龍舒增廣淨土文 9.12

9.12

佛告大慧菩薩云：「有無量因緣，不應食肉，我今為汝略說。謂一切眾生從本以來，展轉因緣常為六親，以親想故不應食肉。不淨氣分所生長故，不應食肉。眾生聞氣悉皆恐怖，故不應食肉。令修行者不慈殺故，不應食肉。凡愚所嗜臭穢不淨無善名稱故，不應食肉。令諸呪術不成就故，不應食肉。以殺生者見形起識，深味著故，不應食肉。彼食肉者諸天所棄故，不應食肉。令口氣臭故，不應食肉。多惡夢故，不應食肉。空閑林中虎狼聞香故，不應食肉。令人飲食無節量故，不應食肉。令修行者不生厭離，不應食肉。我常說言：凡所飲食，作食子肉想、作服藥想，不應食肉。聽食肉者，無有是處。大慧！凡諸殺者，為財利故殺生屠販。彼諸愚癡食肉眾生，以錢為網而捕諸肉。彼殺生者，若以財物、若以釣網，取彼空行水陸眾生，種種殺害，屠販求利。大慧！亦無不教不求不想而有魚肉，以是義故不應食肉。」佛復說偈略云：「為利殺眾生，以財網諸肉，二俱是惡業，死墮叫呼獄。若無教想求，則無三淨肉，彼非無因有，是故不應食。酒肉葱韮蒜，悉為聖道障，食肉無慈悲，永背正解脫，及違聖表相，是故不應食。」眾生肉本非所食之物，以耳聞目見慣熟，不知其非。如能斷肉，固為上也。如不能斷，且食三淨肉而減省食，若兼味且去其一，如兩飡皆肉，且一飡以素。人生祿料有數，若此自可延壽。如早晨食素，其利甚多：一省業緣；二可清淨；三不妨善業；四至晚食葷時，不至厭此而欲彼。如此自可延壽。若以食素為難，宜以食葷之費為素食，則易行而可持久。若縱口腹之欲，亦無了期。語曰「世上欲無刀兵劫，須是眾生不食肉。」斯言可不畏哉？不免食三淨肉者，次日可為所食之肉眾生，念西方四聖號并真言，以資薦往生，庶幾可釋冤滅罪。據閻羅王告鄭隣之言，則至誠念四聖號以追薦者必得往生。詳載在第八卷。三淨肉，不見殺、不聞殺、不疑為己殺，及自死、鳥殘，為五淨肉。

The Buddha told Mahāmati Bodhisattva: "There are immeasurable causes and conditions why one should not eat meat; I shall now explain them briefly for you. All sentient beings, from the beginningless past, through recurring causes and conditions, have continually been our six kinds of relatives; because of regarding them as kin, one should not eat meat. Because it is generated and grown from impure secretions, one should not eat meat. Because sentient beings who catch the scent are all terrified, one should not eat meat. Because it causes practitioners to lack compassion and to kill, one should not eat meat. Because it is craved by the foolish and ordinary, foul-smelling, impure, and without good reputation, one should not eat meat. Because it causes spells not to be accomplished, one should not eat meat. Because those who take life arouse perception upon seeing forms and deeply crave flavors, one should not eat meat. Because those who eat meat are abandoned by the devas, one should not eat meat. Because it makes the breath foul, one should not eat meat. Because it causes many nightmares, one should not eat meat. Because in secluded forests tigers and wolves catch its scent, one should not eat meat. Because it causes a person's eating and drinking to lack measure and restraint, one should not eat meat. Because it prevents practitioners from generating disgust and renunciation, one should not eat meat. I always say: whenever consuming food or drink, one should view it as eating the flesh of one's own child, or view it as taking medicine; one should not eat meat. To permit the eating of meat is utterly impossible. Mahāmati! All killers slaughter and peddle for the sake of wealth and profit. Those foolish, meat-eating sentient beings use money as a net to capture meat. Those killers, whether by means of wealth or by fishing hooks and nets, take those airborne, aquatic, and terrestrial beings, killing and harming them in various ways, slaughtering and peddling for profit. Mahāmati! Nor is there fish or meat obtained without instruction, without seeking, and without intention; for this reason one should not eat meat." The Buddha further spoke verses, stating briefly: "Killing sentient beings for profit / and using wealth to net meat, / both are evil karmas; / at death one falls into the Screaming Hell. / If there were no instruction, intention, or seeking, / there would be no 'meat pure in three ways'; / since it does not exist without cause, / therefore one should not eat it. / Liquor, meat, scallions, leeks, and garlic / are all hindrances to the noble path. / Eating meat lacks compassion, / eternally turning away from right liberation, / and violating the noble marks; / therefore one should not eat it." The flesh of sentient beings is fundamentally not something to be eaten; through habituation from what is heard by ear and seen by eye, one does not know its wrongness. If one can cut off meat, it is certainly best. If one cannot cut it off, one should temporarily eat meat pure in three ways and reduce one's consumption; if one has multiple dishes, remove one of them, and if both meals contain meat, have one meal be vegetarian. A person's provisions and emoluments have a fixed measure; by doing this, one can naturally extend one's life. If one eats vegetarian food in the morning, the benefits are very numerous: first, it reduces karmic conditions; second, it can keep one pure; third, it does not hinder good deeds; fourth, by the time one eats meat in the evening, one will not come to despise the former and crave the latter. By doing this, one can naturally extend one's life. If one finds eating vegetarian difficult, one should spend the cost of non-vegetarian food on vegetarian meals; then it is easy to practice and can be maintained for a long time. If one indulges the desires of mouth and stomach, there will be no end to it. A proverb says: "If one wishes for there to be no kalpas of weapons and warfare in the world, sentient beings must not eat meat." Are these words not something to be feared? Those who cannot avoid eating meat pure in three ways may, on the following day, recite the names of the Four Holy Ones of the West and the dhāraṇī for the sentient beings whose meat was eaten, in order to assist their rebirth, hoping thereby to resolve grievances and extinguish sins. According to King Yama's words to Zheng Lin, those who recite the names of the Four Holy Ones with utmost sincerity to dedicate merit will certainly attain rebirth. This is recorded in detail in fascicle eight. Meat pure in three ways is: not seen killed, not heard killed, and not suspected of being killed for oneself; adding to these meat from naturally dead animals and remnants left by birds makes meat pure in five ways.