A Rejoinder to “The Heart of the Vegetarian Matter”
April 21st, 2009
wrote this circa 2004…
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I think the better version of that witticism is “I’m a vegetarian not because I love animals. It’s because I hate plants.”
The anecdote might have been simply a hyperbole to convey what I think is a very wise teaching: should it ever come to a point when one’s uncompromising principles lead to the possible loss of compassion, better relax and compromise. I think the head-monk ate the meat not so much because he didn’t want to refuse the host but because his fellow-monks were berating the hotel staff.
Likewise, the “animal-loving misanthropist” bit simply referred to the abundant cases of eccentrics who get featured in the media who shun human society and spend millions of dollars for the upkeep of their pet cats/dogs.
I wasn’t all that concerned with vegetarianism per se.