From Buddha’s Teachings
A few excerpts from his teachings regarding animals:"Well-being creates an atmosphere of trust; on the other hand,
eating meat creates an aura of aggressiveness."
(from Lankavatra-sutra)
"The consumption of meat kills the seed of great mercy toward all living beings."
(from Mahaparinirvana-sutra)
From a Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka.
Look at the animals! They are present during Buddha’s teaching hours.
"Eating meat always means that one is eating the meat of living beings, whose core of being is identical with one’s own person. Eating meat means to eat one’s own flesh."
(from Angulimaliya-sutra)
"Out of love for purity, an enlightened follower of Buddha should abstain from eating meat … Out of fear of taking in the fear of death of other living beings, an enlightened follower of Buddha, who through self-discipline seeks to attain the level of compassion, should reject eating meat."
(from Lankavatara-sutra)
"A meat eater smells of death, because the meat eaten by him became available only through an act of killing."
from Mahaparinirvana-sutra)
When
the first Buddhist monks went to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the first thing
they did was to forbid hunting. They taught the hunters and tried to make
clear to them that every creature is kept alive through the same power and
that a human being is not allowed to murder his brother or sister.
Vegetarianism is still widespread there.
Buddha knew his teachings would be falsified by monks craving meat and warned of them.
It is almost incredible in what detail Buddha knew ahead of time the argumentation and disputes of the meat-hungry monks and falsifiers of scriptures who would come in the following generations.
"After I pass away, various kinds of spirit beings will appear everywhere who lead people astray by teaching them that they may eat meat and nevertheless be able to attain enlightenment. … But how can a monk who thinks he can lead others to liberation refresh himself on the flesh of living creatures?"
(from Surangama-sutra)
"It is not true that eating meat is allowed when the animal is not killed by the meat eater himself, when he did not give the order for this or when the meat was not directly meant for him. It could be that in the future there will be people who, under the influence of their craving for meat, will present many well-thought-out arguments to justify their consumption of meat … Nevertheless, eating meat in any form, under all circumstances and everywhere – without exception and once and for all – is forbidden … I have not allowed the consumption of meat to anyone, I do not allow it and will not allow it to anyone."
(Lankavatra-sutra)
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