I did my final paper on Buddhists and argued that they should eat a vegetarian diet for the duration of their pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya. For those who are unfamiliar with the topic, Bodh Gaya is the location where Buddha attained Supreme Enlightenment and is one of the four most important pilgrimage sites to Buddhists.
Upon doing research, it surprised me that all Buddhists are not vegetarians considering they firmly believe in ahimsa, which translates as "no harm". This is part of the foundation for the religion's belief systems, including the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Upon doing further research for my paper, I began to find more and more claims that eating meat, whether you killed it yourself or not, should be forbidden and that eating meat you did not directly kill still supports causing harm upon a living creature.
Reading the stances from many Buddhists about vegetarianism, I am shocked that they all do not believe it is necessary. For one, they are going against their very belief system, and they are also disrupting and stealing from the nature around them. If they stopped eating meat altogether, it would be a lot more easier to have a peaceful mind in a peaceful setting so that they can ultimately achieve enlightenment in the way that Buddha did.
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