A female lay practitioner asked the old monk Miaofa for advice: She said that she had been suffering from heart disease for three or four years, and despite hospital treatment, it still got better and worse. I had a heart disease at such a young age, and my life felt much bleaker. Later, she was introduced by a layman and listened to Master’s lecture. She believed that not eating meat and not killing animals, and chanting Buddha’s name every day can make her heart recover, so she converted to Buddhism. But I wonder when her disease will be cured?
The master asked her with a smile: “You are not a vegetarian, are you?”
“I am a vegetarian, Master.”
“I think you are still eating fish, shrimp, and crab. You especially like to eat prawns. Not only do you like to eat them yourself, but you also recommend others to eat at a certain restaurant and promote the good shrimps there. Isn’t that right?”
The female lay practitioner shed tears when she listened to Master’s speech: “Oh, Master, fish, shrimps and crabs are considered meat! I always thought that I was a vegetarian.”
“What are fish, shrimps, and crabs not meat? Are they vegetables? Buddhists abstain from eating meat. Meat is the prefix for grass, which refers to things with pungent smells such as onions, garlic, leeks, onions, and garlic moss; fishy is next to the word meat, which means there is life. , animals with blood. Don’t fish, shrimp, and crab smell fishy? If you quit these, your disease will be cured.”
“Yes, Master, from now on I will never eat living animals again.”
“Buddhists not only abstain from killing, meat, tobacco and alcohol themselves, but they are also not allowed to introduce others to where to eat meat, smoke or drink, and they are not allowed to deal in these things. Because selling tobacco, alcohol and meat for others to eat and use is also It’s a crime. Just like you don’t smoke cigarettes but sell them to others to smoke, it’s also a crime. So you have to repent well.”
“Master, this time I understand. Not only will I become a vegetarian myself from now on, but I will never recommend meat to others again.”
I couldn’t help but interrupt and ask her: “Does your heart feel better?”
She was stunned for a moment, and after understanding what I said, she said happily after a while: “Wow, it’s really comfortable! I haven’t felt like this in a long time!”
“Being a vegetarian and believing in Buddhism is not only to cure diseases, but also to understand and practice the great principles of the universe and life. For example, the “Heart Sutra”, “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Original Vow Sutra”, “Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Treasure Sutra” and “Liang Huang’s Treasure Confession” must be You should take a look at it. There is also the “Surangama Sutra”, which is a sutra that opens up wisdom. If you understand this sutra, especially the “Four Pure Instructions” and “Fifty Kinds of Evil Demons” it talks about “The two parts of the content can not only identify one’s own mistakes, but also reveal whether all people’s behavior conforms to the standards of dharma. Therefore, only by reading more scriptures can we increase our wisdom. “
The teachings given by the old monk Miaofa made all those who listened to the Dharma gain new enlightenment and were filled with Dharma joy.
