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  • #16
    Z, you're right.

    And I'll remember that when I'm walking around the stained dark carpeted areas of our beloved places of worship, millions of tiny Buddhas are being crushed beneath my unholy feet.

    I shall make donations to the goddesses on their behalf.
    Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

    "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

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    • #17
      large and small bodies or minds should not be the deciding factor of the value of life. in fact, all life is precious, as precious as our own. basically we are all the same. we all want to live, be happy and contented with our lot, and none of us want to suffer.

      however, not everyone shares this point of view. its easy to be a giant human being and not care about the tiny ants running around beneath us. we never hear their cries and they serve no purpose to us. other insects even hurt us. its easy for people to not care.

      the problem might be that we dont see the outcome of everything we do right away though. maybe not even in this lifetime. so its difficult to accept and care. our faith in karmic retribution is not strong enough.

      my last several chan classes with master deyang were covering this subject: karmic retribution. he told many gongan explaining the equality of life in all forms, and took several stories as illustration.

      one was of how emperor wu of liang starved to death. he first asked, why should a great emperor of china starve to death?!

      in his past life, emperor wu was a bhikshu. when he worked in the mountains planting crop there was a monkey who would always come steal what he planted and eat it. one day, the bhikshu was able to trap the monkey in a cave and block the hole with large stones, but when he returned he found the monkey had starved to death.

      that monkey was reborn as hou jing of the northern wei dynasty, who led his troops to attack nanjing. the city was seized and the emperor was held captive in his palace and not allowed to eat. he eventually starved to death.

      another story was from sixth patriarch huineng's platform sutra, where he told his followers that several years after his death someone would try to steal his head.

      in fact, it was a monk who wanted to take the patriarchs head to his old mother so she could honor him, because she was too old to make the journey to see him herself.

      huineng told his followers not to be angry or blame this man because, in fact, he owes him a head. because in a past life that man was an ant who he as a child had killed by separating its head from its body with his thumbnails.

      so, he owed him a head. karmic retribution is like that. whether we realize it or not, every little action has an effect, and karmic retribution doesnt distinguish between superior or inferior forms of life.

      if everyone could see clearly their past and future and the results of their actions, i believe the world would be more peaceful and small "insignificant" life would be respected.

      however, thats not the way things are. so people have to practice wisdom and reap what they sow.

      peace!

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      • #18
        sorry i don't think i have answers for you, liu. i don't know if it's wrong (theravada itself), nor do i know about the “enlightenment“ you talk of. i'd probably say it's different for monks because they take vows and consider themselves buddhists living by buddhist ideals.

        i have to wonder, though, if ants spend time thinking about whether or not they can achieve "enlightenment" from helping us? i mean, can you imagine what goes through their tiny little heads!?

        plus, you wouldn't be able to walk in grass, the woods, in the ocean, or take any transportation, either, if you couldn't kill insects. come on, even sun wukong must have ran through a forest or swam in a lake or two.
        ...
        ZhongwenMovies.com

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        • #19
          Originally posted by onesp1ng View Post
          i have to wonder, though, if ants spend time thinking about whether or not they can achieve "enlightenment" from helping us? i mean, can you imagine what goes through their tiny little heads!?
          I know a few people that would best be described as having "tiny little heads". Maybe they can provide some insight into this for me...
          Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

          "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

          (more comments in my User Profile)
          russbo.com


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