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buddhists dont kill mosquitos, or any other living beings for that matter.
i honestly cant believe this thread is so long.
we dont kill period.
That is profoundly incorrect. Every Buddhist kills. An awakened Buddhist refrains from killing to the greatest degree possible, but it is biologically impossible to live without killing. We kill when we eat, we kill when we breathe, we kill when we bathe. If we drive cars, we kill insects by the thousands. If our bodies did not kill bacteria and viruses, we would live very brief lives.
We are all part of the natural process of life and death, whether we choose to consciously participate or not. The question at hand is whether it is "acceptable" for a Buddhist to kill a mosquito. Only the individual can answer that question. We are not here to judge one another.
Let us say you are walking home late at night, and notice a man raping a girl in an alley. Let us assume you are untrained, and your only means of defending the girl is to kill her attacker. What do you do? If Buddhists do not kill--ever, for any reason--do you leave the girl to her fate?
That is profoundly incorrect. Every Buddhist kills. An awakened Buddhist refrains from killing to the greatest degree possible, but it is biologically impossible to live without killing. We kill when we eat, we kill when we breathe, we kill when we bathe. If we drive cars, we kill insects by the thousands. If our bodies did not kill bacteria and viruses, we would live very brief lives.
We are all part of the natural process of life and death, whether we choose to consciously participate or not. The question at hand is whether it is "acceptable" for a Buddhist to kill a mosquito. Only the individual can answer that question. We are not here to judge one another.
Let us say you are walking home late at night, and notice a man raping a girl in an alley. Let us assume you are untrained, and your only means of defending the girl is to kill her attacker. What do you do? If Buddhists do not kill--ever, for any reason--do you leave the girl to her fate?
Matters such as these are seldom black and white.
do you really think thats what i meant?
of course we kill accidentally, thats a completely different issue.
youre argument is irrelevant and tired.
I generally assume people mean what they say. Is this not the case?
of course we kill accidentally, thats a completely different issue.
How is that a different issue? Why is killing accidentally, without reason, okay, but killing on purpose, with reason, not okay? What is your answer to my hypothetical question?
youre argument is irrelevant and tired.
Your argument was: "we dont kill period." Since that is, apparently, not what you meant, perhaps I mistakenly assumed your lack of punctuation was unintentional. Did you actually mean, "we don't kill a punctuation mark indicating the end of the sentence," or perhaps, "we don't kill a specified division or portion of time?" In any case, I apologize for foolishly accepting your words at face value, and for boring you with my irrelevant and tired argument.
buddhists dont kill mosquitos, or any other living beings for that matter.
i honestly cant believe this thread is so long.
we dont kill period.
I think it'd be more correct to say that we, as Buddhists, try not to kill. Nobody's perfect. There are almost always going to be times when we'll intentionally violate the precepts, and the Buddha understood this. That's why they're formulated as training rules that are voluntarily undertaken rather than edicts or commandments dictated by a higher power and/or authority. Even the Buddha and his disciples made mistakes along the way.
When a mosquito approaches you, try metta (loving-kindness) meditation. If all goes well, she (someone said only females are blood-suckers :eek:) will leave you alone and go elswhere for her bloody meal. If you are attacked, then you at least know that you need more practice with your metta meditation.
Don't kill heedlessly and needlessly!
PS. What do male mosquitoes live on? I couldn't find this on this thread.
HHDL admits to killing mosquitos. But he says it's because they carry malaria in his neck of the woods. It's not necessary to kill them to protect yourself from them. All you have to do if they land on you is blow them off with a puff of air. Prevention is the best medicine, as always; use screens on your windows and doors, don't go outside around sunset, when they're said to be most numerous, and wear clothes that cover you up if you're going into mosquito territory. Use mosquito repellent, if necessary. Not a big deal.
HHDL personally I don't see him as some one to look to. Never have never will. I never kill mosquitoes. Sometimes I will allow them to feed. Sometimes i will blow them off with my breath. But best prevention is just to wear cloths that cover up. They will bite. that is their nature. it is what they are. Just as its a babies nature to cry we can not punish it for following primal instinct but adjust our selves to make ones nature acceptable to self.
I don't swat mosquitos. Often I will make a gift of blood to them. The only way they could have the relationship to me necessary to take blood and cause me discomfort is if I wronged them similarly in the past. I just view it as settling debts. It is really just a part of Chod practice. Think about it: You can fulfill the purpose of an entire beings life by giving them the gift of a little blood. For a little discomfort, you have given them the goal they seek and stopped the back and forth of action and result.
