Was Jesus and Buddha Vegetarian?

[idav]

I don't recall any time that Jesus ate meat in the bible even though there were festivals going on. Did he ever eat any of the fish he created?


I don't think Buddha ate meat either but I could be mistaken. The various schools show indications that meat was accepted but a lot of times vegetarianism recommended.

What are the reasons for them to have such diets and are their similarities as to why they would choose such lifestyles?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

I don't recall any time that Jesus ate meat in the bible even though there were festivals going on. Did he ever eat any of the fish he created?


I don't think Buddha ate meat either but I could be mistaken. The various schools show indications that meat was accepted but a lot of times vegetarianism recommended.

What are the reasons for them to have such diets and are their similarities as to why they would choose such lifestyles?

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Nipata Sutta underlines this point when it says that it is immorality that makes one impure (morally and spiritually), not the eating of meat. The Buddha is often described as eating meat, he recommended meat broth as a cure for certain types of illness and advised monks for practical reasons, to avoid certain types of meat, implying that other types were quite acceptable.[/FONT]

Buddhist Studies: Vegetarianism

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Buddha and Jesus both ate meat, and for the same reason. Both were traveling teachers who received their meals from charity. You can't exactly be choosey in that scenario.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

The early Buddhist monks were allowed to eat meat if the animal was not killed for the purpose of providing food for monks. Well, today if you buy meat it is being killed for you. It is as simple as that. Also the industrialized meat industry is one of the biggest cause of suffering in the world. Both human and animal, it is even the leading cause of global warming. You might be able to argue it is ok to eat meat. I think it is better not to. You can't make a valid ethical argument in support of the modern meat industry.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Buddha and Jesus both ate meat, and for the same reason. Both were traveling teachers who received their meals from charity. You can't exactly be choosey in that scenario.

I only know of Jesus eating fish. Some of Jesus's apostles were vegetarian.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

I don't recall any time that Jesus ate meat in the bible even though there were festivals going on. Did he ever eat any of the fish he created?


I don't think Buddha ate meat either but I could be mistaken. The various schools show indications that meat was accepted but a lot of times vegetarianism recommended.

What are the reasons for them to have such diets and are their similarities as to why they would choose such lifestyles?

If Buddha didn't eat meat then how did he die from eating rotten pork?

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Well, today if you buy meat it is being killed for you. It is as simple as that. Also the industrialized meat industry is one of the biggest cause of suffering in the world. Both human and animal, it is even the leading cause of global warming.

Do you have any proof?

 

[Bob Dixon]

There is a record, in the Gospel of John (I think), of Jesus eating a fish.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

There is a record, in the Gospel of John (I think), of Jesus eating a fish.

Well he was atleast cooking some

 

[DreadFish]

The early Buddhist monks were allowed to eat meat if the animal was not killed for the purpose of providing food for monks. Well, today if you buy meat it is being killed for you. It is as simple as that. Also the industrialized meat industry is one of the biggest cause of suffering in the world. Both human and animal, it is even the leading cause of global warming. You might be able to argue it is ok to eat meat. I think it is better not to. You can't make a valid ethical argument in support of the modern meat industry.

This.

The point is not the meat eaten but the suffering caused. If the meat was provided as a meal but not killed specifically to feed the monk, i.e. the animal had already been killed and the meat was already on hand then served to the monk on his rounds, then the monk did not incur the death of the animal and it was ok to eat.
If the animal was killed specifically to feed a monk, then for the monk to eat the meat the monk would be connected to the taking of life. That would incur negative karma, the causes for future suffering. So yes, Gautama Buddha likely ate meat when it was given to him on his rounds, but he would not have eaten if the animal was killed for him.

I also agree with Yogi that nowadays, buying meat is basically condoning the killing of animals and and causing suffering. The modern meat industry is very harmful and is best avoided.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Well in the gospel of Thomas its narrated that Jesus said: "Whenever you go into other lands and teach eat whatever they put before you. What goes into your mouth will not defile you, it is what comes out of your mouth that will defile you."

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

If Buddha didn't eat meat then how did he die from eating rotten pork?

Some believe it was not pork but a Mushroom that was his last meal. I don't really know which one is true.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Do you have any proof?

Meat and Global Warming.
Yet according to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry.
How Meat Contributes to Global Warming: Scientific American

Eating meat contributes to global poverty

But the bigger problem is that production of animal products allows the world’s wealthy omnivores to take more than their share of the available food. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 756 million tons of grain were fed to food animals in 2007. That’s enough to feed every one of the world’s 1.4 billion people who live in extreme poverty. And it doesn’t include all the protein-rich soybeans used for farm animal feed.

