You
have to be morally decent
Observing
moral behaviour has been with humanity as far back as we can trace. Every
society, no matter how primitive it was, seems to have had a set of moral
values for members of society to follow. Apart from being the natural thing to
do, wise people also knew that morality can knit members of society together in
a peaceful manner. Social change, excessive material awareness, high technology
and weak religious institutions have made most societies in the world face
moral chaos nowadays. Many people don't know why they have to be morally good.
I have explained before and I will confirm once again in very plain words that
if you want to be enlightened, free from suffering, enter into the kingdom of
God or live in eternity, you must at least start from observing the basic moral
precepts.
When
you go to a party or an engagement, you have to dress up for the right
occasion, otherwise the host either won't let you in or you will feel totally
out of place and feel very uncomfortable. The innocent world, your place of
destination, is the ultimate cleanliness. If you want to be allowed into a
clean place, you cannot turn up dirty on the door step because they won't let
you in. You have to at least look clean and tidy.
Now,
we are talking about a mind journey. This means that your mind has to be clean
at least to some degree for you to be qualified to go into a clean place. What
makes a mind unclean and dirty is your own indecency and immorality. Moral
conduct is the initial stage which can help to clean up a dirty mind to some
degree. The rest of the dirt will be shifted later as you proceed along through
the following chapters.
You
might wonder what is called good and moral behaviour. In the meantime, please
don't go too deep into any moral debate or think in terms of relativism.
Otherwise, you will always find reasons for not doing good and have plenty of
excuses for doing bad things. Keep it simple, follow your instincts. A guilty
conscience and shame are the basic instincts which Mother Nature bestows on
humanity so that we don't step over the moral threshold. Anything that your
instinct tells you not to do because it is wrong, follow that instinct of
yours. You will come across so many people whom you have to deal with either
through work or social events who have no guilty conscience nor shame. They can
brag about their own immoral acts in public as if they were the normal thing to
do. You must not be tempted to be like them. If they want to go to hell, let
them, unless you are strong enough to help them! If not, walk away from them before you get infected and
doubt has time to settle in your mind. Remind yourself that you are taking the
route to heaven which is opposite to the route to hell, and you must stick to
your guns.
There
are only five moral precepts that you need to follow. Not until you do them,
will you find out for yourself how difficult it is to keep them correctly. They
are not easy to follow and that's why the problems in the world revolve only
around these five fundamental conducts. Every crime committed in society can be
traced back to either killing, stealing, cheating, lying, committing adultery
or becoming intoxicated. If only people could stick with their moral precepts
just for one whole minute, this world would be at peace right away in that one
minute too.
Now,
let's go through each precept.
Although
this precept tells you not to kill, in fact it includes any bodily harm
inflicted upon a person or animal too. However, killing is the worst harm that
one can do to a person or an animal. So, I will talk about killing first. At
this stage, it means all the direct and straightforward killing from people to
animals, big and small - ants, flies, etc. are included. Straightforward
killing begins from having the intention to kill and ends at completing the
killing action. Without the intention to kill, the killing action will not
happen. Let's put all the indirect, unintentional and necessary killing aside
for the moment, such as killing germs, diseases, parasites, pests, killing
animals for testing, putting animals down due to either being sick or
dangerous, killing enemies in wars and capital punishment. All these issues can
be clarified and understood when you move on with your practice but not now
since it is too complicated and there is no direct answer.
You
must understand that I am now talking to you individually who want to walk the
path to eternity. All these words are not for everyone but for you alone; you
who want the best thing in life. So, I have to talk up to your need. As far as
killing is concerned, if you are a butcher and the like, and your job involves
either killing animals to feed people or some form of necessary killing and you
also want to go to the Kingdom of God and live in eternity, I will advise you
very strongly to change your occupation right away. You must stop killing right
now. You cannot have it both ways. You have to choose one way or the other. If
you want to go to hell, carry on with your killing but if you want to go to
heaven and live in eternity, you must stop killing. It is as simple as that.
How
will people get fed if no one kills animals for food? Don't worry; there are
always people who will do this job, plenty of them. You don't seriously think
that my words are going to make the slightest difference to the way most people
think and act, do you? Even the Buddha couldn't stop his family from killing
one another. What chance do I have with people in the world nowadays? I am not
ambitious. I am only working with you and on you alone, no one else. So if you
are worried that no one is going to do the killing job, please don't. There
will always be people doing the killing job for you; let them do it and you
move on to do something else which takes no part in killing because you have a
rendezvous with eternity.
I
used to tell this story to my children many times over when they were little. I
heard it from my late Chinese spiritual teacher Tang Mor Sieng. I have been
listening to his dhamma collection for nearly thirty years. He claimed that it
was a true story which happened somewhere in China.
