Novo-Tikhvinsky convent: On abstinence from brushes forbidden to monks. What do monks eat? Full menu

To the question Why the Orthodox can eat meat, but the monks - no. Never at all, and not only in the post? given by the author Irina the best answer is Dear Irina, this is an ancient tradition of Russian monasticism. The tradition is useful (it is easy to see why), but not universal. Now in Russia there are many monks and bishops who eat meat and do not hide it at all.
I pray for the late Hierodeacon Kallistos. He was very simple and kind person from village. He, a monk, was arrested and severely beaten. During interrogations, they asked him: But you spoke badly about Stalin and Soviet power? ! He, like a child in the simplicity of his heart, answered: No, no. I never said that. He was starved and beaten for several days, not allowed to sleep. Then "stool duck" ( Secret agent NKVD from prisoners) prompted him: and you admit it. He admitted. He was given SAUSAGE to eat, was sentenced to 6 years in prison and sent to a camp to cut down and fell wood. This simple and sincere monk ate meat and had no doubts, because otherwise he would have died. Some of today's monks and bishops eat meat, apparently for a different reason. It is not for us to condemn them.
By the way, it will probably be surprising for you to know that the Greek clergy and some Greek monks smoke. And in Greece, this is perceived as quite normal. But in Russia this is not accepted among the clergy and monks.

Answer from twig[guru]
without vegetarianism, it is very difficult to become a saint. Meat and an aphrodisiac, and a dead body and a deception for the stomach - lies in the stomach for 3 hours and creates the illusion of satiety.
This is for whom it is said: "Demons (passions) are cast out only by fasting and prayer?"
Probably, monks who have tasted (especially if the constant secret eating is private) the meat of the monks run away into the world.
After all, it is very easy to see how a person feels and what he achieves in spiritual life in accordance with his diet.

Answer from awake[guru]
the monk renounces life according to passions in general. He enters, as it were, into the Host of Heaven. If we approach formally, then three vows can be distinguished: vow of obedience - renunciation of life according to one's own desire; vow of non-possession - renunciation of personal property; and a vow of celibacy family life. Ideally, the rupture of these ties with the "world" should give a person freedom for spiritual work, cut off all worldly concerns. The monk is guided by the words of the Savior Himself: "... Deny yourself, and take up your cross and follow Me." As a sign of renunciation of the world and a new spiritual birth, the monk is given a new name.
The non-eating of meat by the monks is a tradition. But it is also born of spiritual experience. Real ascetics knew well the close connection between the spirit and the body. Through the body it is possible to influence the soul, and relaxation of the body immediately relaxes the spirit. The understanding of fasting in Orthodoxy is based precisely on the knowledge of this connection.
For monks, fasting has never been an end in itself, only a means. But very strong and effective. Therefore, meat - as the most "hot blood" product - was directly prohibited by many monastic charters.

Answer from ....I....[guru]
A person who became a monk made a vow to God of a fasting life, therefore he always fasts....

Let's start with promises. How many and what vows do monks take? I was not interested in this issue in other Local Churches, in the ROC everything is very simple. Let's open in the Great Rib Book "The Following of the Small Schema, that is, the Mandias" (this is the name of the rite of monastic vows) and begin to read.

The first question that the confessor hears from the confessor is: “Why have you come ...?” ("Why did you come?"). And he answers: “Desiring a fasting life, honest father.” Thus emphasizing that fasting is the basis of a monk's life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (366 in a leap year). Undoubtedly, Orthodox post this is not a “spiritual diet” and its gastronomic component (abstinence from certain foods) is far from the purpose of fasting. But, nevertheless, not being a sufficient component of fasting, abstinence from certain products is a necessary part of fasting. And the prohibitions that violators of the food fast are subject to, which we will mention a little later, may even seem too harsh. But for now, it is important for us that the first goal for which a monk takes tonsure is life in perpetual fasting. One might, of course, think that the austerity of a monk's way of life is already a form of fasting, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Read on for the Treasury.

From the dialogue between the confessor and the one being tonsured, we learn what vows the monk makes: 1) fasting; 2) celibacy; 3) obedience; 4) non-acquisitiveness; 5) observance of the Charter; 6) patience of sorrows (see also http://www.uspenie.by/rites-of-clothing-in-cassock/). It is noteworthy that the vow of fasting is singled out separately. It is separated from vows of celibacy, obedience, non-possession. Separately, it should be noted the vow of observance of the Charter. For some reason, it is not in the Treasury, which can be downloaded from the first link. And in the quote from the Trebnik on the second link is. This is not fundamental to the issue under consideration here, although it is not unimportant. It does not matter because the Typikoy is the Church-wide Charter of the liturgical life of every Christian. In this case, the liturgical life does not mean participation in the Eucharist, but the whole system of prayers, fasts, services every day and every week throughout the year.

