I havent have the chance to attend Mani retreat or meet The Late Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche in the past. From the video showing him giving dharma teachings , could see that he was a lively & interesting person or Rinpoche. In his 2003 teachings in Kong Meng San monastary , upon the completion of his teachings , music was played. Guess what ? He started to dance around , encouraging the audience to join in. What a "funny" & interesting Rinpoche ! :p
He left a deep impression in me . He was a person who always advocates people to be a vegetarian. Though it is not meat , i just ate a hard-boiled egg last night after the retreat. :( Thought it should be okay until i knew it today.
During my 3 days Mani retreat , throat was constantly feeling uncomfortable. Heard that the Mani retreat in the past was more than 3 days in the past. At first , the chanting was okay. Having picked up the momentum , the leading lama started to chant rapidly. It took me some time to adjust to it. Proper pronounciation seems to be hard at first , but i managed to "survive" it. ;p Victory for me !!!!
I do "contaminated" my recitation by dozing off for more than a few occassions in the first day , a few in the second day. Each not lasting more than a few minutes. No dozing off in the last day. Another Victory for me !!!!!
I didnt went to the toliet during the recitation session , only 1 time ( second day ) , i felt so restless , imagine sitting on a chair for most of the day. :(
To my suprise , reciting the 6 syllabus would enable one to go to the Western Pureland. There are actually very deep meaning of each of the syllabus , not just a simple explanation that OM means closure of the door to the suffering of being reborn in the gods' realm.
Having read the book by the late His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche ( the person who iniatiated the 100 million Mani Retreat ) , he mentioned that of all the non-virtuous deeds in general , particularly the consumption of meat , has the heaviest negative karma. This is beacause all the living beings that we eat are actually our own parents who have been very kind to us in many lifetimes. Eating meat is a non-virtuous act with such heavy misgivings that the Buddha Himself also mentioned that consuming the meat of other sentient beings who have been our parents one lifetime or another is the most gravest & most heinous deed to commit.
Thought the heaviest karma are killing one's parents , hurting enlightened beings & etc ?
I attended the 100 million mani retreat , read some of the articles on the wall , one article says that it takes 9 lifetimes to repay for the killing & taking live of another sentient being.
Does this applies in the comsumption of meat as well ?
IIt seems that the more i find out about dharma , the more "problems" i encounter . So ladies & gentleman , time to be a vegetarian ? Anyone planning to join next year's Mani Retreat ?
A DEDICATION-PRAYER FOR THE MANI MANTRA THAT BRINGS
SWIFT REALISATION OF PERFECT BLISS
Dimension of the primordial reality of those who dwell in bliss throughout the three times,
Gazing with eyes of compassion upon the sentient beings of the six realms,Your eleven faces as all-encompassing as space,
To you of endless and radiant light, I pray.
Peerless guide, lord of those who train living beings, crest-jewel of the Shakyas,
Ocean of Victorious Ones throughout the ten directions with all your enlightened descendents,
May the quintessence of the six syllables appear
As a cloud of offerings from the lamas of the ‘Ear-Whispered’
tradition.
Let the completion of the aims of the Buddhas of the past,
The realisation of the twofold accumulation of merit
of the Buddhas of the future,
And the firm establishment of the lives of the Buddhas
of the present
Appear as the quintessence of the six syllables.
May all male and female disciples, linked to the teacher
by past karma
And regarding each other with loving care and harmonious friendliness,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
Because of this, may all sickness, demonic obstruction, enemies,
ill-wishers and the hosts of life-stealing demons
Sprung of desire, hatred and mental obscurity
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May donors and sponsors, both major ones of unforgettable great kindness
And ordinary men and women, whose offerings in response to
requests should also not be forgotten,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May the lama and monastic community, whose wealth is the representations of enlightened body, speech and mind
And ordinary sentient beings whose support is in ransom offerings and funeral repasts
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May evil acting leaders, counsellors, commoners and criminals,
Those whose minds are enthralled in shamelessness, dishonesty, mean deceit and cruelty
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May all sentient beings who commit the ten unvirtuous actions, the five that demand immediate karmic retribution
And the five approaching them in severity
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May those who place the oar of prayers of dedication in our hands,
And those who receive the portion of the deceased when once he is dead
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May those who hear of death with their ears or see it with their eyes,
All those who must pass beyond the lifespan of this worldly realm,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May all who wander in the intermediate state, those with merit and those without,
Those who suffered accidental death, death in the moment of childbirth, death in the heights, death by drowning, and so on,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May those who are as caring as a mother yak, and who eat only milk products,
As well as all sentient beings who consume flesh and blood
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May those who mount already overburdened animals and beat them as they ride,
And those who, when not on the move, attach ploughs to the snouts of their beasts and set them to work the land
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May the realms of U, Tsang and Kham, Nga’ri and all of Jambudvipa,
As well as the other three continents and all of their
sub-continents beneath the sun
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May all sentient beings that shelter in the five great elements,
Those with form, and those without, sentient beings both material and insubstantial,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May all hell-wraiths, starving spirits, animals and titanic spirits,
Gods, men, and so on, all the sentient beings of the three realms,
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
May all sentient beings overflowing the limits of the infinite universes of Buddha-fields throughout the ten directions
And difficult to enumerate with any accuracy
Be led along the path by the Protector, Avalokiteshvara,
And receive the blessing of taking rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati..
