What are the taboos in Buddhism?

On his deathbed, the Buddha taught his disciples to learn the precepts after his death. Buddhist precepts (taboos) have two aspects: on the one hand, they are aimed at monks and groups of monks, and on the other hand, they are aimed at people who practice at home. The taboo of Buddhism aims at prospering Buddhism and promoting the basic teachings of Buddhism. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it merged with local folk customs and culture, forming different taboos. Here is a brief introduction to some taboos in Buddhism.

On the one hand, the taboo of Buddhism in China comes from the precepts of Buddhism itself, on the other hand, it is also influenced by the traditional folk customs in China. People who convert to Buddhism, whether they become monks at home, should abide by Buddhist precepts to show compassion and increase merit. The most basic precept of Buddhism is "five precepts and ten good deeds". The five commandments are killing, stealing, fornication, lying and drinking. In fact, the ten virtues are the differentiation and refinement of the five precepts, which are divided into three taboos: body, language and mind. Its contents include: the goodness of physical behavior (taboo): no killing, no stealing, no lewdness; Good language (taboo): no nonsense, no two tongues, no bad mouth, no strange language; Conscious goodness (taboo): no greed, no resentment, no Jaken.

Buddhism has stricter requirements and taboos for monks who become monks. Only part of the content is introduced here. First, dietary taboos. Buddhism stipulates that there are many taboos in family diet, among which vegetarianism is the most basic and important one. The concept of vegetarianism includes not eating "meat" and "fish". "Meat" refers to vegetables with fishy smell and peculiar smell, such as garlic, green onions and leeks. The Shurangama Sutra says: raw meat makes you angry, and cooked food helps you to be immoral. So Buddhism requires fasting. The so-called "fishy smell" refers to meat, that is, the meat of various animals, even eggs. Monks are not allowed to eat this kind of food. However, the scope of vegetarianism is relatively wide, such as: pepper, ginger, pepper, spiced, star anise, Toona sinensis, fennel, cinnamon, coriander, celery, mushrooms and so on. Bean products, milk and dairy products, such as cheese, raw crisp, etc. , and it is not prohibited. In addition, Buddhism also requires monks not to drink or smoke. Not drinking also includes not drinking all kinds of intoxicating drinks, such as japonica rice wine, fruit wine, highland barley wine, beer and so on. All kinds of "drugs" that anesthetize nerves and the secretory system are taboo. Although smoking is not within the scope of the Five Commandments, it is a bad habit or hobby of spiritual dependence, reflecting a spiritual pursuit and greed, which is inconsistent with the pure and selfless realm required by Buddhism, so smoking is of course one of the taboos of Buddhism. Not eating snacks is also the requirement of Buddhism for monks, which is not only the need of monks' dignity, but also the need of monks' practice. Therefore, it is not appropriate to give Shang Jing cigarettes when you are with monks; When dining at the same table, it is not advisable to order vegetarian dishes, propose wine to monks, persuade monks to drink, or persuade monks to eat meat, nor to propose a toast (tea, drinks, etc. ) with the monk.

The taboos of Buddhism in personal life mainly include: not getting married, not storing private wealth and so on. Buddhism believes that monks and nuns should be responsible for the abbot's Buddhism and life-long career, and they must be single and become monks. It is against their original intention to save private wealth. In addition, the taboos in this respect include not singing and dancing, not listening to singing and dancing, not sitting in luxury beds, not accepting treasures such as gold, silver, elephants and horses, not buying and selling, not reading fortune-telling, etc. After monks become monks, the precepts also require monks and nuns to live in their own temples, but not in the same temple. Therefore, when interacting with monks, it is not appropriate to ask whether they are married, nor to invite monks to sing, dance or participate in other recreational activities that do not conform to Buddhist rules and regulations. When communicating with monks, it should be noted that male citizens are not allowed to enter the monks' huts. When talking to monks, others should be present. Don't take the initiative to shake hands with monks. Visit the temple to worship Buddha and dress neatly. Ladies should also pay attention to male monasteries and don't go to places closed by monks at will.

For laymen at home, Buddhism only requires a moderate life on certain days of each month, that is, no incense, no decoration, no musical drama, no height and no bed. The fasting days are generally the first day, the eighth day, the fourteenth day, the hope of the sun, the twenty-third day and the twenty-ninth day of the lunar calendar.

Buddhism also pays attention to the appellation of monks. People in China are generally called male monks, female nuns or nuns. In fact, this title is not accurate, especially for nuns.

In fact, according to the Buddhist system, only the abbot of the jungle (temple) can be called a "monk". In addition, the barber in Misha can also be called a monk; Monks in monasteries are also called "monks". So other monks generally can't be called monks, and monks are actually very respectful names. Monks can be called "monks", "great monks" and "abbots"; laymen can be called "exorcists" and "wizards"; laymen can be collectively called "masters". A monk who has been a monk for five years is called a "monk" if he is not qualified to accept an apprentice, the layman can call him a "master" and the layman can call him a "certain mage". It should be noted that when outsiders communicate with monks, they should not call them by their first names, because doing so is disrespectful to monks and easily causes resentment among religious believers.

Calling a female monk a "nun" is not in line with the Buddhist system. The correct name is: 18 years old, and the ten commandments plus six dharmas are a kind of learning monk. The layman is called "master", and the layman is called "master". It is the bhikshuni who has been disciplined, and the layman can be called "a certain Ni Shi", "a certain master" and "a certain teacher". Others call the abbot of a Nepalese temple a monk.

The taboo mentioned above is mainly stipulated by China Han Buddhism. The other two schools of Buddhism in China, namely Shangbeibu Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, also have many taboos and rules. This article will not be introduced in detail here for the time being.