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Vegetarianism

One should not judge the purity or impurity of persons simply by observing what they eat.

IN the Amagandha Sutta, the Buddha said:

Not wandering naked, nor matted locks, nor filth, nor fasting, nor lying on the ground, nor dust, nor ashes, nor striving squatting on the heels, can purify a mortal who has not overcome doubts.

Taking fish and meat by itself does not make people become impure. They become impure by bigotry, deceit, envy, self-exaltation, disparagement and other evil intentions. Through their evil thoughts and actions, they make themselves impure. There is no strict rule in Buddhism which stipulates that the followers of the Buddha should not take fish and meat. The only advice given by the Buddha is that they should not be involved in killing intentionally or they should not ask others to kill any living being for them.

Though the Buddha did not advocate vegetarianism for the monks, He did advise the monks to avoid taking ten kinds of meat for their self-respect and protection. They are: humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas. Some animals attack people when they smell the flesh of their own kind. (VINAYA PITAKA).

When the Buddha was asked to introduce vegetarianism into the holy Order by Devadatta, one of His disciples, the Buddha refused to do so. As Buddhism is a free religion, His advice was to leave the decision regarding vegetarianism to the individual disciple. It clearly shows that the Buddha had not considered this as a very important religious observance. The Buddha did not mention anything about vegetarianism for the Buddhists in His Teaching.

Jivaka Komarabhacca, the physician, discussed this controversial issue with the Buddha:

‘I have heard this, venerable sir, that living things are killed on account of the recluse Gotama, and he partakes that knowing, it was killed on account of him. Venerable sir, those who say, that living things are killed on account of the recluse Gotama, and he partakes that, knowing, it was killed on account of him, are they saying the rightful words of the Blessed One and not blaming the Teaching?’
Jeevaka, those who say, that living things are killed on account of the recluse Gotama, and he partakes that knowing, because it was killed on account of him. They are not my words, and they blame me falsely. Jeevaka, I say that on three instances meat should not be partaken, when seen, heard or when there is a doubt. I say, that on these three instances meat should not be partaken. I say, that meat could be partaken on three instances, when not seen, not heard and when there is no doubt about it.

(JIVAKA SUTTA)

In certain countries, the followers of the Mahayana school of Buddhism are strict vegetarians. Those who take vegetable food and abstain from animal flesh are praiseworthy. However, while appreciating their observance in the name of religion, we should like to point out that they should not condemn those who are not vegetarians. They must remember that there is no precept in the original Teachings of the Buddha that requires all Buddhists to be vegetarians. We must realise that Buddhism is known as the Middle Path. It is a liberal religion and the Buddha’s advice was that it is not necessary to go to extremes to practise His Teachings.

Vegetarianism alone does not help a person to cultivate humane qualities. There are kind, humble, polite and religious people amongst non-vegetarians. Therefore, one should not condone the statement that a pure, religious person must practise vegetarianism.

On the other hand, if anybody thinks that people cannot have a healthy life without taking fish and meat, it does not necessarily follow that they are correct since there are millions of pure vegetarians all over the world who are stronger and healthier than the meat-eaters. In fact the Buddha declared that it is not what goes into a person’s mouth that pollutes, it is what comes out.

People who criticize Buddhists who eat meat do not understand the Buddhist attitude towards food. A living being needs nourishment. We eat to live. As such human beings should supply their bodies with the food needed to keep them healthy and to give them energy to work. However, as a result of increasing wealth, more and more people, especially in developed countries, eat simply to satisfy their palates. If one craves for any kind of food, or kills to satisfy one’s greed for meat, this is wrong. If one eats moderately without greed and without directly being involved in the act of killing but merely to sustain the physical body, he or she is practising self-restraint. The destruction of greed should be the primary aim, not the kind of food that is taken.

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Редакция перевода от 01.07.2015 20:06