Vegetarian, very, very nutritious; Don't think that vegetarianism has no nutrition, it is a psychological problem. Buddhism tells us that "all laws are born from the mind", which can be regarded as a Confucian classic saying that the mind gives birth to the law and the law gives birth to the mind. The most important thing is your own beliefs. Thought can decide everything. Your heart is clean and nutritious.
The Buddha ate once a day when he was alive and once a day when he became a monk. At that time, the system was to ask for bowls, and bowls could not be vegetarian; If you are a vegetarian and others support you, you must support vegetarianism, which will bring inconvenience to others, then it is merciless. Therefore, Buddhism says that "compassion is the foundation and convenience is the door"; Whatever you eat, be ready. Don't make special preparations for monks. After Buddhism spread to China, life was the same as everyone else, and there was no vegetarian; The vegetarian movement was initiated by Liang Wudi. These things must be known, must be known.
Now that the transportation is convenient, they often go abroad for sightseeing and study. No matter whether Buddhists become monks at home or not, only China, Japanese Buddhists are not vegetarian, South Korea is not vegetarian, and Thailand and Ceylon are not vegetarian. When we went to these Buddhist countries, it was strange for him to see that we were vegetarians. Why not eat meat? We saw them eating meat and drinking, and they looked embarrassed. Every place has different customs.
In the Buddha's system, we are not taught to eat vegetarian food, but only eat three clean meats without killing anything. Don't kill three lean meats, don't kill them, don't kill them for me. All you bought in the market are three lean meats. Therefore, a disciple who studies Buddhism must never buy live animals to kill at home, nor can he buy live things in the market for him to kill and take back. This is not allowed. This is the crime of killing, and it is against the precepts. Especially in the United States, these frozen fish are absolutely three clean meats.
Liang Wudi is a devout Buddhist and a great protector of Buddhism. He read the Lengga Sutra and read that the Bodhisattva was merciful and could not bear to eat the flesh of all beings. He was very moved by this passage and made up his mind not to eat the flesh of all beings. This is the source of vegetarian food, from him. He is a Buddhist protector and preaches in Buddhism, so the monk first responded that the Buddhist vegetarian diet in China came from here, not from India, but we established it in China. Monks in Liang Wudi used to eat meat. After Liang Wudi, this vegetarian movement was really popularized in Buddhism and was very successful. We know this history and this fact. We definitely don't mean that once Buddhists eat meat, they commit a big crime and look terrible. There is no such thing. This is a wrong idea.
More importantly, we must know that this body is like a machine. The machine runs there every day. It needs energy and heat to push, and diet is the supplement of energy. Everyone's physique is different. Some people are very energy-consuming. In other words, they need to add more. Some people consume less and don't need much supplement.
Where did all this energy go? I told my classmates that 95% of them were spent on delusion. Therefore, people who think about things all the time consume too much energy. Monks have a clean heart, less delusions, less troubles and less needs, so they are healthy and have less needs. The Buddha tells us in the scripture that Arhat has achieved great things. He is no ordinary person, we can't compare with him. It is enough for him to eat a meal for seven days. The bhikkhu Buddha is karma. His achievement is deeper than that of arhat, and people eat once every half month. You read in the scriptures that Arhat went to ask for Buddha and went out to ask for Buddha once every half month. One meal is enough, but he eats less. Therefore, energy consumption has nothing to do with effort. A worrier and a hard worker spend less. Just thinking about troubles, that consumes too much.
We can see a practical example of this event. In Taichung, I had a close relationship with old Buddhists in Li Bingnan for ten years. The old Buddhist Li eats once a day, and he eats once a day. I was with him, and he told me that he had been eating for nearly forty years. Not long after studying Buddhism, he ate a meal until I was with him. He is over seventy years old. I have observed that he works very hard, not only teaching classics, but also being a versatile person. As the saying goes, those who can do more work! The Dojo of "Taichung Lotus Society" was established. The Lotus Club has thousands of lotus friends. He divided it into 48 classes, and each class met the teacher once a month. Think about it. In Class 48, Miss Li will meet with the public every day, tell them and encourage them to read Buddhism. That big class has one class a day; If there are few people in the class, two classes and three classes will be combined one day; Because there are only thirty days in a month and there are forty-eight classes. Meet with these people every day.
After the teacher told them about it, there are still some intractable diseases to answer with him. The teacher's medical skill is very good. He is really a very good Chinese doctor. Even if fellow initiates are sick, they can't refuse him. I have to go to school and work with Mr. Kong Decheng. I'm busy all day. Most people want to see him and must make an appointment with him two weeks ago; Generally speaking, it is impossible to make an appointment with him within a week. He is very busy at this time of day and only eats one meal a day.
What is the price of a dinner course? That appetite is so small that most people can't imagine it. The small steamed bread in Taiwan Province Province is a little bigger than two; A bowl of porridge, two steamed buns and two side dishes, his life is so simple. If you want to see it, how can you eat it to be nutritious? No nutrition. People live to 97 years old, without crutches, no one to take care of them, without glasses, and their voices are loud and clear. Decided that we can't use scientific methods to study today. Therefore, the energy consumed by hard work is not much, and it is all consumed in delusion.
Therefore, the amount of food you eat must depend on your physical strength. You can't just learn this thing. If you study hard, your health will definitely go wrong. Nowadays, many people hold lunch, which seems to be a great and glorious thing. He thinks too much all day and has no time to replenish his energy. In order to save face, he had to pretend to have lunch and not eat at night. What if you don't eat a meal at night? I had a meal at noon and a big plate at night. As a result, my stomach was broken and I got stomach trouble a few years later. Where did this disease come from? From the face, why bother! If you really have lunch, or eat a meal a day, your appetite must be normal. Can't add it at all. It is wrong to add one point. This is what we must know when talking about diet and daily life. So in fearless feeding, this vegetarian diet has been done.
Keeping precepts is fearless giving, and enduring humiliation is fearless giving. For example, if a person practices paramita and we accidentally offend him, we won't worry, because he won't blame or retaliate, and our body and mind will be safe. Keep the precepts, we obey the law, for example, keep the precepts and don't kill. Animals are not afraid to see us and know that we won't hurt them. With the guard of not stealing or robbing, people's property is in front of them, and he left with confidence. This man keeps the precepts, he won't touch me, and he doesn't feel afraid. It's all about fearless giving.