Question asked by Chen
The five heruka tsok and all tsok for that matter includes meat and alcohol. Is there a replacement for these two ingredients. I do not wish to use meat which has been killed for consumption and the thought of using animals that have died form old age and possibly sickness is just not appealing from a microbiological and parasitological stand point.
Dear Chen,
Thank you for your question. His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche has previous recalled that Kyabje Zong Rinpoche mention that there is a substitute for offering meat during tsok. To do this you put a couple of drops of alcohol in tsampa (roasted barley flour) and use this as a replacement for offering meat. However this substitute should only be used when we cannot acquire meat for the tsok offering. If we can easily acquire meat, then it should definitely be used during tsok offering.
To engage in tsok offerings one must have received the initiation into one of the Highest Yoga Tantra practices. At that time one would have received the tantric vows. Within these vows it states that practitioners should always rely on those substances that keep us or bond us close to our tantric practice. These substances include both meat and alcohol.
Both meat and alcohol have a lot of tantric meaning, which would have been explained by your Guru after receiving the appropriate initiation. This vow is actually broken when you do one of either two things: consume them in large quantities out of attachment, or stay away from them altogether because you are repulsed by them. In the second case, this may be due to being an extremely strict vegetarian or being teetotal.
This may seem strange but is actually part of the method employed in tantric practice to break our conceptions of the nature of reality, thereby propelling us further on our spiritual path towards enlightenment. The use of both meat and alcohol within the tsok offering is meant to break away these conceptions. When we do not use them, we actually end up breaking our vows, which are supposed to guide us and keep us on the tantric path. I hope this helps, please do feel free to ask any further questions.
Thank you.