“I never said anything about what to eat.”
Yeah. You never said anything about which interpretation of quantum theory I should hold either. I'm free to decide what to eat and still be a Buddhist.
“You are ego tripping.”
I'm always ego tripping until I become one of you. Might as well not eat animals while I'm ego-tripping.
“You kill sentient beings indiscriminately anyway. And what about the bacteria you breathe?”
Yes. But I'd rather be a hypocrite than a cynic. You are using the same logic people have always used against vegetarians. I read a seventeenth-century pamphlet against Thomas Tryon that said the same thing: look, he wears shoes! Shoes, people! Leather!
I'd rather be a hypocrite who doesn't eat animals than a hypocrite who does, or a cynic who does and justifies it by using you as a stick to beat me with.
“You are just plain wrong. You'll suffer in your next life! You disrespect me!”
Now don't go getting all theistic on me. Luckily as a Dzogchen practitioner, I abide by this: even if the Buddhas of the three times rise against me, I know I'm not wrong.
Hey Tim, I am interested in the more philosophical/critical aspects of veganism and animal rights, and it seems you may have some insights as to this. If possible, could you recommend me some of your own, or other people's, writings on this topic? Hope you get this. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteTheo