Essay name: Ahara as depicted in the Pancanikaya
Author:
Le Chanh
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages
This critical study of Ahara (鈥渇ood鈥�) explores its significance in Buddhism, encompassing both physical and mental nourishment. The Panca Nikaya, part of the Sutta Pitaka, highlights how all human problems, including suffering and happiness, are connected to Ahara. Understanding this concept is crucial for comprehending and alleviating suffering, aiming for a balanced, enlightened life.
Chapter 2 - Concept of Ahara in the works of modern scholars and other religions
26 (of 31)
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the rules of this fast have been relaxed in recent years. Lent involves no
periods of complete denial of food and drink, but only abstinence from
meat on certain days and a commitment to eat less every day. Among the
devout, there is a tradition of voluntarily giving up a favorite food or drink,
both to repent for sin and to provide money for charity. A celebration
called Mardi Gras (French for 鈥渇at Tuesday") or Carnival often precedes
the beginning of Lent, especially in Latin countries.
100 In many religions, monks, nuns, and ascetics use restricted diets as a
means to heighten awareness in prayer or meditation and to lessen the
passions of the body. Under the Christian Rule of St. Benedict, each
monk was allowed one pound of bread per day and a pint of wine, but
meat was not recommended except for the sick.
2.3.3. Judaism
The Jewish religion, estimated to be 4,000 years old, started when
Abraham received God's earliest covenant with the Jews, it had no
homeland until the birth of Israel in 1948. The cornerstone of the
101 Jewish religion is the Hebrew Bible, particularly the first five books of
the Bible, the Pentateuch, also known as the books of Moses, or the
Torah. It consists of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. The Torah chronicles the beginnings of Judaism and
contains the basic laws that express the will of God to the Jews.
The Torah not only sets down the Ten Commandments,
103 102
but also
100 Ibid., p. 3171.
101 Food and Culture, ibid., p. 86.
102 Ibid.
103 The Ten Commandments (alternatively called the Decalogue) are a list of religious and moral
imperatives, which are said to have been spoken by God to Moses on Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb
and engraved on two stone tablets. There are two very different lists, sometimes differentiated as the
Ethical Decalogue and the Ritual Decalogue: (1) "I am the LORD your God who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me...,鈥� (2) 鈥淒o
not make an image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above...鈥�, (3) 鈥淒o not swear falsely by
the name of the LORD...," (4) "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," (5) 鈥淗onor your
