Shabkar
says: Most especially, no one should eat the flesh of human beings.
The Vinaya-sutra specifies that "human flesh should
not be consumed under any circumstances."
The extensive commentary on this text [rgya
cher 'grel] goes even further
and specifies that "If one eats human flesh for medicinal purposes
or for any other reason, one commits an infraction."
The
Vinaya-sutra says that "the consumption of raw meat
for no medical reasons constitutes an infraction", and to this
the extensive commentary adds that "if one eats raw flesh as
part of the practice of the Mantrayana and so on (without its being
needed for medicinal purposes), one commits an infraction associated
with the residual fault* of provoking disputes in the sangha. Furthermore,
it creates a cause for being reborn as an evil spirit."
And:
"One
must not eat the meat of a tiger, nor the flesh of elephants, horses,
and snakes. One must not eat the meat of animals with undivided
hooves, nor of foxes, monkeys, woodpeckers, crows, vultures, water
birds, dogs, cats, hawks, owls and other carrion birds, gray ducks,
bats, snow lizards, apes, and insects."
* A residual fault is a kind of fault after the commission of which
only a residue of the monastic ordination remains. Before such faults
are repaired, the monk or nun in question is demoted and must take
the last place in the sangha, eating only the food that is left
over after the communal meal.
(Source:
FB, p. 73-74)
|