My Job Requires Me to Buy Meat for Others — Am I Creating Karma?| Master Jingben
【Q&A Series】
My Job Requires Me to Buy Meat for Others — Am I Creating Karma?
I work as a home-care attendant. I myself am a vegetarian and recite the Buddha-Name. My job is to buy food for my care recipient and to feed her. She loves meat very much; if she does not have meat at a meal, she keeps asking me why I have not bought meat for her. So every day I must buy meat and feed it to her. Will I incur karmic consequences from doing this? Kindly request Master's guidance. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Master Jingben Answers: Namo Amitabha Buddha. I rejoice in the sincerity of your own vegetarian practice and recitation of the Name. I understand the difficult position your work places you in, and I can sense your conscientiousness regarding karmic causation — such a heart is truly precious.
Regarding the matter of feeding meat to your care recipient, please do not be overly worried or burdened with self-blame.
Firstly, the fact that your care recipient cannot yet maintain a fully vegetarian diet is entirely natural; there is no need to force the matter. You may begin with what is called "the three kinds of pure meat." The "three kinds of pure meat" refers to meat that fulfills three conditions:
First, "not seen killed" — you have not seen with your own eyes the animal being slaughtered for you;
Second, "not heard killed" — you have not heard with your own ears the sound of the animal being slaughtered;
Third, "not killed for one's own sake" — the animal was not slaughtered specifically for you.
Meat that is ordinarily purchased at markets or shops has already been slaughtered and is sold to the general public — it was not killed for your sake specifically. This falls within the scope of the three kinds of pure meat. So when you buy such meat for your care recipient to eat, this is entirely different from personally taking life.
Secondly, the key to karmic causation lies in the intention of the mind. When you feed your care recipient, you are simply fulfilling your duty and responsibility to care for another — caring for an elderly person who can no longer look after herself is itself an act of compassionate kindness. There is no craving for meat in your own heart, nor the slightest intention to harm sentient beings. So there is no need to burden yourself with guilt.
Furthermore, this work can in fact be transformed into a wholesome connection that benefits sentient beings. When you buy the meat and feed it to her, you may silently recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" for those beings, dedicating the merit to them — wishing that they may be free from suffering, attain joy, and be born in the Pure Land. In this way, what seemed at first a helpless situation actually becomes an opportunity to form a karmic connection of recitation with those beings.
Lastly, you may also, as conditions permit, gradually adjust the ratio of meat to vegetarian fare, and with gentleness and skillful means, guide her step by step — perhaps even planting in your care recipient a seed of transformation. Of course, this is all to be done as conditions allow; there is no need to force it.
Your own practice of vegetarianism and recitation is already wonderful — please continue. There is no need to worry excessively over matters of work. Recite the Name with a peaceful heart, and Amitabha Buddha will surely watch over all. Namo Amitabha Buddha
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