The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Whatever actions we initiate are to achieve joy and happiness. One must avoid actions that bring more harm than good. Some actions must even be avoided if benefit and harm are equal. This is repeatedly mentioned in the teachings of the Buddha and in the holy commentaries.
The result of eating meat and killing animals has ripening results of actions i.e. effects on the outer environment and effects on the inner life-force. We will be involuntarily required to be born, bred, and reside in places infested with mosquitoes, snakes, tiger, leopard, scorpions etc., in other words places where many obstacles are present. This is largely the result of killing and eating animals in this and previous lives.
Lord Buddha proclaimed these things millennia ago. Today they are also presented in the system of new sciences. For instance, a number of the most learned Asian, European, and American experts on health and science have, said one must avoid meat to improve our health and mitigate global warming and the natural disasters which are caused by disturbance of the four elements which we can see in media such as newspapers, and broadcast reports almost every day.
Huge damage is caused and millions of people are killed by the Tsunami waves of the ocean in other countries such as Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand which are located on the sea shores. This is the inevitable consequence of killing and eating countless sea creatures. Among the numerous causes and conditions of earthquakes that are mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, one is known as Lung-Sazin “the embracing wind of the earth” which has arisen from the ten non-virtues of killing. Together with the fluctuations of the embracing wind of the earth, disturbances in the earth and oceans such as earthquakes arise causing immeasurable destruction to humans and other beings. All these things are principally caused by the negative actions of humans and other sentient beings.
The causes of the destruction of orange and apple blossoms by hailstorms in the spring, and of maize, paddy and other crops being smashed into dust by windstorms and hailstorms in the autumn all stem from the result of killing animals. This has been declared in the great Sutra and Mantra traditions.
In addition to these effects, many problems such as the Rupee crunch and the soaring rate of inflation are made worse by, importing meat from India.
Unlike other countries, Bhutan does not have earth treasures such as oil etc. to sell. So, in support of the agricultural sector, I would like to request the government members, the general public, and every religious figure to avoid eating meat. The way of true Dharma is by not harming animals, as proclaimed by Lord Buddha himself. Moreover, the Four Hundred Verse Treatise says ,“In brief, the Dharma is non-violence, as the Buddha has spoken”.
Particularly, we, masters and Dharma practitioners, do not seem to know that all sentient beings are one’s own parents. Instead of bringing them to the level of Buddhahood, we enjoy their meat without compassion. So we are just wearing Buddha’s cloth outside, while the manner of our inner mind is just like that of carnivorous animals or that of flesh eating demons. As mentioned in the Openness of Realization Tantra by Guru Padmasambhava: “When one desires to eat meat, one uses such excuses like “Meat must be eaten by compassionate ones, and alcohol must be drunk by pledge holders.”
On top of first acquiring firm and lasting non-conceptual compassion, if our conceptions have truly vanished and our perception is so pure that we can truly generate the realization of exalted wisdom which can actually transform meat and alcohol into the essence of ambrosia in our being, only then has the Buddha permitted us to consume meat and alcohol. Nowadays, most of the religious figures do not follow the proper manner of study and so they ponder over Buddhist texts. Put aside the realization of exalted wisdom, it is even extremely difficult to find one of them who understands positive and negative actions and their rejection and acceptance.
Nevertheless, even ordinary people should be able to understand that it is good to save the lives of animals. Moreover one is required to know the harm it causes and thus the crucial importance to avoid eating meat. In order to save the lives of animals; first, it is hard to get enough money to buy animals that are on the verge of slaughter to save their lives. Next it is hard to find a safe place to keep them and someone to look after them. The animals which were released from slaughter are sometimes killed by carnivorous animals, or they are stolen by thieves, and then butchered for sale. Consequentially there is no safe place to shelter them. In this regard, if one avoids killing and eating animals, this will fulfill the vows and ethics, as was clearly declared in the Way of Bodhisattvas.
Through the positive results which are gained from the virtue of abandoning harm to animals, one is able to achieve temporal benefits, like those of the heavenly gods, in this lifetime. Finally, this also connects us to the path of all-knowing enlightenment in the next life.
Like Jetsun Milarepa said: “If one does not eat flesh and blood as food, then one will achieve the higher realms and liberation. If one abandons harm to sentient beings, one has embarked on the path of enlightenment.” Therefore, if one could avoid slaughtering and eating any kind of meat, it will have immeasurable benefits. The great help for each and every creature is gesture of giving them freedom from fear by granting them safe refuge.
Translated by Wangchuk Rinzin from Khenpo Jangsem Tashi’s Dzongkha Version
Agreeing with what the paper talks about and what it talks for there is aneed to rethink on why not meat. Meat is a nature’s readymade nutrition package with needed protiens, fats iron and vit B12 in right proportion as needed by human being. Historically there have been two groups of people based on food habbit one those who exclusively consumed animal products and other who ate plant products considering dairy as non-meat animal product and today we cannot usher this generation to go vegan.
