The world of Tzu Chi May 2021 (Vol.134)

2021 • 05 52 T he Buddha said, “Disciples! The purpose of eating and drinking is solely to nurture our body and sustain our life. We should view our food as medicine. We should take only as much as is necessary to preserve the health of our body, and not eat more because it tastes good, or eat less, or refuse to eat because it tastes bad.” People create a lot of bad karma for the sake of their diet—in a lifetime of a few decades, how many animals’ meat and blood is consumed? Thus, people’s stomachs are like cemeteries for animal carcasses. “Use it only to maintain your body, so as to quench hunger and thirst.” The purpose of eating is mainly to eliminate hunger and thirst. Our attitude towards eating and drinking should therefore be “like bees collecting pollen; they take what they need without harming the smell or shape of the flower”. During the Buddha’s era, monastic practitioners relied on alms to maintain their lives. For lay people, being able to offer alms to monastic practitioners was a blessing. Therefore, the monastic practitioners needed to accept the alms with joy and absolutely could not ask for more or be picky. Otherwise, it might affect the lay practitioners’ life situation and thus harm their kindness. Giving according to ability To illustrate a proper standard for alms-giving, the Buddha gave an example. Before using an ox to transport goods, a wise farmer must estimate how much it can pull so it does not become exhausted and give up half-way. To take an example from modern times, there was a lady in Taichung who loved Tzu Chi very much and was very enthusiastic about Tzu Chi’s missions. However, her financial situation had recently declined. For years, she had wished to help me build a hospital, so she gave me NT$500,000. Knowing her situation, I said, “You do not harma DIET CHAPTER 4 Bhiksus, take food as if it was medicine. Whether something tastes good or bad, do not wish for more or less. Use it only to maintain your body, so as to quench hunger and thirst. This is like bees collecting pollen; they take what they need without harming the smell or shape of the flower. Bhiksus, in the same way, you receive people’s offerings for the sake of eliminating the affliction of hunger. Do not ask for more, for that would damage their kindness. This is like a wise farmer who knows the strength of his ox; he does not overburden it, so as not to exhaust its strength.