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As with every summer, my house is a-dangle with spiders of all sizes, and every morning, for some reason, there is one spider and one silverfish in the bathtub It's almost fall, for real, though--soon they'll all disappear, and the long season of bug-transporting will be over for another year. There is some kind of great peace, though, in taking a house-bound spider outside, putting it into a nice big bush, and watching it adapt to its new home in the fresh air. I always imagine a sense of wonderment in the spider--but it's probably just like, "What the he**..." Nonetheless I like to think that it prefers the ever-so-many options of the outdoors to the slick limitations of the bathroom tiles.
Like you the spider is probably much more comfortable indoors.
Yet, many fewer dinner options (for the spider)! But my Hocak uncle did always used to call it "feeding the birds" when I'd take a creature outdoors to "rescue" it
The Buddha seems to have been no stranger to requests for help against the creepy-crawlies. Here's an excerpt from the Khandha Paritta, said to have been taught by the Buddha after a monk had died from a snakebite:
"Monks, I enjoin you to suffuse with thoughts of loving-kindness these four royal tribes of snakes for your safety, for your preservation and for your protection." So said the Blessed One. Having thus spoken, the Buddha, the Welcome One, further said (suggesting how they should express themselves):
May I have metta towards Virupakkhas Towards Erapathas may I have metta May my metta be towards Chabyaputtas Towards Kanha-gotamakas also metta may I have.
May I have metta towards the footless And towards bipeds too, my metta may I have May I have metta towards the quadrupeds And towards the many footed also, metta may I have.
Let not the footless do me harm Nor those that have two feet Let not quadrupeds do me harm Nor those endowed with many feet.
All beings, all living creatures, May good fortune befall them all May not the least harm on them befall.
Infinite (in virtue) is the Buddha, infinite is the Dhamma, infinite is the Sangha. Finite are creeping creatures — snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, lizards, and rats. I have guarded myself, I have made my protection. Depart from me, ye beings. I bow down to the Blessed One; and to the seven Supreme Buddhas."
Here is a very tender recitation of the paritta, which I find easy on the ears. A paritta isn't felt to derive its usefulness from being any sort of magical incantation. While sounds themselves are in fact considered powerful (and that discussion could take up a book), part of a paritta's validity as a tool is said to come from the inherent truth in its teaching, and the reciter's (or listener's) intelligent understanding and positive intent in expressing or focusing on that truth.
Note: The video begins with three repetitions of "Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammaasambuddhassa (Homage to the blessed, noble and perfectly enlightened one)," before beginning the Khandha Paritta.
Like you the spider is probably much more comfortable indoors.
Yet, many fewer dinner options (for the spider)! But my Hocak uncle did always used to call it "feeding the birds" when I'd take a creature outdoors to "rescue" it
Yes, the birds have to eat too! ( I wish they'd eat some of my snails )
Like you the spider is probably much more comfortable indoors.
Yet, many fewer dinner options (for the spider)! But my Hocak uncle did always used to call it "feeding the birds" when I'd take a creature outdoors to "rescue" it
Yes, the birds have to eat too! ( I wish they'd eat some of my snails )
You want the birds to earn bad karma by killing snails???
I'm not a big fan of spiders, but I let them be, largely because we have no venomous spiders (or snakes) and they eat the bugs, which I dislike more than spiders. I think everyone has their sticking point. I had to laugh where someone said "very few mammals like reptiles and almost no one has them as pets." Actually, there is a very sizable community of people that keep reptiles as pets, including us. We have had pythons and all sorts of lizards, and we currently have a veiled chameleon that is next to our bed. My son would like a tarantula, which I would be ok with it he would actually take care of it. But my sticking point is mosquitos and hornets. Our mosquito season is over now that we've had frost, but they get so bad, and they spread very life threatening diseases. A friend of ours has West Nile virus right now and has been so so sick for the past 2 weeks. He could have long lasting neurological damage from it. The other day we were having a bonfire and disturbed a ground hornets nest in our woodpile. I'm sorry, but having our dog and our kids playing the yard, the hornets had to go. There is no easy way to capture hundreds of hornets or disturb their nest without getting attacked, so we fogged them and then filled the hole so they can't get back in. I do my best to be cautious and aware of the animals around me, and to give them the right of way. But everyone has limits, and as Vinlyn said, you need to be aware and accept that karma.
