The precept of non-violence is a reminder for us to always try to avoid harming other living beings’ lives as much as we possibly can; so that we don’t intentionally harm them or have the intention of violence in our hearts.

Wanting to kill and accidentally killing are two different things. Killing and “killing” are different: It’s not the killing that’s bad; it’s our conscience wanting to kill that’s bad. It’s bad for us, not for the killed. So keeping the non-violence precept is good for you, not for any other being. Because if we lose a physical body, we can get it back again; so those who kill are the ones who become damaged, not those who are killed.

Thus the precept of non-violence is actually meant to remind us to keep a very compassionate, loving heart. We don’t want to harm things intentionally because our intention is what kills. It kills those things and also kills us, which is very bad.

From “The Essence of Non-Violence”
News 148, Pearls of Wisdom
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
New York, USA • June 20, 1994
(originally in English) Videotape #436

If you earn your money by blood, it will weigh down your conscience. It’s not that I forbid you to do so; I’m just telling you the secret behind these things. Any profession involved in killing, directly or indirectly, will hurt you. It will hurt your soul because it’s your own principle that you’re trespassing on or harming, not someone else’s commandment.

You yourself wouldn’t like to be chopped into pieces and fed to people or animals. If we take away any life, we take away a portion of our own life. And we have to pay for it in some way or another to make up for the hole we’ve dug or the portion of life we’ve caused to be lost. We have to fill the role that we took away by force. Because if that role was to be played by that animal until a certain year’s time and you just take it away, directly or indirectly, you’re taking part in a crime. So we have to partially play that role somehow, to fill the hole or replace the missing part.

For example, in the theater there are different parts or roles. And if you knock down one of the actresses or if the director fires one, he has to look for another person to fill that role. If not, he’ll have trouble. He will have caused the loss of a job, wages and money, and the whole performance will be spoiled. And he’s the one who’ll have the trouble. So if you help the director to do that or if you knock down that actress yourself, then you’ll also have more trouble. Somehow you’ll have to pay for it in some form, either money-wise or by going to court or going to jail or even by playing that role yourself.

As for why we should not eat eggs, it’s because the egg represents the cycle of reincarnation; it gives the impression of being able to be reborn. Also, eggs attract negativity. Those who practice voodoo know this. They use eggs to attract entities from people when they want to cast out negative spirits from some possessed person. They break eggs to attract that soul to leave. Because when the deceased or disembodied spirit sees the eggs, it’s attracted; it thinks it can be reborn again in a body. So it goes into the egg. Then they take the broken egg and throw it out. And also the smell is unpleasant, whether fertilized or unfertilized.

This understanding is a secret precept for attaining everlasting life, not a commandment that I’m handing to you by force or by some kind of authority. It’s just a secret formula for entering the Kingdom of God.

From “Ahimsa and Being Vegetarian: A Secret Precept for Everlasting Life”
News 151, Pearls of Wisdom
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Colorado, USA • May 14, 1991
(originally in English) Videotape #170a