Dietary Rules

7.1.1. Kindness to animals/vegetarianism

Buddhism requires us to treat animals kindly:

• Buddhists try to do no harm (or as little harm as possible) to animals
• Buddhists try to show loving-kindness to all beings, including animals
• The doctrine of right livelihood teaches Buddhists to avoid any work connected with the killing of animals
• The doctrine of karma teaches that any wrong behaviour will have to be paid for in a future life - so cruel acts to animals should be avoided
• Buddhists treat the lives of human and non-human animals with equal respect
• Buddhists see human and non-human animals as closely related:
• both have Buddha-nature
• both have the possibility of becoming perfectly enlightened
• a soul may be reborn either in a human body or in the body of a non-human animal

Buddhists believe that is wrong to hurt or kill animals, because all beings are afraid of injury and death:

Vegetarianism
The Five Precepts are Buddhist guidelines for increasing good in the world, according to Geoff Teece, lecturer in religious education at the University of Birmingham, England, and author of the book “Buddhism.” The First Precept, to avoid harming any living thing, means that many Buddhists regard killing animals for food as wrong. As a result, many Buddhists turn to vegetarianism. In some cultures, however, a reliance on fish or meat as a major food source results in elaborate reinterpretations of the meaning behind the First Precept, notes Ravindra S. Khare, professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia, in his book “The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists.” In Sinhalese fishing villages, practicing Buddhists compensate for the negative karma generated by killing fish by donating part of each catch to the monks and avoiding fishing on holy days.

Pictures

Videos