Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, generally agree in their support of non-violence and a meatless lifestyle, i.e. vegetarianism (11).
Plant-based eating is deeply rooted in three of the prominent religions practiced in India – Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. All these religions believe in the concept of Ahimsa, which means kindness and non-violence towards all living things.
For example, Hindu texts often praise vegetarianism, and Hindus may also avoid eating beef because cows are traditionally viewed as sacred. Muslim teachings, meanwhile, prohibit pork.
It appears that there is no religion that doesn't eat chicken. Chicken is not banned in certain religions in the way that beef or pork are.
Dietary avoidance out of politeness. Sikhs also generally avoid eating beef because the cow, the buffalo and the ox are an integral part of rural Sikh livelihoods. Similarly, they avoid eating pork when they are in the company of Muslims. However, there is no religious prohibition about eating beef and pork.
Theravada and Mahayana: often do not eat meat and fish, some are vegan. Theravada and Mahayana from China and Vietnam: do not eat garlic, onion, chives, shallot or leek (five pungent spices – believed to increase one's sexual desire and anger) Tibetans: never eat fish, usually will not eat foul.
Both Judaism and Islam have prohibited eating pork and its products for thousands of years. Scholars have proposed several reasons for the ban to which both religions almost totally adhere. Pork, and the refusal to eat it, possesses powerful cultural baggage for Jews.
However, vegetarian Sikhs do consume dairy products. Sikhs who are not vegetarian may choose to abstain from eating pork or beef. However, all Sikhs are prohibited from eating any meat that has been ritually slaughtered including halal or kosher meats4.
Eastern Orthodox laity traditionally abstains from animal products on Wednesdays (because, according to Christian tradition, Judas betrayed Jesus on the Wednesday prior to the Crucifixion of Jesus) and Fridays (because Jesus is thought to have been crucified on the subsequent Friday), as well as during the four major ...
Buddhism, the Thai state religion, teaches that use of intoxicants should be avoided. Nonetheless, many Thai people drink alcohol, and a proportion are alcohol-dependent or hazardous or harmful drinkers.
For many Chinese Buddhists, beef and the consumption of large animals and exotic species is avoided. Then there would be the aforementioned "triply clean meat" rule. One restriction on food that is not known to many is the abstinence from eating animal offal (organ meat).
According to the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, a Mahayana sutra giving Gautama Buddha's final teachings, the Buddha insisted that his followers should not eat any kind of meat or fish. Even vegetarian food that has been touched by meat should be washed before being eaten.
Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, commonly known as the "Word of Wisdom" gives members dietary guidelines. It says to consume fruit seasonally, eat meat sparingly, and to eat grain, especially wheat, which is referred to as "the staff of life".
Hindu and Buddhism
Both of these traditions emphasize the importance of nonviolence and compassion towards all living beings, and this commitment to ethical conduct has led many followers to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet. In Hinduism, the concept of ahimsa, or nonviolence, is a central tenet of the faith.
Can Christians Eat Meat? Most Christians eat meat, and may do so believing that God intended animals for our consumption. But as eating animals was not God's intention when He created the world, Christians striving to return to the Garden of Eden increasingly see eschewing meat as one way to get closer to God.
The majority of Hindus are lacto-vegetarian (avoiding meat and eggs), although some may eat lamb, chicken or fish. Beef is always avoided because the cow is considered a holy animal, but dairy products are eaten.
Intoxication – A Sikh must not take hemp (cannabis), opium, liquor, tobacco, cocaine, narcotics, etc. In short, any intoxicant is not allowed. Cannabis is generally prohibited, but ritually consumed in edible form by some Sikhs.
Hindus, who make up about 80 per cent of India's 1.4 billion people, are not prohibited from eating pork, but many consider the meat impure and this has made restaurants wary about putting it on their menus.
Of course, Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues.
In Abrahamic religions, eating pig flesh is clearly forbidden by Jewish (kashrut), Islamic (halal) and Adventist (kosher animals) dietary laws.
Jainism. In Jainism, no alcohol consumption of any kind is allowed, neither are there any exceptions like occasional or social drinking. The most important reason against alcohol consumption is the effect of alcohol on the mind and soul.
The general Buddhist rejection of alcohol consumption is further reflected in the way the issue is addressed in the various codes of ethics. Along with the vows of killing, stealing, lying, and sexual misconduct, the vow to abstain from alcohol is part of the eightfold set of the 1-day fasting vows ([6], pp.
For those Buddhists that are following a vegetarian diet, eggs and poultry are not eaten. This is because they cause suffering to animals.
They can have pizza if pizza is given as an offering to Buddha by Page 6 members of congregation. Nun #3 agreed that many of them like pizza. They preferred thin crust as thick crust can be too heavy. One of principle precepts in Buddhism is to do no harm.