Jill Harrison wrote: > I'd be grateful if you could give me a comment about putting down a > bloody goose...
Jill, Kyukyo has given you some helpful advice. Just in case your 'you' was of the y'all kind, I'll add something fairly practical based on my own experience (not with hunters, though). Perhaps you would find it helpful to invent some sort of ritual that would help you find closure, maybe a funeral or memorial service for animals that have fallen to hunters. You might want to keep in mind, though, that attending the funeral of a relative or friend may signal an ending of your physical relationship but it won't stop you from thinking of them in the future. You might want to consider, too, who it is you need to put down [not in the sense of snuff the life out of them, of course :) ], the goose or the hunter. From what you've written, it seems that a good deal of your un-ease centers not round the goose--which may well be going on to a higher incarnation for all you know--but round the person who left it at your doorstep. Considering the hunter who left the geese at your door, perhaps it would be helpful to remember that most of the unskillful/hurtful/unproductive things you do (or any of us do) stem from ignorance of the bigger picture. And it might be helpful to consider that no one person, you or anyone else, sees the entire big picture. No doubt the hunter who left the geese (and those posters here who urged you to buy a gun and aim for the heart of the bird) felt that by doing so they were giving you a useful lesson. If nothing else, it did point in the direction that you can police your own behavior (traffic cones are placed where they are for a good, perhaps even life-saving, reason so it's best not to move them) but you can't very effectively control that of others (people who need/like to hunt, eat meat, write in library books, take drugs, etc. etc. are going to do so whether you like it or not). In closing, since there were some recent posts about begging bowls, this thought comes to mind: How would thinks have been different if you had treated the goose at your doorstep as a gift (yes, I know that these days one has to check for poison, ground glass, razor blades) rather than as a taunt. You probably say some sort of prayer or thanksgiving verse at meals to remind yourself that you remain alive by eating only because all food is the product of the universe, the work of many people who brought it to your table, the sacrifice of many lives. Wouldn't your eating the goose your neighbor dropped at your doorstep (or if you're under vegetarian vows letting someone else eat it) in a sense "redeem" the life/death of the goose by making it part of this necessary and endless cycle of self-sacrifice so that others can live? I hope you find this helpful, or at least not hurtful. James ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UwRTUD/UOnJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
