Liberating Animals
I am very, very fond of all types of animals. I don’t like them to be hurt or abused or slaughtered or eaten. I don’t like that and I feel that when we hurt animals, it is a sign of cowardice because we are more powerful than them.
So it is due to our cowardice and our lack of courage that we abuse animals. Maybe in the past, food, nutrients and resources and all that was very limited. But now in the modern world especially in our country here, food resources are very, very plentiful. So we can get our nutrients and proteins and whatever our body needs from all other sources and we don’t need to harm any animals. The tradition in China of praying and dedicating themselves to Kuan Yin and never harming an animal by taking flesh or bringing flesh into the temple is one of the best traditions I have ever heard of. If you believe in Shakyamuni, Amitabha, Kuan Yin, Manjushri, their nature is the same – not to harm others.
The first fundamental step is developing ‘Tzepei’ or compassion, the first fundamental step is outward. Outwardly take vows, when we take vows, we restrict our body, speech and mind from doing actions that will be contrary to becoming close with these Enlightened Being by nature and physically as well. Close by nature means to develop their character and physically close means to have visions and see them. In Buddhism, when we say get close to a god or get close to a Buddha, there are two ways of looking at it. One is physically close, they are guarding you and they are always around you. The real close is to become like them, to share their nature. That is the ultimate closeness that we wish to gather from an enlightened being such as Kuan Yin or Manjushri.
Therefore, one of the vows we take is not eating meat.
People say Shakyamuni ate meat, so if Shakyamuni eats meat, it means we can eat meat. But Shakyamuni did a lot of things that we can copy but it won’t have the same result. Example a great cook is in a restaurant cutting very fast. I can’t go in there and copy, I will cut my fingers up. It may look like it but it is not the same
People say Shakyamuni ate meat, so if Shakyamuni eats meat, it means we can eat meat. But Shakyamuni did a lot of things that we can copy but it won’t have the same result?
Shakyamuni, Manjushri, Kuan Yin are enlightened. Action that is associated with them will benefit that sentient being, even eating their flesh. Because Buddha is not eating from desire or attachment, Buddha is eating because if someone offered out of great compassion, it benefits that sentient being. So therefore, if we purposely kill and offer Buddha, of course that is not advisable but if it is already dead and that’s from their heart and they offer, it is okay.
The karma that they kill to offer the Buddha is there but there is also good karma from offering to the Buddha. So it will benefit the animal and the being but that is not saying you should go and kill to offer to the Buddha. So for example, if we eat flesh, there is a mantra we recite. We can recite the mantra of the medicine Buddha- Tayatha Om Behkanze Behkanze Maha Behkanze Behkanze Radza Samogate Soha, Chenrezig or Kuan Yin – Om Mani Padme Hum.
Blow it on the flesh and it will help the animal to take a good rebirth. So if blowing the mantra onto the animal’s flesh will benefit the animal then, if the flesh is eaten by the Buddha, there will be tremendous benefit. So you recite Om Mani Padme Hum on the flesh before eating and it benefits the flesh, that means the power of the mantra is as high as the power of the being the mantra represents which, in this case, is Kuan Yin.
In the Sutras, it is said that animals don’t have the capacity to understand Dharma. But by the power of the Dharma, is condensed into sound when it is uttered in a mantra. When you recite and the animal hears it, when you recite and you blow on the animal directly or indirectly, it plants the seeds of Dharma inside their minds and streams through their bodies.
So the Buddha speech arises from his attainments. Then the attainments arise in the form of sound and sound becomes words. The words become meaning and the meaning is called Dharma. Why is it called Dharma? Because Dharma is transformation but the transformation starts from hearing the attainment in the form of sound. That is why mantras and chakras have a lot of power. So different mantras represent different forms of enlightenment.
Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
http://kechara.com
Fulfilling his previous lives’ prayers. His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche chose to take rebirth amongst difficult circumstances to be close to those who would need him most.
Recognised by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 72nd Abbot of Gaden Shartse, Gedun Nyedrak, His Eminence’s spiritual lineage actually begins as one of the eight main disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founding saint of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Kechara House Buddhist Association Malaysia, affectionately known as Kechara House or KH, is a Buddhist Centre founded in 2000 by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche of Gaden Shartse Monastery to avail the ancient wisdom of Buddha’s teachings to practitioners in Malaysia and the surrounding regions. Buddha’s wisdom has timeless and universal relevance, and can be practised by anyone in any culture, regardless of nationality, gender or age.
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