To be or not to be a vegetarian

To be or not to be a vegetarian

I really don’t want to write about this but there are people asking me or having a go at me because I am a vegetarian.

Yesterday my workmate, who calls herself as a long term Buddhist (with more than 30 years practise in Buddhism), had a go on me because I am a vegetarian. This is not her first time. This is the Nth time she has done it. She asked me whether I knew there are many enlightened human who are/were not vegetarian. She confronted me and asked me if I knew that although people can be vegetarian but do bad deeds. That being a vegetarian does not make me a good Buddhist. That often vegetarians will suffer from vitamin deficiencies….

On the other hand, my other friend who is also a Buddhist is absolutely baffled at why some monks eat meat whilst others don’t. Does that mean she needs to cook meat to offerings to cater for monks who do eat meat? Some monks say we shouldn’t be attached to being a vegetarian; we should eat what is convenient for us.

I have to make a stand here. Firstly I am vegetarian not because of religion. I was a vegetarian long before I called myself a Buddhist. I am a vegetarian because I don’t want to cause harm to others. I saw a movie clip in the slaughter house and I also read many articles about how people farm their animals. That is the reason I became a vegetarian. I take no precept in this. I eat anything with no face. I make no fuss when I find my food has onion, garlic or leek although I don’t like their smell. Unlike some Buddhists they won’t eat food with this type of vegetable. I am a vegetarian not because I want to be enlightened.

Secondly I am vegetarian because there is choice that I can make. You can say I am attached to this. Whenever I am presented a choice, I will choose vegetables. When there are occasions where people present me with vegetables with meat I will eat the vegetables and leave the meat for others. I make no fuss in this as long as people don’t force me to swallow down the things that I don’t want to swallow. Finally I have been vegetarian for more than ten years and haven’t had any vitamin deficiencies. This also applies to my children.

I know in the Tipitaka, there are some texts regarding with what meat the Buhikku should eat. Here is one of them: Majjhima Nikaya 55.5 The passage reads as follows: "I say that there are three instances in which meat should not be eaten: when it is seen, heard, or suspected that the living being has been slaughtered for the bhikkhu. I say that meat should not be eaten in these three instances. I say that there are three instances in which meat may be eaten: when it is not seen, not heard, and not suspected, that the living being has been slaughtered for the bhikkhu."

We can argue at Buddha’s time, Buddha didn’t say lay/monk/nun couldn’t consume meat. We can say I am not guilty as I do not kill but you are killing the animal indirectly. Why? The reason is because if there is a demand then someone must supply. If we consume meat then there is a demand for meat on the shelf for us to buy. Okay we can say I didn’t ask you to slaughter the animal for me; I didn’t hear when you slaughter the animal and I didn’t see you slaughter the animal. But because we buy it, so someone has needed to slaughter. Someone has to do this dirty job for us because we consume meat.

Why can’t we see this instead of pestering about being vegetarian and the meat issue? If we want to eat meat then accept it and EAT. We don’t need to find excuses and have a go at others. I never have a go on people who eat meat or who are meat lovers. So what if a person’s eating habits is different from us. Being a vegetarian is my personal choice and I don’t need to tell people why I want to be a vegetarian for DOG’s sake. (You may ask why I wrote this article even though I don't want to tell people why I am a vegetarian. The nature of this article is quite contradictory but long over due.)

02/11/2011

人在江湖身不由己

人在江湖身不由己

You can't always do as you like, one has to compromise in this world.

This is load of shit when people say this! My brothers keep using this as an excuse for not doing their duties. Mum was sick last week; she needed people to nurse her by her bedside. I was there 7 nights sleeping on the armchair and yet my own brothers told me “They can’t always do as they like once they have family of their own.” Am I not married? Do I not have children of my own? My children are much younger than anyone of theirs. Do I not have a fulltime job? I needed to ring up my boss to ask for carer’s leave. I had to leave my children home alone. My eldest brother is retired at home; lives next door of my parents’ home but could not even look after mum for a night. This is bullshit!

Whoever says “You can't always do as you like, one has to compromise in this world.” is finding an excuse. An obstacle doesn’t have to stop us. If we face it, accept it, work on it and overcome it. We can find time if we want to. Nothing can stop us if we want to do something, unless we are not willing to do it, we can do it. I compromise in this world and still find my own way to do things I ought to do. Nothing is impossible if we want to do it, we can do it.

The teachings from Bhikkhu Dae In in Shravasti

In the little quiet town, Shravasti, we arrived at a peaceful and humble Korean Temple. During our stay in this Korean Temple, we were fortunate to listen to a Dharma talk from Master Dae In. Master Dae In explained how our mind is like the sky. When the sky becomes dimmed by clouds, it is known as our troubled mind. As humans, we exert our brains beyond our limits. We become delusional as we allow our thoughts to roam endlessly. Clouds come and go in the sky, yet when thoughts arrive into our mind we naturally grasp on to them. That is why we are not happy.

