Four Precepts for Acquiring the Purity of Mind, Body and Speech
The Second Precept: No Killing
“Ananda, if beings in the six realms can stop killing, never even give rise to the idea of killing, they will stop being bound to the endless cycles of death and rebirth. If one continues to kill, or even just thinks of killing, then no matter how much effort they put into Samadhi practice, they will forever be kept in bondage to worldly entanglements. Even those who are skillful in entering Samadhi will surely fall into the realm of spirits upon rebirth if they don’t renounce all killing. The highest-ranking ones will be reborn as ghosts of great power, the middle ones as flying yaksas, and the lowest ones will become earth-bound raksasas. All these spirits will tell their followers that they have attained perfect enlightenment. After my nirvana, during the Dharma ending age, such spirits will sweep across the world like wildfire, making the claim that eating meat would assist in traveling the Bodhi Path.
“Ananda, I instruct the bhiksus to eat meat only under five circumstances that do not compromise purity, and those meat are produced by my transcendental power, not from live animals. Brahmans live in a country so damp and hot that grains and veggies do not grow. It is out of great compassion and transcendental power I provide you with food that tastes like meat. However, after my nirvana, people eat the flesh of sentient beings and call themselves the disciples of Sakyamuni! You should know that these meat-eaters will definitely fall into the suffering ocean of samsara, even if they may gain a semblance of Samadhi, in the end they are just reborn as raksasas. Such people kill and devour each other and keep repeating the cycle ceaselessly, how could they ever get out of the Three Realms (the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm)? They are not disciples of the Buddha!
“Therefore, Ananda, you should teach worldly people who practice Samadhi not to kill. This is the second precept, most definitive and clear, established by all the Buddhas of the past. Practicing meditation without renouncing killing is like shouting with one’s own ears covered thus hoping no one else would hear. It is pointless trying to conceal what is already exposed.
“Bodhisattvas and monks with pure mind wouldn’t even step on the grass, let alone to uproot it. How could it be called compassionate if you feed on other beings’ blood and flesh? If monks refrain from wearing garments made of silk or boots made of leather and furs, and refrain from consuming dairy products, they will surely be liberated from this Saha World. After paying off their debts from previous lifetimes, they will be able to stop transmigrating in the Three Realms of existence (the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm). Why? Because by using animal products, one creates causes and thereby also effects. I can affirm that a person who refrains from taking advantage of other beings is someone who will gain true liberation. This is the Buddhas’ teaching. Anything other than this must be coming from Mara (the king of demons).”
阿難又諸世界六道眾生其心不殺。則不隨其生死相續。汝修三昧本出塵勞。殺心不除塵不可出。縱有多智禪定現前。如不斷殺必落神道。上品之人為大力鬼。中品即為飛行夜叉諸鬼帥等。下品尚為地行羅剎。彼諸鬼神亦有徒眾。各各自謂成無上道。我滅度後末法之中。多此神鬼熾盛世間。自言食肉得菩提路。阿難我令比丘食五淨肉。此肉皆我神力化生本無命根。汝婆羅門地多蒸濕。加以沙石草菜不生。我以大悲神力所加。因大慈悲假名為肉。汝得其味。奈何如來滅度之後。食眾生肉名為釋子。汝等當知是食肉人縱得心開似三摩地。皆大羅剎。報終必沈生死苦海非佛弟子。如是之人相殺相吞相食未已。云何是人得出三界。汝教世人修三摩地次斷殺生。是名如來先佛世尊。第二決定清淨明誨。是故阿難若不斷殺修禪定者。譬如有人自塞其耳。高聲大叫求人不聞。此等名為欲隱彌露。清淨比丘及諸菩薩。於岐路行不踏生草。況以手拔。云何大悲取諸眾生血肉充食。若諸比丘不服東方絲綿絹帛。及是此土靴覆裘毳乳酪醍醐。如是比丘於世真脫。酬還宿債不遊三界。何以故服其身分皆為彼緣。如人食其地中百穀。足不離地必使身心。於諸眾生若身身分。身心二途不服不食。我說是人真解脫者。如我此說名為佛說。不如此說即波旬說。
Buddha Mind 