Buddhism

===Vegetarianism and animal ethics===
{{Main|Buddhist vegetarianism}}
[[File:Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple (3810298969).jpg|thumb|Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple. East Asian Buddhism tends to promote vegetarianism.]]
Based on the Indian principle of [[Ahiṃsā|ahimsa]] (non-harming), the Buddha's ethics strongly condemn the harming of all sentient beings, including all animals. He thus condemned the animal sacrifice of the Brahmins as well hunting, and killing animals for food.{{sfnp|Harvey|2000|pp=157-158}} However, early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as allowing monastics to eat meat. This seems to be because monastics begged for their food and thus were supposed to accept whatever food was offered to them.{{sfnp|Harvey|2000|pp=156-159}} This was tempered by the rule that meat had to be "three times clean": "they had not seen, had not heard, and had no reason to suspect that the animal had been killed so that the meat could be given to them".<ref name="Phelps, Norm 2004 p. 76">Phelps, Norm (2004). ''The Great Compassion: Buddhism & Animal Rights.'' New York: Lantern Books. p. 76. {{ISBN|1-59056-069-8}}.</ref> Also, while the Buddha did not explicitly promote vegetarianism in his discourses, he did state that gaining one's livelihood from the meat trade was unethical.<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an05-177.html Vanijja Sutta: Business (Wrong Livelihood)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051119074312/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an05-177.html|date=19 November 2005}}</ref> In contrast to this, various Mahayana sutras and texts like the [[Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra|Mahaparinirvana sutra]], [[Śūraṅgama Sūtra|Surangama sutra]] and the [[Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra|Lankavatara sutra]] state that the Buddha promoted vegetarianism out of compassion.<ref>Phelps, Norm (2004). ''The Great Compassion: Buddhism & Animal Rights.'' New York: Lantern Books. pp. 64-65. {{ISBN|1-59056-069-8}}.</ref> Indian Mahayana thinkers like Shantideva promoted the avoidance of meat.{{sfnp|Harvey|2000|p=163}} Throughout history, the issue of whether Buddhists should be vegetarian has remained a much debated topic and there is a variety of opinions on this issue among modern Buddhists.