UK HUFFINGTON POST ARTICLE on 17th KARMAPA: Vegetarian, Feminist Tibetan Monk taking the US Ivy Leagues by Storm:
Twenty-nine year old Tibetan man, Orgyen Trinley Dorje - the 17th Karmapa - is currently on a two-month lecture tour of prestigious US universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Tickets for all events were immediately sold out. Who is this monk who, after visiting the headquarters of Google and Facebook, spoke about the need for a kinder internet culture? Why are so many people seeking his advice and inspiration in the 21st Century?
I first met the 17th Karmapa ten years ago at his monastery in the foothills of the Dhauladar mountains near Dharamsala, India. It was my first visit to India to study at a Hindu ashram on the Ganges. For the flight over, I spontaneously bought 'Dance of 17 Lives'
by Mick Brown, a fascinating account of his life and the Karmapa lineage. It left a remarkable impression of a 'Living Buddha' and decided I had to visit him after the ashram. Even though I came from a secular, atheist background, when I met him it felt like coming home to the embrace of a long-lost friend. Here was a person who embodied wisdom, love and compassion in human form. Twenty-nine year old Tibetan man, Orgyen Trinley Dorje - the 17th Karmapa - is currently on a two-month lecture tour of prestigious US universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Tickets for all events were immediately sold out. Who is this monk who, after visiting the headquarters of Google and Facebook, spoke about the need for a kinder internet culture? Why are so many people seeking his advice and inspiration in the 21st Century?
I first met the 17th Karmapa ten years ago at his monastery in the foothills of the Dhauladar mountains near Dharamsala, India. It was my first visit to India to study at a Hindu ashram on the Ganges. For the flight over, I spontaneously bought 'Dance of 17 Lives' by Mick Brown, a fascinating account of his life and the Karmapa lineage. It left a remarkable impression of a 'Living Buddha' and decided I had to visit him after the ashram. Even though I came from a secular, atheist background, when I met him it felt like coming home to the embrace of a long-lost friend. Here was a person who embodied wisdom, love and compassion in human form.
The Karmapa has been teaching in India since 2000, after escaping from increasing Chinese surveillance and restriction in occupied Tibet. His influence and wisdom are now becoming global with his first trip to Germany last year and his third trip to the US this month. He consistently speaks about the importance of compassion for animals, the environment and gender equality.
In terms of vegetarianism, he is one of the most vocal on this issue after abandoning meat himself a few years ago. Tibetans have a cultural tradition of eating meat, which has continued even in exile, sometimes leading to tension with Hindus and western Buddhists. In January 2007, at the annual Kagyu Prayer Festival in Bodh Gaya, India, I was present when the Karmapa gave a strong teaching advocating vegetarianism and forbidding monks and nuns eating meat by banning consumption of it in his exile monasteries. Citing Buddhist scripture and logic, he argued that eating meat was contradictory to compassion and not killing. Many meat-eating Tibetans and westerners came away 'shocked' by the clarity and strength of his teaching on it.
Again at Harvard, this week, the Karmapa spoke of his horror as a child witnessing Tibetan nomads suffocating animals slowly to death. Going on to describe how mass technology and farming methods have led to a situation where many people have completely lost touch with what meat is and how it comes to be in its packaged form in the supermarkets; how that innate, 'uneducated' form of compassion we feel as children is often lost as adults
__________________________________________________________________________
Should Buddhist Practitioners Eat Meat? : Spring Teachings Day 6, 27th February – Vajra Vidhya Institute, Sarnath
Day 6 Report
On the sixth day of his Spring Teachings the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, cut straight to the core of an issue that is vital not only for the sustainability of our contemporary world, but also within our individual lives as Buddhist practitioners. Exploring the topic from many different angles, the Gyalwang Karmapa discussed his views on whether Buddhist practitioners should eat meat or not, and if so, when and how it may be acceptable to do so.
“A few years ago at one of the Kagyu Monlams I spoke about the topic of vegetarianism, giving up eating meat. You could say it was an announcement, but it was really like making a suggestion. Since then many years have passed, and over the years I’ve heard people say various things. Some people have even said, ‘Oh, Ogyen Trinley Dorje says that if you don’t give up eating meat then you’re not a Kagyupa.’ Now, it actually wasn’t me who said that. It was the 8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje who said that. So it wasn’t my idea, and it’s not like I said you better give up meat or else you’re not a Kagyupa.”
