the great vegetarian debate

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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nekete
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

Post by nekete »

DNS wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:18 pm I get the weekly newsletter for Mahapajapati monastery emailed to me. Today's teaching was about meat eating:

(...)Monks practicing in the Mahayana tradition eat only vegetarian foods(...)
Excuse me?
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DNS
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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nekete wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:30 pm
DNS wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:18 pm I get the weekly newsletter for Mahapajapati monastery emailed to me. Today's teaching was about meat eating:

(...)Monks practicing in the Mahayana tradition eat only vegetarian foods(...)
Excuse me?
I noticed that too. It is a mistake made by the bhikkhunis who wrote that article. A high percentage of monks and nuns in Mahayana eat vegetarian, but not all. It's mostly in the Chan and Zen traditions where the monks, nuns, and most lay people eat vegetarian, but not all Mahayana.
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Aloka
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

Post by Aloka »

Here's what the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje, head of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu school,(who's a vegetarian himself) had to say about eating meat:

"Should Buddhist Practitioners eat meat?

https://kagyuoffice.org/should-buddhist ... ngs-day-6/


:anjali:
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cappuccino
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

Post by cappuccino »

Aloka wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:09 pm Should Buddhist Practitioners eat meat?
doesn't matter
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Another reason to avoid eating farmed fish:

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defe ... oxic-food/
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Seems many popular veggies & fruits have pesticide problems. Here are two lists of the good & bad crops.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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DNS
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 10:30 pm Seems many popular veggies & fruits have pesticide problems. Here are two lists of the good & bad crops.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Just buy organic; problem solved. I know it's a little more costly, but not that much. For example, at Sam's Club they sell a bunch of conventional bananas for around $1.77 and then right next to it are a bunch of organic bananas for $1.97. And there are some people who still pick up the conventional ones?! It's only 20 cents more for organic!
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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DNS wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 4:07 am
Just buy organic; problem solved....
Such a trusting soul. :tongue:
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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seeker242
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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DNS wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 4:07 am
Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 10:30 pm Seems many popular veggies & fruits have pesticide problems. Here are two lists of the good & bad crops.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Just buy organic; problem solved. I know it's a little more costly, but not that much. For example, at Sam's Club they sell a bunch of conventional bananas for around $1.77 and then right next to it are a bunch of organic bananas for $1.97. And there are some people who still pick up the conventional ones?! It's only 20 cents more for organic!
Strawberries are the top of the bad list, but are actually quite easy to grow yourself too. I remember growing up we had a strawberry patch on the side of the house. Nobody tended to it ever and they flourished every year, for decades, like clockwork. Tons of strawberries every year for zero effort, ha! Half that bad list, are all stuff very easy to grow yourself. Celery is a little tricky but greens, peppers and tomatoes are no brainers. :smile:
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DNS
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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seeker242 wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 11:58 am Strawberries are the top of the bad list, but are actually quite easy to grow yourself too. I remember growing up we had a strawberry patch on the side of the house. Nobody tended to it ever and they flourished every year, for decades, like clockwork. Tons of strawberries every year for zero effort, ha! Half that bad list, are all stuff very easy to grow yourself. Celery is a little tricky but greens, peppers and tomatoes are no brainers. :smile:
It's very hard to grow anything here in Vegas; the ground is caliche (almost like concrete) since it's so dry. On the plus side, there are literally no insects or worms killed when you till the land or do real estate development.

But some, like my wife have found a a way to still have a garden. Gardeners build an above-ground border and then put fresh black soil in the above-ground encampment. We have some lemon trees, pomegranate trees and now she is trying to grow some vegetables.

I'm the type of person who's likely to say "isn't it easier to just go to Whole Foods and buy organic?" :tongue:
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DNS
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

Post by DNS »

Good debate on Nas Daily yesterday:

Ontheway
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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The Buddha said it is okay to eat meat provided three conditions are fulfilled, read Jivaka Sutta.

Problem solved.
Hiriottappasampannā,
sukkadhammasamāhitā;
Santo sappurisā loke,
devadhammāti vuccare.

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Spiny Norman
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Ontheway wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:55 am The Buddha said it is okay to eat meat provided three conditions are fulfilled, read Jivaka Sutta.

Problem solved.
Though meat-lovers will argue that the 3-fold rule only applied to monks, and not to the laity.
Actually I think that the path factor of Right Intention is more relevant to the question of dietary choices, since it includes the development of harmlessness.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
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Ceisiwr
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Spiny Norman wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 4:15 am
Ontheway wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:55 am The Buddha said it is okay to eat meat provided three conditions are fulfilled, read Jivaka Sutta.

Problem solved.
Though meat-lovers will argue that the 3-fold rule only applied to monks, and not to the laity.
Actually I think that the path factor of Right Intention is more relevant to the question of dietary choices, since it includes the development of harmlessness.
There is no direct harm in buying meat.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
Spiny Norman
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Re: the great vegetarian debate

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Ceisiwr wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 12:54 pm
Spiny Norman wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 4:15 am
Ontheway wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:55 am The Buddha said it is okay to eat meat provided three conditions are fulfilled, read Jivaka Sutta.

Problem solved.
Though meat-lovers will argue that the 3-fold rule only applied to monks, and not to the laity.
Actually I think that the path factor of Right Intention is more relevant to the question of dietary choices, since it includes the development of harmlessness.
There is no direct harm in buying meat.
But there is indirect harm, which I don't think is compatible with developing harmlessness. Developing harmlessness surely implies the wish to avoid both direct and indirect harm.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
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