Vegetarian Era



Everyone has wisdom, but not everyone can use it. At that time we say we have "obstacles" or "karmas". What is karma? It is like an invisible thing in our way that prevents us from passing through to our destination. That is why we call it an obstacle. Similar things happen in our spiritual practice.

To attain Buddhahood (complete enlightenment) is similar to climbing a mountain, and we have to reach the top in order to become saints. However, there are many logs and stones in our way so we cannot go up. We call them obstacles. For instance, when we are young, we are controlled by our parents and cannot observe a vegetarian diet; when we grow up, we are controlled by our spouses and cannot observe a vegetarian diet. We may have wisdom, but we cannot use it.

We should not beat or kill other human beings even if they are as big and strong as we are. How then could we possibly kill and eat animals that are very weak and cannot protect themselves? Such actions are totally lacking in human feeling. They are inhuman. We are not supposed to eat animals. However, we have become barbarous through many lifetimes of transmigration and do not understand that now. We think that eating meat is as normal as eating chocolate. If we think it over, we will feel scared.

For instance, if our family members die, we would not eat their corpses. How then could we eat the corpses of animals? Animal corpses are dirtier than human corpses. We should not eat meat, but we are eating it now and it is difficult for us to change our habit. The entire society is eating meat. We will have trouble if we want to change. This is the first obstacle.

What is the second obstacle? It is that we cannot find an enlightened master. Many people claim to be enlightened masters, but we do not know who is an enlightened master and who is a dark one. Enlightened means being in the light, and dark means being in the dark.

The third obstacle in our way is that after we find an enlightened master, we do not easily have faith in him.

The fourth obstacle is that after initiation and despite having faith in an enlightened master, we do not practice diligently. For example, we attend school and have good teachers who give us many materials for reference, but we do not like to study and do not do our homework after school. Then we cannot graduate.

Similarly, few people pursue spiritual practice because there are many obstacles, and few spiritual practitioners attain God-realization because they do not practice diligently and do not have enough faith. The reason that we do not practice diligently enough is because we have many problems that trouble us when we practice, so we cannot progress quickly. Throughout the ages and throughout the world, people always have respected those who have attained the Truth or God-realization. They have always admired those who have attained the level of a saint, because ordinary people cannot easily become saints. Even spiritual practitioners cannot easily attain that level or the level of God-realization. However, this does not mean that no one can become a God-realization and no one can become a saint. As long as we have a good teacher and a good method, we have hope of becoming a saint and obtaining the great power. From my personal experience, it is not difficult to gain such power and to become God-realized.