A society of Tibetan vegetarians asked Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa to bestow the Long Life empowerment and provide advice on the application of a vegetarian way of life.

On the morning of March 7th, 2010 representatives of various organizations from the Tibetan camp at Majnu Ka Tillak came out to meet Chamgon Rinpoche at his residence and escort him over to the Tibetan camp.

The Empowerment and teaching was held from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, for three hours, at the Samye Ling Tibetan school in New Delhi.

A summary of the Teaching given by Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa is as follows:

Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa explored the importance of becoming vegetarian in detail. He also provided advice for people who are non-vegetarian to at least develop some awareness about the fact that meat is the flesh of another sentient being and is not the same thing as eating a biscuit. When eating non-vegetarian we should do mantra recitations of the Buddha of compassion and generate compassion, dedicating this to the animal so that it may have a better rebith through this connection. Most importantly, we should all know about the infallibility of motivation and the laws of Karma whether we are vegetarian or non-vegetarian. The fact is that every act has Karma, so even eating vegetables has negative karma because many insects are killed or die just to get one plate of vegetables. And who is responsible for this loss of life? It is those of us who want to eat fresh, good vegetables. Of course eating meat is more direct and intentional, as we are consuming the flesh of another being, so there is more responsibility connected to that.

Therefore even not becoming totally vegetarian for health reasons or for other reasons we should at least try to eat less meat. So rather than having it three times a day, maybe replace one meat meal per day and then slowly after a few days reduce by one more. Included in that process would be some prayers of the Buddha of compassion and the dedication for the animals whose flesh we are consuming and then also to all sentient beings. Even those who are practicing vegetarians should maintain this same awareness, reciting the prayer of the Buddha of compassion and making dedications.

Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa also encouraged the younger generation not to indulge in gambling, alcohol and drugs etc., because these things will damage the mental and physical health of individuals, bring disharmony inside the family, the neighbourhood and the community. The younger generation should uphold the lineage of Buddha Dharma with the healthy traditions of their parents. To help the younger generation fulfill this responsibility, parents also have the responsibility to guide them properly and to cherish the doctrine of the Buddha. In the case where the parents themselves have limited knowledge of the teachings of the Buddha then they should arrange that their children learn from Gurus who have the lineage of the teachings of Lord Buddha.

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