There
was a butcher who lived in one of this long row of shop-houses. Every morning
he had to walk past a house where the owner had a little pig roaming around the
household. Every time this butcher walked past this house, for some unknown
reason, this little pig would run out in a flash and bite the man's leg. The
butcher would kick the pig away from him and swear at it. This was an everyday
event between the little pig and the butcher. He noticed that the pig had never
bothered to attack anyone else but himself. After he had a good kick and swear
at the pig, he would stare into the little pig's eyes and say softly but with
anger: 'One day, I will buy you off your owner and I'll make sure that you will
be on my meat stall in no time at all. Now, get away from me, you stupid pig!'
The
butcher did buy this little pig off the owner. He brought the pig home, held
him tightly by his neck, stared into his eyes and told him to be ready to die
the next day. That night the butcher was woken up by a terrible nightmare,
which had something to do with the pig. He sat up in his bed sweating, his
heart beating with fright. He murmured to himself: "That's why this pig
doesn't like me and insists on biting me all this time. I have killed so many
pigs in my life. They're bound to come back for me sometime."
He
got up and walked to see the pig he had tied up. The pig looked at him with sad
eyes. He looked at the pig and said "If I kill you today, this kamma will
have to be paid off and when is it going to end? I have decided not to kill you
today, but what should I do with you then?"
Later
on that day, the butcher went to the nearby temple and had a long talk with one
of the elder monks to whom he confided his dream. He then came home to fetch
the pig. Everyone in the neighbourhood thought that he was going to take the
pig to be slaughtered. To everyone's surprise, the butcher said "No, I am
going to leave him in the temple instead." He also changed his occupation
and became a handyman in the nearby village. Every now and again, he would
visit the pig in the temple. The pig who had never been fed very much and
remained rather skinny still ran to him, but this time it didn't attack the man
like before. Instead the pig would sniff and stroke his head against the man's
leg and wanted to play with him. One day, the man bent down, stroked the pig on
his head and said softly to him: "Thank you for telling me before it was
too late. You gave me the chance to have a new life."
If
you are already a vegetarian and very happy to be one, fine, keep it up.
However, if you aren't one and you are not ready to be one yet, it is also
fine; you don't have to be a vegetarian in order to get to eternity. If you are
a meat eater, follow these guidelines:
Always
buy meat, poultry and fish. Never catch and kill them by yourself, even fish.
Never
boast or praise or say things like how delicious or how tender the meat,
poultry or fish tastes, which is something most people do nowadays. Always
remember that if the roles were reversed and you were on the plate instead, how
would you feel? After all, it is a life we are talking about.
Don't
eat meat, poultry and fish with joy and pleasure but with an apologetic feeling
like you are eating your own flesh just to survive.
My
teacher at Suan Moke often told this story. A man, a woman and a young baby
walked across a desert. The baby didn't survive and died. When their food ran
out, the man and wife were forced to eat the meat of their own baby so that
they could live.
They
didn't eat the meat with joy and pleasure but with a repentant feeling for the
sole purpose of survival. There was indeed a real life drama which was similar
to this story. When a plane carrying a group of Argentinian cricketers crashed
in the Andes, they were stranded in the mountains for 72 days before being
found. When the food ran out, the living were forced to eat the flesh of their
deceased friends just to survive. They too had to eat the meat with apologetic
feelings.
Never
boast about your humility and compassion
The above story should be the way you eat meat. Having said that, there is no need to be dramatic about it. It should be done very quietly in your mind so that no one else knows about your intention. Otherwise, it will be a mocking issue among people with whom you live. There is no need to create such an unnecessary atmosphere. Apart from that, in keeping it quiet you can also avoid white sin catching up on you. Boasting about your humility and compassion is white sin and can be very difficult to detect. This is one of the many pitfalls en route to eternity. You can't help thinking that you are a better person than the rest of us because you have compassion and other people don't. It isn't easy to get out of it. Be very careful.
So,
don't boast or tell people about your noble thoughts. You can still eat your
burger in the same manner as your friends when you go to McDonalds, KFC or a
dinner party, but when everyone begins to praise the meat, you have to be
tactful enough in not to join in with such talk in a way that people do not
notice. Keep quiet, make excuses or, better than that, lead the group to change
the subject of conversation.
If
you have been a vegetarian because you don't believe in killing animals for
food, that is a very noble and compassionate thought. Good for you.
Nevertheless, there is still something that you have to be very careful about.
The
vegetarian, however, must not look down upon or feel disgusted by the meat
eater. Eating meat has been with humanity since day one, I suppose. You have to
admit that this is part of the food chain and survival. This is a fact of life
that will be very unlikely to change. So you must adjust yourself to fit in
with others and cause as little fuss as possible. Never make people feel
uncomfortable if they want to eat meat in front of you, respect their acts.
