The Buddha says, “Whatever you sow, so shall you reap.” The Buddha Himself dares not transgress the material law. […] The law of karma, of cause and effect, everyone must obey. Therefore, the Buddha emphasized, “Oh bhikkhus, don’t eat any flesh of sentient beings.” […] But when your Heavenly eye is open, you will see those who are so-called enlightened, who eat meat – their magnetic field, their auras are mixed with black, brown, coffee (color) spots. It’s not clear; it’s not beautiful. Not light, it is dark. Then you will know.
(Why does one attain enlightenment through meditation? Is it possible to attain enlightenment through any other activity?) Enlightenment is not through meditation. Meditation is only one part of the work to enlightenment. But without meditation, you couldn’t be enlightened. But when you meditate only, you couldn’t get enlightened either.
You must be initiated; you must be opened. The inner wisdom must open, then you get enlightened – not by meditation. But after the opening of the wisdom, you must nourish your wisdom and your enlightenment every day by the process of being quiet. To be quiet in order to perceive our wisdom and our own nature. To perceive the message from God. That is called meditation. Be it standing, sitting, lying down. So don’t think, you cross your legs like this and you’ll get enlightenment. No, no, no. You have to be quiet, to go within and perceive your own wisdom, and that is meditation. And if you haven’t got the inborn wisdom, then it doesn’t matter how you meditate for how long, it makes no difference. No use.
(How do we know that our own speech, thoughts, deeds, or experiences are truly in line with those of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and not out of our own illusion and imagination?) This we can know. If we practice the right spiritual method, we’ll have ways to distinguish real from false. During initiation, I will tell you how to tell real Buddhas from fake ones, and real experiences from illusions. Otherwise, there’s no way for us to know.
You want to hear it or not? (Yes.) The person asked like this, “How do you discriminate between a real Buddha, real inner worlds, and illusion? How do you know if this is real or illusion when you meditate and you experience inner worlds?” I said, at the time of initiation, I tell you how to discriminate. There is a method to discriminate between the real and the false. And also, you have the Master’s Protection. Then you know; after enlightenment, you know. After initiation, you’ll know what is real and what is false. I will tell you everything. The real Master should tell you everything. Every setback, every hole on the road, every illusion, and every trick from the devils. If not, then she or he is not a real master because he or she doesn’t know himself.
(If “attaining Buddhahood” is the mutual experience of many Buddhist masters, which are in line with Buddha’s experience of attaining Buddhahood, why are there so many different methods in Buddhism, and many of them are contradictory to each other? For example, exoteric sects are vegetarian while esoteric sects eat meat.) This isn’t Buddha’s teachings, but the teachings of human beings. After the Buddha was gone, we worldly people began to guess and practice recklessly. They invented randomly a lot of methods. For example, originally there was no exoteric nor esoteric sect. What does “exoteric” mean? It means “openly.” While “esoteric” means “it’s not to be revealed.” In Buddhism, there are exoteric as well as esoteric aspects. There are also exoteric parts and esoteric parts in my method. What is “exoteric?” What I’m telling you now is “exoteric.” The “esoteric” part is when I stop talking later, and impart it to you secretly. That is the “esoteric” part. It is not because you can’t tell other people but because others cannot understand. Understand? Even if they are sitting beside you, they won’t be able to understand what I impart to you, what level you have reached, or what your spiritual status is. That is the “esoteric” part. It’s not that the “esoteric sect” is “secret.” The esoteric sect people are eating meat today, because they misunderstood Buddha’s teachings. You go home and read the Surangama Sutra or the Nirvana Sutra.
All Buddhist sutras emphasize that one who practices Buddhism should be vegetarian. Anyone who teaches others to eat meat is teaching the way of maya. Haven’t you read the Surangama Sutra? OK. If you haven’t, go home and read it. Read the Bodhisattva Sutra or the Brahma Net Sutra. They all speak about the same thing. If you don’t know, read my booklet about why we should be vegan. The booklet mentions that all Buddhist sutras emphasize vegetarianism. After Buddha was gone, people began to make a mess. We can’t help it. It happens to all religions. After the enlightened Masters were gone, people began to make a mess.
You also want to hear about that? (Yes.) It is like this, the person asked me... It’s in Chinese. I’m sorry, they asked in Chinese. The person asked me, “If enlightenment is all the same, why is it that Buddhism became so many sects and so many different practices?” Ah, I’m sorry. A lot of methods are not right either. Later people began to guess wildly. For example, in the esoteric sect, they use cookies and the like, which didn’t exist in Buddhism in India. When Shakyamuni Buddha sat under the bodhi tree and got enlightened, He didn’t give others any cookie or worship any Buddha. Isn’t it so? Then in other places, it’s tinted by the local customs, habits, and beliefs, and became like that. Shakyamuni Buddha did not chant any sutra or worship any Buddha. He didn’t give others any cookies with cream like what the esoteric sect is doing. No! He just sat and meditated and attained Buddhahood, and became a Buddha by seeing stars from inside. That’s why there are many sects nowadays, a lot of so-called spiritual practice methods, which are not Buddhism actually! They’re just the inventions of later people. Understand? (Understand.)
