Which creature fascinates you most?

Even eating is fraught with moral consequences and accompanied by its nagging handmaiden Guilt. :(

Not only are my food choices important from a consumer standpoint (i.e., buying organic and locally grown food versus chemically/genetically modified food shipped halfway 'round the world), but now I know that my favorite vegetable has feelings ... What is a human being to do?

(This may sound tongue in cheek ... which it is a little ... but I'm also being serious.)
 
Zenda71 said:
Even eating is fraught with moral consequences and accompanied by its nagging handmaiden Guilt. :(

Not only are my food choices important from a consumer standpoint (i.e., buying organic and locally grown food versus chemically/genetically modified food shipped halfway 'round the world), but now I know that my favorite vegetable has feelings ... What is a human being to do?

(This may sound tongue in cheek ... which it is a little ... but I'm also being serious.)
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Namaste Zenda,

Brocolli?

it's a difficult question if you are serious about it. in the end, in my view, it comes down to our intentions behind our actions.

if you are sincere in your intentions of non-violence, including not eating meat, yet do so in any event, i do not feel as if there will be strong karmic consequences. the Buddha accepted meat when begging for alms on several occassions, so we know that it is not simply the consumption of meat that is the issue, at least from the Buddhist point of veiw. we are taught to accept what is given as "medicine" and accept it as such.

of course, this was how things worked in ancient India where monks and nuns begged for alms. this is not the situtation that we find ourselves in today. the same general principle can apply to our situation now.

let's say that you accepted an invitation to a dinner party and, though you've said that you are vegetarian, you find that there is nothing available for you to eat. you have two choices... either eat what is offered or not.

this is a bit tricky and i'm not really in the position to give advice on this with any degree of certainty.... that being said... if you reject the food it is likely to produce negative mental states in the host or hostess and can contribute to the being continuning in the realm of samsara. on the other hand, accepting the food as medicine, should not produce a negative mental state in the host or hostess.

of course, it can cause you to have a negative mental state... so this is an area that we should reflect on with seriousness and compassion.

in my own situation.. if i think that there may not be any vegetarian food available... i make sure to have something to eat before going to the dinner party... that way, i can eat something small... like a side dish.. and make the guests feel happy and remain comitted to my practice.

a win-win scenario :)
 
I'd have to go with those cuttlefish that change colour, or any of those deep see crustaceans. Marvellous little fellows.
 
Kindest Regards all!

All living things are fascinating in their own particular way.
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Yes indeed, all creatures are fascinating!

Those that fascinate me the most are the ancient trees; the Sequoias, the Bristlecones and the Mother Tree in Africa.
 
And to add one more complication: Is my karma irrefutably affected when I feed my husband and son meat?

Thank you for the thoughtful reply, Vajra. I am being serious, and I find it more troubling every day. Now to make a decision and act. That is the difficult part, no?

With metta,
Zenda
 
I have to vote for the big cats. Especially the mountain lion. I would love to see one in the wild. It thrills me that when we are camping in the mountains big cats could be stalking nearby. Guess it's interesting to think about an animal that would consider me for lunch.

As for plants, well, I have to agree that communication between plants is fascinating. Circadian rhythms are also interesting in both plants and animals. I never before thought about the water connection between plant communities as a possible way for them to communitcate. Actually we are all intimately connected molecularly, our sharing of water being a great example of this. Remember the old Star Trek where the alien described humans as "ugly bags of mostly water?" And that water flows in and out of us all the time, so we are physically connected with each other and all living things that depend on water. No wonder water is such a powerful and often used symbol for spiritual things.

As for the divine nature of the plants and animals we eat, it would be appropriate to honor them every time we eat. Some people say grace before each meal and perhaps this is a good way to do this, acknowledging that all we recieve flows from God. But why not take it even further and say "Thank you broccoli, for yielding your life for my nutrition. You honor me by becoming part of my body." OK, I'm being a little silly but I'm not really making fun. Attitude can make all the difference.

And I risk going too far by saying we could also honor the poor little animals run over by our cars. Next time you smell roadkill on a hot summer day, take a deep breath and ask for forgivness as the cadaverine and putriscine molecules become one with your nose. ;)
 
The creature that fascinates me the most?

I can only think of one creature that makes my jaw drop in awe, the anthropoid, man. So much of what this creature does is in vain and pointless... All other animals are content on what they know and protecting their own survival... But this animal, seems content on killing all chances of surivial, Many other creatures have amazing capablities and very strong, the human on the other hand is very head strong but one of the most fragile and easiest of animals to kill. it gathers pointless possessions.... It ponders pointless theories, It sometimes depends on something that very clearly not there. And has too much brain power for it's own good. It has become a stubborn destroyer of worlds that thinks it is better than anything else upon the earth and also its peers. Loves to think it is special, and has a special purpose and is top of the food chain, sadly it is more like a mere virus. The Earth is like a brain and mankind is its cancerous tumour. :)
 
Don't they all?

the lizards I tried to catch as kid, ending up holding onto only a tail, and then seeing them later as their new tail grows back....

the plenaria we sliced under a microscope only to watch them duplicate

getting water from the swimming hole and looking under a microscope as to who was swimming with us...

the millions of dustmites I sleep with digesting my dead skin cells...

or the bacteria and fungus that grows in and on me, my beneficial parasites...

or the clown fish, whom Nemo introduced me to, their symbiotic relationship with anenome, their morphing their wieght and sex in the matriarchal line, each 83% of the one above, each opposite sex, and when the someone moves out of the middle or the top position is available, each changes sex and increases in size to keep the proportion correct...

How about the fish lizard fossils, those [SIZE=-1]Ichthyosaurs that beached themselves on the top of a mountain in Nevada...incredible to look over hundreds of miles of desert and imagine it all being ocean and standing at the side of the beach with them...and think about the whales that still do this today...or like was said humans, as this beach millions of years later was the small mining town of Berlin, a one mine, one bar, one whore town...now a ghost town...but you walk amongst the foundations and imagine the bustling little street....

I could go on, do I gotta pick just one?
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What doesn't fascinate?
 
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