弟子純龍來電郵提問：
Disciple Pure Dragon emailed the question:

當寵物病入膏肓時，是應當慈悲終止痛苦還是繼續任其接受業報？

Very often many Buddhists experience a moral dilemma when their dog or cat is terminally ill and suffers greatly. They wonder whether compassion means ending its suffering or letting its karma burn out. I haven't found the teachings on this subject, so I am asking Guru Lin for a clear opinion so that in the future Buddhists will not experience dilemmas but will know what to do, hopefully it will calm the suffering of separation from a loved one.

上師回答：
Guru Replied:

以往讀過佛陀故事，佛陀叫弟子打掃廁所，但是廁所內有很多小蟲。
弟子就困惑於打掃難免殺生，所以提問佛陀，該當如何？
佛陀回答，打掃廁所。
意思是說，目的是打掃廁所以衛生，而非殺戮。

我以為，當有情在重苦中，並且沒有康復的方法，那麼終止痛苦的行為並不包含殺生的意圖。

I read in the past that once Buddha asked a disciple to clean a bathroom, and there were insects in the bathroom.
Hence, the disciple also faced the dilemma of killing the insects while cleaning up the bathroom, and he raised the question to Buddha.
Buddha replied, clean the bathroom.
That means, the intention is to clean the bathroom for hygiene but not to kill. 
I think, when a being is in great suffering and there is no known way to get recovery, then an act to end the suffering does not imply the intention to kill.

 

二○二四年二月十三日
養和齋　　　　於加州

February 13, 2024
El Cerrito, California