The Dhammic Life Which Is Still a Secret
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives C03344
“In order to unveil the secrets of life, scientists must destroy life by using animals in experiments. For example problems like AIDS can only be solved if one understands the immune system fully. Since we cannot use humans we have to study the immune system in animals. What do you think about this problem? Do you think it is inappropriate to kill a few animals to save many human lives?”
(Translator’s note: Let me point out that the questioner is very biased and in fact loading assumptions. It’s not a few animals to save many human lives, its killing many animals to sometimes save many human lives, sometimes only a few, and sometimes just to make nice cosmetics to make women smell good.)
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
There’s an important principle to be understood which is not a Buddhist principle but it’s a principle important in all religions, it’s a fundamental religious principle which is that to kill with selfishness, to kill animals selfishly – that is with ignorance, with anger, with hatred, with greed, and so on – is considered evil, or in some religions it’s called ‘sinful.’ To kill selfishly is evil or sinful – this is a universal religious principle. However – and this applies in the laboratory as well as elsewhere – if there is the same kind of activity going on but the motivation is not selfish – if it isn’t motivated by ignorance, greed, anger, hatred, and so on – then we don’t call that ‘killing.’ If it’s done with true mindfulness and understanding or wisdom, we don’t call it killing and we don’t say that it is evil or sinful. For example if there is truly necessary research, and it is done with wise motives, with valid reasons, and there’s nothing selfish involved, we don’t call that ‘killing’ or ‘sinful.’ What it comes down to, is it being done selfishly just for the benefit of a few or for oneself – for example to make a name in the scientific community – or is it being done unselfishly for the common benefit, for the benefit of the majority or of all? This is the deciding factor, whether it’s done selfishly or with mindfulness and wisdom.
The basic principle is that to cause something or someone to die, if it is done with selfishness, that is called killing, but to do something which causes something to die but it is done without selfishness, rather with genuine understanding, then that is not called killing. For example if abortion is done selfishly, that is killing or murder, but if there are proper reasons for the abortion, then that is not considered killing or murder.
The translator then asks, “If we use this principle in doing experiments on animals, wouldn’t the same principle apply to doing experiments on human beings because it’s just a choice of our societies that we chose to experiment on animals, but it’s considered immoral to experiment on human beings? We could choose to experiment on neither or both also.”
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
To cause something to die through selfish intention, through selfish motivation, is called killing. But if there’s no selfishness, just wisdom, genuine intelligence, then it’s not called ‘killing.’ For example if according to the constitution and the laws of a country, if a person has been condemned to death by the courts, then there is the executioner whose duty it is to carry out the laws of that society. This is not called ‘killing,’ it is merely called ‘doing one’s duty.’ Another example is when a farmer plows a field – whether a rice farmer in Thailand, a corn farmer in America, or a wheat farmer in Russia – when the farmer plows his or her fields, many animals will die, that’s inevitable. If the intention is wise without greed, anger, and delusion, then that is not considered killing, it’s just doing the duty. Farmers have to plant food in order for people to eat, so the farmer is just doing his or her duty and not killing. Another example is if you shoot a gun in self-defense and as a result someone dies, that is not considered killing. If one is merely protecting oneself, defending oneself, then one is doing one’s duty correctly.
To cause death and to kill are not the same thing. To kill is to cause something to die with selfish intention, but to cause the death of something for a higher purpose, then it is not called killing. So don’t think that these two things are the same. To cause death and to kill are not the same.
From the retreat “The Dhammic Life Which Is Still a Secret,” as translated from the Thai by Santikaro
Dhamma Questions & Responses sessions were offered by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu in 1990-1991 to foreign meditators attending Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage courses.
Listen to this teaching on Soundcloud
Listen to other English retreat talks by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu
For more information and free ebooks, visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation