Buddhist vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism by significant portions of
Mahayana Buddhist monks and nuns (as well as
laypersons) and some Buddhists of other sects. In
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, the views on vegetarianism vary between different
schools of thought. The
Mahayana schools generally recommend a vegetarian diet because they claimed
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
set forth in some of the
sutras that his followers must not eat the flesh of any
sentient being.
Early Buddhism
The earliest surviving written accounts of Buddhism are the
Edicts written by King Ashoka, a well-known Buddhist king who propagated Buddhism throughout Asia, and is honored by both Theravada and Mahayana schools of Buddhism. The authority of the Edicts of Ashoka as a historical record is suggested by the mention of numerous topics omitted as well as corroboration of numerous accounts found in the Theravada and Mahayana Tripitakas written down centuries later.
Asoka Rock Edict 1 dated to c. 257 BCE mentions the prohibition of animal sacrifices in Ashoka's
Maurya Empire as well as his commitment to vegetarianism; however, whether the
Sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
was vegetarian in part or in whole is unclear from these edicts. However, Ashoka's personal commitment to, and advocating of, vegetarianism suggests Early Buddhism (at the very least for the layperson) most likely already had a vegetarian tradition (the details of what that entailed besides not killing animals and eating their flesh, were not mentioned, and therefore are unknown).
Views of the three Buddhist vehicles
There is a divergence of views within Buddhism as to whether vegetarianism is required; with some schools of Buddhism rejecting such a requirement. Some Buddhists avoid
meat consumption
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chick ...
because of the first precept in Buddhism: "I undertake the precept to refrain from taking life". Other Buddhists disagree with this conclusion. Many Buddhist vegetarians also oppose meat-eating based on scriptural injunctions against flesh-eating recorded in
Mahayana sutras.
Theravada view
The most clear reference in
Theravada Buddhism to monastic consumption of non-vegetarian food is found in the
Pali Canon, where the Buddha once explicitly refused a suggestion by
Devadatta
Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhārtha. The accounts of his life vary greatly, but he is generally seen as an evil and divisive figure in Buddhism, who led a breakaway group in the ea ...
to mandate vegetarianism in the monks'
Vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...
monastic code. This refusal to proscribe non-vegetarian food is within the context of Buddhist monastics receiving alms food.
The Buddha in the
Aṅguttara Nikāya
The Anguttara Nikaya ('; , also translated "Gradual Collection" or "Numerical Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali ...
3.38 ''Sukhamala Sutta'', before his enlightenment, describes his family being wealthy enough to provide non-vegetarian meals even to his servants. After becoming enlightened, he respectfully accepted any kind of alms food offered with good intention, including meat (within the limitations described above), fruit and vegetables.
In the same text, a former
Jaina
JAINA is an acronym for the Federation of Jain Associations in North America, an umbrella organizations to preserve, practice, and promote Jainism in USA and Canada. It was founded in 1981 and formalized in 1983. Among Jain organization it is ...
converted into Buddhism, Siha, gives alms including meat to the Buddha and his monks, ordering one of his servants to buy fresh meat from the market. Other Jain ascetics comment unfavorably, accusing Siha of killing an animal explicitly for the consumption of the Buddha, but Siha denies such thing.
In the modern era, the passage cited below has been interpreted as allowing the consumption of meat ''if'' it is not specifically slaughtered for the monastic receiving alms food:
Also in the ''Jivaka Sutta'', Buddha instructs a monk or nun to accept, without any discrimination, whatever alms food is offered with good will, including meat. As for Buddhist laity, the Buddha in the ''Vanijja Sutta'', AN 5:177
insrructed the meat trade to be one of the five
wrong livelihood a
layperson should not engage in :
But this is not, strictly speaking, a dietary rule because the Buddha, on one particular occasion, specifically refused suggestions by
Devadatta
Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhārtha. The accounts of his life vary greatly, but he is generally seen as an evil and divisive figure in Buddhism, who led a breakaway group in the ea ...
to institute vegetarianism in the Sangha.
