i read up sometime in those legends books from library couple of
years back ago, i remember something abt the story of garlic.
a long time ago, when "time" existed, time seems to be alive at
that time. there was this great demon king. there was some dispute
or a great war, i cant rem, and the whole land was at war with the
demon king .
someone or something or some metaphor slain the demon's head and
thus conquer great evil and the universe was saved.
but the demon vapourised, remains are garlic.
well, remains of demon kings. shouldnt be any good if it help
prevent any cancer or disease.
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In the Shurangama Sutra (Mahayana school), The Buddha explains how
the "Five Pungent Spices", including garlic and onions, are
forbidden:
Beings who seek samadhi should refrain from eating [the] five
pungent plants of this world. If these five are eaten cooked, they
increase one's sexual desire; if they are eaten raw, they increase
one's anger. (2)
Furthermore, the gods "will stay far away from them because they
smell bad, [and] hungry ghosts will hover around and kiss their
lips". (2) Being around ghosts will hinder one's quest for
enlightenment. These demons have the power to appear as false
Buddhas and speak false Dharma. The Buddha further warns that in
the Dharma-ending Age (the age in which we are now) there will be
an abundance of false prophets, or ghosts and demons who will
appear as Bodhissatvas. Those who are so far off the path might
believe in or be possessed by ghosts or demons mascarading as
enlightened masters. These demons might talk the misguided ones
into consuming "excrement and urine, or meat and wine" and justify
it.
1) Garlic
2) Onions
3) Shallots
4) Leeks
5) Asafoetida (hing)
--------------------------------
The Shurangama Sutra, Volume 7, Part One, discusses the process of
overcoming the basic cause of random thoughts that fill the mind
and eliminate attentiveness.
"...Beings who seek samadhi should refrain from eating five pungent
plants of this world.
"If these five are eaten cooked, they increase one's sexual desire;
if they are eaten raw, they increase one's anger.
[Note: The scriptures do not warn against all pungent plants, only
those in the garlic/onion family. There is no advice against
ginger, for example.]
If this simple, straightforward rationale fails to sway the
samadhi-seeker the sutra, like many other religious texts, makes
its point with no lack of imagery:
"Therefore, even if people in this world who eat pungent plants can
expound the twelve divisions of the Sutra canon, the gods and
immortals of the ten directions will stay far away from them
because they smell so bad. However, after they eat these things the
hungry ghosts will hover around and kiss their lips. Being always
in the presence of ghosts, their blessings and virtue will dissolve
as the days go by, and they will experience no lasting
benefit.
"People who eat pungent plants and also cultivate samadhi will not
be protected by the Bodhisattvas, gods, immortals, or good spirits
of the ten directions; therefore, the tremendously powerful demon
kings, able to do as they please, will appear in the body of a
Buddha and speak Dharma for them, denouncing the precepts and
praising lust, rage, and delusion.
"When their lives end, these people will join the retinue of demon
kings. When they use up their blessings as demons, they will fall
into the unintermittent hell.
"Ananda, those who cultivate for Bodhi should never eat the five
pungent plants. [1]
So, to summarize, the scriptures warn that pungent plants are to be
avoided because obstacles to the spiritual path increase when they
are eaten.
well, the story i posted might be true. who knows..? just aviod
eating the pungent plants
