Being a vegetarian

“You have recorded my conversation, so you should relate it to the people.  We are here at the place of Guru Rinpoche’s cave.  At this place, we are exchanging questions and answers.  It will be nice for other people to hear this.  When you make your book, put my interview at the beginning.  Thank you.”

COMPASSIONATE ACTION – Chapter Two

Chatral Rinpoche’s Steadfast Commitment to Ethics

Chatral Rinpoche is renowned in the Tibetan community for his peerless spiritual discipline, especially when it comes to refraining from eating meat.  Meat eating is an entrenched aspect of Tibetan culture and there are very few who can do without it for long.  His Holiness the Dalai Lama became vegetarian in 1966, but when he got Hepatitis B the Tibetan doctors who support him insisted he start to eat meat again, which he continues to do today in moderate quantities.  A few contemporary masters—such as Kangyur Rinpoche—were also known for being strict vegetarians, but they are the exception.  When I was on the University of Wisconsin-Madison College Year in Nepal Program in 2000, I was studying how Tibetans view the cultural convergence of Buddhism and meat eating and Chatral Rinpoche was one of the main people I interviewed.  Here are some excerpts from that interview:

Question:  Why did you decide to stop eating meat?  How old were you when you made this decision?

Answer:  It is written in many Theravadayana and Mahayana texts that one should not eat meat.  There is also a Vajrayana text that says the same thing, that one should not enjoy meat or alcohol.  Because of this I am following the instructions of Shakyamuni Buddha.  Being a religious person, I don’t take meat or alcohol and at the same time I try to tell other people not to consume these things.  This is my reason—I’m just trying to motivate other people.  I was 47 years old when I went to Bodhgaya and made a vow to all of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to give up meat and alcohol.

Question:  Why do you think vegetarianism is an important aspect of practicing the Dharma?

Answer:  If you take meat, it goes against the vows one takes in seeking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.  Because when you take meat you have to take a being’s life.  So I gave it up.

Question:  Some claim that one can help the animals one eats by praying for them, and thus eating meat is compassionate.  Other than for the most accomplished yogis and lamas, what do you make of this claim?

Answer:  With supernatural powers gained through certain meditations, it is true that there are some realized beings who can revive animals from the dead and help them reach a higher rebirth or Enlightenment by consuming small amounts of their flesh.  But this is not done for sustenance, only for the purpose of helping that animal.  I personally do not have that power and because of that I never eat meat.  Eating meat in one’s diet is much different than eating flesh to liberate a being through supernatural powers.  I am just an ordinary practitioner who really doesn’t have these qualities.  So, if I ate meat it would be the same if you or any other lay person ate meat.  I would be committing sin and I would be getting negative karma.  I don’t pretend as if I have special powers and eat meat, I just avoid it altogether.

Question:  Do you know other lamas who are vegetarian?

Answer:  I know many of them from Tibet.  There are Nyingma, Sakya and Gelukpa vegetarians in Tibet. Compared to the many meat-eating lamas, vegetarian lamas are very few though.  I’m 88 and during my experience I have come across many lamas in Kham, Amdo—all parts of Tibet—who don’t eat meat.  There are lamas who eat meat and those who don’t.  At my monastery in Tibet there are also lamas who take meat and those who don’t.

Question:  Many Buddhist practitioners in the United States eat meat because their Tibetan lamas eat meat.  What do you make of this?

Answer:  Many great siddhas in India drank enormous amounts of alcohol and developed magical powers.  One of these mahasiddhas (Virupa) kept drinking alcohol all day and suspended the sun in the sky and kept it from setting.  Naropa, Tilopa—these were great masters.

If you can acquire supernatural powers, you don’t need to follow the same standards of normal people and you can drink alcohol and eat meat.  Those who have supernatural powers can still give great teachings and benefit all sentient beings.

So, if the teachers in America are of that level, ask all your friends to join them in drinking alcohol and eating meat (Rinpoche was being sarcastic with this response).  It all depends on the level of realization one has achieved.  A lama who enjoys meat and alcohol can still bring people on the right path, so long as they have developed supernatural powers.

Question:  Do you see Tibetan Buddhists in exile making a sincere effort to reduce their meat consumption and become vegetarian, or has meat eating become an entrenched aspect of Tibetan culture?