In the ''Amagandha Sutta'' in the Sutta Nipata, a vegetarian Brahmin confronts
Kassapa Buddha (a previous Buddha before Gautama Buddha) in regard to the evil of eating meat. The Brahmin insisted his higher status is well-deserved due to his observance of a vegetarian diet. The Buddha countered the argument by listing acts which cause real moral defilement (i.e. those acts in opposition to
Buddhist ethics
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...
) and then stating the mere consumption of meat is not equivalent to those acts.
There were monastic guidelines prohibiting consumption of 10 types of meat: that of humans,
elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears and hyenas. This is because these animals (allegedly) can be provoked by the smell of the flesh of their own kind, or because eating of such flesh would generate a bad reputation for the Sangha.
Paul Breiter, a student of
Ajahn Chah
Chah Subhaddo ( th, ชา สุภัทโท, known in English as Ajahn Chah, occasionally with honorific titles ''Luang Por'' and ''Phra'') also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" ( th, พระโพธิญาณเถ ...
, states that some bhikkhus in the
Thai Forest Tradition choose to be vegetarian and that
Ajahn Sumedho
Luang Por Sumedho or Ajahn Sumedho ( th, อาจารย์สุเมโธ) (born Robert Karr Jackman, July 27, 1934) is one of the senior Western representatives of the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was abbot of Amara ...
encouraged supporters to prepare vegetarian food for the temple.
There are a significant minority of Theravadin laypersons who practice vegetarianism especially in Thailand.
Mahayana view
Mahayana views on vegetarianism are within the broader framework of
Buddhist ethics
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...
or Śīla. The aim of Buddhist vegetarianism is to give rise to compassion and the upholder of vegetarianism is expected to (at least faithfully attempt to) observe Buddhist ethics. The Buddhist vegetarian who does not observe Buddhist ethics is not seen as a true Buddhist vegetarian.
According to the ''
Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra of the Buddha-nature genre. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form ...
'', a
Mahayana sutra
The Mahāyāna sūtras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures (''sūtra'') that are accepted as canonical and as ''buddhavacana'' ("Buddha word") in Mahāyāna Buddhism. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan ...
giving
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
's final teachings, the Buddha insisted that his followers should not eat any kind of meat or fish. Even vegetarian food that has been touched by meat should be washed before being eaten. Also, it is not permissible for the monk or nun just to pick out the non-meat portions of a diet – the whole meal must be rejected.
The ''
Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra
The ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'' ( Taishō 120) is a Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture belonging to the Tathāgatagarbha class of sūtra, which teach that the Buddha is eternal, that the non-Self and emptiness teachings only apply to the worldly sph ...
'' quotes a dialogue between Gautama Buddha and
Manjushri on meat eating:
The Buddha in certain
Mahayana sutras very vigorously and unreservedly denounced the eating of meat, mainly on the grounds that such an act is linked to the spreading of fear amongst
sentient beings
Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
(who can allegedly sense the odor of death that lingers about the meat-eater and who consequently fear for their own lives) and violates the
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
's fundamental cultivation of compassion. Moreover, according to the Buddha in the ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'', since all beings share the same "Dhatu" (spiritual Principle or Essence) and are intimately related to one another, killing and eating other sentient creatures is tantamount to a form of self-killing and cannibalism. The sutras which inveigh against meat-eating include the ''
Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra of the Buddha-nature genre. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form ...
'', the ''
Śūraṅgama Sūtra
The ''Śūraṅgama Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: शूरङ्गम सूत्र; ) (Taisho 945) is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra that has been especially influential in Chan Buddhism. The general doctrinal outlook of the ''Śūraṅgama Sūtra'' is ...
'', the ''
Brahmajāla Sūtra'', the ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'', the ''
Mahamegha Sutra'', and the ''
Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' ( Sanskrit, "Discourse of the Descent into Laṅka" bo, ལང་ཀར་བཤེགས་པའི་མདོ་, Chinese:入楞伽經) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist sūtra. This sūtra recounts a teachi ...
''.
