That the food-eating desire of mankind somewhat makes living inconvenience and improper food-eating habits and food-obtaining means can let human beings face many pains and crises, including individual pains, deaths, the worsening of living surroundings, and even the perishing of some species and the possible destroying of the earth. Therefore, human beings, now, greatly focus on the research of food-eating problems, but rarely study them specifically from a Buddhism’s angle. The main studying materials for this thesis are the Chinese-edition Buddhism’s scriptures---Chinese Agamas and Pali Nikayas--- in the early Buddhism. My research methodology is (1) to religiously analyze and compare the collected historical materials; (2) to study the religious divine character of the Buddhism through food-eating philosophy so as to further help human beings obtain body liberation and free themselves from different kinds of pains and anxiety derived from food-eating. The purpose of the research can be divided into two respects: (1) to sincerely deliver the research results as references to those who mainly cite their studying materials from the Vinaya-Pitaka to do their researches on the Buddhism’s food-eating; and (2) to help the public get a new thinking on food-eating by using the Buddhism’s food-eating philosophy, and further break through their food-eating problems. The thesis is composed of six chapters---(Chapter 1) Introduction; (Chapter 2) The Evolutionary background of Food-eating Philosophy; (Chapter 3) Food-eating teaching Character; (Chapter 4) Food-eating and Karma-reward; (Chapter 5) Food-eating and Religious Discipline; and (Chapter 6) Conclusion. The results of the research can be divided four categories as below: (1) Background The research both on the factors of establishment of food-eating philosophy in the early Buddhism, and on Buddha’s living and food-eating philosophies; (2) Theory The analyses and explanations of the special character of the early Buddhism’s food-eating philosophy, simultaneously compared with those of the public and other religions; (3) Contrast The beings in the three realms with different karmas apparently resulting into enjoying different karma-rewards of food-eating, the study of the food-eating problems of the living beings in the realm of sensual desire, and of Buddha, so as to think out a feasible method to improve mankind’s food-eating problems as well as to transcend the food-eating limitation in the realm of sensual desire; and (4) implementation From the view-point of religious discipline, the early Buddhism’s food-eating philosophy helping human beings live in the divine world with liberation instead of in the world filled with all passions and delusions.
