一切智光明仙人慈心因緣不食肉經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the monastery of the Heaven of Sovereign Mastery, in the village of Midanü, at the place of practice of Quiescent Cessation, in the kingdom of Magadha.

At that time there was a son of the Brahmin Kabali named Maitreya. Maitreya's body was of a lustrous golden hue, fully endowed with the thirty-two marks of excellence and the eighty minor characteristics of beauty. His body radiated a silver light and was adorned with golden necklaces; his majestic radiance was immeasurable, like a mountain of bright white silver. He came to the place of the Buddha.

At that time the World-Honored One, together with one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikshus, was walking in meditation through the forest; there were also five hundred topknotted Brahmacarins. From afar everyone saw Maitreya, his marks excellent and pure, his deportment dignified and composed, his five limbs prostrate to the ground like a silver mountain collapsing downward, forming a precious expanse of space like a blossom of gold—golden flowers and golden daises, with the seven treasures as fruit. Within the storied tower, a subtle and wondrous sound spoke this verse:

At that time the Brahmacarins, seeing and hearing this event, addressed the Buddha:

"World-Honored One, this youth's majestic deportment is dignified and composed, and his immeasurable light is no different from that of the Buddha. Through which Buddha did he first give rise to the resolve for the Path, and what scriptures did he receive and uphold? We humbly ask the World-Honored One to explain this so that we may know."

The Buddha said to the Brahmacarin Shiqian:

"You should listen attentively and reflect well. I shall analyze and explain it for you to your satisfaction.

"In the past, immeasurable, boundless asamkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a land named Victorious Flower Spread, where the Buddha was titled Maitreya. He constantly used the Dharma of the Four Immeasurable Minds to teach and transform all sentient beings. The Buddha Maitreya expounded the Sutra of the Cloud-Ocean of Great Compassion of the Radiance of the Samadhi of Loving-Kindness. If there were anyone who could hear this sutra, that person could pass beyond a hundred koti myriad kalpas of the suffering of birth-and-death from transgressions, and would surely attain the fruit of Buddhahood without any doubt.

"In that land there was a great Brahmin named Sarvajnaprabha (All-Knowing Radiance), whose wisdom was penetrating and who had broad understanding of many scriptures. He was skilled in all sixty-four arts and crafts of the world. Hearing that a Buddha had appeared in the world expounding the Sutra of the Cloud-Ocean of Great Compassion of the Radiance of the Samadhi of Loving-Kindness, this Brahmin took up all the topics of debate in the world to question that Buddha. He exhausted all his powers of argument yet was unable to confound the Buddha. Therefore he came to deeply trust and revere the Buddha, and asked to become His disciple, and gave rise to the resolve for Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment. He addressed the Buddha:

"'I now, within the Buddha's teaching, recite and uphold the Sutra of the Cloud-Ocean of Great Compassion of the Radiance of the Samadhi of Great Loving-Kindness. I vow that, by this merit, in a future life after countless kalpas have passed, I shall attain Buddhahood with the title Maitreya.'

"From that time Sarvajnaprabha renounced his household, entered the deep mountains, and let his hair grow long as a mark of cultivating the practice of Brahmacarya. Throughout eight thousand years he sustained his body solely by begging for alms, living a life of few desires and free of affairs, single-mindedly and exclusively reciting this sutra.

"At that time there was heavy rain in the land and a comet appeared. Because the king was given over to debauchery, the comet swept through, and the unceasing rains caused great floods to surge. For seven days the Sage sat in silent stillness, unable to go out to beg for alms. At that time, in the forest there were five hundred white hares and one hare-king. The mother and child, the hare-king and her offspring, seeing that the Sage had not eaten for seven days, said:

"'Now the Sage, for the sake of the Buddha's Path, has gone hungry for many days, and we fear his life can hardly be sustained. The banner of the Dharma is about to topple, and the ocean of the teachings is about to run dry. We now, for the sake of the survival of the great unsurpassed Dharma, must not spare our own bodies and lives.'

"Then she said to the hares:

"'All conditioned dharmas are impermanent. Sentient beings have never, for the sake of the Dharma, cherished their empty bodies subject to birth-and-death. I now wish that, for all sentient beings, I may make myself a great bridge to make offering to the Dharma Master, causing the True Dharma to long endure.'

