Moonpointer (Vows) | 持戒
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
（译文请往下阅读）
My dear blog friends
I am so glad you can join me here to read information I share with everyone. Blogging is not something I look forward to…but I blog as part of my practice, and to achieve a bigger goal I have in mind….whether I can achieve the goal or not is another story, at least in this lifetime….. But, I am very glad many people inform me that my blog is wide in range of subjects as it represents my interests and that it helps them very much…some say it opens their minds…..that is music to my ears. Hearing it benefits others is music to my ears…it’s like listening to a good Stevie Nicks song….thank you very much.
If this is the animal slaughter statistics for 2003 (below), can you imagine the numbers must of risen exponentially for last year and for this year??? Each year it rises…You must not find anymore excuses for not being a better human, a better spiritual person, a better example and continue to eat bloody slaughtered flesh…don’t endlessly debate about Vegetarianism when million/billions of animals are being hurt, tortured and slaughtered as we read this…GO VEGETARIAN TODAY…Please create awareness…please pass these numbers around…
TAKING A BEAUTIFUL VEGETARIAN VOW TODAY:
You can make three prostrations to the Supreme Three Jewels (Statue, thangka, shrine, Yidam, Guru Tree, Tsongkapa, Avalokitesvara, Shantideva,Tara, VajraYogini, or anyone holy being in any religion). Visualize your mother on the left. Father on the right. Doesn’t matter if your parents are passed on..visualizing them as they were.. Visualize your close friends, family and people who have been kind to you sitting directly behind you. Beings that have hurt/damaged you and you perhaps have aversion to sitting directly in front of you facing the Three Jewels you have visualized. All sentient being of the six realms are in the form of humans (auspicious) surrounding all of you facing the Three Jewels. It’s a vast gathering designed not to leave anyone out and creates the causes for your mind to expand thoughts to be vast and all encompassing.. From your heart you proceed to take refuge and everyone follows along automatically. Think they follow along. Contemplating the impermanence of life and how our lives can be snuffed out anytime/anyplace, we think honestly what we have done with our lives that’s truly positive…few moments to contemplate. Then recite the 8 Verses of thought Transformation clearly. Think and verbally say you will abandon meat from now on and then with a strong resolve recite Shantideva’s Dedication prayer to seal your vow. Your vow was taken in front of the Three Jewels hence it has power. It is different than just not eating meat without a vow…although beneficial. Everyday you hold the vow you reap the benefits of not eating meat and indirectly not having animals killed for you. Then recite one mala of the mantra you prefer and end your session. You can re-affirm this anytime again and again.
If you consciously take a vow, then everyday you hold the vow, you generate merits toward eliminating the causes for that particular attachment. The merits goes direct towards the elimination of the particular attachment you are countering by taking the vows. The vows have power as they are taken in front of Enlightened beings. Anything done towards a Enlightened Being has great power, potential and effects.
- Object-Enlightened Beings
- Goal-elimination of animals suffering-Liberation
- Method-vows
- Motivation- recognizing not wanting to bring more suffering to others in any way, shape or form no matter how slight or even indirect
Encourage others to do so. Create awareness. For all the meat you have eaten in the past, to purify the karma, do the opposite henceforth…which is to create tremendous awareness tirelessly and patiently to others NOT TO EAT MEAT. ‘Convert’ meat eaters to Vegetarianism. Explain the virtues. Recovered alcoholics speak on the faults of drinking for example, why not meat eaters who have seen the light? Blog it. Write to celebrities/power players, politicians/business people to endorse it. Happily accept rejections and keep pushing on..they are not rejecting you, but cannot face their OWN greed for meat..so patiently push on..be like a born again talking on the virtues of vegetarianism..facebook it, tweet it, write e-books, share videos, make videos….YouTube it…endlessly work for animals in reversal to all the years you ate meat ignorantly as I have. Work for animals rights, but never do any activities that break the law…stay within the law.