Eating meat does not make one become a worse person in the same way that eating
vegetables doesn't make one become a better person. If you become a vegetarian
because you don't want to kill animals, that's fine but it is best not to boast
about it. It is no good if you boast about your compassion towards animals and condemn
those who eat meat. You are not any better than anyone else if you do that.
Eating meat doesn't slow people down on their way to enter Nirvana just as
eating vegetables doesn't boost people to go to Nirvana either.
When
Hui Neng, the sixth Buddhist supreme patriarch in China was on the run because
people were after his life, he spent a period of time in hiding with a group of
hunters in the forest. Hui Neng was already a Pra Arahant, a fully enlightened
one, and was also a vegetarian. To the hunters, Hui Neng was another man who
looked no different from them. There was no chance for Hui Neng to practice
vegetarianism while spending time with a group of hunters. However, he made no
fuss, he managed to eat the vegetables which were cooked together with the meat
all that time he spent with the hunters, and the hunters never noticed that Hui
Neng ate anything different from them.
From
this significant event a Chinese term has been derived called Neg pee chai in
my Tia chew dialect which means vegetable by meat. My mother first told me this
true story and taught me to practise Neg pee chai when I had to. Although
people nowadays are quite open to vegetarianism and there is no reason why a
vegetarian should have to do that, this practice however can reduce fuss and
make life easier for both vegetarians and meat eaters when they have to sit
together at the same table and there is no time for special arrangements.
There
are split views about whether Buddhist monks should be vegetarians. One side
says that monks should propagate loving kindness and compassion and should be
role models for others. The other side argues that monks should lead a simple
life and not create too much fuss for people on whom they rely. They should eat
whatever they are given. This has been a debatable issue for a long time. It is
also a question whether the Buddha and his followers ate meat or not. Most Thai
monks are not vegetarians.
Whether
you eat meat or vegetables, you must contemplate that you are merely eating the
four elements of earth, water, air and fire so that you can survive and live to
fulfil your duty as a human being. That is to enter Nirvana and live in
eternity. The Buddha set this discipline up so that you don't eat your food
with greed. Indeed, both meat eaters and vegetarians can eat their food with
greed if they are not aware of themselves. Vegetarian food can be elaborately
prepared and taste absolutely delicious so that one can easily forget meat.
Consequently, you can be a vegetarian and still be as greedy as a meat eater as
far as delicious food is concerned.
As
a lay person living in a family environment where I have to please my family,
delicious food has always been my weak point. In the past, I often found myself
eating with greed when I rushed to put food in my mouth too quickly. A few
years ago, I found myself a way to eat food with less greed by observing my
taste buds. Before eating, I would look at the food in front of me and watch my
taste buds. If the saliva came out, I would wait and keep on staring at the
food until the saliva stopped. Then, I ate. It worked splendidly! After a few
years of practice, I now have better control of my taste buds every time I eat
and I don't have to stare at the food as long as before. I want to pass on this
practice to you. You will certainly think that there won't be any joy
whatsoever in eating anymore if you have to watch your taste buds every time
you eat. Now, don't forget that you want to take part in this journey and you
have a certain goal to fulfil. If you want to go to eternity, this is what you
have to do.
So,
it is about how you eat and not what you eat. You can either contemplate the
four elements or watch your taste buds, whichever way can stop you eating food
with greed but with awareness instead. You will be surprised that it isn't as
bad as you think once you put it into practice. You will have a totally new
experience in eating.
The
following story can cover the two issues above about eating food with
contemplation and the historical fact that the Buddha and his disciples might
have been meat eaters too.
There
was a noble lady during the Buddha's time who did the regular offering to the
Bhikkhus. One day, she knew that an ailing Bhikkhu wished to eat meat soup.
Unfortunately, it was a lent day and there was no meat to buy in the market.
The lady decided to cut the flesh off her thigh and let the servant make soup
to be offered to the sick monk. The Buddha came to the noble lady's household
on the next day and didn't see the lady. He knew that the lady had been in bed
with a high fever due to the wound. The Buddha performed a miracle and the
lady's wound was completely healed. When the Buddha came back to the monastery,
he visited the sick monk and asked him whether he had contemplated the four
elements before he ate the soup. The monk answered that he hadn't done it. The
Buddha condemned the monk's wrongdoing and told him to contemplate the four
elements every time he ate food.
