Welcome to Gaia! ::

Haha, thanks. I appreciate it. She's all for it, and I had planned on going back eventually, so she just brought it up .. while eating Marshmellows ..

True, and the old Pali rules for monks and nuns mention allowances for eating meat, fish, and other rich foods in times of illness (and when offered as alms?). The big issue is to avoid killing animals or eating animals specifically killed so that you could eat it (as for a feast in one's honor).

However, it is generally acknowledged that it is far better to avoid or limit eating flesh because it can lead a practitioner to falsely view "lesser" sentient beings as little more than resources to be exploited.

I'm not a Buddhist, but I stopped eating meat when I was 3 or 4. I decided everything about meat was gross and my parents respected that decision by becoming vegetarian as well. My little sister has never eaten meat. My parents ate very little meat before we switched over completely.

Me also.
I am vegetarian for my health.
The nurse at my school I was very healthy ;D.

Me too. 3nodding I didn't think many other people are like that...
I mean after all, who couldn't eat the clam chowder/fish n' chips specials in Oregon? It's making my mouth water...

I was vegetarian for awhile a few years back (before I became interested in Buddhism) and then I got hired at McDonald's. The McNuggets won me over. rofl

I am a vegetarian, the only animal products I eat are organic diary and eggs. There are a few reasons behind my diet:

1. Un-organic animal products are very unhealthy, they contain too much omega-6 which is already in a lot of western food (esp. american), and no omega-3, which is otherwise only available from seeds. A balance of omega-3 and omega-6 is absolutely crucial for mental and therefore, physical health, and protection from all diseases. Without this balance everyone would suffer ill mental health, and in fact, nutrition is now being used by some doctors as the only means to cure mental illness, and has some success in slightly alleviating mental diseases such as alzheimer's, although if proper nutrition is followed from a young age those diseases can be prevented.

In short, if you're not going to eat organic animal products, then you might as well not eat them at all, because they'll do you more harm than good. The only valuable nutrition from un-organic animal products is protein, which can easily be attained from vegetarian sources.
If you're like me and can't/won't pay for organic meat and fish, it makes sense not to eat them at all. (there is no such thing as organic fish, only 'sustainably farmed', but all fish are high in omega-3 anyway so it's really just a morality thing).


2. The cruelty that animals suffer when farmed in the usual way is just inexcusable. 'Free range' is no better either. To cause an animal to live a short life full of nothing but pain and misery just for us to be able to eat them, is not only a vicious and needless thing to do, it's also totally arrogant; to think that the animal doesn't suffer as much as a human would do in that situation.
Unless you are willing to kill that animal yourself, gut it and skin it, you don't even have the right to eat it. Paying someone else to do that for you so that you don't have to think about what misery you've caused that animal, is just wrong.
Humans are supposed to eat other animals, but that doesn't mean we are better than them. If we are going to eat other animals, we should respect them, let them live out in the wild as they are supposed to, killing them only when we actually need to eat them, so that we don't risk wiping out whole species of animals. We should be thankful for the animals whose lives we have sacrificed for our own, by respectfully using all that they can give to us in a meaningful way, not selling their bones and furs for money, so that other people can wear them as decoration, and wasting their organs, which are the most nutritious parts of their bodies.


3. This is kind of in line with buddhism and hinduism, but it's an idea I've developed on my own. I do believe that by eating or otherwise using a product of a vicious act, we bond negative karma to ourselves. So we should think about where the things we buy come from, and if any suffering has been involved in making it. I'm not just talking about animal products like meat, but also less obvious things such as pearls, silk, wool, bee pollen, etc. Also consider the geographical source. If your decorative garden stone is sourced from india, child labour has probably been involved. Another problem is un-organic cotton, since cotton is one of the most heavily pesticide-treated plants, and also comes from countries where trade is most often not only unfair, but causes a lot of unneccessary danger to the badly underpaid workers.
Same goes for where your stuff goes to when you throw it away.
Do you know where most of our old computers end up? In India and Africa, where they are taken apart by children who end up with radiation poisoning, and are not paid enough to return home to their families, and so have no other choice than to continue doing this job.

We need to think about the effects of living in a consumerist society, because things are only going to change for the better if people begin by being considerate. Check labels, think about the effect of what you purchasing a product is. Ask yourself, do you really need to buy it? Should you go for the cheapest one, or pay a bit extra for organic/fair trade?


4. Finally, the reason I still eat eggs and dairy and am not vegan, is again nutrition.

A vegan diet allows for no vitamin B12, which you need to form red blood cells, and to aid proper use of fats, carbs and protein. It also breaks down homocysteine, something which is essential in preventing heart disease and mental decline later in life. B12 can only be attained properly through eating animal products, particularly liver, poultry, game, and fermented diary such as yoghurt. It is found in some bacteria and fungi attached to organic vegetables, mostly root vegetables, but relying on these solely still puts you at great risk of deficiency.
If you think you may be deficient, fatigue, anaemia, numbness or tingling in the extremeties (due to nerve damage), a sore red tongue and appetite loss, as well as memory loss, depression and dementia, are all signs of B12 deficiency. The bad part is that is can take years for the signs to develop, and sometimes the damage can't be undone.

Another lot of nutrients lacking in a vegan diet is fats.
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is an omega-3 fat and is the precursor of the longer chain omega 3 fats eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA and to a lesser extent DHA can be made in the body from ALA. Primary sources of these fatty acids are certain fish, marine algae and eggs.
These fats are needed to prevent cancer, to keep skin healthy and to basically make your brain work.
Even if you eat seeds on a regular basis, you will still most likely be deficient in these fats unless you increase your intake via other sources.
The best vegan source is marine algae, which when store-bought is grown in a lab, so that it doesn't contain any mercury or other toxins. So if you're strictly vegan, it's something you should be taking as a direct source of DHA.
Eating fish and/or flax and other seeds is actually not the best way of obtaining EPA and DHA, since they have to be broken down from omega-3 first.

To be honest, i'm a vegetarian.
However, i became a vegetarian 6 years ago, before I even considered
becoming Buddhist.
I feel like I couldn't live with eating meat, not that I have anything against
others eating it though.
Nobody is perfect, and although we as Buddhists should not purposley
go out to avoid things as this causes suffering, it's a personal decision for me and I wouldn't go back on it.

Peace.