Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat [Paperback]

The canon of vegetarian Buddhist literature is pretty small. Until recently, its only major works--aside from the teachings of the Buddha--were Roshi Philip Kapleau's To Cherish All Beings (1981), Dr. Tony Page's Buddhism & Animals (1999), and Bodhipaksa's Vegetarianism (1999). So it was with great surprise and pleasure that I found no less than three books on the topic were published this very year (2004), Norm Phelps' The Great Compassion, Bodo Balsys' Ahimsa, and now Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat by Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol.

Known simply as Shabkar (1781-1851), the author was a renowned Tibetan Buddhist practitioner who spent most of his life in retreat or wandering the Tibetan and Himalayan regions. His level of compassion was truly inspiring, and it was said that he had "a spiritual career that began with the first stirrings of renunciation in his early childhood and culminated with perfect attainment."

The lengthy translator's introduction (it's nearly one-third of the book) does an excellent job of profiling Shabkar's life and placing the importance of his teachings into historical perspective. But the introduction goes beyond that, discussing the many invalid reasons Buddhists have for eating meat and delving into these excuses, with particular attention paid to Tibetan Buddhism. It is pointed out that while most Tibetans eat meat, a growing number of Tibetans in exile are giving up the practice.

Being a vegetarian in Shabkar's time was truly heroic due to the harsh living conditions, but his concern for animals was legendary and inspiring. This led Patrul Rinpoche, author of The Words of My Perfect Teacher, to comment: "Compassion and love are the roots of Dharma. I think that in the whole world there is no one more compassionate than Lama Shabkar." The aim of Shabkar's compassionate teachings, as clearly explained by the translator's introduction, is "not to repress one's desire for meat or to terminate one's use of animal products by a draconian act of will. Instead, our task is to develop a heartfelt compassion and a genuine sensitivity to the suffering of animals, such that the desire to exploit and feed on them naturally dissolves. Shabkar's main concern is not to instill a sense of guilt or inadequacy; it is to elevate the mind toward new and more noble objectives."

There are two of Shabkar's texts presented in Food of Bodhisattvas. The first, "The Faults of Eating Meat," is a collection of quotes from Mahayana scriptures and teachings of Tibetan masters. The second part, "The Nectar of Immortality," is Shabkar's seminal discourse on the topic of vegetarianism and is of particular interest since the text was only recently found in 2001.

The first section contains lengthy selections from the Lankavatra, Mahaparinirvana, and Angulimala Sutras, as well as excerpts from the Sutra of Close Mindfulness and several commentaries and Tantras from the likes of King Yeshe Ö, Changkya, and the Ven. Milarepa. While some readers may be familiar with a few of the selections in "The Faults of Eating Meat," most of these texts are unknown in the West and comprise a unique collection that is both inspiring and, well... enlightening.

The first section is concluded with an original verse from Shabkar which is both stunning and, at times, graphic:

All of you who eat this baneful food,

The flesh and blood of beings once your parents,

Will take rebirth in Screaming and the other burning hells,

There to bake and boil.

He goes on to describe the various hells that will be experienced by those who kill animals or order others to kill animals, who eat animals, including fish, who slaughter and sell animal meat, etc.

The second section, "The Nectar of Immorality," is just as stunning and a wonderful representation of compassion towards all sentient beings. In this part Shabkar details the various negative consequences associated with flesh foods, including the idea that any animal we eat was at one time, because of samsara--the cycle of rebirths--our mother or father. He delivers this message in his typically straight-forward style: "We should look upon all beings as our kind parents, and in order to repay the goodness they have shown us, we must meditate daily on loving-kindness, compassion, and bodhichitta. Let us not be stained by this evil food, the flesh and blood of our very parents!"

Shabkar takes an in-depth look at the horrid consequences of monks eating meat. If you've heard of trickle-down economics, this could be called the trickle-down evil of the monastic meat trade. Shabkar also speaks on the many misrepresentations that the Buddha freely ate meat, he exposes many of the misguided teachers of his day, and answers the numerous excuses meat-eating Buddhists have for this bad habit-many with a Tibetan bent-and he does not mince his words, saying that those who use these alibis are "very far from compassion, the mental soil in which the aspiration to supreme enlightenment in cultivated."

Not being a Tibetan Buddhist, some of the terminology was a bit confusing to me. But numerous endnotes and a glossary guided me through. The translation of Food of Bodhisattvas is very well done. Shabkar's free-flowing teachings are a joy to read, and I would recommend them to Buddhists of any lineage. In Western Tibetan Buddhism--where the question of vegetarianism seems to have been answered by Galek Rinpoche's comment "we Tibetans like to eat meat" (Tricycle, Winter 1994)--Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol's voice is a breath of fresh air. A 153 year-old breath of fresh air.

Over the years, I've heard all sorts of arguments for and against being vegetarian. One of the qualities I appreciate about Lama Shabkar was his ability to speak with such authority and yet remain non-judgemental. In this book, Lama Shabkar praises the merit of vegetarianism, making his case from Sutra and Tantra. It certainly gives a Mahayana practitioner food for thought!

This is the final convincing arguement against the eating of meat and to adopt vegetarianism.