Shabkar (1781–1850)

The Life of Shabkar has long been recognized by Tibetans as one of the masterworks of their religious heritage. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol devoted himself to many years of meditation in solitary retreat after his inspired youth and early training in the province of Amdo under the guidance of several extraordinary Buddhist masters. With determination and courage, he mastered the highest and most esoteric practices of the Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection. He then wandered far and wide over the Himalayan region expressing his realization. Shabkar's autobiography vividly reflects the values and visionary imagery of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the social and cultural life of early nineteenth-century Tibet.… (more)

Shabkar was a great Tibetan Buddhist practitioner in the Nyingma school, a Dzogchen master of the highest accomplishment and renown. In general, Tibetans were meat eaters. For one thing, on the high Himalayan plateau crops are grown with difficulty and on the other theirs continued to be linked to a nomadic culture from the past. Buddhism does not "forbid" the eating of meat in the way, for example, Christianity forbids adultery. And many practitioners of Maha Yoga, Anu Yoga, and Ati Yoga (Dzogchen) of Vajrayana Buddhism feel that the tenets of emptiness make the eating of animals inconsequential. There are also other reasons some people hold in defense of this view.

But Shabkar, master of Maha, Anu, and Ati -- in fact of the 9 Yanas -- did NOT find the eating of animals to be inconsequential. This book puts forth his position.… (more)