Breaking Myths 7:

Buddhists and Grace before Food

It is a commonly held myth that Buddhists do Not
say TQ or Grace or “Bless the food” before a meal!
This is Far from the Truth!

Its is a practice that is highly encouraged and

practiced, but sadly,
many do not do it at home and in public places.
That is Our Fault!
In both the Theravada and Mahayana
traditions, the Sangha will do reflections and
give Blessings before eating the food.

The BIG Difference is that instead of asking

for some divine being to “bless” the food,
the practice is:
1. Giving thanks to all who had contributed to
the meal, from the farmer to the veggies &
animals, the delivery man, the cook, the donor.

All inclusive.

2. We the consumer GIVES the Blessings or

Aspirations to these same beings.

We Give them our Blessings & Gratitude.

In the Theravada tradition, the gatha below is
commonly used and some Laypeople are
using it before their meals.

Sabbitiyo vivajjantu
Sabba-rogo vinassatu
Ma te bhavatvantarayo
Sukhi digh’ayuko bhava.
May all distresses be averted.
May every disease be destroyed.
May there be no dangers for you.
May you be happy & live long.
A Longer
Chant
The Contemplation for the wise use of Food is
also commonly practiced in Centres:
A Simple
Card on
the table
 When I was at Fo Guang San at Kaoshiong,
the following Aspirations were made at mealtime
 In Pinyin
ci bei xi she bian fa jie

xi fu jie yuan li ren tian

chan ding jie xing ping deng ren

can kui gan en da yuan xin

We also contemplate at every meal, the
dining hall being referred to as
“The Hall of Five Contemplations”.
First, seventy-two labors have brought us this
food. We should know where it comes from.
Second, as we receive this offering we should
consider whether our virtue and practice
deserve it.
Third, as we desire the mind to be free from
clinging, we must be free from greed.
Fourth, to support our life, we receive this food.
Fifth, to realize the way, we accept this food.
wu guan tang

1. ji gong duo shao,

liang bi lai chu
2. cun ji de (or heng) xing,
quan que ying gong
3. fang xin li guo,
tan deng wei zong
4. zheng shi liang yao,
wei liao xing ku
5. wei cheng dao ye,
ying shou ci shi
These five simple sentences have endured for centuries
because of the depth of compassion and wisdom
inherent in them.
These verses gently remind us to be fully present in
the moment.
They remind us to walk lightly on this earth and to
consider our purpose for being here.
They remind us to be virtuous in body, speech and
mind.
They remind us to be mindful of unwholesome acts,
such as greed, anger, and delusion.
 These Contemplations have been modified in various
centres while maintaining its spirit, and four lines are often
added after the Fifth Reflection:
When we sit down to eat in our monastery, we try to be conscious of
several things.
We eat in silence because this way you can concentrate on the food
and practice awareness. Then we eat everything on the plate.
This is our way of honoring the conservation of resources.
We also try to make sure that the conservation of resources takes
place before the food even reaches our plate: the portions we
receive aren’t too large, and this way it isn’t difficult to eat all that’s
been given to us.
We also remember the preparation of the food—the work of the
cooks and the cleaners and those who picked the vegetables and
processed the food.
We don’t choose what we eat at the monastery. We’re not in the
monastery to become gourmets. We’re there because we need to
cultivate appreciation and non-attachment to all things, including
food.
Venerable Yifa, Fo Guang Shan Monastery
In Japanese culture, “Itadakimasu" is an
essential phrase.
It's often translated as "I humbly receive" in a
mealtime setting, or "Thank you for the food."
In its simplest form, Itadakimasu most
common translation is:
TO RECEIVE, TO GET, TO ACCEPT,
TO TAKE HUMBLY.
This explains why one says it before one eats.
We're "receiving" food.

“Itadakimasu” comes from Japan's roots in

Buddhism, which teaches Respect and Gratitude
for all living things.

This thinking extends to mealtime in the form of

thanks to the plants, animals, farmers, parents,
chefs, and everything that went into the making of
the meal.
Put one’s hands together in lotus posture in
respect with head slightly bowed.
Say "Itadakimasu".
Pick up the chopsticks and start eating!

A good practice that cannot be made simpler.

 Learning
Mindful
Eating in a
Zen
Monastery
 Chinese Mahayana Vegetarianism

It is the edict of Emperor Liang Wudi that the Sangha
should strictly follow the vegetarian tradition which had
the maximum effect.


