[Buddha-l] Victimized vegans?

[Richard Hayes]

On Friday 11 May 2007 17:24, David S wrote:

>   LOL.  I'll take my chances, hell can't be any worse than the weather here
> in Las Vegas, Nevada

Maybe you should think of moving to Las Vegas, New Mexico. The weather is a 
lot nicer there. Whichever Las Vegas you choose to live in, you would have 
the satisfaction of knowing that it was your town from which the term "vegan" 
was derived. A person who lives in a meadow (vega) is called a "vegano," the 
Spanish word from which the English "vegan" comes.

>   Solution?  Middle way, go vegetarian to the level you are comfortable
> with, such as partial veggie, veggie plus fish, lacto-ovo, etc.  And then
> don't condemn the meat-eaters!

Yes, this is exactly the right attitude. Everything about Buddhism is designed 
to reduce suffering, not increase it. So far I have never seen a form of 
condemnation that reduces the suffering of those condemned. It is for this 
reason that I condemn all those who take the fanatical vegetarian doctrines 
of the Lankavatara seriously. I think those passages probably come from a 
time when Buddhist, Jainas and Brahmans were obsessed with trying to show 
themselves more pure than their rivals, where purity was defined in terms of 
all the things one refused to eat. Like all forms of sanctimony and 
one-ups-manship, the results were some pretty bad doctrine embedded in 
otherwise inspiring texts. The moral, I guess, is that one can never leave 
discrimination and critical thinking at the door when one enters the Dharma 
hall. 

-- 
Richard