"At that time the hare-king spoke this verse to the flock of hares:

If it hears the Dharma and reverently practices it,
It is born where it ever meets the Buddhas,
Believing the Dharma without doubt or confusion,
Taking refuge in the Worthy, the Holy, and the Sangha.

"When the hare-king had finished speaking the verse, she announced to the flock of hares:

"'I now wish to offer my body to the Dharma. All of you should rejoice in sympathy. Why is this? For many kalpas I have lost countless bodies. Because of the three poisons I have had to be a bird and a beast; birth-and-death is false and illusory, and never for the sake of the Dharma. I now wish, for the sake of the unsurpassed Dharma, to relinquish my body and life as an offering to the Dharma Master.'

"At that time the spirit of the mountains and forests gathered fragrant grass for the hare-king to burn her body. The hare-king, mother and child, circumambulated the Sage seven times, then said:

"'Great Master, I wish, for the sake of the Dharma, to make an offering to the Venerable One.'

"The Sage asked:

"'You are a creature of the animal realm; though you have a mind of loving-kindness, tell me, by what cause and condition does this come about?'

"The hare-king replied:

"'I myself bring my body as an offering to you, Worthy One, so that the Dharma may long endure and cause sentient beings to gain abundant benefit.'

"The mother hare then said to her young:

"'You may go as you please to seek water and grass. Remember to fix your mind in contemplation, with right mindfulness of the Three Treasures.'

"The young hare, hearing what its mother said, knelt down and said to her:

"'As you have said—wishing to make offering to the great unsurpassed Dharma—I too wish to make this offering.'

"Having spoken these words, the young hare itself leapt into the fire. The mother hare also leapt after it.

"At the moment the Bodhisattva relinquished her body, heaven and earth quaked greatly. Even up to the Heavens of the Form Realm, the devas rained down flowers as an offering.

"After the flesh of the mother and child hares had cooked, the spirit of the mountains and forests addressed the Sage:

"'The hare-king, mother and child, out of the wish to make an offering, have leapt into the fire. Now the flesh is cooked, and you may partake of it.'

"When the Sage heard what the spirit said, his heart was choked with pity and compassion. He placed his scriptures upon the leaves of a tree and spoke this verse:

Rather would I burn my own body and ruin my eyes
Than bear to kill and devour a sentient being.
The Buddhas have expounded the sutras of loving-kindness,
Teaching people ever to live by the practice of Loving-Kindness.

Rather would I shatter my head, bones, marrow, and brain
Than be willing in my heart to eat the flesh of sentient beings.
The Buddhas have taught: Whoever eats flesh,
That person is lacking in the practice of Loving-Kindness and Compassion,

Lives a short and brief life, with a body prone to illness,
Sinking and drowning in birth-and-death, and does not attain Buddhahood.

"When the Sage had finished speaking the verse, he made this vow:

"'I vow that, life after life, I shall have no thought of killing living beings, and shall never eat flesh.'

"The Sage then entered the Samadhi of White Radiance Loving-Kindness and vowed:

"'I vow that when I attain Buddhahood, I shall establish the precept against eating flesh.'

"Having made this vow, the Sage himself leapt into the pit of fire and died together with the two hares. At that time heaven and earth shook in six ways. By the spiritual power of the devas, the trees emitted a brilliant golden light that shone throughout a thousand lands. The people of the land all saw the golden light issuing from the mountains and forests, and so they went in search of that light. When they arrived, they saw the Sage and the mother and child hares already dead within the mass of fire. They also found the Buddha's scriptures and the verse, and brought them back to present to the king. The king, hearing this Dharma, propagated it so that everyone would know it, causing all who could learn this Dharma to give rise to the resolve for the Supreme, True, and Perfect Path.

"The Buddha said to Shiqian:

"'You should know that the white hare-king at that time is now none other than the Buddha Shakyamuni. The young hare is Rahula. The Sage who recited the sutra at that time is now, within this assembly, the Brahmin Great Bodhisattva Maitreya.

