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How do you know what is right, acting out the eight fold path?
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The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html
How can anyone profitably add anything to that?
And what about the precept against intoxicants? Wine is part of church ceremony. (I'm not a Christianity buff, so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)
I wasn't talking about the Golden Rule as a christian thing, I think every religion has the Golden Rule.
As a nitpicky point (pun intended) I cant see how insects can be considered sentient:)
imo the precept against intoxicants is not against "hooch" but anything that poisons ones experience: greed, lies, hate, drink, drugs, TV, sport.... And not as a blanket ban (that's extreme view) but as an incidental issue relevant only to the person in question and the intoxicant in question.
Hate is always an intoxicant, TV and Beer only mostly so;)
We've also had discussions on killing mosquitos, a separate thread on killing flies. Everyone agreed they were included in the 1st precept. HHDL reportedly rescued a beetle from a predator when he was 3.
What Golden Rule were you referring to?
>>>We've also had discussions on killing mosquitos, a separate thread on killing flies. Everyone agreed they were included in the 1st precept. HHDL reportedly rescued a beetle from a predator when he was 3.
I think destroying life has its bad karmic payload, but insects and fungus are not sentient by by understanding.
>>>What Golden Rule were you referring to?
This one:)
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm
xx
You don't think bees or beetles experience fear? They certainly experience pain.
Sentience is one of the marvels of arrisen life. Why beetles? Why not bacteria?
Xx
The forum has had this conversation before. I think someone argued that insects don't have the same kind of nervous systems as other animals, so they don't have the brain receptors to feel pain (is there a zoologist in the house?), but the precepts and teachings don't say anything about do not kill, except for insects. So.....meh. :-/ I won't worry about your karma if you don't worry about mine. Deal?
Then there was the famous thread on whether or not plants are sentient, the experiments in which some researchers concluded that plants experience fear, etc. etc.
The ants may look scared, but do they have the expeernce that we would if we were surrounded by threats? I think not. Some think maybe. We will probably never know:)