Comments on: Vegetarian religion http://darwiniana.com/2008/04/04/vegetarian-religion/ History, Evolution, and the Darwin Debate Tue, 22 May 2012 18:00:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James http://darwiniana.com/2008/04/04/vegetarian-religion/comment-page-1/#comment-113408 James Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:35:36 +0000 http://darwiniana.com/2008/04/04/vegetarian-religion/#comment-113408 From the early Buddhist perspective, it was okay for a monk to eat meat if the donor didn't kill the animal specifically for the monk. Remember, the Buddha himself wasn't a vegetarian. In contrast, the Jains were militantly vegetarian. "The problem is one of discontinuity, restoration, and renewal: as the fate of Tibetan Buddhism hangs in the balance, and suffers a period of discontinuity, the question arises as to its potential restoration: which Buddhism is to be restored?" The Lama system already deviates significantly from primordial Buddhism. I'm not condemning it (it is an interesting culture), but it's something that would appear quite alien to the early Buddhists: "MN 108: Gopaka-Moggallana Sutta — Moggallana the Guardsman {M iii 7} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Ananda explains how the Sangha maintains its unity and internal discipline after the passing away of the Buddha. [BB] Interestingly, this sutta also shows that early Buddhist practice had no room for many practices that developed in later Buddhist traditions, such as appointed lineage holders, elected ecclesiastical heads, or the use of mental defilements as a basis for concentration practice. [TB]" http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.108.than.html From the early Buddhist perspective, it was okay for a monk to eat meat if the donor didn’t kill the animal specifically for the monk. Remember, the Buddha himself wasn’t a vegetarian. In contrast, the Jains were militantly vegetarian.

“The problem is one of discontinuity, restoration, and renewal: as the fate of Tibetan Buddhism hangs in the balance, and suffers a period of discontinuity, the question arises as to its potential restoration: which Buddhism is to be restored?”

The Lama system already deviates significantly from primordial Buddhism. I’m not condemning it (it is an interesting culture), but it’s something that would appear quite alien to the early Buddhists:

“MN 108: Gopaka-Moggallana Sutta — Moggallana the Guardsman {M iii 7} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Ananda explains how the Sangha maintains its unity and internal discipline after the passing away of the Buddha. [BB] Interestingly, this sutta also shows that early Buddhist practice had no room for many practices that developed in later Buddhist traditions, such as appointed lineage holders, elected ecclesiastical heads, or the use of mental defilements as a basis for concentration practice. [TB]”

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.108.than.html

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