In the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'', which presents itself as the final elucidatory and definitive Mahayana teachings of the Buddha on the very eve of his death, the Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of Great Kindness", adding that all and every kind of meat and fish consumption (even of animals found already dead) is prohibited by him. He specifically rejects the idea that monks who go out begging and receive meat from a donor should eat it: "
should be rejected... I say that even meat, fish, game, dried hooves and scraps of meat left over by others constitutes an infraction... I teach the harm arising from meat-eating." The Buddha also predicts in this sutra that later monks will "hold spurious writings to be the authentic Dharma" and will concoct their own sutras and falsely claim that the Buddha allows the eating of meat, whereas he says he does not. A long passage in the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' shows the Buddha speaking out very forcefully against meat consumption and unequivocally in favor of vegetarianism, since the eating of the flesh of fellow sentient beings is said by him to be incompatible with the compassion that a Bodhisattva should strive to cultivate. This passage has been seen as questionable by a small minority of Mahayana Buddhist writers (eg.
D.T. Suzuki
, self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...
).
In several other Mahayana scriptures, too (e.g., the Mahayana
jataka tales), the Buddha is seen clearly to indicate that meat-eating is undesirable and karmically unwholesome.
Some suggest that the rise of monasteries in Mahayana tradition to be a contributing factor in the emphasis on vegetarianism. In the monastery, food was prepared specifically for monastics. In this context, large quantities of meat would have been specifically prepared (killed) for them. Henceforth, when monastics from the
Indian geographical sphere of influence migrated to China from the year 65 CE on, they met followers who provided them with money instead of food. From those days onwards, Chinese monastics, and others who came to inhabit northern countries, cultivated their own vegetable plots and bought food in the market. This remains the dominant practice in China, Vietnam, and most Korean Mahayana temples; the exceptions being some Korean Mahayana temples who traced their lineages back to Japan.
Mahayana lay Buddhists often eat vegetarian diets on the vegetarian dates (齋期 zhāi qī). There are different arrangement of the dates, from several days to three months in each year, in some traditions, the celebration of the bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara
In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर, IPA: ) is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi (lotus bearer). He is variably depicted, ...
's birthday,
Bodhi Day
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have attained enlightenment, also known as ''bodhi'' in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of ...
and
Great Renunciation days hold the highest importance to be vegetarian.
Vajrayana view
Some
Vajrayana practitioners both drink alcohol and eat meat. Many traditions of the
Ganachakra
A ganacakra ( sa, गणचक्र ' "gathering circle"; ) is also known as tsok, ganapuja, cakrapuja or ganacakrapuja. It is a generic term for various tantric assemblies or feasts, in which practitioners meet to chant mantra, enact mudra, ...
which is a type of
Panchamakara Panchamakara or Panchatattva, also known as the Five Ms, is the Tantric term for the five transgressive substances used in a Tantric practice. These are (alcohol), (meat), (fish), (pound grain), and (sexual intercourse).
Taboo-breaking elemen ...
puja prescribed the offering and ingestion of meat and alcohol, although this practice is now often only a symbolic one, with no actual meat or alcohol ingested.
One of the most important
tertön
Tertön () is a term within Tibetan Buddhism meaning a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or '' terma''. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), who foresa ...
s of
Tibet,
Jigme Lingpa
Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798) was a Tibetan '' tertön'' of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the promulgator of the Longchen Nyingthig, the Heart Essence teachings of Longchenpa, from whom, according to tradition, he received a ...
, wrote of his great compassion for animals:
In ''The Life of Shabkar, the Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin'',
Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol wrote:
The
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
and other esteemed lamas invite their audiences to adopt vegetarianism when they can. When asked in recent years what he thinks of vegetarianism, the 14th Dalai Lama has said: "It is wonderful. We must absolutely promote vegetarianism." The Dalai Lama tried becoming a vegetarian and promoted vegetarianism. In 1999, it was published that the Dalai Lama would only be vegetarian every other day and partakes of meat regularly. When he is in Dharamsala, he is vegetarian, but not necessarily when he is outside Dharamsala.