Actually, let's move on to the post prescribed by the Charter for the monks. But first, let's make a short historical and geographical digression together with a professional connoisseur of the Church Charter - Mikhail Nikolayevich Skabalanovich.

According to St. Epiphanius (end of the 3rd century - beginning of the 4th century), “some of them (monks) abstain from all kinds of meat and quadrupeds, and birds, and fish, and from eggs, and from cheese; others only from quadrupeds and allow the use of birds and other things: others also abstain from birds and eat only cheese and fish: others do not eat fish either, but only cheese; others do not even eat cheese” (Statement of Faith, 23. Quoted by M. N. Skabalanovich “Explanatory Typicon”). Mikhail Nikolaevich, emphasizing that in Egypt abstinence from meat was complete, cites the words of the Cypriot saint, from which it becomes clear that even the most “free” monks in their choice allowed only the meat of birds and fish to be eaten. We are not even talking about quadrupeds. Also from the words of St. Epiphanius, we can conclude that the severity of food fasting for monks in a particular area, in a particular monastery was regulated by local tradition.

Another quote from the Explanatory Typikon: “Meat, of course, was not used, but eating it accidentally or out of need was not considered a desecration. Rev. Pachomius reproached the brethren in charge of the hospital for refusing to give the sick monk, at his request, beef and ordered to buy a kid for him. As we can see, the absence of meat in the diet of monks is something taken for granted. Only in exceptional cases is concession made.

For the entire ROC, the local tradition is the tradition enshrined in the current Typicon. Here we go to it.

P.P.S. The funniest excuse I've ever heard for a monastery's culinary libertines goes something like this: “Indulgence? So the times are the last, here is an indulgence. 1) It is not entirely clear what is the effect and what is the cause. 2) Is it the desire to eat before death? One monk I knew, going to a meal after the Liturgy, often said jokingly: “Well, what about the brethren? We have already destroyed our souls, let's go at least save the body. Every joke has its share of jokes. 3) Did the Lord secretly reveal to the monks that the times are already very, very late? Well, is tomorrow coming? And gave at the same time heavy urgent assignments?

Recently, I began to notice that when talking about products, dishes “monastic ...”, or “like a monastery ...”, people mean: “high-quality”, “real”, “delicious”. Honey, bread, lunch...

Observing it on purpose, it struck me that this trend is not only expanding, but is already being used by various product manufacturers, conscientious and not so good. Then the question arose: what is modern monastic food, monastic products? What stands behind the recognition of the consumer - traditional respect for the religious way of life, which excludes deceit and laziness, or the absence of intelligible state quality guidelines, the same GOSTs, for example?

For answers to these questions, we turned to Father Micah, Hieromonk of the Holy Danilov Monastery. The path that led this wonderful person to the church, was not easy.

Let's start with the fact that Father Mikhey was a paratrooper and knows the concept of "hot spot" firsthand. Already, while in the monastery, Father Mikhei performed difficult obediences: setting up a skete in the Ryazan region, organizing a monastery apiary, acting as a cellar in the St. Danilov Monastery itself, and many others that I don’t know about.

As a result, we managed to build a picture of how a Russian Orthodox monastery lives today from questions and answers: what it produces, what it eats, whom and how it feeds.

website:It is known that the vast majority of monasteries in Russia were self-sufficient in the production, storage and distribution of products. The monasteries owned gardens, fields, orchards, ponds and apiaries. Also, since ancient times, the tradition of feeding monastic products not only to the brethren, but also to workers, pilgrims, students, and guests has been preserved. Is this tradition alive in St. Daniel's Monastery today?

O. Mikhey: From a century in Russia, monasteries were not only centers of spiritual life, but also economic ones. Not only did they feed themselves, but they also carried out selection work, grew new varieties of plants, searched for and found new ways to store and preserve food. For many hundreds of years, monasteries not only fed themselves, but also widely helped those in need. How in regular time, and, especially, during the war years, during lean periods, during epidemics.

There is no other way in the monastery: today the economy of the St. Danilov Monastery feeds up to 900 people daily. We have a little over 80 brethren, almost 400 laity workers. And also pilgrims, guests of the monastery, those in need - every day the monastery kitchen, with God's help, provides food for all these people.

Most of the products we have are our own production. This is flour, from the monastic fields in the Ryazan region, and vegetables, and fruits, and honey. For the time being, we mainly buy fish, but we want to dig ponds in the same place, on the lands of the skete, and start raising fish. We keep cows - for butter, cottage cheese, milk. They don't eat meat in the monastery.

website:How did the revival of the monastic economy begin?

