Accidntal damage?

minimayhen88

Please you may you offer opinions on my dilemma....My friends little daughter wanted my to curl her hair .... In the process I kept burning my self accidentally .... I trield not to .... but kept burning myself .... I take my first precept or Harmless ness very seriousley, and fear I have transgressed it, by doing so, repetativeley? Please kindly offer your opinions, I would be very greatful of any comments you may give ...

Kindly

Claudie

pineblossom

If you kept burning yourself what made you continue?

Bekenze

Intent, not action.

Dakini

What first precept are you talking about? The first precept of the 5 precepts for lay practitioners says not to kill. There is no precept about not harming, although taken together, the 5 can be understood to be about avoiding harm to self and others.

If you curl the hair in damp rollers, then dry it with a blow-drier, no one will get burned.

minimayhen88

:wave:

If you kept burning yourself what made you continue?

I did so because the child, whom I hold so dear, since I have loved and protected her for many years (whom is a little neglected at times), was dissatisfied and kept wanting more, and I wanted to make her feel pretty and confident about how pretty she can look .. so I kept going ... trying not to harm myself .. but kept accidentally burning myself.

:wave:

Intent, not action.

Please kindly elaborate on this point.


:wave:

Dakini:

What first precept are you talking about? The first precept of the 5 precepts for lay practitioners says not to kill. There is no precept about not harming, although taken together, the 5 can be understood to be about avoiding harm to self and others.

In my tradition of Humanistic Buddhism, Ven Hsing Yun emphasises that the precept is stated as 'not to take life' - which embodies both harming and violating living beings, including oneself.

Hsing Yun: First Precept: "We must not violate or do harm to other people (ourselves included). Life is so precious, as in the expression “Heaven care about living things.”

If you curl the hair in damp rollers, then dry it with a blow-drier, no one will get burned.


It was a momentary thing - I did not to let down the child.

Dakini

Hsing Yun is riffing. That's very interesting, though. I don't think burning yourself with a curling iron, or jabbing yourself with a sewing needle count as First Precept violations. But it seems like you should ask Hsing Yun, or a teacher from that tradition. They have a unique take on the First Precept, it sounds like.

In Buddhism, accidental harm has no volition behind it, so there are no negative karmic consequences. Your intent is the key element. You had no intent to harm yourself. The repetitive nature of it is a little odd, though. Still, this is a fine point best answered by someone in the tradition you follow.

Bekenze

By intent, not action, I mean Buddhism worries more about the intention of actions, rather than the actions themselves. I'm sure you walk outside on the grass like everyone else. You can't help stepping on and killing ants and worms and the like, but you walk anyways. It isn't your intention to kill or harm them, but you accidently do it anyways. But that is okay because it truly isn't your intention.

Ada_B

It seems to me this is a case of over-thinking. You really don't need to make your life so difficult! I hope your hand has stopped hurting now.

Lady_Alison

Aloe Vera!

I think it's beautiful that you did a kind thing...now, put some healing balm on it and count it as loving kindness...next time use rollers and throw that curling iron out! Bad curling iron.

You can buy an oven glove 'ov-glove' and put it over your hand.

Too much thinking! Relax, a little pain comes with everything worth having and worth fighting for.

octinomos

total violation. next time try harder not to burn yourself. it must be possible otherwise they wouldn't be selling that product and people wouldn't be buying it. for reals tho, like others already wrote it's about if you did it intentionally or not and you obviously didn't. at least i hope not. how do we know you're not lying and did mean it... seriously tho, the precepts are not like bible commandments. they're more like guidelines and just try your best, but we're all human, right? maybe it was more a matter of your harm was less important than harming her feelings, so you had to choose the lesser of two evils... don't be so hard on yourself...

minimayhen88

Okay. I must admit I have a very overactive mind, and I acknowledge now it was just accidental and will not do so again :-)

how do we know you're not lying and did mean it... seriously tho, the precepts are not like bible commandments. they're more like guidelines and just try your best, but we're all human, right? maybe it was more a matter of your harm was less important than harming her feelings, so you had to choose the lesser of two evils... don't be so hard on yourself...

..... I assure you I am not lying, they were stiff child sized (minature) hair curlers, and however much I tried not to burn myself, my hands couldnt manage the blimin things! x x x

Thank you all kindly x

x (-(-(-_-)-)-) x

federica

Where are you, @minimayhen88?
How old are you?
It seems to be a huge responsibility you feel you must take on.
Harm is only harm if you definitely really meant to do it...
what type of tongs are they?
Use a hairbrush and hair-dryer, or rollers.....

compassionate_warrior

There are Taiwanese discussion forums that include religious topics. You might try addressing your question to someone knowledgeable in your tradition, by the internet. "Not to take life" usually means just that--do not kill. If Ven. Hsing Yun, or his lineage, has decided to broaden the meaning of the precept, only someone in that tradition would be able to answer the question.