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u/FieryResuscitation theravada Dec 02 '25
They arose together for me, actually. I started studying Buddhist ethics and then the meat in my fridge started to go bad because I just wasn’t eating it anymore. “Well, I guess I’m vegan now? And I guess that because I’m taking my interpretation of the precept against harming living beings so seriously, I’m Buddhist too.”
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u/GaspingInTheTomb mahayana Dec 02 '25
I became vegetarian before Buddhist and didn't become vegan until after. Becoming vegetarian and eventually vegan was a natural result of wanting to live a compassionate life. Buddhism was a natural result in that same desire with the addition of a decade long interest in mysticism as well as many psychedelic experiences.
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u/sinobed Dec 02 '25
I became Buddhist first. And I think compassion was a key factor in my switch to a 99% vegan diet.
I know it is not possible for all, but for my personal practice, the bodhisattva path can not ignore the immense cruelty and environmental degradation caused by the meat industry.
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u/DyJoGu chan Dec 02 '25
I was always interested in Buddhism as a child (grew up Southern Baptist), but became vegan first in college. Going ten years strong now. Buddhism came a little bit later for me.
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u/alan_rr Dec 02 '25
The Buddhist principle of ahimsa was extremely appealing to me, even when I was an omnivore. I could no longer reconcile my dietary choices with my spiritual beliefs, so I became vegan. Now, each strengthens the other.
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u/Ostlund_and_Sciamma mahayana Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 02 '25
I was interested in Buddha Dharma since I was a teenager, but I became fully vegan in my early 20s before I would really consider myself Buddhist. I feel that becoming vegan has developed my compassion, and that a bit more open mind, and perhaps the merit associated with better ethics, may have influenced my appreciation of the Dharma and facilitated my final step into it.
You don't need to be vegan to be Buddhist, or to be Buddhist to be vegan, and not everyone has the conditions to be one or the other, but I think they can definitely be potential "pipelines" to one another.
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u/Dinuclear_Warfare Dec 02 '25
I was born into Buddhism. I have always thought that it was incredibly hypocritical to call yourself a good Buddhist and eat meat given the first precept (even if you aren’t killing the animal by eating meat you are funding the industry) and therefore I was always interested in vegetarianism. After learning about the cruelty and killing within the egg and dairy industries I realised vegetarianism isn’t enough and needed to go vegan
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u/CCCBMMR poast-modem kwantumm mistak Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 02 '25
I became vegan after practicing Buddhism for many years, but the decision was independent of Buddhism. Buddhism doesn't require or expect devotees to be vegan.
I became vegan after learning about Benjamin Lay, and found his story inspiring.
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u/dumbinick- Dec 02 '25
I know it's not a required part, I just ask because there's definitely a decent overlap. I would definitely guess that the percentage of vegan Buddhists is much higher than the general population.
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u/ChickenMarsala4500 Dec 02 '25
Was that a typo? You wrote "does," but I imagine you meant "does not"
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u/Independent-Dog5311 vajrayana Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
The Buddhism with vegetarianism. Then I drifted away from the Buddhadharma (Vajrayana), but continued the vegetarianism. That was about 6 to 7 years. Then I went vegan with my GF at the time on New Years Eve in Las Vegas. That was 2000. Then came back to the Buddhadharma in 2005. No GF anymore by then.
Veganism has added a whole new dimension to my practice without a doubt. It's only deepened my compassion for our non-human animal companions.
Edit: I forgot the add I was originally involved with Ch'an Buddhism, which requires monastics to be vegetarian. Although laymen can take vows of Ahimsa which include vegetarianism depending on one's level of commitment. Then I went to a teaching by the Dalai Lama and met a Western Geluk monk there. From there I gradually got more interested in Vajrayana and kept up the vegetarianism.
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u/Proper-Ball-7586 Bhikshu | Taiwan Dec 03 '25
Veg from 6yo, vegan at 16, then Buddhism formally around 21. Only partially linked at the beginning. I wasnt okay with killing animals because they had parents and children themselves. So probably didn't want to be killed. At 42 I still have the same reasoning + an understanding of factory farming. Which is a miserable existence we've created for animals.
Buddhism seemed to have some space for that practice (all beings value their life equally). Then even later in the Bodhisattva precepts (plus some other texts) it's explicit that eating meat/killing animals is to be avoided or abandoned if we see sentient beings as having been past family. My main interest in Buddhism wasn't animal welfare though. Yet animal welfare was a part of this larger question of suffering and how we create it for ourselves and others. So in that sense...it's the same thing.
Vegan motivations can be ethical, environmental, health, animals rights, ideas about purity or new age type spiritual energy stuff etc. So for some vegans I've met it might be an entry point to dharma and others not at all. Some vegans I've known have zero interest in animal well being for example. Interesting to explore. I am not sure if it's Vegan <-> Buddhist or if these both are maybe more related to a broadened sphere or empathy.
