Dharma Preaching at Hung Phap Pagoda, Dong Nai Province

In the evening of March 8th, 2015, (January 18th, Goat Year), Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh officially visited Hung Phap pagoda located at Xuan Hung commune, Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province, to preach Buddha’s Dharma under the invitation of Junior Venerable Abbot Thich Tam An.

On the occasion of Lunar New Year (Goat Year), he told\r\na story of goat in Khuddaka Nikàya, 18th Chapter, one day, disciples asked\r\nthe Buddha whether killing animals to offer for the dead has benefits or not.\r\nThe Buddha said that it did not have any benefit. How the killing is\r\nunbeneficial. The Buddha told the story in the past.

There was a Brahmin preparing to kill a goat for offering\r\nfor the dead. He asked his disciples to lead the\r\ngoat to the river to have a bath, let it eat, worn a wreath\r\naround its neck, and then took it home to slaughter. When all things\r\nwere finished, in the meantime the goat would be brought\r\nback, it suddenly laughed. After laughing, it cried.\r\nBrahmin’s disciples wondered about the reasons. The goat asked\r\nthem to take it to see its host so that it would\r\npresent the reasons of laughing and crying. When the disciples came\r\nback home, they told the story of the goat for the Brahmin. The Brahmin asked\r\nwhy the goat laughed. The goat answered that he remembered his previous life as\r\na Brahmin who also beheaded a goat to sacrifice. Because of killing crime,\r\nhe had to suffer 500 kapas as\r\nretribution of beheaded goats. He had already spent 499 lives, and\r\nthis live he can escape the retribution; that was why he laughed. The Brahmin\r\nasked why the goat cried. He said that what a pity was for the Brahmin since he\r\nwould have the retribution 500 lives of goat if the Brahmin killed him. The\r\nBrahmin was afraid about it, released the goat and asked someone follow to\r\nprotect the goat which was not killed. The goat went to the forest,\r\nand it looked up to eat the bud near the rock. While eating, suddenly there\r\nwas heavy rain and thunder hit the rock and thrown a piece of stone to cut\r\noff goat’s head. Many people heard about it and came to see it.

Through this story, the Venerable advised that\r\nBuddhists should not to kill any creatures, one of\r\nFive Precepts for the laity to avoid retribution for life.

To end the dharma talk, the Venerable gave copies of a\r\nVCD “Satisfaction of Joy”.

Here are some images recorded: