Sometimes, when I encourage Buddhist friends to go easy on eating animals and their produce, I’m asked to ‘let go’. It becomes as if I’m the one attached to eating plants. Actually, I’m not. I’m just mindful not to add to demand for animals to be exploited and killed. Even if being vegan is an attachment, it sure beats eating animals as an attachment. The animals wouldn’t want me to simply let go of urging others not to eat them.
Maybe the intention is to urge me to ‘let go’ of encouraging them to let go – seeing my continual encouragement as an attachment. Again, I’m actually not attached to advocating veganism. I’m just mindful to urge others not to add to demand for animals to be exploited and killed. Even if advocating veganism is an attachment, it sure beats asking vegans not to advocate veganism as an attachment.
At the most, within a reasonable period, I encourage individual friends thrice on different occasions to go easy on animals. Why not just once? Because they might miss my points the first time round. Why not just twice? Only if I’m not sure if the message hit home. Why end after the third time? Because it could be seen as unpleasant nagging from then onwards?
Let’s not abuse the teaching of ‘letting go’. What if the Buddha let go of teaching us the Dharma after trying just once, in the event that we are ‘dense’? We wouldn’t want him to. The Buddha never lets go of compassion because there is no need to. What we need to let go of is aversion to good advice. And in terms of not eating animal stuff, to let go of our greed too. Even the littlest titbit from animal produce, say dairy ice cream, is stolen from animals, from a deprived calf.
I’ve lost my vegan ways….trying to learn how to get back on tract now that I have divorced the one person I shared this lifestyle with. No one else seems to get and it has been a huge struggle for me. I’ve lost who I am.
I regret to say I am not a vegetarian. But a few months back, me & my wife has set aside Friday as a non-meat eating day. Ever since, each time I order my food, I subconsciously remind myself to go easy on the meat. I dare say we are eating less meat than before. To me, each time you are conscious that you are killing animal for their meat will make you crave less for them. I am looking forward to the day I go full vegetarian !
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Hi Jess, perhaps what you can do is remind yourself again, of why it is wonderful to be vegan: http://viva.org.uk/goingvegan/index.php and become vegan again for the sake of all beings.
Hi Justin, wonderful! Starting small is good. Here is a related article to share: https://moonpointer.com/new/2010/05/be-a-weekday-vegetarian-at-least
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Promoting veganism is NOT an attachment.
Yea, I also heard arguments against going vegetarian using the lines of, “Let go, don’t be too Zhi2 Zhuo2, must sui2 yuan2, must be on the middle path”. I think they twisted Buddhist teachings to defend their meating ways.
If this is really the case, then we don’t have to observe precepts, don’t have to practise everyday. We can observe the precepts only when it is necessary so as not to Zhi Zhuo, so that we Sui Yuan. How can we ever hope to get out of samsara with this kind of thinking! Really… People would twist the Dharma to suit them, rather than twist their bad habits to suit the Dharma.
Well said, Dreamy!
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Amituofo