What food does a Buddhist monk eat?

Answer 1

There is no one answer to this question. Basically the staple diet of a Buddhist Monk is the simplest form of the staple diet of the society in which he or she lives. Thus in a society in which the diet is based on rice the monk's diet is based on rice, in one in which wheat or other grains are the staple then these will form the basic element of the monk's diet. Buddhism like its relative religion Hinduism is essentially a vegetarian culture though not exclusively. Some Thai buddhists will eat fish and some Thibetans meat. In nomadic pastoral societies where animal products are the basic diet a Buddhist may be obliged through necessity to eat some meat and milk products. Simplicity and respect for the living world are key facets of Buddhist life.

Answer 2

any kind of food really--although some do not eat meat or garlic.

Buddhist monks are vegetarians and meals served to the public in temples is also vegetarian. In fact, Buddhist laity are encouraged to be vegetarian, but few are.

One of the precepts of Buddhism is "to abstain from killing sentient beings" , therefore if devout Buddhist is to prepare food for himself, he will always prefer vegetables. However, Buddhist will eat any food given to them as offerings. According to tradition, Gautama Buddha himself died by eating spoiled (?) foods given to him as offering when he was 80 years old.

Answer 3

Generally speaking anything that is offered to them! But in China,Korea,North Vietnam,Taiwan and some Tibetan Buddhist and Indian Buddhist sects they are vegetarians and in some Mayharan Buddhist cultures they do not eat onion genus vegetables(espically in Taiwan) or any root vegetables(similar to the jain diet!)

Answer 4

Buddhist are generally thought to be all vegetarians. However in some countries such as Tibet meat has formed a part of the average man's diet. The Dalai Lama originally followed this practice but has converted to vegetarianism. In the west some vegetarians are not Buddhist and some who follow Buddhist practices are not vegetarian.

While the Buddha exhorted his followers to avoid eating meat - especially animals that were killed expressly for the eater, Buddhist monks were not to be choosy about eating whatever was given to them to eat.

Some Buddhists follow specific food restrictions - leeks, onions, garlic - due to their suppposed influence on aggression or lust. In addition intoxicants are generally forbidden becauseof the adverse effect on mental acuity and the ability to meditate and resist anger, lust greed and other mind hindrances.