Animal Consciousness

WQ editorial staff (proposed Wikipedia edit of "Animals in Buddhism")

The position and treatment of animals in Buddhism is important for the light it sheds on Buddhists' perception of their own relation to the natural world, on Buddhist humanitarian concerns in general, and on the relationship between theory and practice.

Animals are regarded in Buddhist thought as sentient (feeling) beings. They are different in intellectual ability but no less able to feel than humans. Animals are cycling through rebirth (Samsara) just as humans are. According to Mahayana Buddhism, animals possess "Buddha nature." In both cases, they possess the potential of becoming enlightened.

Tibetan thangka representing the various states of existence in Samsara. The rudimentary depiction of the Animal Realm shows this plane collectively rather than attempting to depict its staggering complexity (bodhipaksa.com).

According to this doctrine of rebirth, humans (due to their karma or deeds/intentions) can be reborn in the animal world or other unfortunate destinations. The human world is regarded as the lowest "fortunate" destination. Animals, according to their store of past karma, may be reborn as humans or in worse worlds.

Karma and Rebirth Destinations

• Animal rebirth results from lapses in Five Precepts and:
• delusion, excessive greed and/or annoyance
• meat-eating, behaving like an animal in this life.

For instance, in one discourse (MN 57; PTS: M i 387) the Buddha cautions that Dog and Ox Duty Ascetics will, by their practice, gain rebirth among dogs and oxen. This accords with the general view that deeds -- that are willed, performed, and accumulated -- more associated with animals than humans result in rebirth in a plane or condition appropriate to experiencing the results. What are such deeds? Behaviors and habits that are slovenly, brutal, dull, vicious, base, lascivious, gluttonous, petty, cruel, and so on.

• Human rebirth achieved by Five Precepts.
• Lower celestial rebirth achieved by Eight Precepts.
• Higher celestial rebirth is attained by 1st-4th Jhanas.
• Formless rebirth is attained by the 5th-8th Jhanas.

Like all living beings, animals are ceaselessly wandering on in Samsara. This goes on for so long that it is difficult to meet anyone we have not already been related to countless ways. In an unbounded series of lives, with beings interdependently related, it is from time to time possible to sense and experience the "oneness" of all -- the deep relationship or spiritual empathy (mudita) that sees no separation.

The Buddha explained that sentient beings -- even those born in the animal realm -- have been in past rebirths been our mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, children, friends, and associates. One could not, therefore, make a hard distinction between moral rules applicable to animals and those applicable to humans; ultimately humans and animals were part of a single family. They are all interconnected.

In cosmological terms, animals are believed to inhabit a distinct "world," separate from humans not by space but by state of mind. This realm is called Tiryagyoni (Sanskrit) or Tirac-chānayoni (in the exclusively Buddhist language, Pāli).

Rebirth in the animal realm is considered an unhappy rebirth since it usually involves more suffering than relief, whereas the humans generally enjoy a balance of the two. The Buddha compared it to someone wandering through a desert.

S/he is parched and comes across a nearly barren tree, and moving on comes across a shade tree, and moving on comes across an oasis, and so on. Each station represents, very generally, various rebirth destinations from the world of hungry ghosts to animals to humans to celestial beings, and so on for a total of 31 general planes of existence.

Buddhist commentaries literature depicts the great variety of suffering associated with the animal realm: Even where no cruel and desperate human beings are present, animals are attacked and eaten. Other animals attack them, and they live in fear. They are forced to endure environmental extremes, and they have no security of habitation.

Those that live among humans may be treated as pets or slaughtered for their bodies. They may be worked, beaten, experimented on, or otherwise tormented. Moreover, they suffer from ignorance with little opportunity to understand what (or why) these things are happening. With so little clarity or culture, they are unable to do much to better their state, relying instead mostly on habit and instinct.

• More: Animals in the Jatakas ("Rebirth Tales") such as the famous horse Kanthaka