There is a plot in "Water Margin" where Lu Zhishen fled to Mount Wutai and became a monk after beating Zhen Guanxi to death with three punches, and took the Buddhist name Zhishen. However, he did not abide by the precepts and made a scene in Wenshu Monastery by drinking and eating meat.
Monks are not allowed to eat meat. Lu Zhishen is naturally not allowed to drink alcohol and eat meat. Because he is not bound by Buddhist precepts, he is called "Flower Monk".
Monks can eat meat
In fact, according to Buddhist teachings, it is allowed to eat meat.
It is said in the "Surangama Sutra" that the first disciples who followed the Buddha to become monks and begged for food would inevitably encounter meat.
In order to make it easier for all living beings to gain blessings, and to accommodate some monks who were temporarily unable to stop eating meat, the Buddha used his divine power to transform meat for them to eat. Later, the Hinayana people always ate the three pure meats, while the Mahayana people did not eat them at all. In some places, because of the special geographical environment and lack of vegetation, people have no choice but to eat meat.
Nowadays, monks in other countries eat meat. Why are Chinese monks the only ones who are strictly vegetarian?
This is actually related to Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang, a Buddhist fanatic. Before Emperor Wu of Liang, Chinese Buddhists also ate the three pure meats.
Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty decided to become a vegetarian when he was reading the Lankavatara Sutra. The Buddha said: "Bodhisattvas are so merciful and compassionate that they cannot bear to eat the flesh of living beings." Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty was very moved, so he took the initiative to become a vegetarian.
Because he is the great protector of Buddhism and he eats vegetarian food, of course the monks will respond. Later monks also responded that this was the beginning of vegetarianism in Chinese Buddhism.
"Meat" is not meat
When we talk about abstaining from meat and eating meat every day, "meat" actually does not refer to meat.
Meat is called "fishy", and the "Brahma Net Sutra" explains it more specifically: "If a Buddhist is not allowed to eat the five pungents. Garlic, green onions, green onions, orchids, and Xingqu are the five pungents." Meat is these five vegetables.
The word meat begins with the word grass instead of next to the word meat. This shows that the original meaning of meat is a plant rather than an animal.
We all know the other four of the five elements, but most of us don’t know what “Xingqu” is.
Xingqu is the transliteration of Sanskrit. The Vatican Net Sutra says that "it came from Khotan and was not produced in China." Khotan is now Xinjiang and Khotan, and it probably originated in the Middle East and Persia.
It also has many unpronounceable names, such as Xingjiu, Xingyi, Xingyu, Xinggu, etc., all of which are based on the transliteration of the Sanskrit name. The most commonly used explanation now is that it is a tall herbaceous plant. Produced in Xinjiang, Tibet, India, Iran and other places. Some people think it’s curry, while others say it’s onions.
Then why should we abstain from eating five kinds of meat?
Meat and other vegetables are plants, but they have a pungent taste. The Buddhist scriptures say that eating cooked food in large amounts and regularly can increase people's lust, while eating it raw can increase people's jealousy. If Buddhist practitioners have desires, they will cloud their wisdom, increase their ignorance, act in ignorance, and create all kinds of bad karma.
Monks have more alms than Taoist priests
Who has more alms, monks or Taoist priests?
In "Journey to the West" we often hear Tang Monk saying to Sun Wukong: "Wukong, go and make some vegetarian food for your teacher!" This gave us a misunderstanding, thinking that when a monk goes to beg for alms, he is Go and ask others for food. In fact, begging for alms is a monk's patent, which is to help people with destiny.
Buddhism pays attention to "condition", which is the "root of wisdom". Not everyone can enter the Buddhist Dharma Eyes.
Their education needs to be rewarded, which is to take care of their food. In addition, the reason why monks make alms is to eliminate the negative impact of saving money and reduce the possibility of money giving rise to greed.
Taoist priests generally do not go out to beg for food. Apart from betraying Taoist rules and studying scriptures and magic, Taoist priests also have crafts. When they go out for a walk, they can earn income from their crafts, and exchange these money and goods for food. Feng shui, fortune telling and medical treatment are all special skills of Taoist priests. Without these skills based on the world, there is no need to knock on the door and hold out the alms bowl to ask for food to fill the stomach.
So it seems that there are more monks going for alms than Taoists!
We have developed fixed mindsets about many of the things we are accustomed to doing in our daily lives.
By tracing back to the source, we can get closer to the truth behind it!
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Article author: Dongye
Lengxiang Xiaozhuyu Zi No. 6 member, contracted editor
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