Buddhism and Animals
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How Buddhists think about and treat non-human animals.
A close-up of a mural on the wall of Thiksey Monastery, Thikse Gompa, Ladakh depicts a nobleman extending a hand to an approaching deer. In the background, a peacock takes some rice from a bowl presumably set out as an offering. (Photo by Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Books (6)
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Buddhism perceives animals as if they were young children who do not have the intellectual capacity to understand the world as intelligently as humans and just like children need to be protected by humans. As human are the most intelligent beings on planet earth and control almost everything, they have a responsibility toward rest of the flora and fauna.
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It was very gratifying to watch the fish slip over the side of the boat and quickly swim away.
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256 pages[recommended but under copyright]
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Canonical Works (5)
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Crested peacocks…
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Readings (20)
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Since fear discourages the aspirant and dissuades him from seeking seclusion, staying in the wild was a proven method for reducing and eventually eliminating this kilesa (defilement).
20 pages -
three sets of omen verses from the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna, which offers the earliest account of Astral Science (jyotiḥśāstra) in Buddhist literature
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He thinks and he feels, but—as far as I can tell—he does not speak, nor is he simply the previous animal rebirth of an eventual human being. There is something powerful, I contend, about the mute presence of such an animal—its noble silence, its freedom from the glibness of human language
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To ask whether Buddhism accepts the instrumental use of animals, whether human or otherwise is, again, to look for Western concepts and ideas, and perhaps even specifically modern ones, in an ancient, Asian tradition. I do not want to take sides on the issue at all; my concern, rather, is to identify any hidden assumptions that may prevent us from judging the tradition on its own terms.
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In this article I argue that the jātakas are able to tell us interesting things about the capabilities of animals. By using stories of another key animal character—namely Devadatta, the Buddha’s nemesis—I explore what might be distinctive about the ability of animals to misbehave.
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Lacking understanding, merely hearing the Dhamma may only grant a better rebirth, but even a better rebirth provides the condition for future enlightenment.
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The fact that narratives have the potential to be an “act of social imagination” and serve as the foundation for moral agency fits well into Shabkar’s own understandings of the functions of Buddhist life stories.
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Against the background of guidelines on non-killing and developing ideas on the release of captured or domesticated animals, this study focuses on how vinaya (disciplinary) texts deal with dangerous and/or annoying animals, such as snakes, mosquitoes, and flies. Are there any circumstances in which they may be killed, captured, or repelled? Or should they be endured and ignored, or even protected and cherished, at all times? This paper discusses the many guidelines relating to avoiding—and, if necessary, chasing away—dangerous and annoying animals.
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This brief reflection explores whether animals are capable of ethical behavior and, if they lack this ability, how they progress toward liberation.
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Conversing with human-animal relationships within other Buddhist traditions, this article explores the resonances between the presence of animals and ideas of successful labour, both physical and contemplative, amongst Australian Buddhists in a time of ecological crises. In conversation with notions of ecological health and renewal, native animals are often seen as companions, tutelary beings, and as being indicative of successful practice.
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… the jackal is used to suggest that heretics, heterodox teachers, and other negatively perceived figures should be condemned not merely because of the actions they engage in or the teachings they propagate, but also because they are constitutionally inferior
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… animals are not passive objects for humans to ignore or argue over–or collect–but “individuals with their own perspectives on life,” and members of communities with which our species coexists. That animals are in this sense political actors is an underrecognized and, to my mind, potentially powerful point
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… a translation of a small section of the first Bhāvanākramah (The Process of Meditation), a well-known Mahayana meditation manual written by Kamalasila (740-795 CE). This passage, appearing early in the text, allows us to gain a good sense of the context within which Mahayana concern for the well-being of animals arises.
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As meat-eating has become normative in modern Japan and among the Japanese Buddhist clergy, a sacrificial rationale has replaced anti-meat-eating discourses that have remained a central feature of Buddhist identity in other parts of East Asia.
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Audio/Video (7)
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⭐ Recommended
Set aside all the social norms we have, the expectations we have about who animals are or what is appropriate to do for animals and just ask: What would you do—what do you think the right thing to do is—if you saw an animal suffering?
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Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes compassion for all beings, including animals, making meat consumption morally problematic. Despite this, meat has historically been a staple in Tibetan monastics’ diets. Geoff Barstow discusses how Tibetan Buddhists square this circle.
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