Answer:  In Tibet, there’s only meat and tsampa (roasted barley flour)—there is no other staple food. Tibet is at a high altitude and the climate is tundra-like.  There are not many fruits and vegetables.  After coming to South Asia, you really don’t have to follow the Tibetan custom of meat and tsampa.  There are many types of fruits and vegetables, nutritional supplements—all kinds of good foods.  Everything is available.  So there is really no need to talk about the customs of Tibet as an excuse for eating meat.  From my experience, not eating meat has many benefits.  I’m 88 and ever since I stopped eating meat, I haven’t had any major sickness.

When I sleep, I sleep well.  When I get up, I can walk right away.  When I read religious texts, I can see them properly.  I have very good hearing and can listen attentively.  These are the qualities I have experienced from not eating meat.  I didn’t get sick or die when I stopped eating meat; no negative consequences came to me.  I can travel by vehicle, airplane or train without getting nauseous or dizzy and I never get headaches.

I am a human being formed with flesh and blood like anyone else and am proof that giving up meat does not make one ill like many Tibetans seem to think.  I’m telling you from my own experience; only good things have happened to me from giving up meat.

Question:  Many Tibetans quote a sutra passage that says if one does not hear, see, or suspect that meat has been obtained especially for you, then it is acceptable to eat.  How do you respond to this?

Answer:  If the animal being killed is unseen, then it is something like stealing something without being caught.  That would also be deemed acceptable if you used this rationale. You could say something dirty without being heard—as if you need evidence to judge whether it is a sin or not.  What they say is not right.  Killing, stealing and other negative actions can never be gotten away with.  Even if other people don’t see you do them, the deities, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see you doing these things.  There is a Tibetan saying that even if one does not get caught committing a sin, that the gods catch you every time.  It is impossible to do anything without being seen—you’re always being watched by the deities.  They see and understand what you did—they know that you helped to kill an animal by buying meat.  This is my answer.

Question:  Some monks have told me that since insects are killed in the production of rice and other vegetables, then there is really no difference in eating those things and eating meat.  What do you think about this?

Answer:  This would mean that you wouldn’t eat anything and would starve to death. If you say you were going to go for a month without killing insects through the food you eat, then you would die.  If you die, this precious human life is wasted.  So if you just let your body be destroyed, that means you are taking your own life, which is killing in itself.  You can always take the insect from the rice when you see it and let it free outside.  You don’t necessarily have to kill beings to eat.  Although, when we walk we crush many insects under our feet.  We may not see them or observe them, but still we must be killing them.  Not being aware doesn’t mean that we haven’t created any sin, because after all, cause and effect are always there.

After the interview, Rinpoche said to me, “Today you came to ask me these things and I answered them.  It is very good.  I am very happy.  You have recorded my conversation, so you should relate it to the people.  We are here at the place of Guru Rinpoche’s cave.  At this place, we are exchanging questions and answers.  It will be nice for other people to hear this.  When you make your book, put my interview at the beginning. Thank you.”

Rinpoche’s monastery at Yangleshöd has two signs posted on it related to meat eating.  The first is in Tibetan, Nepali and English and is one of the first things you see when you approach the monastery.  The sign, a full four square meters in size, reads:

IN THIS BUDDHIST MONASTERY THE CONSUMPTION OF
MEAT, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE & TOBACCO AS WELL AS
PLAYING CARDS OR GAMBLING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

One of the principal vows in Buddhism is to refrain from consuming intoxicants, along with refraining from killing, stealing, lying and sexual misconduct.  Not many Tibetan Buddhists outside of the monastic tradition take this vow seriously and Nyingma practitioners are known to drink alcohol.  Rinpoche does not tolerate this at all among his disciples.  There was an incident a few years ago where a photo of a late lama was placed in Rinpoche’s room by the disciples of this lama, who were asking Rinpoche for blessings.  When Rinpoche saw the photo, he said, “This person was an alcoholic and had broken his precepts, don’t leave this photo in my room; take it away!”

When the attendant removed the photo from the wooden frame, there was another photo beneath.  Rinpoche asked who was in the picture and was told it was the son of the late lama, who was also a heavy drinker.  Rinpoche proclaimed, “Like father, like son. Take away both of their photos!”

In regards to smoking, Rinpoche said,

“The major defect of smoking is that it will close the Brahma’s door at the top of one’s head.  So at the moment of death, it will be extremely difficult for one’s practice of phowa in trying to let one’s consciousness out from there, either to liberate oneself from cyclic existence or to go to the three upper realms.  It is most advisable for all Dharma practitioners—for the sake of both themselves and others—not to smoke at all!”

