This is a good article. The Buddha taught compassion for all beings, and the path which leads to the end of suffering. Naturally, his followers would also like to see the end of suffering. Animals suffer when they are farmed, abused, and killed, thus any follower worth their salt would like the see the end of these too. I may take a less charitable approach for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. If it truly were that the Dalai Lama was enabled to eat meat because of his spiritual attainment, then why would Sakyamuni Buddha not eat the most meat, given he has attained perfect enlightenment? The Dalai Lama eats meat because he is not perfect. This is my belief.
Dalai Lama isn’t perfect only because it is considered a manifestation of Avalokitesvara, and he does sometimes eat meat for medical reasons, although I, as a physician, don’t know of any condition that forces someone to eat meat. Anyway I’m not from a Tibetan tradition, so I don’t know much about spiritual leaders in that branch of Buddhism.