Paul McCartney has taken him to task for this and wrote to him to urge him to return to strict vegetarianism, but "
he Dalai Lamareplied
o me
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
saying that his doctors had told him he needed
eat
Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...
so I wrote back saying they were wrong."
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche ( Tib. o thog bstan 'dzin dbang rgyal) is a teacher (lama) of the Bon Tibetan religious tradition. He is founder and director of the Ligmincha Institute and several centers named Chamma Ling, organizations dedicated to the ...
became vegetarian in 2008.
Arjia Rinpoche became vegetarian in 1999.
On 3 January 2007, one of the two 17th
Karmapa
The Karmapa (honorific title ''His Holiness the Gyalwa'' ��ྒྱལ་བ་, Victorious One''Karmapa'', more formally as ''Gyalwang'' ��ྒྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་, King of Victorious Ones''Karmapa'', and informally as the '' ...
,
Urgyen Trinley Dorje, strongly urged vegetarianism upon his students, saying that generally, in his view, it was very important in the Mahayana not to eat meat and that even in Vajrayana students should not eat meat:
There are many great masters and very great realized beings in India and there have been many great realized beings in Tibet also, but they are not saying, "I'm realized, therefore I can do anything; I can eat meat and drink alcohol." It's nothing like that. It should not be like that.
According to the Kagyupa
The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...
school, we have to see what the great masters of the past, the past lamas of Kagyupas, did and said about eating meat. The Drikung Shakpa p?Rinpoche, master of Drikungpa, said like this, "My students, whomever are eating or using meat and calling it tsokhor or tsok, then these people are completely deserting me and going against the dharma." I can't explain each of these things, but he said that anybody that is using meat and saying it is something good, this is completely against the dharma and against me and they completely have nothing to do with dharma. He said it very, very strongly.
Common practices
Theravada
In the modern world, attitudes toward vegetarianism vary by location. In
Sri Lanka and the
Theravada countries of
South East Asia,
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
are obliged by the monastic code,
Vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...
to accept almost any food that is offered to them, including meat, unless they suspect the meat was slaughtered specifically for them. Theravadin monks are also not supposed to choose or request for any specific food during their pindapata (alms collection).
Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese traditions
In
China,
Korea,
Vietnam,
Taiwan and their respective diaspora communities, monks and nuns are expected to abstain from meat and, traditionally, eggs and dairy, in addition to the
fetid
{{Short pages monitor
...
vegetables – traditionally
garlic, ''
Allium chinense
''Allium chinense'' (also known as Chinese onion,Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name DatabaseUniversity of Melbourne. Updated 3 August 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Chinese scallion, glittering chive, Japanese scallion, Kiangsi scallion, a ...
'',
asafoetida
Asafoetida (; also spelled asafetida)
is the dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of ''Ferula'', perennial herbs growing tall. They are part of the celery family, Umbelliferae. Asafoetida is thou ...
,
shallot, and ''
Allium victorialis
''Allium victorialis'', commonly known as victory onion, Alpine leek, and Alpine broad-leaf allium is a broad-leaved Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a perennial of the Amaryllis family that occurs widely in mountainous regions of Europe an ...
'' (victory onion or mountain leek), although in modern times this rule is often interpreted to include other vegetables of the
onion genus, as well as
– this is called pure vegetarianism or veganism (純素 chún sù / 淨素 jìng sù /
齋 zhāi). Pure Vegetarianism or Veganism is Indic in origin and is still practiced in India by some adherents of
Dharmic religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...
such as
Jainism and in the case of
Hinduism,
lacto-vegetarianism
A lacto-vegetarian (sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin root lact-, ''milk'') diet is a diet that abstains from the consumption of meat as well as eggs, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ...
with the additional abstention of pungent or fetid vegetables.
