All Beings Coalition
The All Beings Coalition brings together leading Buddhist voices to take a public stand against factory farming and advocate for greater compassion toward all beings.
What We Do
Billions of animals suffer each year within the factory farming system, where industrial practices prioritize efficiency and profit over compassion and animal welfare. This system causes immense suffering while also contributing to environmental destruction, public health concerns, and the loss of our connection to the beings we share the planet with.
The Coalition inspires Buddhists around the world to recognize the connection between Buddhist teachings of compassion and non-harming, and the urgent need to transform our food systems. In addition to raising awareness, Coalition members leverage their expertise, influence, and networks to support plant-forward transitions within Buddhist institutions and communities.
The Coalition is poised to become the world’s largest Buddhist network dedicated to addressing the suffering caused by industrial animal agriculture.
Who We Are
The All Beings Coalition is composed of respected Buddhist leaders, teachers, monastics, and scholars from diverse traditions and communities. Together, Coalition members are using their voices, platforms, and networks to encourage Buddhist communities worldwide to take a stance against factory farming.
Janet Gyatso
“As Buddhists, we have a special obligation to protect the lives of animals. Remember that the first of the Five Precepts says: “I undertake the training rule to abstain from the destruction of life.” This doesn’t mean only abstaining from killing human beings. It means abstaining from the taking of any sentient life. The full elaboration of the precept says more. It says that the disciple dwells “conscientious, full of compassion, with empathy for all beings.” The Metta Sutta says that, as a mother protects her only child even with her own life, we should develop a mind of loving-kindness toward all the world, toward all beings, far and near, large and small, visible and invisible.
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Tara Brach
“Buddhists do not lack compassion; they mostly lack education. Just like the majority of people, Buddhists are simply unaware of the cruelties of the animal industry. Neither are they aware of the industry’s negative impacts on the environment, nor of the possibilities of living a healthy life without the use and consumption of animal products.”
Sign Our Petition.
Are you a supporter of DVA, a Center or retreat attendee, or Buddhist practitioner and want to get involved? Sign our petition advocating for Centers to go take a public stance against factory farming.
According to a recent survey conducted by Faunalitics, over 71% of Americans do not support common practices used in industrial-scale animal agriculture, such as confining pregnant pigs in gestation crates and hens in battery cages. If so many people oppose these practices, why does factory farming continue to thrive?
Factory farming is a system that prioritizes efficiency and profit over the wellbeing of animals, treating living beings as commodities rather than individuals capable of experiencing fear, pain, and suffering. Billions of animals endure lives of extreme confinement and deprivation within this system each year.
As Buddhists, we are called to cultivate compassion and reduce suffering wherever possible. Factory farming stands in direct opposition to these values, causing immense harm to animals and contributing to environmental degradation. Yet despite the profound suffering involved, many Buddhist communities remain silent on this issue.
Buddhist centers have an opportunity to lead by example by taking a public stance against factory farming and committing to offer plant-based meal options at retreats, events, and community gatherings. By aligning our communal practices with the principles of compassion and non-harming, we can help create meaningful change for animals and inspire others to do the same.
Please join us in urging Buddhist centers to take this important step. Sign the petition today and help build a more compassionate future for all beings. Your signature will be added to a list of supporters that will be presented to Buddhist temples and centers.
The following letter will be distributed to centers, and your name will be included as a signatory:
For centuries, Buddhist communities have served as beacons of compassion, wisdom, and non-harming. Through our teachings and practices, we cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, and a commitment to reducing suffering for all sentient beings.
Today, we face an opportunity to extend these values to one of the greatest sources of preventable suffering in our world: factory farming. These industrialized systems prioritize efficiency and profit over sentient beings, and as a result billions of animals are confined, deprived of their natural behaviors, and subjected to immense suffering each year. Despite the scale of this suffering, many Buddhist communities remain silent on this issue.
Buddhist Centers such as yours are uniquely positioned to play an important role in fostering greater awareness and meaningful change for animals suffering in our current agricultural systems. By taking a public stance against factory farming and increasing the availability of plant-based meals at retreats, events, and community gatherings, your Center can more fully align your practices with the principles of compassion and non-harming that lie at the heart of the Dharma.
We respectfully invite your center to consider how it might help lead this important conversation and embody the Buddhist values we strive to cultivate together.
With gratitude and metta,
Dharma Voices for Animals Supporters and Signatories
Join Us To Stand Against Factory Farming.
Are you a Buddhist teacher or monastic interested in taking a stand against Factory Farming? Reach out to Rayane Laddi to join the Coalition.