What The Buddha Said About Eating Meat

The priest Jerry Shinkei Marcheso's full refutation of Veggie Eddie to follow. Here is my take.

https://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/meat.html

https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda08.htm

https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2901?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzNnn4N2O4AIVBr7ACh2tlwP5EAAYASAAEgIoTfD_BwE

https://www.thoughtco.com/buddhism-and-vegetarianism-449731

The Buddha died eating a rancid pork dish.

The Lotus Sutra DOES NOT exclude anyone from Buddhahood.

Even those who commit the Five Cardinal Offenses can attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra:

five cardinal sins The five most serious offenses in Buddhism: (1) killing one’s father, (2) killing one’s mother, (3) killing an arhat, (4) injuring the Buddha, and (5) causing disunity in the Buddhist Order. Committing any of them causes one to fall into the Avichi hell, or the hell of incessant suffering.

But not meat eaters? 

Nichiren teaches:

In addition to the three pronouncements of the Buddha in the “Treasure Tower” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the “Devadatta” chapter contains two enlightening admonitions. [The first reveals that Devadatta will attain Buddhahood.] Devadatta was a man of incorrigible disbelief, of the type called icchantika, and yet it is predicted that he will in the future become a Buddha called the Thus Come One Heavenly King. The forty volumes of the Nirvana Sutra state that [all beings, including the icchantikas, possess the Buddha nature, but] the actual proof of that is found in this chapter of the Lotus Sutra. There are countless other persons such as the monk Sunakshatra or King Ajātashatru who have committed the five cardinal sins and slandered the Law, but Devadatta is cited as one example to represent all the countless others; he is the chief offender, and it is assumed that all lesser offenders will fare as he does. Thus it is revealed that all those who commit the five or the seven cardinal sins or who slander the Law or who are icchantikas inherently opposed to taking faith will become Buddhas like the Thus Come One Heavenly King. Poison turns into sweet dew, the finest of all flavors."

"...Those who possessed the capacity to gain enlightenment through either the provisional or true Mahayana sutras have long since disappeared. In this impure and evil age, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo of the “Life Span” chapter, the heart of the essential teaching, should be planted as the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time in the hearts of all those who commit the five cardinal sins and slander the correct teaching. This is what is indicated in the “Life Span” chapter where it states, “I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you.”

"Answer: The Meditation Sutra belongs to the provisional teachings, while the Lotus Sutra represents the true teaching. In no way are they equivalent. The reason is that when the Buddha appeared in the world, though he spent forty years and more preaching various doctrines, he had a great aversion to persons of the two vehicles, to evil persons, and to women, and said not a single word about the possibility of their attaining Buddhahood. In this one [Lotus] sutra, however, he stated that even those of the two vehicles, for whom the seeds of Buddhahood had rotted; Devadatta, who had committed three cardinal sins; and women, who are ordinarily hindered by the five obstacles, could all become Buddhas. This is clearly stated in the text of the sutra."

"On the other hand, if suddenly you should feel, for example, the approach of death, then even if you are eating fish or fowl, if you are able to read the sutra, you should do so, and likewise chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Needless to say, the same principle applies during your period of menstruation."

Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra teach that even animals will attain Enlightenment through the Lotus Sutra:

Salvation for the Suffering Animals by Graham Lamont

The power of the Lotus Sutra or Hokekyo to save all beings through our power of faith is proven by the attainment of Buddhahood dramatically demonstrated by the Dragon Girl in the “Chapter of Devadatta” 12 and referred to in the last quotation in the previous section: “They all saw the Dragon Girl .... attain True Enlightenment.” Although this event has several profound spiritual meanings for us, which I hope to explore in future issues, it can be noted here that Nichiren Shonin declares that this passage refers to “the Ten Realms which the Realm of the Beasts possesses.” (Kanjin honzon sho, STN, v. 1, 704) That is, even the Realm of Beasts possesses the Buddha Realm as well as the other Realms and, therefore, must inevitably attain Buddhahood. He also states:

“Though having the vile body of a dragon beast, born even as a woman and not even mature in years, she was scarcely eight years old. Though it was not at all expected, by the teaching and converting of Manjushri, within the sea between the “Dharma Teacher” and the “Devadatta” {Chapters] when He had scarcely preached the “Chapter of the Jewelled Stupa”, it was wondrous thing that she became a Buddha. If it were not for the power of the Hokekyo, how could it be thus? Therefore, Myoraku wrote, indeed, ‘The practice is shallow but the merit profound in order to reveal the Sutra’s power.’” (Kito sho, STN, v. 1, 673-674, citing the Hokke mongu ki (T.34.344c) 

