馬來西亞華人宗教素食觀之宗教教育意義與實踐

通過比較的方式，這篇論文主要梳理馬來西亞華人宗教素食觀的特色及其宗教教育意義。馬來西亞華人社會中吃素往往是普遍的宗教現象，特別是漢傳佛教、道教以及一貫道的素食觀大都有經典或教理為依據。本文將以此三教關於持素的說法為主，結合它們在馬來西亞的情況，探討其中的宗教教育意義。以素食為「常食」者，多是漢傳佛教和一貫道信徒，「非常食」則以九皇齋最為普遍。此外，儘管華人民間信仰中關於持素的經文缺如，但本文將以「吃素的大伯公」此個例講述民間信仰的吃素觀念。通過主張素食，這些華人宗教可以在深奧的宗教義理之外勸導信徒慈悲戒殺、視萬物為等齊、仁慈為本等等，從宗教教育這方面引導信眾道德倫理，不失為宗教教育中較為容易推行的一環。

關鍵字

華人宗教；漢傳佛教；九皇；大伯公；素食

並列摘要

By way of comparison, this paper deals with vegetarianism among Chinese Religions in Malaysia, with reference to Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, I-Kuan Tao and Chinese Folk Religion, which are represented mostly by the Chinese ethnic. Vegetarians opt to become vegetarian with many different reasons. However, vegetarianism is a common religious phenomenon in Malaysian Chinese community. The concepts of vegetarian are well embedded in the scriptures and doctrines of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism and I-Kuan Tao. This paper first probes into the religious views on vegetarianism of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism and I-Kuan Tao, then elaborate further their situation in Malaysia, in order to explore the significance of religious education of these vegetarian standpoints. In addition, although Chinese Folk Religion lacks supporting scripture when it comes to vegetarianism, this article suggests that the case of ＂Vegetarian Ta-po Kong＂ shows how the concept of vegetarian is being treated in Chinese Folk Religion. This paper deems that by advocating vegetarianism, these Chinese Religions can persuade believers to show mercy, refrain from killing, treat all things equally, and etc., hence instill in them moral ethics by means of religious education, which in turn seems like an easy implementation as far as religion education is concerned.