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A vegetarian dinner at a Korean Buddhist restaurant.
 
A vegetarian dinner at a Japanese Buddhist restaurant.
 
A vegetarian dinner at a Taiwanese Buddhist restaurant.

Buddhist vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism by significant portions of Mahayana Buddhist monks and nuns (as well as laypersons) and some Buddhists of other sects. In Buddhism, the views on vegetarianism vary between different schools of thought. The Mahayana schools generally recommend a vegetarian diet because Gautama Buddha set forth in some of the sutras that his followers must not eat the flesh of any sentient being.

Early Buddhism