O. Mikhey: The revival of the monastic economy began from the moment it was handed over to the Church in 1983. Over the next five years, the monastery as a whole was restored, and the economy providing it began to function along with it. However, up to a truly independent structure that produces, preserves and nourishes - we are still just going to this all.

Until 1917, the monastery had vast lands, arable land, apiaries, and ponds. There were many good products. The monastery sold a lot, incl. in their own shops and shops. People have always loved them - both Muscovites and pilgrims. Then everything was destroyed literally- to the ground.

But over the past 17 years, of course, a lot has been done. If you look back today, you see how much we, with God's help, have achieved! And we ourselves grow wheat on the monastery lands, grind flour, bake our famous muffin. And we grow and preserve all the vegetables we need: we preserve, sour, salt.

And now the monastery has more than one apiary - in the suburbs on the monastery farm, near Ryazan, near Anapa and from Altai, honey is also supplied from the apiaries of the Church of the Archangel Michael. Near Ryazan is the largest apiary. Now we have about 300 hives here, and during the season we manage to get more than 10 varieties of honey in apiaries. This is sweet clover, and linden, and buckwheat, and forest and field forbs honeys. Everyone new season before the departure of the bees, special prayers are performed to consecrate the apiary, and the beekeepers receive a blessing for the upcoming work.

Honey is such a product - God's blessing. He should be treated that way. After all, if you put an apiary, for example, near the road, then there is nothing coming out of the exhaust pipes: both lead and all kinds of heavy metals. And the bees also collect all this and transfer it to honey. We are responsible before God for the fact that we have apiaries in good, ecologically clean places, and now we offer pure honey to people.

We love our people and want people to be healthy and beautiful and that children are born healthy. Beekeeping is a traditional Russian craft. Back in the 16th century, they said: "Russia is a country where honey flows." Almost every house was engaged in honey. It was also supplied abroad with wax. All Russian people ate honey. It is a necessary product for every person.

It is now customary for us to eat honey only when we are sick. Only this is wrong. Honey should be eaten three times a day: a spoonful in the morning, afternoon and evening. Honey contains everything the body needs, including vitamins. After all, honey is a natural product that people have been eating for centuries to improve their health. Warriors of the past on campaigns always had honey with them. Tasting it, they increased their strength before the upcoming battle.

They began to revive the tradition of monastic bread. People come for our pastries from all over Moscow and even from the Moscow region. A variety of pies, which are prepared according to old monastic recipes, are very popular. Made with passion and people love it!

Our parishioners and guests of the monastery really appreciate the fact that we use not only the recipes of our monastery, but also other holy places: for example, we have yeast-free bread baked according to Athos recipes, we have bread from the sisters from the Serpukhov Convent.

website:And all this is managed by a small brethren of St. Danilov Monastery?

O. Mikhey: Of course not! Lay workers and volunteers help us. There are really few monks, especially those who know how to work on earth. Many came to the monastery from the cities, some are not able to do physical labor. But work in honey apiaries is called "sweet hard labor" ...

Not everyone knows how much work has to be done to get good products on the table and the monastery.

website:Please tell us about the monastic food system. What products and dishes make up the monastic table for the brethren?

O. Mikhey: We do not come to the monastery to eat delicious food - we come to reach the Kingdom of Heaven through labor, prayers and obedience. The highest virtue is fasting, prayer, rejection of worldly temptations and obedience.

By the way, according to the monastic charter, there are about 200 fasting days a year. Fasts are divided into multi-day (Great, Petrovsky, Assumption and Christmas) and one-day (Wednesday, Friday of each week). It was during the days of abstinence from fast food that thousands of original, simple, accessible to the population dishes were developed in the monastery refectories.

The main difference between the monastic table and the worldly table is that we do not eat meat. In the monastery they eat vegetables, cereals, dairy products, pastries and fish, mushrooms. In the storerooms of the monastery there is always a lot of sauerkraut, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms.

This is followed by the cellar, and the monk brothers and the laity workers do it. And it goes to the table for everyone without exception. According to the charter, the monks eat only twice a day: at lunch and at dinner. The cellar of the monastery especially makes sure that the meals are both tasty, varied and supportive - after all, the interval before meals is long, and no one sits idly by, everyone has their own housework - obedience.

The everyday menu usually consists of fish soup, if allowed on that day, pickle, vegetable, mushroom or milk soup, and fish with a side dish. For dessert - tea, compote or jelly, pies, cookies. The Sunday menu consists of fish borscht, fried fish with a side dish of mashed potatoes or rice with vegetables, fresh vegetables, cold cuts of fish and products from the monastery courtyard - cheese, sour cream and milk. On the holidays of Christmas and Easter, a festive menu is served at the meal.

