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[Full title: Attitude of 惭补丑ā测ā苍补 Tradition towards Meat-eating and Vegetarian Food]

Vegetarianism was not a part of the early Buddhist tradition and the Buddha himself was not a vegetarian.^[1] The Buddha got his food either by going on alms rounds or by being invited to the houses of his supporters and in both cases he ate what he was given. Before his enlightenment he had experimented with various diets including a meatless diet, but he eventually abandoned them believing that they did not contribute to spiritual development.

Vegetarianism is a growing practice in modern society and some of its-new-found enthusiasts have pointed an accusing finger at the Buddha who is recorded as having eaten meat, and at modern Buddhists who eat meat. According to Chatral Rinpoche with the answers of an interview that “if you take meat, it goes against the vows one take in seeking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sa?gha. Because when you take meat you have to take a being’s life.”^[2]

The 厂耻迟迟补-狈颈辫ā迟补 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. In the 尝补苍办ā惫补迟ā谤补 厂ū迟谤补, the Buddha taught that “killing animals for profit and buying meat are both evil deeds; these kinds of actions will result in a rebirth in the horrifying realms of hell”.^[3]

Today it is often said that Mahāyānists are vegetarian and Theravādins are not. However the situation is a little more complex than that. Generally Theravādins have no dietary restrictions although it is not uncommon to find monks and lay people in Sri Lanka who are strict vegetarians. Others abstain from meat while eating fish. Chinese and Vietnamese monks and nuns are strictly vegetarian and the lay community tries to follow their example although many do not. Amongst Tibetans and Japanese Buddhists, vegetarianism is rare.

When Buddhism later moved to China, large monasteries developed with landholdings. Focusing on East Asia, begging for food was considered an unacceptable custom in Chinese Confucian culture and never got firmly established in Chinese Buddhism. Instead, monasteries were granted large tracts of land to grow their own food. So, unlike the situation in Indian Buddhism, monks in China started growing, storing, preparing, and cooking their own food.^[4] Monastery kitchens appeared for the first time.

The threefold restriction on meat for monks already mentioned became meaningless for Chinese monks who no longer were begging for food daily. Monks were faced with the problem of interpreting the Vinaya rules to match their situation. The Chinese monks interpreted the spirit of the Vinaya to mean that all meat eating was to be forbidden, since the monks were doing the preparation themselves and for themselves. Thus, any meat prepared and consumed in a Chinese monastery would be obviously prepared specifically for the monks, and so it all came to be considered unallowable.

In Chinese Buddhism, and in Korean and Japanese Buddhism under Chinese influence, the practice of vegetarianism filtered down to the laity as well. Many Chinese lay Buddhists at present are vegetarian, and a unique style of Chinese vegetarian cooking has developed, originally for lay visitors to monasteries, where meat products are mimicked in wheat gluten and soy products.

A new code of 惭补丑ā测ā苍补 precepts became popular in China. This text contains a number of Chinese adaptations of the Vinaya, and emphasizes the practice of a 惭补丑ā测ā苍补 practitioner, a Bodhisattva. The precepts contained in this text are thus sometimes called the Bodhisattva Precepts. There are ten major and forty-eight minor precepts. The Third Minor Precept specifically prohibits eating meat, perhaps the first time such a precept was codified in Buddhism. The text of the Third Minor Precept of the Fanwangjing (梵網経) reads: A disciple of the Buddha must eat no flesh of sentient beings. If he eats their flesh, he injures his potential for developing universal compassion. Sentient beings will flee from on sight. For his reason, 惭补丑ā测ā苍补 practitioners should not eat the flesh of any sentient beings.

“Pray let us not eat any flesh or meat whatsoever coming from living beings. Anyone who eats flesh is cutting himself off from the great seed of his own merciful and compassionate nature, for which all sentient beings will reject him and flee from him when they see him acting so... Someone who eats flesh is defiling himself beyond measure...”^[5]

The foregoing argument should not be taken as a justification of meat-eating. Our concern is to speculate on the rationale behind the three-fold rule on this subject enunciated by the Buddha and to refute the charge that the Buddha’s rule involves a moral contradiction with the other parts of the Buddha’s teaching such as his insistence on loving-kindness and the precept on the taking of life.

Even though there is no blanket proscription on meat eating in the Buddha’s teaching the three-fold rule that he enunciated has considerable value. The Buddha was concerned with devising a practical rule that will reconcile the dilemma involved in living in 蝉补?蝉ā谤补 and allowing other life forms too to exist. The fact that the three-fold rule is not ideal is not a reflection on the Buddha but of the existential fact that 蝉补?蝉ā谤补 faring must involve harm to others. The Buddha’s final solution to this is perhaps the only way in which this problem could be satisfactorily solved. This solution is to chart a course to get out of phenomenal existence, i.e. chart a path to 狈颈谤惫ā?补.

The drive toward active animal compassion and vegetarianism was promoted especially by the 惭补丑ā测ā苍补 school. The viewpoint that all life is interrelated was used to promote the abstention from meat, and within a Buddhist context serves as a basis for protesting all maltreatment of animals. The La?kāvatāra 厂ū迟谤补 also includes stories to emphasize the need for vegetarianism. We are protected by the mindfulness and the loving kindness of the Buddha and the Buddhists who also practice non-violence. This energy of loving kindness brings us the feeling of safety, health, and joy in this life.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

V. Nithi Nithiyanandam, Buddhist Philosophy of Social Activism, Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House, 2004: 89.

[2]:

Chatral Rinpoche, Compassionate Action, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2007: 24.

[3]:

Ibid. 31.

[4]:

Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, USA: Oxford University Press, 1998: 107.

[5]:

Tony Page, Buddhism and Animals: A Buddhist Vision of Humanity's Rightful Relationship with the Animal Kingdom, London: UKAVIS Publications, 1999: 132.