Today, many people crave to attend and rush to some guru in Bodh Gaya. Many have forgotten the true nature of the guru. If this guru passed away, who are they going to chase after? We need to remember one thing: we all have Buddha nature. We don’t need to run after anyone. We need to ask ourselves ‘who am I?’ We need to understand ourselves. Through meditation, one can reveal oneself. Following our troubled mind will only bring us suffering and unhappiness. One must have a calm, silent and clear mind.

How to perceive beggars?
There are two things one must understand:
1) We all have Buddha nature, including beggars. In fact, beggars are also human beings. We discriminate ourselves as Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and so on. When we cremate our body, can we distinguish whether the ashes are from a beggar, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean or from a particular person? In terms of Buddha nature, we are all the same. However, our conditions are different. Why are there beggars? Why am I not a beggar? Why are we different? Our karma can explain our differences from each other.

One needs to remember our Buddha nature. It is just like a flower. A flower is a flower. However, when we become judgmental we identify them as roses, orchids, lilies and many more. A flower is like Buddha nature and a rose is a flower. Orchid is a flower. Lily is a flower. In this respect, a beggar has Buddha nature. We all have Buddha nature.

2) Knowing in our heart that we can give, yet one may choose not to when they see a beggar, they are a beggar themselves. If we do not embrace a compassionate heart and willing to donate, we are beggar ourselves. Although we may not appear to be a beggar but our mind is like a beggar. Instead of giving, we are only keeping and protecting selfishly what we have. When we see a beggar, we need to embody a compassionate and a willing to donate mind. We need to learn to open our heart for others. We do not need to linger thoughts of how they can escape poverty; whether from their generation to next generation. When we give money to a beggar, we have to feel fortunate and thankful for this opportunity to offer. We must thank them for opening our hearts and nurturing our compassionate heart. If we had no beggars, where would we find the opportunity to give and cultivate our compassionate heart? It is just like if the world had no suffering beings. How can a Bodhisattva accomplish their vows? Although we might believe that beggars are suffering immensely, Bodhisattvas perceive all of us as suffering beings.

Before leaving the Korean temple, Master Dae In gave us the final teaching- Silence. Silence is the best Dharma. Some may be confused and wonder why. Silence gives us the opportunity to reflect upon ourselves in a serene and silent tone. With this mind we can live out a better life on a daily basis.

Amla - Phyllanthus emblica (syn. Emblica officinalis)( 余甘子)

Amla, better known as Indian Gooseberry, is widely used in the Ayurvedic medicine (a traditional medicine system in India) system of India. Amla is extremely rich in vitamin C, having thirty percent more than oranges. It’s packed with many vitamins, minerals, tannins and other helpful nutrients. Amla also works well for inflammation. It is a good anti-inflammatory for joints especially. This potent herb is also used to reduce fevers, strengthen the heart, control blood sugar, treat urinary tract infections and improve eyesight. (reference from http://www.herbslist.net/amla.html)

On the way to Vulture Peak, Thay bought some amla fruits for us because we all had sore throat. Thay told us Indians use this fruit as a herbal medicine to cure sore throat. The taste of amla is incredible. The taste of amla fruit is sour, bitter, sharp, astringent, and it is quite fibrous but the after taste is incredibly sweet. The sweet sensation lingered in my throat and between my teeth, it was amazing. I was dumbfounded by how the fruit soothed my throat.

In my opinion, a person who embodies the sentiments of an amla is one who faces their hardships with persistence and courage. Despite of meeting many adversities in one’s life, one will eventually taste the sweetness of success. I believe the meaning of this fruit correlates to the life of the Buddha. Siddhartha gave up his luxurious life and lived as an ascetic for six years. During those six years he practiced with all his might, seeking the answer to end suffering. Through endless meditation he reached Buddhahood and discovered the ‘Middle Path’ .

There are many Chinese idioms for this fruit:

• Light at the end of the tunnel
• Bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (苦盡甘來)
• Pleasure comes through toil

31/12/2011

Can Buddha Dharma (teachings) help the poor?

Someone asked me this question and I have no clue how people will react with my answer. I believe that Buddha Dharma can help the poor. Although living in poverty, a person can still be happy. A person who is wealthy can be unhappy. Buddha Dharma is teaching us how to accept what we have, how to see things as they are not as what we want them to be, and learning how to let go. Buddha taught us Anicca (impermanent), Dukkha (unsatisfactory/suffer) and Anatta (non-self). If we understand the truth then whatever condition we are in, our mind can be content and happy. Although Buddha Dharma cannot bring wealth and things into our daily life, it can make our mind rich and happy.

