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Can a Buddhist eat beef?
footiam
Veteran
Is there any food that a Buddhist can't eat? Is there a law prescribed by Buddha that forbids certain food?
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For me that means no livestock produce. It's just so cruel.
Edit: Buddha advised against eating sentient animals (see the 1st precept), although it is recorded that he ate meat himself.
I don’t understand what do you mean by intention. Intention to eat beef makes it okay?
Dear Daozen,
I thought the first precept is about killing, not eating.
Dear ShiftPlusOne,
You mean we can’t eat beef, pork and muttong too?
Dear Iron Rabbit,
If it is not stolen beef, it is okay then?
Imo, it was a pragmatic decision to allow this. It allowed bhikkhus and bhikkhunis to beg for their daily meals without imposing hardships on lay people. I imagine finding ample food was more difficult in those days, nevermind being picky about what kind of food you as a beggar will accept from lay people. It also does not put bhikkhus and bhikkhunis in the position of contributing to the suffering of animals directly, since they can only accept meat if the animal is not killed on their behalf.
So I'd say that as long as you do not specially seek out meat you are adhering to the precept to not kill. I suppose eating what's offered to you (e.g. when you visit family for the holidays, or if you're a beggar) would be acceptable to the Buddha. But hunting and purposely purchasing meat would probably not be cool with his instructions.
To my understanding, at least.
And listen to Kartari, considering they're correct with their info.
Lay Buddhists have a choice in what they eat, but most eventually (it may be years) stop eating meat after developing a high level of compassion for the animals that the meat comes from, and not wishing to support the breeding and slaughter industry. Animals may perceive life on a simpler level, but their minds still only want to be happy like ours, can still suffer in many ways.
For a lay Buddhist, there's no hard and fast rule when it comes to this. You have to make the choice yourself.
we are human being not Buddha. Why he can eat them, but we shoulnt.benefits of vegetarians
OK but seriously what i was implying is that, if you choose to eat meat, you are indirectly "killing" animals by creating a market for the consumption of meat.
I don't think eating meat is wrong, I am not a vegetarian. I am saying that if you didn't kill it, have someone kill it for you or steal it, it's fine. With the way supermarkets work, if a large number of people stopped eating meat, the same amount of cows would still be killed. The price would drop to match the loss of demand. So, you're not contributing to the death of those animals. That's just my reasoning, as others have said, it's your own decision.
I would like to think that buying prepared food which has beef in it would be okay then.
Dear MindGate,
Eating a cow would not make everyone sad do, would it?
Dear Cloud,
Buddhism is all about making choices then.
Dear hvbson,
Not everyone believes that we evolve from monkeys. Only Charles Darwin and his kind do.
Dear Daozen,
No, I haven’t eaten anything alive, not a cow or a fish. I don’t know if the first precept is about killing for food or about killing in wars, the latter being really unnecessary.
so you can do whatever the hell you want. eat meat or not.
but if you choose to identify as a buddhist there are rules you have play by. if don't follows those rules, you cannot call yourself a buddhist. terms of violations are breached.
lol
Money makes the world go round. People will kill the cows and wait for you to buy it.
Dear Daozen,
If one does not eat beef, one will eat pork or mutton. If the cow does not die, the pig or the goat will. Even when no one eats the cow, that does not guarantee its survival. As it is, there is not many pandas or tigers left in this world.
Dear Cloud,
That makes Buddhism a difficult religion. It would be easier to have everything planned by God.
Dear taiyaki,
Does this mean that a person who eats beef is not a Buddhist?
Some reasons not to eat meat: health, to be different, lower the price so more people can afford, to create some merit which you can then dedicate, to learn a new cuisine!
So if you want to live in a world in which YOU don't have to eat meat, then you will notice the suffering you experienced in the past as you cut through dead animal muscles and your fork winced in pain as tongues quivered in excstacy.
I've been a vegetarian and it was very difficult to create reliable good meals as I am often not able to cook, and the delicious taste helps for a good celebration with my fellows.
It is liberating to people who are responsible. I am responsible.
the intention is the volitional part of your view on the matter of eating beef.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/9806/can-a-buddhist-eat-beefs#Item_5
2. Right Intention
While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
No worries. Karma will take care of itself. Ha! Ha!
