[Buddha-l] Victimized vegans?

[Margaret Gouin]

A friend of mine--a long-time Buddhist practitioner--observes a vegan diet
at home and as much as possible when eating out. But if he goes to
someone's house for dinner and they serve meat, he will eat it. In
moderation.

It seems to me that 'moderation' is the key word. So is 'respect'. Respect
your food sources, and moderation in using them follows naturally. The
amount of meat that is consumed in Western societies, particularly North
America, is way in excess of actual body needs.

I have a problem with the 'killing sentient beings' argument in that,
according to modern science, plants are sentient too. And of course,
agriculture involves the killing of a vast amount of small life forms in
the soil. And if it comes right down to it, taking anti-biotics to
eliminate a serious infection is killing life forms too and it would
appear those little viruses and bacteria have sentience.

Francis Cook wrote: '... in a world in which I must destroy and consume in
order to continue to exist, I must use what is necessary with gratitude
and respect. Part of this is a frugality born of this respect and
gratitude, for to waste, out of greed or carelessness, is the rankist sort
of ingratitude. It nullifies the thing we depend on, murders it, and in so
doing, we murder ourselves and others.  This attitude of respect and
gratitude toward all things, which I would consider part of ethics, is
extremely important in Buddhism, because it is not so much what one does,
such as eating a carrot, as it is what one's attitude is toward that
thing. ...'
(Hua-Yen Buddhism : The Jewel Net of Indra, p. 119)

-- 
Margaret Gouin
PhD Candidate
Centre for Buddhist Studies
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol (UK)