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Well-versed in many religious teachings and practices, Supreme Master Ching Hai has graciously explained this core principle. “There are Ten Commandments in the Bible. The first one is ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ When we kill any living being, we commit the act of kill. As long as it has life, it counts as killing. It doesn’t say ‘not to kill people’; it says ‘not to kill,’ meaning not to take any life. Similarly, in Buddhism, the first precept is the most important and it is also not to kill.”
“And in Buddhism, the law of cause and effect is absolute and exact. Whatever you do to others, it will be done to us in some way or another. Not only Buddhism, Christians say the same, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ And any other religion you look carefully, you will see the law of karma, the cause and effect: whatever you do, it will be done to you. Therefore, Confucius said, ‘Do not do to others what you do not desire for yourself.’ Because He also knew the law of cause and effect - meaning whatever you do, you will get the result, the bad or good.”
“Most of the time we study but we do not practice. For example, Christianity, the Bible says ‘Thou shall not kill’ and ‘do not be among the meat eaters and wine drinkers.’ Not be among them even, not to talk about become one of them, like meat eaters. These are very simple things, but I think many of us have overlooked. And the Buddha also taught us to be vegetarian, not to eat any sentient beings at all because they’re all our relatives and friends – meaning we are all interconnected. Hinduism teaches the same, Jainism teaches the same: avoid killing of any manner.”
“Obviously, the eating of any kind of animals, sentient beings is absolutely forbidden in all main belief systems and holy teachings. Yet too many of God’s children, or religious believers, are not following these basic guidelines, because we have been led astray by misconceptions that we need to eat the flesh of animals, fish, eggs and milk to be healthy. The opposite is true – it has been proven in scientific and clinical studies that consuming animals causes innumerable diseases in humans, such as cancers, all kinds of cancers and heart diseases, thus early death, and endless sorrow, suffering before that. Our original diet, as per the Garden of Eden, is the vegan diet. It promotes both physical and mental and spiritual wellbeing. We can live happy, healthy lives, thriving purely on plant foods.”
