Vegetarianism is a hotly debated topic within Buddhist circles. This book provides a valuable new contribution to the discussion with translations of thirteen Tibetan texts focused on the ethical problems associated with eating meat, coming from a wide variety of perspectives and lineages.

Should all Buddhists be vegetarian?

Vegetarianism is an important topic of debate in Buddhist circles--some argue that Buddhists should avoid meat entirely while others suggest that it is acceptable. For the most part, however, this ethical query has been conducted in the West without consulting traditional literature on the subject. The Faults of Meat brings together for the first time a collection of rich and intricate explorations of authoritative Tibetan views on eating meat. These fourteen nuanced texts, ranging from scholastic treatises to poetic verse, reveal vegetarianism as a significant, ongoing issue of debate for Tibetans across time and traditions, with a wide variety of voices marshaled against meat, and a few in favor. Authors include many important Tibetan teachers:

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) Khedrup Je (1385-1438) The eighth Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje (1507-1554) Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (1781-1851) Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro (1961- ) and many more.

These Buddhist teachers recognize both the ethical problems that surround meat eating and the practical challenges of maintaining a vegetarian diet; their skilled arguments are illuminated further by the translators' introductions to each work.

The perspectives in The Faults of Meat are strikingly relevant to our discussions of vegetarianism today; they introduce us to new approaches and solutions to a contentious issue for Buddhists.

Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism, Geoffrey Barstow, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 192 pp, $34.95

Geoff Barstow first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in 1999, while on a study abroad trip in college. Since that time, the study of Tibetan religion, history, and culture has been the focus of his professional life. He has spent more than six years conducting research in Nepal, China, and Tibet. That research focuses on the history of vegetarianism on the Tibetan plateau, asking questions about how animals were viewed, how they were treated (ie: eaten), what that can tell us about Tibetan Buddhism, and how Buddhist ideas about animal ethics might impact broader philosophical discussions. As a teacher, his courses emphasize various aspects of Buddhist religious thought, but also seek to explore how those ideas have been lived and experienced by actual Buddhists.

Foreword by Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro	vii
Foreword by Matthieu Ricard	ix
Acknowledgments	xv
Conventions	xvii
Introduction by Geoffrey Barstow	1
1. Canonical Precedents: The Lanavatara and Mahaparinirvana Sutras by Geoffrey Barstow	31
2. Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen on Refraining from Meat by Michael Sheehy	53
3. Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo on the Faults of Alcohol and Meat by Jorg Heimbel	77
4. Hendrup Je on Meat in the Monastery by Anna Wolcott Johnson	119
5. Gorampa on Meat in the Three Vows by Geoffrey Barstow	159
6. Karmapa Mikyo Dorje's Critique of Meat in Tantric Ritual by Geoffrey Barstow	173
7. Karma Chakme's Comprehensive Critique of Meat by Geoffrey Barstow	181
8. Songs against Meat by the Yogi Shabkar by Rachel H. Pang	211
9. Nyala Pema Dundul's Inferno by Adam Pearcey	223
10. A Necessaruy Evil: Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen on the Faults of--and Need for--Meat by Geoffrey Barstow	235
11. Arija Rinpoche on Giving Up Meat by Sangseraima Ujeed	247
12. Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro's Appeal to Contemporary Tibetans to Abandon Meat and Practice Nonkilling by Catherine Hardie	259
Suggested Reading	311
Translator Biographies	315
Index	317