Reverence for Life and the Question of Human Eating Habit

In this piece, I like to delve into a question that comes into people’s minds often. This is about the reverence for the life system and the question of vegetarianism and meat consumption. The relevance of this question has a bearing upon the human eating habit – that has a long history of evolution. At any given instant in modern time – human eating spectrum consists of a mixture of cereals, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and products based on them. The choice within the spectrum – from one end to the other is governed by affordability, and conscious practices that have religious-cultural base.
I would mainly look into the question from a moral, humane and religious-cultural standpoint. To that end – attention is paid to Buddhist thoughts and practices. The reason for this attention is that – for the first time in history the Buddha addressed the question systematically. His teaching says while reverence for the life system is a must – one must not forego the freedom of choice in eating habit. That, the freedom of choice must come from the deep realization of Truths in calmness – in Appamada of conscientiousness, heedfulness and diligence. In the Kalama Sutta – the Buddha taught why this freedom should not be marred by such impositions as scripture, tradition, hearsay, trivial logic, external interference, and theory.
If one is accustomed to habitual or occasional meat consumption – he or she may see contradiction in Buddha’s teaching. Buddhism says there is no contradiction – if that is the case, how to explain it?
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1. Intro
Before answering the question, here is something we all need to understand. Belonging to the mammal family of the life system – we, humans are naturally omnivores. But, unlike other mammals, we are overwhelmingly endowed with the processes and habits that result from Matter-Immatter Dynamics - the interactive processes between body and mind, the Rupakaya and Arupakaya that define a person. This means we enjoy much more freedom than others to chart our own destiny – to adapt and go beyond genetic programming. And in the context of choices of eating habits – to go either in the direction of Wholesomeness or otherwise.
All along, humans developed the notion that fish and other aquatic lives are part of the consumable resources. This has been so customary that hardly any violent or harming thought processes – Cetana (volition or intention) are in action. Perhaps one reason for being so careless is the fact that a fish dies quickly when out of water. There is an old adage that says, wild life is beautiful in the wild – birds in the sky – fish in water – humans in family.
Similarly, dairy milks and products from cows and other animals, and poultry eggs – became indispensable human consuming items from ancient times. Again, there were no thought processes involved – they just came naturally as part of human survival instincts – and no tangible harm is caused to these lives.
Consuming fish and these gifts of Nature must be accepted with gratitude – because without these gifts human livelihood, as we know it cannot thrive. This reality and all the life system defining Nature have been telling humans not to harm them – not to be cruel to them – not to kill them with volitional attitude of violence or sacrificial pretense – not to restrict their freedom of choice. Not to disrupt and destroy their food sources – their livelihood concomitant habitat necessities.
Further, we have to realize that many of our eating habits come from childhood rearing practices of our parents – that are conditioned by the societal norms where one is raised. This means that our eating preferences – are not something of our choice. It has profound effects on an individual – because, for example, a person raised with meat eating habit could develop distaste for the other types of diets.
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2. A Glimpse of Eating Habit Evolution
Before going further, it is important to delve into the evolution of human eating habit. As outlined in The All-Embracing Power of Sublimities – the lifestyle of early nomadic hunters – began to change after the last ice age in about 8 millennia BCE. Agriculture, domestication of plants and animals, family and social co-habitation started to take shape. With this, the eating habit of humans took a drastic turn – from wild plants and hunter-gathered meats to agricultural produce. Raising and tending of livestock and dependence on them for various household needs and sustenance - became part of family lives and livelihood.
While fish, and the produces based on animal and poultry such as dairy and egg, became part of the diet – the consumption of meat became an occasional – rather than a regular eating habit. During this epoch in history in about 2.5 millennia BCE – the Buddha’s teaching, a method based on Wondrous Truth grounded to the Seal of Reality – appeared to direct human livelihood and co-habitation to peace, happiness and harmony with his emphasis on the necessity of revering the sanctity for all lives to let them live and thrive without fear.
The lifestyle afforded by this system – is destroyed with the beginning of industrialization age and capitalist processes in about 17th century. An important aspect of this process – is the rise of meat industries. Cattle and poultry farms, and slaughter houses define the activities of these industries – that come with information campaign about the beneficial effects of animal protein on human health. These industries imposed a forceful impetus on people’s mind to consume meat. They have made it their policy to not reveal the harmful effects of animal protein. Their advocacy says that animal protein is a must for healthy growth of individuals – and all establishments across the globe have been promoting the cases of these industries.
It is only in recent times that awareness shifted to alternative thinking – and many researches across the globe reveal the nature of vegetable proteins and their beneficial effects on human health. These proteins come from such sources as – oilseeds, cereals, pulses and leafs. The findings support what Nature has been telling us all along – that the life system is abound with vegetarian and non-vegetarians. From the mighty elephants to the powerful horses, all vegetarians – Nature tells us that power and strength have nothing to do meat consumption. What, if any, animal meat consumption makes one aggressive.
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3. Buddhist World View of Eating Habits
The Buddha deeply saw and learned the processes of Nature and lives – and his teaching fully reflects the appreciation of and respect for the causes of different lives. And the teaching about the reverence for all lives directs humans to that direction. Using the flower-bee metaphor – the Buddha clarified the necessity of being simple in purpose and practices to not harm the flower – the donor. The practices of nonviolence and the reciprocity of gratitude, and showing respect to the donor – are just humane and make everyone happy.
