[PureInsight.org] In the Southern Song dynasty, an elderly lady lived in Hezhou City and was called “Zheng Xingpo” since she was a devoted householder that lived a Buddhist way of life. She had never consumed meat or alcohol ever since she was born, and she was raised in an environment that devoted to Buddhism. She also focused on reciting a classic script of Buddhism and never slacked off.
In the spring of 1151 A.D., Zheng Xingpo went to BaoEnGuangXiao Temple along with others to listen to the preaching from Elder Wu. On the way to the Temple, they happened to walk by a butcher who was cutting beef. Zheng Xingpo made a joke and said to her accompanies: “The beef should be very tasty with salt and vinegar.”
After they arrived at the Temple, Elder Wu suddenly asked her, “Why did you eat beef?” Zheng Xingpo said, “I have never eaten beef since I was born. Why do you ask me this question?” Zheng Xingpo sounded confident with her words, so Elder Wu gave her some medicine serving with warm water. After a little while, Zheng Xingpo felt sick and threw up a large bowl of stuff that was similar to beef.
At this moment, Zheng Xingpo realized that when she passed by the butcher’s place, she violated the Buddhism’s principle, which requires cultivators to follow “act, speak, mind” in the same way. She should not have thought of eating beef and joked about it. After Elder Wu pointed out her problem, Zheng Xingpo became more diligent on cultivating and more careful about her thoughts.
In this story, although Zheng Xingpo accidentally had an attachment of eating meat and joked inappropriately, the corresponding material (meat) was formed in another dimension. Elder Wu was such a magical monk that he pushed the material from another dimension to our dimension by serving some medicine to Zheng Xingpo. Certainly, I am not saying that cultivation prohibits eating meat. Different cultivation practice has different principle regarding this matter. Actually, Sakyamuni had never restricted his disciples from eating meat. In fact, Sakyamuni told his disciples to eat whatever food they were given without attachments to its smell or taste. My point is that cultivation is very serious, and it has strict requirements for one’s mind and speech. One careless thought or word might form bad stuff. Therefore, cultivators must enlighten and accept Fa to improve your moral character and avoiding attachments on small issues.
Chinese version: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/257633
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