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The Master Nyala Pema Dündul (vegetarian) was born in 1816. The blessed child was identified at the age of seven, as the reincarnation of the Kathok treasure revealer Rigdzin Longsal Nyingpo. He became a famous teacher of Dzogchen and Tantric Buddhism in Eastern Tibet, traveling widely to many places giving teachings and empowerment at many centers and monasteries. In his work “Song of Advice for Giving Up Meat Eating” he emphasized the perils that animal-flesh eating has on one’s spiritual practice and the negative karmic effects it brings. At the end of his life in 1872, the Master had attained the rainbow body, the supreme realization of Dzogchen, by dissolving his earthly body into light at the time of his leaving this world. Today, it is an honor to present excerpts from the Venerated Master Nyala Pema Dündul’s work “Song of Advice for Giving Up Meat Eating.”“When I think of the suffering that meat eating brings, I cannot bear the pain and anguish I feel within my heart. Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ hrīḥ!From a state of emptiness and compassion, you guide beings — Noble Avalokiteśvara, to you I pay homage. Without having trained in love and compassion myself, I ate the flesh of my mothers while lecturing others about cause and effect. Without realizing the absolute, I wandered along the path of empty words.I, the parrot-like beggar of White Rock, Was practicing austerities and ‘extracting the essence,’ When, one day, while meditating on Lord Avalokiteśvara, According to the union of stages from Self-Liberation Equal to Space, My own body and everything around me suddenly disappeared And transformed into a luminous body like that of the Great Compassionate One, Seemingly floating in space. As I looked around while experiencing luminous awareness, I saw the inconceivable miseries of the lower realms. And, in particular, the vast sufferings of the Reviving Hell. One of its quarters, I saw, was completely filled With men and women, naked and helpless, before each of whom Stood throngs of evil-looking servants with heads Like birds, wild and domesticated animals, and ferocious creatures. Many of the servants held sharp weapons in their hands, With which to slice apart and devour the flesh of their victims. Time and again they cut, and time and again flesh grew back. Victims did not expire until their karma was fully exhausted, And habitual tendencies did not diminish, but only increased. For those who had performed ‘red offerings’ it was even worse. Loudly, they all screamed in terrible pain and agony. When I had seen this external manifestation of my own perception, I wondered what might be done to stop such suffering. And, in that very instant, in the sky before me, The Great Compassionate One appeared, and said: ‘Ema! My son, who has been close to me throughout many lives, Listen well now, you who are diligent and determined! You have gained stability in the generation stage of deity yoga, And have even developed a few qualities, But the root of Dharma lies in loving kindness and compassion. Do you have real love and compassion within yourself? How could anyone trained in compassion ever eat flesh? Just look at how eating meat brings such suffering! The results of our own actions will ripen on us alone; There is nothing the buddhas of the three times may do. Eating meat has no virtue whatsoever but entails many faults. It is the source of 400 forms of disease and 80,000 obstructing forces, And it naturally brings about the 84,000 afflictive emotions. […]Consumption of flesh involves not the tiniest trace of virtue. Eating flesh is a sign of being either a māra or rākṣasa demon. It causes discipline to degenerate and negative emotions to increase. Without the cause, which is altruistic love and compassion, You will find it hard to gain the fruit, the essence of awakening. Meat eaters are not accompanied by the wisdom deities. They lack blessings, accomplishment, auspiciousness and activity. The substance of altruism does not develop in eaters of flesh, Whom gods, nāgas and others regard as demons. Meat eaters are plagued by gandharvas, rākṣasas, māras, Yamas, ghosts, spirits, gyalpo, gongpo, and samaya-breaking demons. The result of eating meat is rebirth in the hells, Or as a bird, a jackal, a cannibal demon, or the like. Meat eating thus brings suffering beyond measure.But by renouncing it, you are freed from all these faults, And will always be revered by non-human beings, Who will see you as a pure, authentic brahmin or god. All the buddhas and bodhisattvas, together with their retinues, throughout the ten directions, Gurus, yidam deities and ḍākinīs will gather around you like clouds, And you will be accompanied by male and female bodhisattvas. Quite naturally, you will possess the cause of loving kindness and compassion, And swiftly reach the fruit, which is the essence of awakening. These are just some of the inconceivable virtues to be gained.’Thus he spoke; and then, once my own perception had returned, I felt as if I had awakened from a lucid dream. My body and mind were tormented as if I had swallowed poison, And I shook with fear and panic. Just thinking of the terrible sufferings of the Reviving Hell, I wished only to exchange my happiness for others’ pain. So utterly overwhelmed was my mind, I wept profusely. And I felt intense, unbearable compassion. Then, to take upon myself the sufferings of others, And to purify their faults and obscurations caused by eating meat, For every mother sentient being, as infinite in number as space is vast, I made the following vow, true according to the two levels of reality:‘Aho! Mighty sage Śākyamuni and all buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout the whole of space and time, Have compassion for this child who knew nothing of cause and effect! Hosts of gracious root and lineage masters, care for me! Have compassion for this child who knew nothing of cause and effect! Supreme yidam deity, mighty Avalokiteśvara, care for me! Have compassion for this child who knew nothing of cause and effect!’”
