[Buddha-l] Re: on eating meat

[Jim Peavler]

On Oct 22, 2005, at 5:13 PM, Mike Austin wrote:
>
> I appreciate you saying this.  The impression I got was that most 
> people thought the matter was clear cut and I was just being a pain in 
> the neck for wanting to delve into it.

I reckon I am one of the people you thought thought the matter was 
clear cut. I not only don't think the matter is clear cut, I think 
there is no particular place for it to be cut. I think (and have often 
been declared mistaken on similar matters) that whether one eats 
remains of dead animals (be they humans or oysters), or uses leather 
(for shrunken heads or boot-soles or book covers), where any individual 
person draws the line has to be drawn after deep consultation with the 
best part of one's own self. We can learn from others, from books, or 
from deep reflection, but the final responsibility for our actions must 
finally be ourselves. Whether or not there are karmic rewards or karmic 
punishments for whatever place we draw that line is irrelevant. I 
think.