By this merit, may I swiftly
Attain the realisation of the Lord Avalokiteshvara,
And, having done so, may I lead every living being, without the
least exception,
To that selfsame state.
OM MANI PADME HUNG _/\_
This is by the monk Konchog Choekyab.
Not to forget , want to thank forummer , spikedoll for posting about this Mani Retreat in this forum. _/\_
I am not a full vegetarian and have tried not to eat meat for continual 6 days. I plan to to do so in specific days now. I eat meat , the meat of the mother sentient beings , my previous mothers in many previous lives. Quite disturbing to know this , on one side you are learning dharma , on the other side , you are commiting bad karma by eating meat. Both do not tally with each other. And then , there will be reasoning that meat-eaters also can go to western purelands.
You force yourself to be a vegetarian , vegetarian cookings are bad in the stalls that i encounter and it is rather hard to find one sometimes. In the end , give up the idea of being a full vegetarian and reason that karma is heavy & wisdom is limited, in the current state , it is best not to force on yourself , and let it affect your daily life and learning dharma.
What an irony but i manage to live with it. Anyone face such problem or at such crossroad before ?
Don't know why, but many vegetarian stall in singapore sell only fake meat, and at most one vege. If you want to eat vegetables, it is easier to find them in a non-vege æ�‚è�œé¥ stall. haha
There are so many type of vegetables at least 40, but only 2-3 kind of meat that people normally eat.
Originally posted by Display Name:Don't know why, but many vegetarian stall in singapore sell only fake meat, and at most one vege. If you want to eat vegetables, it is easier to find them in a non-vege æ�‚è�œé¥ stall. haha
There are so many type of vegetables at least 40, but only 2-3 kind of meat that people normally eat.
Unfortunately for me , the vegetarian stalls that i encounter , the dishes doesnt taste good , fake meat are made from flour and they have high sodium content.
Haiz......
Can try the indian's vegetarian food. yum yum yum ;D There are also very nice vegetarian stalls in Aljurned ( there is this one near Foo Hai Chan ) and other parts of singapore. Most of the temple that I come across cook really nice vegetarian dishes.
Anyway i'm not a full-time vegetarian but i could try to reduce my meat consumpation. In the long run, i could hope to become one.. need some time to let go my attachment to the food that i'm used to.
Can try the indian's vegetarian food. yum yum yum ;D There are also very nice vegetarian stalls in Aljurned ( there is this one near Foo Hai Chan ) and other parts of singapore. Most of the temple that I come across cook really nice vegetarian dishes.
Anyway i'm not a full-time vegetarian but i could try to reduce my meat consumpation. In the long run, i could hope to become one.. need some time to let go my attachment to the food that i'm used to.
You need lots of determination and effort to cut meat entirely and also have faith in the reasons to do so.
There are many reasons for turning vegetarian.
1) We became vegetarians to develop compassion for all mother sentient beings, since Chen Re Zig is the embodiment of Great Compassion. If on one side, we recite Mani and on the other side, we eat the flesh of mother sentient beings, then it is like going against our practice.
2) Furthermore, we have infinite rebirths since beginningless time, so it is likely that all sentient beings have been our parents in our previous lives. After receiving their kindness in the past, we shouldn't eat them because that is ingratitude.
3) Also, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature, so it is not right to take their lives to satisfy our appetite and taste.
4) Buddha taught that we need to tame our mind from cravings due to ignorance, attachment and aversion, and practice equanimity, compassion and loving-kindness to all, without excluding any being.
5) Not giving up a meat diet is a form of attachment to self because we think that eating vegetables means poorer health to us so we prefer to sacrifice others' lives to protect our body, but in actual fact, the usefulness of this body is only in practicing the dharma for cessation of suffering and vegetarian diet doesn't kill us.
6) Also, we felt embarassed and inconvenient about being vegetarian. That is attachment to self-ego and self-cherishing which we need to abandon.
