After three days in an office, I went back to work today.
Spent the morning feeding animals, shovelling what happens after you feed animals, and digging one of many new veggie beds, on slightly sloping ground that must have been a river bank at some point in the last several million years.
This last task raises an Interesting Question I Would Like to Put to the Interwebnet (or IQWLPI).
How do Buddhists eat?
I don't mean do they use cutlery or fingers? But with so many worms mutilated in the course of planting, how do they deal with their intention (as I understand it) not to kill? Is there an acceptable Worm Footprint for a bowl of soup? Is there a moment's thought before each mouthful? Or do they stick to rice?
It's not important. I'm not even expecting an answer.
3 comments:
I think it's all to do with intention. The Buddhists, I mean. If they intend to kill, it's bad. If they accidentally kill something in the course of something quite innocent, it's not great but it's just about okay. I think. I am no expert and know very little about this subject (can you tell?!) but remember having a studenty conversation with someone about this many years ago - we were actually debating whether Buddhists drive because they will inevitably have a couple of squashed flies on the windscreen every time they take the car out, surely? But then it led on to wondering if accidentally running someone over when popping out in the car for a pint of milk came under the category of 'it's okay because it wasn't intentional . . .' and then we gave up on the conversation and rolled another one.
Um . . . I think a practicing Buddhist would be better off answering this question than me. . . . .
(Just seen the word verification I have to type in to prove I am not spamming you - move one letter and it's obscene!)
A few weeks (or months) ago, on Hedgewizard's blog, I read about him being in a car with a Buddhist. For some reason, I assumed the Hedge was driving - the Buddhist he was driving has not read or chosen to reply to this post - so maybe there's a level where Buddhists allow other people to assume responsibility, in the way that... you get the message.
This was never intended to be a Buddhist-bashing post, although they are probably the safest people in the world to insult. I am probably more Buddhist than Hindu, although neither, and far more either of them than any other formal religion. I may get onto that subject at some point.
All I'm trying to say here is, I agree: It's probably about intention. Which is why I was pleased when the word came to mind.
Buddhists eat with right, abluting left handed.
Their preference is 'one with everything'.
Wash the rice before you cook it.
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