What happens when a lifetime commitment to compassion meets a DIY punk-rock ethos? You get “NoBody Is a Product,” a fiery new track and video released by writer, translator, and Buddhist practitioner Adele Tomlin. Blending vocal layering, raw energy, and unapologetic truth, the song tackles a gap in popular culture: the deep, undeniable connection between animal exploitation, environmental destruction, and women’s liberation.
“For the hens in cages / For the fish in the sea / For the girls told silence is femininity… You cannot love animals and eat animals / Cannot love the planet that way.”
Originally from England, Adele spent over a decade living, studying, and practicing Tibetan Buddhism across India and Nepal. Though raised in a meat-eating household, her path shifted dramatically in 2006 during her first pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, India. Under the shade of the sacred Bodhi Tree, the very place where the Buddha attained enlightenment, she took a lifetime vow not to eat animals. The vow was facilitated alongside the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, one of the most prominent advocates for animal rights within Tibetan Buddhism.
Paired with her reading of moral philosophy, including Peter Singer’s landmark Animal Liberation, that pivotal moment cemented a lifetime of compassionate activism. In 2018, Adele launched Dakini Translations, an online platform dedicated to Buddhist teachings, research, and advocacy. She has since taken the message of Buddhist vegetarianism and veganism global, presenting at international conferences in Vietnam and India, and hosting the Dakini Conversations podcast, which features animal rights figures like Prof. Peter Singer and Maneka Gandhi (founder of People for Animals).
Adele is also driven by a desire for music that explicitly connects animal rights with environmental and feminist themes, a space rarely occupied since classic anthems like The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder, so she decided to write her own track. Adopting a true DIY rock ethic, she recorded the vocals onto an audio recorder at home, built the instrumentation using digital production apps, and layered her own vocal arrangements in Audacity. The resulting track, “NoBody Is a Product,” is just one facet of Adele’s multifaceted activism:
- Sacred Site Campaign: Horrified by the slaughter and sale of animals near holy pilgrimage sites in Asia, Adele launched a campaign calling on authorities in India and neighboring countries to ban animal slaughter and sales within a given radius of sacred Buddhist locations.
- Dakini Threads: To complement the release of the song, Adele launched Dakini Threads, a conscious clothing and accessory line featuring signature logos like Bodhi & Bold and NoBody Is a Product. Proceeds support her educational work, research, and activism.
Ultimately, “NoBody Is a Product” reminds us that living ethically in a way that is coherent with all sentient beings isn’t an abstract ideal, it’s a daily choice. As the final lines of the song insist: “Until all beings are free, none of us are free”.
