When my family first arrived in the dirty city of Bangkok, one of the first things my little sister asked me was “Why are there so many dogs everywhere?” Being the dog lover that she is, she was extremely disappointed to learn that these dogs were not only nobody’s pets, but that she also couldn’t pet them unless she wanted to get some weird fungus or sickness on the first couple days of her vacation. As I explained to them that the reason for all the dogs was because Thailand is mainly Buddhist and it is not in their fashion to kill these dogs, they still had a hard time accepting this fact seeing how miserable many of them look. I didn’t really feel like getting into the deeper reasons at the time mainly because they knew nothing about Buddhism and they had so many other questions about the wild city of Bangkok, so I just left the explanation at a “I know, it’s really sad.” What I didn’t further explain to them was that the main reasons for the allowance of these dogs was that it is against the first precept to harm them, as well as the basic idea of karma. Although Buddhism saves and protects many animals, it is also the reason millions of animals are suffering in Thailand as well as causing many ecological problems. As one first starts learning about Buddhism, they will learn that the most fundamental guideline of living a meaningful life is to follow the 5 precepts. Fortunately you don’t have to go too deep into these precepts before you come across the first precept of ahimsa, which is the prohibition against the bringing of harm and/or death to any living being.
The teachings of Buddhism consists of the eight fold path, the four noble truths and the five precepts. These teachings contain rules that can be followed
Have you ever wondered how much it costs to have and maintain a pet? Burkhard Bilger, the author of “The Last Meow”, explains how Americans spend a lot of money on their pets and that people's “love affair” with their pets has gotten out of control. An observation I have made is that in many movies dogs are treated very well. When I was younger, I watched a movie called Bratz and one character would always have her dog inside a dog purse and they would even get manicures and pedicures together. The dog always had shiny clothes on and it was always very clean. Therefore, I agree with Bilger's argument that Americans “love affair” with their pets has gotten out of control.
The Three Jewels, the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path greatly influence individuals and the Buddhist community through their everyday lives, whether it be guiding the adherent’s actions, ethical decision making, or practice. Adherents who follow the teachings become more aware that having an ignorant mindset distracts one from living a good life and happy life; “The purpose of life is to be happy” (Dalai Lama). This was explained in Buddha’s first Sermon, “There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low… the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.” (Buddha), thus avoiding both these extremes,
Throughout the world there are many different countries that contain diverse cultures, religions, and life styles. There is however certain aspects within these countries and cultures that acts as a common ground between one another. One dominant aspect is the existence of dogs within these cultures. Dogs are common throughout the world, either as a domestic pet, a protector on a farm, or an assistant for hunting; amongst others. Regardless of the reason for having a dog most people have either owned one for themselves or has known somebody who has owned one at some point in their life. Despite the relative normality of having a dog in your life in one way or another, the reasons for dogs coming into existence is not common knowledge among most people. Throughout a great portion of mankind’s history dogs have been an essential part of life. The truth is dogs were actually created in part by man. It was evolution from wolves in the form of natural and artificial selection that brought dogs into existence (Harris 3). This is the most modern and widely excepted theory at this time, however this was not always the case considering the theory of evolution in of itself is relatively new in our society. After evolution as a theory was accepted there were several other variations on the theory such as, the evolution being from jackals opposed to wolves, and artificial selection being the only form of evolution to have taken place. According to Jarret A Lobell and Eric A Powell of Archaeology magazine “The idea that dogs were domesticated from jackals was long ago discarded in favor of the notion that dogs descend from the gray wolf (2)”. As for the theory that artificial selection ...
In his essay “Religion and Animal Rights," the writer Tom Regan maintains the place that animals are "subjects-of-a-life”, like humans. If we value all beings regardless of the degree of human rationality that are able to act, we must also attribute to animals or as it is called non-human animals as well. All practices involving abuse of animals should be abolished. The animals have an intrinsic value as humans, and stresses that Christian theology has brought unbridled land on the brink of an ecological catastrophe.
The Rise and Fall of Animalism This longing for power is already evident in the first chapter. What is freedom? Freedom is when you have power over your self. The animals want this. "The work of teaching and organising fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of animals.
The Social Construction Theory is defined as the event of individuals and or groups perceive real life events and objects and put a meaning to them. Social construction is an ongoing process and views can be modified because the concept is relying upon the communication from one person to another and different people can interpret things differently. One way society has constructed ideas is with animals. Throughout history people have created stories using animals as characters and those stories were passed down from generation to generation. Those stories can influence how people feel about the actual animals.
Buddhism’s approach to ethics and practices are centred upon the principal beliefs of; the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. By adhering to these guidelines, Buddhists are ensured that they are taking a step closer to escaping Samsara, and attaining the revered state of Nirvana,
Buddhism, like most other religions, originated in a particular place at a particular time, and its roots are in forms and ideas that were part of the environment in which it developed. The most important of these areas at the time of the Buddha was the valley of the Ganges river which flows from west to east across most of northern India. It was here that the great religions of India first arose and flourished. Only later did they spread to the south. In the time of the Buddha, about 500 B.C.E., this area was undergoing a period of vigorous religious development.
Buddhists also believe in the five precepts, which Buddha taught for everyday life. The five precepts are:
For many years, animals have been wonderful additions to families around the world and have changed the lives of people in many ways. They are usually welcomed and loved immediately. That isn’t always the case though. Sometimes there are various people who start punishing their pets for anything that happens to themselves. The main reason for why people hurt animals is because they don 't often think about what they are doing.
Animals are not valued enough: Many forget that animals have feelings too. We tend to overlook the benefits of having a pet. Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D., a professor of Psychology at the university of Miami published an online journal in 2011, about research on pet ownership, “Pets provide meaningful social support for owners, improving their lives. Whereas some past research found that people facing serious health challenges are better with pets, the current work found that everyday people can benefit from pet ownership as well” (Friends with Benefits: Pets Make Us Happier, Healthier). Animals can bring immense joy in our lives if we allow them to and we start looking at them as companions and not
It is difficult to believe how some humans are capable of inflicting pain to animals just to satisfy their lowest instincts or for money. The way people treat animals all over the world may defers from one place to another, but in general more people are standing up for animal rights in hopes that one day animal cruelty will be no more. However, this is not a perfect world, and animals, domesticated and wild, are abuse and beaten every single day. For example, dog fighting which is described as “The act of baiting two dogs against one another for entertainment or gain” (Yilmaz, Coskun, and Ertugrul). It is just a horrific and devastating experience that no dog should ever have to go through, “animals have been and continued to
For animal welfare and the causes of animal abuse new research has been created. Since animal abuse is fairly a new subject, new research is constantly brought up. In the Bahamas a study was done in the College of Bahamas, and it states that, “…dogs were equally likely to be considered members of the household in homes without domestic violence,” (Fielding 197). Homes with violence show that humans substitute human victims for animal victims. Animal rights activists are trying to break down symbolic boundaries betw...