法苑珠林 93.49

93.49

The fourth clarifies that practitioners with a mind of loving-kindness and few desires should not eat meat. As that sūtra states: "A bodhisattva, seeking escape from birth and death, should single-mindedly reflect upon practices of loving-kindness and compassion, having few desires and being content, weary of the sufferings of the world, and swiftly seeking liberation. If they abandon noise and bustle and go to an empty and quiet place, dwelling in a śmaśāna, an araṇya, among charnel grounds or under trees, sitting alone in contemplation, they view all worlds as having nothing enjoyable, viewing wives, children, and kin as shackles, viewing palaces and pavilions as prisons, viewing all precious jewels as piles of dung, viewing all food and drink as pus and blood, and receiving food and drink as applying ointment to an ulcerated sore. They seek merely to stay alive, fixing their mindfulness on the noble path, and not out of greed for flavours. Wine, meat, onions, leeks, garlic, shallots, and pungent flavours are all abandoned and not eaten. If one is like this, one is a true cultivator, worthy of receiving the offerings of all humans and devas. If one does not give rise to disgust and renunciation toward the world, but is greedily attached to all flavours, consuming wine, meat, and pungent herbs, one should not receive the faithful alms of the world."