ASSIGNMENT-4 1

A restaurant hoarding in the town of Kajang in Malaysia

Prompt: Contextualise the image with at least one reading discussed in the course of the CTS
and highlight some of the complexities that emerge when a critical approach is adopted for the
study of Buddhism.

Some traditions of the Mahayana School of Buddhism have faith in ‘Buddhist Vegetarianism’.
Buddhist Vegetarianism is a belief that following a vegetarian diet is implied in Buddha’s
teachings, as Buddha taught compassion towards leaving beings and non-violence. Monks of the
Mahayana traditions that follow the Brahma Net Sutra are forbidden from consuming any kind of
meat. However, other schools of Buddhism have contrasting views regarding ‘Buddhist
Vegetarianism’. According to Theravada tradition, Buddha allowed monks to consume Chicken,
Pork or Fish, given that they are aware that the animal wasn’t killed on their behalf.

There are diverse views across Buddhist schools as to whether Vegetarianism is required, with
some schools rejecting its value or requirement.
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According to the ‘Mahayana Mahaparinibbana Sutta’, the sutta giving the final teachings of the
Buddha, the Buddha preached that all beings are related to us and are or have been once in a
while our own flesh, so Buddhas must refrain from any form of killings. Certain Mahayana
Sutras, in fact, do present the Buddha as very vigorously denouncing meat-eating, as it spreads
fear of death among sentient beings and violates the Bodhisattva’s fundamental cultivation of
Compassion.

In the Anguttara Nikaya in the Sukhamala Sutta of the Theravada school of Buddhism, Buddha,
before his enlightenment, describes his family being wealthy enough to provide non-vegetarian
meals even to the servants. After gaining enlightenment, he accepted and consumed any kind of
food offered as alms, including meat. In the modern era, the passage cited below has been
interpreted as allowing meat if the recipient is not the one to slaughter the animal:

…meat should not be eaten under three circumstances: when it is seen or heard or suspected that
the living being has been purposely slaughtered for the recipient.
(Sister Uppalavanna. Unpublished Translation. MN55. Jivaka Sutta)

Also in the Jivaka Sutta, Buddha instructs a monk or a nun to accept whatever food is offered to
them as alms, including meat. However, Buddha declares meat trade to be wrong livelihood.

Monks, a lay follower should not engage in five types of businesses. Which five? Business in
weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in
prison (AN 5:177.Vanijja Sutta).

In the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhist thought, some practitioners consume meat. Many
traditions of Ganchakra which is a type of Panchamakara Puja prescribed the offering of
ingestion of meat and alcohol.

In contemporary Urban China, the meanings of Meat are changing. The changes are attributed to
Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurants. Meat was considered a sign of prosperity for a long time. But
now people are increasingly becoming concerned about excessive meat consumption. Vegetarian
restaurants became spaces where meat-free meals could be shared and the concerns about
meat-eating developed. In recent years, vegetarian restaurants are flourishing in Chinese cities.
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A major report on China’s food system found over 50 vegetarian restaurants each in Guangzhou,
Beijing and Shanghai (Garnett and Wilkes. 2014. P-96). Journalists claimed in 2012 that there
were ‘nearly 100’ vegetarian eating places in Beijing, compared to ‘only two’ fifteen years
earlier (Marsh & Hale. 2012). Scholars suggest links to China’s long history of ‘Buddhist
Vegetarianism’ (Kieschnick.2005). As, Mahayana is the type of Buddhism practiced in China,
‘Buddhist Vegetarianism’ must have had links to the societal history of the country. While
openly Buddhist practices were severely constrained during the radical socialist years of the
1950s-1970s, a religious resurgence beginning in the 1980s has some amounts of spurred
demands of Vegetarian fare, not least among the growing middle class (Goosaert & Palmer.
2011. P-283. Fan et al.). Yet, describing a large number of these Vegetarian establishments as
‘Buddhist’ is problematic. Firstly, because, as I mentioned above there are controversial views
across various Buddhist schools as to whether Buddha described ‘Vegetarianism’ as requisite.
Secondly, several journalists argue that vegetarian eating has become a lifestyle choice among
the young, affluent and educated urbanites, who are concerned not so much with religion but
about their bodily health. Shi Youbo (2004) and Guo Geng (2003) identify themselves as part of
a ‘new wave vegetarianism’. They attribute it to Buddhist and other Chinese traditions of meat-
avoidance, yet depict this wave as a secular, health-oriented, modern and international lifestyle
choice developing on China’s university campuses rather than Buddhist monasteries. Also they
claim inspiration from the modern environmental and animal rights discourses that connect meat
production to the destruction of eco-systems, Global Warming, cruelty to animals, food
insecurity and various health problems. As with vegetarianism elsewhere, contemporary Chinese
meat avoidance has diverse justifications. In South China, during the 1920s, pork was an
important food component marking weddings and other festivals. Meat gradually became a
luxury item. During the reform era, the transition from meat-scarce to meat-rich diets was a
symbol of affluence in the society of Kunming. The current radical of a vegetarian diet is
perceived by some as moving towards Food Safety. As there were rising concerns about the
quality of meat available and negative side-effects of excessive meat consumption. As can be
clearly observed, the shift towards vegetarianism is because of the growing popularity of
Vegetarian restaurants rather than the Buddhist rhetoric of compassion and non-violence.
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Although, the belief is not generally Buddhist-inspired, the restaurants tend to label themselves
as ‘Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurants’, symbolically taking inspiration from Buddhism. But the
owners of these cuisine centers, in fact, cite their motive to be ‘profit’ rather than promoting
compassion towards animals (Jakob A. Klein. 2016. Ethnos. Taylor & Francis).

CONCLUSION

Labeling Vegetarian restaurants as ‘Buddhist’ is highly problematic. Because ‘Vegetarianism’ as

requisite Buddhist ideal is controversial across various Buddhist schools. Also, the spread of
Vegetarianism can be attributed to popularity of Vegetarian restaurants due to growing concerns
of health rather than Buddhism.