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From: srinath@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Srinath Viswanathan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Precepts & right livelihood - Part II (long)
Message-ID: <9103012252.AA01482@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Date: 1 Mar 91 22:52:24 GMT
References: <2339@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
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Approved: mayne@nu.cs.fsu.edu
To: mayne@nu.cs.fsu.edu
In-Reply-To: <2425@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>

Hi,

     I don't think your vegetarianism is necessarily hypocritical.
Hindu lay belief (as I have heard from my mother and grandmother)
is that the hunter of the game (or Butcher) is sinless, but the consumer
(buyer) of the flesh is not. I have always interpreted this to mean that
the hunter is sinless as he is only doing his job, and earning a
living to feed his family (following his dharma, in Hinduism) while the 
consumer is wilfully supporting killing, even though he may have
other sources of food that don't require killing. I don't know
if I have stated myself clearly enough, or whether this notion
is too far in your opinion from the precepts of Buddhism, but I
think it should be possible to make a case for vegetarianism in
Buddhism. Interestingly, there are parallels in Hindu mythology 
of Gods accepting flesh as gifts from hunters; the explanation
for this is the same that you give for a Bhikku being allowed
to accept flesh as food.

                                            Best wishes,
                                            Srinath
                                   srinath@unix.cis.pitt.edu