Vegetarianism

素食

One should not judge the purity or impurity of man simply by observing what he eats.

一个人的净化或染污，并不是以他吃什么来判断。

In the Amagandha Sutta, the Buddha said:

'Neither meat, nor fasting, nor nakedness,

Nor shaven heads, nor matted hair, nor dirt,

Nor rough skins, nor fire-worshipping,

Nor all the penances here in this world,

Nor hymns, nor oblation, nor sacrifice,

Nor feasts of the season,

Will purify a man overcome with doubt.'

在《阿玛甘达经》(Amagandha Sutta)中，佛陀这么说道：

「不吃肉类食物、禁食、裸露身体、不蓄发、蓬头散发、不整洁、全身污垢、拜火、一生都在忏悔、赞颂、奉献、祭祀、举行仪式，这些都不能克服疑难而达到净化。」

Taking fish and meat by itself does not make a man become impure. A man makes himself impure by bigotry, deceit, envy, self-exaltation, disparagement and other evil intentions. Through his own evil thoughts and actions, man makes himself impure. There is no strict rule in Buddhism that the followers of the Buddha should not take fish and meat. The only advice given by the Buddha is that they should not be involved in killing intentionally or they should not ask others to kill any living being for them. However, those who take vegetable food and abstain from animal flesh are praiseworthy.

吃鱼、吃肉，并不会使人变得不净。一个人的不净是由于：固执、欺骗、我慢、自大和其它种种邪恶的意念，通过本身错误的思想和行为，导致自己不净。佛教戒律中，没有明文规定弟子们不可以吃鱼、吃肉。佛陀告诫弟子们，不要蓄意去杀害生命，也不能要求他人为自己杀害任何生命。但是，总的来说，那些素食的人，更加值得我们赞扬。

Though the Buddha did not advocate vegetarianism for the monks, He did advise the monks to avoid taking ten kinds of meat for their self respect and protection. They are: humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears hyenas. Some animals attack people when they smell the flesh of their own kind. (Vinaya Pitaka)

虽然佛陀并没有要求僧众素食，但是，佛陀严格的禁止僧众在任何环境下都不能食用十种肉类：人肉、象肉、马肉、狗肉、蛇肉、狮肉、虎肉、豹肉、熊肉和狼肉，这些动物能从人身嗅出牠们的味道，从而攻击或伤害人类。

When the Buddha was asked to introduce vegetarianism amongst His disciples, the Buddha refused to do so. As Buddhism is a free religion, His advice was to leave the decision regarding vegetarianism to the individual disciple. It clearly shows that the Buddha had not considered this as a very important religious observance. The Buddha did not mention anything about vegetarianism for the lay Buddhists in His Teaching.

有一回，佛陀的弟子迭瓦达答(提婆达多，Devadatta)要求佛陀开示素食的利益时，被佛陀拒绝了。因为，佛教是一个自由的宗教，要不要奉行素食，是个人的自由和方便。这说明，佛陀并不认为素食是一项重要的戒条，对于在家信众，佛陀在他的教义中，也不曾提到非素食不可。

Jivaka Komarabhacca, the doctor, discussed this controversial issue with the Buddha: 'Lord, I have heard that animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and that the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for him. Lord, do those who say animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for. Do they falsely accuse the Buddha? Or do they speak the truth? Are your declaration and supplementary declarations not thus subject to be ridiculed by others in any manner?'

有一回，吉瓦卡(Jivaka Komarabhacca)医生，和佛陀辩论这争议性的问题：「世尊！我这么听说：『为了出家的苟答马，动物遭到屠杀，苟答马知道自己所吃的肉，是专门为他屠宰的。』世尊！他们认为动物遭到屠杀是为了您，您也知道自己所吃的肉类是专门为您屠宰的。这种指责是否属实？如果属实，那么您所宣扬的教义，不就被驳斥了吗？」

'Jivaka, those who say: 'Animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for him', do not say according to what I have declared, and they falsely accuse me. Jivaka, I have declared that one should not make use of meat it is seen, heard or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk. I allow the monks meat that is quite pure in three respects: if it is not seen, heard or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk.' (Jivaka Sutta)

「吉瓦卡！他们说：『为了出家的苟答马，动物遭到屠杀，苟答马知道自己所吃的肉，是专门为他屠宰的。』吉瓦卡！不要说，我曾经这么宣称过，也不要说，他们是错误的诽难我。吉瓦卡！我说过，当僧人听见、看见或怀疑那肉是为他而杀的，就不应该吃。吉瓦卡！我允许僧众吃肉，假使僧人没有听见、没有看见，也不怀疑那肉是专门为他而杀的，就可以吃。」《吉瓦卡经》

In certain countries, the followers of the Mahayana school of Buddhism are strict vegetarians. While appreciating their observance in the name of religion, we should like to point out that they should not condemn those who are not vegetarians. They must remember that there is no precept in the original Teachings of the Buddha that requires all Buddhists to be vegetarians. We must realize that Buddhism is known as the Middle Path. It is a liberal religion and the Buddha's advice was that it is not necessary to go to extremes to practise His Teachings.

在某些大乘佛教的国家里，佛教徒是严格的素食者。当我们以宗教的名誉赞扬他们的同时，我们希望他们不要诽难那些不素食者。要知道，在原始的佛教戒律里，并没有要求信徒要素食。我们必须了解，佛教是自由的宗教，佛陀告诫信徒，修持佛法时，不要走极端。

Vegetarianism alone does not help a man to cultivate his humane qualities. There are kind, humble, polite and religious people amongst non-vegetarians. Therefore, one should not condone the statement that a pure, religious man must practise vegetarianism.

单靠素食，并不能培养善良的品格，在素食者当中，照样有残酷、不道德的人，在肉食者当中，也一样有仁慈、谦虚和礼貌的人。因此，我们不能说，要达到纯净的宗教修持，就必须素食。

On the other hand, if anybody thinks that people cannot have a healthy life without taking fish and meat, it does not necessarily follow that they are correct since there are millions of pure vegetarians all over the world who are stronger and healthier than the meat-eaters.

话说回来，如果有人认为，不吃鱼、不吃肉，就会失去健康，这也是一种错误的观点，这世上有成千上万的素食者，他们的健康情况比肉食者还要来得好。

People who criticize Buddhists who eat meat do not understand the Buddhist attitude towards food. A living being needs nourishment. We eat to live. As such a human being should supply his body with the food it needs to keep him healthy and to give him energy to work. However, as a result of increasing wealth, more and more people, especially in developed countries, eat simply to satisfy their palates. If one craves after any kind of food, or kills to satisfy his greed for meat, this is wrong. But if one eats without greed and without directly being involved in the act of killing but merely to sustain the physical body, he is practising self restraint.

有些人指责佛教徒吃肉，是因为不了解佛教对食物的概念。一个人为了生存就必须吃。食物为了身体的健康和获得工作的能力。但是，在发达的国家里，越来越多的人，杀害各种生物，只是为了满足自己口舌之欲，这种观点是错误的。如果不是为了满足食欲，也不杀生，只是为了身体的需要而吃，就不存在这些问题了。