the Five Pungent Spices

We are all pretty familiar with the idea that Buddhist's encourage a rigorous value of all life, one that usually means a monk will not grow his own food and therefor not interfere and possibly harm the small life living in the soil. Although Buddah himself can be proved to have eaten meat, as well as not condemned his followers for eating meat most Buddhists today are vegetarian. There are simple guidelines to a strict Buddhist's diet as well as other general rules towards promoting the most optimal diet for an enlightenment seeking individual.

One of these that i have just become aware of are the five pungent spices and i thought i would just share some information on the subject here at ATS.

online.sfsu.edu... an/Buddhist%20Diet.htm

In the Shurangama Sutra (Mahayana school), The Buddha explains how the "Five Pungent Spices", including garlic and onions, are forbidden:

Beings who seek samadhi should refrain from eating [the] five pungent plants of this world. If these five are eaten cooked, they increase one's sexual desire; if they are eaten raw, they increase one's anger.

The five pungent spices being.. onions, garlic, scallions, chives ( leeks, radishes ) "etc."
*see sources*

www.minoritynurse.com... buddhist-patients%E2%80%99-dietary-needs

Other foods that may fall into the "forbidden" category include "the Five Pungent Spices." This refers to onions, scallions, chives, garlic, etc. Traditionally, Buddhists have believed that a person who eats these foods will suffer the following ill effects:

His blood and flesh will be rejected by the gods, and the heavens will distance themselves far from him.

His breath is always foul; therefore, all gods and saints will reject him.

If eaten cooked, these foods will arouse lust and cause explosive temper.

If eaten raw, they will increase one's anger and cause bad body odor that will not please the gods but will stimulate interested "hungry ghosts" who will hover around and kiss one's lips. Being near ghosts is believed to hinder one's enlightenment.
Today, however, many vegetarians around the world, including some Buddhists, may eat the Five Pungent Spices without reservation. For Buddhists, this depends on such factors as the person's degree of adherence to their faith, whether they are practicing Buddhism along with other faiths, and their geographic location.

In most Buddhist common teachings that i am aware of, it is said that if you are too greedy in a life and build up negative karma from that greed then when you die it is possible you can reincarnate into a 'hungry ghost'. The method of explaining this fate is that you will have all the hunger that you would have had when in a real physical human body but not way of quenching it.

It is said that consuming such things as onions causes your body and breath to excrete a smell that attracts these hungry ghosts and other similiar entities that would bring negative energy and temptation to an otherwise enlightenment seeking individual. Also i have been reading that apparently it is said that the more positive entities and beings that a Buddhist would normally seek for aid in enlightenment are repelled by such smells that are produced from eating the foods.

However it is also said that some of the foods on the pungent spices list create sexual desire ( which would go against monastic code of not having sex ) as well as anger and bad temperment. Perhaps there are medical studies that have been conducted which could bear light on these claims? I will be searching through the web to see if i can find anything on that when i get the time and post back here with any finds.

Yeah, well I find garlic to be nature's wonder-food. It helps prevent all kinds of ailments and promotes excellent health.

reply to post by frozenspark


me too! i wouldn't refrain from any of these foods on my own because i would have assumed them all very healthy!

someone else in a forum somewhere else on the web mentioned this

viewonbuddhism.org... ?t=1577&sid=fd824277fb149248498a0f049e2dfce8

Do you guys avoid the 5 pungent spices ? They are considered as black foods in buddhism ? And also they should be avoided especially before doing a tantric practice ?

I also read that garlic and onions induce anger & sexual energies.

and apparently garlic is bad for your brain ;

www.healingcancernaturally.com...

the link this person provided says a couple things about garlic

The reason garlic* is so toxic, the sulphone* hydroxyl* ion penetrates the blood-brain barrier, just like DMSO [a sulfoxide*], and is a specific poison for higher-life forms and brain cells. We discovered this, much to our horror, when I (Bob Beck, DSc) was the world's largest manufacturer of ethical EEG [electroencephalography*] feedback equipment.

We'd have people come back from lunch that looked clinically dead on an encephalograph, which we used to calibrate their progress. "Well, what happened?" "Well, I went to an Italian restaurant and there was some garlic in my salad dressing!" So we had them sign things that they wouldn't touch garlic before classes or we were wasting their time, their money and my time.

i've heard of orange juice being similiar in it's acidic value effecting the blood brain barrier

however this really shouldn't deter a person from eating garlic ( or any of the foods )

i am in no way endorsing these dietary philosophies, only promoting the knowledge for the sake of preserving the Buddhist teaching, maybe there is more to it, maybe not, but i find it all interesting none the less

double post osrry


if a mod could delete this accidental double and the triple post below it please, thanks, its an eyesore

triple post haha sorry

reply to post by indigothefish

There are simple guidelines to a strict Buddhist's diet as well as other general rules towards promoting the most optimal diet for an enlightenment seeking individual.

There are no dietary guidelines for lay Buddhists.

Dietary guidelines for monks are given in the Vinaya

Maybe the 4th dimensional reptilians don't like thier meat with onion and garlic flavor? I will continue to eact copious amounts! Onions and garlic are good for your immune system.

reply to post by Astyanax


hey i knew there would be some complications with that statement, i meant it only to clarify that most monks in Buddhist temples do follow some sort of diet guidelines, like not eating meat ...

i in way was trying to put words in anyone's mouth about anything or spread disinfo on something like that, i'm not too familiar with the vinaya pitaka, thanks for bringing it to my attention i'll be looking into it

I think this is propaganda.

Those plants contain useful vitamins and minerals.

Especially garlic.

Pneumonia treatment using Garlic Garlic is a marvellous remedy for pneumonia, if given in sufficient quantities. It brings down the temperature, as well as the pulse and respiration within forty-eight hours. A paste of garlic can also be applied externally on the chest with beneficial results as it is an irritant and rubefacient

Link to the site www.home-remedies-for-you.com...

Google Garlic cures for pneumonia and bronchitis. A lot of sites pop up and I recently used it along with a combination of other oils that is put in water to drink, to fix my bronchitis.

it is true that these 'pungent spices' are known to be cures for several ailments. don't let this fact fool you! what may help on a physical plane, hurts you spiritually.
those of you who claim health and happiness from eating such foods, please take a look at yourselves. how much spirituality are you sacrificing for mere physical means? the more you consume, the more you are pulled down to dwell in your body alone. your spirit becomes trapped. the health and happiness you experience on the physical plane is a mere illusion. it is a trap well set. once you are caught it will become clear that all things physical are temporary. nothing is real, or meaningful.
personally, i recommend no one eat these five foods listed. when your physical being is strong it's hard to see the harm you are doing to your ethereal self. you are detaching your soul from its true source!
i'm not sure if this made much sense but, what's typed is typed!

reply to post by siree


well, Buddhism is full of outer truths, and inner truths

i doubt that Buddhists monks are not aware of the health benefits of these foods, however they live a life different than you and i and their requirements for body, mind and spirit are different

perhaps there is a more simpler truth for this logic, such as eating too much onion producing a smell of sweat on the person that attracts mosquitoes or gnats, ( the mosquitoes and gnats being ' hungry ghosts ' as talked about ) , or perhaps it is true that eating these foods puts a person in a more sexually inclined attitude and more suseptible to anger outbursts etc... whatever the reason, the Buddhists have found some benefit to their way, and they have proven to me that they can be very logical and open minded and rational about things

all in all, i gotta say though it would seem the benefits outweight any of these claims about the foods, well, but i'm not a monk living in a monastery, i don't spend as much time as they do meditating and becoming aware of myself as they do, so perhaps it really is just a 'monk' thing