Best Of

Everyone is capable if great good and great evil.
The same person may commit actions of great good and of great evil.
The same person may commit minor actions and of minor evil.
A good people may commit evil through words, deeds or actions, even with good intent.
An evil person may commit good through words, deeds or actions, even with evil intent.
There was a woman in the early part of the 20th century who meant no evil. But, as a food service worker, was responsible for several outbreaks of a deadly disease.
There is the story of a professional thief, having robbed a number of people, was fleeing, being closely pursued by the authorities. As he was fleeing, he paused to pull a child from in front of a car or bus, to safety.
Although the latter was an imaginary event used as part of the illustration of a person even in the state of Ashura, Animality or Hunger still possesses the life state of Bodhisattva , it also shows that "evil" persons are still capable of performing acts of good.
Now, as for the pelicans and the princess, the analogy os of evil, destroying and consuming represent evil - that which brings harm and loss to others.The Princess is then, clearly, the good. In destroying the pelicans, she is saving the souls thet the pelicans would have devoured.
Each of us carries both the pelicans and the princess. Do we fall to the pelicans of fear, hate, mistrust, distrust, arrogance, Ashura? Or, do we rise as with the princess to the greater power of love, compassion, mercy, benevolence, trust. Do we choose he pathe of Ashura and the lower worlds, the Pelicans, or do we take the path of the Fire Princess, striving as for the higher worlds, ultimately the path of Bodhisattva and Buddha?
Each day, each moment, consciously or unconsciously, we each make that choice between the Pelicans and the Fire Princess.
Another story, "Cave of the Fireflies", tells a story of a young man, with good intentions, who succumbs to the path of of his own "Pelicans" with tragic consequence.

Just an old man's wandering thoughts.

Peace to all

I’m sure some of the Japanese medalists would have been Buddhist…

@lobster said:
Any Buddhists win? Anything?

Go team Buddha! Ra! Ra!

Very hard to google search that. I did find the US winter olympian and gold medalist Eileen Gu.

Hmmm.
Describing anyone who causes suffering in others as evil becomes questionable, because who then under such a description isn't evil?

The word evil seems better reserved for those demonstrating a love of being evil...

I grew up with dogs (raised by wolves ) and has a child I was the local dog whisperer for a while. Back then I had no fear whatsoever of dogs. In primary school if a big dog came into the school playground, I would be called to go and remove the dog from the school grounds.

But as I got older and (none the) wiser, I started to lose the knack of dog wrangling and after being bitten a few times, I became very cautious when around dogs I didn't know...

I often have to stand my ground when out jolking, when dogs run at me in a menacing way. I've also got an ultrasonic sound device which I carry with me, I've only used it on some little ankle biters and it seems to work, but I have yet to try it out on bigger more aggressive dogs. (I wish it would work on the dog's human companion too)

Sometimes standing your ground works even with big aggressive dogs, they may continue to snarl and growl at you but keep their distant when you are facing them, but unfortunately this approach doesn't always work...

I speaks 'dogz' better than I speaks 'humanz'

I spent many years of my career going into people's homes to fix natural gas heat equipment in what resembled a postman's uniform. I found that just by confidently going about my business, showing neither fear or aggression, got me comfortably by all manner of dog breeds that might otherwise be habitually aggressive to strangers or any folks in uniforms.
Some owners with trained attack dogs, who accidentally let out their dogs out at my arrival, were disturbed at how easily those dogs could be bypassed. These dogs might go as far as bluff charging or mouthing my hands carrying toolboxes, but it was just their way of assessing my intentions. I don't think I ever met a dog off its leash that couldn't be enticed into choosing playfulness over aggression when offered that possibility.
I even did yearly servicings of gas heating equipment surrounded by free-ranging wolves that were being housed in a native rescue center, because I didn't ask for those wolves to be put in cages for my visits.

I am not saying this to make folks stupidly oblivious to dogs with powerful jaws and teeth. Just that dogs are incredibly attentive to facial cues and body language to determine how they will relate to anyone. You might have options when being challenged by a dog, that you have not considered. I have found that one of the best languages to try when interacting with threatening dogs, is your own ability to manifest a meditative stillness. All those years of sitting around, doing nothing, must be good for something....and
Such skills are in no way reserved for Buddhas or forest renunciates.

Just don't count on it to be bloodless if a dog is in a fight, or feeling vulnerable on a leash or being cornered.

Towards the end of my jolk this morning a car pulled up in the reserve carpark and I could see this large dog (Staffordshire bull terrier) like in this photo

looking at me as if I was its lunch.. I have seen this dog on a number of occasions and every time we meet, it wants to take a chunk out of me...

When I see aggressive dogs like this off their lead, I take my phone out and start videoing, their human companion when seeing this will then (and only then) call their dog and put it on a lead, then they will make up some excuse like "It's only playful, or excited ...It won't bite!"....

Yeah right, it won't bite as it snarls, baring its teeth, growling and starts barking, and even when it's put back on its lead it still wants to take a chunk out of you.

Well shock horror!!! I was making my way back past the reserve, around a couple of hundred metres up the road when I looked back ( I just don't trust this dog or its owner) I saw the dog heading up the road towards me, with no human companion ( owner) in sight...
I was about a couple of hundred metres from my place and it was the fastest two hundred metres I've ran in a long while ...Looking over my shoulder to see if it was gaining on me...

It's not the first time this dog has made a dash for freedom...At the beginning of this year I saw it running up the road but this time it was quite a distance in front of me, I was constantly on the look out for it, in case it ambushed me...
Well we have a couple of manmade ponds on the property and lots of bird species, chickens, ducks, pukekos to name a few. Anyhow I was around 30 metres from home I heard birds squawking when I looked across the pond, and spotted the dog who had been chasing the birds and then it spotted me, and started to make its way towards me.

When I got inside I put a notice on out local community FB page asking if anybody was missing a Staffy, I explained the situation, it was on the property chasing the wildlife. Somebody said call the animal control, which I did but the dog had gone by the time the officer arrived.

Why do some human companions not care about what their dogs get up to, it's not as if they don't know their own dog's aggressive behaviour, sadly, it would seem some are just irresponsible when it comes to keeping their dogs under control..

My friends are going over to Oz next month for 10 days (daughter's wedding) and I'm looking after their dog, who just happens to be a large Staffy mix, but a real friendly playful one... One that wants to lick me to death and another which wants to take chunks out of me...funny that...