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I have to get this off my chest: I feel sorry for a bug!
Jainarayan
Veteran
This morning I found a dragon fly stuck to my bumper, which was hot. The dragon fly was trying to get away, but apparently its exoskeleton was fused to the hot metal. I tried to "tease" it away from the metal instead of just yanking it. I took the dragonfly in my hand, but even though it was flickering its wings, it didn't fly away. I think it was dying. So I put it on the branch of a bush. I'm sure it didn't survive, but I feel so bad for it! It's really bugging me, no pun intended. 
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Comments
Nobody gets out alive.
Feelings are starting to come flooding in that I never gave a thought to before. Jeez, I feel sorry for road kill! I put myself in the animal's place and imagine what it's like to die that way. I know this won't emotionally cripple me, but it really has to stop. I feel somewhat better knowing that other people have experienced this too.
I was thinking more of contemplating old age, sickness and death. Impermanence.
That's not to say that you might not go out in style though.
The bug dying, the bug dying and not having the ability to contemplate its inevitable death, or that the bug, perhaps did not have the opportunity to attain “clear light” awareness at the moment of death. Perhaps one ought to rejoice at the opportunity to witness and meditate upon death; and perhaps thank the bug for the valuable lesson and pray that it will be re-born to a life of contemplation. Or perhaps the bug was a bodhisattva and you failed to recognize as such.
Catholics have a concept called ' scruples ' which in the context at hand means an exaggerated over -concern about matters of little import. Like fretting for days about being a little off-hand towards someone at Mass. For example.
I think that fretting over the unintended death of an insect is an example of ' scruples '. And I think you should let it go Jainarayan.
Worrying unduly about the unintended death of flying insects is a hairs breadth away from a disabling neurosis. Its not to be encouraged.
In my opinion it's the "it's only a ..." attitude that is the cause of a lot of the world's suffering. If you can not care when a dragonfly gets stuck to some paint, it's not much of a leap to not care when a fish suffocates in a net - but the process is exponential, if you can stand to see a fish die, a cat being run over isn't that much bigger a loss. Some people are fine watching farm animals being slaughtered, they're only sheep or pigs or cows after all. And there are a great number of people who don't give a damn about gorillas or chimps or orangutans being slaughtered, 90% of Borneans for example would like to see the orangutan extinct so they have more land for human use. They're only animals.
Then you have the dehumanising of the enemy in modern warfare, it's alright to kill them because they aren't like us, they're only Arabs/Muslims/Hindus/Jews/Christians/Gypsies/Homosexuals.
Obviously I'm not saying that people who squash bugs are one step away from homicidal monsters, but it is a slippery slope and it's why I believe compassion and empathy for all living creatures should be encouraged - and how does empathy manifest? You feel bad when others are in pain.
From ( in this case ) the unintended death of an insect to killing homosexuals.... in three paragraphs.
Thats not a pov. Its hyperbole.
Yesterday two damselflies ( they are a kind of small dragonfly ) flew into the room..We live on the river..I was at great pains to remove them as neatly and harmlessly as I could. They both zoomed off back towards the river.
But, if one of them had flown into the flame on the cooker I wouldn't think about it for more than a few minutes, and would try to prevent it.
This does not mean that I harbour genocidal thoughts. It does not even mean that I approve of the destruction of the habitat of the orang-utan.
I just means that in this particular area I am not neurotic.
When presented with similar situations I used to recite a mantra and blow on the creature and then let it be to fulfill the remainder of its life, but not because I considered myself a holy being with special powers but because the mantra was holy and I was merely blessing it with it. Now I make the sign of the cross over the creature and recite the Jesus Prayer, and then as before I let go and move on to fulfill the remainder of my life remembering for at least a brief moment that some day I too will pass.
_/\_
Interesting you mention my triggers, because one of them is lack of control, usually resulting in anger, or in the case of the dragonfly, the inability to help it. Undoubtedly an overreaction (who, me!? :rolleyes: ). There's a thread on anger from the other week or so. I looked at it backwards in thinking that one should get rid of the lack of control and the anger will go away. But in thinking about it, that will only lead to more frustration and anger, not being able to remove the lack of control. So if you make the anger go away, there is nothing to be angry over; the underlying cause evaporated. How can you get angry over something that doesn't exist? Maybe that's not explained in a way that makes sense.
Experiencing fully does not mean acting it out...but allowing the feelings to reach our hearts and then opening our hands and letting it fly.