Commentary
The reason we set conditions may differ, but the process is the same. Be it Nancy, Mary, Yvonne, Tara, Anna, or Alexis, none of them were born with their dietary conditions. Something significant happened to them, and the condition was established as a cure, in reaction to that undesired feeling. And although the new condition caused more trouble than it averted, they clung to their conditions for years.
We believe our conditions provide comfort, but in truth they cause immense suffering. Our conditions affect not only our lives, but the lives of those around us. People who love us, but don’t subscribe to our conditions, can never be happy. If they do as they please, it conflicts with our conditions, and can create feelings of guilt. If they do as we please, they are going against their own beliefs. And what we don’t realize when we’re clinging to the condition, is that we aren’t happy to put them in that position, either.
Conditions are rules that we use to placate our guilt or fear. Well, what is guilt or fear? It is the unknown. And conditions represent to us, in one word, permanence. Trouble is, conditions are precariously built on the foundation of sweeping statements and weak causal links. We believe in our conditions so much that we fear what will happen if we didn’t follow them. Luang Por Thoon taught us to step out from the shadows of our fears and shine our wisdom on every single one of them. Believing in things without applying wisdom is what causes fear. To eradicate our fear, we must find evidence and realize the truth.
For instance, what is the truth about Guanyin? Why did she stop eating beef? People commonly say that she was a Bodhisattva who embodied the virtue of compassion (metta) by not eating beef. But hold on a second. Is it possible that Guanyin was cultivating the virtue of dedication (sacca), as in making a promise and keeping it? We all make promises from time to time in order to build up the strength of our character. Often times, these promises are quite personal. If this was the case for Guanyin, her dedication to her promise to not eat meat in order to avoid eating her father’s reincarnated body is very personal, and case-specific. And even if she was cultivating the virtue of compassion, who knows her reasons for not eating beef related to her notion of compassion. It still remains a personal issue. Why are we mimicking Guanyin’s actions without considering the cause?
Luang Por Thoon was often asked about setting promises. He said that if you set your word and don’t follow it, it can harm you. At the same time, if your promise is already harming yourself and others, you can reset it. That is why you should take a good look at your capabilities before resolving to do something.
Another point to consider is if Guanyin was truly a Bodhisattva, why are you putting your practice on par with hers? Bodhisattvas have to cultivate a higher magnitude of virtue than we commoners do. Attempting to copy them can bring suffering upon us and harm others. Yet another practical consideration is the living conditions during Guanyin’s time as compared to our own. Were animals hunted or raised on a slaughter farm?
When it comes to vegetarianism, many vegetarians believe an ideal world is one in which no humans ate animal meat. If ideal means impractical, then they are right. Let’s think about this. If everyone in the world didn’t eat meat, what would really happen? A single snail can lay 35 eggs in one day. How many eggs does a chicken lay in one week? With animals’ rate of reproduction and gestation, the world would be consumed by utter chaos. In nature, all animals must eat and kill other animals to survive. As long as the killing is not done with emotion or for revenge, then it isn’t evil per se. Moreover, to eat only vegetables also affects animals. For starters, it takes away from their food source, and affects their habitats in many ways.
The Buddha himself was not a vegetarian. (Interestingly, the Buddha’s nemesis, Devadatta, was). The Buddha taught that it was not wrong to eat meat as long as three conditions were satisfied:
- You did not kill the animal yourself
- You did not order someone else to kill the animal
- You do not suspect that someone may have killed the animal for you
Take a minute and think about why that makes sense.
However, we are not ignoring that fact that animals are killed, sometimes in a brutal manner. The point is, whether it is about eating meat or anything else, we shouldn’t set conditions. Being born into this world, there’s enough suffering as is. Let’s make a determination to eat to survive, not to delight in the meat of others. Don’t make a big deal over what you eat, and don’t eat in excess. Don’t be that person who asks for standard food orders to be tweaked or prepared to satisfy certain conditions; it creates a big deal for others. And don’t patronize establishments that you know kill animals in order to serve them to you fresh.
Lastly, relate all of this back to the four elements. We’re all made up of the four elements, and when we die, our bodies will go back to the earth. If you knew your body was used in a beneficial manner, wouldn’t you be happy? There was the story of an enlightened nun named Mae Chee Kaew, who was contacted by a spirit who had recently died from the form of a cow, asking her to purchase his meat at the market the next day. He wanted her to eat his meat so that he could gain merit and be on his way. The next day, Mae Chee Kaew sent someone to the market to see if what the spirit had described was true. Once they confirmed it was true, they purchased the remaining cut of beef to come from that particular cow and prepared it for Mae Chee Kaew. Because she was an enlightened individual, her consumption of the meat was beneficial for the spirit that had inhabited the animal’s body.
So, instead of focusing on what we will eat or not eat, isn’t it more beneficial to focus on making better use of your body and your life? Rather than making a big deal over what kind of meat you will eat, isn’t it better to make sure that you are worthy of consuming the meat? Let’s shift our focus to the right topic, and maybe then we can finally shed our heavy conditions. After all, these conditions aren’t improving our lives, they are destroying them. Once we realize how much we suffer because of our conditions, and how much harm results from them, we will be more than happy to put them down.
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