In an interview with Prospect magazine (via Contact Music), Paul McCartney talks about a dispute he had with the Dalai Lama about the Dalai Lama’s meat-eating. McCartney saw his non-vegetarian diet as a hypocritical act, that contradicts the Buddhist belief “in not causing suffering to any sentient beings.”
McCartney just couldn’t stand idly by, so he wrote him a letter reading, “Forgive me for pointing this out, but if you eat animals then there is some suffering somewhere along the line.”
It turns out the Dalai Lama does read his fan mail (if it’s from an ex-Beatle) and he replied to McCartney, saying his doctors advised him to eat meat for health reasons. Fair enough, Sir Paul? Agree to disagree? No way! “I wrote back saying they were wrong,” McCartney said.
I doubt the pair will be sharing a Tofurkey for the holidays, but I sure hope they’re still pen pals.