You can retake this vow anytime or at any holy place also. Taking this vow at the place your guru meditates or meditated, power places like at the pyramids, sacred power places like Bodhgaya or Bodha Stupa, holy places where holy beings have practiced, church, temple, etc or just in front of your altar is fine…..anywhere…on any day..at any time of the day is perfectly fine…can take it as a group…the point of focus are the Three Jewels or any supreme being you wish to trust….. Purpose is to release sentient beings from suffering, in this case animals. And the reason is their sufferings has moved you to another level of compassion. You are planting the seeds of compassion and wishing not to harm others in any way for this life and future lives. The prevention of their suffering is WORTH YOU TO GIVE UP YOUR ATTACHMENT TO TASTE AND PLEASURE OF EATING MEAT. The pain of animals is nothing compared to your pain of grasping for bloody slaughtered meat that you should no longer have anymore… Anyone eating meat, creates the karmic causes to reincarnate as a animal to be eaten many times over…the cycle is vicious. Break the cycle….now…
On my hands and knees, I Tsem Rinpoche, with folded hands and tears streaming down my cheeks, BEG YOU TO NOT EAT MEAT EVER AGAIN…thank you. Thank you very much…take the vow and hold it…or just stop eating even without the vow…
Tsem Rinpoche
According to this website, http://www.moonpointer.com/bvf.php, these are the Global Slaughter Statistics for 2003:
45,895,000,000 (45.9 billion) chickens
2,262,000,000 (2.3 billion) ducks
1,244,000,000 (1.2 billion) pigs
857,000,000 (857 million) rabbits
691,000,000 (691 million) turkeys
533,000,000 (533 million) geese
515,000,000 (515 million) sheep
345,000,000 (345 million) goats
292,000,000 (292 million) cows and calves (for beef and veal)
65,000,000 (65 million) other rodents (not including rabbits)
63,000,000 (63 million) pigeons and other birds
23,000,000 (23 million) buffaloes
4,000,000 (4 million) horses
3,000,000 (3 million) donkeys and mules
2,000,000 (2 million) camels (and other camelids)
TOTAL: 52,794,000,000
In the United States alone: 9,116,248,000
The numbers only include land animals slaughtered for food for which records were taken. They do not include the billions of marine animal killed each year. They do not include the millions of animals killed in laboratories, fur farms, animal shelters, zoos, marine parks, or circuses. Nor do they include the animals killed by human negligence, blood sports, abuse, or extermination attempts.
亲爱的博客朋友们：
我很高兴你们能在这里阅读我想要跟大家分享的资讯。我不是一个爱写博客的人，但却将写博客当成是个人修行的一部分，同时也为了达到我心中的目标。是否能在这一世完成这个目标是另一回事，但每当听到许多人告诉我说，我的博客内容十分丰富，它不仅代表了我的兴趣，也能给他们带来许多帮助的时候，我是很开心的。有些人说这里头的内容使他们的思维变得开阔了，这对我来说无疑是最大的鼓励。听到这个博客能给他人带来帮助，我就好像是听了一场悦耳的音乐……那仿佛是听了史蒂薇妮克丝（Stevie Nicks）动听的歌曲般让我高兴。谢谢你们。
