Should Buddhists eat beef?

General Theravada topics
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In some Buddhist countries, there is this belief that we must not eat beef as Buddhists. Some “Buddhist” families in Myanmar also don’t eat pork because they believe local deities don’t like it.

What is the Classical Theravada’s view on this? Should we maintain the family tradition of not eating beef and pork or can we eat them when living separately from our parents, grandparents, and relatives?

It sometimes does feel like there is more cultural emphasis on the diet rather than the act of abstaining from killing and observing the other 4 precepts.

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Speaking only for my personal view on this matter, and admitting that I was formerly a heavy meat eater for most of my life, I’m a vegetarian because I am a lay person and I see the act of buying meat to be the sponsorship of killing that animal for my consumption. Even as a vegetarian I try to be as close to a vegan as possible because of how the animals are treated. I believe in doing no intentional harm to be the central tenant of my own Buddhist practice.

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I’ve also thought about becoming a vegetarian but I don’t know if it’s healthy. I read that meat is needed for health. I’ll do more research on this though.

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I never liked meat. Been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old when I had the thought “I wonder if I can live my life without killing anything”. Thought it was a good idea at the time and being the stubborn kid I was and I didn’t like meat anyway I thought: “If I don’t eat meat over a lifetime then that is a lot of animals not killed on my behalf.” I am 65 years old. Was a great decision. One of the best ideas I ever took up. 53 years later although it has been a hard task sometimes I am glad I took on the challenge. I am not a vegan. I eat eggs and milk products. My thinking was the eggs are put into baked things so it would be too hard to avoid and they arent fertilized. Anyway the point I want to make is that setting small challenges in your mind like this make you wake up to what is going on around you. It teaches you to adapt, innovate and overcome in many situations.

Most people eat bad diets lots of processed meats and don’t understand about nutrition. It is an understandable form of ignorance, but if we pay attention to it we see what a mess humanity has made and how people die from bad diets.

My own brother was a Doctor and ate meat and died of bowel cancer at 66 years of age. I have watched people develop high blood pressure, diabetes you name it. Burmese have no idea about nutrition and Thais either. It is a sad thing.

We have scientific knowlege now about exercise, diet and we can make choices and experiment and learn about the amazing biochemistry of the body and use our food as medicine so that we live in health and comfort.

That being said having been a buddhist monk in the past you are meant to eat whatever is donated and in the case of meat as long as it have not been, seen, heard or suspected of being killed on your behalf there is no kamma to worry about.

So make up your own mind on whether you want to live long and happily or not and how you want to treat you body with the medicine of food. If you treat it badly it will likely kill you or cause you suffering from disease. Don’t be ignorant about nutrition and learn as you travel through lifes challenges and grow in wisdom.

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As far as vegetarianism and the monk’s life go, just follow the sutta Robert linked to in the thread he provided above. Until then, follow whatever diet you feel is best for you.

Here are a few health tips that might help though, especially since you’re in your early 20s now, and it’s easier, and much better, to make these changes as soon as possible. Some tips apply only if you eat meat; others apply wether you consume meat or not.

  1. Try to cut out all fast food from your diet. If your in a rush and need to eat out, it is often better, and very easy, to simply get a sandwich at a sub shop, or something like Chipotle (here in the States), etc.

  2. Pizza too. This and fast food are not really food.

  3. Simply increase the amount of fresh vegetables you eat per week.

  4. It’s okay to snack, but try not to develop a habit of doing it too often (and watch the sweet and sugary foods the most).

  5. Get excercise daily, even if it is simply walking outdoors…

These tips are not about completely changing your diet and habits, but just about making a few concrete changes that will greatly improve your health. Once they become established habits, then you should introduce more. This is better than “going all in” at once, becuase if you do, you might overwhelm yourself and then revert back to your old ways again, and then you will not have any lasting changes to show for it. Slow and steady, while you are still young, is a good approach.

And don’t be like me and enter into a vegitative state. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Health is wealth. Once it is gone, it’s not going to come back.

R

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It is explained in the three purifications of meat.

This is the Classical Theravāda approach. (It is even a mūla text too).

Being a vegetarian is not against Vinaya.

