The so-called "seven buddha" means that believers who practice pure land Buddhism get together. According to the instructions of the Amitabha Sutra, in seven days, apart from eating and sleeping, they put aside their fate and kept chanting the name "Amitabha in the South" to feel the compassion of Amitabha and the Buddha's arrival in the western paradise at the end of their lives.
According to the ritual, believers who participate in seven buddha must abide by the "Eight Officials Pavilion", that is, "No killing for seven days; Second, don't steal; Non-Sanskrit (non-obscene); Fourth, don't lie; 5. Don't drink; Six are not out of season (do not eat after noon); No fragrant flowers, no singing and dancing.
; Don't sit on a high bed. "
According to the Ten Commandments of Buddhism, "Eight quit fasting is the Buddhist family law in past lives."
To put it bluntly, the precepts of Baguanting are temporary precepts and fasting methods formulated by Buddhist III for disciples at home. Because of the complicated family affairs and official duties at home, I encountered many obstacles in practice. The Buddha sympathized with his disciples at home. In order to let them live a quiet life of becoming a monk day and night (or several days and nights) and plant good deeds on earth, he specially formulated the precept of becoming a monk at home in Baguan Pavilion.
The "precepts" in the Eight Official Pavilion are the above eight precepts; "Guan" refers to accepting the eight precepts, which can eliminate all evil deeds, stay away from all evil laws, close the evil door and open the door to virtue and virtue; "Fasting" means "don't eat in season", which is often said at noon, which means "don't eat after noon"
Speaking of holding noon, we have to mention one more statue of Galileo, the great disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha. This venerable man, with profound knowledge, was a court teacher of Sakyamuni Buddha before becoming a monk. After Sakyamuni became a Buddha, Caledonian Yituo converted to Buddhism and became a monk, ranking fifth among the 500 arhats. It is said that when Buddha Sakyamuni was alive, monks also ate dinner. It was because of this unexpected disaster that the Buddha asked the monks to fast at noon.
According to Zeng Yi Agama and Four Points, "Caledonia is extremely late at night, begging for food at night. When it was dark, he begged to his house. His wife was pregnant, and when she saw it in lightning, she was called a ghost, and she had a miserable abortion. Later, I heard that Caledonia was a disciple of the Buddha, and the woman called names. When you come to know, just give a warning and don't ask for food after noon. "
According to the scripture, Lord Galileo, although highly educated, is ugly and dark. One night, thunder and lightning, the respected master asked for a bowl of food. When the pregnant woman opened the door, she thought she had seen a ghost and miscarried in panic. I heard that it was a Buddhist disciple who came to eat, but the woman swore. After knowing this, the Buddha made a commandment-monks should hold noon, that is, they are not allowed to go out and beg at night. It is also deeply regrettable that this Karuto venerable master made amends and seriously educated all beings, and was later called "education first".
"Out of season" means that you can eat before noon, and you can only drink tea and water in the afternoon, and you can't eat any food with dregs. Later, the Buddha formulated a system of "one food in Japan and China", in which monks only ate one meal at noon and did not eat it in the morning and evening (except those who were sick).
According to the scripture, a king named Bottle Sand King asked the Buddha why he made a food system for Japan and China. The Buddha replied that morning is the time for heaven and man to eat; Noon is the time for Buddha and Bodhisattva to eat; Afternoon is the time for animals to eat; Evening is the time for ghosts and gods to eat, and monks practice to become buddhas and bodhisattvas, so they eat at noon.
After Lian Jue studied Buddhism, he realized that behind the fasting system, there was actually great compassion of Buddha and Bodhisattva. Buddhism believes that in the living space of human beings and animals, there are still ghosts and gods, non-human beings and so on. Because of the different dimensions, human beings are invisible to the naked eye, but ghosts and gods can see us. The hungry ghosts in the ghost road are born of human greed, and hunger and thirst are the rewards. When all the delicious things reach their mouths, they all turn into coke, iron tablets, purulent blood and molten copper juice. Therefore, every night when people eat, the hunger and anger in the hungry ghost become indescribable, and the Buddha can't bear to suffer from hunger and thirst, so the monk stops eating after noon.
Zhao Puchu, the former president of the Chinese Buddhist Association, also said in the Question and Answer of Buddhist Common Sense that monks eat once a day for two reasons: First, monks are provided with food by lay people, and eating once a day can reduce the burden on lay people; Second, skipping meals after noon helps to review. This system is still widely practiced in Southern Buddhism. Strictly speaking, people only drink white water in the afternoon, not even milk, tea or coconut water. Zen monks of Han Buddhism have been practicing since ancient times. Because of labor, they have to eat in the afternoon. Therefore, most temples prohibit eating after noon, and the next lunch is called "medicine stone", that is, to satisfy hunger. Monks can practice noon or "medicine stone" according to their own conditions.
It is difficult for Buddhist disciples at home to work hard for the livelihood of the family, whether it is lunch or a meal at noon. However, during the seventh Buddhism, it is of great benefit for Buddhist disciples at home to observe the "Eight Officials Pavilion Ring" for seven days and experience a life of becoming a monk. Strangely, Lianjue is known as "hypoglycemia", and he feels dizzy after eating. However, during the seven days of the Buddha in 2007, he was not only disease-free, but also refreshed, and later generations were much more relaxed after the end of Buddhism. It seems that Buddhism does not eat in the afternoon, which is the essence of human health. Nowadays, the so-called scientific diet advises people to eat less or even not in the afternoon. From this perspective, who says Buddhism is unscientific?
In fact, it's good to have lunch or dinner in Japan and China, mainly because of the compassion of Buddha-raising disciples, which inspired Mahayana Bodhisattva's bodhi compassion. In the Six Paths, "All living beings are my father and all living beings are my mother", "Hunger knows people's hunger, labor knows people's labor, and cold knows people's cold". Eat less, learn more blessings, increase more merits, plus all the blessings.
This is the original intention of Sakyamuni Buddha to formulate the fasting system for Buddhist practitioners.