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Questions: Are Buddhists Vegetarians?
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A Reader recently wrote:
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The Buddha did not advocate vegetarianism and was not a vegetarian.
I’m a vegetarian myself but eating meat is not breaking the first precept.
The Buddhist scriptures say “Being rough, pitiless, back-biting, harming ones friends, being heartless, arrogant and greedy - this makes one impure, not the eating of meat. Being of immoral conduct, refusing to repay debts, cheating in business, causing divisions amongst people - This makes one impure, not the eating meat.” Sn. 246-7
Some of the people that were not pleased with Buddhism’s middle way desired that it be more strict with it’s monks, demanding that the Buddha make vegetarianism required for monks and followers, but the Buddha refused. The fact that you are eating meat or vegetables both mean that you are responsible for the suffering of life which ties in with the First Noble Truth. Suffering is unavoidable.
Therefore you can eat meat as long as you do not kill the animal itself. This is what I have learned from my studies in Buddhism.
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My Response
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You are absolutely correct in that Buddha did not require vegetarianism. According to at least some of the legends, he died from eating spoiled pork, so that’s pretty much the final word on that! However, many groups do feel that harming animals breaks the first precept.
In modern days, meat animals are raised under terrible living conditions. No one who does any research on the subject can possibly say that animals raised for meat don’t suffer their entire lives. Now I have never killed a cow or a chicken in my life, but to say I am not responsible for many animal deaths is just avoiding the truth. Every cheeseburger that I eat causes suffering somewhere. The belief in reincarnation only adds to the problem.
I will be honest; I love steak, chicken, turkey and all that. I realize it causes suffering, but I don’t stop. Does this hurt my karma? I cannot see how it couldn’t. This is something I know I need to work on.
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Uh, actually, that’s not the final word: it really depends on which scriptures you favor. I did a bit of reading about this: the curious karma of the Dalai Lama, part 2. Yes, I didn’t go past a couple of Wikipedia articles, but scriptures are cited if folks are skeptical. The argument that Buddha was a vegetarian is fairly strong; I think it’s more likely that his position was weakened by more worldly followers.
This has ALWAYS been a controversial subject, because as you point out, there are scriptural contradictions and logic itself would seem to disprove the scriptures.
MOST of the accounts of his death mention the spoiled pork dish, so that’s the position I go with as “official.” As I posted above, I personally believe that strictly speaking, BUddhists SHOULD be vegetarian.
Generally speaking, I think it’s important to understand the basic teachings, but to use your own judgement in your daily practice. Unlike Christianity, the Buddhist scriptures are not the ultimate truth in Buddhism. They are simply guides to help you find your own own. The scriptures are important, but only YOU can attain enlightenment.
This is more on the subject from “Michael,” this one came through email, so I am posting it for him.
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All -
Forgive me if I not supposed to respond in this forum. I am new.
99% of the below is quite interesting. However, I see, “Therefore you can
eat meat as long as you do not kill the animal itself.” I’m not arguing for
a vegetarian path (I couldn’t do it), but this conclusion seems
unreasonable. Eating it (supposing it isn’t carrion) is no lack of
responsibility for its death. The very demand that you create as a consumer
is a cause that ends in an effect. this is akin to saying that as long as I
don’t own a slave in my house I can live in a house built by slaves. So
long as we are meat eaters, we have to accept that externalities (I guess
the term is karma here) of that choice.
Eating meat is part of our natural existence on this planet as it has
evolved. Our most ancient forms of what we are killed animals for many
reasons and many uses. A tiger kills a deer. This is just its way. This
is what it is. I would never call myself more than a tiger, but I can opt
to think about my choice to kill (even indirectly) where it cannot. Still,
I see us as a predator in our basic nature, and I see it such as a bear eats
berries and salmon. Just because I think deeply does not make me less of an
animal myself or have less of a place in the ecosystem.
We think and we can choose. I don’t know if a cow is more sacred than an
apple. I don’t know why I love my dog and can eat a plate of chicken. This
may not be idealistically Buddhist, but I don’t know that we gain anything
by failing to see the predatory function of nature in an honest way. The
treatment of animals raised in huge farms for slaughter is egregious. This
is a reason to give up meat eating, not a reason to rely on an industry that
lacks compassion for other sentient beings to absolve one of his or her
guilt. Honestly, if I order a man to murder another man around the corner
for $100, is his blood not on my hands equally? Let’s not delude ourselves.
Thanks for the page, Brian. I truly enjoy all that you do for us.
I must confess until recently I assumed Buddha did not consume meat. Michael Wood’s documentary mentioned the ‘pork’ story.
Strange perspective on the tradition. Brahmins usually tend to be vegertarian. In the part of the Sub-continent the Buddha lived Jain influences possibly prevailed strongly. Perhaps a little creativity has crept into his biography? That the Dala Lama eats meat, I’m not suprised.
Clearly, we do not need meat. And the slant on not killing the animal itself sounds hypocritical. Hitler did not eat meat; and he observed few meat eaters would do the killing themselves, prefering to call others ‘butchers’.
How, then, would Buddhist’s view the Muslim holiday eid al adhar? On that day, thousands of sheep are slaughtered and their flesh distributed to the needy and poor?