To all,
To continue on the Noble Eightful Path ,today we will look at
Right Livelihood.

RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason :
1-dealing in weapons 2-dealing in living beings(including
animals for slaughter as well as slaves trade and prostitution) 3- working in meat productions and butchery,and 4= selling intoxicants and poisons,such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of Right Speech and Right Action should be avoided.

Loong's Comment:I beleive it is very clear about being vegetarian if you are a Buddhist that has taken Refuge.In the text you will find references to the 6th precept,the first precept.
Not having attained enlightenment yet, I am moved by the mention of selling humans, my father was a butcher, the part about working in a butchery.
So Loong ,change your ideas ,and go back to your world of Bliss.
To all
_/\_
a simple buddhist named
loong

Raising livestock is not acceptable?

Do you not drink, Loong? I love a nice glass of wine or a refreshing beer.

To Jilly,

I have been clean and sober for over 35 years.Enjoy one for me.

friend to friend

loong

To Jilly,

Since we are in the Buddhism section , I can talk about buddhism here.When a karma is so bad ,it is sent to the animal realm(world),to be carried and purified by animals.The animals are all pure. They do not know good or bad,only humans do.So when you slaughter an animal you are killing a carrier of a karma,it is like killing your brother /sister.In the Buddhist phylosophy we (humans,animals,insect,anything that can sense something like hurt) are intertwined , interdependant.So each time an animal is
killed any animal or insect,we loose a part of ourselves.

That is why most buddhists are vegetarians.

friend to friend
loong

Congrats in being clean and sober!

I guess my question is, can one be a Buddhist and still enjoy alcoholic beverages? I am not sure why this is one of the rules. I could argue that other things like coffee are poisons as well, but those are not proscribed, correct?

Or am i reading this wrongly? maybe you only have to give up alcohol if you are taking refuge?

And interesting on the animals thing. Can a buddhist keep animals as pets, or harvest things like eggs and honey and wool, which do not kill the animals?

Hi Jilly, both the question of vegetarianism and of whether one can drink some alcohol are not agreed upon by all Buddhists. Re: alcohol the emphasis of the precepts is along the lines of not drinking to a level of intoxication or causing harm, so some believe that drinking some is OK, while others don't drink at all, and still others believe it depends on the person.

Anyone, lay or monastic Buddhist, will take refuge - the precepts they adopt may differ, but most will include the prosciption against alcohol, although again, it is interpreted differently by different schools.

Same for your question on animals as pets, or gathering wool or honey. For most, that would be OK, as long as the animals are treated humanely. For those Buddhist traditions in which people do eat meat, the same would go for those - the requirement that the animals are treated humanely. But it really runs a gamut - it is a controversial issue on many Buddhist forums, so I actually steer away from this debate here, although it has come up every few months.

Thank you, Lisa. That's a good answer and lays my mind to rest in a sense; that even faithful followers are not all in agreement on such things.