The world of Tzu Chi July-August 2022 (Vol.142)

46 2022 • 08 Serene Reflection Question & Answer By Dharma Master Cheng Yen Do we need to eat a vegetarian diet in order to demonstrate our compassion? The reason to be on a vegetarian diet is not for the sake of demonstrating our compassion. It is to maintain a healthy body and purify the mind. All sentient beings are afraid of death. We follow a vegetarian diet because we cannot bear to take their lives. This way, we protect the compassion in our hearts. In order for us to eat meat, lives have to be sacrificed. Also, if we happen to eat animals carrying diseases, it will negatively affect our health. Therefore, vegetarianism serves to maintain our health and purify our minds. From birth, we constantly worry about our bodies. Can giving up our bodies emancipate us from birth and death? As long as you are conscious, you cannot give up your body. Even if you cannot leave your body, can you still liberate yourself from birth and death? Yes, you can! If you take advantage of your limited lifespan to serve others, then the value of your life naturally increases. To live without regret is to be liberated. If you are idle every day, that is a waste of your life, which is also a pity for the body you are working so hard to sustain. How do we deal with matters of life and death? At the end of life, a long sleep awaits. There is no reason to be afraid. It will be just like a dream when we are sleeping soundly, very light and relaxed. If we are happy in our relationships and enjoy helping others, we will naturally sleep peacefully at night; if we constantly harbour evil thoughts or do bad things, we will always feel terrified. For matters of life and death, the most important thing is to ease our mind. We should think about good things and stay firm in our aspirations. As soon as our spirits are liberated from our bodies, we will follow our aspirations and be reborn as adorable baby Bodhisattvas in our next lives.