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In order to become Buddhist, must I also become vegetarian?

This is a very commonly asked question. Nichiren Shu has no doctrine nor official regulations regarding vegetarianism. Most Nichiren Shu members and ministers are not vegeterians. Both meat and vegetable matter in Nichiren Shu, are considered to be precious forms of life. They are considered also to be life giving, as is water and the very air we breathe, enabling us to work to study the Dharma, purify our lives, do the Buddha's work, make spiritual progress and character improvement, while guiding our lives towards enlightenment.

Vegetarian eating is only required during monastery stays for priests and nuns in Nichiren Shu and during some retreats. Japanese Buddhist monks and nuns did practice vegetarianism until the end of the Meiji period when in 1868, the government trying to encourage Shinto practice and discourage Buddhist practice by making the Buddhist monks and nuns eat meat and marry. Of course this did not destroy Buddhism in Japan, but it did indeed alter the face of Japanese Buddhism enabling it to adapt to the social conditions of its time.

The Buddha did not make vegetarianism a rule for the priesthood or the laity. On the other hand he did teach that all living beings possess the Buddha nature and should be saved. The first precept is not to kill. This statement is sometime used to prove that we can eat meat, as vegetables are also living beings, and by not doing so, we would die from starvation. If we go back to the original language of Buddhism we see that the Chinese when translating this precept used not to kill. The original precept is actually translated as not to take another's breath. The precept is directed at sentient beings and not at non-sentient beings. Even though this is the case, in Nichiren Shu the choice of being or not being a vegetarian is left up to the individual. We should follow the Buddha's example and not try to force either a vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet on others. Vegetarianism is a path that must be decided upon by each individual. The Buddha tells us that he can show us the Way, but the decision to walk that path is ours.