I am very pleased to announce that I've uploaded a new article in the Western Buddhist Review. Joe Gaziano and Jacquie Lewis are Buddhists in a vipassanā tradition in the US. Their article explores the topic of Buddhism and vegetarianism in their home country, where many Buddhists appear not to translate the Buddha's teaching on non-harming into a commitment to a vegetarian diet. I welcome their thoughtful yet principled discussion, based on their desire to inspire fellow Buddhists to reduce or cut out meat-eating.

Here is the abstract: Since the first precept of Buddhism is abstaining from harming living beings, the question arises whether Buddhists should be vegetarian. However, though it has received little attention in Buddhist literature, the topic is worthy of further examination and should be widely discussed by those concerned about Buddhist ethics. This paper investigates the arguments for vegetarianism and for meat-eating by examining Buddhist texts and their interpretations by Buddhist scholars. The authors’ conclusion is that given what society knows about the detrimental effects of meat eating on the environment, of the treatment of non-humans and of the effects on human health a firm vegetarian Buddhist ethic should be considered for the 21st century.

Here is a link to the article, or it can be found in the 'resources' section of WBR.