Well, thanks for the clarification, I was fuzzy.
This discussion brings me to one of my unanswered mental questions; what do we conclude about the slaughter of animals for their meat, and using it to feed other animals who do need it to live (ie. pet dogs & cats etc)?
How do we actually do it?
How do we think & feel about it?

adam, there are countless Buddhist monks (which are vegetarian unlike the typical Tibetan monks) and lay Buddhists within China. It was never really about clamming down on religion but for the unification of the country. Granted, the Buddhist temples in Tibet is heavily regulated now but that\'s because the Chinese believe that they were the ones which were fueling separatist movements.


There\'s a pretty interesting documentary called \"A Year in Tibet\" from the BBC. They showed a Tibetan monk cooking meat stew for his family in one episode and I think it was in the same episode where they pointed out that very few crops grow in Tibet and that\'s why they have a fairly meat heavy diet.

Read this one
www.ivu.org/people/writers/lama.html
I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat. It is only some carnivorous animals that have to subsist on flesh. Killing animals for sport, for pleasure, for adventures, and for hides and furs is a phenomenon which is at once disgusting and distressing. There is no justification in indulging in such acts of brutality.

In our approach to life, be it pragmatic or otherwise, the ultimate truth that confronts us squarely and unmistakably is the desire for peace, security and happiness. Different forms of life in different aspects of existence make up the teeming denizens of this earth of ours. And, no matter whether they belong to the higher group as human beings or to the lower group, the animals, all beings primarily seek peace, comfort and security. Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures. -- Dalai Lama, 1967,World Vegetarian Congress in India

the ones that hurt no living creatures are the Jains, an offshoot of hindus. Buddhists are not necessarily vegetarian.

His Holiness once said that after seeing chickens chased down for slaughter, he no longer desired to eat the flesh of any living being--PETA source. All Buddhists are not required to be vegetarians, however, a lot of them are. The doctrines do not specifically forbid the consumption of meat, nor do they promote vegetarianism.

Have we missed an important point... to my knowledge (and by no means am I an expert) all buddhists are vegetarian because it an integral part of their beliefs to not harm any other living creature - right down to bugs. I thought that tibetans bred yaks (or similar bovines) for their milk and ate dairy. I am unsure on eggs, but was always under the impression they definitely did not eat meat, ever...?

Hi Lea,In searching just now, I found this quote by Dalai Lama: "Thousands - millions and billions - of animals are killed for food. This is very sad. We human beings can live without meat, especially in our modern world. We have a great variety of vegetables and other supplementary foods, so we have the capacity and the responsibility to save billions of lives. I have seen many individuals and groups promoting animal rights and following a vegetarian diet. This is excellent (...) I think that our basic human nature is vegetarian - making effort not to harm other living beings. If we apply intelligence, we can create a sound, nutritional program."

From what I've been told, coming from such a cold climate, most Tibetans eat meat. However, since moving down to Dharmsala in India, I'd image that they would become more vegetarian. Yet, like Thai monks, eating meat is strangely ok for most of them, which considering their stance on non-violence and practicing compassion does sound totally hypocritical to me too.

Can the person who posted that the Dalai Lama promotes vegetarianism please post some information about this. I have not found any evidence of it. I would love for this to be true, but from everything I have heard, he is not vegetarian in any way. For this reason, he is one of the people I admire least in the world - what a great opportunity he has to influence millions of people to benefit their health and animals but instead he demands for meat to be served to him at official functions. I would love to be proved wrong about this.

ANYONE OUT THERE!!!!, please do whatever you can to help Tibet, which is under control of China because of there religion. they invaded Tibet in 1959, we need to ACT NOW!!!!!

He is a Peaceful Monk, I hope he could still visit
Tebit