Can animals be spiritual?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
greggorious
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Can animals be spiritual?

Post by greggorious »

Nothing more to add to my title. Can animals be spiritual?
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
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Virgo
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Virgo »

Hi Greg. Interesting question. What do you mean by "spiritual"?

Kevin
greggorious
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by greggorious »

I know what I mean in my mind, but if I try to explain it it may be obscured.
I guess what I mean is that sometimes animals can appear to have spiritual experiences, i.e going into trance-like states or have periods of meditation. I'm sure science can disprove all that as mumbo jumbo, but just wanted to know what you guys thought.
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
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Ceisiwr
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Ceisiwr »

:shrug:
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Ben
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Ben »

I think what is more likely is that we are seeing what we want to see.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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tiltbillings
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by tiltbillings »

Can human animals be spiritual?
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Ben
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Ben »

tiltbillings wrote:Can human animals be spiritual?
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
Digity
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Digity »

No, not really...that's the whole advantage of the human realm...we can practice and they can't.
SarathW
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by SarathW »

The following post may be some help for your question.

What is unique in human compare to animal.

:pig:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=15139
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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DNS
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by DNS »

Animals practicing meditation, prayer, other religious practices? No, definitely not.

However, there are several reports and videos of animal altruism. There are also cases of animals killing (murdering?) members of their own species in fights over territory, competition, etc. So it seems they could produce some wholesome and unwholesome kamma.
Spiny Norman
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Spiny Norman »

David N. Snyder wrote:Animals practicing meditation...
What about cats? ;)
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Aloka
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by Aloka »

Spiny Norman wrote:
David N. Snyder wrote:Animals practicing meditation...
What about cats? ;)


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plwk
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by plwk »

Animals practicing meditation...
What about cats? ;)
See here
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DNS
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by DNS »

My cat regularly goes to the formless jhanas, especially the sphere of nothingness.

Seriously though, yes animals have some great concentration. It is amazing how they can pinpoint their prey and capture them with great skill. However, this is not samma-samadhi, it is rather wrong-samadhi. It is a great concentration, but not a wholesome one, not meant for seeing annica, anatta, dukha.
beeblebrox
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Re: Can animals be spiritual?

Post by beeblebrox »

Ben wrote:I think what is more likely is that we are seeing what we want to see.
I agree, but don't let that stop you...

This is an article of how someone viewed Jasper the moon bear:

"Animals Can Be Ambassadors For Forgiveness, Generosity, Peace, Trust, and Hope."

:anjali:
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