To Cherish All Life

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To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist View on Animal Slaughter and Meat Eating

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Clear, direct and concise, Philip Kapleau's To Cherish All Life marshals the basic religious, humanitarian, and scientific reasons for becoming vegetarian. Expanding on the Buddhist principle of cherishing all life, Kapleau's compelling discussion examines crucial Buddhist texts, thoughtfully considers the spiritual-ethical dimensions of the issue, and speaks cogently to those with a religious or humanitarian respect for all life. (Source Accessed May 2, 2026)

Citation

Kapleau, Philip. To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist View on Animal Slaughter and Meat Eating. Rochester, NY: Rochester Zen Center, 1981.

Table of contents

• Cover Textiv
• Acknowledgments9
• Introduction11

• Part I: The Sufferings of Animals Raised for Slaughter
  • The Sufferings of Animals Raised for Slaughter23
  • Factory Farming of Chickens24
  • The Cruelties of Overcrowding and Castration25
  • Terrors of Transportation to Slaughter26
  • Execution in the Slaughterhouse27
  • Ritual Slaughter30
  • The Complicity of Meat Eaters in Animal Slaughter32
  • Meat Eating and Violence Toward Humans35

• Part II: Meat Eating and the First Precept
  • Meat Eating and the First Precept37
  • Buddhist and Christian Views of Animals39
  • Did the Buddha Die from Eating Meat?42
  • Meat Offering as Alms45
  • Meat in the Diet of Japanese Monks48
  • Flesh Eating in a Southeast Asian Monastery50
  • Did the Buddha Sanction Meat Eating?
    • Theravada Version52
    • Mahayana Version58
  • The Doctrine of Ahimsa in India62
  • Denigration of Meat Animals65
  • The Pali Canon on Meat Eating67
  • Meat Eating as a Family Issue71
  • Buddhist Priests and the First Precept74
  • Whale Killing and Japanese Buddhism76
  • Human Beings Distinguished from Animals83
  • Eating Animals While "Loving" Them86
  • The Killing and Eating of Animals by Native Peoples87
  • Is Killing a Vegetable the Same as Killing an Animal?87
  • Hitler — Vegetarianism's Skeleton in the Closet89

• Part III: Supplements
  • 1. The Protein Issue93
    • Raising Waves When There Is No Wind93
  • 2. Meat is No Treat102
    • The Hazards of Eating Animal Flesh102
  • 3. Meat's By-Products112
    • Hunger, Waste, and Pollution112
  • 4. Food for Thought119
    • What Notable Persons Have Said About Flesh Eating119
    • Famous Vegetarians137
  • 5. Further Reading138

• Notes and Glossary141
• Supplements150

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