Moonpointer : Buddhist Vegan Fellowship

• Peta / Karremann

by Ajahn Brahmavamso, taken from Living Vegan

I arrived early to lead my meditation class in a low-security prison. A crim who I had never seen before was waiting to speak with me. He was a giant of a man with bushy hair and beard and tattooed arms; the scars on his face told me he’d been in many a violent fight. He looked so fearsome that I wondered why he was coming to learn meditation. He wasn’t the type. I was wrong of course.

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Rev. Heng Sure, PhD, talks about compassion, humanity, friends and family.

In this regard, we find accounts of how Acharya Asanga spent twelve years in meditation to have a vision of Buddha Maitreya. He exerted so much throughout those years but still he could not have a vision. He lost heart and came out of his meditation cave. He was walking towards town when all of a sudden, he came across a female dog totally infected by maggots on the lower part of her body. She was being eaten away by thousands and thousands of maggots. Asanga felt so much compassion towards the maggots and towards the female dog. He was wondering how to relieve both the maggots and the female dog. The maggots themselves are so delicate that to pick them up with the hand will kill them instantly.

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From His Holiness 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje
By Vin Harris

Bodhgaya – Full moon day 3rd January 2007 was the last day of the 24th Kagyu Monlam. In the shade of the Bodhi Tree, seat of Enlightenment of One Thousand Buddhas, Orgyen Trinley Dorje the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa gave this teaching on the benefits of not eating meat. Over 6,000 people were present. The teaching was heard by Lineage Holders, Rinpoches, Lamas, Ordained Sangha and lay practitioners who had travelled from many countries including Tibet, Nepal, India, Taiwan, Korea, Burma, USA, Canada, Russia and all parts of Europe.

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Transcribed excerpt from Venerable Tenzin Palmo’s Talk “Karma & Rebirth”, held at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery on 5th June 2005 :

“And ‘killing’. You know? I mean, I do think, yes, in Singapore, we have to think about this. That you can say, ‘Alright, I don’t kill anything. I, you know, I don’t kill. I live in a town. I don’t need to kill anything.’ But, even by taking meat, we are colluding in allowing animals to be killed. And I think that as Buddhists, people on the spiritual path, we should think about this. Because if there is no demand, then there will be no cause to kill the animals.

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By His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche

As a Buddhist, we practice so as to benefit self and others hence we do the six-syllable mantra practice. However, when we eat meat be it chicken, pork, fish or eggs in our daily lives, we are creating immense negative karma. If on the one hand, we chant the mantra and on the other hand, we eat the meat of mother sentient beings, then our words and actions do not tally with one another. We are not doing as we preach. Can this be considered as loving kindness and compassion towards sentient beings? Is this doing good and abstaining from evil?

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野狐解脱
Wild Fox’s Liberation

民国二十五年（岁次丙子九十七岁）老和尚在南华放春期戒坛毕，曹溪驻防军第十团团长林国赓送来毛泽光润白狐一头，对老和尚说: ‘这狐来历颇奇，初于广州白云山被打猎的人所捕获，后来广州拆城，开马路，该狐从城垣逃出，又被捕，友人以四十元买得，本想煮食充补品，因见那狐双目炯炯有光，且解人意，不忍杀，送至广州动物园中。
In 1936, Venerable Xuyun (then 97 years old) emerged from a spring precept ceremony at Nanhua. The commander of the 10th Regiment then defending Caoxi [note: from where the Caoxi sect within the Chan tradition originated], Lin Guogeng, presented him with a fox covered with shining white fur, and told the Venerable, “This fox has had an unusual history. He was first caught by a hunter at Mount Baiyun in Guangzhou, but later escaped through the city walls when the old city was torn down to make way for roads. He was then captured again, and was bought by a friend for forty dollars. Initially planning to cook him for a tonic, he could not bring himself to kill him when he saw his bright eyes, and his almost human-like demeanour. He subsequently sent him to the Guangzhou Zoo.

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八哥念佛
Mynah Recites the Buddha’s Name

中华民国元年（岁次壬子七十三岁）老和尚在云南组织佛教分会，是年在佛教会中有乡人送来一个八哥鸟放生，该鸟已能说话，老和尚说皈依后教他念佛，即不吃荤，非常驯良，自知出入，日常念佛及观音菩萨圣号，从未间断。
In the first year of the Republic of China, Venerable Xuyun (then around 73 years old) founded a Buddhist society in Yunnan. That year, a countryman from the Buddhist society brought a mynah to the temple for liberation. This particular mynah was able to speak, so Venerable Xuyun recited the Threefold Refuges to the mynah and taught him to recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. Since then, the mynah only took vegetarian food and become extremely docile. He was very self-aware and daily recited not only the Buddha’s name, but Avalokiteshrva Bodhisattva’s name non-stop too.

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黄牛皈依
Yellow Cow Took ThreeFold Refuges (21st Wonder)

老和尚（岁次己酉七十岁）运经到腾冲寓万寿寺时，正在与提督张松林坐谈的时候，忽一黄牛奔至座前，跪下，双目流泪，随后牛主杨胜昌率领多人到寺，要将牛牵回屠杀。
While Venerable Xuyun (around 70 years of age) was at Teng Chong Yu Wan Shou Moastery chatting with Prefect Zhang Song Lin, an ox suddenly rushed to the front of Venerable Xuyun, kneeled down and burst into tears. Shortly, the owner of the cow, Yang Sheng Chang, who was leading many people, arrived at the monastery, wanting to recapture the cow for the slaughterhouse to kill her.

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