Am I a bad person for eating chicken or fish? I just ate fish yesterday. Aren’t plants or vegetables living things too? I just ate green beans and had an apple. I have seen Buddhist temples what are made of wood and tree trunks. Did they come from non-life trees?
The rule for Buddhist monks is that they may not eat any animal that they “see, hear or suspect” was killed for them to eat. So those upmarket restaurants where you pick a live fish from a tank are off-limits. If the fish is dead on the slab when you walk in, then it’s OK. Some Buddhists are vegetarian, others are not.
Is abortion killing an innocent human life? If so, according to the tenets of Buddhism, all Buddhists must be pro-life. Is it correct?
As with Christianity, this is a controversial subject. A newly fertilized zygote is alive, but it is not human: it lacks some of the elements that make up a human. As it develops in the womb it acquires the missing parts. Some Buddhists allow reasonably early terminations for good reasons, others do not.
My priest just drank the precious blood of Christ during the last Mass. Did he violate the intoxicants rule?
Cannibalism is strictly forbidden.
Did he drink enough to get drunk?
What does Buddhism say about homosexuality and polygamy? Are the considered sexual misconduct?
Again, it varies. Some say one or both are wrong, others say they cause no harm and can be allowed.
Who created me and you? If not by God Himself? What about immortal souls? Will I possibly become rats or snakes after I die?
You created you by your actions in your previous lives. I created me in the same way. There are no immortal souls in Buddhism.
You may end up in a hell, as an animal, a human or in a heaven when you are reborn. The good news is that he hells are not eternal; the bad news is that the heavens aren’t either. The way to escape is to attain nirvana during a lifetime, then you are not reborn when you die.
What about poor, sick and disabled people? Aren’t they being that way because they deserved it for doing bad things in their previous lives? If so, why should they be helped or offered compassion since they are being punished for what they had done.
“punished” is not quite the right word; “consequences” is better. You offering a poor person charity is another consequence of their previous actions. Karma covers a lot of things, not just the big and obvious ones. Both compassion and charity are Buddhist virtues.
There are pedophiles who are abusing children. These people in their judgment believe that are doing nothing wrong. Who are you to tell them otherwise? Who decides what is good? You, me or who?
There is no “who” who decides. Actions bring results, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” If you throw a stone straight up in the air and it comes down hitting you on the head, whose fault is that? You took the action so you own the result.
rossum
