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Thanks for sharing. Will work on the Vege issue. 🙂
No worries, chwen, you know your body well and from the part that you still make it a point to go vegetarian on 1st & 15th day and mentioned eating less meat, I am sure you are working hard towards vegetarianism and I wish you success. :angel:
🙁 Please don’t think that – “I don’t have enough good karma to practice vegetarianism. “ – bad bad, not healthy :p Why? Because:
“Your thoughts create your life! Did you know that the things you think and say have the power to make a big difference in your life? When you say something over and over, you start to believe it is true and what you believe creates what you do and what happens to you. “
Oh, the above I got it from a book for kid – “I Think I Am (Hardcover) by Louise L. Hay with Kristina Tracy at Awareness Place. 😀
Is it filial piety for a vegetarian to get non-vegetarian food for his/her non-vegetarian parents?
Mum was queuing up for a long queue non-vegn stall when she heard a self-declared vegetarian said that she was buying the non-vegn meal for her parents.
Mum related the incident to me when she came back.
She was quite displeased when I turned vegetarian and cannot share her dishes with me which we used to (a kind of bonding to her)and she finds eating out with me not as enjoyable as before as I cannot take this & that & often discourages her from taking meat too.
Once in a while, she would bring out the above incident of the non-vegn ‘s “filial” act.
But I think her concept of filial is harming them more rather than loving them…
Any suggestions on how to answer her in future?
I don’t think she will buy the idea that I love her as much as I would like to love other beings, who are my past mothers… :straight:
In work environment, it is inevitable that we have to help colleagues pack lunch occasionally.
Should vegetarians restrict the help to only vegetarian food?
Would helping to pack non-vegn food become like “Sui Xi”, as good as taking the meat themselves? 8/
Hi NnS,
There is conventional and ultimate filial piety… and that in between. When we try to please our parents in worldly ways, e.g. buy their favourite meats for them and savour it with them, this would fall in the first category. Ultimate filial piety would be to lead our parents to enlightenment. I would consider the practice of vegetarianism and the non-support of meat (e.g. by not buying it for oneself and/or others) to be a practice that is between conventional and ultimate filial piety. As above, it is clearly not conventional, because it goes against worldly tastes. However, it is not ultimate either – because vegetarianism by itself does not lead the animals that are not eaten to enlightenment directly – it merely removes the refrainers of meat from being connected to their violent deaths. But as one of the Buddhist reasons to go vegetarian is because we see animals as our highly probable, if not definite parents from our previous lives, it is a practice of filial piety. To be filial, it is surely very basic not to eat our parents!
As such, it would be conventionally considered unfilial to not get non-vegetarian food for parents who love it. But spiritually speaking, it is unfilial to both one’s present human parents and past parents (some of whom are reborn as animals) to do so. It is unfilial to one’s present parents too because we are feeding their greed for the taste of their/our past parents. As part of spiritual practice, it is good to work towards not purchasing non-vegetarian food for anyone, while persuading them to eat less or no meat. If parents do not ‘buy’ the filial piety teaching above, it is good to use the cause of improving health and the environment as indisputable reasons to eat less meat. It would be easier this way for parents to accept our encouragement of vegetarianism as part of how we express our filial piety towards them. (More on filial piety via vegetarianism: http://moonpointer.com/index1.php?itemid=2247) 😉
Hi Mmm,
In terms of the economics of supply and demand, buying meat is exactly the same as supporting meat produce. In other words, the act of buying meat for others, despite us not eating it, goes against the cause of vegetarianism, if it is to reduce demand for meat. In the work place, we can subtly but steadily share the rationale for why we are vegetarian. Naturally, when those around us understand our rationale, even if they do not live up to it or agree with it, they will hesitate to ask us to buy meat for them – they will see it as insensitive or impolite. However, we can always be enthusiastic in suggesting to pack nice vegetarian food for them. This is a great way to introduce kinder food to them. It is almost inevitable that colleagues will ask why we are vegetarians. Before going into the Buddhist reasons, which they might not believe in (e.g. to reduce the karma created by violence which can lead to war, and to practise universal filial piety), it is good to share the indisputable secular reasons. You can simply do so by sending them this link – http://viva.org.uk/goingveggie – or summarise the four good reasons there.
