The Dalai Lama is not a vegetarian. Any thoughts?



The Buddha himself stressed the importance of ahimsa (non-violence towards all living entities):



"For fear of causing terror to other living beings, Mahamati, let the Boddhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh."



"All beings tremble before danger, all fear death. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill. All beings fear before danger, life is dear to all. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill. Whosoever tries to find happiness through hurting other beings, will not find happiness." Dhammapada 129-131



Yet the 14th Dalai Lama (the current one) is not only not a vegetarian, but loves veal, the most cruel of meats.



The fact that he is not a vegetarian is mentioned on his own official website.



The fact that he just loves the taste of tortured calves (yum, yum, yum!!!) is mentioned on the website of the newspaper, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 15, 2007 edition, when he visited that fair city.



He mentions in his autobiography, Freedom in Exile, that he experimented with vegetarianism, and found it spiritually gratifying. Yet, at some point, he developed a disease (hepatitis) where a so-called "doctor" recommended that he eat meat (for the treatment of the disease).



Yet there is no disease where meat-eating is a treatment. In fact, in diseases of the liver (such as hepatitis), meat-eating is discouraged, to minimize stress on that organ.



And even if eating meat were required for the treatment of disease, why choose veal, the ultimate inhumane food?



The Dalai Lama is considered to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. I can understand if you are in Tibet, high in the Himalayas, one may need to resort to flesh-eating; but not elsewhere, where there are so many other options. But certainly not in Milwaukee.



Any thoughts, insights, revelations or reveries on this subject?

While I can't make a certain opinion on it, as I haven't looked into it, the first thing that comes to mind is that many doctors in other cultures prescribe "cures" that really have no scientific backing. It could be he was told to eat meat as a way to cure hepatitis from a person who practices "traditional" medicine instead of modern day medicine. Sort of like people who think eating tiger meat or taking powdered rino hornes will cure aliments.

This annoys me.

You say: "This annoys me."



What annoys you, the fact that the Dalai Lama loves to eat young cows, or that I pointed it out?

I respect Buddhism and get a lot more out of it than most religions, but it still has plenty of bull**** in it

Too much hype over the Dalai Lama.



He's not so cool as everyone makes him out to be. He's managed a great political show with the help of some countries who have used him in their political manoeuvres with China.



He's sexist (there's never been a woman dalai lama and never will and he's certainly not going to suggest it), hierarchical and patriarchal. And on top of it, eats animals.



I would kindly suggest that people read up on those tibetans and buddhists who are NOT fans of the Dalai Lama and try and understand their reasons for disliking this theocrat.



(Oh and I forgot to mention that he's homophobic... but had to "revise" his official opinion when it was pointed out that this would alienate certain people in the West.)

I think that this website (veggieboards.com) does not allow links to other websites (a good policy to prevent spam).



But anyone who thinks that this is just a cruel, unfounded rumor should do this:



1) Google "ethical vegetarian"

2) Click on the first link you see.

3) Go to the Essays category.

4) Go to the "So-called 'Religious' Attitudes Promoting Animal Cruelty" essay.



From there, you will see links to the official Dalai Lama website as well as the official Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. As well as a YouTube video of the Lama himself discussing how he rationalizes (rationalize = "rational lies") his "ethics".

That is pretty lame IMHO.

I think it's a little ridiculous that here is a guy who supposedly represents non-materialistic Buddhist values, and yet he's getting around the world in first class travel and accommodation, and eating food made by top class chefs on what is basically the celeb circuit for a large part of his time. It's pretty strange. Having said that though, he still makes a lot of sense when you hear him speak - not that I'm into it at all.

I think the first act of non-attachment should be non-attachment to "spiritual leaders" or other religious authorities. Which, to me, means that a) he's just a hypocritical omni, nothing special b) his exploitation of animals should not be rationalized by whatever merits he has in other areas of his life.

I think it is silly to expect perfection of any human, religious leader or otherwise.

