Vegans, Take It Easy — Our Food Kills, Too
A reflection on dietary-related karma
In Buddhist philosophy, we accumulate negative karma from harming sentient beings. Taking the life of another results in the heaviest of karmic burdens and should be avoided at all costs.
To a Buddhist, it’s not okay to slaughter or sacrifice animals, not okay to intentionally swat a mosquito, and not okay to disturb the path of thousands of ants parading through your kitchen cupboard — if it’s going to end lives along the way. (Not-so-fun fact: according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book, by taking the life of just one sentient being, a person acquires the karma to be killed by others in 500 lifetimes!)
However, although Lama Zopa and other teachers in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism do indeed practice and advocate for vegetarian diets out of compassion towards all living beings, it’s not “not Buddhist” to eat meat.
During an intensive one-month course started by Lama Zopa and the late Lama Yeshe at a Buddhist monastery in Nepal, we were taught that regarding killing-related karma, it’s okay to eat meat — as long as you don’t personally sacrifice its animal source. In a gathering of over 200 students from around the world, this statement led to days worth of controversy and frustration amongst the many vegetarians…
