08-06-2021, 01:49 PM
When you travel to Tibet, you may find that Tibetan monks and lamas can eat meat, which is incredible and incomprehensible in the eyes of many people. Especially in the eyes of some Buddhist believers, eating meat is absolutely forbidden diet for monks. So what is the Tibetan Buddhist diet on earth?
From the perspective of Buddhism itself, the monks' precepts for liberation come from the Hinayana sutras. When Buddha Shakyamuni lived, he stipulated that monks had to beg for food, and they had to eat whatever the donors gave with no choice. If he says "I can't eat this", it would violate the precepts. So if the donors offer meat, they have to eat it.
The original rule was that monks were not allowed to eat vegetables such as green onions, ginger, and garlic, which have a foul odor. In the Hinayana precepts, it is permitted to eat meat by following the "threefold rule". What is the "threefold rule"? There are three instances in which meat may be eaten by monks and nuns: when it is not seen, not heard, and not suspected, that the living being has been slaughtered for the bhikkhu.
From the perspective of Buddhism itself, the monks' precepts for liberation come from the Hinayana sutras. When Buddha Shakyamuni lived, he stipulated that monks had to beg for food, and they had to eat whatever the donors gave with no choice. If he says "I can't eat this", it would violate the precepts. So if the donors offer meat, they have to eat it.
The original rule was that monks were not allowed to eat vegetables such as green onions, ginger, and garlic, which have a foul odor. In the Hinayana precepts, it is permitted to eat meat by following the "threefold rule". What is the "threefold rule"? There are three instances in which meat may be eaten by monks and nuns: when it is not seen, not heard, and not suspected, that the living being has been slaughtered for the bhikkhu.