The importance of the Precepts has been discussed in the chapter of How To Choose A Spiritual Master. At the Latter Dharma Age, as far as Buddhist practice is concerned, it cannot be called spiritual cultivation unless you become a vegetarian; it cannot be called observance of the Buddhist Precepts unless you become a vegetarian; it cannot be called humanity unless you stop killing the lives. Therefore one who doesn't instruct people to become vegetarian is not a true spiritual master. And one who doesn't advocate precepts must not be a spiritual master. This is a touchstone.

    We talk about spiritual cultivation, which means correcting our behavior. We want to correct our behavior, but what do we start with? And what can we cultivate ourselves with? Buddha Sakyamuni told people: follow the Precepts as their teacher. When children go to school to learn, teachers will not only teach them knowledge but also teach student's codes of conduct, and tell them that the school has its discipline and the classroom has its own discipline. Then don't we, as citizens, know that the nation has laws? From factories to families all have disciplines. Buddhism calls its discipline the Precepts. How can one not observe the Precepts? The laws conform to the interest of the majority and so work to maintain social order. They regulate individual pursuits, make them subject to the interest of the whole, and maintain social stability, unity, harmony and progress. If everyone persists in his own way, the society will become disintegrated.

    The Buddhist precepts are especially stringent. They start with our heart and allow us to regulate ourselves at our own will, not being enforced by other people. The laws of a nation are enforced on you. If you violate them, you will be punished. In monasteries, if one violates the Precepts, he will be punished, too. However, most people today practice spiritual cultivation at home. Many of them know the importance of the Precepts, and therefore go to a temple to find a guru to take refuge in him, and receive a certificate.(This is the situation in China) Many people who have got a certificate don't know the true meaning of taking refuge in someone. They eat meat, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, gamble, play Mahjong, cheat others, do bad things, etc. They still act like before. Is this taking refuge in a guru? Do the "Three Jewels" ask you to do those things? Where has the principle of following the Precepts as one's teacher gone?

    Then, some pretentious people tell others, " Alcohol and meat go through the bowels and Buddha still sits in the heart". If alcohol and meat can go through the bowels, why don't you drink some "1095" (a kind of pesticide) and see if it can go through the bowels or not? If it could go through the bowels, go head and eat chicken and duck as you wish, since you can succeed! Try it and see if it works. If it can't go through the bowels, it proves that your bowels are still the bowels of an animal and whatever you eat will affect them. How can meat have no effect on you?

    A vegetarian will become compassionate; a meat-eater will become ruthless, ferocious, selfish, and greedy; an alcoholic will get drunk and not recognize his parents. Therefore food has great influence on our moral quality, personality, and emotion. The laws of material nature directly work on the body in material nature. You imitate the one "who has come through" (meaning succeeded) to talk about that alcohol and meat go through the bowels. You have no shame! Those who teach people this are no doubt demons. If they can't teach people to be virtuous, they should not confuse people by calling bad things good, and take evilness as kindness! This is against the Buddha's admonition! How can you believe such obvious lies?

    Therefore, if we don't take the Precepts as our standards, we can't talk about correcting our behavior. Our behavior will then have no standards. The Precepts concretely regulate our behavior. Only by acting in accordance with the Precepts can we gradually change our bad habits, overcome our greed, anger, lust, arrogance, doubt, and regret, adjust our emotion, and guard our body, mind and speech. It can help us, at any moment, to have a clear mind, to remain peaceful, and to have the ability to control our emotion; it can prevent us from falling down, from indulging ourselves, and from echoing others' views without thinking. One must have right views. Then, we should always live a life with the direction of being regulated by the Precepts, and not break away from them for a moment. This is a necessary lesson at the beginning of spiritual cultivation.

    When a student enters fully into the state of self-awareness in his learning, he won't violate any discipline. At that time, school discipline is not important to him. However, at the beginning student's codes of conduct are very important.

    If a full-time cultivator or a layman doesn't accept the Precepts from the beginning, it is impossible for him to control himself. If he could control himself without precepts, he would have been good. Why does he want to pursue "cultivation"? And what is the purpose to speak of "precepts"? Aren't they extra? If he wants to hold on the Precepts but doesn't want to be a vegetarian, can it work by throwing out the most important thing? Similarly, some people do observe vegetarianism, but only on the first and fifteenth days of a month. They say that is called "colorful vegetarianism". If you ask them why do that, they will tell you it is better to be vegetarian for some time than none of the time. Since it is a good thing to be vegetarian, why just spend two days a month being vegetarian? Why not twenty eight days? Why not everyday?