In 511 CE, he wrote that the Buddhist Sangha should
exclusively adopt a diet that ‘cuts wine and meat’
consumption entirely.
This instruction marks the Buddhist Sangha’s
abandonment of meat eating.

Emperor Liang Wudi presided over two Buddhist
councils regarding this matter, and issued five edicts to
secure its practice within the Sangha.
This was the
Emperor who
famously met
and questioned
Bodhidharma
The Vinaya Discipline does not specifically
out-law meat-eating, it records:
The Way of the Monk: In the Vinaya
Discipline, there is no specific proscription
against eating meat whilst practicing the
Dharma; nor is there any requirement to
‘repent’ after eating meat, whilst following
the Dharma.
 Accept what is
given vs
Growing own
Food

In the Jivaka Sutta, the

Buddha instructs a
monk or nun to accept,
without any
discrimination,
whatever alms food is
offered with good will,
including meat.
 Alms Round
Buddhist monks are not to be selective or display
preferences toward alms.
This would illustrate attachment, along with aversion
and delusion. Insisting on a vegetarian diet, implies
aversion to meat, attachment to ideology, and
perhaps a sense of superiority in one’s diet.
Furthermore, denying a lay Buddhist’s alms would
deprive them of the karmic fruits for giving to the
Sangha.
Based on this, monks should accept all that is offered
to them.
Collecting Food vs Cultivating Own Food

1) Principle of Not Killing.

This is the primary basis of Chinese
Buddhist practice of vegetarianism.
The principle and practice of ‘non-killing’ is
both closely and directly linked to the
maintaining of a vegetarian diet.
The Sangha in Chinese monasteries grow
their own food, hence raising & slaughtering
animals for meat is unacceptable.
 It is the Mind State

2) Principle of Compassion.

3) Purpose of Self-Cultivation.

The indirect killing as a result of Market

Demand and the animal husbandry industrial
complex may be unacceptable to some
cultivators.
Buddha's Advice to Jivaka Majjhima Nikaya 55.5

In three cases I say that meat may not be eaten:
it’s seen, heard, or suspected. These are three
cases in which meat may not be eaten.


In three cases I say that meat may be eaten:
it’s not seen, heard, or suspected. These are
three cases in which meat may be eaten
This passage is interpreted as allowing the
consumption of meat if it is not specifically
slaughtered for the monastic receiving alms food
Jīvaka, anyone who slaughters a living creature specially for
the Realized One or the Realized One’s disciple makes
much bad karma for five reasons.
When they say: ‘Go, fetch that living creature,’ this is the
1st reason.
When that living creature experiences pain and sadness
as it’s led along by a collar, this is the 2nd reason.
When they say: ‘Go, slaughter that living creature,’ this is
the 3rd reason.
When that living creature experiences pain and sadness
as it’s being slaughtered, this is the 4th reason.
When they provide the Realized One or the Realized
One’s disciple with unallowable food, this is the 5th
reason.
 The Sangha
The most clear reference to monastic consumption
of non-vegetarian food is found in the Pali Canon,
where the Buddha once explicitly refused a
suggestion by Devadatta to mandate
vegetarianism in the monks' Vinaya monastic
code.

This refusal to proscribe non-vegetarian

food is within the context of Buddhist
monastics receiving alms food.
 Austere Practices
Devadatta requested 5 rules to be put in the Vinaya:
Sangha had to stay in the forest for their entire life,
Sangha should not accept the invitation to meal, but
had to completely rely on begging for food,
Sangha should wear only robes from discarded rags
and not allowed to accept robes offered by lay
people,
Sangha should dwell under the trees only and not
under the roof (temple dwelling not allowed),
Sangha should abstain completely from fish & meat
(strictly be vegetarian).
 The Middle Way

The Buddha's reply was that those who felt so

inclined could follow these rules - except that
of sleeping under a tree during the rainy
season -
but he refused to make the rules obligatory,
because the rules were too radical and did
not reflect the principle of the Middle Way.
 Vegetarianism
The Buddha left it to the choice of the
individual and his Mindstate.

