Is preparing eggs for a meal considered as sinful in Buddhism?

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I see over 99% of eggs as 'not alive' eggs (unfertilized eggs) and therefore is OK to eat.

Often eggs obtained from a farmers market have the potential to be fertile. So it is good to avoid them. Also it is advisable to avoid eating crabs, lobsters as they are always cooked while alive. It is because these two come within the three instances in which meat should not be eaten: when it is seen, heard, or suspected (that the living being has been specifically slaughtered for oneself).

I came accross this Dhammapada story that may be of interest to you..

Once there lived a woman in a village near Savatthi. She kept a hen and every time it laid an egg, the woman would break it up. The hen was very angry and as a result, she was reborn as a cat and the woman was reborn as a hen in the same house. The cat ate up the eggs of the hen. In their next existence, the hen became a leopard and the cat became a deer. The leopard ate up the deer as well as its offspring. Thus their feud continued for several existences. At the time of the Buddha, one of them was born as a woman and the other as an ogress.

On one occasion, the woman was returning from the house of her parents to her own house near Savatthi. Her husband and her young son were also with her. While they were resting near the pond by the roadside, her husband went to have a bath in the pond. At that moment, the woman saw the ogress who appeared in human form and she recognised her as her old enemy. Taking her child, she fled from the spirit straight to the monastery where the Buddha was expounding the Dhamma and put her child at his feet. The ogress who was in hot pursuit of the woman was prevented from entering the monastery. Summoning the ogress to his presence, the Buddha admonished both of them for their long bitter feud, 'If you two had not come to me today, your enmity would have continued endlessly. Enmity cannot be appeased by enmity; it can only be appeased by loving-kindness.' Reflecting on the admonition, both realised the futility of their hatred, both admitted their mistakes and resolved not to continue with their senseless feud.

http://suttanta.tripod.com/khuddhaka/dhammapada/dha214.html

Upvote:-1

Yes its a Sin. the Buddha said if you like to eat, eat but it is a Sin.

Exa: when Devadaththa, He requested the Buddha to make it compulsory for monks to follow five extra rules:

(i) Dwell all their lives in the forest

(ii) Live only on alms obtained by begging

(iii) Wear robes made from rags collected from the dust heaps and cemeteries

(iv) Live at the foot of trees

(v) Refrain from eating fish or meat throughout their lives.

But Buddha refused these Rules. so as u can see last rule request is Refrain from eating fish or meat throughout their lives Buddha refuse this Rule with Other rules. Buddha said if you like to eat meat or fish its your decision.

Upvote:5

I think the idea of sinful or not doesn't apply to Buddhism. There are only wholesome/skillful actions and unwholesome/unskillful actions. Karma = intention.

As long as you are mindful of what you're doing and your intention is to prepare a meal for nourishment, instead of causing harm in any way, cracking an egg during the meal preparation doesn't seem to be a cause for bad karma.

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