Buddhist Vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism observed by significant portions of Mahayana Buddhist monastics and laypeople, as well as some Buddhists of other traditions, though views on the practice vary between different schools of Buddhist thought. Mahayana schools generally recommend a vegetarian diet, citing sutras in which Gautama Buddha is said to have instructed his followers not to eat the flesh of any sentient being.
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)Marks Ashoka's Rock Edict 1, the earliest attested imperial promotion of vegetarianism associated with Buddhist India; whether the monastic Sangha itself was vegetarian at that time is unclear per the same source, and the practice's later doctrinal development in Mahayana Buddhism and spread to China and Japan are separate, later developments. Origin RegionThe Indian subcontinent (Maurya Empire), later spreading with Buddhism to China and Japan 1 Connections
Open Questions
Source Buddhist vegetarianism (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Divinity Atlas: Buddhism, originated there.
Sources
1. Buddhist vegetarianism (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section, Ashoka Rock Edict 1 paragraph, place named
Asoka Rock Edict 1, dated to c. 257 BCE, mentions the prohibition of animal sacrifices in Ashoka's Maurya Empire as well as his commitment to vegetarianism
History section, Ashoka Rock Edict 1 paragraph, year cited
Asoka Rock Edict 1, dated to c. 257 BCE, mentions the prohibition of animal sacrifices in Ashoka's Maurya Empire as well as his commitment to vegetarianism
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
When did Buddhist monastic vegetarianism become a settled, codified practice, closing the origin period Ashoka's Rock Edict 1 (c. 257 BCE) began?
Ashoka Rock Edict 1 (c. 257 BCE, already recorded as this entity's origin-start-year) shows royal commitment to vegetarianism and a ban on animal sacrifice in the Maurya Empire, but the sources consulted (the Buddhist vegetarianism and Buddhist cuisine Wikipedia articles, and the Emperor Wu of Liang Wikipedia article, checked for a later Chinese Buddhist monastic vegetarianism edict) describe the Theravada/Mahayana divergence on meat-eating as gradual, unfolding over centuries with no single codifying event or year named.
What would resolve this A dated primary or secondary source naming a specific edict, monastic code revision, or council ruling that formally codified Mahayana monastic vegetarianism, giving a defensible close to the origin period Ashoka's edict began.
Buddhist religious and food historyBuddhist vegetarianism (Wikipedia)
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