Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Buddhist vegetarianism" in English language version.
1. Millet, cinguala beans and peas, edible leaves and roots, the fruit of any creeper; the virtuous who eat these, obtained justly, do not tell lies out of sensuous delight...4. The Buddha Kassapa: Taking life, beating, wounding, binding, stealing, lying, deceiving, worthless knowledge, adultery; this is stench. Not the eating of meat. 5. In this world those individuals who are unrestrained in sensual pleasures, who are greedy for sweet things, who are associated with impure actions, who are of nihilistic views, [which are] crooked and difficult to follow, this is stench. Not the eating of meat. 6. In this world those who are rude, arrogant, backbiting, treacherous, unkind, excessively egoistic, miserly, and do not give anything to anybody; this is stench. Not the eating of meat....
Formerly in the kitchen of the Beloved of the gods, King Priyadarsin [another name for Ashoka], many hundreds of thousands of animals were killed everyday for the sake of curry. But now when this Dharma-rescript is written, only three animals are being killed (everyday) for the sake of curry, (viz.) two peacocks (and) one deer, (and) the deer again not always. Even these three animals shall not be killed in the future.
The rule of vegetarianism was the fifth of a list of rules which Devadatta had proposed to the Buddha. Devadatta was the founder of the tapasa movement in Buddhism and his special rules involved ascetic and austere practices (forest-dwelling, wearing only rags, etc). The Buddha rejected all the proposed revisions of Devadatta, and it was in this context that he reiterated the tikoiparisuddha rule. (On this see the author's Western Buddhism and a Theravada heterodoxy, BSQ Tracts on Buddhism
His Holiness's kitchen in Dharamsala is vegetarian. However, during visits outside of Dharamsala, His Holiness is not necessarily vegetarian.
The Dalai Lama's noble action is an inspiration to people around the world and is especially admirable because he changed his diet at the age of seventy. Actually, he had wished to be vegetarian from an early age but was hindered by the curious beliefs of his personal physicians.
This chapter on meat-eating is another later addition to the text, which was probably done earlier than the Rāvaṇa chapter. It already appears in the [Liu] Sung [420-479 CE], but of the three Chinese versions it appears here in its shortest form, the proportion being S = 1, T = 2, W = 3. It is quite likely that meat-eating was practised more or less among the earlier Buddhists, which was made a subject of severe criticism by their opponents. The Buddhists [of the Indic world] at the time of the Laṅkāvatāra did not like it, hence this addition in which an apologetic tone is noticeable.
Since 1999 rinpoche is vegetarian.
on pp 131-132 : "The Kalinga war, which according to the 13th Rock Edict, was the main factor in Asoka's conversion to Buddhism is not mentioned in either the Theravada tradition or in the Asokavadana, which, since it was transmitted mainly in Mahayana circles, we shall refer to it as the Mahayana tradition…" and on page 141: "It is not wholly clear what form of Buddhism Asoka believed in, but it is evident that it was different from any form existing nowadays…Asoka's reference to his "going forth to Sambodhi" in the 8th Rock Edict may indicate the very beginning of the concept of the bodhisattva…"
Formerly in the kitchen of the Beloved of the gods, King Priyadarsin [another name for Ashoka], many hundreds of thousands of animals were killed everyday for the sake of curry. But now when this Dharma-rescript is written, only three animals are being killed (everyday) for the sake of curry, (viz.) two peacocks (and) one deer, (and) the deer again not always. Even these three animals shall not be killed in the future.
The rule of vegetarianism was the fifth of a list of rules which Devadatta had proposed to the Buddha. Devadatta was the founder of the tapasa movement in Buddhism and his special rules involved ascetic and austere practices (forest-dwelling, wearing only rags, etc). The Buddha rejected all the proposed revisions of Devadatta, and it was in this context that he reiterated the tikoiparisuddha rule. (On this see the author's Western Buddhism and a Theravada heterodoxy, BSQ Tracts on Buddhism
His Holiness's kitchen in Dharamsala is vegetarian. However, during visits outside of Dharamsala, His Holiness is not necessarily vegetarian.
