Why eat and drink to kill

      饮食何必杀生

 Our Confucius put the greatest emphasis on forgiveness when he said, 'Do not do unto others what you do not desire.' The Buddha said in the Sutra of the Four Undesirable Pure Achievements: 'If there is someone who wishes to kill me, and I do not like it, and if I do not like it, and he does the same, how can I kill him? Having made this realisation, I take the precept of not killing.' In the Ten Good Deeds Sutra, the Buddha says that there are ten benefits to not killing: Firstly, one is to be fearless in all sentient beings. The second is to always have great compassion for all sentient beings. The third is to break all habits of anger forever. The fourth is always free from disease. The fifth has a long life. Sixthly, he is always guarded by non-human beings. The seventh is free from bad dreams and sleeps happily. The eighth is free from all grievances. The ninth has no fear of evil. The tenth is born in heaven at the end of one's life.

      The lowest purpose of food is to feed the stomach, the highest purpose is to please the palate, and there are millions of miles between feeding the stomach and pleasing the palate. But our sense of taste is only ten centimetres from the mouth to the throat, after which we can feel nothing. How can we bear to kill so many living creatures for the sake of these ten centimetres of sensation? People in society slaughter large quantities of fish, prawns, chickens and ducks for weddings and birthday celebrations.

      Is it logical to kill so many of them to celebrate the happiness of the newlyweds or to celebrate the long and healthy life of 'me'? In recent years, elections have become commonplace in Taiwan, and candidates are often invited to hundreds or even thousands of tables. In order to regulate the price of eggs and pigs, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of chicks are burned and pigs buried at a time. It is terrible! Isn't the accumulation of this killing karma and the summoning of grievances already manifesting itself in our society?

   What we should not kill in particular is the cow that has worked so hard for us all our lives, the dog that is the faithful friend of mankind, the cow that has worked for us all our lives, how can we bear to sleep on its skin and eat its flesh when it is dying? There are countless stories in books and newspapers of loyal dogs saving their masters - in the recent news, an American wife had a heart attack and her dog would dial for help, saving her life. How can we bear to kill and eat such creatures as these, who have such a close relationship with humans? In a Buddhist magazine, it was reported that a retired veteran, who loved dog meat all his life, had killed more dogs than he could count, but the writer, in the winter of the 55th year of the Republic of China, saw with his own eyes five newly weaned puppies in his neighbourhood and threw them into a pot of boiling water. A year or so later, this old honourable man was working as a temporary worker in a firecracker factory when the factory exploded and caught fire, burning his whole body and peeling off his skin like a scalded puppy, crying out in pain like a barking dog.

   In April this year (1997), when I returned to the mainland to visit his grave, my brother in law told me that a farmer in the countryside of Luoyang had bought a calf that was already able to plough 18 years ago. The cow had worked hard for the farmer for 18 years and when it became too old and weak to plough the fields, the farmer sold it to a butcher. The old cow, with tears in its eyes, begged for mercy from its owner, who ignored it. He negotiated a price with the butcher, accepted the price and was standing under a tree counting the money when the old bull suddenly rushed forward and killed the farmer who was counting the money against the tree. It was in the late March edition of the newspaper and I asked my brother to find it for me, but unfortunately I couldn't find it.

   There is a story about Venerable Guanghua (who died last year), which he wrote himself and published in the Tianhua Monthly in 75 years. During the war, Venerable Guanghua joined the army and always served as a quartermaster in the army. When he was stationed in Dinghai in the 38th year, the village he lived in was full of chickens and ducks, so he asked the landlady to buy him two or three to four or five every day, and the orderlies would braise and stew them for everyone to eat. In a few months, he ate up all the chickens and ducks within miles of the village. Later, he also came to Taiwan, where he believed in Buddhism for forty-two years, became a monk for forty-six years, and spent eight months in retreat at the Lotus Light Temple in Nantou in the sixty-third year, worshipping the Pure Land Confession. In his text, he describes himself one day: '.... After the first worship, I felt lighter and walked towards the West. Within a few steps, I heard many chickens and ducks calling behind me. I thought they were coming for me, and I was startled and awakened from my dream .... How could I know that that very night, in my meditation room, I fell flat on my face and broke my left leg?'