We have Father Hermogenes - he was the cellar of the monastery for more than 10 years, so he even wrote a book about the monastery meal, "The Kitchen of Father Hermogenes." On the this moment cellar in the monastery of Fr. Theognost. I was a cellarer for several years, and before that I carried out obedience in the construction of the skete, the restoration of the Church of the Archangel Michael, the care of apiaries, the bakery ...

Now I have an obedience - I offer monastic products for Muscovites, in a honey shop and 2 monastic stores "Monastyrsky honey" and "Monastic grocery store", where you can buy our products: honey, beekeeping products, honey jam, an assortment of fish, cereals, monastery pastries, yeast-free bread, pies, health products: alcohol-free balms, sbitni, teas, herbs.

And also I have an obedience in the department of making posters of spiritual and patriotic content by modern and classical artists.

website:We thank you, father Micah for your attention and story. We wish you joy in your work!

PRAYERS BEFORE AND AFTER EATINGFOOD

BEFORE TASTING

Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth. Give us our daily bread today; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. The eyes of all in Thee, O Lord, trust, and You give them food in good time, You open Your generous hand and fulfill every animal goodwill.

AFTER TASTING

We thank Thee, Christ our God, for Thou hast satisfied us with Thy earthly blessings; do not deprive us of Your Kingdom of Heaven, but as if in the midst of Your disciples, Thou hast come, Savior, give them peace, come to us and save us.

SECRET PRAYER BEFORE EATING FOOD FOR THE UNMODERN IN DIET (prayer for weight loss)

I also pray to You, Lord, deliver me from satiety, voluptuousness and grant me in the peace of my soul to reverently accept Your generous gifts, so that by eating them, I will receive strengthening of my spiritual and bodily strength to serve You, Lord, in the little rest of my life on Earth.

Editor's note

Dear readers!

On November 28, Orthodox Christians begin the Nativity Fast. This is one of the four multi-day fasts in Orthodoxy, which prepares believers for the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ. This post is less strict than the Great and Assumption, but even here questions arise: what can and cannot be eaten, about what Orthodox holidays at this time, every believer must know who is allowed to indulge, is there any benefit to the soul if you observe only physical fasting? Micah. These days about. Micah. And then at the meeting you will receive exhaustive answers to them.

On that amazing fact at first, only Greek physicians paid attention, but scientists from all over the world soon joined them, and as a result of a serious scientific work, which has lasted to this day since 1962, it was proved that the monks of the Athos monastery do not get cancer. And not only do they not get sick, they never got sick. And this conclusion was obtained as a result of an examination of the remains, the age of which varies between several hundred years.

How is this fact explained?

To explain this amazing fact, many different theories were put forward, of which, in the end, only one got the right to exist - to avoid this dangerous disease, Athos monks are helped by their diet and everyday lifestyle, which we will discuss in this article.

It turned out that they do not eat meat, but eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, as they adhere to a strict fast for most of the year. And it is their healthy, almost fat-free diet that protects the monks from cancer and other diseases, and gives them amazing longevity. After all, there are cases when monks on Athos lived to be 110 or more years old. well and average age their lives - 94 years, has long been an officially confirmed fact.

It is not surprising, but the basic principles of their diet are spelled out by the main rules. Orthodox Church, which recommend eating foods in moderation, without fats and oils, in small portions. Even on holidays like Easter, the monks do not eat meat. But on the other hand, their diet contains a variety of fish, goat, sheep and cow cheeses, as well as other protein foods such as peas and beans.

It should be noted that all the fruits and vegetables that come to their table are grown by the monks themselves, and this is also a guarantee of their health and longevity. And we are talking not only that environmentally friendly products perfectly cleanse the body of toxins. It is very important that every day, in any weather, all the monks spend fresh air for physical labor, and this is also one of the important components of a healthy and long life. Yes, and the prayer life also requires great physical effort.

Along with the Orthodox diet, according to scientists, the fact that they live far from the hustle, stress and polluted air of cities plays a key role in the good health of Athos monks. Although this is most likely not the case. So in the town of Mandemocharia, located near Mount Athos, the number of cancer cases per capita is almost 30%, and yet the inhabitants there eat the same food, breathe the same air and live in the same climate. Or would it be appropriate to add the word "almost" in this case?

