoever for the consumption of meat, except in

little quantities from those creatures that have died naturally. To my

knowledge, meat is always meat, irrespective of the source. The movie

"Soylent green" was an example of what to do with human meat: recycle it.

Considering one dead body to be holier than another is hypocrisy.

 

Jan

[Guest guest]

It was interesting that when my Tibetan Lama was here visiting, he

mentioned to my husband (who is not vegetarian either) that while he and

Joe could eat chicken, i could not.

 

Took that as a suggestion for me to stay veggie.

 

The main thing that knocked me off a meat diet was a news story. Right

after an intense retreat i came home and was watching the news. They were

talking about meat poisening, pretty normal stuff, then they flashed to a

meat-packing plant, then to some cute cows. i burst into tears at that

point and never quite got that connection out of my head.

 

maitri,

 

--janpa

[Guest guest]

"Debora A. Orf" wrote:

> "Debora A. Orf" <dorf01

>

> It was interesting that when my Tibetan Lama was here visiting, he

> mentioned to my husband (who is not vegetarian either) that while he and

> Joe could eat chicken, i could not.

>

> Took that as a suggestion for me to stay veggie.

>

> The main thing that knocked me off a meat diet was a news story. Right

> after an intense retreat i came home and was watching the news. They were

> talking about meat poisening, pretty normal stuff, then they flashed to a

> meat-packing plant, then to some cute cows. i burst into tears at that

> point and never quite got that connection out of my head.

 

You know, lettuce is kinda cute...ever notice?

 

I suppose we are each lead to do what we need to do.

Perhaps we need only 'listen' and the rest follows?

 

Peace and balance to all as the light of Self/no self

shines through and sustains us

in unity.

[Guest guest]

On a fishing trip last summer I decided I would no longer eat anything

I was unwilling to kill myself. Adios meat and chicken but I have a

freezer full of Alaskan halibut! H.