我国的孔子最重恕道，他说‘己所不欲，勿施于人。’佛陀在《四不坏净成就经》中说：‘若有欲杀我者，我所不喜，我若所不喜，他亦如是，云何杀彼？作是觉已，受不杀生戒。’在《十善业道经》中，佛陀说不杀生有十种利益：一者于诸众生，普施无畏。二者常于众生，起大悲心。三者永断一切嗔恚习气。四者身常无病。五者寿命长远。六者恒为非人之所守护。七者常无恶梦，寝觉快乐。八者灭除怨结，众怨自解。九者无恶道怖。十者命终生天。

      饮食最低的目的是为了果腹，最高的目的是了适口，而在果腹与适口之间，其相去何止百千万里。可是我们的味觉，由入口到咽喉，只有十数公分，过了咽喉，什么都感觉不出了。我们何忍为了这十数公分的感受，而残杀如此多的生灵呢？社会人士为了结婚、作寿，大宴宾客，宰杀大量鱼虾鸡鸭。

      为了庆祝新人幸福美满，或庆祝‘我’健康长寿，杀害它们许多生命，这合乎逻辑吗？近年台湾盛行选举，参选人请起客来，动辄数百桌以至上千桌。一次宴客，杀害的生命数万至十数万计；养鸡场养猪场为了调节蛋价猪价，一次焚烧的小鸡、掩埋的小猪，也以数万或数十万计。可怕啊！这杀业的累积，怨气的召感，不是已经在我们社会上表现出来了吗？

   我们尤其不应该杀害的，是为我们辛劳一生的牛，作为人类忠实朋友的狗，牛为我们耕作一生，我们何忍在它垂死之年，寝其皮而食其肉？书上所记，报上所刊，忠犬救主的故事不计其数——最近的新闻，美国一位太太心脏病发作，她养的小狗竟会拨电话求救，挽回了她的性命。像这些与人类关系如此密切的生灵，我们杀而食之，何其忍心呢？一本佛教杂志上登载，一位退役的老荣民，一生爱吃狗肉，他一辈子杀害了多少狗，无从统计，但是撰稿的这位居士，于民国五十五年的冬天，亲眼看见他把邻近五只刚断乳的小狗抓来，投入沸水锅。一年多后，这位老荣民在一家爆竹工厂做临时工，爆竹工厂爆炸起火，这位老荣民全身灼伤，皮肤剥落，有如被烫死的小狗，痛苦呼喊，有如狗叫。

   今年（一九九七）四月间我回大陆扫墓，我胞弟告诉我说，洛阳乡下一个农民，十八年前买了一头已能耕作的小牛。那牛为农民卖命耕作了十八年，年老力衰，不堪耕田，乡农把它卖给屠户。那老牛双目流泪，向主人乞怜，主人不顾。他和屠户讲好价钱，接过价款，站在一棵树下数钞票的时候，那老牛忽然奋力冲过去，把正在数钞票的农民抵死在树上。这事登在三月下旬的报纸上，我要我弟弟给我找报纸，可惜没有找到。

   有一则广化法师（去年才往生）现身说法的故事，是他自己写出来登在七十五年的天华月刊上。法师在抗战期间从军，一向在军中担任军需官，他酒量很大，好吃鸡鸭鱼肉，也说不出吃下了多少。三十八年驻防定海，他所住的村庄附近鸡鸭成群，他每天都要房东小姐给他买两三只到四五只不等，由勤务兵红烧清炖大家吃。几个月下来，村子附近数里内的鸡鸭都被他吃光了。后来也来到台湾，四十二年信佛，四十六年出家，六十三年在南投莲光寺闭关，拜净土忏，已拜了八个月。他文中自述，一天：‘....第一拜拜下去，就觉得身轻起来，向西方前行，走了不到几步，听到身后有很多鸡鸭的叫声，回头看去，见成千上万的鸡鸭分作三行，追随著我....心想它们来找我算帐了，不禁一惊，如梦初醒....怎知道，就在当晚于禅房里，平地一跤，跌断左腿。’

(This article is an original article by Zhuge Changqing, and the pictures are selected from the Internet. Welcome to forward it, and please indicate the source for forwarding)

Introduction to Zhuge Changqing: Zhuge Changqing, the inheritor and promoter of traditional Chinese culture, is willing to "learn from sages, promote virtue, revitalize China and benefit the world" together with people with the same ideals in the world.

(Zhuge Changqing: zhuge8031@163.com ）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

Zhuge Changqing's Chinese Dream

Learn from sages and carry forward virtue

Revitalizing China for the benefit of the world

 （本文是诸葛长青原创文章，图片选自网络。欢迎转发，转发引用请注明出处）

诸葛长青简介：诸葛长青，中国国学传统文化传承弘扬者，愿与天下志同道合者一起“学习圣贤、弘扬善德、振兴中华、造福世界”。

（诸葛长青：zhuge8031@163.com）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

  诸葛长青中国梦  

学习圣贤 弘扬善德

振兴中华 造福世界

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