釋門自鏡錄 2.29.2

2.29.2

If renunciants drink alcohol and eat meat, the foul stench steams and billows up so that all good spirits depart far away, while all the hordes of Māra rejoice. This is the fifth way in which they are inferior to householders. Although householders also drink alcohol and eat meat, they ruin their own property and do not ruin the property of others; when renunciants drink alcohol and eat meat, they ruin the good teachings for themselves and ruin the field of merit for others. This is the sixth way in which they are inferior to householders. Although householders also drink alcohol and eat meat, it is entirely provided through their own efforts; when renunciants drink alcohol and eat meat, it is entirely from the donations of the faithful. This is the seventh way in which they are inferior to householders. Although householders also drink alcohol and eat meat, it is an ordinary sinful karma and nothing out of the ordinary; when renunciants drink alcohol and eat meat, the hordes of Māra and non-Buddhists all find their opportunity. This is the eighth way in which they are inferior to householders. Although householders also drink alcohol and eat meat, they still do not lose their worldly livelihoods—though those who are heavily mired in stupor fail even at this; when renunciants drink alcohol and eat meat, whether much or little, they utterly cut off the seed of Buddhahood. This is the ninth way in which they are inferior to householders. Furthermore, one who eats meat cuts off the seed of great benevolence. In general, great benevolence causes all sentient beings equally to attain peace and happiness. If one eats meat, all sentient beings become one's adversaries, and all are equally deprived of peace and happiness. If one eats meat, one strays far from the teachings of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, strays far from the bodhisattva's fruition of Buddhahood, and strays far from the teachings of bodhi and nirvāṇa. If one eats meat, it obstructs rebirth in the six desire heavens, not to mention the four dhyānas, the four formless attainments, the thirty-seven factors of awakening, and the six pāramitās; it also obstructs the four great vows, the four means of embracing, all samādhis, the five eyes, the ten powers, and even unsurpassed bodhi. Why is this? If one eats meat, it obstructs the bodhimind; there are no bodhisattva teachings, no four immeasurable minds, and no great benevolence or great compassion. Because of these causes and conditions, the lineage of the sons of the Buddha is broken. Therefore the sūtras state: 'One who eats meat cuts off the seed of great benevolence.' Although you renunciants may not be able to practice great benevolence and great compassion, bring bodhisattva practice to perfection, and accomplish unsurpassed bodhi, why can you not endure this rank stench and cultivate the path of the Two Vehicles? Even jackals, dogs, and foxes know to relish meat; humans possess the greatest understanding and surpass all sentient beings—why should you share in relishing such foul stench alongside these beasts? As stated before, these are all remote matters, not yet immediate and pressing. Venerable monks and nuns! If one devours sentient beings, this is the conduct of Māra and the seed of hell. It is the causal condition for terrifying loss of life, scorching, and boiling; it is having one's skin and flesh flayed and peeled, one's hands and feet hacked off, one's belly ripped open and bowels scooped out, one's marrow crushed and eyes gouged out; it is poverty, lowliness, freezing, starving, ugliness, deafness, blindness, muteness, lameness, crippled limbs, carbuncles, and ulcers. All painful suffering and all saṃsāra arise from this conduct, down to the Black Rope, Crying, cold and heat, and the immeasurable extreme torments of Avīci, hungry ghosts, and beasts—all are the result of killing karma received as such retribution. Furthermore, you should contemplate a great matter: if one devours the parents of sentient beings, sentient beings will also devour one's parents in retribution; if one devours their children, sentient beings will likewise devour one's children in retribution. In this way, adversaries devour each other in retribution through long kalpas and endless night without cessation. As a sūtra states: there was a woman who killed the young of a wolf for five hundred lifetimes, and the wolf also killed her children for five hundred lifetimes. There was also a woman who cut off the life-root of a ghost for five hundred lifetimes, and the ghost likewise cut off her life-root for five hundred lifetimes. This is spoken in the sūtras and cannot but be believed; the rest of reciprocal retribution can be understood by analogy. Furthermore, there is another great matter that ought to be faithfully accepted: from the beginningless past down to this present life, we have passed through the six destinies and undergone every kind of retribution. All our close relatives have pervaded every place; simply because of passing through births and undergoing deaths, our conscious spirits are separated by barriers so that these kin no longer recognize one another. Today's sentient beings may have previously been our fathers, mothers, teachers, elders, brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren, and friends, yet today we lack the power of the eye of the Way and cannot discern them. We turn around and devour each other without realizing it ourselves. At the time of being devoured, this creature possesses a spirit; it immediately conceives resentment and hatred, turning once again into an adversary. What was once a most intimate relative turns once again into a foremost adversary! How could one fail to contemplate such a matter? For the brief satisfaction of the tongue and palate, a momentary trifle of flavor, to become adversaries forever with past relatives—this is truly heartbreaking, beyond words! Furthermore, you should contemplate another matter: anyone who devours sentient beings makes enemies of all sentient beings in this manner. These enemies pervade the six destinies; if one wishes to practice, they all become obstacles and difficulties. There are two kinds: obstacles in principle, and obstacles in phenomena. What are obstacles in principle? Through the causal conditions of karma, obstacles and difficulties arise of themselves, causing this practitioner to be foolish and lacking in wisdom, ignorant of the essential escape and devoid of expedient means. Even if meeting a good friend, they cannot faithfully accept [their teachings]; even if they faithfully accept them, they cannot practice them. As for obstacles in phenomena: these adversaries may be among evil ghosts and venomous beasts, or among divine nāgas and heavenly māras; in such various places they come to create hindrances. Even if one meets a good friend and faithfully accepts [the Dharma] with deep resolve, just as one is about to practice, difficulties arise again: either they lead one into heterodox paths, or they torment one to confuse the mind. In cultivating morality, concentration, and wisdom, and in cultivating all merits, one is constantly impure and never fulfilled. All these are past adversaries raising various retaliatory obstacles. Such matters should also be contemplated deeply. Your disciple Xiao Yan again respectfully addresses the venerable monks and nuns: your disciple Xiao Yan, before the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha of the ten directions, joins with all monks and nuns to declare an oath. Today's assembly is a matter of great causes and conditions: not only are all Buddhas present here, and all the Dharma and Saṃgha present here, but the devas, the Four World-Protecting Kings, Guhyakapada Vajra, Maheśvara, General Saṃjñeya, and all the nāgas and spirits of the eight classes throughout the ten directions who possess great supernatural power and great majesty and virtue must all be present here, packing the empty sky. In this way, both the unseen and visible without exception observe and witness. The ancients had a saying: 'It is not knowledge that is difficult; the difficulty lies in putting it into practice.' Your disciple Xiao Yan shall today take the vow first to make clear my original resolve: from this day forward until reaching the bodhimanda, if I should drink alcohol, indulge in heedlessness, arouse lustful debauchery, deceive with false speech, devour sentient beings, or even drink milk, honey, butter, and curds, I vow that all ghosts and spirits shall first bitterly punish Xiao Yan's body, and then deliver me to King Yama of the hells to undergo various torments; even until all sentient beings have completely attained Buddhahood, may your disciple Xiao Yan remain in the Avīci Hell! If among the monks and nuns there are those who drink alcohol and eat meat—