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Buddhism Between Abstinence and Indulgence: Vegetarianism in the Life and Works of Jigmé Lingpa Abstract Geoffrey Barstow 1 Tibetan Buddhism idealizes the practice of compassion, the drive to relieve the suffering of others, including animals. At the same time, however, meat is a standard part of the Tibetan diet, and abandoning it is widely understood to be difficult. This tension between the ethical problems of a meat based diet and the difficulty of vegetarianism has not been lost on Tibetan religious leaders, including the eight- eenth century master Jigmé Lingpa. Jigmé Lingpa argues repeatedly that meat is a sinful food, incompatible with a compassionate mindset. At the same time, however, he acknowledges the difficulties of vegetarianism, and refuses to mandate vegetarianism among his students. Instead, he offers a variety of practices that can ameliorate the inherent negativity of eating meat. By so doing, Jigmé Lingpa offers 1 Department of Religion and Philosophy, Otterbein University. Email: gbarstow@otterbein.edu.
75 Journal of Buddhist Ethics his students a chance to continue cultivating compassion without having to completely abandon meat. 2 Tibetan Buddhism has long argued for the sanctity of life, condemning the killing of humans and animals alike. For just as long, however, meat has been a staple of the Tibetan diet. Individual religious leaders have dealt with this tension in different ways, but few have done so as revealingly as the eighteenth century master Jigmé Lingpa (‘jigs med gling pa, 1730- 1798). In his religious and autobiographical writings, Jigmé Lingpa draws on Buddhist ideals promoting compassion towards all beings and his own unusually strong love of animals to praise vegetarianism and condemn the killing of animals for meat. Jigmé Lingpa also recognizes, however, that vegetarianism is a difficult ideal. Rather than insisting on vegetarianism, therefore, he offers his students a variety of means through which to mod- erate the negativity of eating meat without fully abandoning it. By doing so, Jigmé Lingpa offers his disciples a method to resolve the tension be- tween Tibetan Buddhism’s compassionate ideal and the practical difficul- ties of a vegetarian diet, allowing one to practice compassion without be- coming vegetarian. Tibetan Buddhism adheres to the Mahāyāna school of Buddhist thought, and, as such, largely defines itself through the persona of the Bo- dhisattva and the cultivation of compassion. Individuals are called upon to 2 At the outset, I wish to extend my appreciation to the Fulbright U. S. Student Program, The Julian Green Fellowship and the University of Virginia, whose generosity support- ed this research. I would also like to thank Professor Janet Gyatso of Harvard Divinity School, who generously granted me access to her notes on Jigmé Lingpa’s Autobiog- raphy, and Kurtis Schaeffer of the University of Virginia, who commented on an earlier draft. Finally, I would like to thank my research assistant Yeshé Drolma and the many other Tibetans who generously offered their insights to this project, but whose names I am withholding to protect their privacy.
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Buddhism Between Abstinence and<br />
Indulgence: Vegetarianism in the Life and<br />
Works of Jigmé Lingpa<br />
Abstract<br />
Geoffrey Barstow 1<br />
Tibetan Buddhism idealizes the practice of compassion, the<br />
drive to relieve the suffering of others, including animals.<br />
At the same time, however, meat is a standard part of the<br />
Tibetan diet, and abandoning it is widely understood to be<br />
difficult. This tension between the ethical problems of a<br />
meat based diet and the difficulty of vegetarianism has not<br />
been lost on Tibetan religious leaders, including the eight-<br />
eenth century master Jigmé Lingpa. Jigmé Lingpa argues<br />
repeatedly that meat is a sinful food, incompatible with a<br />
compassionate mindset. At the same time, however, he<br />
acknowledges the difficulties of vegetarianism, and refuses<br />
to mandate vegetarianism among his students. Instead, he<br />
offers a variety of practices that can ameliorate the inherent<br />
negativity of eating meat. By so doing, Jigmé Lingpa offers<br />
1 Department of Religion and Philosophy, Otterbein University. Email:<br />
gbarstow@otterbein.edu.
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