Does fasting mean not eating meat?

Many people think that the Buddha said that fasting means not eating meat, while others think that vegetarianism means fasting. In fact, these are all wrong. Today I want to talk to you about fasting and the meaning of fasting.

The short answer is that not eating after noon is called fasting, and "fasting" should be strictly called "fasting". Later, in the process of circulation, because the words "eat" and "hold" are homophonic and related to eating, they were slowly misrepresented as "fasting". It is by no means a vegetarian, because this fast is not necessarily a vegetarian, because Buddhist monks do not abstain from meat. When begging for food, the donor will eat whatever he gives, and he is not allowed to be picky about food.

Details Before Buddhism was introduced to China, emperors and ministers had a tradition of fasting before offering sacrifices. Fasting includes fasting and abstinence. "fasting" comes from "qi", mainly "neatness", such as taking a bath and changing clothes, not drinking alcohol and not eating meat. Abstinence mainly refers to abstinence and enjoyment, such as not sleeping with wives and concubines and reducing recreational activities. Later, it was used to refer to similar religious ceremonies. In Buddhism, it is called "fasting" to remove inner impurity, and "abstinence" to prohibit physical excesses. Fasting means observing abstinence to end all cravings.

In real life, many lay people are vegetarian, whether they are vegetarian or not. Being a vegetarian at home is a vegetarian, so is going to a temple. In fact, there is a difference between vegetarian food and vegetarian food. If you don't eat after noon, it's called fasting. Strictly speaking, "fasting" should be "fasting". Why are you fasting? Because in the Buddha's time, a disciple begged for food at night, which scared a pregnant woman to miscarry and was laughed at, and because begging for food twice a day would shorten the time for disciples to learn Buddhism, the Buddha made a rule from now on that he would not eat after noon in order to "fast". Later, in the process of circulation, because the words "eat" and "hold" are homophonic and related to eating, they were slowly misrepresented from "fasting" to "fasting". Fasting is by no means a vegetarian, because this fasting is not necessarily a vegetarian, because there is no abstinence from meat in Buddhist precepts. When begging for food, the donor will eat whatever he gives, and he is not allowed to be picky about food. Later, during the development of China, Buddhism gradually formed a vegetarian tradition.

Some people are vegetarian to lose weight, some people are vegetarian for health, and some people are vegetarian for compassion. Different intentions determine different final achievements and gains. Although vegetarianism has many merits, we can't go vegetarian and fast just because of one-sided pursuit of merits. We shouldn't cling to the matter itself. It would be bad if our persistence caused inconvenience to our family, colleagues and friends who did not believe in Buddhism. For example, when eating, there are many demands and meat is not allowed. You must use a pot that has not been cooked with meat. This will not only attract others to Buddha, but also make people feel that Buddhists have many rules and are daunting. Why don't you just let it all happen? As long as you don't kill anything, it doesn't matter if you eat some vegetarian food like Master Huineng. If you go too far, you must have a degree, and the golden mean is the best.