A minority of Buddhist lay believers are year-long or life-long vegetarians. Many lay followers typically adhere to monastic-style vegetarianism on Lunar New Year Eve, commemorative holidays and ancestral feast days, as well as the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar. Some lay followers also follow monastic-style vegetarianism on the six-day (六日齋), ten-day (十日齋), Guan-yin (Avalokitesvara) vegetarian (觀音齋) etc., and follow according to that lunar calendar schedule. Other Buddhist lay-followers also follow less stringent forms of vegetarianism. Most Buddhist lay-followers however are not vegetarians. Some
Zhaijiao
The Chinese religions of fasting () are a subgroup of the Chinese salvationist religions. Their name refers to the strict vegetarian fasting diet that believers follow. This subgroup originated as the ''Lǎoguān zhāijiào'' (老官齋教 "Venerab ...
lay adherents also do not eat any meat.
Japanese traditions
Japan initially received
Chinese Buddhism in the 6th century. In 675,
Emperor Tenmu issued an edict prohibiting eating the meat of cows, horses, dogs, monkeys, and roosters, as recorded in the
Nihon Shoki. Tenmu was a strong proponent of Buddhism, and these views were bolstered by Shinto perspectives that reviewed blood and dead bodies as impure (Japanese: 穢れ ''kegare'') and to be avoided. These shared ideas bolstered the stigma against occupations related to processing dead animals, such as tanning and slaughtering, and the hereditary groups linked to them, the
burakumin
is a name for a low-status social group in Japan. It is a term for ethnic Japanese people with occupations considered as being associated with , such as executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, or tanners.
During Japan's f ...
. For centuries, people in this ''eta'' (穢多, lit. "an abundance of defilement") were the only ones who consumed meat openly, which contributed to the views of their uncleanliness and marginalized social status. Despite this, animal products remained in the Japanese diet long after the 675 edict. References to hunting and eating deer and wild boar continued throughout the ancient and medieval period into the 16th century as an occasional part of the diet for all but those in the poorer agrarian classes. The court nobles also ate red meat occasionally, despite being obliged to follow Buddhist principles closely, although it was viewed as inferior to eating fish and birds.
Around the 9th century, two Japanese monks (
Kūkai
Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...
and
Saichō
was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school of Buddhism based on the Chinese Tiantai school he was exposed to during his trip to Tang China beginning in 804. He founded the temple and headquarters of Tendai at Enryak ...
), introduced Vajrayana Buddhism into Japan, and this soon became the dominant Buddhism among the nobility. In particular, Saichō, who founded the
Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese ...
sect of Japanese Buddhism, reduced the number of vinaya code to 66. (円戒 yuán jiè) During the 12th century, a number of monks from
Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese ...
sects founded new schools (
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and l ...
,
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wide ...
) and de-emphasised vegetarianism.
Nichiren Buddhism today likewise deemphasises vegetarianism. Zen does tend generally to look favourably upon vegetarianism.
Shingon Buddhism, founded by Kūkai, recommends vegetarianism and requires it at certain times, but it is not always strictly required for monks and nuns. Buddhist vegetarianism (aka Shojin Ryori), also dictates Kinkunshoku (禁葷食) which is to not use meat as well as Gokun (五葷 5 vegetables from the allium family) in their cooking.
In 1872 of the Meiji restoration,
as part of the opening up of Japan to Western influence,
Emperor Meiji
, also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...
lifted the ban on the consumption of
red meat. The removal of the ban encountered resistance and in one notable response, ten monks attempted to break into the Imperial Palace. The monks asserted that due to foreign influence, large numbers of Japanese had begun eating meat and that this was "destroying the soul of the Japanese people." Several of the monks were killed during the break-in attempt, and the remainder were arrested.
Tibetan traditions
The practice of non-harming forms the basis of all three vehicles
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wate ...
of Buddhist philosophy. For this reason, the Buddha gave advice to the Buddhist community of monastics in the Vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...
concerning food and the consumption of meat, since monastics traditionally relied upon alms given to them by the local community for sustenance on occasions which may include meat, and to refuse such offerings could be considered as going against their vows. The Buddha made clear distinctions between eating meat and killing, by giving instructions on the three-fold purity of meat.