Rules of Athos monks

So how can you apply the rules of the Athos monks on yourself in order not only to get rid of all diseases without exception, but also to live to a ripe old age, maintaining excellent physical and mental shape? There are very few rules, as you can see, but they are:

1. Avoid stress, anxiety, fuss and anger, cleanse your soul, and then it will become the main healer of the body.
2. Be outdoors more often, go out of town, to the country, to the forest.
3. Switch to eating simple food, give up preservatives, fats, meat and dishes of complex and industrial processing.
4. At least three times a week - on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - a strict fast, eating only raw foods - fruits and vegetables.
5. Dedicate at least two hours a day 5 times a week to physical labor or sports.
6. Put things in order in your spiritual life, let go of resentment, do not slander and do not envy, live in harmony with yourself and those around you.
7. Put things in order in your sex life, reducing the number of sexual acts to at least 3-4 per month.
8. And, of course, give up such suicidal habits as smoking and drinking alcohol.

And then you are not only guaranteed to avoid diseases of the digestive and cardiovascular systems, problems with the kidneys and metabolism, but also get rid of diseases that you have already managed to get, giving yourself a happy, active and incredibly long life.

“There will be fools who in the future will argue that I allowed meat food and ate meat myself, but know that I did not allow anyone to eat meat, I do not allow it now and never will allow it in the future, nowhere, under any circumstances and in any form; it is once and for all forbidden for everyone and everyone" (Buddha Shakyamuni "Dhammapada").

The 14th Dalai Lama (Ngagwang Lovzang Tenjin Gyamtsho) is the spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia and other regions. Laureate Nobel Prize peace (1989). In 2006 he was awarded the highest honor of the United States - the Congressional Gold Medal. Until April 27, 2011, he also headed the Tibetan government in exile (he was replaced by Lobsang Sangai) and is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lamas are the earthly incarnations of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

The site dalailama.ru contains a conversation with the Dalai Lama on the eve of his 75th birthday dated July 3, 2010, in which His Holiness stated that regarding the use of meat “there are several conflicting opinions, but there is no ban on meat in the Vinaya, so the monks Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka eat both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. I once discussed this subject with a monk from Sri Lanka, many years ago, and he told me that a Buddhist monk is neither vegetarian nor non-vegetarian. What you are given is what you should eat. That is the principle. The Vinaya clearly states that the meat of animals slaughtered especially for you is not to be eaten, but the consumption of meat as such is not forbidden. Some books, such as the Lankavatra Sutra, forbid the consumption of any kind of meat, including fish, while other books do not. When I was thirteen or fourteen years old, meat was served in abundance at all official festivities. I changed that - now they serve exclusively vegetarian food. Then, in 1959, I came to India. Around 1965, I became a vegetarian. Refused meat... For 20 months, I adhered to a strict vegetarian diet. At the time, one of my Indian friends advised me to try meat substitutes. I ate a lot of milk, sour cream. Then in 1967--in 1966 or 1967 I got gallbladder problems, hepatitis. The whole body turned yellow. Later I joked that I became a "living Buddha" at that time. The whole body is yellow, itself is yellow and the nails are yellow. And then a Tibetan doctor, as well as an allopathic doctor, advised me to eat meat. So I returned to my usual diet. But at the same time, now in all our monasteries in southern India, as well as in Namgyal, only vegetarian food is prepared. In the monasteries in southern India, the number of monks is 3000-4000 people each, and all of them are prepared with vegetarian food. Also in other countries I was in Buddhist centers and always asked about it. Everywhere is different. But on solemn occasions, the food must be vegetarian. And its constant use leads to problems of the gallbladder and, in the end, to surgery ... As for me, I eat meat once or twice a week, the rest of the time - vegetarian food. I tried to become a vegetarian, but it's still difficult."

In his Meditation on the Ten Nonvirtue Deeds, the 14th Dalai Lama writes:
“Eating meat essentially makes us accomplices in murder. The question naturally arises: should meat products be abandoned? I once tried a full vegetarian diet, but health problems arose, and two years later my doctors advised me to reintroduce meat into my diet. If there are people who can completely stop eating meat, then we should rejoice at the nobility of their act. In any case, we should at least try to keep meat consumption to a minimum and refuse it where its supply is limited, and our desire to eat meat will entail additional killings. Although due to climate and geographical features As we Tibetans are traditional meat eaters in our country, the Mahayana doctrine of compassion has left its mark on this tradition. All Tibetans know the expression: "All living beings were once our mothers." Nomads who made a living by raising livestock made pilgrimages to Lhasa, dressed in long fur chupas, which, even in the dead of winter, were tied around the waist and lowered from the shoulders, exposing the chest with strings of flowing blessed laces. And although outwardly they looked more like a gang of robbers and robbers, they were pious people who deeply revered the Mahayana. Since they were nomads, the meat of animals served as their only source of food. But if they had to take the lives of animals, they always tried to resort to the most humane way, while not ceasing to whisper prayers in their ears. In Lhasa the custom was to buy an animal destined for slaughter and set it free; it brought spiritual merit. If it happened that the cattle fell ill and died, then one could see people sprinkle it with holy water and offer prayers. Throughout Tibet, the killing of any wild animal was prohibited, with the exception of wolves that attacked the herds, and rodents, from which the peasants suffered.

