Taoist View on Vegetarianism

[alphone]

Ultra Supreme Emptiness Emperor the Heavenly Lord's Scripture of Forty-nine Chapters ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0018 ) says:

 

The Heavenly Lord said:

 

The precept of being vegetarian is the fundamental of Tao, and is a bridge of truth, which crosses the ocean of births and deaths, between the ferry and the other shore of liberation.

 

If you wish to learn Tao, you should be a vegetarian and keep the precepts, and your every single thought should be righteous and Real, then the evils and delusions will vanish of themselves.

 

Most living beings had abandoned the pure realm and are indulging in meat-eating, this defiles both their bodies and minds. They are like the hungry ghosts who eat dead bodies but cannot extinguish the fire that are burning their hungry intestines so that they can never eat their fill; they are also like the flies and worms who scramble for putrid and stinky things and stay still on them as if those are sandalwood.

 

In a meat eater's body, the three palaces are turbid, and the six viscera are defiled, the dark souls (PUG) of the dead bodies (that he ate) are exciting and thriving, and are always willing to guide him to the place of death.

 

Therefore, you should cut off the root of desires, enter into the pure and tranquil state, do not put any living being into suffering, do not commit anything evil, do not produce any delusions, and do not arouse any evil from your heart.

 

You should regard the precepts as the laws of the world, when you want to violate any of them, you should be aware of the punishment with fear. You should uphold the teachings of the precepts sincerely and respectfully, keep the precepts solemnly as if they are in front of you, and as if you are facing something that you fear. You should keep your heart righteous and solemn, eliminate all thoughts, and listen attentively to the non-dual, then you will be able to experience the Correct Truth, and become my disciple.

 

 

Ultra Subtleness Immortal Lord's Tabulation of Merits and Sins ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0185 ) says:

 

(Regarding normal eating frequency and quantity) An insipid vegetarian meal produces one merit; an averagely tasted vegetarian meal produces half a merit; a very delicious vegetarian meal produces no merit.

 

 

Ultra Subtleness Immortal Lord's Tabulation of Merits and Sins ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0185 ) says:

 

Regarding meat-eating: Eating meat by intentional killing produces six sins. Eating meat by buying produces three sins. Intentional eating of forbidden meats produces six sins, while accidental eating of these meats produces three sins. Eating meat at an abstinent day produces ten sins. Chanting in an altar right after eating meat produces ten sins.

 

 

Emptiness Emperor the Heavenly Lord's Ten Precept Tractate for the Junior Cultivators ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0179 ) says:

 

The third precept: Do not kill any animal for food, instead, we should be benevolent and beneficial to all, including insects and worms.

 

 

Emptiness Emperor the Heavenly Lord's Ten Precept Tractate for the Junior Cultivators ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0179 ) says:

 

The seventh precept: Do not drink alcohol or eat meat, and do not violate the other precepts. One should regulate and harmonize his energies and temperament, and cultivate dedicatedly for the Pure Emptiness.

 

 

Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0809 ) says:

 

All living beings, including all kinds of animals, and those as small as insects, worms, and so forth, are containers of the uncreated energy, thus one should not kill any of them.

 

 

Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scripture of Precepts ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0809 ) says:

 

They will kill other living beings for food or commodities.

 

Such people will suffer in their present lifetimes because of their bad deeds, and later they will fall into the destinies of afflictions for long.

 

 

The Scripture of Dhoe and Virtue ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0691 ) says:

 

There exists a master executioner that kills

If we substitute for the master executioner to kill

It is like substituting for the great carpenter to cut

Those who substitute for the great carpenter to cut

It is rare that they do not hurt their own hands

 

 

Ultra Utmost Real Person Spoken Twenty-four Gates Precept Scripture ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0182 ) says:

 

The first precept: Do not kill any animal, or slaughter any animal for food. Do not kill by yourself, or ask anyone to kill, or rejoice at killing, or eat any animals. A violator of this precept will be cooked in a cauldron in hell.

 

 

Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Scriptural Laws ( Orthodox Taoist Canon 0811 ) says:

 

The twenty-fourth precept: Do not drink alcohol or eat meat.

 

 

 

From:

http://home.comcast.net/~taoistresource/art_dhoe_veg.htm

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

Look in front of you.. Tao provides, do you judge Tao? Precepts? Li Po would wash away such nonsense with wine and a giggle.. Men wrote the bible and men wrote the Canons.. neither 'God' nor Tao are confined by either..

 

Be well..

[Marblehead]

If you wish to learn Tao, you should be a vegetarian

 

There is absolutely nothing in the Tao Te Ching or in the writings of Chuang Tzu that suggest one should be a vegetarian.

 

In fact, Chuang Tzu tells a story where he is a guest and eats duck for dinner.

 

Peace & Love!

Edited November 8, 2009 by Marblehead

[fizix]

Precepts and Taoist sins oh my!

[Zenshiite]

There is absolutely nothing in the Tao Te Ching or in the writings of Chuang Tzu that suggest one should be a vegetarian.