如果以下显示的是2003年被宰杀动物的数据，你能够想象这个数据在去年和今年是如何的大幅度飙升吗？事实上，这些数据每一年都在增长，所以你已不该再去找寻任何借口不去当个更好、更富有灵性、更能以身作则的人，却选择继续食用这些被屠宰后血淋淋的躯体。当你读着这篇文章的时候，有成千上万的动物正在被伤害、虐待和宰杀。今天就成为素食者吧！请协助提高大众的醒觉，将这些数据广为散播……
今天就持一个美丽的素食戒：
你可以向三宝行三个礼拜（佛像、唐卡、佛龛、本尊、皈依境、宗喀巴大师、观世音菩萨、寂天菩萨、度母、金刚瑜伽母或任何宗教的圣人。）观想你的母亲在左边，父亲在右边，即使父母已不在人世，你也一样可将他们观想在你身边；观想你的好友、家人，以及那些爱护你的人坐在你的正后方，而那些伤害你或你不喜欢的人则坐在你的前方，面向着你所观想的三宝。一切六道众生皆化身为人，围绕在你的四周，也一样面向着三宝。这样的观想，让你不会遗漏了任何一个人，同时也为你的心识创下善因，使它变得更加开阔和无所不能包容。你默想着自己向三宝祈求皈依，而每个人则很自然地也跟着你那么做。想象他们跟你做着同样的事。冥想生命的无常，想象我们的生命随时随地都可能被夺走，接着再认真地想想自己这一辈子所作的事，究竟有哪一些是真正的好事……用一些时间来冥想。然后，清晰地持诵《修心八颂》，继而心里想着、口中说出你从今以后将会放弃食用肉类。接下来，秉持着强烈的决心，持诵寂天菩萨的《入菩萨行论回向文》，当作是为你所持的戒律盖上封印。在三宝面前持戒，使得这个戒律本身就拥有力量。这跟单纯的在不持戒的情况下不吃肉是不一样的，尽管那样做本身也能带来好处。持戒之后，你每天都将会累积不吃肉的功德，间接地，也没有任何动物会因你而被宰杀。最后，持诵108遍自己喜欢的心咒，而这个过程就算结束了。若有必要，你可随时重复上述过程。
如果你是有意识地受戒，那么，在每一个持戒的日子，你就等于是在为自己累积消除这个执念之因的功德。这样的功德能直接协助你去除这个你所想要对抗的执念。而且，由于你是在证悟者跟前接受此戒，所以这些戒律是有力量的。我们对证悟者所做的每一件事都拥有巨大的力量、潜质和效果。
- 对象——证悟者
- 目标——去除动物的痛苦——解脱
- 方法——持戒
- 动机——体悟自己不想以任何方式给他人带来痛苦，无论那是多么微小或间接的痛苦。
鼓励他人也这么做，并制造更多的醒觉。对于过去所食用的肉类，我们可以做一些相反的行为，好让既往的业障可以得到净化。所谓相反的行为，即是我们可以努力不懈、投入许多耐心去提高人们的醒觉，提醒他们不要吃肉。我们要将肉食者“改造”为素食者，要向他们解释这个美德。举个例子：成功戒酒者往往会向大家宣说喝酒的坏处，为什么那些已经醒悟的肉食者不那么做呢？所以我们应把它写在博客上，或写信给名人、有权势者、政客和生意人，请求他们代为宣传或鼓励人们茹素。在面对拒绝的时候，我们要保持乐观的心态，且要不屈不挠地继续努力。那些抗拒接受素食的人，其实并不是在拒绝你，他们只不过是无法面对自己对肉食的欲望。所以，我们要很有耐心地努力推广素食。在谈起素食的好处时，我们必须时刻保持最初的热情。我们可以在面子书和推特微博上分享，可以写电子书或分享和制作视频，也可以在Youtube上进行分享……努力为动物做些事，以扭转我们过去因无知吃肉而累积下的业障。我们要为动物争取更多的福利，但必须在法律允许的范围内努力，小心别触犯了法律。
你可以在任何时候或任何圣地重新接受这个戒律。你可以选择在你上师过去或现在的禅修地点，在充满能量的地方如金字塔，在著名圣地如菩提迦耶或博达哈佛塔，在圣哲们修行的地点，在教堂、佛殿等等受这个戒，即便是在你的个人佛坛前受戒也是可以的。你可以选择任何地方、任何日子、任何时间来做这件事。你可以选择独自一个人或跟整组人一起受戒。总之，把焦点放在三宝或你所信任的任何圣者身上。这么做的目的，是为了解除众生的痛苦；就这个例子而言，我们指的是动物。那是因为动物的痛苦，已将我们的慈悲心进一步提升到另一个水平，使你为今生或来世种下慈悲及不伤害他人的善因。避免造成动物们的痛苦，是绝对值得让我们放下对肉类的口舌之欲的。然而，相较于因对肉类的执着所为我们带来的痛苦而言，动物的痛苦是相对微不足道的。任何一个吃肉的人，其种下的因，将让他不断投生为动物，不断地被人食用。这是一个恶性循环。所以，我们现在就应该将这个循环切断。
我詹仁波切含泪合十下跪，恳求你从此不要再吃肉了……谢谢你！十分感谢你……请接受这个戒律，并持守着它……或你也可以选择在不受戒的情况下停止吃肉……
詹仁波切
根据这个网站: http://www.moonpointer.com/bvf.php 所发布的Global Slaughter于2003年的统计数据：
45,895,000,000 （459 亿） 鸡
2,262,000,000 （23 亿） 鸭
1,244,000,000 （12 亿）猪
857,000,000 （8.57 亿）兔
691,000,000 （6.91亿）火鸡
533,000,000 （5.33 亿）鹅
515,000,000 （5.15 亿） 绵羊
345,000,000 （3.45 亿）山羊
292,000,000 （2.92 亿）母牛和小牛（作为牛肉和小牛肉）
65,000,000 （6千5百万）啮齿动物（不包括兔子）
63,000,000 （6千3百万）鸽子和其他禽鸟类
23,000,000 （2千3百万）水牛
4,000,000 （4百万）马
3,000,000 （3百万）驴子和骡子
2,000,000 （2 百万）骆驼（和其他驼科动物）
总数： 52,794,000,000
美国： 9,116,248,000
这些数据只包括那些被宰杀以作为食物的陆地动物，而不包括每年数以万计被宰杀的海洋生物，也不包括在实验室、毛皮农场、动物庇护所、动物园、海洋公园或马戏团内被杀害的动物。此外，它也不涵盖那些因人类疏忽、猎杀行动、虐待和消灭行动而致死的动物数据。
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Clear explanations , the meaning behind of anyone taking vows let it be to go meatless. The significance of taking the Vegetarian Vow as it creates more merits , less killing of animals, sufferings of animals and so forth. In recent years, more people are aiming for healthy life style for not eating meat , to be a vegetarian. Taking a vegetarian vows to remind ourselves and stays put being a meatless or vegetarian.