Karmically, helping to buy meat for others is not exactly the same as to eat it or to ‘sui xi’ (rejoice; endorse) in others’ act of meat-eating – but it does slant towards it in the sense that it is a act of consent, that gives convenience to others (humans) to support giving inconvenience (pain and violence) to others (animals). We can see the issue of meat-buying for others in this way… Just as we would not ask Muslim friends to buy pork for us due to respect for their religious beliefs, we as Buddhists (who believe in the vegetarian cause) should not be asked to or agree to buy meat for others. Perhaps this parallelism on the need for respect can be brought up if others insist you are just being unhelpful. In Buddhism, this respect is not so much for vegetarians, but more for the animals. For the record, I never buy meat for my family and colleagues and they never ask me to. (Even if they did, I would not.) I hope it is because they understand the above. (More on whether vegetarians are stubborn: http://moonpointer.com/index1.php?itemid=2259 ) 🙂
Show mum that you love her MORE in other ways (human nature to get a bit jealous sometime … ). So spend time with her, leave little gift around for her, bring her for tour/outing, help her with household chore, send and pick her up if she meeting friends, little ‘love’ messages/concerns whether she had her meals, is she tired, had a good nite sleep …
Go for veg*n dessert, kueh, snack, dim sum, tea/coffee etc (she must have something that she like from here) and share the dish, so to keep that special bonding that both of you share …
There are many lovely and yummy vegetarian eateries now that serves delectable food.
– Like the Dim Sum Buffet in Lingzhi, very presentable and reasonable price.
– If she loves the Little Nonya, then there is The Whole Earth Veg Restaurant that serves Veg Nonya food.
– Temples outing and enjoy a cup of tea or snack at their tea house (e.g Fo Guang Shan & BTRT or veg restaurant besides waterloo Guan Yin Temple etc).
– Or have something different like Indian veg*n cuisine etc.
Who knows, after all these, she might even find veg*n interesting …
Just be prepared, that since she does not fully understand the need of vegetarianism yet, whatever unflavourable comments (if any) she had, don’t take it to heart, ear in ear out …
Colleague, I would treat them with veg*n snack/tibits, meals sometimes … :p
If we decided to go vegetarian/vegan, just make sure food had more Vit C, it helps to absorb the iron. Just remember DON”T drink tea after meal for a vegetarian diet.
Because:
Tea which forms insoluble acid salt with iron, can contribute to anemia if drunk with meals in a vegetarian diet.
I think coffee and some soft drinks too, if I am not wrong!
Most of us have enough B12 in storage to last for 6 yrs or so …
If you go veg*n and feel fuzzy, sluggish, weak, shortness of breath and always cold, it is most likely lack of iron or low iron. Don’t confine veg*n meal to just mock meat, eat more variety of vegetables, beans, tofu, mushroom and food rich in iron …
ZINC, another important mineral. It plays an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system, so you don’t catch cold & flu and keep it longer.
If you want to enjoy vegetarian food and don’t find it tastes bland. You need Zinc, it aids in your senses of smell and taste. For non-vegetarian, they can get zinc from shellfish or meat, we vegetarian get it from food rich in Zinc like avocado, wholegrain product, nuts & seeds … 😀
The B12. 👿 althought we have enough B12 in storage to last for 6 yrs or so …
For strict vegetarians (no dairy product or egg), remember to add some sea vegetables or B12 supplement. Without adequate amount of B12, you may experience fatigue, memory loss tingling in the feet and hand and pernicious anemia (B12 is needed for cells to divide and mature properly).
um… B12 is an issue easily dealt with. as for others who complain of their hair falling out or whatever, where is the documentation of this? Why do I meet so many people saying that vegetarianism made their hair fall out, yet there has never been a single study on the subject? Considering there are 30% of Indians and as many as 9% of the UK and 3-4% of the US who are vegetarian or vegan, it makes no sense to not do a study on such a subject if it’s really such a common and insoluble problem. I have a feeling that it’s actually soluble, however.