earticle

영어

It is 30 to 40 years since meat-eating in Korea scored the rapid increase. The increase of meat-eating has incurred a variety of issues such as adult diseases, animal rights, animal welfare-rights, environmental pollution, and hunger. In the Western world, vegetarians are normally categorized into the Vegan, Lacto-vegetarian, Lacto-ovo Vegetarian, Pescatarian, and Semi-vegetarian, but far more complicate and diverse classifications are put into use these days. Thus, vegetarianism in Korea needs to be classified again reflecting the real situation of Korea. Human beings eat animals and plants to live. In regard of eating animals, controversies have been raised from the perspective of utilitarianism over animal’s right to live, animal rights, and the like. Korea has traditional practices that respect animals’ life as well. Eating plants also can be an issue of ethical controversy, if not that serious as with animals, in that both are the same living things. Buddhist doctrine solved the problem by concluding that plants do not belong to sentient being because they stay outside of samsara(transmigrationofsouls), whileanimalsbelongtosentientbeings. Over vegetarianism, theories of Fundamental Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism are not consistent. Buddhism has suggested until now a variety of expediencies/measures on vegetarianism. Among the practical measures to put vegetarianism into action are the Middle Way, observance of Precepts, practice of Wisdom and Compassion, and establishment of organic relationships between vegetarianism and ecology. Vegetarianism is a way to restore the ecology. On vegetarianism, Buddhism should make its ethical position even clearer and engage in social movements more actively.