But there is karma. And there is gods (i.e celestial beings) but
gods have no power over karma and neither do we worship them (in
fact we dont worship anyone including guan yin - we venerate and respect the buddhas and bodhisattvas
like guan yin). But even so if one eats meat according to the 5
Clean Meat, the karma will be much lighter.
Five Clean Sources of Meat
.......The Buddha-dharma is
infinite and there are in reality more than 84,000 Dharma doors, or
methods by which we can embark to learn and practise Buddhism.
Vegetarianism is just one of the many methods. To refrain from
killing is merely a means of assisting us to progress in our
cultivation. As a medicine, meat is permitted in the Buddhist
precepts if it is required to cure a particular sickness. Buddhism
cherishes compassion. However, killing and causing harm to life
have their retributions. The world has no peace as victims and
villains engage in a vicious cycle of vengeance and revenge,
culminating in calamities and disasters, and inflicting suffering
and misery across the world.
Buddha understands the ignorance and habits of sentient beings that
have accumulated from aeons of their many past lives. In order to
provide sentient beings with an expedient means of embracing
Buddhism, those who are not able to convert to a vegetarian diet on
a long term basis are permitted to consume meat provided:
(1) That he did not slaughter the animal personally
(2) That he did not instruct others to slaughter
(3) That the slaughter was not committed for his sake
(4) That he did not witness the slaughter
(5) That he did not hear the cries associated with the
slaughter
To refrain from killing is fundamental to Buddhism. Regardless of
life forms, we must not kill, we must not instruct others to kill,
and it must not be killed for our sake, for example, to celebrate
our birthday or because we were coming to dinner. These are three
sources of clean meat.
In Confucianism, benevolence also means to refrain from killing. It
is said that heaven has the virtue of loving life. It cannot bear
to witness the loss of life, let alone eat the flesh of those whose
cries in death we have heard. Buddhism advocates compassion and
loving-kindness to all sentient beings, regardless of their
relation to you. It is only appropriate that we do not kill for our
livelihood or for the purpose of celebrating occasions, such as
births, birthdays, funerals or weddings. Meats are no different
from the other foodstuffs purchased from the market if people do
not witness the killing or hear the cries of the animal that is
being slaughtered. If a differentiation between the two kinds of
purchases and the taste of the meat do not exist in the mind, then
the guilt is lighter. Together with the three mentioned earlier,
these constitute the five sources of clean meat.
Meat eating however is a pre-condition to killing. If people
refrain from eating meat, there will be no killing of animals for
meat. Sadly, the human race has committed killings for aeons and is
engaged in an endless cycle of vengeance and revenge over their
past lives. For one who is slaughtered for meat in this life, it is
probably because he had done the same to others in the past. The
score is even, no more and no less.
People who eat meat from the five clean sources are advised to
learn to chant the Buddha's name and the Buddhist mantras, so as to
transfer the merits to those whose meat they are eating. They
should also wish them an early rebirth in the human realm, to
eliminate any thoughts of vengeance, to nurture their virtuous
roots to benefit all sentient beings and together build a peaceful,
caring and blissful pure land in this world. Only when this is
promoted across the entire world, will we be able to eliminate
hatred and vengeance, and enhance a mind of compassion and loving
kindness. In this way we will be able to transform this Saha world
into a pure land..........
But if one practises the Bodhisattva way, then one should take
up full vegetarianism.
