“I Don’t Eat My Friends” – by Tenzin Palmo

This is a good video interview to watch. Short, sweet and full of direct thoughts from the heart and knowledge. I pray for Ven Tenzin Palmo’s long life and continued dharma success.
Tsem Tulku
(The video is not for any commercial purposes. No infringement is intended. The video belongs to the owner, and I am sharing it here with friends for information purposes only. Thank you.)





























































i like the way she said they were “hypocritical”… hee hee …
very honest and with integrity. incredible nun!!!
The venerable Jetsunma has been known to be open and frank – true enough, we have to be honest with ourselves to progress, especially if we say that we are Dharma practitioners.
Absolutely love this interview! She hits the nail on the head. Perfectly articulate with very valid points and all said in a very calm and matter of factly manner. I agree that the issue of being vegetarian is not one of not eating meat for the sake of not eating meat. One has to understand that in this day and age we do have a choice and have no excuse… in that we do not need to go out and hunt for our next meal. Times have changed and I reckon so must our mindset.
This is especially so as a Buddhist because it really contradicts the essence of what we belief in. As Venerable Tenzin Palmo so aptly puts it in the end of the video: “it doesnt seem to fit in with the whole idea of compassion and Boddhicitta… does it?”
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this video. I will post this in my facebook for sure!
Much love… Andrew
Ven Tenzin Palmo from the Drukpa tradition has been a vegetarian for 40 years. She has given clear answers and explanations during the short interview with Andre Kalden. There are two types of Tibetans of which the older generation who lives in Tibet cannot go on vegetarian because of circumstances and environment. Tibet is a very cold country. And you cannot grow any vegetable on the land. So they have only to depend on yak meat and milk. The other type of tibetans that are brought up in India are much easier for them to go vegetarian. As lots of vegetables are grown in India like lentils and dhal which are very good supplement for meat. Tibetan buddhism teaches us to practice compassion and bodhicitta. Then how can we eat another sentient being who has been our friends or our mothers in past lives. She said one of the first Tibetans to become vegetarians are the nuns and monks in the large monasteries in South India.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for posting this heartwarming interview of Venerable Tenzin Palmo.
I have been watching this video on this my last night in Spain and now know that I shouldn’t ever be apologetic or shy about being vegetarian, as i have tended to be a few times here in Spain,as family members had to search for places which offered vegetarian food.It was worth all their effort as Tenzin Palmo has so beautifully put it.
This will make you smile sangs pa la.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfbchq0xQmQ&feature=player_embedded.
ciao und besso
I posted this on youtube & embedded it on my blog to create awareness. Youtube banned the video with a COMMUNITY GUIDELINES WARNING saying it is too graphic and shocking and breaks their rules. If I get three warnings they block all my videos. I appealed saying, I didn’t post to shock or be gory BUT TO CREATE AWARENESS……. THEY REJECTED THE APPEAL.
I couldn’t believe how they do not want to help such a good cause and help create awareness of this horrible dog meat trade. I appeal to everyone to please have this video tweeted and facebooked everywhere to create awareness. I was very sad to see what is happening to the dogs and VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUTUBE. Please help the dogs I beg you.
Tsem Tulku
link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p1tk_dogs-china-raw-5_animals
share with all of you a very good book online on vegetarianism with many quotations and logic reasoning… very convincing and touching…
http://www.gampopacenter.com/teachings/lamp-of-reasoning/index.html
Becoming vegetarian seems to be becoming more widespread and the standard in the world of Tibetan Buddhism.
I remember HH Karmapa a few years ago issuing a new policy of vegetarianism in all of his monasteries.
Here is an extract from one of his websites:
“At January 3, 2007, he made a strong statement against eating meat within his monasteries and centers. With immediate effect:
No meat is to be prepared in the kitchen of any Kagyu Monastery or Centre.
No one is to be involved in the business of buying and selling meat – for all of his students this practice must stop.
There is to be no killing of animals on Kagyu premises.
Karmapa is aware of monks in robes going to buy meat and does not want to see this ever again.”
I also remember that on a retreat with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Choling Rinpoche, all of the food was vegetarian.
Chadral Rinpoche is a famous vegetarian.
HH Gyalwang Drukpa is, also.
According to this website, http://www.moonpointer.com/bvf.php , these are the Global Slaughter Statistics for 2003:
45,895,000,000 (45.9 billion) chickens
2,262,000,000 (2.3 billion) ducks
1,244,000,000 (1.2 billion) pigs
857,000,000 (857 million) rabbits
691,000,000 (691 million) turkeys
533,000,000 (533 million) geese
515,000,000 (515 million) sheep
345,000,000 (345 million) goats
292,000,000 (292 million) cows and calves (for beef and veal)
65,000,000 (65 million) other rodents (not including rabbits)
63,000,000 (63 million) pigeons and other birds
23,000,000 (23 million) buffaloes
4,000,000 (4 million) horses
3,000,000 (3 million) donkeys and mules
2,000,000 (2 million) camels (and other camelids)
TOTAL: 52,794,000,000
United States: 9,116,248,000
The numbers only include land animals slaughtered for food for which records were taken. They do not include the billions of marine animal killed each year. They do not include the millions of animals killed in laboratories, fur farms, animal shelters, zoos, marine parks, or circuses. Nor do they include the animals killed by human negligence, blood sports, abuse, or extermination attempts.
From the same website:
“Quote by The Great Dzogchen Yogi, Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche:
‘Meat, the sinful food, is not permitted according to the three vows: the vows of individual liberation, the Bodhisattva vows and the tantric vows.
‘Thus Buddha stated: “I have never approved, do not approve, and will never approve of a meat diet.”
‘He declared: “My followers must never eat meat.” ‘
Very good video, thank you.
It would be nice to be completely non-harming.