‘FOOD OF SINFUL DEMONS’ AND THE FAULTS OF EATING ANIMALS: Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet: Interview with Dr. Geoffrey Barstow (Dakini Conversations: Ep.4)

Introduction

In Episode 4 of the Dakini Conversations podcast, it was a pleasure to speak with Dr. Geoffrey Barstow,  one of the very few scholars and writers in the world today writing about the topic of vegetarianism and eating animals in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The video podcast can be viewed on Youtube here (with CC captions in English for those who like to read along with the audio). The interview is time-stamped with chapters for ease of listening and browsing.

Dr. Barstow spent significant time studying Tibetan language and Buddhist Philosophy in Nepal and his PhD from the University of Virginia (2013) entitled ‘Food of Sinful Demons: Meat, Vegetarianism, and the Limits of Buddhism in Tibet‘ (which can be freely downloaded here) was later published as a book. He is currently an Associate Professor at Oregon State University (CV and bibliography here). 

Barstow’s work looks to the lives and examples of great Tibetan Buddhist masters, such as 8th Karmapa, Kunkhyen Dolpopa, Jigme Lingpa. Zhabkar, and more recent masters such as Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro Rinpoche and their writings and example of vegetarianism prior to the Chinese invasion of 1959. His most recent book, ‘The Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism’ (2019) is an edited compilation of new and original translations by such Tibetan Buddhist masters on eating slaughtered animals. Dr. Barstow has also written about how gender ideas of masculinity have informed meat-eating in Tibet and the recent re-surge in vegetarianism in Tibet predominantly due to Buddhist ethics and philosophy on the topic, but also as identity resistance to Chinese domination and cultural hegemony and the mass breeding and slaughter of yaks in Tibetan regions.

In this podcast discussion, Dr. Barstow talks about how he first became interested in Buddhism and vegetarianism via the work of Tibetan teachers, such as Patrul Rinpoche and Buddhist studies in Kathmandu, Nepal where he took vegetarian vows with Nyingma master and passionate vegetarian and animal rights advocate, Jadrel Rinpoche (1913-2015).  This  led into research of texts by great Tibetan Buddhist masters including that of a Tibetan Bon master, Nyammey Sherab Gyeltsen (1356-1415) whose quote about ‘Food of Sinful Demons’ inspired the title of his 2013 PhD on the topic. [It is also said that Bon monastics all have to take vegetarian vows too].  More recent research focuses on masters such as the 8th Karmapa, Kunkhyen Dolpopa, Zhabkar Tsogdrug Rangdrol, Jigme Lingpa and, more recently Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro (of Larung Gar) on the importance of having an animal-free diet in Tibet, as well as the ‘three-fold’ purity rule said to have been created by Buddha for monastics who had to beg for alms/food. 

Barstow’s work shows that vegetarianism as an ethical, spiritual, political and philosophical ideology and movement was very much ‘alive and kicking’ in Tibet, both prior to, and after, the Buddhist teachings spread there, and also prior to the Chinese Communist invasion of 1959 . In his recent Tricycle magazine, The Hidden Vegetarians of Tibet, Barstow explains how he identified more than 110 individual lamas—religious teachers—who made the decision to give up meat and who were active prior to the Chinese invasion of the 1950s.   The Tibetan textual evidence pushes back against the common misperception (even among some western scholars) that vegetarianism in Tibet is a ‘recent fad’ inspired by Chinese Buddhism and/or western Buddhists and that the main Buddhist leaders and masters for the past thousand years and more, in all the main Tibetan lineages and traditions (with the exception of the Gelugpas) have been generally opposed to eating slaughtered animals and either forbade it in their own lineages (like the Karmapas) or personally refrained from eating meat.

We also briefly discuss the Dalai Lama /Gelugpa position on eating animals which is in marked contrast to masters of other main lineages like Kagyu, Jonang and Nyingma.  For example, the current 14th Dalai Lama (who is criticised by many for eating meat for health reasons as advised by a Tibetan doctor) and the Gelugpa movement seem to follow the ‘excuses for eating slaughtered animals’ rationale by Khedrub Je, who bizarrely argues that buying meat from a butcher would not breach the three-fold purity rule for monastics. One could argue that it certainly breaches the rule on encouraging others to kill though (which is one of the four monastic defeats)! One thing is clear though that Buddha only allowed meat when monks had been begging for alms, not purchasing already murdered animals in butchers or restaurants. Such consumption has the ‘double karmic effect’ as mentioned by the 17th Karmapa in one of his teachings on vegetarianism in Bodh Gaya, of the negative karma of oneself eating the slaughtered animal (which according to Buddha has many negative repercussions) but also encourages others to commit the negative karmic action of killing animals (without good reason). Tibetan scholar Nyangshem Gyel (who lives in Tibet) wrote a paper in 2018 on the sectarian formation of vegetarianism in Tibet, which considers the Gelugpa ‘meat eating’ stance which is in notable contrast to that of other main Tibetan Buddhist lineages, here. Gyal says: “Texts on the faults of meat appear in Tibetan literature with some frequency, though I am not aware of any such texts from Gelug scholars. Conversely, I have encountered some meat-defending texts that were composed by Gelug masters.”

In contrast, the current 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s  recent teachings on Buddha’s advice about meat-eating and that he never allowed it, with the exception of monastics who were begging for food on alms rounds but only then if it was offered without any prior knowledge and fulfilled the ‘three-fold’ purity rule. Moreover, in the Mahayana Sutras, such as the Lankavatara Sutra and Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha (just before he passed away) expressly forbids it under any circumstances, even when  begging for food, or when the animal had died naturally.  A compilation of the 17th Karmapa’s teachings can be read here.

For more research and translations on the topic of Buddhism and vegetarianism, see here. For my recent art review with Tibetan artist, Tenzin Gyurmey and his stunning and provocative artistic renderings (see images below) of issues connected to eating meat in Tibetan exile culture in India, see here : RED-FACED ‘BEHIND THE TWO MOUNTAINS’.

Music? Behind the Mask by Goldfinger and Meat is Murder by The Smiths.

Selected bibliography

Barstow, Geoffrey:

2013.  ‘Food of Sinful Demons: Meat, Vegetarianism, and the Limits of Buddhism  in Tibet‘ PhD University of Virginia.

2013. “Between Abstinence and Indulgence: Vegetarianism in the Life and Works of Jigmé Lingpa.”  Journal of Buddhist Ethics 20: 73-104.

2017. “A Necessary Evil: Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen’s Advice on Eating Meat.”  Buddhist Luminaries: Inspired Advice by Nineteenth-Century Ecumenical Masters in Eastern Tibet.  Eds. Holly Gayley and Josh Shapeiro.  Boston: Wisdom.

2018. Hidden Vegetarians of Tibet, Tricycle Magazine.

2019. The Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism. Wisdom Publications.

2019. Monastic Meat: The Question of Meat Eating and Vegetarianism in Tibetan Buddhist Monastic Guidelines (bca’ yig) Religions.

2021. “A Case for Vegetarianism.”  Voices from Larung Gar.  Ed. Holly Gayley and Jann Ronis.  Boston: Wisdom.

Gyel, Nyangshem. 2018. The Sectarian Formation of Tibetan Vegetarianism: Identifying the First Polemic on Meat-eating in Tibetan Literature. Journal of Tibetology.

Tomlin, Adele. 2021.  MEAT IS MURDER: ‘Tibetan Buddhist Vegetarianism: Ancient and Modern’ compiled teachings by 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje.