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Vegetarianism have always been a controversial topic.
I subscribe to the idea of vegetarianism before and had actually tried it full time for 3 months and failed because physically my body could not handle it due my poor body constitution. So now i only practice on the first and fifteen day of the lunar month.
As i understand it, the Buddha did not specifically state that one has to be a vegetarian in order to practice compassion though it would be good if you can. Furthermore, it is practically impossible to survive in this world without actually not harming other living creatures, vegetarian or otherwise.
I would think it is the intention and thought of compassion that matters more than the outward manifestation of it. After all, a strict and pure vegetarian may not necessary mean that the person is full of compassion for his fellow sentient beings.
Besides, compassion should always go hand-in-hand with wisdom and which is what i think Buddhist should try to strive for, since a person with Wisdom will definitely have compassion whereas the opposite may not be true.
It is possible that your vegetarian diet was not well-balanced, which is why it didn’t work well. It is good to seek proper advice. You can visit http://www.vss.sg to look for nutrition info at http://www.vegetarian-society.org/?q=Faqs and enquire there.
Incidentally, the record-holder of running marathons in Singapore is a vegetarian and an ex-national weightlifter friend who won many medals overseas is a vegetarian too. It is thus not difficult to be fit and strong when vegetarian. (When I was vegetarian during National Service, I could pull 11 chin-ups – to the shock of my meat-eating platoon-mates – who could mostly do at most 5.)
The Buddha taught in the Brahma Net Sutra that for those who wish to train to be Bodhisattvas (who benefit as many beings as possible, while harming as few beings as possible), vegetarianism is one of the requisite Bodhisattva precepts. It is understandable why – as it is spiritually hypocritical to want to help all beings while regularly eating some beings by choice. Most Buddhists have not taken the Bodhisattva precepts yet – but they can certainly aspire to do so. Even so, it is not compulsory to take the Bodhisattva precepts in order to be vegetarian.
While it it true that our survival is indirectly linked to harm of beings in one way or another, it is always possible to more conscientiously cut down this harm. In fact, this means we should more mindfully make our diets linked to less violence. Vegetarianism is one simple yet powerful way. To know the undeniable planetary impact of eating green, please see http://viva.org.uk/goingveggie
If the intention and thought of compassion matters more than the outer manifestation of it, does it mean it would be totally alright for all of us to support multiplication of slaughterhouses by continual eating of meat everyday for every meal? Of course, this would not be so. Spiritual cultivation involves actualising compassionate intentions into actions too. Merely feeling compassion for animals while having no qualms about eating them isn’t very helpful for the animals and one’s perfection of compassion.
A strict vegetarian might not be full of compassion. True – which is why this vegetarian should carry on training, while not giving up vegetarianism – since it helps to save animals, humans and the planet. (E.g. 18% of greenhouse gases come from meat-consumption – more than that from motor pollution.) Vegetarianism practised well is a practice that involves both compassion and wisdom. True compassion and wisdom go hand in hand. 🙂
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Personally, i would prefer to be a vegetarian and will continue to aspire to be one when the right karma comes along.
However, i as know it the Buddha source for food through alms round which means it is beyond his control if meat is given to him. This means the Buddha himself probably also eat meat and yet he encourage others to be a vegetarian which seems to be a contradition.
As i understand it, Pureland tradition allows one to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pureland by strong faith and allows one to bring with them their respective negative karma (meat eating included). Thus,if one cuts down on meat eating to the minimum and by strong faith in Amitabha’s vows we should be able to continue our practice in a conducive environment. I suppose this could be a compromising solution for people like me.
Which then brings me to another puzzling point – How can one practice patience and other virtues when Amitabha’s Pureland will satisfy all your needs. Some people is of the view that this world (Samsara) is a better place to practice precisely due to its imperfections.
Amituofo !
The Buddha went for alms food; we do not; we are active consumers with the power of choice to pick kinder diets. Did the Buddha eat meat? Interestingly, if you search the entire Pali and Mahayana canon, here is not a single statement saying that he ever ate meat. (His last meal was truffles; not meat.) The Surangama Sutra (which is highly revered in the Mahayana tradition; the first to be disputed against and forgotten in the Dharma Ending Age) also has a statement that says clearly that he never ate meat at all. (See the quote at http://moonpointer.com/bvf.php?itemid=384 )
Birth in Pure Land requires the right faith, aspiration and practice; not just faith. Yes, vegetarianism is not a must in the Pure Land tradition, but for those who wish to further guarantee birth in Pure Land (in accordance to vow #19 of Amitabha Buddha), the Bodhicitta aspiration is recommended. And Bodhicitta that is systematically trained entails observing the Bodhisattva precepts, which includes vegetarianism. (See Brahma Net Sutra excerpt at http://moonpointer.com/bvf.php?itemid=392 ) In the Lankavatara Sutra, there is an entire chapter where the Buddha spoke against meat-eating (See http://moonpointer.com/bvf.php?itemid=385 ), where it is stated clearly that Bodhisattvas deliver beings; not eat them.
