Greed and emotional love feed on one another until the greed
becomes insatiable. The result of that in this world is the
tendency of egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and
transformation-born beings to devour one another to the extent that
their strength permits. The basis for all that is killing and
greed. Suppose a person eats a sheep. The sheep dies and becomes a
person; the person dies and becomes a sheep, The same applies in
all rebirths among the ten categories. Through death after death
and birth after birth, they eat each other. The evil karma one is
born with continues to the bounds of the future. The basis for all
that is stealing and greed. You owe me a life; I must repay my debt
to you. Due to such causes and conditions we pass through hundreds
of thousands of eons in sustained cycle of birth and death. After
my cessation, in the Dharma-ending Age, these hordes of ghosts and
spirits will abound, spreading like
wildfire as they argue that
eating meat will bring one to the Bodhi Way.
Ananda, I permit the
Bhikshus to eat five kinds of pure meat. This meat is actually a
transformation brought into being by my spiritual powers. It
basically has no life-force. Those of you Brahmans who live in a
climate so hot and humid, and on such sandy and rocky land, that
vegetables will not grow; therefore, I have had to assist you with
spiritual powers and compassion. Because of this magnanimous
kindness and compassion, this so-called meat suits your taste.
After my extinction, how can those who eat the flesh of beings be
called the disciples of Shakya?
You should know that these people
who eat meat may gain some awareness and may seem to be in samadhi,
but they are all great rakshasas. When their retribution ends, they
are bound to sink into the bitter sea of birth and death. They are
not disciples of the Buddha. Such people as these kill and eat one
another in a never-ending cycle. How can such people
transcend the
Triple Realm?
When you teach people of the world to cultivate
samadhi, they must also cut off killing. This is the second clear
and decisive instruction on purity given by the Thus Come Ones, the
Buddhas of the Past, World Honored Ones :)