In fact, there are different ways we can interpret the 8th Karmapa’s advice, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa continued. If we take a looser interpretation of Mikyo Dorje’s words, then by eating meat you can say that you’re not a truly pure Kagyu practitioner. “There are many great Kagyu masters who have eaten meat, so it is very difficult to merely say that eating meat means that you have faults. But eating meat is something that all of us who practice the dharma need to think about very carefully.”
The Gyalwang Karmapa, himself a pure vegetarian, then turned to his own life as an example. “When I spoke about this, I was primarily thinking about the way I lead my own life. I can’t really do anything about how other people lead their lives, but in terms of thinking about myself there are some reasons for this.” He then explained two key reasons that he personally does not eat meat. The first reason is the intense suffering that the animals who are killed go through. Every single day millions of animals are killed to feed us, and many are subjected to terrible conditions to provide us with food. Just a few days previously the Gyalwang Karmapa had shared a story of how, as a child in Tibet, when animals were killed for his family’s food he felt unbearable, pure compassion for them.
The second reason he doesn’t eat meat, the Gyalwang Karmapa continued, is because of his Mahayana training in seeing all sentient beings as his mothers. “We say I am going to do everything I can to free sentient beings from suffering. We say I am going to do this. We make the commitment. We take the vow. Once we have taken this vow, if then, without thinking anything about it, we just go ahead and eat meat, then that is not okay. It is something that we need to think about very carefully.”
The Gyalwang Karmapa then acknowledged that there are some circumstances in which eating meat is allowed, or even necessary. He explained that within the Buddhist Vinaya, or rules for monks and nuns, eating meat is allowed mainly when one is ill, but only if three conditions are met: we must not have seen, heard, or thought that the animal was killed particularly for us to eat it. Meat is allowed when a person is sick, the Gyalwang Karmapa clarified, or for those people who need more nourishment and have great difficulty nourishing themselves without it.
“But when you eat meat in these situations you should not just eat it in an ordinary sort of way,” he continued. “You first need to meditate on compassion for one session—compassion for all sentient beings in general, but especially for this particular animal whose flesh is in front of you. Then you should recite the mantras of the Buddha’s name, as well as mantras that can help purify misdeeds. Only then should you start eating the meat.”
Yet his guidance did not stop there. Returning to the Mahayana training of seeing all sentient beings as mothers, the Gyalwang Karmapa explained further. “When you start eating the meat you have to think about it in a particular way. You should think of it as being the meat of your mother or your father or your child. You should think of eating it in that way, and so it’s when you think of it as being your mother’s or your child’s meat, then that is when you can eat it.”
We must also have a pure motivation when we eat the meat, the Gyalwang Karmapa continued. “We should not eat the meat in order to enjoy it, because it is delicious. We should not eat it because we want to enjoy the great flavor and savor what we are eating. Instead we should eat the meat only in order to keep ourselves alive.”
To avoid any misunderstanding, the Gyalwang Karmapa repeated the need for each individual to reflect deeply on the issue: “Now, I did not say that we need to immediately give up eating meat. I understand that it’s difficult to give up eating meat. But I did say that we need to think about it carefully. When we eat meat, if we are someone who has entered the path of the Mahayana, someone who has begun to think of all sentient beings as their father, their mother, or their child, in terms of someone who practices in this way it’s really something that we need to consider very carefully.”
