# Is vegetarian a Buddhist practice?

**URL:** <https://classicaltheravada.org/t/is-vegetarian-a-buddhist-practice/1721>\
**Category:** General Theravada topics\
**Created:** [March 12, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/is-vegetarian-a-buddhist-practice/1721 "2025-03-12T22:18:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/is-vegetarian-a-buddhist-practice/1721/1 "2025-03-12T22:18:41Z")

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I think the one of the cases where someone should be a vegetarian is if they’re a hunter. If they observe the five precepts, they would have to stop killing so they wouldn’t be able to eat any meat.

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**Author:** ![Trobinson465](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@Trobinson465](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/Trobinson465)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/is-vegetarian-a-buddhist-practice/1721/2 "2025-03-13T02:51:56Z")

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If you are living off the land, then yes, you should be a vegetarian in most cases, except when you find road kill that is perfectly good to eat.

But in general, it is not a necessary practice to comply with the precepts in Theravada Buddhism.

Its kinda like Recycling, driving an EV or going solar. You can do it if you like, and its probably a great benefit to others, but doing such does not make you any more or less of a practicing (Theravada) Buddhist.