There is much to be done as media, instead of fighting for the right of unborn babies (inside mother’s womb) and old women against meat ban in assumed holy months this paper eems to employ junk journalists who encourage mistreatment. A menturating women loses iron every month, strict veg menu would require her to eat twenty times more vegetables than red meat to regain it.
Had you heard of sarcopenia and osteoporasis you would have learnt the need of meat and dairy products, elder citizen lose their muscle weights and mineral bone density( MBD) at higher pace as vegetarians than they would do as meat eaters.
Religions are made by those people who never saw laboratories or studied biology but human body is everything of biology and nothing of religiousness. While Buddha said nothing about eating meat it is your choice to eat or throw meat but if you would use you brain to keep yourself healthy, it is justified that you eat meat.
Most of the Bhutanese are the most vicious and hypocritical. One side they don’t want to kill animal citing it as a sin but on the other side they are ardent meat eater. Where does the meat come from? It is from the animal, which is being brutally killed and then reaches the meat shops, where our so-called Buddhist rush to grab as much meat as possible.
Meat is nothing but product of animal who lost their life to a knife or an axe. Just imagine the amount of sufferings when they are killed. If same thing happens to us what would your thought?
So just forget about meat and become vegetarian. The more meat you eat, the more animal will be killed and the more sin you accumulate, which will decide your next life.
So Stop eating meat.
I strongly agree with all the points mentioned above. Is it okay for one to murder animals just to consume the meat? Will you be okay if your the one under the scary life threatening axe. Is it right to take anyone’s life? If people dont consume meat then one wouldn’t kill animals. Argue me if anything I said is wrong. I dont want anyone to think what I say is right but it is repeatedly mentioned in the teachings of Buddha. Cause and effect! Very common statement. Even a small children knows about it. But how many of us do we actually think about it and be practical. We talk about humans right and liberty but where truly is the animals right. The right to be not killed! I am going to be 18 this August and I can’t think of a time when I ate meat. Moreso,I completely stopped from class 6 itself and it’s been 7 plus years and yet to this day I dont feel very much proud. I mean I am proud and happy but to be honest what’s really there to be proud about. Proud for giving them the right they already deserved? Lame! Doesn’t it sound so stupid of our own self? Do they not bleed when chopped by an axe. Do they not feel the pain when brought to the slaughter house.
To anyone reading this, even if its just one person, i hope my message will set you free from this exhausting everyday sin we do every single day
Eat what u want and be healthy………
Right Drag! Eat what u wnt n b healthy to accumulate more sin in this life so that u dnt nd to be reborn as human! Hahaaaaa
This is the problem with our so called learned Buddhist masters- they are so dissociated from the reality of life that they themselves are not aware that they live a life of lie. I bet this Khenpo in his sedate and ascetic pose here is probably the one who enjoys most of meat and alcohol and the rest. Parrot like, vomiting meaningless prattle like this hardly helps anyone to either understand Buddhims better or to live a better life. It is a natural cycle to establish a check and balance so that one species does not dominate all others. It is just that human have evolved intelligence way beyond any other animals that we start this conversation of eating or not eating something. To kill and be killed is nature’s process to strive for balance for all animals (human included). Moderation is what is called for, not the nonsense such as put forth above.
Hahahaha I shall hunt and ax you down to put on my dinner table, sooner or later.
Do you follow Okaccim’s argument? He says a statement is more true if it leaves less ambiguity. Bhutanization of Buddhism is worst thing ever happened here on earth, where do that terrifiying statue come from- that you have in all Buddhist temples- learn something about Guru Rimpoche, he was a student of Nalanda university later became teacher there. While he was a teacher he seduced his student and consequently he was chased away from that institute. He walked into Bhutan gathering a good army along with him all along the way from Bihar. Bhutan was not in darkness before guru came (think of the term guru, and ‘sindu raja’), but all existing religions were demolished by him calling that those religions were against his. Just by chance the ill raja became normal after the guru treated him, supreme reliogions were given up to be replaced by Phallus worship and meat eating.
Today no lama eats dinner at your place if you dont have meat on table.
Condemn government support for religion, whu does government waste money in religion? Who on earth practice self contradictory religions as we do, oif we had faith in our religion then why do we need government’s finance to run it? Why?
Talking about meat, its absurd to deny the usefulness of meat in diet unless we have good ammount of dairy products.
Meat is natures best and precise preadjusted source of iron, protein ,iodine, unsaturated fats and vitamin B12.
lama khenno, kuencho khen !. wai di zumgi loe gateley thuemo ! nga di zhuki bapu yang zingmai marey wai!!!!!!!!!!!! must b one of the doegi gyelp garab wangchu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey commoner, don’t talk all those bull shit things.How can you say that no lama eats dinner if there is no meat? Did you examined all the lamas in the world?