 

In fact, Chuang Tzu tells a story where he is a guest and eats duck for dinner.

 

Peace & Love!

 

 

Don't you think that you're making an assumption that Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu are all there are to Taoism?

 

I mean, it's not as if it's obvious from their writings and those of their contemporaries that they were building off an already existing tradition or anything...

[Aetherous]

Taoism wasn't always an organized religion with rules and precepts to follow. From what I've read, it began as a way of seeking longevity and harmony with nature.

 

Maybe vegetarianism began after people lost the way...

 

Look at this forum...none of us truly know what we're talking about, but we all pontificate and argue. Some of us write books or publish websites that give our personal views. Could it be the same with organized Taoism...that the people who wrote the books were just as full of it?

[Zhuo Ming-Dao]

Edited November 8, 2009 by Zhuo Ming-Dao

[YMWong]

[Marblehead]

Don't you think that you're making an assumption that Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu are all there are to Taoism?

 

I mean, it's not as if it's obvious from their writings and those of their contemporaries that they were building off an already existing tradition or anything...

 

Nope. I am not denying any of the other aspects of Taoism.

 

When I speak, I speak only to philosophical Taoism. That is all I know and that is all I practice.

 

Peace & Love!

[Yoda]

Alphone,

 

Thanks for bringing up such great quotes! If memory serves, the Taoism in Journey to the West was vegetarian as well. I'm quite sure that there are a number of vegetarian Taoist schools out there and it is very good for one's health to eat that way and I'm sure it has a number of cultivation benefits too.

 

According to my school, beef is avoided but other meats are fine. There are some practices and occasions that require strict vegetarianism for prolonged periods of time like the mourning period when a parent passes away and that can go on for up to three years and one shouldn't drink alcohol during that time either.

 

I've heard it said that the above approach towards meat can be found in a number of Taoist and Confucian schools.

 

Tao Toe,

Yoda

[Marblehead]

According to my school, beef is avoided but other meats are fine. There are some practices and occasions that require strict vegetarianism for prolonged periods of time like the mourning period when a parent passes away and that can go on for up to three years and one shouldn't drink alcohol during that time either.

 

I have a Vietnamese lady friend here close to where I live who is Buddhist and that is her belief as well. Only beef is forbidden.

 

(Of course, thery are anti-alcohol.)

 

Peace & Love!

[frp]

[Enishi]

Vegetarianism is something which has always sounded "right" to me from a purely logical/ethical standpoint, but also "feels" wrong on a gut level. Humans have been eating meat for hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the biggest meat eater tribes, like the Masai, are much stronger than their neighbors. I know it IS necessary in some traditions at specific points in time, but I'm very skeptical of any claims that my eating grass-feed beef is an evil action and I'll be reborn as a cow as a result (why is being reborn as an animal such a bad thing anyway? they're another aspect of the Tao, just like us)

[C T]

What one should or should not eat is revealed gradually as life rolls on. One need only to listen wisely and truthfully to what inner guidance says. Never indulge in forced participation, for this dampens the intuitive nature of one's guide.

 

When we were born, all we could ingest was milk. Inner guidance dictated.

 

When the body is well, eat moderately, and we stay well. Inner guidance shows.

 

When the body is well, and we over-indulge, we pay some price. Inner guidance warns.

 

When the body is unwell, we refrain naturally from the desire to eat normally, or not eat temporarily. Inner guidance directs.

 

When the body is unwell, and we neglect this inner voice - yes, we may still heal, but over time, as the body weakens with time and age, the inner guide begins to give up guiding, and this allows for the perpetuation of more complex un-wellness, compounded until such time we are forced to listen, or the body shuts down.

 

So this is how we should regard going vegetarian or not. One simple way of knowing when to ease up on meat eating, is when the inner guide starts to loosen our teeth. Thats plain telling us "slow down" on the harder-to-chew foods. Its also telling us our digestive system is asking for softer foods. But how many of us listen? Instead, we get the tooth/teeth fixed, and think everything's ok, and 3 years down the road, we start to have digestive disorders, and wonder what the heck is the problem, and one thing always lead to another, right? But we still dont listen, so we eat as we always have, only this time with a couple of bottles of digestive aids close at hand.

 

Another few years pass, and there'd be more than digestive aids needed. Medical attention for secondary illnesses, like ulcers, gastritis, IBS etc etc, and all the while the profits continue to pile up for the doctors, the consultant specialists, and the pharma industries. And then we scream in horror at how much the medical bills are and blah blah... and we get stressed out, and shouts at the wife, who slaps the young son for not tidying his room, who then kicks the dog in retaliation, who bites the cat, who then chases the mice, and the mice, out of sheer frustration, chews up the medical insurance certificate.....

 

The perpetuation of cause and effect, or samsara...

 

Vegetarianism? Just listen to your inner voice. Listen attentively, and you will never ever be forsaken..

Edited November 8, 2009 by CowTao

[Marblehead]

Just thought I would add this:

 

It is now commonly accepted by anthropologists that it was because of early humans eating meat that allowed their brain to grow and develope more rapidly than other apes. The higher protein allowed for this growth.