Of course, Deep Woods Off is far preferable to murderous rampages.
So many unnecessary little killings, is the way I look at the alternative to taking preventive measures, or redirecting the mosquitos with one's breath. But choosing to make an offering to them of one's blood is an option that hadn't occurred to me.
So many unnecessary little killings, is the way I look at the alternative to taking preventive measures, or redirecting the mosquitos with one's breath. But choosing to make an offering to them of one's blood is an option that hadn't occurred to me.
Sometimes, the killings are necessary: Malaria in Africa. If one lives in a malaria zone, like in large parts of Africa, then one is obligated to help curtail the spread of the disease that cause so much DEATH and SUFFERING to human beings. If you swat a mosquito (thats trying to feed on your blood to develop its eggs), you are killing it instantly and the eggs don't develop. Dead mosquitoes don't suffer! Live ones spread disease! I know, this is not a compassionate thought, but that's the way it is for these unfortunate, and mostly impoverished, people living in these areas. Most of them struggle to find a decent meal, let alone afford stuff like mosquito screens, repellant sprays, or employ other preventative measures. These people are in need of compassion too.
Idk. I watched an interview where the dalai lama said he didn't kill mosquitos.
As for me, I don't kill mosquitos. However, they leave me alone. They sometimes fly near me, and before I would have killed them in that case, but now I leave them alone, and they leave me alone. Kinda cool/weird. I struggle with wolf spiders, though. We get them at our house. Ever since killing animals has become a moral conflict for me, however, we haven't saw one in our house, when we were seeing them fairly regularly before. Cool/weird again. I believe these things are my karma or something trying to prevent me from doing something that is gonna bring me bad karma and make me feel guilty.
In the interview I saw, he said he sometimes kills them, because of malaria, but sometimes he lets them have what they want. He sort of plays Russian Roulette with them, trying to guess which ones carry malaria. He laughed about it.
Lucky for you, "The Journey"--the bugs are leaving you alone.
It can be an act of compassion to save a mosquito. Or you might be heaping additional suffering on yourself deliberating. This is samsara and we are entangled.
Save the ones you can but swat the ones that must be. Imho.
In most of the Northern Hemisphere (outside the malaria zone), it shouldn't be necessary to swat any, with the proper precautions and attitude. Even in malarial areas, I haven't found it necessary to kill any, but I've never been to Africa.
All these scruples about swatting mosquitoes while our neighbour starves and we send our boys and girls to swat women and children abroad!
It's funny, isn't it?
And yet, if you do a quick google, you'll see this question of Buddhists and bugs comes up over and over. I suppose it's because bugs are in our face, while the neighbor down the road can be ignored.
A few years ago, a coworker who knows I'm Buddhist saw me capture a spider in the office to release it outside, instead of just squashing it. He asked me why I didn't just kill it, since if it was a reincarnated person, that would be releasing the person to try again (the usual fuzzy idea of Buddhism).
I told him some sort of joke about I didn't have the heart to kill it, because this spider reminded me of my dear, departed grandmother and it might be her. We got a good laugh out of it. But later, the man told me he can't kill spiders now, because every time he sees one, he thinks of his own dear, departed grandmother.
All these scruples about swatting mosquitoes while our neighbour starves and we send our boys and girls to swat women and children abroad!
It's because it's a form of killing many people encounter on a regular basis. My direct neighbours aren't starving, all I can do for those far away is give to charity. I have no say in where we direct our army. But I do encounter mosquitoes. Just because a topic isn't global in scale doesn't mean it's irrelevant to the every day lives of people.
As for mosquitoes. I check to see if it's male (they have fluffy antennae) and leave it if it is, otherwise I collect the females and put them outside. Have done since I was little. I don't think I've ever noticed one biting me though, I only hear their high pitched whine.
There are many different types of mosquitoes; some leave just a swelling and itch and others can cause serious health problems and even death. Our reaction will depend on where we live and the type of mosquitoes found there. If we are living in the worst affected malaria zone and see many children dying around us, we may act quite differently than if we are living outside a malaria zone. It's been said earlier in this thread that HHDL will sometimes swat a malaria causing mosquito (or something to that effect).