The Buddhist world makes it a policy to adhere to the first Buddhist precept of reverence for life and the Buddha’s teaching on that (All trembles at violence, life is dear to all – As we love our life, so do all creatures – so be compassionate to all sentient beings . . . Unwholesome deeds like animal sacrifice follow one like a shadow to usher in misery; as some are outlined in Hold it There, Jataka Morals – 1, Jataka Morals – 2 and others). The legacy of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great (304 – 232 BCE) is exemplary in this regard. Standing on the footsteps of the Buddha – he devised programs and works to implement reverence for the sanctity of life – to ensure animal welfare across his vast empire of the Indian subcontinent.
In the Buddhist world, the practice of eating habits as regards to vegetarianism or non-vegetarianism is left to an individual’s choice. Here are the reasons: (1) the practices of irrational imposition of rigidity suppressing one’s freedom of choice – imposes stresses and ailments on an individual and hinders happiness. (2) Sticking to any rigid nature of practices violates the Buddhist principles of Wieldiness and Malleability. These two principles ensure the highest form of discipline that is fluid-dynamic – incorporating the essential elements of Natural processes. As described in the Fluidity of Nature and The Way of Simplicity, Balance and Wisdom – they are characterized by the five: Time, Continuity, Resilience, Adaptation, Balance and Dynamic Equilibrium.
Unlike other religious practices, except perhaps Christianity – these are the reasons why there is no rigid food code in Buddhism. Apart from these, what are other Buddhist rationales behind the absence of food code? And the teaching of the necessity of freedom of choice?
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3. 1 Role of Cetana and Mindfulness in Eating Habit
If one deeply delves into Buddhism – one would soon realize that there are other reasons why the supremely compassionate Buddha left the freedom of human eating habit to choices. The Buddha stressed on the Seal of Reality on which his teaching is based – which entails that the Dharma is a practical way of life in Simplicity, Balance and Wisdom. This Seal of Reality is the ultimate truth defined by causes ↔ conditions reality of things – by the reality of Fundamental Laws of Nature – of impermanence and interdependence.
Further, one has to look into the definition of karma in the Dharma. A wholesome or unwholesome karma depends on the driving force behind such karma. This driving force is defined as Cetana in the Dharma – translated to volition or intention in plain English.
The Buddha said, the nature or type of karma is defined by Cetana behind it: Cetanaham Bhikkhave Kammam Vadami – Volition, O Monks is Kamma, I reveal. The Noble Eightfold Path says, the conditioning of karma can be given the direction of wholesome Cetana when Right Understanding enlightens one through the efforts of Right Diligence. The objectives are to pursue the purification of mind, speech (all forms of communication in modern contexts), body and deeds through – Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Action/Reaction, and Right Livelihood. Right Thoughts, in turn – are purified by the diligent meditation efforts of Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
If consuming meat as food does not involve tangible killing or harming Cetana – then there is no reason to believe that an unwholesome karma has taken place.
This explanation should not be interpreted as the Buddha’s leniency on meat consumption – rather it says that while reverence for life must be the societal norm – one must avoid being rigid – but rather be adaptable and flexible as the situation necessitates. This implies that meat as food can be eaten as the last resort if no other option is available. One must not forget the Buddha teaching that . . . Hunger is the worst disease . . . Health is the most precious gain. This teaching is applicable to all lives. And that the rigid practices of what to eat or not to eat – and any austerity resulting from that is a hindrance – benefiting neither the functioning of the body nor the mind.
Buddhist monks and nuns are mostly vegetarian. Zen Buddhist practices emphasize on being simple and mindful in everything one does. For them vegetarianism is the norm, because they follow a self-sustaining way of day-to-day life from working in the field to food preparation to teaching and Zen meditation. Similar is the case with other Sanskrit tradition schools of Buddha Dharma in the East. By doing this they stick to the policy of reverence for all lives.
If one is mindful in eating the non-meat based products – the satisfaction one gets from sticking to the noble causes and wholesomeness – cannot be compared with any other type of eating. Such is the power of mindfulness.
Some Sangha make vegetarianism their policy – while others follow the principle of consuming what are offered to them as food (non-meat based or otherwise) without developing any personal preference, attachment or aversion to what are offered. Any refusal to accept what are offered to them – are considered arrogance and a show of disrespect to the donor devotee.
And if invited, monks and nuns must abstain from suggesting what to prepare or not to prepare – and must respect the choices of devotees. This practice allows the Sangha to avoid developing any Cetana in eating habit. The ancient Buddha Sangha practice of going on alms-round as outlined in the finishing paragraph of The Way of Simplicity, Balance and Wisdom further adds to this.
Lay Buddhists across the globe while adhering to the reverence for life – have a spectrum of eating habit – from vegetarianism to occasional episodes of meat consumption. In cases of meat consumption – a careful diligence is exercised not to develop violent or killing Cetana. Instead, the choice depends on what are available in the market – as a food source to sustain a healthy state of body and mind. Again, the practice varies across the wide Buddhist world – conditioned by situations and the reality of cultural factors.
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A few lines of concluding remarks. Grounded to the Seal of Reality – Buddhism teaches the pursuance of a balanced way of life, the Middle Way. It teaches the necessity of being wieldy and malleable to not let rigidity dictate a person’s life. This entails that while freedom of choice should define the eating habits – it is important to uphold the principle of reverence for all lives – by not attempting to source food harming and killing lives that sustain us. It points direction to the eating habits – to the evolving canvas that rely on fish, dairy milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, vegetable oils. They are all there to be produced and sourced from Nature in a fair and moral sustainable fashion. These resources give us all the nutrition, protein, vitamins and minerals – helping us to lead a healthy life in peace and happiness in harmony with Nature.
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This 83rd piece in WIDECANVAS is dedicated to commemorate the World Health Day on April 7.

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- by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 9 April 2025

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