THE DISADVANTAGES OF A MEAT DIET
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid lists lean meat as a healthy component of a balanced diet. However, meat poses health risks if your diet contains too much of it. Fortunately, with the wide varieties of foods available in even the average supermarket, meat no longer needs to be the centerpiece of your meal. Being mindful of these health risks may convince you to focus more on fruits, vegetables, healthy dairy products and grains.
WEIGHT GAIN
Overconsumption of meat can lead to weight gain. Although lean meats are considered to be a healthy component of a balanced diet, they still pack a caloric wallop on an ounce-for-ounce basis when compared to fibrous vegetables like broccoli or green beans. No wonder, then, that people who eat large quantities of meat tend towards more obesity. A population-based study published in the “International Journal of Obesity” found that the people in the top 20th percentile for meat consumption took in an average of 700 more calories a day than people in the bottom 20th per
SHORTER LIFE SPAN
According to MayoClinic.com, eating less meat may lead to a longer life. A study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute discovered that people who consumed four ounces or more of meat daily had a 30 percent higher risk of dying during ten years of follow-up than their less carnivorous counterparts. People who ate large quantities of processed meats, like hot dogs, bacon, salami and other cold cuts, were also at higher risk.
DIABETES AND HEART DISEASE
A Harvard University analysis of previous research on meat consumption found that people who consumed 100g of meat daily, roughly the size of a pack of cards, had a 12 percent greater risk of developing diabetes. Those who ate 50g or more of processed meat had a 17 percent higher diabetes risk. Surprisingly, those who ate 100g of meat per day did not have a significantly higher risk of heart disease, but those who ate 50g or more of processed meat were at a 42 percent higher risk. More studies are needed to determine if unprocessed meat is the heart disease risk that people commonly assumed it to be. However, diabetes itself causes cardiovascular complications, so there are still good reasons to steer away from red meat.
Eating meat is bad for you
There is no longer any doubt about the fact that eating meat is bad for your health.
The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters, looks like the index of a medical textbook.
Anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are just some of the well known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians.
Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption.
Those who still eat beef are, in my view, foolishly exposing themselves to the risk of contracting the horrifying human version of Mad Cow Disease.
Add to those hazards the fact that if you eat meat you may be consuming hormones, drugs and other chemicals that have been fed to the animals before they were killed and you can see the extent of the danger. No one knows precisely what effect eating the hormones in meat is likely to have on your health. But the risk is there and I think it’s a big one. Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm. Others routinely use antibiotics so that their animals do not develop infections. When you eat meat you are, inevitably, eating those drugs. In America, over half of all antibiotics are fed to animals and I don’t think it is any coincidence that the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 13% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.
The healthiness of a vegetarian diet is perhaps shown most dramatically by the fact that lifelong vegetarians visit hospitals 22% less often than meat eaters – and for shorter stays! Vegetarians tend to be fitter than meat eaters – as well as healthier – and many of the world’s most successful athletes (particularly those who specialise in endurance events) follow a strictly vegetarian diet.
It is the fat in meat that does most harm – and which makes meat eating an even bigger health hazard than smoking – but don’t think you can avoid the dangers simply by avoiding red meat because you cannot. If you want to eat a truly healthy diet then you must give up eating meat completely.
There are, of course, all sorts of old-fashioned myths about eating meat.
It used to be claimed that people who didn’t eat meat would be short of protein.
But that is now known to be absolute nonsense.
And it is equally untrue that if you don’t eat meat your diet will be deficient in essential vitamins or minerals.
Meat contains absolutely nothing – no protein, vitamins or minerals – that your body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a vegetarian diet.
Becoming healthier isn’t the only reason for turning green.
Many of those who stop eating meat do so for moral and ethical reasons as much as for personal gain.
Every minute of every working day thousands of animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Many animals are bled to death. Pain and misery are commonplace – for animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as you do.
In an average lifetime the average meat eater will consume 36 pigs, 36 sheep and 750 chickens and turkeys. More and more people are deciding that they just don’t want that much carnage on their consciences. It is never too late to stop eating meat.
In addition, more and more people are becoming aware of the fact that hunger around the world could be eradicated if rich westerners stopped eating meat.
Every year over 400 million tons of grain are fed to livestock – so that the world’s rich can eat meat.
At the same time, 500 million people in poor countries are starving to death.
Many of those who toy with the idea of turning vegetarian (because they want to be healthier, because they want to stop world starvation or because they can no longer bear the thought of encouraging such a barbaric trade as the breeding and killing of animals for food) worry about what they are going to eat.
Such worries are quite unnecessary.
There are not only many different fruits and vegetables available these days but, if you miss the texture of meat, you can buy vegetarian sausages, hamburgers and pies. Stews and curries can be made with soya and you can buy tofu cheese too.