Thank you, Rinpoche, for this compassionate teaching.
Thank you, Rinpoche, for explaining to us clearly the logic of giving up meat or any indulgence that involves the harming, suffering and killing of animals. It is out of compassionate for the animals so that they do not have to suffer to satisfy our desire. But ultimately, it is for ourselves; so that we will NOT be reborn in lower realms or aa an animal. By taking a vegetarian vow, we are practically pulling ourselves out of the vicious cycle of the cause and effect of slaughter and being slaughtered. It is really a small price to pay. For ourselves.
Thank you Rinpoche for explaining the merits of taking vegetarian vow and also how to do followup actions.
Taking the US alone 9 Billion animals were killed for food in 2003. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization statistics the number of animals slaughtered for food has exceeded 65Billion. And that is just the number for land animals alone.
When I think of each animal as a sentient being, just like us, then this is the most horrendous holocaust of all time.
Being the first day of a new year, now is a good time to reaffirm the vows of refraining from eating meat. It is also a good time to make a vow to proactively spread the message rather than be contented that we are vegetarians.
In everything we do, there is positive and negative effects due to the nature of our existence. It is 100% correct you don’t eat meat. HH the Dalai Lama, the highest authority within Tibetan Buddhism recommends we do not eat meat, so that is all we need to remember. Buddha said, we should not lie, or get attached to drinking, singing, dancing, intimacies,entertainments and that we should spend our energies to become enlightened. Are we doing all die and not just the meat part?? People tend to pick what is convenient from the Buddha’s teachings to suit themselves. If we are going to follow Buddha’s teachings or quote, we may ask are you following everything Buddha says? If you are not, then rejoice when others follow the best they can and as much as they can. Since it is the right path for 21st century Buddhists to follow the no meat path, let’s do it. We have so much variety of food. Let’s eat the no meat diet and get on with our practice and basically compassionately go passed the criticisms. It is very simple, do not kill. So hence animals will not die in front of you to eat them…There is no good karma in eating meat..full stop, but definitely there is good karma refraining from eat. Many of the tantras when engaged in the practice prohibit meat as taught by Vajradhara. Many rituals we do in the great Monasteries prohibit meat so the rituals are more effective…..Many who are not monks or not living in the monasteries would never understand that. Reading from books, net or from dharma centres would never be the same as in the monastery. Again, eating meat does not gather good merits for our spiritual practice, avoiding does. Listen to some of wonderful Tenzin Palmo’s views on not eating meat. She is the great yogini who meditated for the longest time in the mountains.TR
In the tantras such as Tara, White Tara, Vajrapani, Manjushri, Saraswati, Tsongkapa, Dukkar, Avalokitesvara, Oserchenma, Maitreya, etc, it is highly recommended you do not eat meat/eggs when you engage in their sadhanas, practice, retreats. When you do Tara Pujas (Drolchok), you are suppose to avoid meat or you shouldn’t engage in the pujas. In the Monastery, countless times we have to do Tara puja or engage monks to do for us, they have to avoid meat before coming..it was strict. If you are doing Naga pujas, you have to avoid meat and it is a must. There are many types of beneficial naga pujas such as Lutor, Lusang, etc that you avoid meat totally. There’s a very powerful Naga vase (Lubum), which my guru made and I have one for years now, and it is specifically for generating wealth for dharma activities. If you keep this vase, make proper offerings, then with the motivation of dharma, your financial resources will increase to fund the dharma works. 10 years ago, when I was literally down to a few dollars and struggled financially very badly, I called my Guru for divination, he said to get a Naga vase and then with some time it will be ok. He taught me how to make offerings and what to offer and not offer and one big no-no is meat. He said avoid meat…or in my thinking no wealth…LOL. Well I didn’t offer meat, after that yearly I can see growth in Kechara.So no meat in this case was worth it for growth to benefit others.