Sir Paul McCartney, a member of PETA, an animal protection organization, tried in 2008 to bring the Dalai Lama back to vegetarianism. In an interview with Prospect Magazine, the singer and musician said that he was somewhat shocked to learn that the Dalai Lama began to eat meat for medical reasons. The legendary musician wrote a letter to the spiritual leader: "Forgive me, but eating animals causes suffering to living beings." The Dalai Lama replied that he began to eat meat at the direction of the doctors. “I told him the doctors were wrong,” said Sir Paul.

Dorje Jambo Choydzhe Lama, rector of the only official Buddhist monastery in Ukraine Sheichen-ling and head of the Spiritual Administration of Buddhists of Ukraine, who in different years received initiations and instructions from teachers of various schools, including the 14th Dalai Lama, comments on his teacher’s meat-eating as follows: “In the Vinaya Pitaka, prohibitions regarding meat are clearly stated - this is only human meat, carrion meat, elephant meat, meat of animals with poisonous meat. Everything. Any attachment to a certain diet and food conditioning is unwholesome and hinders spiritual development.

Not all Mahayana followers are vegetarians. Those are a minority. I can assure you that there is no prohibition against eating meat in any of the known Vinayas, but there is a clear prohibition for monks to demand for themselves special types food. As a doctor with twenty years of experience, I can authoritatively state that with certain types diseases, meat dishes have a healing effect. Just like with other diseases - a vegetarian diet. Hundreds of emchi lamas will tell you the same from their own medical experience.” A different opinion is shared by Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche Sangye Dorje, a recognized dzogchen master, famous for his high spiritual realization and strict adherence to moral standards, one of the main holders of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage. Every year, Rinpoche, together with his family and close students, conducts a ritual of ransoming and liberating sentient beings whose fate is to lose their lives on our table. So, in December 2006 in Calcutta, Rinpoche organized the purchase of 78 tanks with live fish, 450 kg of live weight each. At the request of representatives of the Tibetan Society for the Protection of Animals in 2005, he made the following statement: “Tibetan lamas and monks eat meat! What a shame that even incarnate lamas are unable to refuse the use of slaughtered flesh! First of all, it is llamas who need to become vegetarians. If highly learned, spiritual people continue to eat meat, how can you expect that ignorant commoners, wandering through life where they are directed, like a flock of sheep, suddenly become vegetarians. When we arrived in India, I was one of the first Tibetan lamas who gave up meat and adopted a vegetarian lifestyle. I remember that the first Nyingma Monlam in Bodh Gaya was non-vegetarian. In my second year, when I arrived at Monlam, I took the floor at a meeting of the head lamas of the Nyingma lineage. I addressed them with the words that Bodhgaya is an exceptionally significant and holy place for all Buddhists, and if we declare that we have gathered here for the monlam (an annual prayer festival for the benefit of world peace and prosperity), while we ourselves we eat here the meat of slaughtered animals, this is a shame and the greatest insult to all Buddhism as a whole. I urged them all to abstain from eating meat during the annual Nyingma Monlam. Even in ancient times, the Sakyapin patriarch Sachen Kunga Nyingpo refrained from eating meat and alcohol and encouraged others to do so. Later, such figures as Ngari Pandita Pema Wangyal, an emanation of King Trisong Deutsen, who lived as a vegetarian all his life, appeared among the Nyingma people. Shabkar Tsog, former early years a meat-eater, having found himself in the butchers' quarter in Lhasa, and seeing with his own eyes how hundreds of animals are being killed, he became a vegetarian and did not eat meat until the end of his days. Most of his students also gave up meat. Many other masters of the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu and Nyingma traditions did the same and became vegetarians. In Kongpo, Gotsang Natsog Rangdrol instructed his monks to refrain from eating meat and alcohol. When the monks of Kongpo Tsele Gon Monastery did not listen to him, he became angry with them and retired to Gotsang Phug, in the lowlands of Kongpo, where he spent about 30 years in seclusion. Abandoning the non-virtue of eating meat and alcohol, he attained the highest spiritual realizations and became known as Gotsang Natsog Rangdrol, an eminent spiritual master. Nyagla Pema Dudul also did not eat meat and alcohol. He lived during the time of Nyagke Gonpo Namgyal and became known to the world as "Pema Dudul who realized the rainbow body." When I was in Bhutan, I sometimes saw how, during rituals or pujas for the benefit of the dead, the meat of slaughtered animals was offered to the lamas participating in them. Such deprivation of the life of living beings “for the good” of the deceased relative is nothing more than the creation of obstacles to spiritual path deceased, blocking his path to liberation. There will be no benefit to the deceased from such a practice. The majority of the population of the Himalayan region are Buddhists. Some Tamang and Sherpa lamas are quite ignorant. Being attached to meat and alcohol, they claim in their defense that it is necessary to consume them, since they are followers of Guru Rinpoche [Padmasambhava], who himself ate meat and consumed alcohol. But after all, Guru Rinpoche was born in this world in a miraculous way, unlike the mentioned lamas, who were born from the mother's womb, from the father's seed. Guru Rinpoche is known as the Second Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni is the teacher of the sutra, while the teacher of tantra is the omniscient Guru Rinpoche, who accurately predicted many significant events of the future. Refusal of meat is one of the means to achieve peace and tranquility on Earth. I myself have given up not only meat, but also eggs, so I do not eat baked goods that contain eggs. Eating meat and eggs are equivalent actions. The egg, when ripe, gives life to the chicken, which is without a doubt a living being. After all, there is no difference between killing a fetus in the mother's womb and taking the life of a newborn child - taking life in both the first and second cases is an equally grave crime. That's the reason I gave up eggs too. Your efforts are not meaningless, they are very important and useful. My call is addressed not only to Buddhists - all people who think and are able to make meaningful decisions can respond to it. In particular, scientists and doctors should think about this: are smoking and meat-eating good for health? Ask who lives longer: smokers or non-smokers? Which one gets sick more often? You, university students, can research this question, weigh all the scientific data and figure it out. I myself speak and understand only Tibetan, and I do not know other languages. But I studied deeply the Vinaya, the outer Dharma of the Buddha, and the inner Dharma, the Vajrayana. In particular, I spent a lot of energy studying dzogchen texts written by famous scholars and yogis of the past. They all unanimously say that giving up meat prolongs a practitioner's life. As for my own family, none of my relatives managed to live beyond 60 years, and they all left this world long ago. But since, having left my homeland, I was able to give up meat and tobacco, I have already lived to the age of 94 and still manage in everyday life and move around without outside help. The savetibet.ru website reports that the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, became a staunch vegetarian many years ago. “I have not eaten meat for 16 years, since I received the Kalachakra empowerment from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1994. It was very hot in India, and at first I decided to give up meat for the duration of my studies so that sleep and drowsiness would not overcome me. Upon completion of the training, I felt that my condition, physical and spiritual, now that I no longer ate meat food, was much better. Firstly, I began to feel better, less tired. Secondly, a special spiritual satisfaction has come, and thirdly, vegetarianism is good for health in general. But, having given up meat, nevertheless, I occasionally allowed myself to eat fish, as doctors do not advise completely switching to vegetarianism. Then, after reflection, I came to the conclusion that it is wrong not to eat meat, but to eat fish, and I stopped eating fish. Yes, it may not be so easy to give up meat food, but it is not as difficult as it seems to many of us. In addition, in this way we discover a lot of new things in ourselves.”
Telo Tulku Rinpoche noted that there is a mantra for eliminating the vice of eating meat, and the being whose meat has been eaten thus gains the opportunity to be reborn in the realms of good fortune. The mantra must be read seven times: "OM ABIRA KETSAR HUNG".

