Nichiren Buddhism - eating meat and fish

thinking about food

It is a paradox. Life is only sustained through killing and yet the first precept is to not kill. Some people claim Shakyamuni never ate meat, some say tainted meat killed him. Nichiren was a vegetarian. But he said precepts were unnecessary. In the Mahayana sutras meat eating is denounced. But according to the Pali Canon Shakyamuni did not go along with Devadatta's suggestion to put vegetarianism in the rules of the monastic order. My sense is that a vegetarian diet would be ideal but not obligatory.

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by: clown hidden @ Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 23:30:59 PM UTC

Plants have feelings, too

I agree with Clown. Overall, the point is to value your own life and recognize that it is sustained by the lives of countless other beings and organisms. Maybe this awareness can help us be more selective about what we eat, as well as be grateful for our life and the lives of others.

There have been some good articles lately along the lines of "plants have feelings, too" -- one that comes to mind is this one by Natalie Angier:

Plants are lively and seek to keep it that way. The more that scientists learn about the complexity of plants - their keen sensitivity to the environment, the speed with which they react to changes in the environment, and the extraordinary number of tricks that plants will rally to fight off attackers and solicit help from afar - the more impressed researchers become, and the less easily we can dismiss plants as so much fiberfill backdrop, passive sunlight collectors on which deer, antelope and vegans can conveniently graze. It's time for a green revolution, a reseeding of our stubborn animal minds.

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by: brooke @ Sun Feb 21, 2010 at 18:16:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Vegetarianism

I thank you both for your responses. May I ask if you both are vegetarians.
If so, what is the best way to begin such a huge change in diet.

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by: COS @ Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 02:19:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

re: vegetarianism

I can assure you the change is difficult, especially if you live in a community that has no vegetarian restaurants, and even then the ones that are there are more and more becoming vegan, which is a protest. I know of one person that said it is too expensive to be a vegan, so she remains only vegetarian. :)
Myself, I have just become content to limit my intake of meat. My work requires me to eat out every day and there is just so much Mexican food a person can eat. Pasta is good, but try finding it without some kind of meat in it at most places.

Markp

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by: markp @ Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 15:29:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

VEGETARIAN

I was a vegetarian for most of fifteen years. I still ate dairy. But I started eating meat again about 15 years ago. When I read Eat Right For Your Type which lead me to think meat eating was something I needed to do. I am thinking about going back. It's not that hard. You want to eat nuts and beans for protein lots of vegetables and fruit and cut down or out junk food even if it is vegetarian. I guess in some places it's harder to eat out vegetarian but I'm sure it can be done.

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by: clown hidden @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 00:57:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Social Vegetarian

I consider myself a social vegetarian. I don't buy meat or order it in restaurants. But if I am invited to someone's home for dinner, I will eat whatever I am served. I will partake of holiday turkey. I will eat meat in social settings where it would cause comment, concern, trouble, work or embarrassment for others if I were to insist on being a strict vegetarian.

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by: brooke @ Fri Feb 26, 2010 at 01:15:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Meat and fish

I eat meat and fish. I don't think twice about it - except to consider the quality, source and sustainability of the items I buy. I used to eat a lot of shrimp for protein thinking it was better for being lower on the food chain than cows. Then I read an article about how commercial shrimp are farmed, and that turned me off shrimp. I believe in eating quality food, humanely raised whenever possible, and eating it in moderation. I don't think my diet is going to make me more or less enlightened.

"If only I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say that the Soka skunk has changed its stripe." -- auntie

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by: mroaks @ Thu Feb 25, 2010 at 03:33:09 AM UTC