It seems eating vegetables and eating animals are both bad, in that case cut one out completely. Why do both. Our karmic ripening makes us take rebirth always in situations that we cannot avoid all situational karma as a natural by product. But we have a choice to make it less. No matter what we do or how we exist at our ordinary levels, we will accummulate negative karma. So we have to choose conscioiusly to lessen them. His Holiness Dalai Lama, many Tulkus/Geshes/monks in Gaden tells us go vegetarian. The beautiful Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the sacred Nun Rev Chen Yen of Taiwan (http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php? ) with hundreds of centres around the world and the whole accomplished Mahayana Buddhism of China forbids meat.The current Karmapa banned all meats in the Monasteries. Before it was meat and vegetables/rice. Now no more meat. The trend is no meat.
I may have people object, but that is ok, as a Buddhist teacher for the rest of my life I will advocate a no meat diet, produce books, blog posts, works and inspirational examples toward Vegetarianism. If that lifestyle offends/angers others or they feel their spirituality is being put down because of that, I do apologize. But that is not my intent, but it is their perceptions speaking or their perceptions of my motivation for speaking about no meat..If it really upsets them, then they don’t have to visit my posts, my writings and my ideas…LOL…simple as that… In this day and age, when you say things ppl like, then they praise you as a great person, great Rinpoche, great teacher, if you say something slightly off, no matter how they ‘liked’ you in the past, it changes. It’s reflective of the times and dynamics of this day and age. As my guru says, if you practice/teach dharma these days, you become a white crow. LOL..
This post translated in Ukrainian http://mrzhukovskyi.blog.com/2011/03/14/%D0%9C%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%96%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%86%D1%96/
Dear Tara, that is wonderful you did it in Ukranian. Send me a copy and I will post it up here. Thanks for benefitting others. TR
Dear Rinpoche, thank you very much for your reply! I’ve just sent you a message on facebook.
I took these vows this morning and posted the link on FB. Maybe someone I know will be inspired to do the same! 🙂
Dear Rinpoche
The numbers are insanely astronomical and thinking I’ve also contributed towards it for so many years bring much regrets… If not because of Rinpoche, bringing some sense to my contradictory actions, I’d more than likely have continued to contribute towards the number of deaths.
Please, everyone who reads this blog post, let’s do our part to NOT contribute towards more deaths.. starting with ourselves. Please help circulate this blog post by RInpoche.
much thanks
susan
As a Vajrayana practitioner, do you not partake of meat at vajra feasts? I am a great admirer of the late Kalu Rinpoche. Now in Sukumvati. He was very clear on this subject. On page 124-125 in his book, “Foundations of Tibetan Buddhism”,… he goes through the root Vajrayana downfalls. Let me please share downfall #13: “The thirteen root downfall concerns our attitude and approach to tantric practice and tantric ritual. If we are participating in a ganachakra or vajra feast, where ritual use of meat and alcohol is made, and we abstain from one of the other of these on the grounds that it is impure or that it is contrary to our convictions and principles, then we have failed to appreciate the view of tantra which attempts to transcend purity and impurity, attempts to transcend dualistic thinking, and we have failed to appreciate and take part in the spirit of that tantric transformation process. To indulge in this kind of superficial, dualistic clinging to appearances during the course of a tantric ritual is to commit the 13th root downfall and to go against the spirit of our tantric practice.”–(from a facebook comments post)
During tantric rituals, a tiny bit of meat, must be had for the greater view and greater good..which is to overcome clinging…but what I am talking about is daily consumption of meat…steaks, fried chicken, pork chops, leg of lamb, turtle soup, sharksfin, duck, rabbit stew, frog legs, clams, seafood chowder, sushi, and all the other animals slaughtered daily for our taste buds…. If we give up all meat eating and meat consumption then let’s talk about tsok meat. HH Kyabje Zong Rinpoche mentioned in Los Angeles, we can take some tsampa and put a few drops of alcohol on it in place of meat when we cannot get it for tsok…..that can be used for meat. In Tibet Kyabje Zong Rinpoche would do that. Tsem Rinpoche
Thank you Rinpoche for this post. It breaks my heart to imagine Rinpoche on your hands and knees. I have not been eating meat for just over 8 months, and with this post I renew my vow to Rinpoche to be a vegetarian and to make it one of my purpose in life to influence people to do the same, to whatever degree I can.
