Geoffrey Barstow
\nOtterbein University<\/p>\n
Tibetan Buddhism idealizes the practice of compassion, the drive to relieve the suffering of others, including animals. At the same time, however, meat is a standard part of the Tibetan diet, and abandoning it is widely understood to be difficult. This tension between the ethical problems of a meat based diet and the difficulty of vegetarianism has not been lost on Tibetan religious leaders, including the eighteenth century master Jigm\u00e9 Lingpa. Jigm\u00e9 Lingpa argues repeatedly that meat is a sinful food, incompatible with a compassionate mindset. At the same time, however, he acknowledges the difficulties of vegetarianism, and refuses to mandate vegetarianism among his students. Instead, he offers a variety of practices that can ameliorate the inherent negativity of eating meat. By so doing, Jigm\u00e9 Lingpa offers his students a chance to continue cultivating compassion without having to completely abandon meat. <\/p>\n
Read article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ISSN 1076-9005 Volume 20, 2013 Buddhism Between Abstinence and Indulgence: Vegetarianism in the Life and Works of Jigm\u00e9 Lingpa Geoffrey Barstow Otterbein University Tibetan Buddhism idealizes the practice of compassion, the drive to relieve the suffering of others, including animals. At the same time, however, meat is a standard part of the Tibetan diet, and … Continue reading Vegetarianism in Tibet<\/span>