[Buddha-l] Re: on eating meat

[Andrew Skilton]

Wed, 19 Oct 2005  "Dr. Michael E. Steele" wrote:

>A few quotes from the Dalai Lama.  They make his position abundantly clear.
[snip] 
"They [animals] are so simple, so stupid, ignorant, and defenseless, that men
really have no right to hunt and kill them for food."

I, like various others, have appreciated the discussion of vegetarianism, not
least because I thought the case for it has been made so well by various
contributors. The quotations that Michael has collected for us should surely put
paid to the arguments of those who like to rely on 'authority' in determining
their decisions?

There are two angles to justifying vegetarianism that I have not noticed here
(sorry if I missed them).  One is that no-one has particularly emphasised the
role of cultural conditioning (rather than environmental circumstances) in
making people dependent on meat eating - mainly to do with identity construction
and status? (in the UK, "I need my meat and two veg!") Also, and here my reason
for snipping out that particular sentence from the DL, I have not noticed much
about the 'sentience' of other species. This has obviously been implicit in the
arguments that mention their suffering, but I wonder how much attention in
general we give to the independent otherness of individual representatives of
other species. (I am not a member of the Bambi Brigade, Joy.) 

After a gap of almost 25 years, I have for the last 8 or so enjoyed the company
of a couple of dogs in the house.  I have found the experience of once again
sharing my living space with members of another species moving and salutary, not
least in realising the extent to which, during that interim quarter century, I
had become marginally seduced by the (Judeo-Xtian?) view that animals are
soul-less machines. And that even while being vegetarian!

My reading of Buddhist literature is that it assumes a continuity of
consciousness between species and is well illustrated by stories that allow
agency and a number of 'human' characteristics to critters. (...and also seems
to conflict with the characterisation offered by the DL above?)

Andrew