I started being a full-time vegetarian quite easily because I was seriously ill with an incurable rare disease and was in trouble spiritually, the very compassionate Drubwang K. N. Rinpoche advised me sternly to turn vegetarian full-time and recite lots of Mani during a private audience with him. I did and the illness just miraculously disappeared and my health improves gradually. Saying so, during the initial years of being a vegetarian, there were many obstacles.
However, I think to myself, if others can do it, it shouldn't be that difficult to adjust to it and the main obstacle must be my pre-conception and unfirm resolve. With a renewed resolve, I found the following remedies:
1) Wherever I go, I'll check and ask around for vegetarian food outlets. Nowadays, it is easier because many foodcourts in shopping malls have a vegetarian stall. Also, you can do a search on the Internet for them or ask about them in Buddhist forum. Some useful links:
http://www.sbestfood.com/Food%20Choice/vegetarian.htm
http://makantime.com/indexnote.html
http://www.singaporefood.com.sg/general/search-result.asp
http://www.veggieplaces.co.uk/vegetarian_restaurant_singapore_island_sg.html
http://goodfood.sg/vegetarian
http://www.vegetarian.sg/vegetarian_restaurants.html
http://www.hungrygowhere.com/search_results.php?searchby=Category&country=147&f_bank=na&f_foodplace=na&f_cuisine=na&f_price=na&f_recommend=8&f_zone=0&sortlocationby=abc&f_zip=--&button2=Search
Please double check before going down to eat because some vegetarian outlets may be closed.
2) If there are no vegetable outlets where I'll be going, I'll turn to dessert stall or fruits stall for my rescue. If I'm really very hungry, I'll just buy white rice from a non-vegetarian foodstall and eat it with fruits. Eating like that is quite yummy and healthy. Initially, I felt odd doing that, but my non-vegetarian colleagues encouraged me because they thought it was cool for losing weight. Also, one advantage about being vegetarian is that my superiors and colleagues perceived that I was less competitive, more approachable, understanding and trustworthy, so when bad things happened, I was never targeted. It is funny, but it happens and in turn, it was easy to develop compassion and loving-kindness to all. Eventually, they also started joining me for vegetarian diet on certain days and took the initiative to make special arrangements for vegetarian food for me on special occasions.
3) The worst scenario was a supermarket where I can get canned vegetarian baked beans or tibits suitable for vegetarian consumption.
4) As for the part of not liking mock meat, I got use to them eventually because some vegetarian stalls and restaurants really know how to make them tasty. However, initially, I chose to eat vegetables, mushrooms and soya bean products. Nowadays, there are mock meat made from shitake mushrooms and soya protein. They taste better than gluten type.
5) Whenever my crave for real meat arises, I'll look at the chicken rice and duck rice store and imagine myself as the chicken or duck being chopped into pieces for others' consumption. It didn't felt good being dead for that purpose so I'll avoid doing that on other beings because I may end up being them in my future lives.
6) I try to eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, mushrooms and soya products to have a balance intake of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and protein. Eg. Seaweed for zinc, iron, calcium and selenium intake, shitake for a wide variety of amino acids (simple form of protein), potatoes for potassium, spinach for iron, red capsicum, broccoli, tomatoes, etc. The main thing is to eat different variety of food, especially of different colors. I also take a vitamin supplement whenever I felt like it. I think the most important is vitamin B complex supplement which is very cheap at 100 tablets for less than $11 at Unity Pharmacy. I can't remember the exact name, but you can just ask the pharmacist for the alternative to Neurobian. I take this once a week because I felt it was enough for me.
http://www.japanese-food-for-health.com/seaweed.html
http://home.howstuffworks.com/potatoes3.htm
Being a full-time vegetarian is really not that difficult. You just need some time to adjust to it. For example, when my Dad became a vegetarian, he felt sluggish at first because he was a big meat-eater for a long time, but the sluggishness went away after 6 months. I think most of the obstacles lie in the mind due to our bias perception.
Hope this help you in some ways.
By the way, Teacher (Drubwang Rinpoche) is really very cute. Sometimes he is real stern, but most of the time, he is very kiddie. ^^ He is one of the most compassionate, understanding and highly realised dharma practitioners that I have met. He is like Milarepa in many many ways.
Jia you for your daily Mani recitation. I hope there will be a Mani retreat this year-end, so that I go and recite Mani with everyone. It is almost impossible to accumulate 100 Million Mani recitations by oneself. The most recent one, I wasn't able to attend. I used to attend it every year since 2002 I think.
May you experience swift spiritual progress and be always happy and well.
With Mani,
Kim
Hi Kim, thank you for your sharing and suggestion. May you experience happiness and swift progress in your dharma practice. _/\_