The second sign is posted outside of the main worship area and reads in Tibetan and English, “How can we practice true compassion while we consume the flesh of an animal to fatten our own flesh?  Stop this filthy habit for your health, for the environment and for the animals.”  This large poster placed in a protective frame was made by an animal rights group at Dzogchen Monastery in South India and shows how highly Rinpoche values this ethic.

The daughter of the great Nyingma figure Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche named Pema is a close friend of Chatral Rinpoche’s family.  She gave me some insights on the importance of vegetarianism in Rinpoche’s practice of compassion in my interview with her in 2000.

She said, “Meat eating is high on Chatral Rinpoche’s spiritual radar.  Rinpoche is so connected with animals.  He loves animals.  He loves watching wildlife videos on T.V.  His great compassion caused him to stop eating meat.  He gives all his money to save 70 truckloads of fish in Calcutta.  It is his most important yearly activity.

He prays for every bucketful he dumps into the ocean, trying to bring them to a higher rebirth.  In the Dharma, it is not just a matter of not doing something—eating meat for instance—but actively protecting life.  Rinpoche lives this.  He is so connected on a vast level to sentient beings and their suffering.”

Rinpoche is drawn to dark, sinful, murderous places—to Hindu animal sacrifice areas.  He took his daughter Saraswati and myself to one once.  It was beautiful on the outside, with flowers and carvings.  He bought some birds in a cage and released them at the top of the roof.  Then we came to the goat sacrifice place.  At first I had my eyes closed, but then I saw it—innocent goats being murdered and blood everywhere.  I was horrified.  Rinpoche calmly walked over the goat blood as if he was doing walking meditation.  He wasn’t a bit fazed by it.  I think he was trying to teach us the lesson of being fearless and patient in the face of suffering.

Eating for rejuvenation

For most people, being on a spiritual path brings with it the principles of vegetarian living.  I too wanted to uphold the precepts of not eating meat to obtain all the benefits that spirituality had to offer.  While it is certainly much easier to enter meditative states by abstaining from eating meat, it is not so easy to obtain perfect physical health through this alone.

When you move from a poor diet to a healthy diet, it doesn’t mean that you will automatically experience the effects of complete rejuvenation.  Only when you know the exact laws of hygiene does this become possible.  Therefore, you need to gather the right information and then make the choices that work for you.

“The greatest of all diet reforms is the change from meat-eating to a meatless diet. This is also the first step on the spiritual path, the first gesture that rightness, justice, compassion, purity are being set up as necessary to human and humane living, in contrast to animal living.” — Paul Brunton

Figuring out a game-plan to get back to health involves a commitment that is based on the PRINCIPLES of revering and honoring life.  Even though we never know when we are going to pass away, at least we can enjoy a quality of life that most others would never know.

“So it is, Manjushri. There is not a single being, wandering in the chain of lives in endless and beginningless samsara, that has not been your mother or your sister. An individual, born as a dog, may afterward become your father.  Each and every being is like an actor playing on the stage of life. One’s flesh and the flesh of others is the same flesh. Therefore the Enlightened Ones eat no meat. Moreover, Mahjushri, the dharmadhatu  is the common nature of all beings, therefore Buddhas refrain from eating meat.”  — Angulimala Sutra

The ideal:

For healing, rejuvenation, and regeneration to occur physically being on a completely raw-food diet is essential for optimal health to take place.  It does take time to get to this level of purity.  It also takes a certain willingness to get educated properly in order to have confidence that this process works.  Nonetheless, whenever you create the right conditions in your body, healing will eventually come about.

Abiding with nature is the slow and steady way to become whole.

In order to create the right conditions for healing to occur it would be wise to complete a liver-cleanse and then an extended OJ fast.  Once you accomplish these pre-requisites, then you can choose to continue eating well, modify your diet, or go completely back to your old ways.  It is entirely up to you.

You never want to become obsessed or extreme about this.  You just want to give your body some time so that it has the chance to recuperate, balance and regenerate itself.

It may be that you are ready to take the next step and eat even healthier than before.  It is important to note that you don’t have to worry that you will be eating this way forever.  You could simply set a time limit for how long you want to cleanse and purify this way.

