Question: “I’m Buddhist and I come from a practicing Buddhist family. We don’t eat meat, but we consume animal products such as milk or eggs. Someone recently told me that that is bad, and that as a Buddhist, I should be eating vegan. Is it ok to just eat vegetarian but not vegan?”
It is very OK to just be vegetarian. Veganism is a fairly new concept and though it makes sense to a lot of people, Buddhists and non-Buddhists, it isn’t necessary. Buddhism does not protest that we have to be vegetarian. Vegetarianism in Buddhism only began when Buddhism started coming more often in China around the 2-5 century. The Buddha was never a vegetarian, he never said we have to be vegetarian. Because early Buddhism in China had to adapt to the local culture and religion to become successful, many Taoist/Daoist beliefs, traditions and terminology merged with early Buddhism, including vegetarianism, so (for the most part) that’s how that happened.
Smile and be well!