It’s not exactly news that most of the grain and soy fed to animals does not produce food. Some of those calories go toward the animals’ basic metabolic functions and are used for growth of non-food body parts like bones. As a result, it requires 13 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. And that meat, of course, is available only to the world’s more affluent people. As the global population grows, we cannot afford that kind of waste.
Eating meat contributes to global poverty - National vegan | Examiner.com

Over-fishing
The UN's environment branch, UNEP, gave a sneak preview of its green economy report that will be published in October. It said that if the world remained on its current path of over-fishing, by 2050 all fish stocks could have become uneconomic to exploit or actually extinct.
Saving global fish stocks would cost 20 million jobs, says UN | Environment | guardian.co.uk

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Well in the gospel of Thomas its narrated that Jesus said: "Whenever you go into other lands and teach eat whatever they put before you. What goes into your mouth will not defile you, it is what comes out of your mouth that will defile you."

I am not saying that early Christians all believed in being Vegan. At the same time, not eating meat was not unknown among the Church fathers.

 

[anders]

I'll assume for the discussion that there was a Jesus and that the Gospels are true accounts of his life.

Jesus kept the OT commandments. At the end of his life, he attended a Passover meal with his disciples. Not eating the lamb would have been so irregular and contrary to the Law that the authors would have mentioned it.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Meat and Global Warming.
Yet according to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry.
How Meat Contributes to Global Warming: Scientific American

Eating meat contributes to global poverty

But the bigger problem is that production of animal products allows the world’s wealthy omnivores to take more than their share of the available food. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 756 million tons of grain were fed to food animals in 2007. That’s enough to feed every one of the world’s 1.4 billion people who live in extreme poverty. And it doesn’t include all the protein-rich soybeans used for farm animal feed.

It’s not exactly news that most of the grain and soy fed to animals does not produce food. Some of those calories go toward the animals’ basic metabolic functions and are used for growth of non-food body parts like bones. As a result, it requires 13 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. And that meat, of course, is available only to the world’s more affluent people. As the global population grows, we cannot afford that kind of waste.
Eating meat contributes to global poverty - National vegan | Examiner.com

Over-fishing
The UN's environment branch, UNEP, gave a sneak preview of its green economy report that will be published in October. It said that if the world remained on its current path of over-fishing, by 2050 all fish stocks could have become uneconomic to exploit or actually extinct.
Saving global fish stocks would cost 20 million jobs, says UN | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Interesting. India has more cattle than the US, Canada and the UK put together. So are those cows in India in any way contributing to greenhouse gases?


Cattle population
Region Cattle population
India 281,700,000
Brazil 187,087,000
China 139,721,000
US 96,669,000
EU-27 87,650,000
Argentina 51,062,000
Australia 29,202,000
Mexico 26,489,000
Russian Federation 18,370,000
South Africa 14,187,000
Canada 13,945,000
Other 49,756,000

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Interesting. India has more cattle than the US, Canada and the UK put together. So are those cows in India in any way contributing to greenhouse gases?


Cattle population
Region Cattle population
India 281,700,000
Brazil 187,087,000
China 139,721,000
US 96,669,000
EU-27 87,650,000
Argentina 51,062,000
Australia 29,202,000
Mexico 26,489,000
Russian Federation 18,370,000
South Africa 14,187,000
Canada 13,945,000
Other 49,756,000

Oh look if we add China to the list we still have more methane spewing cows in India. I think India is producing more methane than it should be. Atleast the cows in the meat eating countries produce something other than feces.

 

[DreadFish]

Oh look if we add China to the list we still have more methane spewing cows in India. I think India is producing more methane than it should be. Atleast the cows in the meat eating countries produce something other than feces.

That's an ironclad argument right thar.

Too bad a good percentage of the beef in south Asia doesn't come from India, that would sure cut down on the methane in the air.

 

[DreadFish]

And I bet those sneaky cows are also over fishing and eating all the grain so people go hungry too

 

[Harmonious]

Jesus kept the OT commandments. At the end of his life, he attended a Passover meal with his disciples. Not eating the lamb would have been so irregular and contrary to the Law that the authors would have mentioned it.

That is a useful way to think things through.

If I learned that Jesus WAS a vegetarian, I would be even more disappointed with him for failure to observe commandments than I already am.