A certain Mr. Jin from Qiantang was a devout practitioner who strictly observed precepts. After dying of illness, he sent a message to his family through a medium, “My accumulation of merits was insufficient for rebirth in the Pure Land because the time I observed the precepts was too short. Now I am in the lower realm, still having the leisure to roam around though.”
Later, he sent another message to reproach his wife: “Why did you kill a chicken to offer with the ritual meal at my grave? Now a jailer is following me everywhere and I don’t get to be as free as before!”
His daughter-in-law was pregnant at the time, so his family asked him to foretell the outcome, and he told them, “She will give birth to a healthy boy. Next time she will bear a son too, but both mother and son will die.” I noted down his predictions, just so to see if they would come true.
Before long, his daughter-in-law gave birth to a son. Then she got pregnant again and gave birth to another boy, but this time both mother and son died. Thus, everything he spoke turns out to be accurate. Sacrificing animals to offer in rituals – even if it’s in the name of honoring your loved ones – is actually creating bad karma for your family!
by Grand Master Lian Chi (蓮池大師), the Eighth Patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism
為父母殺生 – 錄自明末蓮池大師《竹窗隨筆》(初筆)
錢塘金某者，齋戒虔篤。以疾卒，附一童子云:「善業日淺，未得往生淨土，今在陰界，然亦甚樂，去住自由。」一日呵其妻子云:「何故為吾墳墓事，殺雞為黍? 今有吏隨我，稍不似前之自由矣!」子婦懷妊，因問之。則曰:「當生男無恙。過此復當生男，則母子雙逝。」予謹記之，以候應否。俄而生男。復妊，復生男，男隨斃，母亦隨斃。乃知一一語皆不謬。然則為父母殺生，孝子豈為之乎!
Buddha Mind 