[Buddha-l] Re:on eating meat

[Mike Austin]

In message <001201c5d480$5d6c2cc0$6900a8c0 at vic.bigpond.net.au>, Kate 
<marshallarts at bigpond.com> writes

>> Only last week, our resident Geshe told of a place in India near to a
>> lake where the locals caught fish and sold them live. Tibetans in the
>> area bought these fish to release into the lake again.  The circle of
>> events continues - perhaps not so 'vicious' as the circle of life and
>> death, but a suffering circle for the fish even within one lifetime.
>
>What a sad tale, Mike.  I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice in not
>buying any of the birds.  Guess there isn't an easy answer to all this.

Well, yes - but that's samsara folks. Of course, the action to save life 
is commendable. One could remain by the side of the lake and do this for 
ever. But one needs to ask oneself if it is the best use one can make of 
this life.  That is where bodhicitta - the mind of enlightenment - comes 
in.  One should think beyond the immediate situation and see if there is 
something that could be done to stop it entirely - to stop the situation 
even arising. So here is a quandary that any Mahayana practitioner needs 
to sort out for his/her self - how much time to devote to immediate good 
works and how much time to devote to achieving an improved position from 
which one can do better.

Whatever one does, I think the priority is one's own state of mind. Lose 
that, and everything is lost.  This means maintaining the best attitude, 
or nature, that one can. I like the following tale:

  The Scorpion and the Monk - a Zen Tale

  Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a
  scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set
  it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing
  his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion
  and was again stung. The other monk asked him, "Friend, why do you
  continue to save the scorpion when you know it's nature is to sting?"
  "Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."

-- 
Metta
Mike Austin