Paranoid Android
Active Member
I got a question. . Can you be a Buddhist, and eat meat ?
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Can you eat meat and be Buddhist ?
- Thread starter Paranoid Android
- Start date
Rick O'Shez
Irishman bouncing off walls
This is worth a read: 3 fold rule - Dhamma Wiki
Theweirdtophat
Well-Known Member
Vegetarianism is often encouraged but not required. Unlike other Dharmic religions like Jainism.
If you already are a vegetarian, there is no reason to stop. If nobody ate meat, there would be a reduction of suffering in terms of animal slaughter. However, even a strict vegetarian diet will have unintended loss of life. By that, I mean that whenever plants are harvested, insects will die. There is no reason to pretend that that loss of life doesn't matter, it matters to those insects and their mommas! Point is, life is dukkha. Even in consuming food, which is necessary for survival, suffering is built into the process.
Buddhists are not supposed to cause no harm to others.
Instead, we are supposed to avoid doing so to the best of our abilities, while keeping in mind that there is definitely such a thing as trying too hard.
While the actual consequences and hardships of a vegetarian diet are often exagerated or misrepresented, it is still true that for various reasons not everyone is quite ready and willing to adopt it - and there is really no point in discriminating people for such a reason.
Very few of us are free from more blatant flaws anyway - and Buddhism is not supposed to be some sort of club for people to be vain about their virtues, either.
The bottom line is: vegetarianism is welcome, but except in specific circunstances it is not even expected.
Instead, we are supposed to avoid doing so to the best of our abilities, while keeping in mind that there is definitely such a thing as trying too hard.
While the actual consequences and hardships of a vegetarian diet are often exagerated or misrepresented, it is still true that for various reasons not everyone is quite ready and willing to adopt it - and there is really no point in discriminating people for such a reason.
Very few of us are free from more blatant flaws anyway - and Buddhism is not supposed to be some sort of club for people to be vain about their virtues, either.
The bottom line is: vegetarianism is welcome, but except in specific circunstances it is not even expected.
BSM1
What? Me worry?
Where does it say Buddhism is pacifism? Most people seem to think that Buddhism is some typical religion with a plethora of do's and don't's. Actually the teachings of Buddha (like the teachings of Yeshua) have more to do with a personal inward journey than the dictating of rules to impress, or control, the masses.
Don't you think that leads to pacifism?
BSM1
What? Me worry?
I think it should lead to personal choice in all matters, not just what others think is proper.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Can u eat veggies and not be Buddhist?
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Or Vaishnavism.
He does care, he does not want you to be the cause of killing of an animal.
All religions have their do's and don'ts. For example, compassion is a 'do' in Buddhism.
Yes, you can be a Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and even a Christian or a Muslim. I do not think God or Allah is going to force you to eat meat.
Last edited:
As you will, but that is not an answer to my question.
ratikala
Istha gosthi
namaskaram
they can but whether they should do so by choice is debatable , the higest principle of Buddhism is compassion therefore Ahimsa should be high on the list of our priorities , ....
I'm assumung you mean not supposed to cause any harm ? in which case I agree with you .
surely one tries with sufficient effort to accheive ones aims ? otherwise ones time (and ones precious life) is totaly wasted ?
true the hardships are none , ....except the perceived hardship of giving up ones attatchments , ....no one is discriminating it is simply that meat eating involves supporting an unethical practice which of course will have some effect attatched to the cause , ....
Buddhism is Refuge in Buddha Dharma and sangha , ....
each is free to take up which ever principles one feels that one can uphold , ....
however the recomendations often quoted are for monks who live on alms , ....but for those making the choice at the food counter the implications are very different , ....the choice is yours therefore the responcibility for the reaction is also yours , .....this is the law of cause and efect , ....
Hmmm and as for the idea that one can allow others to kill , ....and as long as one is not implicated in the killing then one may accept the flesh when offered it , .... that may be permissable for monks , ....but for us to support the killing of sentient beings by purchasing the fruits of anothers ill deeds , then we are certainly implicated in their wrong doing as we actively encourage them to make a business of killing .
to encorage another to commit ill deeds is prehaps more wrong than accepting the responcibility one self , ...as it amounts to double Ahimsa , ....
they can but whether they should do so by choice is debatable , the higest principle of Buddhism is compassion therefore Ahimsa should be high on the list of our priorities , ....
I'm assumung you mean not supposed to cause any harm ? in which case I agree with you .
surely one tries with sufficient effort to accheive ones aims ? otherwise ones time (and ones precious life) is totaly wasted ?
true the hardships are none , ....except the perceived hardship of giving up ones attatchments , ....no one is discriminating it is simply that meat eating involves supporting an unethical practice which of course will have some effect attatched to the cause , ....
Buddhism is Refuge in Buddha Dharma and sangha , ....
each is free to take up which ever principles one feels that one can uphold , ....
however the recomendations often quoted are for monks who live on alms , ....but for those making the choice at the food counter the implications are very different , ....the choice is yours therefore the responcibility for the reaction is also yours , .....this is the law of cause and efect , ....
Hmmm and as for the idea that one can allow others to kill , ....and as long as one is not implicated in the killing then one may accept the flesh when offered it , .... that may be permissable for monks , ....but for us to support the killing of sentient beings by purchasing the fruits of anothers ill deeds , then we are certainly implicated in their wrong doing as we actively encourage them to make a business of killing .
to encorage another to commit ill deeds is prehaps more wrong than accepting the responcibility one self , ...as it amounts to double Ahimsa , ....
ratikala
Istha gosthi
He does care, he does not want you to be the cause of killing of an animal.
All religions have their do's and don'ts. For example, compassion is a 'do' in Buddhism.
yes , ... I think he cares very much , ...so much so that he dedicated his life to expounding on the reduction of suffering
ratikala
Istha gosthi
many say that Jesus was also a vegetarian ?
and it would seem that he also dedicated his life to increasing loving kindness , should we think that this loving kindness should not also be extended to animals ?
Rick O'Shez
Irishman bouncing off walls
Sure, but feeding grain to cows and then eating the cows is a very inefficient way of feeding people, it means that much more grain needs to be grown, which in turn means many more small creatures will be killed in the fields, plus the cows of course. If we want to minimise harm then buying meat seems like an odd decision, particularly when non-meat foods are available and sufficient.
There is no prohibition on eating meat in Buddhism, but I think there is quite a lot which would give us pause for thought when it comes to our dietary preferences. There is the 3-fold rule, the principle of which is clear. There is the first precept, and there is butchery as wrong livelihood. There is Right Intention and there is developing compassion. And so on.