It’s like this. He asked me, “If the enlightenment is the same, why is Buddhism, for example, divided into so many sects? And some encourage eating vegetarian, and some, like the secret doctrine, the Lamas, they eat meat. And so many different methods of practice.” My answer is this: The enlightenment and the method are only one. After the death of the Master, everything becomes topsy-turvy and changed. Like, for example, the Buddha, when He sat under the Bodhi tree and meditated and saw the stars within, saw the (inner Heavenly) Light within, then He became enlightened. He did not bow to any images; He did not beat any drum; He did not light any candles; He did not offer any butter cakes, like the secret sect, the Lama sect, they do.
All these rituals and different methods came after the Buddha’s Nirvana. People lost the lineage of enlightenment, and then they just invented something. Buddhism, after it came to Tibet, of course, took on the color of the national religion, with the butter cakes, and all the images, and so many different kinds of images, and different kinds of colored flags and all this. This is the born religion; this is the religion of the Tibetans. And after that, it influenced Buddhism, and then it mixed them together. So, the same when Buddhism went to China, and then it adopted a lot of Taoist rituals. They would recite the mantra, they beat the drum, light the candles and all that kind of thing. And these are not pure Buddhism. The pure Buddhism has nothing like that – so noisy!
The Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and became enlightened. He needed no candle, no cakes, no flower, no fruit, no outside rites and rituals. Is that not so? And the pure vegetarian diet is the Buddhist diet. Because in all the Sutras, the Buddha says you must eat vegetarian if you want to become a Buddha. Anyone who teaches that people eating meat can become a Buddha is teaching the doctrine of the devil. He says so clearly in the Sutra, and in many Sutras He says like that. So afterward, if someone eats flesh and still says he’s a Buddhist, I cannot do anything about that.
Yes. (I know the temple that was built in Northern California by some Tibetan Buddhists,) Yes. (and it’s a very famous place, very holy ground.) Yes. (And they converted to eating meat during the construction of the temple for that reason, so that they had more energy. And also…) They said what, they don’t eat meat? (They do eat.) Oh, yeah. (They ate meat during the construction of the temple.) In order to get more energy? (Yes, for a period of five years. And as far as I know, they’re still on the pathway to enlightenment.) Oh! (And I’ve heard from another enlightened master, who’s not here in California, that there is a power in eating meat that can help us repel a lot of the maybe evil spirits.) Then, the Surangama Sutra is telling lies. Then Shakyamuni (Buddha) is telling me a lie. The Surangama Sutra is the most reliable source of Buddhist scripture and the practicing scripture. If you read it, it is stated strongly, anyone who eats meat can attain the level of the mara king, meaning the devil king only, or the devil’s subordinate, can never reach Buddhahood. Please go home and read it, and don’t question me. I cannot help what the Buddha has said.
(Bad karma could not be transmuted by Buddha?) The Buddha says, “Whatever you sow, so shall you reap.” The Buddha Himself dares not transgress the material law. For example, if I go to a communist country, maybe I am a liberal country citizen, but when I go to a communist country, I have to abide by that law, whether I like it or not. If I don’t…. So maybe in the Buddha Land there is no law, no bad, no evils. But here, whatever you sow, so shall you reap. The law of karma, of cause and effect, everyone must obey. Therefore, the Buddha emphasized, “Oh bhikkhus, don’t eat any flesh of sentient beings.”
Even the five kinds of clean flesh, afterward He strongly stated, “I forbid you to eat from today any kind of meat whatsoever.” It’s not I who said it, it is the Buddha. These scriptures are translated into Tibetan, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, Japanese, into all kinds of languages. All kinds of languages I read, all kinds say the same thing. So, what shall I do about that? You may think they are enlightened; they may believe they are enlightened, but if you read the Surangama Sutra statement, you’ll know their level of attainment. They are enlightened, yes, but not very high.
Because you see animal-people have some kind of… their energies are heavier than ours, their karma is heavier, therefore they are born as animal-people. Now, if we borrow this kind of magnetic field to our magnetic field, we become more mixed with animal-people’s magnetic field – of course, we cannot become higher. How is that logical? I’m sorry, after you get more enlightened, you will see who is enlightened. From some normal standpoint, it is difficult to recognize. But when your Heavenly eye is open, you will see those who are so-called enlightened, who eat meat – their magnetic fields, their auras are mixed with black, brown, coffee (color) spots. It’s not clear; it’s not beautiful. Not light; it is dark. Then you will know. I’m sorry, it is like that.
(What is the opposite force of enlightenment? And what is its purpose in the final outcome?) The opposite force of enlightenment is unenlightenment. It is the force of darkness. It’s the force of obstructions. It can hinder us in many ways and make us ignorant. And it cannot make us visit the Pure Land, the Land of the Most High.
The purpose in the final outcome – you are liberated! You no longer fear death and life. You know everything in the Universe. That’s the outcome of enlightenment. You can save sentient beings.
(I meant, what is the purpose of the opposite force in the final outcome of everything.) You mean what’s the purpose of the negative force? (Yes.) And the final outcome of the struggle between the two. Is that right? (Yes, what’s the purpose of the negative force?) It is to strengthen us. It is like without water, we cannot learn how to swim. (Like drown?) Yeah. Without any complicated highway rules of driving, you cannot keep the order of the society. You cannot learn how to drive well. So, all these temptations from the negative force are for us to overcome it. That we should resist it, and become stronger and stronger, stronger in will, and stronger in power. Understand? That’s it.
