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Insects question

So I am in discussions of elders on fpmt on wether insects are sentient or not reincarnation ie rebirth or not. Based on precepts vows. So in tibetan Buddhism which is it do they go from life to life are they sentient.

Comments

  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    As an Arthropod, some of my favourite cousins are insects
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod

    Many claim to be sentient, as do some politicians. In vajrayana, I have been taught by a high Lama, that two flies from the back end of a cow once flew around a stupa. This created a beneficial rebirth. Many senior students and western monks found that funny …

    As a cannibal (I eat my cousins; prawns) I know a thing or two about reality versus other worldly barbies.

    Be kind but don't have a cow …

    OM MANY PERME HUM BUG ;)

    paskaNerida
  • FosdickFosdick in its eye are mirrored far off mountains Alaska, USA Veteran

    This book - Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind, by Peter Godfrey-Smith - I found very helpful in clarifying the question of the nature and origin of sentience.

    I think there can be no question about this - insects are indeed sentient beings.

    BunkslobsterShoshin1
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Veteran
    edited May 2021

    I make an effort to adhere to Do not harm and if I find situations where this is not possible then I opt for Do the least harm possible under the present circumstances...

    From what I gather ...thus have I heard from some Tibetan Dharma teachers...whatever has a mind is sentient, (hmm so what is mind ?) ... I take this to mean if it knows fear, feels pain and tries to remove itself from danger because it 'feels' threatened , it has a mind and is sentient...

    Insects respond to their surroundings, example light dark, temperature etc, so do plants ( some plants and insects have a symbiotic relationship, you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back so to speak..for example bees and flowers, flowers provide the bees with food 'nectar' in exchange for pollination )

    However......
    Whether insects have a mind sparks many debates
    Are they really conscious or just automates

    What Beings are conscious

    lobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    One thing that I came across some time ago which may be relevant here, is that Rudolf Steiner, the rather visionary educator and founder of the Anthroposophy movement, thought that bees were after man the most intelligent creatures on the planet.

    lobster
  • LionduckLionduck Veteran

    Did @Lobster put sentience and politicians in the same sentence? There is a raging debate as to the sentience of politicians. Insects, however, are sentient.

    lobsterJeroenFosdickShoshin1
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Yes, I think he wrote in haste and we repeat with pleasure...

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