Pockets of Change: Spreading Vegetarianism in a Buddhist Community
Jul 15th
Community based activism is, by its nature, often not well known outside a small area. Community based activism can occur in isolated pockets, so there may be great work happening in our area that we don’t know about. I know it helps me to learn about the community based activism people are engaged in, both to draw inspiration from and to learn from their experiences. From time to time, I’d like to share the work of some community based activists in the hopes that it may help you as well.
I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with Jordan Rothstein, a long time fixture in a local vegetarian community, about his advocacy efforts. Jordan has the stated intention of spreading vegetarianism in the Buddhist community he is part of.
When the Dalai Lama recently offered teachings in Berkeley, Jordan organized people to leaflet to those waiting in line to enter the event. Because they leafleted to people who were waiting, they had the time to connect with them about vegetarianism and really focus on the quality of the interaction.
Jordan has created a pamphlet that offers a Buddhist case for vegetarianism; as he likes to say, “I speak their language.” Over the years, he has refined this pamphlet in response to his own experiences leafleting with it. Having heard various “Buddhist-specific” rationales used again and again to justify non-human animal exploitation, he addresses those justifications directly in the pamphlet.
Jordan is constantly examining his own work so he can be increasingly more effective. He is eager to swap experiences with other advocates so we may learn from our collective wisdom. Community based activism, free from the fundraising pressures that define corporate activism, offers the freedom for this kind of vital inquiry that helps our activism be alive and responsive to our experiences.
I am appreciative of Jordan’s strong, long term commitment to effecting change within and with his community. I also appreciate the inquiring, open mind he brings to his work. Jordan offers a great example of community based activism in action.
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about 6 months ago
Thanks for posting this Victor. I am Buddhist as well, and while my meditation center has a vegetarian policy for all events/shared meals, I’d say the majority of members are not vegetarians. I do find that many folks are open to the topic when I bring it up, and I’ve been able to hand out a fair share of educational materials this way. A couple of weeks ago I took a member of my center who wanted to transition on a grocery shopping trip to help him pick out vegetarian foods.
I also just linked to Jordan’s site on an online Buddhist discussion group of which I’m a member.
about 6 months ago
Buddhist Vegetarian Leafleting:
I make leaflets that are specific to the event I’m going to. This gets people interested in reading the leaflet. Examples: Dalai Lama was teaching philosophy in San Francisco; leaflet said ‘Dalai Lama Advocates Vegetarianism’. Dalai Lama was speaking in Berkeley on ‘Peace Through Compassion’; leaflet said ‘Compassion Through Vegetarianism’. Karmapa was in Seattle; leaflet said ‘Karmapa Advocates Vegetarianism’, and it told people Karmapa is a vegetarian, and wants them to become vegetarian, or at least eat less meat. A lama was teaching meditation, based on a text by Shabkar, a historic teacher; leaflet said ‘Shabkar Taught Vegetarianism’, had quotes from him, and told them that if Shabkar lived now, he would ask them to stop eating meat. (Shabkar rocks, see http://shabkar.org/)
Some leaflets are mostly veg quotes, some are arguments for going veg. At the bottom of the leaflet it says ‘Learn More About Compassion & Vegetarianism’ & has links to veg sites. In Seattle, I included links to some local organizations. My site http://rawveg.info/ has a Buddhist vegetarian page, mostly relevant to Tibetan Buddhism because that’s the tradition I’m in; might expand that into several pages, including quotes & etc about other traditions. http://rawveg.info/buddhistvegetarian.html
One of my sites lists local Tibetan Buddhist events, and has links to vegan sites. Every time someone uses the site to find out what’s upcoming, they see those veg links. Need to add some veg articles there also. http://bayvajra.info/
It’s difficult to find Buddhists who are willing to do leafleting. Vegan/AR activists have helped hand out leaflets at larger events; at smaller events I just do it myself.
Some people who have received the leaflets have told me they would go veg, or that they were lapsed vegetarians and would return to vegetarianism.