There is a Chinese monk here who says that there is fairness in this world. Karma, he said, makes the world fair. And by the way, do you think eating beef is a wrong or right choice?
there is the color red. now within that color are a million different shades and tints of red.
Is there a specific definition for a Buddhist?
or more accurately a lay person. now monks themselves have even stricter formal precepts to follow than the lay person.
i would assert that everyone is a buddha but not a buddhist.
Taco Bell was a meeting place on campus. And it was open till late, don't remember the exact hour, but they did have probably 1 or 2 hours to clean for the morning crowd.
Anyhow as my brother tells it everyone looked on the act in astonishment. One guy broke the tension "DAYUM you got taco on your nose!"
My brother always had a good one that cut through my drunken fog.
Sorry, I read your post, but somehow completely missed the rest of it.
There are different types of goods. For simple supply and demand, you're quite right. However, demand for Australian beef is very high, not only in Australia but overseas as well. If half of the population of Australia stopped eating beef, either the price would drop in the local market, or much more of it will be exported... probably a mixture of both. Now, I admit I haven't read the industry reports for beef in much detail, so I may be very wrong, However, these are really big if statements we are making here, so being realistic... if all Buddhists were 'forbidden' from eating beef, that would not even put a dent in the global beef supply.
I am not as detached as I sound, I certainly look at the vegetarian menu first and chose things without meat when it's reasonable to do so. However, I am not going to deny the fact that things eat each other and that humans are omnivores. We certainly eat more meat than we need, so being mindful of the choices we make and what they mean is the way to go.
The market price is where sloping down d crosses with sloping up s.
The supply curve is sloped with more production at a higher price so it is sloping up with x. Now beef consumption shifts the demand curve towards less consumption at a given price. So it is a shift of the whole downards curve to the left.
If the slope of the demand curve is very sloped downwards the shift to the left reduces the price more than a gradually sloped curve. This corresponds to buyers are very sensitive to price of beef. For example they might buy other items and enternainments.
That situation would lower the price the most. And importantly would lower x the most.
But the demand curve would be inelastic if everyone just thinks ''mmmmm beef' 'beef is cool'... the multiplex of beef mandalas.
So buddhism can shift the demand curve downwards just buy showing a positive spin and example on non-meat items.
Shifting the supply curve is much harder to do unless a hostile takeover of the stock by someone who can make more money with cow petting zoo!
good luck getting people to stop eating meat though. they will stop if they have to raise, kill and prepare it all themselves. the disconnect from all that as a consumer makes consumption of meat much easier.
Brining that back to meat. We have an ongoing marketing campaign for lamb ("Australians - we love our lamb!" or something like that). Also, ads constantly play in the stores where a guy with a really thick Australian accent talks about how great meat is. Now, being 'Australian' is a huge thing in Australia, it's not just a matter of nationality, but it's closely tied into ego. I am sure it's the save with being American in America (at least in the past). If millions are spent making subconscious link that "bbq, lamb and meat in general=Australian", you can bet that people will buy meat not out of need for food, but to fill ego.
The number of people immune to that sort of marketing is insignificant to the number of people who's ideas of value for meats are massively increased.
Farmers don't engage in marketing, so a supermarket will pay them enough to cover expenses and to make a little profit. Then supermarkets have room to move when it comes to price, they can control the demand without altering the supply because our economy isn't based on worth, but perceived value. Not when you're in the minority. As with politics, money and marketing make the final decision.
Maybe my vision is colored by having the animals in the company of humans they learn. Whereas birds go to feeders. And foraging rabbit have no idea what the hell they live on I guess dandelions?
http://www.dhammasara.webs.com/JivakaSutta.html
Oh and by the way, @footiam: We are not evolved from monkeys.
We share a common ancestor with certain apes.
there's a difference.
And the above comment is really rather ridiculous...
"Charles Darwin and his kind"....?
That would include about 60% of the planet's population then.
Try to get facts straight instead of posting foolishness....
foolishness, then you have verifiable proof of what Darwin offered as a theory?
Google it. It's everywhere.
And I second Daozen's comment.
And don't reply here, you're taking the subject off-topic.
Start a new thread, if you want.
Thanks.
Thanks
So with beef the subject matter, beef, it could definitely be something to eat and discuss.