He was recently in Switzerland to preach for a couple of days to Swiss fans. He stayed in the most classy hotel that exists in our town (5 star hotel). The tickets sold for up to 200 Swiss Francs (about 200 dollars) and were sold in their thousands.He could have of course stayed in the very important Buddhist school/temple which is only a few kilometers away, but he didn't due to this affair (explained in the "Controversy" section if you scroll down the page:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorje_Shugden_Controversy

mrsschu2u: "I think it is silly to expect perfection of any human, religious leader or otherwise."



No, I do not expect perfection. But I absolutely reject hypocrisy.

its the usual hypocritical religious nonsense i guess, but hes flawed, like all of us.

"If you meet the Buddha on your path, kill him!"

He doesn't claim to be vegetarian, and he eats meat. I'm not sure how that is hypocritical?

mrsschu2u: "He doesn't claim to be vegetarian, and he eats meat. I'm not sure how that is hypocritical?"



He claims to be the spokesman of spiritual heritage of the Buddha, who strongly stressed vegetarianism. He claims to be the 14th Dalai Lama. Yet he not only eats meat, but that of baby cows. How is that not hypocritical?

http://www.kmspks.org/articles/vege.htm



I'd encourage you to check out the above site. Buddha left the option to eat meat out there. It's not a "requirement".

Eating meat to cure hepatitis is a bunch of bull****tery. It's damage of the liver often caused by a virus. How is eating something like red meat (cow!) going to help your liver?!

No-one knows what the Buddha said. Just the same as no-one knows what Jesus Christ said.



There was no videorecording or voicerecording in those days. No YouTube to check this stuff out.



And who cares what the Buddha said a million years ago anyway? We're in the 21st century and it's the century for Animal Rights and the Dalai Lama obviously doesn't believe in Animal Rights and he could if he wanted to (and he obviously doesn't want to), and even if he did, it would not go down well with those governments who he plays with on the political playground so he would probably keep quiet about it.



He's a sexist homophobic theocratical animal eater and he has no good marks in my book.

Did someone have a vote that veal was the most inhumane animal product? Because I'm not so sure I agree.



But yeah, I expect violence from religious folks. It would be a pleasant surprise to find some peaceful (I mean vegan) ones.

its kinda hypocritical cuz of that whole compassion thing thats big in buddhism. one of the 5 precepts in buddhist teachings is do not kill ~ "one must not deliberately kill any living creatures, either by committing the act oneself, instructing others to kill, or approving of or participating in the act of killing. it is a respect to others lives"

But tell us how you really feel.



I don't feel quite as strongly as you do about the guy, but don't see anything wrong with him keeping a vegetarian kitchen and openly admitting that he is NOT a vegetarian. I'm with Penny. Meat is meat is meat. I don't look down on someone for eating veal any more or less than I do if they have a bucket of chicken.



Buddha taught compassion. Jesus taught compassion. Look at all the damage that has been done in both of their names. Being honest about your own eating habits while acknowledging that there is a better way and encouraging people to do the best that they can is pretty straightforward to me.

I was at a Buddhist peace festival (wish I had seen what the monks were eating). There was a lot more meat eating going on at this Buddhist peace festival than not, and though I would imagine not many people there were actually practicing Buddhists, it still made me consider what people think of as peaceful and how we are supposed to get there. I do wish the Buddhists had made it a no meat event, but I guess they're trying to raise some bucks for their shrine.

dude, there are many different schools of Buddhism that believe different things with regards to this and who Buddha actually was. Tibetans believe in Vajrayanan Buddhism, which is an "esoteric" school, meaning secret (people have to be initiated into it so to speak). However, Buddha ORIGINALLY said there was "nothing secret" about his teachings. Some of the schools, like this one, created their own scriptures saying things they believed Buddha would've said. the views of vegetarianism vary from school to school because the original scriptures are scarce.



(i took a religious studies course in university about the teachings of buddhism)

I didn't know that , how odd .

For you, not participating in an extremely cruel industry might be "perfection". For others, it's just some basic decency towards those we share this planet with.

Perfection or not, surely those who hold themselves up to be holy religious leaders should at least strive for better than average?

Yes they sure should.

A religious figure acting hypocritically? I'm so shocked I can't even think of a witty comment right now!