Beyond : Any Comprehension

It is beyond my comprehension how we can enjoy a lifetime of eating animals
who have had a lifetime of suffering beyond our comprehension.

Scream : Universal Language

The animal-eater yells...
Spare me! Have mercy on me!
Please don't pressurise me to be vegetarian!

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Vow : Deep Irony

< But not in this case.

By choice, she recites her Buddhist prayers nightly. They include verses on repentance to wrong done to any being, verses on the aspiration to save all beings from suffering, and verses on sharing of merits with all beings. But by choice too, she eats some of these beings almost everyday.

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Vege : To Be Or Not?

The question “Should I be vegetarian?” should never be answered by me,
since I'm none of the animals who get killed for me.
It should be answered by the animals themselves.

Since none of them wants to die for me,
their one common answer is loud and clear.
And this answer shall be my answer too.

Vege : Trivial or Not?

Many people feel that having a vegetarian diet is not important in Buddhism as the Buddha did not make vegetarianism a must, and that what's important is His other teachings. But the truth is, the Buddha did make vegetarian a must – not for all, but for those who want to be aspiring Bodhisattvas, who are the ones who will become Buddhas (instead of just Arahants). In this sense, vegetarianism itself is an important teaching and practice. Becoming vegetarian is thus a part of being a better Buddhist in terms of compassion and wisdom, though there is no obligation.

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Chickens : Bad Faith

If you are living in a perfectly harmonious world, and suddenly realise that there is a single chicken imprisoned somewhere, who is living a tortured life, and is about to be savagely killed, how would you feel? Would this fact not make you feel uncomfortable that such suffering exists, even if it's not your own suffering? Yes, of course - because we all have the natural ability to empathise.

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Can : But Should Not

We should not confuse “should not” eat meat and “cannot” eat meat. For instance, as a vegan, I can eat meat, but I know I should not - if there is a kinder choice that does not fuel demand for meat. If someone's going to throw away a drumstick, I just might eat it if I'm hungry.

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Giving : Not Taking

“If there is no meat eater, there will be no animal killer.”
“One of the greatest obstacles to the birth of Bodhicitta in our minds is our craving for meat.”

- Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol
(Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat)

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Food : Why Choose?

Omnivore: Oh, I eat absolutely anything! I'm not attached to any particular food.

Herbivore: But animals are attached to their lives, to not being killed to be your food or anyone else's. Why not put yourself in the animals' position? Would you want humans not to mindfully choose their food, and end up picking you? While it's great that you are not attached to any food, you can always make a kinder choice. No attachment is involved here, just as we don't say a kind person is attached to being kind.

Animals : Love-Hate Relationship

Do you like animals?
If yes, why do you eat them?
Or do you only like them when killed and cooked?

Do you hate animals?
If not, why do you eat them?
Or do you only hate them when alive and kicking?

Inter : Golden Rule

“As I am, so are others ; as others are, so am I.”
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed. -The Buddha (Sutta Nipata 705)

Inter-species ethics should be learnt in this simple way -
stand in the shoes, paws, claws, fins, wings.... of the other.
Do not unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.

Name : Animals Not Meat

In conversation, I call “meat” “animals”
not because of bad English
but to remind others
that steak was peace-loving cow,
that pork was harmless pig,
that fillet was free swimming fish...

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Plea : To Cat Lovers

O, cat lover,
I see you weep for the stray cats culled.
I rejoice in your empathy,
I rejoice in your efforts to save them.

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Karma : Theirs & Ours

Is it not the animals' negative karma taking shape that they get imprisoned, tortured, slaughtered and eaten by us? Of course it is - just as much as it is our bad karma bearing fruit if we ourselves ever get imprisoned, tortured, slaughtered and eaten by others. However, the important questions to ask are -

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Comfortable : Becoming Vege

When turning more and more vegetarian or vegan,
please proceed at the speed you are comfortable with,
while being mindful that the animals are conversely very uncomfortable,
as they carry on being imprisoned, tortured and killed.