MEAT EATING IN BUDDHISM

“For the sake of love of purity, let the Bodhisattva refrain from eating flesh“

MEAT EATING IN BUDDHISM

“For the sake of love of purity, let the Bodhisattva refrain from eating flesh, which is born of semen, blood etc. To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating meat… It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order to kill it, when it was not especially meant for him.

There may be some people in the future who, being under the influence of taste for meat will string together in various ways sophistic arguments to defend meat eating. But meat-eating in any form, in any manner and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited.

“Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit and will not permit…” ( Lord Buddha, (Lanka vatara Sutra ) 1

“The reason for practicing dhyana and seeking to attain samadhi is to escape from the suffering of life, but in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves why should we inflict it upon others? Unless you can so control your minds that even the thought of brutal unkindness and killing is abhorred, you will never be able to escape from the bondage of the world’s life…

After my paranirvana in the last kalpa different ghosts will be encountered everywhere deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain enlightenment… How can a bhikshu, who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?” ( Lord Buddha, (Surangama Sutra) 2

“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”- (Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 129)

“One who, while seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other living beings who also desire happinesss, will not find happiness hereafter.”- (Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 131)

“He who has renounced all violence towards all living beings, weak or strong, who neither kills nor causes others to kill – him I do call a holy man.” – (Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 405) 3

“Anyone familiar with the numerous accounts of the Buddha’s extraordinary compassion and reverence for living beings – for example his insistence that his monks strain the water they drink lest they inadvertently cause the death of any micro-organisms 4 – could never believe that he would be indifferent to the sufferings of domestic animals caused by their slaughter of food” (Roshi Philip Kapleau, in To Cherish All Life) 5

“The inhabitants are numerous and happy… Throuhout the country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor.. .they do not keep pigs and foul, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butcher shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink… Only the Chandalas (lowest cast) are fisherman and hunters and sell flesh meat.” 6 – (famous 4th century Chines Buddhist traveller Fa-hsien)

“I have enforced the laws against killing certain animals and many others. But the greatest progress of Righteousness among men comes from the exhortation in favour of non-injury to life and abstention from killing living things. ” 7 – (Pillar Edict of King Ashoka (268-233 BC)

“The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion” – (Mahaparinirvana (Mahayana Version)

The 13th Century Zen Master Doyen, while visiting China, asked this question:

“What must the mental attitude and daily activities of a student be when he is engaged in Buddhist Meditation and practice? Ju-Ching answered that one of the things he should avoid is eating meat. 8

“The salvation of birds and beasts, oneself included – this is the object of Shakyamuni’s religious austerities.” – (Zen Master Ikkyu)

“In China and Japan the eating of meat was looked upon as an evil and was ostracised.. .The eating of meat gradually ceased (around 517) and the tended to become general. In became a matter of course not to use any kind of meat in the meals of temples and monasteries.” 9 – (Encyclopaedia of Buddhism)

“There is just no reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. Man can live without meat.” – (The Dalai Lama)

The 14 th century Saint Srila Jayadeva Gosvami in his Dasavatara-stotra sings:

nindasi yajna-vidher ahaha sruti jatam
sadaya-hrdaya- darsita-pasu-ghatam
kesava dhrta-buddha-sarira jaya jagad-isa hare

“It is said about Lord Buddha here: sadaya-hrdaya darsita-pasu-qhatam.

He saw the whole human race going to hell by this animal killing. So he appeared to teach ahimsa, non-violence, being compassionate on the animals and human beings. Actually animal-killing, no religion sanctions. In Christian religion also, it is clearly stated, ‘Thou shall not kill’. Everywhere animal killing is restricted. In no religion unnecessary killing of animals is actually allowed or supported. But for this nobody cares nowadays.

The killing of animals is increasing, and so are the reactions. Every ten years you will find a war. These are the reactions.” – (His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, the Hare Krishna Movement.)

1 – The Lankavatara Sutra, / Daisez Susuki, London: Routiedge 1932
2 – A Buddhist Bible, ed. Dwight Godard, New York:Dutton 1952
3 – Dhammapada by Ven.Sri Acarya Duddharakkhita,Budha Vacana Trust,Bangalore
4 – for detailed explanation of this Rule see: A Record of Buddhist Religion, I.Tsing, trans. J. Takakusu (Delhi:Munsriram Manoharlal, 1966 pp.30-33
5 – Roshi Philip Kapleau, in To Cherish All Life
6 – A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, trans.l. James Legge, NY: Dover 195 p 43
7 – The Seventh Pillar Edict, in Sources of Indian Tradition, NY: ColumbiaUniv. ‘Press 1958
8 – Eihel Dogen, Hokyo-ki:Zen Master,Zen Disciple, Udumbara, A Journal ofZen Master Doyen (1980)
9 – Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Govt. of Cylon Press (1963)

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Śrīla Prabhupāda’s commentary:

From the Bhāgavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who appeared when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext of the authority of the Vedas. Although there are certain restrictive rules and regulations regarding animal sacrifice for particular purposes in the Vedas, people of demonic tendency still took to animal sacrifice without reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha appeared to stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles of nonviolence.