If it weren’t for my good fortune in meeting Rinpoche I would never have developed the presence of mind to realize all the harm i was doing (to myself and to those slaughtering animals as their jobs and to the animals) in being a meat eater. I would not have the motivation to stop such a deep habit.
I am very grateful and i am very glad that i am a vegetarian.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you so much for explaining so clearly how to formally make our vows to abandon causing the suffering, and eating, of other sentient beings, and for explaining the profound spiritual benefits of doing so.
It is my intention to take these vows very soon.
In our home, my friend has also decided to practise Vegetarianism for the two weeks of Losar (even though he is not a Buddhist, just because he thinks it is a good thing to do and he is committed to the health benefits of being vegetarian) and we are even looking into getting vegetarian cat food for our two cats and trying to see how they get on with it. It is a commercially available brand of vegetarian cat food, but it is also possible to make your own. I should be able to find a recipe online if anyone is interested.
Taurine is added even to the meat-based cat food, apparently, so if the vegetarian one works well, there is no advantage to a meat-based diet for cats in terms of taurine, which is essential for cats. However, if, after introducing it gradually, the diet really does not agree with your cat, you need to either partially or fully replace it with meat, this may be true for about 10% of cats, I have heard. I have heard that dogs can be vegetarian quite easily. It would be great if even the cats don’t have to create any more bad karma from eating other animals.
Ideally, we want to see a complete overhaul of the food industry, no harm to animals and the environment, and active promotion of their wholistic wellbeing. Equal rights for animals, humans and the environment.
Can you imagine how nice it would be to be a child growing up in such an environment, where non-harming and caring were the guiding principles?
Thank you so much for your extremely kind and caring help and for inspiring so many people to act in accordance with how things are.
I will enjoy working writing for the benefit of animals who do not have the luxury of communication and influence.
With admiration and respect for your tireless and 100% committed efforts,
Elizabeth in United Kingdom
I would just add, Please introduce your cat extremely carefully to any new diet and with continued observation. This is because any problems may not show up immediately. If they are not eating the new food, do not let them go hungry and give them their normal food as stopping eating is actually dangerous for cats.
Thank you.
Thank you Rinpoche for explaining the significance of taking the Vegetarian Vow as it creates more merits for eliminating the causes for the attachment to eating meat i.e. indirect killing. And being a vegetarian is not that difficult after all. It has been 2 months that i do not eat meat and surprisingly, there is hardly any craving for meat. In the past, i would not even dare to say that i will go vegetarian. When there is a strong reason behind the decision, then it will not sway, in this case, to stop animal suffering, hence go vegetarian!
Good for you, William, that you have become a vegetarian. It is true that once we stop taking meat, we will not have any cravings for it, in fact we find the smell of meat repulsive!
Being a vegetarian is not hard if you are being explained with a reason. Its all in the mind. You can train your mind to be desciplined once you have taken the vow of non meat eating or vegetarianism. Being a vegetarian is also a good way for people to stop drinking alchohol which will lead to more vices leading to bad Karma. I have heard that drinkers say that it will not be complete if the drinks are not accompanied with meat. The method you can apply is already put infront of you by Rinpoche who is so kind to help you avoid committing bad Karma of killing and taking a life indirectly. And what will move you more is the Guru who has so humbly plead to you to stop eating meat and going down on his hands and knees with tears streaming down his cheeks. Begging you to detach yourself from eating meat to save the lives of the animals.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, TSEM RINPOCHE, for this wise and compassionate teaching. Having been vegetarian/vegan since 1968–when you were only three, and many of your students had not yet graced our planet–I’ve learned a few things which may be helpful to the success of those taking the “Vegetarian Vow” you’re encouraging them to.
