What is the importance of being vegetarian?
Out of sincere respect for all life and the First Precept to refrain from killing, many Chinese Buddhists are vegetarian. In other words, being a vegetarian is a way to practice compassion. Vegetarianism is also consistent with the Buddhist concepts of universal interrelationship and rebirth. With the concepts of rebirth, humans may be other forms of life in their past and/or future live, thus it follows that an animal could be seen as synonymous with destroying one’s own relatives. While the traditional Buddhist scriptures do no mandate vegetarianism, Fo Guang (Chinese pronunciation, means Buddha’s Light) monastics must take a vow to not eat meat. Lay followers, however, are not required to do so. If not daily vegetarians, however, many Buddhists observe a vegetarian diet during retreats, Dharma functions, and holidays. A vegetarian luncheon buffet is available for all visitors at Guang Ming Temple’s dining hall.