This
moral precept means that you don't take what does not belong to you. The
principle is the same as with the first precept. Just follow your instincts and
avoid anything that you know for certain is wrong. The world has become very
complex. Stealing on a wider scale through economic manipulation and the
banking system is indeed happening. This means that you can easily be part of
this immoral system too. Don't worry about that because you still need to earn
a living to feed yourself and probably your family too. If you can choose a job
that you know is totally clean, fine. If not, it doesn't matter. We cannot do
much about it. I am not going to change the world but I am trying to change you
only. So, just stick to the direct action of not stealing.
You
may want to ask about the moral stealing like Robin Hood. I don't really think
that we have many Robin Hoods nowadays. However suppose you are doing something
like Robin Hood. You have to follow the Thai wisdom. The Thai ancestors did set
some rules for robbers to follow. They were:
1) Never rob from a poor family.
2) Never hurt or kill the people from whom
you rob.
3) Take only what you really need.
I
cannot imagine any robber nowadays would follow such guidelines but I am quite
sure that it did happen in Thai society before when the enlightening culture
was flourishing. Both robber and host had respect for each other. The following
story also depicts the generosity and the spirit of giving of the Thai people.
It
is a well known fact that old people sleep less. Being in a warm country, old
Thai people often got up before the crack of dawn and sat quietly in a dark
corner of the house, chewing their betel nuts away. This also happened to an old
lady in this particular household. She had been up for some time and sat in her
usual corner by her betel basket preparing her betel leaves and nuts. This
early morning hour, before the first light had been cast over the world, was
the popular time for a thief to do his job. A thief quietly went up the few
steps by the kitchen and stole something. The old lady could hear the sounds
but she didn't say or do anything to scare the thief away until she was quite
sure that the thief had finished his business and was about to go down the
steps. She called out towards the kitchen which was only a few metres away from
where she sat.
The
old lady said gently in her usual kind voice as if the intruder was one of her
family's members:
"By
the way, there is a piece of meat on the shelf. I cooked it yesterday. Go on,
take it with you as well."
The
thief took away the joint of meat and disappeared into the darkness.
This
following Chinese story happened during the time when China was rich with
ethical and moral teaching which was the influence of Confucius. It also
involved stealing which needed a very wise judge to try the case.
There
was a father who had two sons, the eldest son was well off and the other was
poor. Although the father was living with the elder son, he was not very happy
because the son was very careful and tight with his money. The father had a
very small allowance from his son each month. He had to limit his own spending
and share his monthly allowance with his other son who had to struggle to get
by. The younger brother never directly asked his brother for money but would
ask his father instead. In not wanting to lose his self respect, the father
never asked his elder son for extra money, so he gave his younger son his own
monthly allowance instead.
There
was a time when the younger son urgently needed more money, he came to his
father and told him about the problem:
"I
am sorry son, I really cannot help you this time because I have given you all
my monthly allowance and I have nothing left with me at the moment," the
father explain to his younger son.
"But
father, you must talk to big brother for me. If you talk to him, I am sure, he
would help me out." The son begged his father.
The
father found that it was too humiliating for him to ask his own son for money
and didn't know what to do. Finally he decided that he would steal from his
elder son so that he could give to his younger son. He knew that his elder son
kept his money in a drawer by his bed.
That
night, he waited until the middle of the night and his son was fast asleep. He
crept into the dark bedroom, pulled out the drawer and searched for money. The
son was woken up by the noise and thinking that it was a burglar, he grabbed
hold of a baton underneath his bed and hit the intruder as hard as he could. He
heard the scream of pain and the sound of a person fall to the floor. He
quickly lit the candle. To his horror, he found that the man who lay very still
on the floor was his own father. He was dead!
This
case was brought to a local judge who passed a verdict of 'not guilty' on the
son. The simple reason was that the son did not deliberately kill the father;
he thought it was an intruder and he had the right to defend himself. However,
people's views were split and a lot of them were not happy with the verdict but
could not find enough reasons to support their view. In the end Poa Boon Jin,
whom most people called Poa Gong, was called in to reopen the case. He was very
famous for his wisdom and his use of moral judgement. The son was once
again brought in to court and this
time in front of the wisest judge in China. After he had studied the case, Poa
condemned the local judge for lacking insight and being unable to solve this
case wisely. To Poa, the nature of the case was clear enough to deserve the
guilty verdict. He said the two famous sentences which subsequently had a great
affect on people. They were:
Poa
looked angrily at the prisoner with his head bowed down in front of him and
said:
"Had
you practised your filial piety and not been too stingy with your own father,
he would have been happy to live with you and felt free to talk and discuss
anything with you. Your father was forced to steal from you because you didn't
practice your filial duty. You deserve to be punished."
Everyone
in court cheered and was happy with the unexpected reason Poa Boon Jin had
brought up to support his guilty verdict.