Why did Buddha strive to reach enlightenment? He strived for enlightenment because he saw all these sufferings and wanted to find a way out from it. I am sure at Buddha’s time, there would be as many beggars as there is today. Buddha illustrated the best example to us by how he became poor, yet could still be happy. He gave up his luxurious life and became a beggar. Buddha begged for food and lived under a tree. All he had was a cloth which he wore on his body and an alm bowl. Buddha always had a serene and happy mind because he understood the truth - Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta . He did not discriminate what was good or bad. His mind had transformed into ‘Pure Land’. No matter how harsh the condition was, the Buddha kept a peaceful mind.

Although there are many poor people in India where Buddha became enlightenment, that doesn’t mean they understand Buddha’s teachings. Buddha Dharma is a mind training exercise, not something that will make you become wealthy.

31/12/2011

Garbage Collector

 

These images are taken from Yoshihito Koizumi

There is a computer language called Java. It has a garbage collector built in. The garbage collector is a form of automatic memory management. It attempts to reclaim the memory used by objects that will never be accessed again by the application. There are sometimes when we are like a garbage collector. We collect all sort of garbage such as other people’s garbage, our own garbage and don’t know how to dispose them. When we see something we don’t like to see, we keep it in our garbage collection; when we hear something we don’t want to hear, we keep it in our garbage collection. Metaphorically speaking, the garbage we collect is essentially what we don’t like or what we like. Its gets to a stage where we can no longer handle this garbage as it is full. Our emotions are dislocated. We feel misery; we feel as though life has deceived us; thus become unhappy because we cannot accept. Simple, the more garbage we collect, the more unhappy we will be. Our unhappiness is caused by how heavy our baggage has become, effecting our ‘happy’ life negatively. One must learn to let go. 

Through others’ speech and actions, we can learn what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. For example, when we see a beautiful sunset, we see it as a beautiful sunset. We shouldn’t expect tomorrow’s sunset to be the same. When we see something we don’t like to see, we can learn from the thing that we don’t like to see. We accept and move on. We should see thing as it is, not as what we want it to be. It’s the same thing as how our thought rises in our mind. If it’s a good memory, we acknowledge it; if it’s a bad memory arises in our mind, we should acknowledge it and should no longer need to follow these thoughts. The past has already passed. The future is yet to come and we must live in the present moment. Let each moment come and pass naturally, likewise as the sun rises and sets. The more we follow our thought the more trouble your mind will get.

If we want to be a happy person, we need to learn how to dispose our garbage. Letting go is the way to dispose our garbage. Why do we need to meditate? It’s to observe what sort of garbage we have inside our mind and learn how to let go.

31/12/2011 Rajgir

Incredible India

I have received many chain emails about how messy, how unclean and how horrible Indians deal with their tourists.

India is incredible to me. It’s expected that India is messy, unclean, and smelly. Beggars scatter around town to town, and it’s a fact. However they are not the essence of India.

I have been in India twice and still enjoy it so much. I like the people there. They always smile at you, wave at you and say hello to you when you go pass. Boys and girls are always happy. They love to have a photo taken with you. Indians are so friendly. They are fascinated by the tourists and we are fascinated by them. They don’t yell. They don’t fight. I honestly haven’t seen it happen even once during my 12 week stay in India.

In OZ land, we have road rage every single day but in India, the traffic is incredibly jammed. All cars, trucks and rickshaws come from all directions. Drivers use horns to alert others to overtake them. It’s like a mutual way of saying, ‘You give way to me and I give way to you’. Their horns have melodies, like a symphony of horns. It seemed the drivers know what they want. At the surface, we focus on the noisy traffic and the hectic bustling on the roads. However, when I look closely I can see how the traffic system harmoniously flows. Harmony is the essence of India. It’s fascinating to watch our drivers driving around through India.

The Indians who I have met have all been friendly. When we get lost and ask for directions, people want to help us, even if they don’t know the way. Although this gesture is somewhat kind, it is a pain because we are lead to the wrong direction.

I often saw beautiful Indian women walking through the dusty streets with colourful saris. Especially in the morning when the air is full of mist, there would be stream of women dressed in colourful saris. It gives the place a sense of mystery.

Religions in India are incredible. The world’s major religions were founded in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Religions in India are like a buffet. You can pick and choose what suits you.

The food and spices are incredible. The spices are so strong that you couldn’t even smell the scent of farts. I know this as I myself have proved this. I love India food. I have tried Mattar paneer in different states and places. Every place had its own distinct interpretation of the dish, which I enjoyed all of them.

India has a bountiful collection of historical and ancient artefacts, including incredible relics from the past. It will take many years to explore closely to all for the caves and forts. India has got my love that no matter how many times I visit, I won’t feel bored of it. India hasn’t put me off. India is incredible and I love it.

31/12/2011