Buddhism is divided into Dacheng Buddhism and Xiaocheng Buddhism. Areas that believe in Dacheng Buddhism include China, Mongolia, Japan and South Korea, while areas that believe in Xiaocheng Buddhism include Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar and other places. In these areas, the habit of vegetarians among monks generally only appears in China. In other areas, there are no hard and fast rules for monks to eat meat. For example, monks in Thailand can eat meat.
Buddha was alive
When the Buddha was alive, monks were begging for food, and monks would accept whatever offerings were offered by lay people. Therefore, the Buddha did not prohibit monks from eating meat. Except for elephant meat, horse meat, dragon meat, and human meat, they were not allowed to eat other meats as long as they did not see or hear of killing. , do not kill for me (three pure meat), all are acceptable.
What is three pure meats?
First, not seeing the killing, that is, not seeing with your own eyes the miserable scene of an animal dying;
Second, the ear does not hear the killing, that is, the sound of its screams is not heard;
Third, don’t kill for yourself, that is, you don’t kill just because you want to eat.
Does Chinese Buddhism not eat meat?
Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, can be said to be the most Buddhist emperor in history. During his more than 40 years in power, he went to Tongtai Temple four times to become a monk. When he became a monk for the first time, he stayed as a monk for three days and then returned to the palace. When he became a monk for the second time, he wore a monk’s robe and recited Buddhist scriptures. The minister donated 100 million yuan from the treasury to the emperor to return to the palace. After becoming a monk for the third time, the minister donated another 200 million to invite the emperor to return to the palace. The fourth time he became a monk, he became a monk for more than a month. The minister paid another 100 million yuan to invite this ancestor back to the palace.
Xiao Yan is a devout Buddhist. He believes that eating meat is killing, which violates the Buddhist precept of “not killing.” He swore to abstain from alcohol and meat. If he continued to drink alcohol, eat meat, or kill living beings, he would be willing to be punished by ghosts and gods and fall into the Abi Hell. He also stipulated that flour should be used instead of livestock for sacrifices in the ancestral temple. Emperor Wu of Liang strictly abided by his oath. Wearing a Ge scarf, cloth clothes, and straw sandals, he only eats coarse rice and bean paste every day. Under the leadership of Emperor Wu of Liang, the monks also strictly ate vegetarian food and entertained guests with vegetarian food. As time went by, vegetarianism became a habit among the monks, and gradually became a precept that must be observed in the monastery.
Thai Buddhists eat meat?
In this country, the social status of monks is extremely high. Monks are invited to bless weddings and funerals. Special seats are reserved for monks on public transportation. Even political factions sometimes invite monks to help out. However, the monks still continue to practice the best practices when the Buddha preached. The basic behavior is to go around begging for alms every morning and asking for alms from the public. Because Southeast Asian Buddhism follows the original teachings of the Buddha and does not prohibit eating meat, Thai people will contribute their best food (often meat) to the monks every day to pray for the blessing of the Buddha.
Buddhists in Thailand and other Southeast Asian regions do not prohibit eating meat, mainly because they have inherited the teachings of original Indian Buddhism, and now more often use alms as a way to save all sentient beings.
Chinese Buddhist master Huang Nianzu once said, “Monks in Southeast Asia eat meat because they are begging for food. In order to give the benefactor a chance to gain blessings, they eat whatever is given to them. It is okay to eat meat like this.”
Can Japanese Buddhists eat meat?
Of course, Buddhism in Japan was originally introduced from China, so Buddhists are prohibited from eating meat. However, because Japan is not rich in products, it is essentially forbidden to eat meat, excluding seafood. After all, it is an island country and relies on water to eat water. In this place, vegetarianism is required. It is much more luxurious and rare than eating seafood.
Jianzhen monk travels east to Japan
In 757 AD, the eminent monk Jianzhen of the Tang Dynasty traveled east to Japan. He not only brought the latest Buddhist research theories to Japan, but also brought a vegetarian revolution, that is, Chinese tofu, which filled the dilemma of lack of protein in vegetarian food. Therefore, the Soto Sect in Japan began to strictly follow the teachings, even prohibiting the consumption of seafood, and became completely vegetarian. In the early days of the spread of Buddhism in Japan, meat and vegetarian diets were closely related to the living conditions at that time.
Meiji government allows Buddhists to eat meat and marry wives
During the Meiji Restoration period in modern times, Japan felt that the physique of its own people was very different from that of Westerners, and the influence of Japanese Buddhism’s vegetarian diet had already spread to many people across Japan. Even when people slaughtered livestock, they had to invite monks to recite sutras for salvation. For this reason, the Meiji government issued a decree to allow Buddhists to eat meat and marry wives. It started with specialized Buddhists to lift the ban, and then influenced the general public to change their eating habits and no longer be restricted by faith and morality. Of course, at that time, the Meiji government was obsessed with advanced Western science and technology, and wanted to enlighten the public’s minds through the reform of Japanese Buddhism, and not to confine itself to the inherent traditional cultural thinking.
Final thoughts
If you believe in Mahayana Buddhism. No matter which country you are in, as long as you are on this earth, Buddhism says that all living beings in Jambudvipa are equal, whether they are land animals, sea animals or humans. At the soul level, we are all equal souls, and we should not eat their flesh, let alone kill them. You cannot eat the three pure meats. When animals die, their souls will follow their bodies. When they see you eating their bodies, they will hate you, and then their souls will live in you. Then we get sick and things don’t go our way. Therefore, if we want to leave the Three Realms and go to the Western Paradise, we should not eat meat.
