Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

From MN 51 kandaraka sutta

...Abstains from destroying seed groups and vegetable groups. Partaking one meal a day, abstains from food at night and at untimely hours. Abstains from dance, singing, music, decorations, flowers and scents, ointments and adornments. Abstains from high and stately beds. Abstains from accepting gold and silver, uncooked rice and uncooked flesh, Abstains from accepting women and girls, slaves, men or women. Abstains from accepting goats and cows, fowl and pigs, elephants, cattle, horses and mares...

Does it means we shall not destroy plants? why?(apart from maintaining O2 and friendly environment)

I had a feeling this topic had been discussed before but had a hard time finding it in the forum, please provide the link if there's a similar one.

barcsimalsi wrote:From MN 51 kandaraka sutta

...Abstains from destroying seed groups and vegetable groups. Partaking one meal a day, abstains from food at night and at untimely hours. Abstains from dance, singing, music, decorations, flowers and scents, ointments and adornments. Abstains from high and stately beds. Abstains from accepting gold and silver, uncooked rice and uncooked flesh, Abstains from accepting women and girls, slaves, men or women. Abstains from accepting goats and cows, fowl and pigs, elephants, cattle, horses and mares...

Does it means we shall not destroy plants? why?(apart from maintaining O2 and friendly environment)

I had a feeling this topic had been discussed before but had a hard time finding it in the forum, please provide the link if there's a similar one.

It's only for bhikkhu's and from what I've gathered it's because some people in the Buddha's day thought that plants were one-facultied sentient life, they could feel. So in order to avoid any controversy and other problems the Buddha laid out a rule forbidding monks from harming plant life. Also, there's the story where a bhikkhu chopped down a tree that a deva was living in and that pissed of the deva so it could be related to things like that as well. But I don't think the Buddha himself considered plants to be sentient.

Thanks, glad i don't need to go through any serious dilemma before cutting the whole compound of grass and plants.