Pure Mahayana Buddhist cooking methods and Recipes
Why do the Mahayanist not eat meat?
Equipment
Commonly Used Ingredients
 

Pure Mahayana Buddhist cooking methods and Recipes

Mahayana Buddhist cooking is always pure vegetarian, but not in the Western idea of vegetarian food where some kinds of meat could be said to be vegetarian, for example fish. If fish is not meat then what is it, a vegetable? No, of course not, it is meat, not red meat but never the less meat. Therefore we do not eat it. Some people just fallow rules to say they fallow rules, but Buddhist are not like that, actually there is nothing wrong with a Buddhist eating meat. Out of the three yanas (Vajrayana, Hinayana and Mahayana) only Mahayana emphasizes a complete vegetarian diet.

Why do the Mahayanist not eat meat?

1st. By the pure nature of Mahayana is to be be merciful to all beings in the universe. Because they all have the Buddha Nature and will become Buddhas one day. That includes the animal kingdom. By eating an animal you are eating a future Buddha. The Hinayana Buddhist (the Theravadins of the Southern tradition) should eat whatever is put in front of them, and eat it without discrimination. If they can do that then the are not breaking the rule of showing kindness to all beings. The Vajryanist of the Tibetan Tradition (in Chinese, the Secret School of Buddhism) eat meat to help make their bodies and minds strong for cultivation. If they really practice very diligently then the do not break the rule of showing mercy to all beings, because when the animal becomes a Buddha it will be happy to have given his body to help a true cultivator along the way.

2nd. Do you eat to live or live to eat? Buddha always taught us that food was just medicine to continue our lives, nothing more. If you eat for pleasure you will suffer much. Many people are found of one kind of food or one flavor. After a long time that food will cause an imbalance in the body and a sickness will be the result.

3rd. Buddha was a man of science. He knew that people as one form of animal, are vegetarian by nature. All animals that eat vegetation have flat teeth like humans, used to grind up vegetation. Cats, dogs and other meat eating animals have sharp pointed teeth, used for tearing open and apart live prey.

Other than not eating meat, Pure Buddhist Vegitarians do not eat some kinds of spices, like onions, spring onions, scallions, garlic, chive or any other spice that has a simalar taste to these. The Buddha did not make arbitary rules, each rule is for our own good. These spices tend to pollute our blood and cause the following problems:

1st. Make it difficult to concentrate on one thing for an extended period of time.
2nd. It increases our desire for sex. Note that these spices are not aphrodisiacs. They just increase mental activity.
3rd. Makes it especially easy to become angry.
4th. They make our breath smell bad. Buddha wanted his followers to live in harmony with each other. If someone has bad breath it may cause others discomfort.
5th. There are beings in the hungry ghost realm, they live on the fumes of our world. Especially where there are urine and feces. They are always hungry and can never get enough to eat, so they hang around these bad smelling places until the smell becomes less. Then they have to go hunting for another place to feed. If someone has bad breath one or more of these beings may cling to their lips trying to become satisfied. These being have some of the most crazy thoughts and will sooner or later start to influence our thoughts.

In addition to not eating those kinds of food there is one other that should be mentioned here, eggs. Eggs are not allowed in this kind of cooking for several reasons.

1st. They are intrinsically different from other kinds of food that are derived from meat; for example milk, which is not prohibited because milk is meant to be taken as a food by a calf. Eggs are considered to be the dirty part of the chicken, the menses of the mentral cycle, and not fit to be eaten.

2nd. There may be life inside the egg if it has been fertilized by a rooster. Granted that this may be impossible in today's world, but never the less a concern for Buddhist.

3rd. Eggs are high in cholesterol and if taken regularly could cause many different health ailments. Many times we think that religions are unscientific but actually they are far ahead of science. Our scientist are just getting to where Buddha was almost 3 thousand years ago. 
 

Buddhist are very simple people who put simplicity as the main priority, that means when we cook we should make the most out of what we have. This is where Buddhist practices can be seen the easiest. When through practice our minds become peaceful we can find many ways to do things that we could not do when our mind were racing about in an uncontrolled manner.

Most Mahayana Buddhist are Chinese, so most of these methods are also Chinese. They do not have to be Chinese, but when Buddhism came to China it put stress on using wisdom to overcome problems. One of these problems were how to cook nutritious meals. They came to realize that they had to use the basic Chinese cooking methods because they were suitable for the place and time.

Wok: A wok is a Chinese style-cooking pan that is shaped much like a bowl. A good wok should be completely rounded at the bottom. Most modern woks are round at the sides but the bottom is flat like a frying pan. If the bottom is flat then you might as well use a frying pan. The design is such that the liquid moves to the center of the pan, making it easy to stir-fry a little or a lot of food without too much oil or other liquid.

Spatula: Used for stir-frying. A big spoon would also work. Some Chinese use long chopsticks, but that needs special skill.

Rice cooker: This is a special electric pan that cooks the rice and turns off by its self when the rice is done, and keeps the rice worm until it is time to eat. You can cook on the stove but it is easy to over cook or worse under cook. This is also talking about the traditional pure rice that Chinese and Japanese eat. The Western style rice comes in different flavors and should be prepared according to the instructions that come with it.

It should be noted that vegetarians by their own nature eat vegetables, if I were to suggest vegetables that I eat they may not be suitable for everyone. I am not talking about taste here. To a true Buddhist it is irrelevant if you like the flavor or not, for all food is only medicine to continue ones life. What we are looking for here is vegetables, which are in season and common to the area that you live in.

There was one report in the newspaper, that said even if you eat right you still need to take vitamins and other supplements. That is because modern people can eat foods from all over the world, or foods which have been frozen for a long time. We need to eat fresh food to stay healthy, the more we play with the natural foods the more unhealthy we become.

It is not always possible to get fresh fruit and vegetables, in that case don't worry, just eat as naturally as possible. We want to stay healthy, so we can continue to practice the Buddha's way, and to help others for as long as we can. However we should know that our life span is set at about seventy or eighty years and there is not much we can do to change that fact. A lot of people think that we need to talk to teach others. This is wrong, all we have to do is eat right and others will copy our eating habits quite naturally.

We should take care to eat a verity of the five flavors and the five colors. Most foods are not salty by nature but by adding salt we can get that flavor. Fruits are naturally sweat, so they are a good way to fulfill the sweat category. The sour flavor can also be gotten from fruits. If you have fresh fruits in the area where you live, it would be good to have a good habit of eating them.

The bitter taste is probably the most important of all flavors. Most medicine is bitter in nature. As the Chinese say, "The bitter flavor can cure a bitter life." Many of the less popular vegetables are of this flavor.
 

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