A tiny insect. Just think of it; a living, breathing, thinking, feeling creature with a fully functioning digestive and reproductive system etc. A masterpiece in miniature!
If a scientist had created such a life form, people would come from all over the world just to see it and to shake the scientist's hand and tell him what a marvellous fellow he was!
Insects are a wondrous creation of God. Let us not turn a blind eye to their sufferings, for after all, all life is sacred and pain is still pain, suffering is still suffering, regardless of whoever - or whatever, is the victim.
I've had gecko, spiders, and at least one scorpion in my house each of the 3 years that I've lived in Texas. In my garage, I also have found tarantulas, lizards, and red hornets.
Then there is West Nile Virus from the mosquitoes. And tons of deer ticks.
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- Jim "The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation — a force for construction and destruction.” (Jonathan Haidt)
I released two butterflys that were trapped inside my garage yesterday, and I've been known to side-step around beetles, grasshoppers, etc. on my walks out of doors. I'll also kill an insect that is suffering,like a hopper with a crushed leg.
But...I have to say I'm with jfh when it comes to bugs in the house. There's lots of spiders here, as the house is surrounded with pine/spruce trees. Brown Recluse and Black Widows are seen in my area. Spiders, mosquitos and flies are all killed with the fly-swatter in my house.
__________________ "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
"I'll not hurt thee" says Uncle Toby, rising with the fly in his hand. "Go" he says, opening the window to let it escape. "Why should I hurt thee? This world is surely wide enough to hold both thee and me." - Laurence Sterne (From 'Tristram Shandy')
There are a lot of people - a surprising number really - who seek to pass through life without hurting or killing anything, either directly or indirectly.
How far one takes it is up to the individual of course.
On the following day, early in the morning when he was pacing up and down in the ambulatory, he killed many insects unintentionally. Visiting monks seeing the blood-stained ambulatory complained to the Buddha that he had committed the offence of killing. The Buddha explained to them that he was not guilty as he was an Arahant. He had no intention to kill insects. His idea in walking up and down the ambulatory was not to kill insects. The Buddha asked them "Do you know what 1 mean by Kamma? It means intentional activity or doing. It may be physical verbal or mental volitional action, otherwise called moral and immoral action."
When a farmer is ploughing his field he destroys many insects unintentionally. Is it a sinful action ? It is not a sinful action, because he has no intention of killing insects. His idea is to cultivate his field. When you are walking to the office from home you trample so many insects unintentionally. Is it a sinful or an immoral action? It is not, because his intention in walking to office was not to kill insects. http://www.metta.lk/english/buddhist-points.htm
Quote:
Question:
But surely it is good to kill sometimes. To kill disease-spreading insects, for example, or someone who is going to kill you?
Answer:
It might be good for you but what about that thing or that person? They wish to live just as you do. When you decide to kill a disease-spreading insect, your intention is perhaps a mixture of self-concern (good) and revulsion (bad). The act will benefit yourself (good) but obviously it will not benefit that creature (bad). So at times it may be necessary to kill but it is never wholly good.
Question:
You Buddhists are too concerned about ants and bugs.
Answer:
Buddhists strive to develop a compassion that is undiscriminating and all-embracing. They see the world as a unified whole where each thing or creature has its place and function. They believe that before we destroy or upset nature's delicate balance, we should be very careful. Just look at those cultures where emphasis is on exploiting nature to the full, squeezing every last drop out of it without putting anything back, on conquering and subduing it. Nature has revolted. The very air is becoming poisoned, the rivers are polluted and dead, so many beautiful animal species are extinct, the slopes of the mountains are barren and eroded. Even the climate is changing. If people were a little less anxious to crush, destroy and kill, this terrible situation may not have arisen. We should all strive to develop a little more respect for life. And this is what the first precept is saying. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda04.htm
No. I'm not a Buddhist, but there is much truth in the great religions to be respected.
Caring about the smallest
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