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| Precious Heap | T. dpe chos rin chen spung ba | ||||||
| In
The Precious Heap * it is specified
[by Potawa, a disciple of Dromtompa] as follows: The permission to eat meat and fish is a teaching that is to be interpreted. For the Buddha declared that if he had forbidden meat from the very start, there were some who would never have entered the teachings. It is with skill, therefore, that he only gradually excluded it. On the other hand, as an antidote for those who claim that the mere abstention from meat is their great and all-sufficient practice, the Buddha declared the contrary by saying that meat eating does not constitute a hindrance on the path. He said this to put down those who considered that they were superior on account of being vegetarians. The fact is, however, that the consumption of meat is proscribed in both the Hinayana and Mahayana. It is equally banned for the simple reason that it entails an action that is akin to killing. In particular, the Buddha decreed that Bodhisattvas should abstain from all meat. * dpe chos rin chen spung ba, a commentary on the dpe chos, a Kadampa text (Source: FB, p. 78-79) |
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