In the Vanijja Sutta, AN 5:177 the meat trade

is one of the five wrong livelihood a
layperson should not engage in
A Contradiction:
Still Craving?
Lay Buddhists may consume meat and other
animal products, as long as the animals
aren’t slaughtered specifically for them
 All Breathing Things: Respiration
The first of the five lay Buddhist precepts is to
“abstain from the onslaught of breathing beings.”
The breath (apana) is the air that moves in and out
of the body. Life is associated with respiration and
one of the Pali words for animal life is apana,
literally ‘breathing things.’
The first Precept actually says:
‘I take the precept not to harm breathing things’
(panati pata…).

Aerobic & Anaerobic Metabolism

 How it affects your Mind will determine
the Course of Action

Asoka Rock Edict 1 257 BCE mentions the

prohibition of animal sacrifices in Asoka's
Empire as well as his commitment to
vegetarianism.
Asoka's personal commitment to, and
advocating of, vegetarianism suggests
Early Buddhism (at the very least for the
layperson) most likely already had a long
vegetarian tradition
In the Amagandha Sutta in the Sutta Nipata, a
vegetarian Brahmin confronts Kassapa Buddha (a
previous Buddha before Gautama Buddha) in
regard to the evil of eating meat.
The Brahmin insisted his higher status is well-
deserved due to his observance of a vegetarian
diet.
Kassapa Buddha countered the argument by listing
acts which cause real moral defilement and
stating the mere consumption of meat is not
equivalent to those acts.
There are Far Worse Things to Deal with!
The Buddha Kassapa:
Taking life, beating, wounding, binding, stealing,
lying, deceiving, worthless knowledge, adultery;
this is stench. Not the eating of meat.
In this world those individuals who are unrestrained
in sensual pleasures, who are greedy for sweet
things, who are associated with impure actions,
who are of nihilistic views, [which are] crooked
and difficult to follow, this is stench. Not the eating
of meat.
In this world those who are rude, arrogant,
backbiting, treacherous, unkind, excessively
egoistic, miserly, and do not give anything to
anybody; this is stench. Not the eating of meat.
 Why do we eat?

The Ven Ananda is Clear that ultimately, we

Do Not Want to have to live by consuming
other species and lifeforms.
But until we reach Enlightenment and no
longer are Reborn with a need for food,
we have No Choice.
So we need to eat Mindfully, with constant
Reflection of its Purpose.
 AN 4.159 Bhikkhuni Sutta
"'This body, sister, comes into being through food. And yet it
is by relying on food that food is to be abandoned.' Thus
was it said. And in reference to what was it said?
There is the case, sister, where a monk, considering it
thoughtfully, takes food — not playfully, nor for
intoxication, nor for putting on bulk, nor for beautification
— but simply for the survival & continuance of this body,
for ending its afflictions, for the support of the holy life,
[thinking,] 'Thus will I destroy old feelings [of hunger] and
not create new feelings [from overeating]. I will maintain
myself, be blameless, & live in comfort.'
Then he eventually abandons food, having relied on food.
'This body, sister, comes into being through food. And yet
it is by relying on food that food is to be abandoned.'
Even plants Feel
The smell that we associate with freshly cut grass is
actually a chemical distress call. It is used by plants to
beg critters to save them from attack. These chemical
communications can be used to poison an enemy, alert
the surrounding plants to potential dangers, or attract
helpful insects to perform needed services.

There is also evidence that plants can hear themselves

being eaten, plants can understand and respond to the
chewing sounds that are made by caterpillars while they
are eating them. As soon as the plants hear the noises,
they automatically respond with numerous defense
mechanisms.
 The Final Solution
The existential fact is that humans will live at
the expense and harm to other species.
The Buddha's final solution to this is the only
way in which this problem could be
satisfactorily resolved, and that is to chart a
course to get out of samsaric existence,
namely chart a path to Nibbâna
As a Buddhist we should not be too obsessive about
whether to eat meat or veggies, but to EAT IN
MODERATION, the Middle Way and be mindful
of the three conditions for meat eating.

Eating veggies alone does not mean that killing is

avoided. The opening of farmlands alone has
caused many beings to be killed.
The use of insecticides is a form of killing.
If your MIND feel more comfortable and peaceful to
be vegetarian, then you should be vegetarian.
Above all, Be Thankful for what we have to eat!
Give a Blessing to All before we eat!
 We Eat, yes,
so that we can
Act!

Thank You