Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Do Buddhists eat donuts?
Ren_in_black
Georgia Veteran
I ask this halfway in jest, because I assume many Buddhists do enjoy donuts and similar junk food.
But I have to admit, when I imagine a Buddhist being offered a donut, I imagine them deciding that the sense pleasure brought by the donut is not worth the unhealthy ingredients, even if it really won't be too much bother to metabolize or balance out with a majority of healthy eating and exercise.
That is to say, I imagine the middle way for donuts is to abstain from donuts, and perhaps look for something else that gives us a bit of sweetness to enjoy? Or is it okay to just eat the donut?
May seem like a small thing but it's a small thing that won't go away for me. 
1
Comments
If a donut was put into a renunciates bowl, they would eat it.
If they had knowledge that a donut was killed as a deliberate offering for a renunciate, some might decline that offering as its own teaching.
I think that the middle way in donut consumption is to
Think deeply of the ways and means by which that donut has come.
To consider ones merit in accepting it.
To protect oneself from error by excluding greed from ones mind.
To eat so that one doesn't become lean and die.
To eat so that one might continue practicing.
And perhaps not just do alms wanderings around dessert shops.
In the temple I used to attend, there would be little Debbie snacks and soda on the altar all the time. I’ve seen Monks eat everything….and nothing. They aren’t as strict eaters as you might think….That goes for lay followers, as well. I often joke that that’s the most popular thing to fight about in a group of Buddhists…what you should/shouldn’t eat. I’ve seen fights over honey that should have been in a ring, hahaha
Little Debbie is another one. I've stood in front of the Little Debbie display shelf in my grocery store, feeling like two parts of my mind are standing in front of each other with their fists clenched!
This did not even occur to me. Thanks how!
You’d have to consider whether the oil in which the donut was fried was vegetable oil.
It’s a tricky subject…
Letting go is the way…
Pragmatically I allow myself a cheat day where I eat the junky foods that I "shouldn't" eat. It makes it easier to abstain and eat healthy the rest of the week. But I have a tendency to indulge a bit too much on my cheat day.
That aside being mindful of what your eating in the moment and how it impacts you subsequently gives your mind information that helps it make healthier choices. For example, I notice that the first bite of something sweet is by far the best bite and there are diminishing returns as you go. At some point the pleasure will turn into suffering. And I generally don't feel that good the day following my cheat day. So maybe just try having one or two bites?
When you know the negative aspects of junk food in a visceral way, as opposed to just intellectually. Your subconscious processes will help your conscious mind avoid those unhealthy choices. Not because you have some idea of what your supposed to do, but because your body feels and understands the consequences.
I think what I'm saying about mindful eating follows somewhat in line with the idea of intuitive eating. An idea I've been hearing more about recently.
Yes, but they are only allowed to eat the hole in the middle
Ha! Brilliant.
Great point, and I'm guessing you can't force these things; it's an understanding that arises over time through mindful experience.
Eating a doughnut is what got me into this mess. I was 7 and eating a doughnut. My Dad asked me to save him the hole. I ate around the hole and gave it to him. He said "no, just the hole" so I chewed around some more until the ring was skinnier. He still said "just the hole". I made it smaller still and he said the same. My Mom finally just told me to eat it and that Dad was just being silly. But I didn't think it was silly at all. I was a bit out of sorts. My Dad passed away less than a month later leaving me with my first koan.
What a story. Classic Dad joke leads to deeper meaning.
Donut or not Donut...
Glazed or Chocolate
Oldfashioned or Sprinkled
Good with coffee