Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

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SarathW
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Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by SarathW »

Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Ven. Walpola Gotama argues that eating unfertlise eggs is unwholesome.
However, he agree it is ok to eat a dead animal.

Video in the Sinhalese language.

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Volo
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Volo »

And what are his arguments against unfertilised eggs?
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Sam Vara
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Sam Vara »

What does he mean by "wholesome" here? Is his point about nutrition, ethics, kamma, or what?
chownah
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by chownah »

Is he talking about ant eggs? I have never seen unfertilised ant eggs available and if they were I don't know how I would verify their authenticity.

What about fish eggs? If that monk found a dead fish would he eat the fish but not the eggs?

What about the not yet completely formed eggs which sometimes are in the inards of a slaughtered chicken.....are they wholesome? If that monk found a dead chicken with a not yet comletely formed egg in it would he eat the chicken and not the egg?

What does that monk say about eating cow placenta?....is it wholesome to eat? If that monk found a dead cow would he eat the cow but not the placenta?
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binocular
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by binocular »

SarathW wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:05 amHowever, he agree it is ok to eat a dead animal.
Apart from hyenas and a some other select predators and parasites that begin to eat while the other being is still alive, most beings that eat meat eat dead animals (or humans).
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sunnat
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by sunnat »

How would one know if an egg is not fertilised?

If you think about it everyone eats off a vast graveyard full of the dead. An animal, human, dies and the body decomposes and feeds plants which plants 'eat' and animals eat the plants and humans eat the animals and plants. And so on. The point is really whether one is hurting self or others by any action.
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Sam Vara
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Sam Vara »

sunnat wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:42 pm How would one know if an egg is not fertilised?
The short answer is that if you keep your laying hens without access to a cockerel, any eggs have not been fertilised.
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by binocular »

SarathW wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:05 am Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?
Ven. Walpola Gotama argues that eating unfertlise eggs is unwholesome.
What is his argument for that?

Does he say something similar for seedless fruit?
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Srilankaputra
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Srilankaputra »

I see some unkind responses here so I feel compelled to say something before Sarath. The talk is essentially about purity of sila and removing even the slightest opening for it to get broken. I think this is a valid argument. At least here in Sri Lanka. Yes, the carton says unfertilized but there is really no way of knowing for sure.

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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by binocular »

Srilankaputra wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:12 pm I see some unkind responses here so I feel compelled to say something before Sarath. The talk is essentially about purity of sila and removing even the slightest opening for it to get broken. I think this is a valid argument. At least here in Sri Lanka. Yes, the carton says unfertilized but there is really no way of knowing for sure.
Could you please summarize the speaker's arguments as to why it is unwholesome to eat unfertilized (!) eggs?
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Srilankaputra »

binocular wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:40 pm
Srilankaputra wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:12 pm I see some unkind responses here so I feel compelled to say something before Sarath. The talk is essentially about purity of sila and removing even the slightest opening for it to get broken. I think this is a valid argument. At least here in Sri Lanka. Yes, the carton says unfertilized but there is really no way of knowing for sure.
Could you please summarize the speaker's arguments as to why it is unwholesome to eat unfertilized (!) eggs?
I don't think the bhante is arguing against buying an egg sandwich at the shop. But when breaking an egg there is really no way of being sure. There was a lot but the main argument was from the karaniya metta sutta. Specifically the following line.
Bhūtā va sambhavesī va
Those born and to-be-born

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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Volo »

The way I understand it: If the egg is from the supermarket, i.e. from the industrial egg farm, then no fertilized eggs are there. Fertilized eggs might cause problems to the sellers, since the chick might start to develop, and from time to time people would get embryo in their scrambled eggs. So, the industry and the supermarket would need to take extra care about time, temperature at which eggs are kept, etc. Therefore they wouldn't keep males and females together.
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by binocular »

Srilankaputra wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:56 pmI don't think the bhante is arguing against buying an egg sandwich at the shop. But when breaking an egg there is really no way of being sure. There was a lot but the main argument was from the karaniya metta sutta. Specifically the following line.
Bhūtā va sambhavesī va
Those born and to-be-born
The OP said:
SarathW wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:05 amVen. Walpola Gotama argues that eating unfertlise eggs is unwholesome.
If this is what he argues for, then it's quite counterintuitive.
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Srilankaputra
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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by Srilankaputra »

binocular wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:07 pm
Srilankaputra wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:56 pmI don't think the bhante is arguing against buying an egg sandwich at the shop. But when breaking an egg there is really no way of being sure. There was a lot but the main argument was from the karaniya metta sutta. Specifically the following line.
Bhūtā va sambhavesī va
Those born and to-be-born
The OP said:
SarathW wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:05 amVen. Walpola Gotama argues that eating unfertlise eggs is unwholesome.
If this is what he argues for, then it's quite counterintuitive.
I think we'll have to wait for Sarath.

PS: there were some arguments that I don't know would agree with current science. But the overall argument I agree with. And for my self I have abstained from breaking eggs long before hearing this talk.

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Re: Is it wholesome to eat unfertilised eggs?

Post by sentinel »

Some says eating unfertilised eggs a kind of vegetarian diet . Do you consider eggs not meats ?
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