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By Jayaram V
In the days of the Buddha, the Buddhist monks wandered
from village to village carrying minimum necessities, which included
a begging bowl. They ate whatever food that was given to them, without
preference and choice as a part of their effort to control greed
and desires. Since choice meant desire, they shunned all preferences
and choices in matters of living and practicing the Buddhist Dharma.
The tolerated harsh conditions of life and accepted them as opportunities
to practice the Eightfold Path. They observed the same discipline
in matters of eating food. When they passed through a village and
if someone offered them meat, they ate it dispassionately, without
craving or contempt.
The essential practice of Buddhism, which was based on the Four
Noble Truth and The Eightfold Path precluded any possibility of
seeking and desiring on the part of the monks. The teachings of
the Buddha encouraged them to overcome their desires and live unconditionally
with an ethical bent of mind. Thus there were no restrictions on
meat eating in the early days of Buddhism. This practice continues
till today in many schools of Buddhism. For the followers of the
Buddha, right resolve or right intention is more important than
the superficial display of morality, which is defined as "resolved
on renunciation, on freedom from ill-will and on harmlessness. Lay
followers of Buddhism are urged to shun five types of business of
which business in meat is one. Right action included abstaining
from taking life. Thus on their own the monks cannot indulge in
wrong practices or crave for food that is in direct conflict with
the basic teachings of the Buddha. But if someone offered them food
such as meat, even though it conflicted with their beliefs, they
had to accept it without objection. In cases such as this it is
probably the person who offers them such food who will incur bad
karma, if any.
Thus in the days of the Buddha, the key to right living was the
intention behind the action and absence of craving. The Buddha taught
that if there was a passion, delight and craving for physical and
mental food, it would lead to growth of fabrications, becoming and
rebirth (Atthi Raga Sutta). However as Buddhism spread, it became
necessary to establish a specific code of conduct for the monks
with regard to right food and right eating. The Buddhist Monastic
Code (Vinay Pitika) defines various types of food and specifies
what types of meat are allowed or not allowed. The following details
are reproduced from the same1.
"The following types of meat are un-allowable: the
flesh of human beings, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers,
leopards, bears, and hyenas (panthers). Human beings, horses, and
elephants were regarded as too noble to be used as food. The other
types of meat were forbidden either on grounds that they were repulsive
("People were offended and annoyed and spread it about, 'How can
these Sakyan contemplatives eat dog meat? Dogs are loathsome, disgusting'")
or dangerous (bhikkhus, smelling of lion's flesh, went into the
jungle; the lions there were offended and annoyed and attacked them).
"To eat human flesh entails a thullaccaya2;
to eat any of the other unallowable types, a dukkata (Mahavagga.VI.23.9-15).
If a bhikkhu is uncertain as to the identity of any meat presented
to him, he incurs a dukkata if he doesn't ask the donor what it
is (Mahavagga.VI.23.9).
"Fish or meat, even if of an allowable kind, is unallowable if raw.
Thus bhikkhus may not eat steak tartare, sashimi, oysters on the
half-shell, etc. (Raw flesh and blood are allowed at Mahavagga.VI.10.2
only when one is possessed by non-human beings (!)) Furthermore,
even cooked fish or meat of an allowable kind is unallowable if
the bhikkhu sees, hears, or suspects that the animal was killed
specifically for the purpose of feeding bhikkhus (Mahavagga.VI.31.14)."
There is historical evidence to suggest that meat eating was
not shunned by the Buddha himself and if certain interpretations
are to be believe, he died because of eating improperly cooked pork
offered by one of his lay followers.
The Mahayana Buddhist challenged the traditional Buddhist attitude
towards meat eating and believed that it conflicted with the principles
of compassion, harmlessness and non injury to living creatures.
They questioned how a bodhisattva, who wished to treat all living
beings as though they were himself, would accept eating the flesh
of any living being. They declared that men should feel affinity
with all living beings, as if they were their own kin and refrain
from eating meat. The Lankavatara Sutra openly criticized
the meat eating habits of the Theravada School and concluded thus,
"All meat eating in any form or manner and in any circumstances
is prohibited unconditionally and once and for all." Meat eating
is not prohibited in Vajrayana Buddhism also.
Suggested Further Reading
1. From
The Buddhist
Monastic Code I The Patimokkha Rules, Chapter 8 Translated
and Explained by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1994, 2007
2. A type of offense for which punishment
was prescribed in the monastic code.
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