From Buddhist point of view, killing can cause much
suffering to the killer - in this lifetime, afterlife can be much more pain in
lower world, and from that one would have to pay for many lifetimes. Only after
all the karmic debt is paid back, one would live normal again.
People, animals, etc are killed all the time. I don't know
their past life crimes. But in the past long period, we all did something wrong
- just have done something wrong in this very lifetime. Due to their past bad
deeds, many animals, humans, etc have to be killed, robbed, etc. as paying back
their debts.
Existence is long, long in the past, and can be long in the
future if one doesn't know the way out and escape. We all are in the ocean of
existence - just the way fish are in the oceans. In the ocean of existence, we
exists - death is nothing more than transformation. We transform inside the
wombs (or eggs), or outside the wombs.
Transforming into different forms of living things is very
painful - it's called birth or rebirth. Everyone transforms by death, just the
way one transforms from an embryo, toward a baby, toward a teenager, toward
adult, toward old age, and finally toward death. At death, one transforms into
whatever one deserves to become.
If one has debts, in terms of greed, one will transform into
a ghost (peta), or an asura (demon). If one has debts, in terms of anger, one
can be reborn in lower world, to be suffering in the experience of lower world.
If one has debts, in terms of ignorance/delusion, one will be transforms into
an animal.
Transformation is due to perception as well. Even a very
good person, who has little debt to be reborn in suffering state, can be
deceived by his/her own perception (or memory).
By recalling something, one starts to desire - leading to
attachment, leading to transformation related to whatever one recalls.
If one recalls good thing, what one has done as good deeds,
or truths learned by heart, or someone who lives by good deeds, one can
transform into good, according to what one recalls. If one recalls bad things
...
Perception works this way. It's very important to understand
what perception is all about.
The Buddha taught us that we must
understand body and mind. He taught us the way to understand these. One must
know everything changes. One must know whatever starts to exist must cease to
exist too, and transformation takes place in the process of kammic law.
The Buddha taught we must sit,
still the mind, observe the physical body as we sit. Then we will notice what
happening to the physical body and gradually understand how the physical is
working. As we sit, still the mind, for long, the body will show its true
nature to us. All we do is sit still and watch. We must not stand up and leave
before the body shows us its true nature - if we want to know it. By doing so,
by realizing, we will be able to KILL our ignorance once and forever.
Then what will the body show? And how can we kill our
ignorance?
As the Buddha taught, if we sit,
try to still the mind, and noticing in breath and out breath, we will gain
mental strength in stilling. This must be developed first. If we can still the
mind for long, with this help, we will be able to sit and observe our physical
body for long till it starts to show its true nature to us, and through everything
it has to show. Thus, we must develop our mind stronger so that we can keep it
still for a long time. Gradually we can get there. As we sit, stilling the
mind, and sitting for long, the body will start showing its true nature, as
pain, as heat, etc. and eventually we will pass all these events. At the end of
these events, we can experience something special. There we can conquer our own
evil self or delusion.
