I heard this discussion on the radio yesterday and It’s driving me nuts.
Host: How do Buddhists,being vegetarians, justify wearing leather shoes?
Caller: Although Buddhists do not believe in slaughtering animals for food. If an animal is slaughtered to not use the bi-products (hide) would be disrespectfull to the animal.
At that point the program was pre-empted by commercials and I was not able to hear the conclusion.
From the little I know of the Buddhist religion I’m sure their is an answer to the logical “can of worms” this discussion opened up. Exotic leathers where the animals are slaughtered exclusively for their hides or the “would it be proper for Buddhists to eat beef that had been slaughtered primarily for the hides (calfskin boots=veal)” arguments but I cannot find it.
Buddhist do not have to be veggans. There is no “law” in Buddhism that states one must not eat meat. Many buddhist eat meat. The Lord Buddha himself ate meat. You are starting from a false view, ie. that Buddhist are vegatarians.
Some are, some are not.
It’s wrong to assert that plainly, as scholars are unsure. The only mention of the Buddha’s diet comes from the Mahaparanirvana Sutra, in which the Buddha dies from something connected to pig. Whether his meal was pork, or a plant whose name is merely etymologically related to the pig is debated.
In the Amagandha Sutta, the Buddha said:
'Neither meat, nor fasting, nor nakedness,
Nor shaven heads, nor matted hair, nor dirt,
Nor rough skins, nor fire-worshipping,
Nor all the penances here in this world,
Nor hymns, nor oblation, nor sacrifice,
Nor feasts of the season,
Will purify a man overcome with doubt
…the Buddha did not advocate vegetarianism for the monks…
When the Buddha was asked to introduce vegetarianism amongst His disciples, the Buddha refused to do so. As Buddhism is a free religion, His advice was to leave the decision regarding vegetarianism to the individual disciple. It clearly shows that the Buddha had not considered this as a very important religious observance. The Buddha did not mention anything about vegetarianism for the lay Buddhists in His Teaching.
In certain countries, the followers of the Mahayana school of Buddhism are strict vegetarians. While appreciating their observance in the name of religion, we should like to point out that they should not condemn those who are not vegetarians. They must remember that there is no precept in the original Teachings of the Buddha that requires all Buddhists to be vegetarians.
Well, anyone know what the deal with Hindus is? I’ve noticed many Indians I’ve seen since this thread started do wear leather. I know, I’m assuming that they’re Hindu. However, I’ve known Hindus who didn’t eat beef, yet wore leather. Can anyone give us the straight dope?
Exactly zero of the Buddhist vegetarians & Buddhist vegans I know condemn those who are neither vegetarian nor vegan. What they do is state they are following their concept of the Buddha’s injuction towards compassion to all living things.