Did the Buddha Keep the Precept of Abstaining from Food after Midday (Vikālabhojanā Veramaṇī)?

Some people use the precepts to constrain the Buddha, requiring the Buddha to observe the precept of abstaining from food after midday (vikālabhojanā veramaṇī); not only do they not make offerings to the Buddha in the evening, they do not make offerings in the afternoon either. Why do these people treat the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas this way? Because ordinary sentient beings do not understand the realm of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and do not comprehend the substantive meaning of the precepts; they regard the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as ordinary beings just like themselves—and moreover as human ordinary beings—so they assume that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, like human sentient beings, should observe the precept of abstaining from food after midday.

When the Buddha established this precept in the past, it was to keep practitioners' minds pure, free from the disturbance of food and drink, so that they could cultivate continuously and apply effort without interruption, avoiding states of distraction and dullness that would affect their practice. But this precept does not apply to the Buddha and the great Bodhisattvas. Even when the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwell in the human world in human form, they should not be limited by this precept, because, first, the Buddha does not cultivate, and second, the Buddha possesses immeasurable accomplishments of the Path and can transform and dissolve food and drink: He may refrain from eating, or He may eat immeasurable amounts, and neither affects His body and mind. Yet when the Buddha was in the human world, He also abstained from food after midday, as a demonstration and model for sentient beings; but before the heavenly beings, the Buddha was not limited by the precept of abstaining from food after midday, and accepted the various offerings of the heavenly beings anytime and anywhere.

When the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not in the human world, in the Buddha-lands where they abide, sunlight is not the dividing line between day and night; moreover, one minute in other Buddha-lands equals many days for humans in the Saha world. So how should human morning and evening times correspond to the time of other Buddha-lands? In the heavens from the Trāyastriṃśa heaven of the desire realm and above, there is no sun; there is natural radiance manifesting, with no need for sunlight. Therefore, above the Trāyastriṃśa heaven there is no dark day and no night; other Buddha-lands likewise have no dark days or nights, and in the worlds of the Buddhas there is even less any notion of night. The human precept of abstaining from food after midday loses all meaning when shifted to another space-time, so when making offerings to the Buddha there is no need to consider human times such as day and night.

Furthermore, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas possess immeasurable wisdom to discern whether to eat or not, how much to eat, and when to eat. How could the wisdom of ordinary beings presume to speculate upon and restrict the conduct of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? Therefore, there is no time restriction on making offerings to the Buddha. In the Buddha's realm there is no time, no distinction between morning and evening. The Buddha receives offerings in order to accumulate merit for sentient beings; He Himself needs nothing. The Buddha is also not bound by any precepts—with the Buddha's immeasurable wisdom and virtuous capabilities, He long ago ceased to need any precepts as constraints. Human beings in this world should not demand that heavenly beings, divine beings, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas share the same habits and customs as humans.

The human mind is confined within the scope of human life and cannot understand beings that transcend the human sphere, nor the realms of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We who study Buddhism should strive to break through the narrow human thinking and realm, as well as various habits. Humans walk on two legs, while heavenly beings fly through the sky; we should not use the rules of human walking to regulate the conduct of heavenly beings who can fly, still less use the rules of ordinary human beings to restrict and regulate the mind and conduct of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Compared with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, humans are like infants and toddlers, unable to understand or imagine the mind, conduct, and realm of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas—this is why all kinds of misunderstandings and confusions arise. We should strive to open our minds and broaden our horizons, strive to break through the narrow, unreasonable, and childish thinking of ordinary beings, and draw as close as possible to the mental realm and standards of conduct of higher forms of life.