Vegetarianism

There are differences of opinion between Buddhists on this issue  so we will attempt to present the arguments of those who believe  that vegetarianism is necessary for Buddhists and those who do  not. Vegetarianism was not a part of the early Buddhist tradition  and the Buddha himself was not a vegetarian. 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. 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. However,  Buddhists gradually came to feel uncomfortable about meat eating.  In 257 BC King Asoka said that in contrast to before, only two  peacocks anda deer were killed to provide food in the royal kitchens  and that in time even this would be stopped. By the beginning of the Christian era meat eating had become unacceptable, particularly amongst the followers of the  Mahayana although the polemics against it in works like the  Lankavatara Sutra indicates that it was still widespread or a least  a point ofcontroversy. Tantric text dating from the 7th and 8th  centuries onward, frequently recommend both drinking alcohol and  eating meat and both are considered fit to offer to gods. This was  probably as much an expression of the freedom from convention  which Tantra taught as it was a protest against Mahayanists to  whom practices like abstaining from drink and meat had become a substitute for genuine spiritual change. Today it is often said that Mahayanists are vegetarian and  Theravadins are not. However the situation is a little more complex  than that. Generally Theravadins 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 try to follow there example  although many do not. Amongst Tibetans and Japanese Buddhists vegetarianism is rare. Buddhists who insist on vegetarianism have a simple and compelling argument to support their case. Eating meat encourages an industry  that causes cruelty and death to millions of animals and a truly compassionate person would wish to mitigate all this suffering. By  refusing to eat meat one can do just that. Those who believe that vegetarianism is not necessary for Buddhists  have equally compelling although more complex arguments to  support their view. (1) If the Buddha had felt that a meatless diet  was in accordance with the Precepts he would have said so and in the  Pali Tipitaka at least, he did not. (2) Unless one actually kills an  animal oneself (which seldom happens today) by eating meat one is  not directly responsible for the animal's death and in this sense the  non- vegetarian is no different from the vegetarian. The latter can  only eat his vegetables because the farmer has ploughed his fields  (thus killing many creatures) and sprayed the crop (again killing  many creatures). (3) While the vegetarian will not eat meat he does  use numerous other products that lead to animals being killed (soap, leather, serum, silk etc.) Why abstain from one while using the others?  (4) Good qualities like understanding, patience, generosity and  honesty and bad qualities like ignorance, pride, hypocrisy, jealousy  and indifference do not depend on what one eats and therefore diet is  not a significant factor in spiritual development. Some will accept one pointof view and some another. Each person has to make up his or  her own mind. Ruegg, D.S. "Ahimsa and Vegetarianism in the History of Buddhism" in Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula.  S. Balasooriya, (et.al) London, 1980; P. Kapleau, To Cherish All Life, London, 1982.