[Buddha-l] Re: on eating meat

[Jim Peavler]

On Oct 19, 2005, at 5:05 PM, Mike Austin wrote:
>
> This is precisely the point. Friends of mine are vegetarians because 
> it appears to them, intellectually and emotionally,  to be the only 
> way to eat that is compatible with bodhicitta. I appreciate that. All 
> I say is that this is not universally true, and others do not 
> accumulate any bad karma because they behave differently.

I find two worrisome tendencies in this discussion. First, the 
insistence on having some text deliver the "truth" seems to be a form 
of literalism so seriously eschewed amongst the xian fundamentalists, 
and second is the notion that so long as there is no bad karma expected 
as a result of an action then it is OK to do it, or if there is said to 
be bad karma associated with an action then it is to be avoided. This 
is not dissimilar from xians saying that without a belief in their god 
no morality is possible.

If any sutra actually is the words of the man called the Buddha, it 
would seem that one of his major lessons is to look into one's own 
heart and live up to the expectations developed from that to the best 
of one's ability. Another lesson is to associate with persons one 
admires and respects for the orderliness and virtue of his live (Buddha 
apparently didn't say "her" life).

So, my (probably worthless) advice, is not to spend too much time 
looking around outside yourself for your "salvation". Save yourself.