Here are two alternative diet-plans that create the precise conditions to maintain a healthy body:

Food combining:

While you are in the transition from an ovo-lacto vegetarian to a raw food diet it is best to learn the Food Combining Protocols outlined by Dr. Hay.  If you cannot become a complete Raw Foodist right away, that is OK.  No problem.  At the very minimum, you can have one cooked meal per day.  Over time you can become stricter.

The reason to follow these food-combining rules is because you want your body to run more efficiently and not accumulate acids in your body.  This path is one of making better choices with awareness of what is correct or incorrect for your body.

For example, right food combining means you would NOT mix proteins and carbohydrates.  Eating pizza would be a wrong food combination because the cheese is protein and the bread is a carb.  If you eat the wrong combination then acidosis sets in and invariably disease is not far behind.

Mono-diet:

The mono-diet is something you can adopt to refine your system more precisely than food-combining does.  The mono-diet says to eat only one food at a time.  This is a more perfected method to assure you are not making any mistakes and accumulating acids.  It is a simple process.  If you desire grapes then you keep eating all the grapes you want until you are full.

As a general rule, ten minutes later your stomach should be empty of fruit.  Then you could pick another food.  Maybe you wanted almonds next.  You would eat all the almonds your body desires until you weren’t hungry anymore.  It may take your system about 45 minutes or more to digest these nuts.

This is how you will come to know your body in exact detail.  Just be mindful and see how your body handles each particular food.  In all cases, try to get into the habit of chewing all your food into a liquid.  Your stomach is not a grinder.  It needs all the help it gets from the enzymes in your salivary glands.

WARNING: the following information is for informational purposes and no one can encourage you to move in this direction unless you are willing to self-experiment and have guidance/permission from your doctor, lama, healer or guru.

It has been said that grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet that obeys nature in the correct way.   But, how many really know that breads are poor choices for food?  The way breads are made today may actually cause more harm than good.  For example, the ingredient in white bread utilizes the same paste to put up your wallpaper in your home.  Not good at all.

“I have to agree with the old medical books, bread is the staff of death, but if a person could chew it to a liquid, it would do much less harm.” –MH

Furthermore, it may be surprising to hear what the Master Herbalist has to say about vegetables.  How many people know that most vegetables are not proper human foods?

“Vegetables are not natural, they grow too quickly. BUGS love vegetables, because nature wants them destroyed. Humans need very small minerals that fruits from the tree possess. Minerals in the fast growing vegetables are too BIG and are known to get in the blood stream and can’t get out the kidneys, so they stick to the veins and clog our circulation over time.” –MH

It may sound strange and even shocking to hear that.  The good news is, when we are healthy and our VITALITY and LIFE-FORCE is STRONG we can pretty much eat anything and everything.  But, when we are sick and debilitated and have a so-called incurable disease we need to take every precaution to get back to health.

Three signs:

Some signs to look for while cleansing and eating healthy and taking herbal supplements:

1. the skin becomes clearer
2. the hair grows in thicker and darker
3. the teeth become whiter

This is very important to understand.  While experiencing the qualities of rejuvenation, the nails will begin to feel stronger and take on a clear sheen to them and will not look cloudy.  The hair will become thicker and appear wet, as if filled with life-force, and not dry or falling out.  And lastly, the teeth will become much whiter and not look sickly yellow.

TIPS:

With the above information you have a tool to gauge where you are at.  Even so, one needs to study extensively these PROTOCOLS of abiding with nature.  MH acquired lead-poisoning from the factory he worked at, and only got his health back after following Nature’s laws.

Likewise, Dr. William Howard Hay had renal disease or kidney failure.  In the old days, it was called Bright’s disease and now the term is chronic nephritis.  Both these men achieved rejuvenation by following Nature and went on to document their results for the benefit of all.

Discovering the truth certainly comes from self-applied prevention.  I advise anyone to start reading MH’s 108 Pages booklet and the Dr. Hay book, Health via Food to get started.

Good Luck!
Neo

Principles of health

MH, at the Ask Barefoot Herbalist forum, always says that few people are willing to self-experiment with herbs and juice fasting.  I would say it is even harder to discern properly what true health really is.  In 2005, following the Dr. Hay protocol, I completed the 21 day Orange Juice fast and lost a pound a day in the process.  It is no easy task to accomplish.  However, to complete such a fast is the only way to obtain a proper BASIS for what is healthy for the body and what is not.