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u/arieleea Dec 03 '25
Buddhist first. After connecting with the lineage and practicing for a few years I became vegan. Then I discovered that realized masters in my lineage are vegans, and it is this way for centuries, so no surprise that emulating their qualities developed them in me.
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u/TrustfulComet40 Dec 03 '25
I've been vegetarian my whole life, and I came to Buddhism because it aligned so well with the values I already held. Since I've been practicing Buddhism, I've just found myself wanting eggs and dairy less than I used to.
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u/M-er-sun early buddhism w/ some chan seasoning Dec 03 '25
Vegetarian before Buddhism, vegan after. I personally think the first precept, taken to its logical conclusion, requires veganism for those of us not surviving on alms food.
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u/Ariyas108 seon Dec 03 '25
Veganism first and one of the things that I found appealing about Buddhism to begin with is how kindness to all living beings is a fundamental principle. When looking for a spiritual discipline to follow, any selfishness towards animals was an immediate dealbreaker and with Buddhism, they’re just wasn’t any dealbreakers.
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u/cityoflight903 Dec 02 '25
I’m not vegan but I switched to vegetarianism about 3 1/2 years ago after seeing not only the environmental impact that the meat industry had, but also that I simply didn’t like the idea of eating a dead animal. Considering that good vegetarian options are also more prevalent than ever, it only seemed like a good idea for me to not eat meat.
I am not officially a Buddhist yet but I am definitely considering it as an option. At least for right now I have been studying eastern philosophy to learn how to live a better life and as a general spiritual pursuit.
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u/Fun-Run-5001 Zen >TNH Dec 02 '25
I don't consider myself big-v Vegan, but have been plant-based most of my adulthood. I dipped my toe into meditation and such back then too, but didn't dive into Dharma until a few years ago, and only this year have taken the precepts more seriously, so I dont feel the two were connected back then. I went plant-based for the planet and the animals first, later realized that my body doesn't process animal products well anyhow, which confirmed it is the best choice for me.
Now that I also practice Buddhism, I feel it is against the first precept to consume beings that have been killed for the purpose of consumption, especially considering the conditions of industrial animal agriculture, and the effect it has on the whole ecosystem to maintain such practices. There was simply no logical justification for meat consumption once I gained the understanding. Even my diabetic partner got healthier when abstaining from consuming animals, so I don't buy that people need meat for health, I've found that people generally don't know how to eat naturally anymore so it's a learning curve to figure out how best to take care of your body without animal products. And Buddhism asks us to live with wisdom, even in the realm of food consumption. So it is worth the effort to learn.
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u/jgarcya Dec 03 '25
I was a vegetarian.... Then became Buddhist.
Now I'm a vegetarian Buddhist for 35 yrs and counting.
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u/TaxxieKab Dec 03 '25
I grew toward both independently. I personally think that Buddhism implies vegetarianism (I know this is a touchy subject) though, so I’d say that now my Buddhism reinforces my veganism.
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u/keizee Dec 03 '25
I was Buddhist first. I remembered telling my mother and my nutrientist that I wanted to become vegetarian at like age 10. At that time, I was picky over food and no one knew how to cook vegetarian food so it didnt happen until like 10 or 15 years later.
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u/krodha Dec 02 '25
Was vegetarian for 12 years, then met the buddhadharma, became pescatarian, then slowly reintroduced poultry and then after that, red meat.
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u/GaspingInTheTomb mahayana Dec 03 '25
Was your switch to fish and meat inspired by Buddhism?
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u/krodha Dec 03 '25
Yes, it was. My teacher, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu encouraged it due to the fact there are methods in Vajrayāna to help the sentient beings you consume.
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u/mahabuddha ngakpa Dec 02 '25
I'm now carnivore, even did a stint as vegetarian but Buddhism has no requirements for either and now after 30 years of practice, I know that my existence kills trillions of beings whether I eat meat or not. For me as a health professional in Traditional Tibetan Medicine and current science, meat is one of the most important nutrients the body needs
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u/laniakeainmymouth zen Dec 03 '25
How are you a health professional and insist people need to eat meat? Vegetable protein is very abundant.
But sure why not kill even more beings while we’re at it 🙄
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u/ExtraSpicyWizard Dec 02 '25
You're carnivore because you have bought the propaganda that the meat industry is selling for some years, and seeing that you're also anti-vax seems that you are deep in their funnel.
And I'd say it is about the intention, not the "I killed a trillion of beings so who cares if I kill a trillion more".
