Veganism in Buddhism
Dr. Tony Page is a scholar and an authority on Mahayana Buddhism.
Dr. Page claims the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures support veganism:
"...it could be argued that the Buddha did not expect all Buddhists to give
up all animal-products overnight - but to move toward that goal gradually.
He himself says in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra:
"The Tathagata... prohibits by gradual steps and not at a time."
(The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, in Three Volumes, translated by Kosho
Yamamoto, The Karinbunko, Ube City, Japan, 1973 - 1975, p. 95)
"By the same token," comments Dr. Page, "it seems that, although many
scriptures sanction the use of dairy products, the... goal was that of
veganism."
In the Surangama Sutra we read:
"How... can you eat the flesh of living beings and so pretend to be my
disciple?...
"All bhiksus [monks] who live purely and all Bodhisattvas always refrain
even from walking on the grass; how can they agree to uproot it? How then
can those who practice great compassion feed on the flesh and blood of
living beings? If bhiksus do not wear garments made of silk, boots of local
leather and furs, and refrain from consuming milk, cream and butter, they
will really be liberated from the worldly...
"This teaching of mine is that of the Buddha whereas any other is that of
evil demons."
(The Surangama Sutra, translated by Lu K'uan Yu, B.I. Publications, Bombay,
India, 1979, pp. 153-154)
In the January 2003 issue of Live and Let Live, a pro-life / animal rights/
libertarian 'zine, James Dawson, raised Catholic and now
a Theravadin Buddhist, comments:
"While I personally consider veganism an ethically superior diet to
ovo and/or lacto vegetarianism, and as much as discipline and
circumstances allow, try to move toward it as much as I can, Dr. Page's
claim that the Buddha advocated veganism, to my mind is really stretching
it.
"This isn't to say the scriptural evidence is nonexistent, but just
very thin. However, even this might be worth considering further."
Dr. Page responds:
"...on the substantive issue regarding veganism: yes, the scriptural
evidence for the Buddha's advocating veganism is very slim, that is true;
amongst the Mahayana sutras, it is mainly to be found in the Surangama
Sutra. But there is a lot of Mahayana sutric insistence on vegetarianism.
"I still believe that the Pali suttas (the canonical scriptures of Theravada
Buddhism) clearly indicate great reservations about the eating of meat:
clearly it was something that was not lightly to be undertaken. The
passsages which I quote seem pretty clear to me that the Buddha was urging
against meat consumption for monks.
"And in any case, as a Mahayanist, I believe that whatever the Buddha said
in the Pali suttas (or agamas) is superseded by the more advanced teachings
of the Mahayana (yes, James is right that I do regard Mahayana as a step
forward within the Buddha's doctrines...).
Veganism would certainly be a logical conclusion of ahimsa (nonviolence
toward humans and animals alike) within Buddhism. Roshi Philip Kapleau
writes in his 1983 book, A Buddhist Case for Vegetarianism that the Buddha
was:
"...a person so sensitive to the sufferings of all living beings that he
would not drink milk from a cow during the first ten days after its calf was
born..."
(A Buddhist Case for Vegetarianism, Roshi Philip Kapleau, Rider, London,
1983, pp. 24-25)
The Hindu scriptures describe the sage Narada teaching a hunter named
Mrigari compassion for all creatures. Mrigari killed animals not because
his survival depended upon it, but merely for the sadistic pleasure of
causing pain to other living entitities.
Narada taught Mrigari to renounce hunting as well as the eating of meat.
During the late 1980s, Govinda's Vegetarian Restaurant in San Diego, CA was
a meeting place for members of San Diego Animal Advocates.
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