Vegetarianism

　　素食

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

　　一個人的淨化或染汙，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、不蓄發、蓬頭散發、不整潔、全身汙垢、拜火、一生都在忏悔、贊頌、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爲，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，也不能要求他人爲自己殺害任何生命。但是，總的來說，那些素食的人，更加值得我們贊揚。

　　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衆素食，但是，佛陀嚴格的禁止僧衆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 inpidual 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。因爲，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，佛陀並不認爲素食是一項重要的戒條，對于在家信衆，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：『爲了出家的苟答馬，動物遭到屠殺，苟答馬知道自己所吃的肉，是專門爲他屠宰的。』世尊！他們認爲動物遭到屠殺是爲了您，您也知道自己所吃的肉類是專門爲您屠宰的。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：『爲了出家的苟答馬，動物遭到屠殺，苟答馬知道自己所吃的肉，是專門爲他屠宰的。』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、看見或懷疑那肉是爲他而殺的，就不應該吃。吉瓦卡！我允許僧衆吃肉，假使僧人沒有聽見、沒有看見，也不懷疑那肉是專門爲他而殺的，就可以吃。」《吉瓦卡經》

　　In certain countries, the followers…

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