(Minghui.org) An article “Cooking Live Seafood Is Killing and Should Be Avoided by Practitioners” on Minghui.org reminded me of an incident from many years ago.

Our coordinating practitioner, Wen, was experiencing severe stomach pain. I can’t remember how long her pain lasted, but at the time, other practitioners went to her house to help her send righteous thoughts. When I arrived at Wen’s house, I saw her in agonizing pain. Such a strong person was clutching her stomach and emitting deep groans!

I sat down with other practitioners to send righteous thoughts, but what I saw in other dimension with my celestial eye shocked me: several expressionless people were torturing her. I told them to stop, but they ignored me and continued.

I told the other practitioners what I saw but I didn’t understand why those people were inflicting such horrific torture on her. Why were they punishing Wen? What had she done wrong? It was a while before I learned that Wen had killed some lives. She’d ordered live seafood at a restaurant to treat some friends and drank some beer. 

I was shocked! I felt she had gone too far — deliberately misinterpreting Master Li’s teachings by taking advantage of the opportunity to treat others as an excuse to satisfy her own cravings. She had done this several times, which is why she was experiencing such a tribulation. I thought of her as a kind-hearted practitioner, so I couldn’t imagine why she had been so heartless as to eat live beings. Didn’t she think about the suffering of those lives? 

It reminded me of an incident two years before. I went to a restaurant with her, and she wanted to order live shellfish. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t stop her. She hardly ate any of it and had the rest prepared for me. I asked her, “Why did you order it if you weren’t going to eat it? You’re a cultivator, how can you be so heartless?!” She replied, “What’s the purpose for those creatures in restaurants? for people to eat them.” I was speechless and thought to myself that I wouldn’t dine with her again.

Master said, “The issue of killing is very sensitive. For practitioners, we have set the strict requirement that they cannot kill lives.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun) Master has spoken so straightforwardly about the issue of killing that there’s no room for any interpretation. So why do we still act recklessly and violate Master’s teachings? Master is compassionate towards all beings, yet some of us would easily take lives to satisfy our own cravings. Are we truly following Master’s teachings as guidance for our cultivation, or are we merely relying on Master’s boundless power to fulfill our desires and ensure our safety?

No killing is something so simple to accomplish, yet if we can’t even control ourselves in this regard, what else are we incapable of controlling? I believe this is a significant issue; it’s not about how to pay for the lives we’ve killed but rather, as cultivators, have we followed what Master taught us? Have we truly regarded ourselves as cultivators? 

Please point out if you see anything not aligned with the Fa in this article.