Many traditions of Eastern religions including Buddhism, Jainism and some sects of Hinduism embrace the doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence) which imposes vegetarianism and outlaws animal as well as human sacrifice. In the case of Buddhism, both bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) were forbidden to take life in any form as part of the monastic code, while non-violence was promoted among laity through encouragement of the Five Precepts. Across the Buddhist world both meat and alcohol are strongly discouraged as offerings to a Buddhist altar, with the former being synonymous with sacrifice, and the latter a violation of the Five Precepts. In Hinduism, based on the principle of ahimsa forbids any human sacrifices.[128][129][130] In the 19th and 20th centuries, prominent figures of Indian spirituality such as Swami Vivekananda,[131] Ramana Maharshi,[132] Swami Sivananda[133] and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami[134] emphasised the importance of ahimsa. In Jainism, although ahimsa is considered its foremost vow, the extension of this to self-sacrifice at times may be considered equivalent to human sacrifice (or ritual suicide), especially by those who oppose the Jain practice of Sallekhana (fasting to death), whereas Jaina scriptures supposedly (or interpretively) counter that Sallekhana leads to Ahimsa, because their concept of simple living could even become excessive to that end (as it may be impossible to exist more or less selflessly), when lifestyle remains a preclusion to the state of nirvana, and likewise a notion of transcending the problem (of how to live and let live), with one's bodily sacrifice being a voluntary spiritual practice; perhaps the courts having ruled back and forth on it as a legal matter suggests that the paradox (or debatability) of Ahimsa versus Sallekhana, which is essentially that of nonviolence amounting to violence, involves determining whether such a death is a physical act of human(e) sacrifice or lack thereof. ("Sallekhana". Wikipedia.)