The Dalai Lama Eats Meat

[liveonearth]

I heard it in nutrition class. Then again on the Buddhist group. Apparently the Buddha ate meat too. I looked up the Dalai Lama's meat habit and discovered that it's old news. He has been eating meat on and off for a very long time. Tibetan Buddhists apparently would rather not talk about it. It seems there is some embarrassment that their

Comments

[owl_clan]

Tibetan Buddhists often eat meat, and traditionally do, due to the climate and terrain of Tibet. It's westerners who have idealized the Dalai Lama and tried to force him into their privileged western ideas about "enlightened beings" that cause this trouble.

[liveonearth]

I'm happy to read this as it jives with what my friends who've traveled in Tibet have told--that the dahl often contains meat fat, if not actual meat. And there is no doubt that in cold environments and long winters it would be truly difficult to sustain on veggies alone.

[b_vainamoinen]

In theory, the idea of getting proper nutrition from a diet that did not include meat has been available for thousands of years.

In practice, the ability to get proper nutrition from a diet that did not include meat is a 20th Century (western) notion.

[liveonearth]

Hmmm. Do you mean by the word "notion" that you think it isn't really possible?

[b_vainamoinen]

Obviously in the Western world it is POSSIBLE. Millions of people do it.

[liveonearth]

Millions of people are all different kinds of vegetarian, but I would wager that the majority of them do not enjoy optimal nutrition. Especially the vegans. Nearly every vegan will tell you that they know they need to get adequate B12 and folate. They just don't seem to DO it.

So are you vegetarian?

[ngakmafaery]

...it is also believed that when an enlightened being eats meat, that animal is liberated, so he would actually be considered to withhold blessings if he didn't, from some perspective...just worth considering...

[liveonearth]

Thanks. I hadn't heard that.