All Sentient Beings: Pedro Kaiten Piquero’s New Book on Buddhism and Animal Advocacy
Venerable Pedro Kaiten Piquero’s New Book “All Sentient Beings: A Buddhist Manifesto in Defense of Animals” is out now. Discover the inspiration behind the book, its powerful message of compassion for all sentient beings, and how to order your copy today. All of the proceeds from book sales are donated to Dharma Animal Sanctuary in Madrigal de la Vera (Cáceres).
Please note: The book is only available in Spanish at this time.
About The Book
All Sentient Beings: A Buddhist Manifesto in Defense of Animals
By Pedro Kaiten Piquero, Athenaica Publishing
A Zen monk, his dog, and one conviction: compassion is not an ideal, but a daily practice. A direct and understated essay about what happens when we decide to look squarely at the suffering of other animals.
All Sentient Beings, an essay by Zen Buddhist monk and teacher Pedro Kaiten Piquero, examines what it means, in everyday life, not to look away from the suffering of other animals.
The book begins with this simple question and arrives at a profound conclusion: compassion toward nonhuman animals is neither an ideological position nor a personality trait, but an inevitable consequence of choosing to look honestly at what is happening around us.
The argument unfolds through the author’s life with his dog, Murphy, whose presence runs throughout the text not as a sentimental device, but as a guiding thread. Through walks and the unexpected moments of daily life, Kaiten Piquero explores concepts from Zen Buddhism—interdependence, impermanence, emptiness—and connects them with concrete situations: what happens in slaughterhouses, laboratories, and factory farms, or the contradiction of someone who condemns bullfighting while consuming beef.
The book examines the mechanisms through which language and habit render harm invisible, and presents veganism not as a goal of perfection, but as a starting point for expanding the circle of those we consider worthy of respect and reverence. Its tone is neither that of angry denunciation nor moral preaching, but that of someone writing from a sustained practice while acknowledging his own contradictions. The result is a text that invites us to reconsider our everyday habits from a place not of guilt, but of awareness. Because refusing to look away from the suffering of others is, in itself, a spiritual practice.
*The book is only available in Spanish at this time
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pedro Kaiten Piquero is a pianist, translator, and Zen Buddhist monk.
A disciple of Gudo Wafu Nishijima, he has translated into Spanish two foundational texts of the Buddhist canon: Eihei Dogen’s Shobogenzo in four volumes and Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, as well as Eihei Dogen’s Gakudo Yojin Shu, published by Athenaica in 2023.
In 2017, he received Dharma transmission in Japan from Venerable Peter Rodo Rocca. He leads the Dogen Sangha community in Spain and combines his recording work with teaching at Zendo Gudo and his animal advocacy through the international organization Dharma Voices for Animals.
EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK
On the nature of suffering and ethical responsibility:
“From that clarity arises an ethical commitment that allows no delay: we have a duty to remove the thorns from the path of the beings with whom we share this present moment. It is a task that requires us to mitigate all harm, direct or indirect, whether inflicted upon humans or nonhumans.”
On language as a mechanism of concealment:
“Language does not merely numb our moral sense; it acts as a blindfold that prevents us from seeing that what lies on the plate is what remains of someone who, like Murphy, simply wanted to continue existing, with all their light and shadow. An individual with interests, a desire for affection, and the capacity to feel pain and fear: a life that, like all lives, did not wish to be cut short.”
On the reach of compassion and the meaning of the book:
“May the path of truth not be an idea; may it be the unceasing practice of dwelling in the world with a compassion that embraces, without exception, all sentient beings.”
Buddhistdoor en Español Interview With Venerable Kaiten
Pedro Kaiten Piquero was also recently interviewed by Buddhistdoor en Español about his new book, All Sentient Beings: A Buddhist Manifesto in Defense of Animals. The conversation explores the intersection of Buddhist practice and animal advocacy, including how teachings on compassion and interdependence can shape our relationship with nonhuman animals. Pedro also discusses veganism, the suffering of animals in our food system, and why he believes one of the most urgent challenges we face is expanding the circle of beings for whom we feel responsible. Read the full interview on Buddhistdoor en Español (the article is in Spanish): Pedro Kaiten Piquero: “What Is Urgent Is to Expand What We Feel Responsible For”