____________________________________________________________________
1.) LIFE RELEASE: A Buddhist Practice of Saving Animals' Lives
http://scottsbuddhismveg.blogspot.com/2017/09/life-release-buddhist-practice-of.html
2.) WHY the DALAI LAMA MATTERS & VEGETARIANISM
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-dalai-lama-matters-vegetarianism.html
3.) DALAI LAMA: Buddhist Monks Reflections on Ecological Responsibility
http://www.dalailama.com/messages/environment/buddhist-monks-reflections
4.) PETA: THE DALAI LAMA CALLS for an end to ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS
http://www.peta.org/blog/dalai-lama-calls-end-animal-experiments/
5.) KARMAPA: LIKELY SUCCESSOR to the DALAI LAMA
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/karmapa-likely-successor-to-dalai-lama.html
6.) THE KARMAPA IS A STRICT VEGETARIAN
http://www.scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/17th-karmapa-is-strict-vegetarian.html
7.) THE HEART is NOBLE: KARMAPA'S WRITINGS on VEGETARIANISM, FEMINISM, ENVIRONMENT, COMPASSION
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/04/an-excerpt-from-heart-is-noble-changing.html
8.) LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE: ON HELPING ANIMALS & VEGETARIANISM
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015_09_01_archive.html
9.) AN INSIGHTFUL VEGETARIAN ESSAY & MANIFESTO - by Supreme Master Ching Hai http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/07/supreme-master-ching-hai-httpwww.html
10.) KILLING is BAD KARMA: EASTERN VS. WESTERN VIEWS of ANIMALS
http://www.scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/this-essay-wasoriginally-posted-on.html
11.) AUTOBIOGRAPHY of a SEEKER of SAINTS - A MUST READ
http://scottsbuddhismveg.blogspot.com/2017/09/saints-and-truly-holy-people-are-rare.html
12.) DR. & MASTER SHA: HOW CHANTING WORKS
http://tv.drsha.com/nav.action?static=&pg=how
__________________________________________________________________
13.) MEMPHIS MEATS: VEGAN POULTRY BREAKTHROUGH! - Wall Street Journal Article http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2017/03/memphis-meats-vegan-poultry.html
14.) MERCY for ANIMALS: IMPOSSIBLE FOODS AIMS for 1 MIILION IMPOSSIBLE BURGERS a MONTH!
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2016/07/wall-street-journal-impossible-burger.html
____________________________________________________________________
15.) EARTH DAY: WELCOME to FACTORY FARM HELL
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/welcome-to-factory-farm-hell.html
16.) VEGAN DIETS REVERSE DISEASES
http://scottsbuddhismveg.blogspot.com/2017/09/vegan-diets-reverse-diseases.html
17.) VEGAN DIETS: FIGHTING ARTHRITIS & CANCER
http://scottsbuddhismveg.blogspot.com/2017/09/arthritis-alternative-medicine.html
18.) TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE: WHO REPORT on MEAT CAUSES CANCER
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/12/time-magazine-article-who-report-on.html
19.) FOODS & ARTHRITIS - PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE for RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE
http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/foods-and-arthritis
20.) PETA PRIME: Can a Plant-Based Diet Cure Cancer?
http://prime.peta.org/2009/12/can-a-plant-based-diet-cure-cancer
21.) VEGAN DIETS FIGHT CANCER! - from the Huffington Post with Kathy Freston http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegan-diet-cancer_b_2250052.html
22.) ANTI - CANCER DIET - by Dr. Richard Beliveau
http://www.richardbeliveau.org/en/cancer-prevention.html?showall=1
23.) REVERSING CANCER WITH a VEGAN DIET ! - Video by Michael Greger, M.D.
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/cancer-reversal-through-diet/
24.) NEW YORK TIMES: THE MYTH of HIGH - PROTEIN DIETS - by Dr. Dean Ornish
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/the-myth-of-high-protein-diets.html?_r=0
25.) VIVA! - Plant - based Diets & Cardiovascular Disease Fact Sheet
http://www.vivahealth.org.uk/resources/your-health-your-hands/plant-based-diets-and-cardiovascular-disease-fact-sheet-online
26.) THE PLANT - POWERED DIET - scientific reasons to adopt a plant-based diet
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-plant-based-diet-scientific-reasons.html
27.) PALEO DIET: DEAD LIKE a CAVEMAN
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-end-of-dieting-in-progress-by-dr.html
28.) WE LOVE OUR PETS & DEWEY: THE SMALL - TOWN CAT
http://scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/04/we-love-our-pets.html
29.) SUNDAY TIMES: MORGAN FREEMAN & 17th KARMAPA - The Story of God
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2016/05/morgan-freeman-goes-in-search-of-god.html
30.) HINDUISM: A TRADITION of VEGETARIANISM
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2016/03/hindu-tradition-of-vegetarianism.html
31.) THE TIBETAN BOOK of the DEAD (Bardo Thodol): Scott's Interpretation & More
http://scottsbuddhismveg.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-tibetan-book-of-dead-ranks-among.html
No comments:
Post a Comment