27/09/2017 - Are Buddhists Vegetarians? (Matthieu Ricard)

Matthieu Ricard, Contributor  Humanitarian, Buddhist monk, Author, Photographer 
09/24/2017    

All Buddhists are not vegetarians, and Buddhist texts do not unanimously condemn the consumption of meat. Certain sutras of the Great Vehicle, the Mahayana, however, do so unequivocally. An example is the Lankavatara Sutra, which states: “So as not to become a source of terror, bodhisattvas established in benevolence should not eat food containing meat. . . . Meat is food for wild beasts; it is unfitting to eat it. . . . People kill animals for profit and exchange goods for the meat. One person kills, another person buys—both are at fault.”  more...