“The Bhagavan Buddha said, ‘There are countless reasons, Mahāmati, why it is not appropriate for a compassionate bodhisattva to eat any kind of meat. I will explain them to you.” Lankāvatāra Sutra, Chapter 8
I was recently invited to present a short paper online for a conference panel, and decided to talk about the topic of the Importance of the ancient Indian principle of Ahiṃsā and not eating animals in the 21st Century as an invited speaker for a conference called “Reimagining and Reclaiming the Knowledge Traditions of Bharat [India]: Beyond Boundaries and Definitions,” on March 3–4, 2025, at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
My paper was not only about how Ahiṃsā relates to Indian spiritual traditions that abandon eating slaughtered animals (such as Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism) but also how its wisdom and necessity is crucial to protect the future health and existence of humans, animals and the planet, in this secular and multi-religious 21st Century. For a re-recorded video of that talk that I re-recorded (with slides), see here on Youtube:
For more original research and translations on the topic of Buddhism, Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare, see here.
The Principle of Ahiṃsā/non-violence in India and vegetarianism: past and present
As a Buddhist scholar, writer and pilgrim in India, and SE Asia, for several years, it has been heartbreaking and shocking how many Buddhist monastics (but also laypeople) are buying and eating freshly slaughtered animals (chickens) right next to sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites, such as the Bodhi tree temple, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. Many local Indians restaurant owners say that this habit/custom began in such sacred places, when Tibetans (and Bhutanese/Himalayan Buddhists) arrived there en masse post-1959 and brought their strong meat eating habits with them.
Yet vegetarian/veganism has long been the norm in India and has a long history and practice in all the main spiritual/philosophical traditions there such as Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism, and can be traced back to the ancient 4000 year old Vedic Indian principle of Ahiṃsā (non-harm/violence).
In addition, more recently the political and spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, also advocated and lived a life of not eating animals, and brought that lifestyle and practice to London when he visited there, giving a speech at the London Vegetarian Society called the Moral Basis of Vegetarianism.
Buddha’s teachings forbidding eating slaughtered animals
As I have written about several times before, it is clear that Buddha taught in all the three vehicles, of Original Buddhism/Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana against eating slaughtered animals out of choice. The only exception is when meat is spontaneously offered when monastics are begging for alms (which is not practised in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism). Even then, the meat has to be three-fold pure, and must not have been seen, heard or suspected to have been killed deliberately (unnaturally) for the purpose of eating.
In this quote from the Lankāvatāra Sūtra (Chapter 8) in which Buddha cites many different reasons to abandon eating animals:
‘The food I approve of, Mahāmati, is that which all noble people serve and ignoble people abstain from, that which brings about many virtues and removes many faults, that which was offered as food to all the sages of old – that is to say: food prepared with rice, barley, wheat, black lentils, mung beans, lentils and so forth; ghee, oil, honey, treacle, molasses, sugar, sugar-cane juice and so forth; this is proper food.
In the future, Mahāmati, certain deluded people following a variety of different kinds of discipline and teaching distorted views, under the influence of the habitual energy of previous existences as beings who ate flesh and entrenched in their desire for the taste of it, may not like this kind of food when it is offered to them. I say to you, Mahāmati, that such people have not served the victorious ones of the past and planted a great many roots of virtue. They do not possess faith, and are not free of distorted views. They are not sons or daughters of good family, and nor do they belong to the family of the Buddha. They are not free of attachment to body, life, or pleasure. They are not free of greedy desire for the taste of meat. They are not free of ardent craving. They are not compassionate. They have no desire to relate to all living beings as if they were part of themselves. They do not look upon all living beings with affection, as if each were their only child. They are not bodhisattvas. They are not great beings.”
In addition, Buddha also taught that butchery and killing animals is one of the wrong livelihoods he listed, so why would people think it was OK to support a wrong livelihood that also breaches the precept of killing with their money? The psychological health of those who work in slaughterhouses is well-documented as causing severe psychological trauma or psychopathic sadism.
However, in sacred places in India, Nepal, Thailand and Bhutan animals are slaughtered for the dietary demands of Buddhist pilgrims and locals. It is hard to fathom how such people can ignore the severe level of torture (mental and physical) of the animals who can even be seen cooped up all day in cages waiting to be killed.
Tibetan/Vajrayana Buddhism and not eating animals
As the Tibetan yogi Milarepa, and other famous yogi laypeople (and monastics) have all taught, there are no excuses for selling or eating slaughtered animals and supporting the ‘evil’ custom. That was during a time before there were mass slaughterhouses needlessly and intentionally murdering billions of animals annually. Milarepa also encouraged a hunter to stop killing animals too.