Part of the Buddhist monks of the Central Khurul of Kalmykia refused to eat meat, timing their decision to coincide with the Year of the Pig. In this way, the monks of the “Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni” want to prolong the life of the 14th Dalai Lama, reports www.elista.org. As the Supreme Lama of the Republic Telo Tulku Rinpoche explained in an interview with Europe Plus radio station, the year is problematic in terms of health for people born in the year of the Pig, including for the spiritual leader of Buddhists around the world, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Buddhist practitioners in India believe that in order to prolong the life of the Dalai Lama, it is necessary not to harm living beings. The more we eat meat, the more animals are killed in the world, which violates the basic principle of Buddhist teachings.” With a request to reduce the amount of meat eaten, the head of the Buddhists of Kalmykia also addressed the believers.

Sergey Kirishov, a monk, said that he made the decision to give up meat after listening to the teachings of Telo Tulku Rinpoche, this happened five years ago. At first, Sergei confessed, “I did it unconsciously, I was not yet ready internally, but then, as time passed, when I began to understand the Dharma better, vegetarianism became closely intertwined with my lifestyle. In my example, you can see that vegetarians look no different from other people.” “But be careful,” the Buddhist monk warned, “you can harm your health, so I am against hasty decisions. If your motivation is pure, related to bodhichitta, then vegetarianism will do you good. And if you start eating meat at least every other day, you can already say that you have not eaten meat for half your life. There is another danger: vegetarianism can increase your self-esteem and egocentrism if you begin to consider yourself special beings, beings of a higher order. The head of the Itkl Buddhist Center, Vitaly Bokov, told a Buddhist parable about a wolf and a deer, in which the wolf ended up in pure lands, despite the fact that he killed living beings and ate meat, and the deer ended up in hell, although he ate grass. This happened due to the fact that the wolf repented when eating food, and the deer did not think about the fact that there are also many living beings in the grass, and therefore did not feel remorse. Therefore, Vitaly noted, you can eat meat if you maintain the right motivation at the same time.

