| SHOULD WE EAT MEAT? |
| I have asked myself this question many times since reading James Redfields "Legend of Shambhala" and further reading about Buddhism. I am a meat eater, I enjoy eating meat. Buddhism requires that the individual does not harm any living thing, thus the consumption of meat is not allowed. All well and good, but where does that leave me? One who has leanings towards Buddhism? Modern Buddhism acknowledges that to expand it must (and does) adapt to the individuals Cultural Needs. It is at this point that I will introduce Shamanism. Yep, Shamanism! Why? Because Shamanism and Buddhism have a couple of things in common! Both are Oral Traditions, and both are essentially untainted by the modern lifestyle and remain much the same as they were a couple of thousand years ago. Concentrating now on the AmerIndian Traditions of Shamanism we listen to the words of Hollis Littlecreek, a revered Elder of the Ahnishinabeg Tribe. " The plant takes nourishment from the minerals of Mother Earth. We eat the plant and survive. Some of the plants have to go through transformation, so that their properties will not hurt our body. Animals eat these plants and then we eat those animals and survive. Ultimately, however, the plants, the animals and ourselves die and our bodies return to Mother Earth. In a few million years (no time for a planet) the bodies have become minerals again. And so we see that even in the physical world we live forever. We are a wonderfully harmonious balance between the Spiritual Energy that comes from the Great Spirit and the physical body that comes from Mother Earth. This is the real "Circle of Life"." Hollis Littlecreek. Another part of Shamanism is that the individual "becomes" the animal he eats and receives "power" from it, which of course directly contradicts what James Redfield says in "Shambhala". So, who is right? Well, both as it happens! It all depends on the culture you belong to. So where does that leave me? Well, at the present moment in time I am comfortable with the direction of my Path, a Path that includes the consumption of meat. My "Thought System" or "Mindset" at this time allows for it. Things, may of course, change as I progress in this Life, but at the moment I am happy with my lifestyle and have a tendency towards Hollis Littlecreeks lifeview when it comes to the matter in hand. |
| UPDATE 20TH MAR.2001. Since I wrote the above article further information has come to my attention. Not only the fact that the Dalai Llama eats meat but also that most Tibetan and Japanese Buddhists eat meat. According to the Buddhist Scripture, Sutta Nipata 245, the Buddha said "Anger, Arrogance, Inflexibility, Hostility, Deception, Envy, Pride, Conceit, Bad Conpany, these are the impure foods, not meat". From a personal point of view I find that encouraging. |
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