[Buddha-l] Re: buddha-l Digest, Vol 8, Issue 121

[Andrew Skilton]

Thu, 20 Oct 2005  Mike Austin wrote:

>>>Do dogs collect bad kharma for eating meat? and if not, why not?

>>Well, the start of an answer must surely be the Buddha declaring that 
>>'karma' is 'intention'. When mine gobble food down, I guess they have no
intention of
>>harming other creatures, whatever it is that I have put in their bowls.

>If I eat like this (not gobbling, but having no intention to harm other 
>beings), do I create bad karma. Or is that only for dogs?

But choosing to eat flesh when one knows and is capable understanding what is
involved in its acquisition is 'an intention to harm other beings'. 

My point, clearly not clearly expressed, was that when I feed my dogs they
probably do not analyse what is in their bowl and are therefore capable of
neither knowing nor understanding its provenance (and thereby precluding the
possibility of their making an ethical choice). Whereas I am, and therefore the
'bad karma' is mine.

Andrew




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Andrew Skilton 

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