Animal Life In The Raw

[sumi]

Lucky Oi!
What's the set-up with the temple animals? My DH taught me a bit about Buddhism and their attitudes towards animals and it sounds pretty amazing.
I'm toying with the idea of Buddhism, but I want to learn a bit more first.

 

[thaiturkey]

The monks will feed any animal that turns up at the temple. I'm sure you know that Buddhists won't kill any animal or do it harm. My wife took the stray cats to a temple for this very reason. We couldn't cope with them any more but didn't want them to come to more harm than they already had.

It's not a starry eyed Buddhist paradise here for animals, though. Owners and carers won't necessarily rush off to the vet when there's a problem. You won't get the vet even to put down an animal that is clearly in terminal misery and pain.

If you are interested in Buddhism, read up on it before you get involved. Avoid the loony tunes and stick with the works of people like the Dalai Lama. Remember that it's a philosophy, not a religion. Taking up Buddhism doesn't mean that you have to give up your present religion if you have one. There are those who try to make it a religion because religions can be a great way to control people and make money. So, don't be drawn towards people like that. Avoid, also, some of the practices and routines that suit only temple life. No one said you had to be a miserable Buddhist!

Don't make it a purely intellectual exercise either. Meditation is a big part of Buddhism and a few minutes a day is very beneficial, especially in stressful time such as these.

You will find it a rather private thing amongst those who understand it. It used to be fashionable to claim out loud adherence to some old religion or belief but Buddhism isn't there to be a fashion statement.

The monk who presides over the International Buddhist College in our local town will be at my wife's restaurant with his entourage in a few hours time. He is interested in vegetarian calzone from the wood oven and vegetable Thai dishes. These guys can pack away some big meals. He'll drink water. The respect for the guys is such that the dough was especially prepared last evening and my wife left home very early this morning to get the best possible vegetables from the market. I'm not saying that I think they deserve great respect because I don't know enough about any of them but the locals give it as a matter of course.

Good luck!

 

[sumi]

I'm going to read about it more over time, but right now I've got so much going on in my life, I just take things day by day. Meditation sounds great, but I don't know if I'll be able to just switch off or get enough quiet time without child or chickens bothering me!