    Therefore, it shows that as we can't overcome our habits and guard our body, mind and speech, we try to find an excuse to indulge ourselves, claiming this is the Buddhist Dharma. That is demonic! What Buddhist? Can it be called spiritual cultivation? As you think of eating meat, you try to change the rule in order to be able to eat meat; as you think of drinking alcohol, you try to change the rule in order to be able to drink alcohol. No one would stop you from eating meat and drinking alcohol if you don't take on spiritual cultivation. Don't eat meat and drink alcohol in the name of spiritual cultivation. You will create worse karma!

    Therefore, the humankind has the biggest misfortune-the right to indulge themselves. As humans have this kind of terrible misfortune, many people are not successful in becoming good humans! When you indulge yourself, you will have to take responsibility for the outcome! No matter whether others say you are right or wrong, don't try to make excuses for yourself, because you know in your heart clearly what is right. You know that vegetarianism is better than non-vegetarianism, though it is another matter that you can't practice it. Don't you see the common character of those animals who are vegetarian? Do they eat people? No matter how big they are, they don't eat humans! Do cows, horses and elephants eat people? Look at those animals that eat meat. From as small as mosquitoes, mice and snakes to as big as wolves, jackals, tigers and leopards, how do they appear? What kind of character do they share? How you feel when you see them will be how the vegetarians feel when they see you. You are not different from those animals. But you still praise yourself as a spiritual cultivator and will "rise up to heaven with the body"!

    Therefore, one who truly wants to cultivate himself should understand this principle and should not lie to himself. As far as Qi Gong practitioners are concerned, very few of those who are vegetarian would go astray, face the manifestation of bad karma, or be called upon by their enemies and debtors (from another realm) when they obtain some supernatural power. Therefore it requires a long time to prepare for the cultivation of right Dharma. After one has observed the Precepts and become a vegetarian for a long time, it will then be appropriate and safe for him to start spiritual cultivation. For a vegetarian beginner whose faith in his spiritual master is not strong enough and whose heart is not prepared, when his energy channels are getting to open up, all of his enemies and debtors will call upon him. If he doesn't have the merit of being a vegetarian (for a long period), his karmic hindrance will show up. Especially those who worship ghosts and spirits, as well as the shamans, when their energy channels are opening up, they may appear to be possessed and used by ghosts or spirits. It would be too late if those ghosts and spirits don't use these people at this time. After these people are liberated, it would be too late, for those ghosts and spirits can no longer use them. Debts have to be repaid. Do you understand?

    However a pure vegetarian who doesn't worship ghosts and spirits and has steadfast mind will absolutely not encounter this kind of thing. He will suffer a bit when his energy channels get opened up, but he won't be possessed. Sometimes, people may find that all of a sudden they can't control their minds, as well as can't control their emotions. They clearly know they are wrong but just can't control themselves. Let me tell you that it is obviously a possession and it is a worse possession.

T   The Five Precepts of First Vehicle Buddhism, therefore, require you to control your emotion until it is eliminated. Emotion is like a thermostat. When you are used by evil, your emotion will arise. If you are not used by evil, it is manifested as passion but with no emotion. Emotion is negative while passion is lively. Emotion is rebellious. When we are emotional and don't know to control it, O.K., there will be a vicious demon, not a general kind of evil, that comes to visit you and use you. If it has happened once, there will a second time, a third time..., because you are not alert. You always keep your door open and don't know to lock it. Don't you know a thief will come back after he knows the door is always open? You are being used unconsciously. Every time you are used, your energy is consumed to a great degree. Eventually your little merit accrued by meditation will be used up by them. Then, they will use your body and mind to violate the Precepts, harm devotees, create karma directly, and commit sacrilege. If you commit a big offense, I can tell you that the Creator may destroy you anytime!

    It is stated very clearly in the Bhagavad-gita: the Great Potency (Godhead) would rather allow ignorant people to offend Him but won't allow anyone to harm His devotees by any means. Haven't you learned that? If you persist in your way as far as this issue is concerned, not only that I will not be able to help you at that time, you must be saved in a malicious way! You will be done quickly!

    Therefore, if we don't have the merit of observing the Precepts for a long time, our personality will change very slowly, and we will focus more on mundane profit-driven mentality. We will consider our reputation and face more important. When we are offended, we get very angry. When things don't go our way, we get upset. This is for sure.

    We will show this kind of emotion when our feelings or the interests that we consider necessary are offended. But when this kind of emotion appears, we will forget who we are, and we will be unaware of who is using this emotion and controlling this body. At the end, after some harm has been done, we can only regret it.

    The fifty-one kinds of demons, or of mental demons, stated in the Lankavatara Sutra, won't be able to sneak in if you guard your door. If you don't guard your door, they will sneak inside. Incessantly guard your body, mind and speech! Incessantly guard your body, mind and speech! To keep your body, mind and speech at guard refers to a self-conscious state, which means observing the Precepts on our own will. Often times the observance of the Precepts depends on our own supervision.

