2006-5-17 11:56:00
Larry quoting me:
He who follows the harmless path seeks to do harm to no living thing, but realizes that indecision can often bring more harm than a wrong decision. He will therefore, not shy away from decision, but will use all his wisdom to make choices that will produce the most harmless direction.
Larry writes:
A lot depends on what is meant by the word "harm." For example, here in central Texas I might judge that killing fireants does them less harm than not, i.e., that killing them stimulates their eventual progression up the scale of life more than simply leaving them alone. Also killing fireants is satisfying just in itself for us higher forms of life.
Taking the example up much higher on the scale of life, killing an enemy soldier might do less harm than not, that is, killing a soldier fighting for a tyrannical regime might do less harm than being a pacifist and allowing that soldier to advance the cause of evil and human retrogression. Also killing an enemy soldier of such a regime might prevent that soldier from incurring even greater karmic results.
In the Bible it would seem that Jehovah was not particularly shy of causing the death of either Egyptians or Israelites. So one would have to assume that Jehovah saw that as being relatively harmless.
Would that equate with your concept of "harm" and "harmlessness"?
Yes. In fact I believe I gave an example similar to yours one time in the past.
Even among the Hindus, who are big on not killing insects, their hero Krishna commanded the disciple Arjuna to war when war was the only way.
Copyright © 2006 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved