In the history of Tibetan Buddhism, many eminent monks and sages opposed the hunting of animals and eating meat, and praised vegetarianism and freeing animals. For example: King Trisong Detsen, Padmasambhava, Venerable Immortal Light, Venerable Wisdom Compassion Light, Lama Tsongkhapa, Mipham Rinpoche, etc. Once upon a time, the famous yogi Shakya Tsoshi Rangzhou saw many yaks being slaughtered on his way to Lhasa for pilgrimage. This miserable scene and the pain of those yaks deeply shocked him. After arriving in Lhasa, he visited the Jowo Buddha statue I have vowed never to eat meat again. They made great contributions to the cause of life release throughout their lives. In the Divine Change Month of the Tibetan Calendar in 2001, the Dharma King Jigme Phuntsok, the teacher of all living beings in the three realms, taught tens of thousands of monks the teachings on the dangers of meat-eating in the Nirvana Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra, and earnestly taught and admonished Tibetan monks. The four disciples of the Han Dynasty stopped eating meat and adopted a vegetarian diet. The majority of disciples responded one after another, and they jointly decided to eat vegetarian food in all future regular Dharma gatherings at Larung Gar. His Holiness the Master’s advocacy of abstaining from killing and releasing animals has enabled people to prevent evil and evil in the modern era, and will have a profound impact on the construction of humanistic morality in society.

Also in the Han Dynasty, since Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, people who believe in Buddhism have a good tradition of vegetarianism. Master Tiantai Zhizhe purchased three hundred miles of coast as a life-release pond to educate local fishermen to give up fishing and hunting; Master Lianchi in the late Ming Dynasty wrote the "Essay on Quitting Killing" and "Essay on Release of Life" to serve as examples for future generations; Master Chu Yi founded the Release Lotus Society; in modern times, Master Yinguang, Master Hongyi worked hard to teach people to abstain from killing and release animals. The wise men of the world such as Confucius and Mencius, the literary figures Su Shi, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, etc., as well as Sun Yat-sen, Gandhi, Lu Xun, Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore and other ancient and modern Chinese and foreign celebrities all have famous quotes to persuade people to abstain from killing and adopt a vegetarian diet. . But now few people abide by the great virtue's teachings, and the phenomenon of killing is becoming increasingly serious. If people's behavior doesn't change, our world will become a terrible place. What is terrible is not only the pain and death of animals, but also the loss of sympathy and compassion among people. If we have compassion and take lives just to obey some people, this is tantamount to annihilating our own conscience. In short, whether he is an official, a tycoon, or a civilian, if he kills people cruelly, then he is a evil person. As the German philosopher Schopenhauer said: "Anyone who is cruel to animals will not be a good person."

Meat-eating people should think about where the meat they eat comes from? It's nothing more than the killing of other sentient beings. A conscientious person would definitely feel unbearable. "Surangama Sutra" says: "There are two paths of mind and body. If you don't accept food or drink, I say you are a person who is directly liberated." If the body does not wear animal skins and does not eat animal flesh and blood, the Buddha said that such a person is truly liberated. who. At present, some Han people go to Tibet to study Tibetan Buddhism. They have not learned the profound teachings of their masters, but they start learning when they see someone eating meat. This is a sign of lack of wisdom and is very unreasonable. . It would be good if you can maintain the habit of being a vegetarian. Being able to travel to Tibet to seek Dharma and still insist on being a vegetarian even though life is extremely difficult is worth learning and emulating.

In order to follow the good deeds of eminent monks in the past, make people deeply aware of the various disadvantages of killing, reduce or even eliminate the phenomenon of killing, and then release lives for blessings, I wrote the book "Les Miserables". It uses real examples as the main body, quotes the teachings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the good sayings of modern celebrities and wise men, and adds its own analysis and insights, trying to give readers a clear understanding. Perhaps through this book, readers can recall their childhood ignorance; they can recall the bloody scenes in the killing fields and kitchens and the moans of poor animals; they can understand the unscrupulous killings of unscrupulous traders in order to make huge profits and the "human beings" in the forest. The fearful wails of the "beasts"...

The "Golden Light Sutra" records: The son of the elder Liu Shui is kind-hearted. Once he went to the wild and saw that the water in a large pond was about to dry up. There were ten thousand fish in the pond that were about to dry up. The elder was deeply moved when he saw this. He immediately returned and asked the king to lend an elephant temporarily to carry water for irrigation. Save many lives awaiting death. The king readily agreed, and many lives were saved. The elder's son also preached the Dharma of suffering, emptiness, and impermanence to them, and recited the name of the Precious Tathagata to bless the fish. Later, these fishes died and their spiritual consciousness ascended to heaven.

The son of the elder Liushui is the previous life of the World Honored One. After the World Honored One became enlightened, the ten thousand emperors who were reincarnated as fish came to hear the Dharma, and the Buddha taught them the Bodhi Book. The elder knew how to save animals when he was a child, but today's children kill many animals intentionally or unintentionally. They should be ashamed. They should save all living beings like the elder, and finally let them transcend the six realms of reincarnation and reach the other side of nirvana.

I hope that people now and in the future can understand the suffering of animals and develop unfeigned compassion and the will to abstain from killing and releasing animals. If this can be done, its merits are incredible. Longmeng Bodhisattva said in "The Theory of Great Wisdom": "Among all other sins, killing is the heaviest, and among all merits, life-saving is the first." I hope everyone can establish a noble personality and safeguard the world and the world of sentient beings. Harmony makes our world more beautiful.