The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa recently taught how it not only gives people a bad impression of Buddhism, but also how if we were really eating meat with compassion, we would be weeping with sadness while doing so, as if we had to eat the flesh or our own murdered mother! Like children naturally do, when they see animals being deliberately and coldly killed in front of them.
As Milarepa sang:
“How hateful this murdering beings ‘custom’!
How hugely regrettable this self-deception ‘custom’!
How heavy a weight this killing parents ‘custom’!
How much wrong is done for these stacks of meat ‘custom’!
What is done with the masses of blood in this ‘custom’
However hungry, this eating meat ‘tradition’!
From where mental appearances of this delusional ‘custom’!
Such major evil of this zero compassion ‘custom’!
What dark ignorance and obscurations is this stupidity!
What is to be done about this evil ‘farming’!
Whose desires for pleasure cause this torture ‘custom’?!
Whoever engages in these ‘customs’, how awful!
What depressing sadness is born from this ‘custom’!
These selfish, evil-doers of this busy ‘custom’!
Afterwards, they won’t remember a single instant!
When I see such people, I fear for them!
Remembering appearances of such evil actions, is disturbing!
Rechungpa, remember the divine Dharma!”
Like Milarepa, I (and many others) too despair at this ‘evil custom’. Such a severe lack of mindfulness, compassion and wisdom is no longer a personal dietary choice, and is impacting and influencing us and the planet in extremely harmful ways.
The urgent need for an animal-produce free diet in the 21st Century and protecting the planet’s species and resources
Mass factory farming of animals for their meat is not only unnecessary cruelty and mass murder, it is also one of the biggest causes of environmental pollution, waste of land, natural resources and water, and species extinction, and carbon/climage change emissions. Thus it is not possible to be a genuine environmentalist and eat slaughtered animals, as Jonathan Saffron-Foer wrote about in his bestselling book Eating Animals.
Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock, a widely-cited 2013 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimates about 14.5 percent of global GHG emissions, or 7.1 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, can be attributed to the livestock sector annually. This is broadly equivalent to the emissions from all the fuel burned by all the world’s transport vehicles, including cars, trucks, trains, boats and airplanes.
Animal agriculture specifically:
- Represents 44 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions, the primary driver of climate change related to livestock, as methane is 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 100 years;
- Comprises 44 percent of all anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions, the most potent GHG; and
- Makes up 75-80 percent of total agricultural emissions.
Furthermore, air and water pollution can be directly attributed to the livestock sector, which is the largest contributor to global water pollution. The livestock sector is also one of the leading drivers of global deforestation, and is linked to 75 percent of historic deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Nearly a third of biodiversity loss to date has been linked to animal agriculture. Further amplifying water and air pollution, global livestock produce seven to nine times more sewage than humans, most of which is left untreated. They also discharge pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals into water systems.
When I spoke to Peter Singer, the famous and revered Professor and and author of the groundbreaking 1970’s book, Animal Liberation he told me it was ‘absurd’ that someone in the position of the Dalai Lama told people he eats meat for health reasons, as there are so many alternatives that provide all the sufficient dietary needs in India, see video clip here.
Thus, there are many reasons to apply the ancient Indian principle of Ahimsa to our dietary choices, not only to protect animals from mass murder and torture, but also the humans who work in such horrific slaughterhouses, and last but not least our precious, priceless planet Mother Earth.
Vinaya breaking monastics infringing on the spaces of laypeople with laypeople donations: is it time we press for a change?
On a related, but slightly different topic, if Buddhists and monastics themselves are not aware of the Buddha’s teachings and Vinaya code on eating slaughtered animals and do not have sufficient compassion to abandon the strong habit, is it time that devout Buddhists led the way forward and pushed for a ban on its sale and purchase in places like Bodh Gaya? Not only to preserve and honour the Buddha’s teachings at sacred Buddhist sites, but to protect defenceless, gentle animals like chickens, cows and pigs from the mindless, cruel, uncompassionate slaughter simply for a human’s half hour meal.
I have lost count of the times I have been eating in a layperson restaurant only to have it ‘spoiled’ by witnessing monastics (and laypeople) ordering meat. As the money monastics get to spend as pocket money is provided by Buddhist laypeople (monastics are forbidden from Vinaya rules from having bank accounts, paid employment and private property/housing), one can only wonder whether this was really what hard-working lay Buddhists intended for their monetary donations.
In any case, just as monasteries have monastic-only spaces, perhaps now is the time more than ever to also protect people from Vinaya breaking monastics who invade laypeople spaces, and act like the only difference between them is their dress and shaved heads! ha ha ha.