Many years later I fell off the path and started eating meat again.  I got bored and didn’t even feel like drinking distilled water anymore so I decided to do the Wiley Brooks challenge.  The diet would consist of eating one McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese and a large diet coke on a daily basis for seven days.  This was quite crazy to consider and I do NOT advise anyone to just do it.  But for me, it was a lesson in discernment through Crazy Wisdom.

The Buddha taught the middle path and it makes sense since being a raw foodist was one extreme and the other was eating meat every day.

Like many philosophers say, you have to follow the PRINCIPLES of life to obtain excellence.  Even Josh Waitzkin, the famous Chessmaster, is one of the rare few who can easily explain how to play chess properly by following the exact principles to it.  Likewise, when following the Buddha dharma one must know, understand, and observe the ethical principles (precepts) to achieve the proper results.

So when I did the Wiley Brooks diet, over time, I would come to discern the differences and similarities between these two health protocols.  Unfortunately, the hair growth and strong feeling while on his diet was not enough to produce any incredible long-term results.  Not to mention the harmful side effects such as the tightening up of the channels and drying up of the lymph nodes would eventually lead to kidney pain.  A short time later a full detox would get me back to normal.  The Wiley protocol was a dead-end.

But the real measure of health came later when taking MH’s 2010 Longevity Spices for Life.

The three signs that the body is rejuvenating properly are the skin becomes clearer, the hair grows in thicker and darker and the teeth become whiter.  This is very important to understand.

On the right path toward rejuvenating the body, the nails will begin to feel stronger and take on a clear sheen to them and will not look cloudy.  The hair will become thicker and filled with life-force and appear wet and not dry.  And lastly, the teeth will become pearly white and not look sickly yellow.

With this known, you have a tool to gauge where you are at.  You just need to study the PRINCIPLES of health in detail.  I advise anyone to start reading MH’s 108 Pages booklet and the Dr. Hay book, Health via Food to get started.

Understanding the way food combining works, advocated by Dr. Hay, is the correct PRINCIPLE for obtaining healthy blood and therefore a healthy body which is more alkaline in nature.  For some, food combining is one of the hardest things to maintain but the rewards are great.  Others have had problems keeping track of the rules so they are encouraged to follow a mono diet.

The mono diet is the surest way to get back to health without making any mistakes!  What is a mono diet?  You eat only one type of food per meal and eat as much of that as you want till you are full.

Your first meal may be a fruit such as strawberries and you eat all the strawberries your heart desires.  The next meal may be almonds and you can eat all the almonds you want till you get full.  The reason for getting back to basics this way is your body won’t turn acidic on a mono diet.  The stomach now has a chance to be restored to its original healthy state.  The fault of incorrect food combination is: when you combine protein and carbs your stomach turns acidic.  This in turn, causes the lymph nodes to activate and the toxins go up and out the head rather than down and out the body in the correct way.  Since the stomach is overwhelmed and can’t handle the excess acids to digest foods properly… weight-gain and disease settles in.

So, the first step is researching the PRINCIPLES to good health.  Next, learn the proper rules to food combining.  Then, get educated on why juice fasting is important to rid yourself of environmental toxins from the air we breathe and the harmful chemicals and metals we have ingested over the years.

Once you accomplish a juice fast – whether it is for 7 days or 14 days this alone will help you discern the BASIS of what is normal health for you and nobody else.

Others have gone on to accomplish 21, 40 and even 108 days with ease because it is not a strict water fast that leaves your muscles atrophied.  The almonds eaten on the fast supply the body with enough protein so the muscles get what they need.  Lastly, find a middle path that works for you.  Even if that means on occasion you eat meat or junk food, now you have a suitable method to get back on track.  If you get sick…a three day OJ fast is part of your tool-bag to achieve health quickly.

The body is specially designed.  When you live by the laws of nature you experience health much faster than if you go against nature.  As you live in harmony with Nature you will begin to see how strong, resilient and efficient the body works.  These are the inner workings of true health that people have forgotten to pass down from one generation to the next.

Others suggest that this information has been suppressed time and time again.  Of course, one shouldn’t place too much importance on the body in exclusion to mind and energy work.  But when you master the body, it is much easier to forget about it and focus on the more important task at hand – enlightenment itself.

UPDATE:  The Master Herbalist has a new forum to play on and answer questions: The Barefoot Way Forum

Good luck!
Neo