Perhaps this parable explains why the Dalai Lama, trusting in the opinion of doctors, takes meat as a medicine and at the same time takes an active part in activities to reduce the suffering of animals.. According to Voice of America, after one and a half billion chicken eggs In the US, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet issued a call to consumers of yolks and proteins not to buy eggs from hens raised in cages where they cannot even spread their wings. "Switching to eggs from extra-cage chickens will reduce animal suffering," he said. In June 2004, he sent a letter to the owners of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food restaurant chain asking them not to open a branch office in Tibet. In his letter, the Dalai Lama wrote that before the Chinese conquest of Tibet, the locals rarely ate chicken and fish, preferring meat from larger animals such as yaks. This allowed the Tibetans to obtain the amount of meat they needed while slaughtering fewer animals.

From His Holiness the Dalai Lama to KFC Corporation (kentuckyfriedcruelty.com):
“On behalf of my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, I am writing to ask KFC to cancel its plan to open restaurants in Tibet because your corporation's policy of cruelty and overkill is contrary to Tibetan values.

Over the years, I have been particularly concerned about the suffering of chickens. It was the death of a chicken that I saw that ultimately made me decide to become a vegetarian. In 1965, I was staying at a government hotel in southern India, and my room overlooked the kitchen, which was directly opposite. One day I saw a chicken being killed and that made me become a vegetarian.

Tibetans are generally non-vegetarians as vegetables are often scarce in Tibet and meat products make up the bulk of the diet. However, in Tibet it was considered more ethical to eat the meat of large animals, such as yaks, rather than small animals, because that way you have to kill fewer animals. For this reason, eating fish and chicken was rare. We have always treated chickens as a source of eggs, not meat. But we rarely even ate eggs, because they were thought to dull memory and mental clarity. Mass consumption of chickens began only with the advent of the Chinese Communists.

And now, when I see the carcasses of slaughtered and plucked chickens in the butcher's shop, I feel pain. I find it unacceptable that violence is the basis of some of our eating habits. When I drive through the Indian cities near where I live, I see thousands of chickens in cages outside restaurants, doomed to die. When I see them, I feel very sad. On hot days, they have no shade to hide from the heat. In the cold - they have nowhere to hide from the wind. These poor chickens are being treated like they were vegetables.

In Tibet, buying animals from a butcher to save their lives and set them free was commonplace. Many Tibetans continue to do this in exile, if there are conditions. Therefore, it is only natural for me to support those who are currently protesting against the introduction of industrial cooking in Tibet, which will lead to inexhaustible suffering for a huge number of chickens.

When, taking advantage of the temporary softness of the Chinese authorities, the Tibetans came to meet the Dalai Lama, they were dressed in heavy sheepskin coats and fur hats. Tibetan pilgrims discovered that the Kalachakra initiation ceremony was declared strictly vegetarian - a ban on trade was introduced in local shops and restaurants meat products. The Dalai Lama has been taking such drastic measures for a long time, each time citing Hindu religious holidays as an example, where hundreds of thousands of believers gather, but not a single creature has to sacrifice his life.

The Dalai Lama invariably urges Tibetans, if not to give up meat altogether, then at least to reduce its consumption to necessary minimum. "Try it," he smiles, "maybe you'll even enjoy being a vegetarian."

To the surprise of many, the Dalai Lama asked the Tibetan pilgrims to give up the skins of wild animals. “I am ashamed to look at these photographs,” the Dalai Lama said to each of the group of pilgrims who came to him with reverence and devotion, adding that he alone had to answer for all the people who were addicted to valuable fur. “When you return to your homeland, remember my words. Never use, sell or buy wild animals, their skins and horns,” he told his fellow tribesmen, most of whom saw him for the first time and, perhaps, last time in life.

Few, however, suspected that these instructions would soon develop into a real "tiger revolution" that would overwhelm Tibet with a wave of blazing bonfires. In fact, the Dalai Lama did not encourage Tibetans to burn fur, but only asked them not to wear fur. Tiger fires, thus, became the will of the people, who suddenly got the opportunity to fulfill the wish of the spiritual teacher separated from them: not to take life from animals without extreme necessity.