Then again, it is not compulsory for Buddhists to aspire to be Bodhisattvas, though only Bodhisattvas can become Buddhas. If it is hard to go fully vegetarian, it is still good to cut down meat. Us not eating meat for a meal will not bring us death, while us eating meat for a meal means an animal’s death was linked to us – even if indirectly via supply and demand.
Anyway, teachings of the Buddha aside, there are enough indisputable, urgent, powerful and secular reasons to go vegetarian, as we can see at http://viva.org.uk/goingveggie
How do we perfect the Six Perfections that lead to Buddhahood in Pure Land? This is a common question. There is a very good answer by the Ninth Patriarch of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism – Master Ou Yi –
Practice of the Six Perfections by Mindfulness of the Buddha
真能念佛，放下身心世界，å³å¤§å¸ƒæ–½ã€‚
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
letting go of attachment to one’s body, mind and the world
is the great Perfection of Giving.
真能念佛，ä¸å¤èµ·è´ªå—”痴，å³å¤§æŒæˆ’。
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
not giving rise to any thought of greed, hatred or ignorance
is the great Perfection of Morality.
真能念佛，ä¸è®¡æ˜¯éžäººæˆ‘，å³å¤§å¿è¾±ã€‚
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
not being attached to conflicts or hearsay of others and oneself
is the Great Perfection of Patience.
真能念佛，ä¸ç¨é—´æ–夾æ‚，å³å¤§ç²¾é€²ã€‚
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
having neither a slight break of continuity of mindfulness nor any confused thoughts in between
is the Great Perfection of Effort.
真能念佛，ä¸å¤å¦„想驰é€ï¼Œå³å¤§ç¦ªå®šã€‚
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
neither giving rise to, driven by nor chasing after stray thoughts
is the Great Perfection of Concentration.
真能念佛，ä¸ç‚ºä»–æ§æ‰€æƒ‘，å³å¤§æ™ºæ…§ã€‚
In true mindfulness of the Buddha,
not being tempted by any delusion
is the Great Perfection of Wisdom.
Is it true that Samsara is a better place to practice due to its imperfections? Samsara is a more dangerous place – where backsliding on the path of Dharma is much more likely than having sustained and substantial progress towards Buddhahood. This is why ALL great Bodhisattvas direct beings to Pure Land, as the most efficient way of leading them to assured Buddhahood. A good example would be the last of the ten vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, which is a wish of ALL great Bodhisattvas. (See the parts of the vow in yellow at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amituofo/message/110 ) Amituofo ^_^
Pg26, an article at latest issue of ‘awaken’ (Buddhist mag fr kmspks)seems to supplement shi’an’s viewpt.
Chwen, it is nice of you to share, I applaud that you even go vegetarian for 3 months and upon not able to take it, still go vegetarian on 1st and 15th day of the month (maybe you can increase the number of days going vegetarian in a month, just a suggestion). 🙂
Have you thought of going slowly and increasing more and more vegetarian meal, if a direct switch is not possible? I have a friend who did it in this ways and finally he could take it, now a vegetarian for 22 years. Just my suggestion and I don’t wish to see you fall sick too.
I am a thalassemia minor and going vegetarian has not affect me and able to donate blood too. Mdm Wong of Ci Yan Organic Vegetarian, who was diagnosed with cancer and doctor, said that she can’t survive, went vegetarian, survive and even operate a vegetarian eatery. It is a real life story and very inspiring, she has so much to share on this, unfortunately, I can’t remember all the details from those articles of her.
There are many things for the very first try was not successful, but for sequence times, it works. For e.g I wanted to wean myself sleeping in air-con room, the first try was a failure and I don’t know why. After a year, I decide to try again and it works, I have been sleeping without air-con and fans for 2 yrs+ already.
So, hope you can give it a try again, going slowly. Who knows this time round you are able to? That could be a big achievement for you.
Personally, I benefit a lot of from going vegetarianism, it helps to build up my compassionate slowly and it brought me closer to Buddhism (not a Buddhist yet), i even get to see some effects of karma matured.
chwen is not totally wrong to say – A strict and pure vegetarian may not necessary mean that the person is full of compassion for his fellow sentient beings.
This is a interesting topic. I would think that not my problem, if he does not want to be kind to his fellow sentient beings, I don’t need to answer for such act.