Approximately 40% of the world's population is susceptible to malaria, mostly in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. It was by and large eradicated in the temperate area of the world during the 20th century with the advent of DDT and other organochlorine and organophosphate mosquito control insecticides. However, more than three million deaths and 300 - 500 million cases are still reported annually in the world. It is reported that malaria kills one child every 40 seconds. AMCA (American Mosquito Control Association)
I used to kill mosquitoes, but now I strictly follow the first precept. There's a few times that mosquitoes were feeding on me during meditation outside and would usually mean the end of my session, but I don't mind!
Although I agree that killing them may help stop disease from spreading, but the way I see it is that when you kill a mosquito, you may be preventing animals that eat mosquitoes a meal, thus increasing their suffering too.
Comments
We are all part of the natural process of life and death, whether we choose to consciously participate or not. The question at hand is whether it is "acceptable" for a Buddhist to kill a mosquito. Only the individual can answer that question. We are not here to judge one another.
Let us say you are walking home late at night, and notice a man raping a girl in an alley. Let us assume you are untrained, and your only means of defending the girl is to kill her attacker. What do you do? If Buddhists do not kill--ever, for any reason--do you leave the girl to her fate?
Matters such as these are seldom black and white.
do you really think thats what i meant?
of course we kill accidentally, thats a completely different issue.
youre argument is irrelevant and tired.
So I'm assuming you're saying you would harm or even kill the attacker if necessary, then?
There are places where mosquitos do in fact carry deadly diseases.
Killing one because it's just annoying you isn't so Buddhist, no. Killing one because you don't want to die yourself might be another matter.
I think it'd be more correct to say that we, as Buddhists, try not to kill. Nobody's perfect. There are almost always going to be times when we'll intentionally violate the precepts, and the Buddha understood this. That's why they're formulated as training rules that are voluntarily undertaken rather than edicts or commandments dictated by a higher power and/or authority. Even the Buddha and his disciples made mistakes along the way.
Don't kill heedlessly and needlessly!
PS. What do male mosquitoes live on? I couldn't find this on this thread.
Of course, Deep Woods Off is far preferable to murderous rampages.
Sometimes, the killings are necessary: Malaria in Africa. If one lives in a malaria zone, like in large parts of Africa, then one is obligated to help curtail the spread of the disease that cause so much DEATH and SUFFERING to human beings. If you swat a mosquito (thats trying to feed on your blood to develop its eggs), you are killing it instantly and the eggs don't develop. Dead mosquitoes don't suffer! Live ones spread disease! I know, this is not a compassionate thought, but that's the way it is for these unfortunate, and mostly impoverished, people living in these areas. Most of them struggle to find a decent meal, let alone afford stuff like mosquito screens, repellant sprays, or employ other preventative measures. These people are in need of compassion too.
As for me, I don't kill mosquitos. However, they leave me alone. They sometimes fly near me, and before I would have killed them in that case, but now I leave them alone, and they leave me alone. Kinda cool/weird. I struggle with wolf spiders, though. We get them at our house. Ever since killing animals has become a moral conflict for me, however, we haven't saw one in our house, when we were seeing them fairly regularly before. Cool/weird again. I believe these things are my karma or something trying to prevent me from doing something that is gonna bring me bad karma and make me feel guilty.
Lucky for you, "The Journey"--the bugs are leaving you alone.
Save the ones you can but swat the ones that must be. Imho.
It's funny, isn't it?
And yet, if you do a quick google, you'll see this question of Buddhists and bugs comes up over and over. I suppose it's because bugs are in our face, while the neighbor down the road can be ignored.
A few years ago, a coworker who knows I'm Buddhist saw me capture a spider in the office to release it outside, instead of just squashing it. He asked me why I didn't just kill it, since if it was a reincarnated person, that would be releasing the person to try again (the usual fuzzy idea of Buddhism).
I told him some sort of joke about I didn't have the heart to kill it, because this spider reminded me of my dear, departed grandmother and it might be her. We got a good laugh out of it. But later, the man told me he can't kill spiders now, because every time he sees one, he thinks of his own dear, departed grandmother.
As for mosquitoes. I check to see if it's male (they have fluffy antennae) and leave it if it is, otherwise I collect the females and put them outside. Have done since I was little. I don't think I've ever noticed one biting me though, I only hear their high pitched whine.
Although I agree that killing them may help stop disease from spreading, but the way I see it is that when you kill a mosquito, you may be preventing animals that eat mosquitoes a meal, thus increasing their suffering too.
So I just let the mosquitoes live.