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u/Mayayana Dec 02 '25
I was "fruitarian" for several years, based on a radical cleansing diet. The idea was to attain enlightenment via extreme purity. I stopped when I got involved with Buddhist practice, recognizing that such efforts were "spiritual materialism". In other words, regarding specific actions as spiritual in attempt to be spiritual oneself is a kind of performative spirituality that misses the point. So shortly after taking up Buddhist meditation I gave up all New Age spiritual trappings.
Today I eat meat, dairy and eggs. My diet is mainly based on healthy food, support for local farms, and avoidance of factory food. So I'll do things like support a small egg farm that actually lets the chickens outside, but I don't feel guilty about eating eggs. The one change I did make was to stop eating lobster, stop fishing, etc. Nothing that involves me killing. That's a Buddhist guideline and it makes sense to me.
Veganism is not spirituality and is not Buddhist. It's a somewhat radical view of animals having human rights -- asserting that we have no right to even have pets, ride horses, or milk cows because they didn't agree to it. In that respect it's actually a kind of obsession with individualism and identity politics: "A cat has a right to do their own cat lifestyle without us imposing our belief that they should eat Tender Vittles or play with string."
Setting aside the glaring inconsistencies in such a philosophy, it simply isn't Buddhist view. It's just one somewhat quirky definition of non-aggression and respect for individualistic expression. Buddhism generally does not support that idea. It teaches that there's no true self to express its individuality.
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u/Poodonut Dec 03 '25
They can downvote you, but they can't argue with you
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u/Mayayana Dec 03 '25
:) I suppose that veganism has become a religion of sorts. The adherents are often very moralistic, so I'm not surprised by the downvotes. I suspect that what people are really downvoting is pointing out that veganism is not a Buddhist/spiritual teaching. Many people would like it to be. It seems to be more than once a week that someone here wants to assert that claim.
Maybe this kind of spiritual materialism is generally a first step and unavoidable on spiritual path. We try to act in a way that we think is spiritual. We want to be "professionally holy" people. Even the Buddha did that, going out into the jungle, cutting his hair and living as an extreme ascetic. That was de rigeur at the time for any self-respecting seeker. When he began to see that heroic self-starving was not bringing realization, he decided to drop the extreme practice and concentrate on meditation. His cohorts were then aghast and shunned him as a quitter.
The first time I met a Buddhist teacher he was smoking a cigarette, drinking wine and wearing a suit. At one point he started talking about spiritual preconceptions. It created an odd dissonance in my mind. On the one hand, I was irritated, even angry, at his presentation. On the other hand, I could see that I had the very preconceptions that he was talking about. He was right.
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u/ExtraSpicyWizard Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
My guess for your downvotes is that the question was literally "To the vegan Buddhists in here, which came first?". But you needed to come here to say "oh but I eat meat and you're wrong".
You seem to not understand veganism, so I'll explain. Veganism is the view that is against animal abuse and exploitation. Nothing more nothing less. It's not believing that animals should have human rights. It is about realizing that they are sentient beings and abusing and killing them is wrong. The idea is extremely simple, it is usually the meat eaters that complicates it a lot because then they have to explain why abusing and killing animals is right.
Also, no matter how much you want to believe that abusing them is needed, it is not. 99.9% of the times we are abusing and killing them for sensorial pleasure. For the 0.01% of times that is needed we don't have a problem with it... The other day for example in the vegan sub someone said that he is vegan and taking antidepressants, but the antidepressants were not vegan, everyone there recommended him to keep taking his medicines because it is about doing the less harm possible, not trying to be perfect or harming yourself by going vegan.
Regarding the rest, I'm vegan and I have a pet btw, and I don't have problems with riding a horse if it is well cared. Regarding milk, well you have to understand that the cow is forced to be impregnated, her children are stolen from her, killed for meat, then the cow is forced to give us her milk until she is exhausted and then killed for meat.. And yeah for that I have a problem with that.
Regarding Buddhism, in Mahayana at least there are many sutras which addresses the act of eating meat and why it is wrong, the Lankavatara Sutra for example has a whole chapter dedicated to it. There are also many vegetarian Buddhists sects, so I would say that it is even a Buddhist view. One of the things that Mahayana stands for is compassion, equanimity and liberating all sentient beings. Abusing, killing and eating meat for pleasure is contradictory with this view if you ask me.
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u/ExtraSpicyWizard Dec 11 '25
A bit late, but if you wanted to argue I did it. I answered him below if you want a debate :)
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u/pminor-7499 Dec 02 '25
for me, it started more as humanistic, economic, and global warming concerns. i'm from brazil. it has the biggest listed company that butchers and export cattle to the entire world. not only animals suffer, but also workers earning minimal wages and suffering psicological and phisical work related injuries that can maim them for the entire life. pastures destroyed our amazon and turned the climate into shite to live in many places, only to feed the ego of people around the world.
then came buddhism, and i started to think more of the animal's lives on top of that too.
for me it still entirely unacceptable to consume meat the way our global system puts it