Buddhists, do you eat meat?

[Freud]

Many Buddhists I know, including myself (an aspiring Buddhist), are vegetarians. Through my recent readings on Buddhism I have discovered that vegetarians/veganism is not required. The Buddha taught that monks we were not to eat meat that has been specifically slaughtered for them, but were free to eat meat that was given to them, as they were not allowed to prepare their own meals or grown their own food. How do you interpret this? Do you eat meat, since you know that it was not slaughtered specifically for you?

[Thao]

I think that the case of the monks is a little different from laypeople, because as you say they live off of food -- alms -- given to them. If they refuse that food because it is meat, it is a kind of ungraciousness, a rejection of hospitality. Putting a burden on the giver that they have to give them the "right" kind of alms or else they won't take it.

In the case of a layperson who generally gets to make their own choices about what they eat, such a dynamic doesn't exist.

But it's not a matter of what is allowed or not allowed. I think that if someone were to argue that it is perfectly okay for them to eat meat because it wasn't slaughtered for them, they would be entirely missing the point. It is a matter of what is "skillful" i.e. helping us towards the final goal of achieving Nirvana, and I do believe that abstaining from meat (when one has the choice) is more "skillful" than eating it. But I think Buddhism explicitly recognizes that many people, in particular laypeople, may have varying commitments to that goal due to other pressures in life (family, work, etc) and allows them to participate to the extent they feel they can. I once heard a talk about this by a monk in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. She said that if one feels they aren't ready to quit eating meat, to go ahead and eat it -- but to always be mindful of what they am doing. As they chew, for example, to think about the animal and what transpired with it. I grew up on a farm where we butchered our own meat and have always had a very practical attitude towards eating meat -- that as a species, we are designed as omnivores, not herbivores -- but since hearing that I have done what she suggested. And I'm finding my desire to become vegetarian is growing. Now I just have to figure out how to cook without meat, which is a different issue entirely.

[harmonyhobbit]

I'm mostly veggie, but I do eat some seafood. Mostly for me it is a preference. As I headed down my spiritual path, I did have to begin thinking about the rightness of eating the flesh of another. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to eat it. To me, I don't need or enjoy the meat enough to justify the killing of the critter. In fact, I have no desire at all to eat red meat or poultry, so to eat it would be causing cvompletely unnecessary suffering. I really enjoy seafood, and live in a place where seafod makes up the majority of our diet, so I forgive myself that transgression.
PP explained very well why monks were allowed to eat meat. Keep in mind that it has only been in very recent history in very select parts of the world where ppl have the priveledge of choosing which foods we would prefer to eat. In most places now and over the course of history, the choice not to eat meat would be the choice not to eat at all.
I disagree that meat purchased for consumption is not slaughtered specificly for the purchaser. The meat in the grocery store has not been given to me. I have to make the choice to buy it or not. If I choose not to buy it, then i have no claim to the suffering that it came from. If everyone who shops in my Walmart suddenly stopped buying meat, Walmart would stop stocking it, would not order it from the meat packing plant, who would not order animals from the slaughterhouse. The ranchers would not breed more cattle, pigs, etc, to replace those who had not sold at market. My choice is small, but it is my choice to make.
Even if I go to someone's home and they serve roast beef, I have to choice to take a serving of meat or not. Hopefully, I would have the forethought to discuss the menu ahead of time and/or bring an acceptable dish to share. I went to one holiday dinner where I eat nothing but raw broccoli because everything else had meat or dairy and at the time I was eating neither. The next time, I brought a beautiful mushroom bouginon over vegan mashed potatoes that everyone enjoyed along side their slabs of meat.

[1hautemama]

Im from S. LA and for philosophical reasons have cut most meats from my diet. Also, I do not use leather products. I do miss chicken and andouille gumbo and traditionally prepared red beans and rice tho...