In Tibet, where vegetables are scarce, meat is often consumed as a form of sustenance. However, records show that in Tibet, the practice of vegetarianism was encouraged as early as the 14th and 15th centuries by renowned Buddhist teachers such as Chödrak Gyatso and Mikyö Dorje, 8th Karmapa Lama
Mikyö Dorje (, 1507–1554) was the eighth Karmapa, head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Biography
Mikyö Dorje was born in Satam, Kham. According to the legend, he said after being born: "I am Karmapa." and was recognized by Tai Sit ...
.
Contemporary Buddhist teachers such as the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Da ...
, and The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, invite their audiences to adopt vegetarianism whenever they can.[Karmapa Orgyen Trinley, "His Holiness on Vegetarian" http://aryakshema.com/index.php/en/component/content/article/34-news-articles/7th-arya-kshema/149-day-17-his-holiness-on-vegetarianism?Itemid=112] Chatral Rinpoche
Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche (, "Enlightened Indestructible Freedom From Activity"; June 18, 1913 – December 30, 2015) was a Tibetan Dzogchen master and a reclusive ''ngagpa'' yogi, known for his great realization and strict discipline. C ...
in particular stated that anyone who wished to be his student must be vegetarian.
See also
* Buddhist cuisine
Buddhist cuisine is an Asian cuisine that is followed by monks and many believers from areas historically influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. It is vegetarian or vegan, and it is based on the Dharmic concept of ahimsa (non-violence). Vegetarianism ...
* Buddhist ethics
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...
* Upaya
* Aṅgulimāla
Aṅgulimāla ( Pāli language; lit. 'finger necklace') is an important figure in Buddhism, particularly within the Theravāda tradition. Depicted as a ruthless brigand who completely transforms after a conversion to Buddhism, he is seen as the ...
* Vegetarian cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine is based on food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products (such as gelatin or animal-derived rennet). Lacto-ovo vegetarianism (the most common type of vegetarianism in the Western world) ...
* Vegetarianism and religion
References
Further reading
*Edward Washburn Hopkins
Edward Washburn Hopkins, Ph.D., LL.D. (September 8, 1857 July 16, 1932), an American Sanskrit scholar, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts.
He graduated at Columbia College in 1878, studied at Leipzig, where he received the degree of Ph.D. ...
(1906)
''The Buddhistic Rule against Eating Meat''
''Journal of the American Oriental Society
The ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' is a quarterly academic journal published by the American Oriental Society since 1843.Philip Kapleau
Philip Kapleau (August 20, 1912 – May 6, 2004) was an American teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Sōtō and Rinzai schools. He also advocated strongly for Buddhist vegetarianism.
Early life
Kapleau w ...
,
To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist Case for Vegetarianism
' (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982)
*Vegetarianism : Living a Buddhist life series (2004) by: Bodhipaksa
*Releasing life (chapter 4: 'The Debate'): published by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan.
*Phelps, Norm. (2004). ''The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights.'' Lantern Books
Lantern Publishing & Media is an American non-profit book publisher founded in 2020, having acquired the assets of Booklight Inc. DBA Lantern Books in 2019. Booklight was founded in 1999, and first located in Union Square (New York City), before mo ...
.
*Page, Tony (1998), ''Buddhism and Animals'' (Nirvana Publications, London)
*Rangdrol, Shabkar Natshok. (Translated by Padmakara Translation Group.) ''Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat.'' Shambhala Publications, 2004.
*Bhikkhu Mahinda, ''Theravāda Buddhism and Vegetarianism: A Review and Study Guide'' (Dhamma Publishers, Second Edition 2022)
External links
The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley, 'Vegetarianism in the Great Encampment and the Three-Fold Purity of Meat in the Vinaya'
The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley 'His Holiness on Vegetarianism'
Shabkar.org: Resources on Buddhism & Vegetarianism
A Buddhist Perspective on Animal Rights
Buddhism and Vegetarianism
Buddhism and the Moral Status of Animals
Theravāda Vegetarianism & Buddhism
by Bhikkhu Mahinda
The Buddha's view on eating meat
by Ven Dhammavuddho Thero
{{Buddhism topics
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
Vegetarianism and religion
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
Animals in Buddhism