Fifty-six koti myriad years after I enter Nirvana, at that time, beneath the Dragon-Flower Bodhi tree, upon the Vajra throne, in a flower garden in the land of the Wheel-Turning Sage King Shankha, he will attain the Buddha's Path and turn the subtle and wondrous wheel of the Dharma. The five hundred hares at that time are now the five hundred bhikshus such as Mahakashyapa and the rest. The two hundred and fifty spirits of the mountains and forests are now Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and the two hundred and fifty bhikshus.

The one thousand kings are now the one thousand Bodhisattvas such as Bhadrapala and the rest.

"'The king, his officials, and the people of that land who heard the sutra, from the time of my appearance in the world up until the Buddha Lushi, during that time became disciples who received and studied the teaching and attained the Path.'

"The Buddha said to Shiqian:

"'A Bodhisattva seeking the Dharma must, through many kalpas, strive diligently amid hardship and adversity, not sparing body or life. Although, following the retribution of karma, she took the body of a creature of the animal realm, yet she ever, for the sake of the teaching, forgot herself, leaping of her own accord into the pit of fire to make an offering, and thereby escaped the transgressions of birth-and-death over nine hundred myriad koti kalpas. From then on she ever dwelt within the light of immeasurable Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; foremost, before Maitreya, she will attain the Buddha's Path. Why, then, do you not diligently practice the Dharma?'"

When the Buddha had spoken thus, Shiqian and the five hundred Brahmacarins begged the Buddha to allow them to go forth into the homeless life.

The Buddha said:

"Welcome, well come."

At once the hair and beards of the five hundred Brahmacarins fell away of themselves, and they became shramanas. The Buddha expounded the Dharma for them to hear, and their minds suddenly opened wide, and they realized the fruit of Arhatship. Eighty thousand devas also gave rise to the resolve for Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment. In the assembly hearing the Buddha expound the Dharma, everyone praised the vow and practice of the Bodhisattva.

The Venerable Shariputra addressed the Buddha:

"When that Sage leapt into the pit of fire, where was he reborn?"

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

"When the Sage leapt into the pit of fire, he was immediately reborn in the realm of the Brahma Heaven, and for the sake of all sentient beings he expounded the Great Brahma Dharma, until, attaining Buddhahood, he turned the great Brahma wheel and expounded a sutra also named the Sutra of the Cloud-Ocean of Great Compassion of the Radiance of the Samadhi of Loving-Kindness. This Buddha established the precepts: Whoever does not practice the conduct of loving-kindness and compassion is called one who violates the prohibitions.

If a person eats flesh, he will commit a grave transgression of the precepts, and in a future life will be reborn in a place where he must constantly swallow hot iron balls—until the time when that Sage attains Buddhahood, as told in the Sutra of the Descent and Birth of the Bodhisattva Maitreya."

The Venerable Ananda, hearing the Buddha's teaching, rose from his seat, drew his robe to bare his right shoulder, knelt upon his knee, joined his palms toward the Buddha, and said:

"Reverently, World-Honored One, when the Bodhisattva Maitreya attains Buddhahood and expounds the precepts of the Dharma, it will be precisely out of a mind of Loving-Kindness and Compassion that he establishes the precept against eating flesh, and whoever violates it incurs a grave transgression. How rare and extraordinary!" In the great assembly everyone approved and praised this. "The sentient beings in that land uphold the precept against eating flesh; we vow to be reborn in that land. May the World-Honored One bestow upon us the prediction."

The Venerable Ananda again addressed the World-Honored One:

"What is the name of this sutra? How is it to be received and upheld?"

The Buddha said to Ananda:

"This teaching is named 'The Hare Bodhisattva Who Does Not Spare Body and Life for the Sake of the Unsurpassed Path' (the Hare Bodhisattva who, for the sake of the Unsurpassed Path, did not spare body and life). It is also called 'The Causes and Conditions of the Sage Sarvajnaprabha's Loving Mind in Not Eating Flesh' (the causes and conditions of the Sage Sarvajnaprabha, who out of a loving mind did not eat flesh). Receive and uphold it in this way."

The Venerable Ananda and the bhikshus, hearing the Buddha's teaching, all rejoiced and reverently practiced it.