Thoughts on Buddhism and eating vegetarian.
This topic has been done to death, I know, but it's still a valuable and fruiful topic of conversation.
Here are my thoughts, inspired by Bhikkhu Aggacitto's post on the subject.
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Should a Buddhist be Vegetarian?
This is a topic of great frustration to me. It has easy answers, but no easy answers. If it seems to ramble, that's due more to me thinking out loud than anything else.
First, I am a vegetarian solely out of compassion for animals. Yes, I understand that somewhere along the line, something died. That cannot be prevented, but just because some death is inevitable does not justify casting aside good intentions. Since Buddhist ethics could be said to be consequentialist in nature (I put the welfare of others as my first priority after taking care of myself).
With that out of the way, when people ask me why I'm a vegetarian, I tell them the truth. I say, "It's a religious thing." No need to hem and haw. Most people don't have any follow up questions.
At times, I feel like that's a disappointment as this is also a troubling issue for me given my familiarity with the Pali canon. When it comes to the eating of meat, it can be said that this much is unavoidably apparent: it is not wrong, in and of itself, to eat meat. The sutta nipata (239-252) makes it clear that meat is not tainted fare. the majjhima nikaya (55.5) specifies that the only things that make meat unclean is the slaughtering of it for you specifically. And in the anguttara (5.127) this sort of clinging is identified with a special kind of suffering for a bhikkhu.
It should be obvious that my knowledge of these verses came from a curiosity to know what the proper ethical approach should be given my overriding concern. I'll admit that if someone were to accuse me of clinging, I'd be shaken by such criticisms given what I've just shared. However, as I'm always quick to remind in the lectures I've given in the group, that much of the suttas were delivered to monks and should be understood in that context.
Nevertheless, I think anyone who is not a monk should give it serious consideration as the consumption of meat is out of control in this country. Studies have shown that the diet of the average person is awful for them. Over-consumption of meat and cheese is the main culprit.
Perhaps it would be better to practice simple moderation in eating, another subject mentioned many times, but I think moderation refers not just to the amount and the type, some meats are forbidden in the vinaya - among them dogs and hyenas, but in the way one engages with food. Let me point out that every carnivore I've ever spoken to has said they eat it for the flavor. Rather, I've been told by all of them that they couldn't give it up for the flavor. Think about the simile of the son's flesh in samyutta nikaya 12.63.
For me there is no good argument for the consumption of meat in modern society. Let me say that again; let me say it with as little ambiguity as I can muster: the historical and continued existence of healthy vegetarians is an undefeatable point against virtually every argument for the consumption of meat even at a utilitarian level. There are some people who need it. I'm not going to deny that. There are some cultures that cannot live without it. I'm not going to deny that, either. Chances are, you are in neither of those situations. If one has the ability to act with volitional agency in this manner, I think that it is morally incumbent upon one to do so.
That being said, I feel it's necessary to quote the good bhikkhu here, "Some are, some aren't. From the Theravada perspective, the choice of whether or not to eat meat is purely a matter of personal preference. Many Buddhists (and, of course, non-Buddhists) do eventually lose their appetite for meat out of compassion for the welfare of other living creatures. But vegetarianism is not required in order to follow the Buddha's path."
May all beings be happy and free from suffering.
Here are my thoughts, inspired by Bhikkhu Aggacitto's post on the subject.
***
Should a Buddhist be Vegetarian?
This is a topic of great frustration to me. It has easy answers, but no easy answers. If it seems to ramble, that's due more to me thinking out loud than anything else.
First, I am a vegetarian solely out of compassion for animals. Yes, I understand that somewhere along the line, something died. That cannot be prevented, but just because some death is inevitable does not justify casting aside good intentions. Since Buddhist ethics could be said to be consequentialist in nature (I put the welfare of others as my first priority after taking care of myself).
With that out of the way, when people ask me why I'm a vegetarian, I tell them the truth. I say, "It's a religious thing." No need to hem and haw. Most people don't have any follow up questions.
At times, I feel like that's a disappointment as this is also a troubling issue for me given my familiarity with the Pali canon. When it comes to the eating of meat, it can be said that this much is unavoidably apparent: it is not wrong, in and of itself, to eat meat. The sutta nipata (239-252) makes it clear that meat is not tainted fare. the majjhima nikaya (55.5) specifies that the only things that make meat unclean is the slaughtering of it for you specifically. And in the anguttara (5.127) this sort of clinging is identified with a special kind of suffering for a bhikkhu.
It should be obvious that my knowledge of these verses came from a curiosity to know what the proper ethical approach should be given my overriding concern. I'll admit that if someone were to accuse me of clinging, I'd be shaken by such criticisms given what I've just shared. However, as I'm always quick to remind in the lectures I've given in the group, that much of the suttas were delivered to monks and should be understood in that context.
Nevertheless, I think anyone who is not a monk should give it serious consideration as the consumption of meat is out of control in this country. Studies have shown that the diet of the average person is awful for them. Over-consumption of meat and cheese is the main culprit.
Perhaps it would be better to practice simple moderation in eating, another subject mentioned many times, but I think moderation refers not just to the amount and the type, some meats are forbidden in the vinaya - among them dogs and hyenas, but in the way one engages with food. Let me point out that every carnivore I've ever spoken to has said they eat it for the flavor. Rather, I've been told by all of them that they couldn't give it up for the flavor. Think about the simile of the son's flesh in samyutta nikaya 12.63.
For me there is no good argument for the consumption of meat in modern society. Let me say that again; let me say it with as little ambiguity as I can muster: the historical and continued existence of healthy vegetarians is an undefeatable point against virtually every argument for the consumption of meat even at a utilitarian level. There are some people who need it. I'm not going to deny that. There are some cultures that cannot live without it. I'm not going to deny that, either. Chances are, you are in neither of those situations. If one has the ability to act with volitional agency in this manner, I think that it is morally incumbent upon one to do so.
That being said, I feel it's necessary to quote the good bhikkhu here, "Some are, some aren't. From the Theravada perspective, the choice of whether or not to eat meat is purely a matter of personal preference. Many Buddhists (and, of course, non-Buddhists) do eventually lose their appetite for meat out of compassion for the welfare of other living creatures. But vegetarianism is not required in order to follow the Buddha's path."
May all beings be happy and free from suffering.