On a more immediate level Nichiren Shonin writes that the power of the faith of the Daimoku, “Namu Myoho renge kyo” extends from our realm into the Realm of Beasts. In the second year of Koan (1279) the Tonsured Layman of Nakaoki erected a sotoba or memorial offering plaque of wood (originally deriving from the “stupa” or reliquary mounds) for their deceased daughter on the thirteenth anniversary of her death; concerning this sotoba Nichiren comments:

“.... because on its face you displayed the Seven Characters “Namu Myoho renge kyo”, when the north wind blows the scaly tribe (fish) of the Southern Sea, meeting that wind, will leave the sufferings of the great sea and when the east wind comes the birds and deer of the western mountains, having had that wind touch their bodies, shall escape the Way of the Beasts and they shall be reborn in the Inner Cloister of Tushita. How much more the human beings who have a following joy (zuiki) for that sotoba, touching it to their hands and seeing it with their eyes! Think that it is like the moon’s reflection when the water is clear and the reverberation when they strike the drum that by the merit of that sotoba the departed parents shall also illuminate the Pure Land like the sun and moon of heaven and the person of filial nurture as well as his wife and children shall have a lifespan of a hundred and twenty years in the present world and in the after life shall go to the Pure Land of the Spiritual Mountain (ryozen jodo). Henceforth on subsequent sotobas you should display the Title (Daimoku) of the Hokekyo.” (Nakaoki nyudo goshosoku, STN, v. 2, 1718-1719)

This wonderful passage with its rather long sentences shows the power of the Daimoku to save all beings once the initial act of faith is made: after the memorial sotoba was set up in faith as an act of good for the departed (tsuizen), its power (which is a combination of the power of the Dharma, the power of the Eternal Buddha, and the power of the faith of the donor) spread to the donor’s family, rescuing his departed parents and his whole kindred. This, of course, is further proof of what was said above about one person’s faith in the Hokekyo benefitting not just one person but all those associated with that person. Clearly Nichiren was primarily concerned with the salvation of humankind, for he says, “How much more the human beings”. (Incidentally, the reference to “a lifespan of a hundred and twenty years” is not necessarily to be taken literally but is a traditional Buddhist expression of the longest life possible under the circumstances.)

However, the power of “Namu Myoho renge kyo” overflows into the world of the suffering beasts, who are being punished for their evil past deeds; through the power of the Daimoku written in faith they, too, are liberated and brought to the Inner Cloister of the Tushita Heaven. In conventional terms this Inner Cloister is the best part of Tushita Heaven where the next Buddha, the Great Bodhisattva Maitreya (Miroku In Japanese) dwells and preaches; it is, in reality, a Pure Land. However, Nichiren has explained in the Shugo kokka ron (STN, v. 1, 129-130) that when the Lotus Sutra speaks of such places of excellent rebirth, such as this Tushita Heaven, the Trayastrimsha (Toriten: Heaven of the Thirty Three), and the Western Pure Land of the Buddha Amida, it is giving names from the Previous Sutras to the one true Pure Land of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, the Pure Land of the Spiritual Mountain which is described in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Thus by the power of “Namu Myoho renge kyo” and the faith and practice of those who receive and keep this quintessence of the supreme Hokekyo, even the suffering beasts will attain Buddhahood in the Eternal Pure Land. 

But not carnivores like lions and tigers and eagles? Hitler was a vegetarian. The Buddha ate meat.

Even plants, according to the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren, can obtain enlightenment... a thorough discourse on this to follow. Suffice it to say that according to the Lotus Sutra the distinction between sentience and insentience is blurred. The Gohonzon is a plant. The Gohonzon is the Eternal Buddha, not merely a representation. Nichiren teaches that the Gohonzon is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the universe. Likewise, the Lotus Sutra, as taught by Nichiren, is itself the Buddha's Body. The constitution of the United States is paper and ink but millions have died protecting it. 

Some people who claim to be strict vegetarians eat, for example, Jiffee peanut butter. Those tiny black things in the peanut butter are insect parts, a certain amount of insect matter in peanut butter is allowed by the Food and Drug Administration. Vegetarians kill thousands of insects (and birds) in their car daily or they kill worms and other critters while walking in the garden. We, as a rule, don't kill anything. The Buddha taught, as long as the meat was not killed, either by us or expressly for us, we could eat the meat offered to us. Me personally, I don't even kill ants or spiders, however, as a doctor, I kill round and flat worms and various other parasites in order to save human beings. A rabid animal is killed to protect our selves and our children.

Since the meat in the supermarkets and restaurants was not killed expressly for us, the Buddha taught it was ok to eat it.