I do spend all summer rescuing turtles and other animals from the roads (even snakes) so I hope it balances out somewhere.
Like you the spider is probably much more comfortable indoors.
Yet, many fewer dinner options (for the spider)! But my Hocak uncle did always used to call it "feeding the birds" when I'd take a creature outdoors to "rescue" it
Yes, the birds have to eat too! ( I wish they'd eat some of my snails )
You want the birds to earn bad karma by killing snails???
What does bad karma look like to a bird? Getting eaten by a cat? Good fortune for the cat to catch a bird. Wait! Bad karma for the cat. Cat gets eaten by a wolf. Happy wolf. Oh no, bad karma for the wolf.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I'm not a big fan of spiders, but I let them be, largely because we have no venomous spiders ......
@karasti, ALL spiders are venomous. It's just that the majority don't have the strength to get through your skin.
@robot - how did we suddenly jump from "Cat" to "Wolf"? I think the least likely animal to dispatch a domestic cat in an urban environment, would be a wolf!!
I suppose that's true about spiders, I never thought of it that way.
LOL we have cats and dogs that are eaten by wolves all the time. We see them at the playground down the street in the winter fairly often. But we are hardly an urban setting. Though, in some urban areas coyotes have been killing off small pets like crazy.
I'm not a big fan of spiders, but I let them be, largely because we have no venomous spiders ......
@karasti, ALL spiders are venomous. It's just that the majority don't have the strength to get through your skin.
@robot - how did we suddenly jump from "Cat" to "Wolf"? I think the least likely animal to dispatch a domestic cat in an urban environment, would be a wolf!!
Back to the poor old spider , there was a massoose 1 just about to take a shower with me and i did nt fancy it so I flushed him down the loo ......he Will live won't he I ve always believed they do .......
Back to the poor old spider , there was a massoose 1 just about to take a shower with me and i did nt fancy it so I flushed him down the loo ......he Will live won't he I ve always believed they do .......
not long unfortunatly. carolann, now you went and did it; this particular spider was measuring you for a special spider silk blanket. Nice and warm, now you must return as a spider. a very cold one at that. :coffee:
Awwwww I thought I could remember a tv program saying they survived a toilet flush as the pipe is nt full of water once in s bend .......my intention was nt bad ....xx
Comments
"Monks, I enjoin you to suffuse with thoughts of loving-kindness these four royal tribes of snakes for your safety, for your preservation and for your protection." So said the Blessed One. Having thus spoken, the Buddha, the Welcome One, further said (suggesting how they should express themselves):
May I have metta towards Virupakkhas
Towards Erapathas may I have metta
May my metta be towards Chabyaputtas
Towards Kanha-gotamakas also metta may I have.
May I have metta towards the footless
And towards bipeds too, my metta may I have
May I have metta towards the quadrupeds
And towards the many footed also, metta may I have.
Let not the footless do me harm
Nor those that have two feet
Let not quadrupeds do me harm
Nor those endowed with many feet.
All beings, all living creatures,
May good fortune befall them all
May not the least harm on them befall.
Infinite (in virtue) is the Buddha, infinite is the Dhamma, infinite is the Sangha. Finite are creeping creatures — snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, lizards, and rats. I have guarded myself, I have made my protection. Depart from me, ye beings. I bow down to the Blessed One; and to the seven Supreme Buddhas."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/protection.html#fn-s5-2
http://www.basicbuddhism.org/index.cfm?GPID=140
Note: The video begins with three repetitions of "Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammaasambuddhassa (Homage to the blessed, noble and perfectly enlightened one)," before beginning the Khandha Paritta.
You want the birds to earn bad karma by killing snails???
I do spend all summer rescuing turtles and other animals from the roads (even snakes) so I hope it balances out somewhere.
What does bad karma look like to a bird?
Getting eaten by a cat? Good fortune for the cat to catch a bird.
Wait! Bad karma for the cat. Cat gets eaten by a wolf. Happy wolf.
Oh no, bad karma for the wolf.
@robot - how did we suddenly jump from "Cat" to "Wolf"? I think the least likely animal to dispatch a domestic cat in an urban environment, would be a wolf!!
LOL we have cats and dogs that are eaten by wolves all the time. We see them at the playground down the street in the winter fairly often. But we are hardly an urban setting. Though, in some urban areas coyotes have been killing off small pets like crazy.