The following is a compilation of messages composed by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche on Twitter. Follow Rinpoche on Twitter to receive these and more… LIVE!

Tweeting All Vegetarians

Dear friends who care,

Those of you who wish to commit to vegetarianism for one day, one month, one year or forever, please contact my PAs Beng Kooi or Jean Ai. Let me know. I will offer a ‘butterlamp’, incense and include you in my pujas of that day for your wishes. I wish to offer pujas and prayers that day for the person who submits any form of commitment toward vegetarianism. It would be my honour to do prayers for that person(s) on that day.

I wish to encourage this action very much, not just by my words. I will repay your kindness in caring for the animals by making offerings for you that day and include you in my pujas for that day. Please do it!

Read on for some fantastically quotable quotes on vegetarianism by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche!

Animals deserve to live just like any other sentient beings. No one put them here for our eating pleasure.

DON’T HURT ANIMALS.

Torturing and hurting animals only shows how weak you are. Stop sending wrong messages to yourself.

BE KIND TO ANIMALS.

Violence is a state of mind that refuses to acknowledge that others deserves happiness as well.

STOP THE VIOLENCE. RESPECT.

Buddhism teaches never to harm any beings directly or INDIRECTLY.

SO HOW CAN YOU EAT MEAT??

• To cut the throat of any animal, watch it bleed in fear then die, and then to eat it, is the ultimate sign of violent selfishness.
• What joy is there to slaughter an animal to death with its blood gushing forth? Then it is voraciously eaten by you? Om Mani Peme Hung.
• Eat meat, then chant Om Mani Peme Hung, then eat meat and chant again…and so on…does that make sense??

• If you can sit in front of a Buddha image and admire Enlightenment, then how can you eat meat? The sign of fear, selfishness and greed.
• Each time you eat meat, you set your Dharma practice backwards. Think about it. You don’t help the animal you ate nor yourself.
• Everyday, fresh meat in the supermarket means you allowed someone to slaughter an animal. Stop buying meat. Stop eating meat

• Eating meat is the same as hating Avalokiteshvara. Eating meat is the same as hating all sentient beings. Why? How can you butcher and eat those you are supposed to love???
• Loving animals is a good start to being a good person. Being kind to them because they can’t say thank you is the greatest spiritual act.

• If you have taken refuge, how can you eat meat? The purpose of refuge is to take vows to benefit and liberate sentient beings.
• What is gross is that meat doesn’t appear from ‘emptiness’ ! Someone has to kill the animal while you’re meditating on emptiness!!
• Morning scene: butcher house – animals being killed. While you’re meditating on compassion, for lunch you have a hamburger?!!
• Filling your bellies without having to slice open the bellies of animals is a good start to being kind.
• Saving animals, saving our planet, is really saving ourselves.

• Animals suffer from cold, fear, pain, heat and death. Sounds familiar? So why eat beings who have feelings like yourself?
• Why don’t you slaughter a chicken for your lunch in front of your Buddha image daily?? Sounds weird huh? Then don’t eat meat.
• Slice off your own flesh, dice it, marinate it, cook and eat it? Gross? Then stop eating ANY TYPE OF MEAT.
• Your mouth should never be the passage of both Om Mani Peme Hung mantras and animal flesh. Choose one… not the flesh!

• Just because you don’t see animals being slaughtered to eat, doesn’t mean they are NOT SUFFERING TREMENDOUSLY. Boycott meat forever.
• Ignoring the sufferings of others only means you’re increasing your own suffering. Help others.
• Sufferings continue and we can’t stop all of it. But let’s stop some of it. Be kind to everyone. Be kind to animals and earth also.

• Everytime you do your meditations, remember, the energy to meditate should not arise from the MEAT DIGESTING in your belly.
• How can you get enlightened with slaughtered rotting digesting animal flesh in your stomach??? Doesn’t make sense. Stop eating meat!
• Open animal awareness organisations everywhere. Promote the awareness of how animals suffer. It’s daunting, but worth it.
• Be good to yourself. Don’t get involved even indirectly with the negative karma of killing animals for eating ‘pleasures’. NO MEAT.

• Killing animals isn’t good karma. Having others kill for you and pretending you don’t know is not good karma either. Stop eating meat
• Just because you love something so much, DOESN’T MEAN YOU NEED TO EAT IT. I LOVE MY MOM, DO I NEED TO BUTCHER HER, COOK HER AND EAT HER??
• Be gentle with yourself. When you fall down slowly, get yourself up. AND be gentle with animals, STOP BUTCHERING THEM AND EATING THEM.

• Dear Guru, I had bacon for breakfast, chicken lunch and steak dindin. What practice shall I do to generate compassion?
• Dear Rinpoche, I can’t give up meat, it will damage my health and then I can’t benefit all sentient beings!! Wrooong!!
• Dear Rinpoche, while having ribs, I was thinking I did a 100 million Chenrezig mantra retreat, but I can’t gain attainments. Why?
• Dear Guru, Why is it that I have to be vegetarian? I blow mantras on the meat before I eat them???

• If none of my friends know that I eat meat then is it still bad karma??? ~~~wrooooong!!~~~~~
• I didn’t eat meat at the Buddhist church? I had it in my home, is it still bad karma?? ~~wrooong!!~~
• I love meat. I love flesh. I love steak, chicken, fish, frogs, dogs, snakes, sushi! Why am I not spiritual? I don’t hurt anyone!!
• I’m eating meat for my health. I have no choice. I have to keep my health up in order to save the world…~wrooooong!~~~

• “Hey, I took refuge with His Holiness so-and-so and His Eminence so-and-so. It was beautiful, let’s go have a steak to celebrate!!!”
• “I just finished a meditation course on Great Compassion! It was mind blowing. Let’s go to McDonald’s and have a fish filet!”
• “I just finished retreat on Chenrezig and recited 1 million Om Mani Peme Hung’s!! Let’s go to have some KFC fried chicken!!”–Wrong!!
• “We were at the Buddhist centre having a meeting and I’m starved!! Join me Kenny Roger’s for chicken??”–WRONG!!
• I love ALL sentient beings. May all be free from sufferings and be happy. NOW LET’S GO HAVE FRIED CHICKEN FOR DINNER!!!?? Wrong!

• Your pet dog is so cute, can I eat him? Wroooooooooooong!!!!
• Your pet bird is soooooo cute…Can I roast him?? I didn’t have lunch yet.~ Wrooooong!!
• I love animals so much that’s why I eat meat. I love my dad alot, shall I baste him before roasting him???
• God created the animals for us to eat. God created people to be food for the animals. Which one is it? Subjective huh?

• Each time you damage someone, you go further away from the true clear nature of your being.
• Each time you eat meat, you choose to ignore the sufferings of animals.
• It doesn’t go away because you ignore it.

• If you’re a Buddhist, then you should stop eating meat IMMEDIATELY. No ands, ifs and buts… just stop now…
• If you’re Buddhist, you should cease eating meat FULL STOP. Save the long-winded explanations and reasonings.
• Each day you don’t eat meat, is another day you truly develop towards compassion that will affect others.

So you start now!

#TsemTulku

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