I came across two strange sentiments about eating animals:
1. ‘As long as the Buddha is in my heart, eating animals is okay.’
2. ‘I think it’s my karma to eat animals.’
What’s wrong with the above?
1. If one truly keeps the Buddha in one’s heart, as in being attuned to one’s Buddha-nature, and being mindful of the perfect compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, one would not eat animals, think it is okay, or do so while thinking one really is being with the Buddha within. This is not to say that all who eat animals don’t have Buddha-nature within, but it’s clearly a case of not being totally aligned yet. Progress needed!
2. One’s karma does not decide what one does, while it presents conditions for some things to be doable. It is what one does intentionally that creates karma. It is impossible for karmic tendencies to force us to eat animals, while eating animals intentionally in terms of actively demanding for them creates negative karma to some extent – since demand feeds supply.