24 DEC 2004

RE: Appeal for Vegetarianism from
1. Office of HH Dalai Lama
2. Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup of Kopan Monastery
3. Director of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

Excerpted Message from Nick Ribush, Director of Lama
Yeshe Wisdom Archive:

"...And in the spirit of the love, kindness and
compassion that are supposed to characterize this
season, I thought I'd also share with you my recent
experience of visiting the PETA Web site,
www.peta.org. I'm not sure exactly why it has taken me
so long (I've been at this more than thirty years),
but after viewing the various undercover videos
showing the merciless beating of pigs bound for
slaughter, little chickens having their beaks cut off,
the barbaric "mulesing" of lambs in Australia, and
especially the film taken at the kosher AgriProcessors
plant, where they tear out the throats of live cattle,
I have definitely gone vegetarian. I'm not going to
describe the horrifying brutality these videos show—if
you're interested you can see for yourself—but for me
they were the last straw. The topic of vegetarianism
among Tibetan Buddhists is a hot one, so I'm going to
leave it at that, except to say the following.

Earlier this year, Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup of
Kopan Monastery asked FPMT students to go vegetarian
for as much of this year as they could and to dedicate
the lives saved to the long life and health of His
Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He
said that His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Private Office
was encouraging all Tibetans to go vegetarian and to
dedicate the lives saved to the long lives of their
gurus, and that all the monks and nuns at Kopan were
going to comply. As a result, FPMT students pledged
tens of thousands of vegetarian days and some fifty
students became vegetarian for life. So if, like me,
you are finally moved by the dreadful suffering that
slaughtered animals undergo to become vegetarian for
so many days or for life, please dedicate the lives
you save the long lives of your gurus. Thank you..."