Master Xingyun's Wonderful Answer to Ten Questions about Vegetarianism
Release: Haizhitong [All articles leave messages in space] Date: 2013/11314:18: 00 Collect and share on WeChat.
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The master of Foguangshan Nebula in Taiwan Province Province was interviewed by Li Jingyu, a well-known anchor, in "Human Satellite TV" and shared his eating habits and ideas. I believe that the following free heart dialogue will arouse your sleeping wisdom and spirituality.
Li: Excuse me, Master, how many years have you been a vegetarian?
Master: I was born a vegetarian. I grew up in troubled times, and my hometown economy is very backward. At that time, food was extremely scarce, so I ate wheat bran porridge. I ate sweet potatoes three times a day, and I was scared. After becoming a monk at the age of twelve, the temple still uses porridge instead of dry rice, and often can't eat a piece of tofu or some vegetarian dishes for a month.
Some bean curd dregs are fried in the pot. If there is no firewood, put it outside in the sun, even sparrows will eat it, and even feces and urine will be left, so there are often bugs and maggots in it, but at least it is a little salty. Many years have passed like this, and I am not so sick. I'm thinking, it's probably that we have to recite the mantra of offering before eating every day, with the blessing of Buddha.
? Li: Now vegetarianism seems to have gradually become a popular culture, not only in China cultural circle, but also in European and American countries. Can you ask the master to talk about vegetarian culture?
Master: Now vegetarian culture is popular all over the world. Many people use vegetarian food for health care and beauty. According to medical research, vegetarian diet is good for health, can cultivate endurance and develop a gentle personality. Some vegetarian old monks get up early every day and are in high spirits all day. What is the reason? The most important thing of vegetarianism is to cultivate compassion, reduce anger from spiritual purification, and achieve inner peace and harmony.
Regarding the western vegetarian culture, as far as I know, there is an urban area in the United States where only vegetarians are allowed to sell meat, and they are not Buddhist believers. They promote vegetarianism based entirely on health.
Although Buddhism first advocated vegetarianism, it was not vegetarian in the Buddha's time at first, because people begged for food by begging along the way, and believers ate whatever they were given.
Buddhism in China advocates vegetarianism for two reasons:
Confucianism said: "seeing him alive, I can't bear to see him die;" I can't bear to eat its meat when I hear its voice. "
It is mentioned in Buddhist classics that we should be merciful and not kill.
Others say that plants also have life and feelings. If you don't kill animals, don't kill animals and don't kill plants. In fact, the life of plants is "vitality", and the meaning of growth function is different from life. Life is intentional. Looking at pigs, horses, cows and sheep to be slaughtered will cause fear. Plants are "unintentional". Although they have a life-and-death reaction, they don't feel bitter and happy. So the definition of murder is whether it is intentional or unintentional.
Vegetarian, besides compassion, the most important thing is to respect life.
Vegetarian food makes people compassionate and happy.
Li: Besides being healthy, what are the benefits of being a vegetarian?
Master: You see, at present, some people eat meat and eat a lot of tricks. What kind of abnormal eating methods, such as 30 live fish and 10 seafood, can make people have abnormal feelings?
Sometimes when parents take their children out to play, they will get some small crabs and small fish for their children to play with, some will dump the fish, and some will peel off the crab shells and abuse them to death. This will make children disrespect life from an early age, don't know the value of life, and will disrespect people when they grow up in the future, and even lead to murder and other evil deeds. Buddhism does not encourage people to be vegetarian, but it encourages you not to kill. You can buy ready-made food, but you shouldn't kill yourself. Parents educate their children from an early age to form the habit of respecting the value of life and caring for small life and animals. Therefore, I think that the current family education first requires children to respect life and let them cherish life, which will improve the social atmosphere in the future.
Li: A research report in a magazine even pointed out that if everyone in the world is a vegetarian, there will be no more famine in the world. Master, what do you think?
Master: I have been a vegetarian for decades, and I deeply feel that a vegetarian is better than a meat eater. Vegetarians will gradually reduce the killing industry. Now the homicide industry in Taiwan Province Province is so heavy, I feel very worried. In today's society, the monkey brains and snakes are eaten raw and burned alive. How can the social atmosphere be kind and beautiful?
Li: People from different religious backgrounds and different regions will have different food cultures. For example, Muslims don't eat pork, Hindus don't eat beef and so on. I would like to ask the master's opinion about the differences between different religious cultures.
Master: Vegetarianism and religion are difficult to unify. However, I think basically all religions should be able to respect, cherish and protect life.
Li: Many people study Buddhism hard and are vegetarian. Finally, I heard that Tantric can eat meat, so I secretly went to school. Asked why he studied tantra, he said it was good to learn tantra. You can eat meat and become a Buddha instantly!
Master: In the past, vegetables could not be grown on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the external traffic was closed. In this case, we have to eat meat. However, now that the vegetarian culture in Taiwan Province Province is generally developed, it should be possible to become a vegetarian. Don't say you can eat meat just because you practice tantra. I don't think that's appropriate.
Vegetarian first, clean the center of gravity
Li: If you are really not used to being a vegetarian, is there a step-by-step method, such as some people eating side dishes with meat, or eating three meats? Can you ask the master to explain these two ways of eating?
Host: You are absolutely right. In order to be vegetarian step by step, you can choose to be vegetarian on the first day, fifteenth day and sixth day of fasting, or you can only eat meat dishes and three meats on weekdays.
Meat side dishes: After the epiphany of Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, he hid in the hunter team for fifteen years in order to avoid people who were fighting for clothes everywhere. Whenever hunters make a fire to cook wild animals, Master Huineng will go to the barren hills and valleys to find some edible leaves and wild vegetables and cook them in a pot. People laughed at him for not eating meat, so he said, "I only eat meat and vegetables!" " Therefore, Master Huineng is the one who truly understands the meaning of vegetarianism and practices. The so-called true compassion does not necessarily mean what you eat and what you can't eat in form. The meaning of vegetarianism is to be constantly sad. So learning Buddhism is not just a vegetarian.
Three refined meats: if you don't see the killing, but hear the voice of being killed, if you don't kill for me, it's called "three refined meats".
Li: When some of my friends start to be vegetarians, they will stink and feel dizzy at the smell of meat. How come...
Host: Because he is not used to it. For example, once I went to Japan, the believers cooked me a bowl of noodles. When I eat, alas! It smells terrible. How can it smell so bad? But because I am a believer, I just hold my breath and swallow my face. Later I learned that the Japanese have a habit of making soy sauce with small fish and seasoning it in their noodles. Am I guilty of this? I believe I am not a meat eater, I am still a vegetarian.
Some people are vegetarians, and they must pay attention to the pots and pans they use that have never cooked meat. This is a wrong idea, and vegetarianism is not a problem. I think peace of mind is the most important. So we vegetarians must not cause trouble and burden to others.
Li: Many processed vegetarian foods look like chicken, duck and fish. Do you have any comments on this vegetarian diet?
Master: I used to be very disgusted with the way some people turned vegetarian dishes into meat dishes. I always thought that vegetarianism was to cultivate compassion. If you are a vegetarian with a meat-eating mentality, it is not. Therefore, every time I see vegetarian chicken, duck, eel, meat, ham and mullet roe on the dining table, I refuse to eat them. But one day, I saw that believers loved them.
So this presentation can be ignored, but some vegetarian dishes make them taste too much like meat, which is unnecessary.