素食 Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism

素食

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

一個人的淨化或染污，並不是以他吃什麼來判斷。

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《阿瑪甘達經》(Amagandha Sutta)中，佛陀這麼說道：

「不吃肉類食物、禁食、裸露身體、不蓄髮、蓬頭散髮、不整潔、全身污垢、拜火、一生都在懺悔、讚頌、奉獻、祭祀、舉行儀式，這些都不能克服疑難而達到淨化。」

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.

吃魚、吃肉，並不會使人變得不淨。一個人的不淨是由于：固執、欺騙、我慢、自大和其它種種邪惡的意念，通過本身錯誤的思想和行為，導致自己不淨。佛教戒律中，沒有明文規定弟子們不可以吃魚、吃肉。佛陀告誡弟子們，不要蓄意去殺害生命，也不能要求他人為自己殺害任何生命。但是，總的來說，那些素食的人，更加值得我們讚揚。

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)

雖然佛陀並沒有要求僧眾素食，但是，佛陀嚴格的禁止僧眾在任何環境下都不能食用十種肉類：人肉、象肉、馬肉、狗肉、蛇肉、獅肉、虎肉、豹肉、熊肉和狼肉，這些動物能從人身嗅出牠們的味道，從而攻擊或傷害人類。

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，佛陀的弟子疊瓦達答(提婆達多，Devadatta)要求佛陀開示素食的利益時，被佛陀拒絕了。因為，佛教是一個自由的宗教，要不要奉行素食，是個人的自由和方便。這說明，佛陀並不認為素食是一項重要的戒條，對于在家信眾，佛陀在他的教義中，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)醫生，和佛陀辯論這爭議性的問題：「世尊！我這麼聽說：『為了出家的苟答馬，動物遭到屠殺，苟答馬知道自己所吃的肉，是專門為他屠宰的。』世尊！他們認為動物遭到屠殺是為了您，您也知道自己所吃的肉類是專門為您屠宰的。這種指責是否屬實？如果屬實，那麼您所宣揚的教義，不就被駁斥了嗎？」

’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！他們說：『為了出家的苟答馬，動物遭到屠殺，苟答馬知道自己所吃的肉，是專門為他屠宰的。』吉瓦卡！不要說，我曾經這麼宣稱過，也不要說，他們是錯誤的誹難我。吉瓦卡！我說過，當僧人聽見、看見或懷疑那肉是為他而殺的，就不應該吃。吉瓦卡！我允許僧眾吃肉，假使僧人沒有聽見、沒有看見，也不懷疑那肉是專門為他而殺的，就可以吃。」《吉瓦卡經》

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.

在某些大乘佛教的國家里，佛教徒是嚴格的素食者。當我們以宗教的名譽讚揚他們的同時，我們希望他們不要誹難那些不素食者。要知道，在原始的佛教戒律里，並沒有要求信徒要素食。我們必須了解，佛教是自由的宗教，佛陀告誡信徒，修持佛法時，不要走極端。

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.

單靠素食，並不能培養善良的品格，在素食者當中，照樣有殘酷、不道德的人，在肉食者當中，也一樣有仁慈、謙虛和禮貌的人。因此，我們不能說，要達到純淨的宗教修持，就必須素食。

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.

話說回來，如果有人認為，不吃魚、不吃肉，就會失去健康，這也是一種錯誤的觀點，這世上有成千上萬的素食者，他們的健康情況比肉食者還要來得好。

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.

有些人指責佛教徒吃肉，是因為不了解佛教對食物的概念。一個人為了生存就必須吃。食物為了身體的健康和獲得工作的能力。但是，在發達的國家里，越來越多的人，殺害各種生物，只是為了滿足自己口舌之欲，這種觀點是錯誤的。如果不是為了滿足食欲，也不殺生，只是為了身體的需要而吃，就不存在這些問題了。