Why do people abuse animals for their religious purposes?
From TheBuddhism.Net
Buddhist – Buddhism
Being a vegetarian makes it easier for us to increase our loving kindness and compassion.
You should know that these people who eat meat may gain some awareness and may seem to be in samadhi, but they are all great rakshasas. When their retribution ends, they are bound to sink into the bitter sea of birth and death. They are not disciples of the Buddha. Such people as these kill and eat one another in a never-ending cycle. How can such people transcend the Triple Realm? (from the Shurangama Sutra)
# Christian – Christianity
The fruit of the trees and the seeds and of the herbs alone do I partake, and these are changed by the spirit into my flesh and blood. Of these alone and their like shall ye eat who believe in me and are my disciples; for of these, in the spirit, come life and health and healing unto man (From The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, trans. by G.J. Ouseley)
Not by shedding innocent blood, but by living a righteous life shall ye find the peace of God. Blessed are they who keep this law; for God is manifested in all creatures. All creatures live in God, and God is hid in them. (From The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, trans. by G.J. Ouseley)
# Muslim – Islam
All creatures on earth are sentient beings. “There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings – but they are communities like you. (The Quran, 6:38 )
# Hindu / HARE KRISHNA / Sikh / Jain–
It is therefore the duty of all scripturally and morally conscientious Hindus to embrace a strictly vegetarian diet, avoiding all forms of meat, fish, and eggs.
– Meat cannot be obtained without injury to animals, and the slaughter of animals obstructs the way to Heaven; let him therefore shun the use of meat. [The Laws of Manu V, 45 – 52 (Indian Sacred Book)]
Source: http://www.thebuddhism.net/2012/07/10/why-do-people-abuse-animals-for-their-religious-purposes/
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Wonderful article …..Every religion do promote kindness to all animals. For each religion, the words may be different but the core belief is the same. Any kind of harm to any form of life is to be avoided or minimized. Loving kindness is something that should be extend to all beings, without exception. Compassion and kindness are virtues that direct us away from ourselves and our craving, and thus free us from suffering.
Animal do have feelings like human beings , love ,care that’s what they need. Do not abuse , hurt or kill them , give them a chance to live like us. Go meatless, or vegetarian is the best choice for a healthy living.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Very insightful quotes! Every religion that promotes compassion and kindness then world peace is near. 🙂
This is very interesting to know that other faiths recommended vegetarianism and to treat all beings as sentient as well.
Every religion is promote kindness to all animals , we have not right to kill,hurt or abuse animals. Everything is fair and what we did on those animals and we also will suffer same thing or even worst than this in future or may be next life.
These are really great! No matter who we pray to, they all teach us not to kill animals or something not so pleasant will happen. But people nowadays don’t bother anymore, they just don’t even care to follow what have been said by their religions. Religions do not teach us to eat meat, then why are some people still doing that? Killing an animal is just like taking someone else’s life away, the amount of bad karma collected is massive! Being a vegetarian does not only give you good health but it also helps you to collect more merits to do more things, and how is that not good?
these are good similarities, i love being vegetarian and i love animals so i hate it when they are killed for people taste buds. for what? so they just end up as waste the next morning? people need to think sometimes.
All major religions condemn the devouring of meat. So, why still eat meat? Do not use religion as an excuse to abuse. No animal deserves the harm that is given by humans. If people were truly religious at heart, animals would not be harmed. Why? The gospels tell you not to harm animals, the Quran tell you not to harm other animals. All religions tell you to be kind to animals. Follow them!
This is enlightening of the other religions. However, vegetarianism has and always will be associated with Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. In Buddhism, the Buddha was deliberately vague about it and left it to us to decide.
However, based on the teachings on compassion, it is only logical that we go vegetarian on the basis of a living a life on non-harming to promote the teachings on compassion and kindness within our lives. It is actually rare to find such a direct prohibition on the consumption of meat but if one were to understand the spirit of the Mahayana, the choice is obvious. Moving towards a vegetarian diet is of course a right step towards developing compassion and it is not an end in itself.
It is wonderful to know that all these religions promote not taking meat as it is equivalent to killing which creates negative karma for us and prevents us from enlightenment.
All creatures/animals are sentient beings If we are true practitioners of any of these religions we should cut down or stop taking meat. Be kind to animals.
Very nice! I really like reading the similarities that all major religions of the world has to say about a certain topic. It’s wonderful to know that all these religions encourage kindness to other sentient beings such as animals.