 

(I personally do not eat mammal meat but that is a personal choice for health purposes.)

 

Peace & Love!

[Lucky7Strikes]

You shouldn't think too much about what you eat. If you are forcing yourself to become vegetarian, that is not a good practice. The transition should come rather naturally.

 

I used to love eating beef when I was younger, but now the sight of it is rather..eh...unpleasant.

 

This is somewhat unrelated, but I went out to buy a leather jacket one day and realized how disgusting it is to wear the skin of another animal.

 

But be careful if it is your mind coaxing you to eat chocolate! .

 

Sweet things are hard to say no to (not only food that is ).

[C T]

You shouldn't think too much about what you eat. If you are forcing yourself to become vegetarian, that is not a good practice. The transition should come rather naturally.

 

I used to love eating beef when I was younger, but now the sight of it is rather..eh...unpleasant.

 

This is somewhat unrelated, but I went out to buy a leather jacket one day and realized how disgusting it is to wear the skin of another animal.

 

But be careful if it is your mind coaxing you to eat chocolate! .

 

Sweet things are hard to say no to (not only food that is ).

Aye!

[Mal]

Sweet things are hard to say no to (not only food that is ).

I like wearing leather, hopefully it saves my skin if I end up sliding down a road. But then I like chocolate too, I guess I'm a bit of a pleasure seeker.

dwmoMaB6VWc

Give it a try, don't be shy.

Well you know you might like it

[New Dawn Fades]

My good friend Alphone is a collector and translator of texts of the Taoist Cannon and other Taoist and Buddhist arts and his hard work should be acknowledged if not appreciated. The advice given about vegetarianism is accurate advice from the ancient masters for cultivators of longevity and the good ole' spiritual high. They aren't for undisciplined people who read the Louzy and the Chuangzy (.001% of the Taoist Cannon) making them experts on Taoism and allows them to interpret those writings to mean whatever they want.

Edited November 9, 2009 by New Dawn Fades

[Marblehead]

 

 

But be careful if it is your mind coaxing you to eat chocolate! .

 

Sweet things are hard to say no to (not only food that is ).

 

I am well aware of all the above.

 

Peace & Love!

 

 

 

Give it a try, don't be shy.

Well you know you might like it

 

Yeah. (That's all I'm gonna' say.)

 

Peace & Love!

[Yoda]

Some Chinese will refrain from eating any meat or eggs on the lunar 1st and 15th and other powerful days so as not to magnify the negative energies.

[Spiritualseeker]

I want a path where I can eat meat and still attain enlightenment. So is this possible in Taoism? Can I still become enlightened even though im married? Could I gather up a lot of spiritual strength and heal people?

[mYTHmAKER]

I want a path where I can eat meat and still attain enlightenment. So is this possible in Taoism? Can I still become enlightened even though im married? Could I gather up a lot of spiritual strength and heal people?

 

I want a path where i can do whatever i like and still attain enlightenment

 

One does not go shopping for a path either it resonates with you or not.

 

Some Buddhists eat meat and some don't

Some Christians eat meat and some don't

 

One can be married and be enlightened

One can be single, a monk, a priest and be very unenlightened.

 

IMHO it has more to do with what is in ones heart rather than following doctrines written by others.

One must have a pure heart.

 

 

Ramakrishna an enlightened being- so i am told- used to become enlightened following the precepts of a religion and than doing the same thing in another religion. However, he was following the true meaning of each one and not the man made political one.

 

Gathering spiritual strength and healing people will come on their own accord- they should not be something one strives for. Do your practices - live with a pure heart and meditate and que sera sera.

[WhiteTiger]

Nope. I am not denying any of the other aspects of Taoism.

 

When I speak, I speak only to philosophical Taoism. That is all I know and that is all I practice.

 

Peace & Love!

 

Um...

Do you keep up with any Daoist cultivation?

 

I want a path where I can eat meat and still attain enlightenment. So is this possible in Taoism? Can I still become enlightened even though im married? Could I gather up a lot of spiritual strength and heal people?

 

Maybe it would help others to answer the question if you defined how much is a lot.

 

IMHO it has more to do with what is in ones heart rather than following doctrines written by others.

One must have a pure heart.

 

Gathering spiritual strength and healing people will come on their own accord- they should not be something one strives for. Do your practices - live with a pure heart and meditate and que sera sera.

 

What do you define as a pure heart?

 

peace,

wt

[C T]

Some Chinese will refrain from eating any meat or eggs on the lunar 1st and 15th and other powerful days so as not to magnify the negative energies.

Yes tis correct. On these two days, they would also take baths with water thats been fused with a few leaves from the pomelo tree -- This is to purify the body and dispel *bad luck* and also to avert any possible *damage* from colliding with wandering souls. Once cleansed, visits to temples to make offerings to celestial beings and ancestors would be the norm.

 

Here's one for your collection!! hehe

 

 

What do you define as a pure heart?

 

peace,

wt

A pure heart is one that is not impure...