Not breaking the first precept vs. developing compassion
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Compassion is a wholesome quality, but compassion cannot take you to Nibbana. We use the practice of compassion to counter cruelty in the mind. But the goal of Buddhism is not about dedicating your life to the cultivation of compassion. If that is the case, you will have nothing else to do in life other than looking for beings in misery and trying to help them. How can you even eat, drink, wear clothes if all your actions are dedicated to compassion? There are always beings who do not have food, water etc. You should give all your food to them and starve to death yourself, if compassion is all that you should cultivate.
Vegetarian food production causes much killing as well. So why not starve to death to save any possible loss of life? This kind of thinking comes from Jainism. Buddhism does not fall into these extremes. The goal of Buddhism is the end of suffering and there are other more important qualities that one must cultivate to achieve that. Being vegetarian is not one of them.
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If deeply wishing to live a compassioned life, to live on highest right livelihood, take just what is given into your bowl and follow the Arahats. Ask possible for going forth since not easy to manage such in other ways.
"Preah karuna" (lord of compassion) is not out of reason a usual form of addressing those who went forth.
[Note: This is a gift of Dhamma, not meant for commercial use or other low trades and just exchange for the world.]
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I think I see the practice of not "trading in meat, weapons, or poisons" as what you might call an "indirect" means of compassion and allaying suffering.
It might be (or become) so easy to practice, though, that it is not "going out of one's way to give aid where possible".
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I watched a video by a Mahayana Venerable monk. He given a story that how the monkey child are being chased and killed by the food seller in the jungle. The Monkey's mum come and protect the child. Yet, whole family died there to serve as food. Well, cow will behave so too.
Or, you can try to watch how the chicken is slaughtered as food in front of you. I watched it accidentally, then i don't feel like eating meat. I remembered Venerable said that if you don't feel the hurt and harm from that chicken when seeing this, probably might lack of compassion.
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