lifetime
commitment to a vegan or lactovegetarian diet is a prerequisite for initiation
into the Quan Yin Method. Foods from plant sources and dairy products
are permitted on this diet, but all other foods from animal sources including
eggs should not be eaten. There are many reasons for this, but the most
important comes from the First Precept, which tells us to refrain from
taking the life of sentient beings, or Thou shalt not kill.
Not killing or otherwise
harming other living creatures is of obvious benefit for them. Less
obvious is the fact that refraining from harming others is equally advantageous
for ourselves. Why? Because of the Law of Karma: As ye sow, so shall
ye reap. When you kill, or cause others to kill for you, in order
to satisfy your desire for meat, you incur a karmic debt, and this debt
must eventually be repaid.
So in a very real sense,
the keeping of a vegetarian diet is a gift which we give to ourselves.
We feel better, the quality of our lives improves as the heaviness of
our karmic indebtedness diminishes, and we are offered entrance into
new subtle and heavenly realms of inner experience. It is well worth
the small price you have to pay!
The spiritual arguments
against eating meat are convincing for some people, but there are other
compelling reasons for being a vegetarian. All of them are rooted in
common sense. They have to do with issues of personal health and nutrition,
ecology and the environment, ethics and animal suffering, and world
hunger.