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Do you stick the frog in the wall?
skyfox66
Explorer
My mother came up to me oddly enough and asked me "If you were walking past a damn and you see that it's gonna break and the only way to stop it is to stick something in the hold of the wall and the only thing nearby that would fit in the hole is a frog, do you stick the frog in the wall to save the village?" I just stared at her for I was clueless. Any thoughts?
0
Comments
Whatever one does, I think it should be done without regret. Both the frog and the village will eventually pass away into the same elements.
I agree, why don't you put yourself in the hole... a finger or something? But the underlying question IS one life over many? Regardless, when it comes to Buddhism, you'll have to take negative and positive karma. Positive for saving the village, negative for harm.
Just how rubbery and resilient is this frog?
Then after she answers you reply "That's exactly what I'll do too, mom!"
Sometimes my mom just want to know you're on the same page as her on certain things, like etiquette and behavior and doing the right thing.
Don't tell her what you think the right answer should be.
Don't tell her what you think the Buddha would say.
Don't tell her what the Precepts say you should do.
What would you do?
If your honest answer is, "I don't know," then the correct answer is, "I don't know."
If you could, tell your mother an old Zen Buddhist is delighted at her question and gives her a deep, respectful bow. I suspect you've learned a lot from her, already.
Much easier and does not require the sacrifice of any life, your finger just might get a bit wrinkled.
Bam, no more hole. And it'l hold until you run back to the village and get some people to help you properly repair the damn. Sorry but this hypothetical is just far too vague. Did you want us to literally take it as there ONLY being you, a frog, and a damn with a hole in it? If that were the case I would choose to do nothing, as it is obviously an illusion or trick, and does not fit reality.
Hell that last bit sounds like my usual saturday night.
So many cheaters! Abide by the rules of the skyfox universe.
Spiny
no... well, maybe for Zayl.
haha
(this is getting silly)
No, you don't get to argue that it's silly to say a frog can be shoved in a hole to stop a flood. You have to accept that the situation is exactly what the koan tells you. So you have a frog, a hole, an impending flood and a choice to make.
Kill the frog to save people's lives, and you break a precept. So you don't take the precepts seriously? What, you think Buddha was just kidding about that no killing thing?
Refuse to kill the frog and people die. You kept a precept but proved your vows are more important than people's lives.
Aren't koans fun? Forget about the frog. Sooner or later, you'll run up against a situation where you're faced with two bad choices. So do you know which one you will take?
"So do you know which one you will take?"
the one that leads to less suffering.