Who is at fault, the Butcher or the Meat Eater?

A simple and contented way of life is the highest blessing.

If we do not want a simple life, we will end up leading a confused life. If we are not easily satisfied we will forever face so many hardships in life. If we are always chasing after fresh and delicious meaty food, the desire of this tongue will be insatiable. We enjoy the fatty flesh meat, the lean meat which is just cut down from a slaughtered animal and say this is nutritious for our body. It never crosses our mind that the animals are alive with flesh and blood, with family and loved ones, which also wish to live on. In fact the doctors always advise us to eat simple food. The best is vegetables, nuts, grains and fruits. The earth and heaven provides us with all kinds of grains and nuts to sustain our lives. And the eating of meat often brings upon us all kinds of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure.

The so called nutritious food often burdens our body. And the body deteriorates faster, covers with sores and wounds. It dies faster with the attack of all kinds of diseases, the effects of over consumption of nutrients and vitamins. On top of that the animals we killed are down with all kinds of illnesses, germs and bacteria. The continual process of mating and pregnancy, the polluted surroundings thus created bring upon human beings more harm than good.

When we raise the animals for money, kill them for money, we create so many bad karma just for the satisfaction of our tongue, which measures less than three inches. Why are we so unkind to ourselves? In the passages of the ‘Precepts of the Abstinence from Killing’ which was written by Venerable Master Shi Lian Chi, there was a true story on the causes and effect of meat eating.

Gui De is a small town in the Province of He Nan. There was a Doctor Yi who enjoyed eating beef. When he was visiting the patients at their house, he made sure that they would give him some beef to take home. If the patients did not prepare the beef he asked for, he would carelessly give his prescription without much checking. As such some patients died of wrong medicine. So to make sure the doctor would give a good prescription, the patients were forced to kill the cows for beef.

One day, the doctor passed away suddenly. His consciousness travelled to the Yama Hall. He saw King Yama was sitting on a high seat questioning a butcher who slaughtered cows to earn a living. The butcher was kneeling before the King Yama. When he looked up he suddenly saw the doctor. He pointed at the doctor and said,

‘It is because he likes to eat beef. If he does not eat beef, I will not slaughter the cows.’

The doctor heard that the accusation came upon him he also knelt down quickly and said,

‘If he did not kill the animals, I would not be eating beef.’

So the two men were pointing fingers at one another, accusing one another.

King Yama was very angry and he shouted, ‘Don’t you know that the bulls are spending their whole life to work for men, to plough the field on their behalf, to transport goods on their behalf? You are not grateful at all. Instead you slaughtered them for food, for money. Send him to the hell!’

King Yama turned to the doctor and shouted, ‘Doctor, you like to eat beef. If people do not provide you the beef you will not study their case carefully. And finally you give them the wrong prescriptions. Eleven patients died because of your carelessness so your punishment is to become a bull eleven times to pay back the debts.’

This is a true story. There was this Mr. Du who lived in He Bei Province who witnessed this incident. He fell unconscious one day and he saw himself come to the Yama Hall and witness the incident of the butcher and the doctor. As Mr.Du was a good man who had done many good deeds, it was not the time for him to leave the world. He was released and woke up. The vivid incident in the Yama Hall touched his mind and he decided to tell others what he had seen. The essay was thus recorded in Life Liberation, a book compiled by Venerable Master Shi Lian Chi.

The book teaches us to abstain from killing. There is no point to argue in the Mara Hall, saying this is the fault of the eater, or this is the fault of the butcher. Everyone is at faults. Everyone has to undergo the corresponding retribution. This is a really terrifying issue in life. Why are we creating the karma of suffering just because of our attachment to the taste of our tongue? We must learn to lead a life with a pure mind and a pure body. Do not commit evils when we give rise to a false thought when we see the animals. In the six paths living beings become animals to pay their debts. We become human beings to pay our debts. Now we are paying the debts in the human realm. And worse of all we create new karma when we slaughter the animals. Just because we like to eat meat, people raise the animals. When animals are raised, they are killed to provide us the flesh and blood. Do not be so deluded with this false illusion of taste in the tongue. After passing by the tongue which measures about three inches in length, there is no taste. This is the attachment of the root of tongue, eating the flesh and blood of all animals. The taste of the tongue is emptiness, not real. The meat and blood enter our body are transformed into impurities. We should always contemplate the body as impure as taught by the Buddha. If we are attached to taste, sufferings are awaiting us. The Buddha teaches us to contemplate feeling is sufferings. As a human being we should try to lead a life of purity, in body and in mind. Our future of bliss will be awaiting us.

A translation of the Venerable Master Zheng Yan‘s talk on the abstinence of killing.