    However, if you get too carried away, I will of course have to reprimand you. But my reproach will not be carried out by human force. I won't spank you, scold you, or criticize you. But retribution will happen. You will be done with your game! That is because you repetitively offend the Precepts. The Precepts are not the things that you can whimsically observe, execute, or want. The cultivators of the present time don't understand this issue. They are too casual with the Precepts! They forget who they are and lose their head! Therefore, they talk and criticize others in the name of spiritual cultivation according to their whims, as well as slander Buddha. It looks like they don't know the Law of Cause-and-effect, or the Law of Cause-and-effect does not exist.

    Don't we cultivate ourselves because we can't stand the impact of the Law of Cause-and-effect and so are forced to start spiritual cultivation? Then, how can you forget the Law of Cause-and-effect? And how daring you are to have looked down the Precepts?

    No matter whether it is a big or a small thing, we should observe the Five Precepts until we gradually attain the state that we can control and check ourselves on our own. As time goes on, we will attain a natural state (of following the Precepts). We will become mild in our disposition, as well as peaceful. When we see those who smoke and drink, we will have difficulty getting used to that, and can't stand it. When we smell the body odor of those who eat meat, garlic, and scallion, we will have difficulty putting up with that. Then, we will know to what extent we had polluted our body before.

    Therefore, when a vegetarian comes into a crowd of non-vegetarians, he can hardly stand it! If that thing could go through the bowels, how come it has such a strong smell? If poison could go through the bowels, how come it can take away your life? Therefore, if we don't observe the Precepts, we will never be able to learn the merciful heart of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and understand to appreciate the feelings of others and respect others. Then, we won't be given sympathy, helped, given mercy, and looked after by others. Therefore, we will have to depend on ourselves to handle all things until we die. Our suffering is due to our lack of merit and the Way. We have to suffer until the end, as one who loses the Way will get little help!

    Sentient beings are different from other animals because they can improve and examine themselves by self-awareness. And self-awareness depends on the Precepts. If there are no precepts, the situation will be like a horse without harness. If you can run around according to your whims, where are rules and regulations? You run until you die and you will still be a wild horse! You will become a lonely spirit and wandering ghost after you die. In fact, there is no need to discuss this point too much.

    Most of the legitimate religions today still hold on the Precepts, although the lineage of Dharma transmission may have been disrupted. I also know that many of the monks who reside in temples and many of the students in Buddhist schools eat meat and drink alcohol secretly. But they are dressed in Buddhist robes like monks when they go out. Actually they have done every sort of bad thing. We have come to this kind of era! Not to speak of taking refuge, many laymen eat fish and meat and drink alcohol after they have vowed to observe Mahayana Precepts. What have Mahayana Precepts become? Look how you play trick with Buddha! Is the Law of Cause-and-effect non-existent?

    In this world of cause-and-effect, when it comes to time, everything will be repaid. None can escape it! Not even to speak of obtaining Dharma, cultivation, or attaining the Way, one, as a sentient being, should not break away from the Precepts in his daily life. The Precepts are the basic guidance of behavior. Otherwise, you can't transmigrate to human form again in your next life. You have to go down to Animal Path! In this material universe, the money, lives, and favors that you owe others have to be repaid. You can't get away from that. If you are able to become enlightened, no one can control you anymore. Otherwise, you can't get away! All this affects you. Therefore, from the perspective of a certain level, observing the Precepts doesn't have direct relation with spiritual cultivation. However, it is the basis of being a human. If you succeed in being a good human, you will naturally attain Buddhahood. If we don't even want to furnish ourselves with the basic qualifications of a human, can we possibly attain Buddhahood?

    There are good guys and bad guys in the human world. But Buddhas are neither good nor bad. There are no good Buddhas or bad Buddhas. You say, "I eat some meat and drink some alcohol, which only means that the Buddhahood I attain in the future will be inferior to yours." There is no such a thing! Everyone who cultivates the Way with his whole heart needs to ask himself to honestly follow the standards set by Buddha Sakyamuni. If you are not sincere in your cultivation and cheat yourself, that is not my business. If you are unaware of this point, and are vague about it, I am telling you right here that this is not something you can bargain.

    Buddhist monks and nuns must observe the Precepts seriously. It is not something that can be done once and for all. You have to do it every hour, every day, and every year until you die. One who starts the observation of the Precepts from birth is called an innate vegetarian. If he has not met a spiritual master in this life, or has not taken on spiritual cultivation, he can still transmigrate into human form in his next life! Therefore, if we don't start with changing our diet, there is no way to correct our habits and six senses. Eating is an important matter, which can not be ignored. This is the relationship between observing the Precepts and spiritual cultivation!

Notes:

1. The five basic precepts for laymen and lay women are not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to tell lies, and not to drink intoxicants.

2. The Five Precepts of First Vehicle Buddhism are to get rid of coarseness, laziness, doubts, emotional outbursts, and non-persistence.