Saturday, June 13, 2009

Reborn as Happy Animal or Sick Human? Last part

In most cases, we don't have the choice of determining which rebirth we will take. But karma is not a static thing, we can plant subtle karmic imprints and make strong aspirations today that should you have done any negative actions that warrants your rebirth into the lower realms, but also having the collaborative good karma (such as taking part in this poll, resulting in this "collaborative karma") you will likely take rebirth as a sick/ poor human, instead of a healthy animal. By being reborn a human, although sick, you will avert being reborn into the lower realms. And you are sick because of the negative karma you have created.... will still be there if you donot purify them with the Budddhist purification methods.

I have learned that karma is not a "destined" or "fated" matter. We can actively shape it in small measures depending on how heavy is the karma. The heavier it is, the less likely we are able to shape it.So, by voting, we are creating imprints in our minds to aspire either to be a sad human or a happy animal in the future. Donot assume you donot have a bad karma bad enough to result your rebirth as an animal. You never know. So, if you vote for "human", you will create karmic imprints to be reborn as human in those circumstances mentioned, but with poor health and unhappy (to suffer the karma you have created)...but nonetheless a human rebirth. And if you have been given the chance to create small karmic imprints for the better, but do not take the opportunity, that's also creating small karmic imprints. Even by not doing anything, it's a choice, i.e. a decision has been made.

Personally, I am seriously reluctant to give in to the urges of becoming an animal even if it mean being President Obama's dog or Bill Gate's dog.My reason would be that once you are reborn as such, it would mean you have gone a few rungs down the "ladder". And once you are lower, it's harder to climb up again. The ANIMAL imprints and characteristics will be stucked somewhere in your mind. That's why some humans behave like animals. It's because they have been animals before. Secondly, the Buddhas would not have been so kind as to leave us those holy objects mentioned in my first post, if there was no reason to save anyone from the lower realms. Hence, I'll rather be a sick human that lives for only 5 years than an animal that lives for 50 years. But I don't know. I could be wrong. This post is meant to get people thinking.

I realised that the fact that few people voted for "humans" shows indeed the rarity of the human rebirth. More people prefer to be animals instead, or don't care. But right after my comments in favour of humans in my post yesterday, the percentage for humans went up a little. Indeed, I feel that noone should vote for "animals", i.e. not be tempted at all to avoid the human suffering and opt instead to be a healthy rich family pet dog.

Once you are reborn as an animal, whatever you have learned about the dharma will go deeper and deeper inside you and more difficult for you to dig it up later. Therefore, whoever have chosen the "animal" option in this "poll", have some serious rethinking to do. Hence I am not speculating, as you put it. I am using unorthodox methods to point something out for all to see. LEARN FROM THIS!!

Bodhisattvas can take the form of animals but we cannot. When we take rebirth as a dog, most likely we only live by our instincts. We won't remember our current life's Buddhist practices or teachings unless our Buddhist imprints are very strong and our bodhicitta very strong despite having huge negative karma (that resulted in your being born as a dog). So, it's too risky to want to be a dog.

My point is: if you can get hold of those objects I mentioned in "Part 1" of this topic, go get it. Save yourself from lower rebirth, even if you are reborn as a poorly endowed human in the next life. It's definitely better than any animal, any hungry ghosts, any hell being. That's my point.

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