Venerable Master Miao-Lien
In our monastery, there is a disciple whose daughter suffers from chronic headaches. When the headaches occur, the pain is so severe that she feels like killing herself by jumping off a building. It is not only ordinary people who cannot stand suffering and illness; when karmic retribution strikes, even extremely well-learned eminent monks and people of great virtue equally find the suffering hard to cope with.
There is such an incident described in The Biography of Dharma Master Xuanzang. Before Dharma Master Xuanzang met Treatise Master Silabhadra in India, Silabhadra was suffering from serious illness. At the onset of a pain episode, his whole body would feel like it was being stung by needles and burnt by fire; it was so paintul that it was virtually unbearable. Even though he knew that committing suicide was not the solution, when he found that he could no longer bear the excruciating pain, he often thought of dying to achieve liberation.
One night, three Bodhisattvas appeared in his dream. He saw Manjushri Bodhisattva in gold, Guan Yin Bodhisattva in lapis lazuli, and Maitreya Bodhisattva in silver.
Manjushri Bodhisattva told him, "Treatise Master Silabhadra, you must never commit suicide. Three years from now, a Dharma Master from China will come to learn the Great Dharma from you and then disseminate the Buddhadharma in China. For the sake of Buddhism, you must bear the pain and suftering from illness. Because you were a king in many of your past lives, and because you were fond of eating meat, you harmed too many lives. When you harm a life, you must repay with a life. But because of the great power of the virtues and merits that you have accumulated through cultivation and turning the Dharma Wheel, you have transformed severe karmic consequences into light retribution. You should now sincerely repent your sins and continue to propagate the Buddhadharma, and your bad karma will eventually disappear."
Three years later, Dharma Master Xuanzang, as foretold by the Bodhisattvas, arrived in India and sought to learn the Dharma from Treatise Master Silabhadra. Silabhadra instructed his disciple to tell Dharma Master Xuanzang about all the pain that he suffered from his illness and what the Bodhisattvas had told him in his dream. While telling the story, the disciple was in tears. Upon hearing what the disciple described, all members of the Sangha in the assembly sighed that the Law of Cause and Effect misses nothing. Dharma Master Xuanzang's feelings were a mix of joy and sadness, and he became more determined to diligently learn the Buddhadharma.
Look! Because Silabhadra craved meat in his past lives, when the time came, he had to bear the retribution of his bad karma. We practice the Buddha's teachings in order to be free from suffering and to gain happiness. As a Buddhist, if you continue to create bad causes, how will you be free from suffering and gain happiness? Therefore, you must refrain from killing and become a vegetarian.
Compassion for the animals aside, vegetarianism also looks out for our future so that we can avoid suffering from calamities and illness.
I hope that you understand cause and effect and are fearful of cause and effect. Change your habit of eating meat and fish. Don't be so daring and fearless, even in breaking the precepts. When karmic retribution strikes, you will not be able to handle it.
Let's think about it; if you punch me, l' ll kick you. Humans are like that. You not only kill animals, but also eat their flesh, drink their blood, and chew their bones. When the time comes for these bitter and deep-seated hatreds to mature, do you think they can forgive you?
By then, even if you kneel down and beg them, they will not forgive you. I hope that you all become vegetarians to avoid having to repay your debt of life, when all your crying and begging will come to no avail.
You enjoy eating meat and find it delicious now, but when the time comes to repay your debt and bear the consequences, don't blame
anyone for your misfortune. You should know that killing generates life debts that, in your present life, will shorten your life and afflict you with illnesses. The effect in the future is to fall into the Three Lower Realms. I urge you to refrain from killing in order to avoid dire consequences.
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