Having helped lead many hundreds into this more intelligent plant-based diet over the 35 years my company–Fasting Center International, Inc.–has been the global leader in our field (with clients on seven continents, representing 220 countries)–I’ve learned it’s helpful to provide both those contemplating taking this “Vow,” as well as those who’ve already taken it, with sufficient research and supportive statements from celebrated ones (both within Buddhism and without), since all will be questioned by their family, friends and colleagues about their new dietary change.
Additionally, it’s critical that new vegetarians/vegans understand how to (1) intelligently cover all their body’s daily nutrient bases (so they don’t become weak and think they have to return to meat-eating), and (2) how to find good vegetarian/vegan cookbooks (especially important for those who cook for their family, as they can be critical in leading family members into this wiser diet, too).
My company’s new ‘Fasting Center International’ Facebook page. . .:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fasting-Center-International/162974767072601
. . .provides all of this for free. We hope those interested will ‘Like’ that new page, and click on ‘Discussions’ (upper left, under the photo of me with my friend and teacher since 1982, His Holiness the Dalai Lama).
Once there, please scroll down to read the Topics covering both of the above critical points. . .for success in opting out of the sacrifice system and respecting animal rights for life:
(1) Vegetarian Or Vegan: Opting For A More Intelligent, Plant-Based Diet–Going Directly To The Source Of Nutrients
(2) Vegetarian/Vegan Since 1968, Here’s How I’ve Intelligently Covered My Body’s Daily Nutrient Requirements (two parts)
All reading there should feel free to Comment, of course (on those or any of the other new Topics there you may be intuitively drawn to).
Beyond that, may each sister and brother reading here be happy, healthy, and peaceful. May goodness and virtue flourish, and may you enjoy a stable, meritorious life. May you practice, as much as possible, loving kindness, compassion, empathic joy and equanimity–just as Tsem Rinpoche daily teaches–remembering these words from the Dalai Lama who ordained him:
“The key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion. There exists nothing within this vast space that cannot be healed by genuine compassion.” Have a wise life. Big Love; your friend and longtime animal-rights activist, Dennis Paulson [Thubten Gyatso]
P.S. If I may, Rinpoche, I’d suggest you create a special section or page within your superb Blog’s “Animals and Vegetarianism” section, to list all those taking this “Vegetarian Vow” for life, knowing they can inspire others to do likewise. However, for those who feel they can’t yet take this lifetime “Vow”–which you and I have–perhaps you might wish to create Shorter Vow categories, such as Vowing not to eat meat for one day a week. Other categories could include giving up meat-eating for one week, or one month, or six months, or one year, or five years.
I’ve helped inspire this in the Dharma organization I’ve been affiliated with since 1974–the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, founded by my precious root Tibetan teacher, Lama Thubten Yeshe, who passed away in 1984, since under the brilliant spiritual direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, now 65, nurturing its 156 centers, projects and services in 38 countries, worldwide, all focused on (1) helping enable the Dharma’s movement to the West (following Padmasambhava’s 8th-Century prophecy), while (2) helping to end as much unnecessary suffering as possible.
Ohh wonderful. I was wondering what more I could do to increase the commitment I had already made to being vegetarian. I must make this proper vow asap…
Thank you Rinpoche. I’m new to Buddhism and have only been a vegetarian for a couple of months. I look forward to taking these vows tomorrow. 🙂
Now, please think carefully for one minute – what would motivate a lama to blog tirelessly about the suffering of animals, when this lama does not even enjoy blogging that much? Especially if you know how bad internet is in our Kuala Lumpur city areas.
Why would a lama keep promoting vegetarian – to the point of finding the vegetarian recipes and posting them online for everyone’s convenience?
Most of all, why would this lama fall on HIS knees and BEG you with ‘tears streaming down HIS eyes” and plead that we stop eating meat?
Beyond the animals’ suffering, it is for us- so that we will not take rebirth as the very ones we have been gnawing and chewing on in all these years.
Please take a moment to think about that.
Thank you.
And as always, thank you, Rinpoche for always showing us the way to care more and work more for others.