The mission of Lord Buddha was to save people from the abominable activity of animal killing and to save the poor animals from being unnecessarily killed. When pāṣaṇḍīs were cheating by killing animals on the plea of sacrificing them in Vedic yajñas, the Lord said, “If the Vedic injunctions allow animal killing, I do not accept the Vedic principles.” Thus he actually saved people who acted according to Vedic principles. One should therefore surrender to Lord Buddha so that he can help one avoid misusing the injunctions of the Vedas.

So Buddha wanted to stop this nonsense, who were eating and killing animals on the strength of Vedas. They did not know what is the meaning, but they would say in the Vedas it is stated, paśavo vadhyaḥ sṛṣṭaḥ: “The animals are created for being killed.” And what purpose it is killed? They, without knowing… Actually, they wanted to satisfy their tongue by eating the flesh, but they would give Vedic evidences.

Because there is some prescription for animal sacrifice in the Vedas, Lord Buddha rejected the authority of the Vedas in order to uphold his teachings to contemporary practitioners, who, ignorant of the principles behind the Vedic injunctions, were citing the Vedas to justify their actions. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Buddha, as an incarnation of the Supreme Lord, could hardly be opposed to the Vedic teachings; yet unless people are brought to a basic standard of understanding and behavior, there is no question of understanding religion or God. This is particularly true in regard to animal-killing. Lord Buddha therefore came to stop the people from committing sinful activities and to teach the prerequisites of spiritual life, beginning with the principle and practice of ahiṁsā, or nonviolence.

What is sin, what is pious activities, these things are not understood by them because they are animal killers. It is not possible. Therefore Lord Buddha propagated ahiṁsā. Ahiṁsā. Because he saw the whole human race is going to hell by this animal killing. “Let me stop them so that they may, in future, they may become sober.”

While the immediate objective was to stop animal slaughter, Lord Buddha had to teach in a way suitable for the type of people with whom he was dealing. As Vyāsadeva states in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, “Propounding speculative philosophy, the Lord, as Buddha, will bewilder the unworthy performers of Vedic sacrifices.” Śrīla Prabhupāda summarizes Lord Buddha’s mission thus:

Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha.

Although Lord Buddha was an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, he did not speak about God, for the people were unable to understand. He simply wanted to stop animal-killing. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya wanted to establish the predominance of one’s spiritual identity; therefore he wanted to convert the atheists through an imaginary interpretation of the Vedic literatures. These are the secrets of the ācāryas. Sometimes they conceal the real purport of the Vedas and explain the Vedas in a different way. Sometimes they enunciate a different theory just to bring the atheists under their control.

Teachings of Christ, teaching of Buddha, they are meant for a particular type of men. Generally it is meant for everyone, but specifically for a particular type of men. Just like Lord Buddha, he preached ahiṁsā. They were a particular type of men. Lord Jesus Christ also preached to a particular type of men. “Thou shall not kill.” That means they were killing. Is it not? If I say, “Thou shall not steal,” that means you are thief, you are stealing. So a kind of preaching among the thieves and a kind of teaching among the philosophers must be different. That is the difference. Lord Buddha is Kṛṣṇa, Lord Jesus Christ was Kṛṣṇa incarnation, but they were preaching to a different type of people. Therefore you’ll find difference of Lord Jesus Christ teaching, Buddha’s teaching, Kṛṣṇa’s teaching. Kṛṣṇa’s teaching also is there, which is also Buddha’s teaching. But more than that, because the persons amongst whom He was teaching, they were far, far elevated than the thieves and the rogues. That is the difference.

Bible begins, “God is the supreme authority,” and Bhagavad-gītā concludes, “You surrender.” Where is the difference? Simply the description is according to the time, society, and place and people. That’s all. They are not Arjuna. You see? So the things to be understood by Arjuna is not possible by the persons who had crucified Lord Jesus Christ. You have to study in that light. The same thing. A dictionary, a pocket dictionary, child’s dictionary, and the dictionary, international dictionary, both of them dictionary, but the value is different. That dictionary is meant for a class of children, and that dictionary is meant for high scholars. But none of them you can say it is not dictionary. That you cannot say. Both of them are dictionaries. So we have to take consideration of the time, place, persons, everything. Just like Lord Buddha, he simply said that “Stop this nonsense animal killing.” That was his propaganda. They were so low-grade people, simply taking pleasure in animal killing. So in order to elevate them, Lord Buddha wanted to stop this nonsense: “Please stop killing.” So in every time a different representative of God or God comes to teach people at different circumstances. So according to the circumstances there may be some difference in explanation, but the primary factor remains the same. Lord Buddha said, “All right, there is no God, but you surrender to me.” Then where is the difference? That means one has to accept the authority of God either this way or that way.