It is your choice, but you really should be offered (invited) by the donor before asking for such types of food. You can choose not to eat or even accept. But you cannot request without being invited:

  • “If there is ever anything you need please let me know”.
  • “if there are any dietary needs please let me know”

One is open invitation, while the other is strictly for food.

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I am vegan. All humans who can choose should at this time of global warming crisis also be vegan for the sake of environment. There’s vegan body builders, so there’s no nutritional issues with it. Just take lots of colours, and B12.

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My wife and I went to a vegan-Chinese restaurant this past week and the owner asked us if we were both vegetarian and we said yes. She then asked how we became vegetarian and I mentioned that I became a Buddhist 40+ years ago and felt it was a way to better practice the First Precept since I’m not a monk. And I mentioned that meat eating is allowed in Buddhism and most Buddhists eat meat, but for me personally, I chose the vegetarian diet. She was shocked and said something like “really, do most Buddhists eat meat?” I said yes and she mentioned that in Taiwan they are almost all vegetarian and I mentioned that could be because Chan Buddhism is the most common form of Buddhism there.

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I would add that even a billionaire, if their health is poor, and they fear they might soon face a major health issue like another heart attack or stroke, etc., or if they constantly have to get various medical treatments, will not be able to really enjoy the things they have in life. So, from that perspective, health is #1 (of course, trying to develop wisdom comes first—we know that is the truth as Buddhists).

Health issues not only cause physical problems but also diminish our quality of life in various ways, to say nothing of the significant stress they create. And they can reduce our lifespan. That is not good as taking birth in the human realm during a Buddha Sāsana is an amazingly rare opportunity. See The Chiggala Sutta for more information:

Just imagine you could potentially increase your lifespan by living a healthy life (of course, we do not know what kamma we will have so there are no guarantees, but we can try). Let’s say you could live 10% longer. That would be 10% more time as a human, during this life at a time at which there is a Buddha Sāsana present in the world, to study and practice. That is an exceptional opportunity. And you would also be healther for most of it, as staying healthy was the basis for your living longer.

It is good to always think in terms of math like this. For example, if you started learning the Abhidhamma in your 20’s, rather than in your 30’s, that would be an additional 15% (here we are not using the 10% increase in lifespan from above, but we are calculating that you know something from 20 years old to 100 rather than from 30 years old to 100—an increase of nearly 15%) of your life that you understand mind and matter much better and can therefore develop more wisdom.

Lastly, the same logic in my previous post about making slow, steady changes that are permanent and long-lasting, rather than trying to dive all in, can apply to things like this too, and not just to health. Whereas, with health, you would make a small, permanent change, like deciding to eat fruit every morning with breakfast for the rest of your life, and then once that is established in your life (after a few weeks or months of doing it consecutively) you would make another similar healthy change—with studying we can make changes that are less permanent because the learning itself stays with us. Even if we later forget some of the things we learned, we will have opened up new mental pathways related to it, and it will also come back to us much more easily.

For example, you could start studying Pāḷi now by simply taking up 1 hour per week for a period of 5 - 8 weeks just to get some fundamentals down. You don’t have to learn the whole language or even become proficient, but you could learn basics about the alphabet, pronounciation, etc. This will greatly help you when you go to pick it up again in the future. You will already have a basic familiarity, be more comfortable with it, have some favorite resources, etc. There is also a greater chance you will study it again in the future, because you will already have some familiarity with it. Before you know it, when time allows, you will be studying it again, all because you decided to do an hour a week for a period of a few weeks.

Likewise with the Abhiddhama, you could decide that sometime within the next four months, for example, you will read at least one book on the Abhidhamma (yes, just one), and that you will complete it within a few weeks of starting it. You don’t have to become a master, don’t have to learn everything, but you will lay yourself a great foundation earlier in your life. Never bite off more than you can chew—it’s about simple baby steps. Yet, at the same, commit yourself to do something concrete, even if it isn’t a lot.

These are just a few tips. Forgive me if I am somehow “overly advising”. And the examples I gave are just that—simply examples. You can apply this to anything in life such as health habits, study habits, etc. I am writing this more so you get the overall concept than anything else. It’s a good way I have found to be productive.

And, in case you do want any good Abhidhamma related book recommendations, see this thread.

You only have one body, so treat it right.

R