If I go vegetarian for healthy reason and NOT because I want to build up my compassionate, then it could be I will never be a compassionate to ALL sentient beings. But, if I go vegetarian and animals are not killed because of me, then even I am not building compassion, I think I could have created some positive karma on the animal’s part or lesser negative karma.
I have been pondering whether to share this story or not in the past topic on Karma. I hope they don’t mind me telling this.
My grandma told me that when I was very young, my dad (don’t know of what reason) pour hot water over a cat. The cat got scorched and a big patch of fur dropped. Just a month before my dad passed away, on his back has a big wound and, it smells real bad and wound got bigger and bigger and just couldn’t heal at all.
My dad used to catch “frog†in the wild and killed them to cook porridge for us, believing it was good for our body. He had a short life and the last 3 months was real bad suffering.
My in-laws had a factory farm raising chicken for living, the last 8-10 years for both them were horrible. The situation is just like what happened to the chicken in the farm. One of them, fell accidentally and hospitalize for 4 months, from that day on ward till death, could not get out of the house at all. The other one had stroke and a just like a vegetable (you will feel scare looking at it). The injection daily reminds us of the injections given to the chicken.
At that point in time, what is happening in their mind or conscious I don’t know, even if they wanted to go Pureland (if they are Buddhist) with such a situation, can they concentrate and not affecting their faith at that moment or journey there, a BIG Q mark?
Even I do not aspire to go Pureland yet, I think building up a compassionate heart is like building a more firm “bridge†to there. No one who aspires to go there would want to risk this one good chance!
Strong Faith? I ask myself how to I know that my faith is strong enough? Have it been tested? Have I build up enough confidence or trusts? These are important questions, I think.
Me, not good at the Buddhism text, Shian has better knowledge on this subject. Correct me if I am wrong.
Hi! shian,
Sutra aside, maybe my assumptions is wrong but I was thinking that since the Buddha have to source for food during his alms round at many places and at those places which is new to him the alms giver may have accidentally given meat to him and which He probably could not reject. Rejection would mean the alms giver would have miss a chance to gain merit and would have reflected the Buddha’s uncompassionate nature. Accepting meat on the other hand would have created a problem for Him and unless He pass it to someone else which in this case would not have been in line with His nature.
Considering He has to go to different places for alms throughout His entire life especially during the initial years when He was preaching the Dharma to new converts, those people in this new frontier may not be aware that He don’t eat meat.
Anyway, it is just a thought which I would feel comfortable if I can resolve it. Having faith in the Buddha’s Sutra is probably one of the way.
I take it the six perfections can only be practiced in Amitabha’s Pureland as I don’t see how one can perfect it in Samsara.
Thanks for sharing so much on the Buddha Dharma. Really appreciate it!
crystal,
Thanks for the advice. Someone gave me a similar advice before and I tried it but it didn’t work out. I have also heard many of those wonderful incident where going vegetarian especially organic helps to cure one’s illness and those sad stories of cruelty to other sentient beings. Probably, I don’t have enough good karma to practice vegetarianism even though I would very much like to do it. I definitely agree that going vegetarian will help build up our compassion for all fellow sentient beings. However, if it is going to affect my health (I presume all of us have different body constitution) then it is a hard choice to make since we still require this body to practice. Rest assured, I will still keep trying and experiment with vegetarianism since I believe in the negative karma created for eating meat. Currently, I am already minimizing on my meat intake. Lets hope one day I will succeed.
Last of all, thanks for all the good advice given by shian, crystal and AW. Very much appreciate it.
Amituofo ! 🙂
Actually, the Buddha made it a rule that meat that is suspected to be specially prepared for monastics, including himself, is to be avoided. Also, the Buddha has psychic abilities to tell if there are inappropriate ingredients in given foods.
Er… I have never heard of anyone who is medically pronounced to be unsuitable for vegetarianism – because all respected health authorities, including World Health Organisation had proclaimed that a balanced vegetarian diet can provide all the needs that a mixed diet can. I think it is good to send your concerns to http://www.vegetarian-society.org/?q=contact There should be solutions available. 😉
(The six perfections can be perfected in Samsara too – though it will be much more difficult.)
Hmm, from what i know, for some who start on a vegetarian/vegan diet will go through a period of self-detoxing. I had a similar experience whereby my body fell sick more frequently, and got easily tired, producing more mucus than before. But rest be assured that it is just a transitional phase, after the body automatically flushes out the toxins accumulated from animal produce. You will then certainly feel lighter and better. :woot:
However, on a safer note, it’s always best for you to consult an expert… VSS 🙂