Vegetarianism: Living a Buddhist Life Series [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

At first glance, the 90 page text resembles Zen Roshi Kapleaus book, 'To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist Case for Becoming Vegetarian'. In fact, Bodhipaksa's book resembles Kapleau's text in many capacities, including discussion about food combining, a criticism of the traditional Judeo-Christian world-view, an account of the anguish of animals which are bread for their products, and an account of the alleged 'meat-eating' of the Buddha. Like Kapleau's text, Vegetarianism is written for the non-scholar and is intended to encoure the adoption of a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

Vegetarianism differs from Kapleau's text, however, in several important ways:

First, in terms of the Buddhist textual discussion, while using endnotes to substantiate his claims, Bodhipaksa refrains from entering into technical discussion about the suttas. This is to his credit as Kapleau has been often criticized for his handling of this subject. Instead of using Kapleau's argument that the Buddha was a strict vegetarian, which is difficult to substantiate, Bodhipaksa freely admits that the Buddha and his followers ate meat. The author indicates that this was due to the social context of mendicants

(wandering monks/nuns) of the time and the relative difficulty of being a vegetarian monk/nun in that context. However, the author also provides evidence from the Dhammapada, Asoka's edicts, and from reasonable postulation about the social context that vegetarianism would have been held in high regard and that householders (lay Buddhists)would have been encouraged to 'neither kill nor cause to kill.'

Second, being a veterinarian enables Bodhipaksa to lead us through a brief but striking tour of a typical mass-production farming facility. While admitting that not every farm is devoid of compassion (just as not all are overflowing with it either), the author describes what he has seen, in his professional opinion, represents the typical experience of farm animals. That picture is stomach turning.

Using his description of the plight of farm animals as a launching point, Bodhipaksa expounds a vegetarian lifestyle from the point of view of metta or loving-kindness. He explains how this, one of the 'Four Immeasurables', is an important point from which vegetarianism naturally flows. In addition, the author explains how the interconnectedness implied by Dependent Origination, an early fundamental Buddhist principle, demands encountering the world and others with the knowledge that actions are entwined with the rest of compounded phenomena. Futhermore, following Buddhist tradition, the author argues that there is no 'independent' disconnected self to which we can appeal to as a case for uninvolvement by not practicing metta through vegetarian/vegan choices. Bodhipaksa is concerned with the present, Western application of these Buddhist concepts in which readers find themselves, and presents the practice of vegetarianism/veganism with this in mind.

Finally, Vegetarianism deals with common questions about vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, including the fact that many Buddhists outside of the original ancient context of the historical Buddha continue to eat meat. Here, the author challenges Buddhist practitioners to live out the first precept, not to kill (and not to cause to kill, from Dhammapada 405) more fully.

Bodhipaksa provides a fresh examination of vegetarianism from a Buddhist perspective. While keeping the discussion out of the technicalities of academic debate, the author uses powerful arguments from professional and 'personal' experience and a 'back-to-Buddhist-basics'

reasoning to make his case. While Bodhipaksa lacks accounts analogous to those made by Kapleau regarding his experience in far eastern meat-eating monasteries, the author's clarity, balance, and fairness compensate adequately.

This book represents an important contribution to this issue for those interested in the practical application of Buddhist vegetarianism in a modern, industrialized context.

The book begins with a "guided tour of the modern farm," in which the gruesomeness is so succinctly summarized that activists will find it a useful resource whether preparing for debates or writing protest letters. Going on to ask "Why are we beastly to farm animals," the author explores the Cartesian-driven view of animals as unfeeling mechanisms, which historically has justified cruelty in Western culture.

Buddhist ethical issues lie at the heart of "Vegetarianism"; Bodhipaksa reminds us that we must strive to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions, whether direct or indirect, "so that our lives result in as little harm as possible." In his words, "there is a chain of causality connecting a consumer's appetite with ... suffering," and moreover, "When we are in touch with our interconnectedness, we do not get other to [kill] for us."

This book maintains a nice balance between the theoretical and the practical. A chapter on "the benefits of vegetarianism" summarizes many down-to-earth reasons for dietary change. These range from world-scale issues (environment, resources) to human health concerns -- including emerging pathogens, overuse of antibiotics, and physiological evidence that we did not evolve to be carnivores. There are also a handful of commonly asked questions, with some of which incipient vegetarians often struggle. ("Will I miss having meat in my diet?") Others represent argumentative attitudes that one might encounter, such as "Plants are living too; aren't vegetarians inconsistent?" and "Why should I worry about animals when there is so much human suffering in the world?" Every answer is clear and insightful.

The heart of Bodhipaksa's objective is to demonstrate how Buddhism does indeed support vegetarianism. While unflinchingly stating that the Buddha and his followers probably did eat meat, he also takes great care to place this in the proper socio-cultural and historical context. He also suggest that for those Buddhists who even today live a true mendicant lifestyle -- owning nothing, and eating only what they can beg -- some meat-eating must be permissible, when unavoidable. But the author's key point is that even in the earliest days, Buddhism always strongly encouraged "householders" to become vegetarian -- and clearly, most people today live as householders, not mendicants.

Concise, lucid in style, rational, and compassionate in its tone and arguments, "Vegetarianism" should prove especially accessible for non-vegetarians who are curious but not yet convinced. It is sure also destined to become a treasured addition to many vegetarians' and vegans' bookshelves.

My problems with the book were relatively minor, especially since the book is about Buddhism, rather than Vegetarianism per se. (Well, actually it is about why you should be a vegetarian if you are a Buddhist, but you get the picture.) Some of the issues involved were kind of silly, like "Did the Buddha eat meat?" Who cares? Really, it doesn't matter, and the philosophy itself says so, since there is a well-known passage that relates, "If you find the Buddha on the road, kill him." What this intends to convey is the idea that it doesn't matter if the Buddha ate meat or not. You should think about what compassion tells you to do and do that, regardless.

Otherwise, it was a good book, and it was fairly interesting. The writing was a bit blue-collar for philosophy, but, c'est la vie. It was a good little piece of writing, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in vegetarianism and how it relates to Buddhism, or to anyone who is interested in either. Good, short read.
Harkius