To keep healthy eat raw foods whenever you can (because vitamins are easily destroyed by cooking) and use as little water as possible when boiling vegetables in order to avoid losing water soluble vitamins B and C. Steam or stir fry vegetables if you can instead of boiling them.
Remember that keeping food hot – or reheating it – can destroy vitamins, try to eat fruit and vegetables in their skins (because vitamins are often stored just below the skin) and be imaginative when shopping! You can get the iron, calcium, zinc and other essential minerals that your body needs by eating dark green, leafy vegetables, nuts, pulses, sunflower seeds and dried fruits.
Natural disasters are not the result of meat eating but natural disasters are results of cutting trees and digging the natural mines.Also continue destruction of nature and also people has fear of the creator who created you and me.
Look at others as another you! You will not like to be harmed or killed by others for their food. Please(100000000000000 ) do not eat meat. Vegetable has all the ingredients to help you survive this short life easily. Buddha Bless you Better .
Poor! Aren’t you killing the sag plant when you eat it? What a nice plea, did you ever know what entity is living and hence will die and what won’t?
Dont expose you mental immaturity if you are defending your point, everything must die (since killing and dieying are same phenonmena with different mindsets) and human being is just another organism that will oneday die, if someone can be killed for political reasons no wonder another can be killed for eating, provided we are not forcing the species into extinction..
If you were confused what ‘sin’ actually means then believe me it is deberate action to end/disturb the natural ecosystem and human mind. It is more sinful to put a person in jail then to kill him.
But that doesnot mean we are meritious if we aren’t killing or eating the killed, how awkward do you feel in office if your new collegue is as Sharchop/ Kheng or kuetteop, aren’tLhotsam guys far below our feet? Isn’t this discrimination more sinful than eating?
Stop bullshitting now, it’s twenty first century if you consider killing is sin, why do you take antibiotic when you are sick- antibiotics kill millions of microbes, whu do you drink boiled water? Its insane to think your way.
I understood you sarcasm requesting me to encourage the ‘acute gastroenteritis case of Nanglam school’, well i accept your idea, i share same opinion ‘ask education ministry to serve meat every super to ”students surrering from peripheral neuropathy” ‘.
Please keep quite next time you hear about meat eating.
Ajanglama and Birla! As humankind history is concern three stages has passed. Those stages are hunting stage where human survival were totally based on meat, Gathering stages is also people learned to preserved meat, second stages was agrarian dispensation where people learn to cultivate and finally the industrial revolution has taken place. Now we called intellectual revolution. Meat eating was first civilized knowledge of mankind. Therefore natural disaster is never the result of meating. This is not that I am trying to encourage the non-vegetariant but just justifying the truth.People should have choice as per their like and dislike but religious teachings without substantive research should not create psychological fear in the people mind.your evaluated feed backs will be highly appreciate
A commoner, simpleone, the giver n prevail are all bull shitting n nonsense.
Do agree with throgyel.. Hats off, Throgyel ! ur comments are really great n benefiting!
Yangsel and the lot who have gone to great length to demonstrate their knowledge here have lost the plot. The issue that began here was not whether eating meat is good or bad from health point of view; the learned Ajang Lama started the nonsense about eating meat and Buddhism and its consequences. The point I was making was that moderation is key to anything, not the kind of drivel that such pretentious lamas and the the ego bloated lots that pontificate here.
Please don’t eat Khenpo too!!
Commit not a single unwholesome action,
Cultivate a wealth of virtue,
To tame this mind of ours,
This is the teaching of all the buddhas.
Wow! All said and finally everything comes to self realization and knowledge of what is good and what is not. Why preach and advocate anti-meat eating? The world has done it throughout history and let it continue. One is free to eat meat or sand as long as it makes one happy and contented. Freedom of choice is natural and should be left alone and not be tampered by few who preach without practicing. That is their choice but should not be imposed on others by crying hoarse about it! Birla’s quote above: Digpa chi yang mi ja zhing; Gewa phuensum tshog par ched; Rang gi sme ni yongsu duel; Di ne sanjay toen par yin! Sums up everything that doesn’t say anything about meat eating. In my understanding, Buddha allows us to do anything within the parameters of what he said in those words.
First of all, it is imperatibe become true Buddhist by taking refuge under Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Once one has taken the refuge vows, we are required to perceive all sentient beings have been our mother. This is based on the idea that over the course of our innumerable lifetimes, we have had every possible relationship with every sentient being. Thus each being has been our parents, child, friend, enemy and so on. How can we possibly think of eating the flesh of those beings? The next importand element of Buddhism is to contemplate the meaning of the following verses: May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness; May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering; May they not be seperated from the great happiness devoid of sufferin and may they dwell in the great equinimity free from passion, aggression and delusion.