Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: The Buddha saves animals (video)

Abhinav Kumar; Pat Macpherson, Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha saves animals from sacrifice

In this animated video the historical Buddha saves animals from being sacrificed by the Brahmin priests of his day.

Save our planet, environment, and animals.

The Buddha opposed animal killing and sacrifice. He staunchly opposed all killing as harmful to three parties, the killed, the killer, and everyone else.

Killing of animals, insects, and human beings without exception. He expressed the view that ALL beings (including and in some sense especially ourselves) deserve our compassion. During the time of the Buddha, many kinds of brutal Vedic "sacrifices" were practiced by Brahmins. These temple priests were elitist, educated, upper-caste (high class) landowners in contemporary Indian (Bharat) society.

The Buddha saw great harm and no value in murderous sacrifices, primarily because they are entirely external rites and rituals. If one could speak of some kind of "right sacrifice," it would have to be something that internal, spiritual, spirit-related.

India used to revere many, not all, animals.

"Brahmin, I lay no wood for fire on altars. Only within burneth the fire I kindle," says the Buddha, mindful of the Brahmin's practice of tending a regular "sacred fire" and pouring oblations (offerings to the "gods," devas and brahmas) into it for the various supernatural beings of the Vedic pantheon, later taught as Hinduism.

This, however, was only a relatively harmless, albeit in the eyes of the Buddha useless, activity. The Vedic temple priests also advocated and performed several types of cruel animal torturing and slaughter to "sacrifice" to the gods.

The Buddha rejected all of these sacrifices and did so in no uncertain terms. For example, when he was told of a "great sacrifice" that the king of Kosala was about to perform, where 2,500 cattle, goats and rams were to be immolated (burned alive), he declared:

"Never to such a rite as that repair the noble seers who walk the perfect way." And in one of the "Rebirth Tales" (Bhuridatta Jataka), the future Buddha is reported to have said:

"If one who kills is counted innocent,

Let Brahmins Brahmins kill.

We see no cattle asking to be slain

That they a new and better life may gain;

Rather they go unwilling to their death

And in vain struggles yield their final breath.

To veil the post, the victim and the blow,

The Brahmins let their choicest rhetoric flow."

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