Expert: Justin Choo - 11/12/2009

Question
Many a time,buddhist promote no killing, but logically mosquitoes being vector of diseases have to be killed to prevent spread of diseases. Could this killing be justified. Likewise,being non-vegetarian, our food consist of meat that animal's life have to taken to provide meat on the table,so many animal/fish are being killed for food. LIkewise, the farmer has to kill insect to protect their crops. I think the only way not to kill is to stop eating. Can we kill poisonous hornet/bees  or snake that linger around before they strike and life is lost as a result of inaction. This is a confusing topic.

Answer
Hi sp,

Yes, you are right, "I think the only way not to kill is to stop eating."

The world is surrounded by good and bad things. It is the very nature of this world to be such. That was why the Buddha led us to SEE the real nature of this world. Once we realize this truth, we will gradually come to terms with this contradiction, the dichotomy of good and bad. The Buddha referred this as "Dukkha"..."very difficult to bear".  It is always this Dukkha that we have to live and contend with. If you watch the National Geographic programme, you will see this Dukkha overpowering our lives. Every moment, when a life lives, another life has to be sacrificed. This is great Dukkha. But we are blind to this fact. We ignorantly think that we can live without others dying for us.

One very important faculty that we must utilize is our "wisdom".  The wisdom to see the bigger picture; to realize the greater good of performing certain unwholesome acts; to come to terms with this Dukkha of the world.

If everyone refused to kill even an ant, then who is going to do the "dirty jobs", so to say. Who is going to defend the country? Who is going to keep law and order in the streets? Who is going to get rid of the pests that may affect our health? These are all very urgent and realistic questions. Those who are in this category may take consolation that they are doing it for the greater good of the society and nation. However, at the same time they could strive to lead a dignified, noble and harmless life as best they could. They still can follow and practise the teachings of the Buddha to the best of their ability.

The realities of this world and this existence are such that there are always this unsatisfactoriness and imperfections where many a time we are confronted, without much choice. As for taking life, we must also consider factors like its life-span, its usefulness, its harmfulness to others and the circumstances.  If the life has a very short life-span, is not useful to society, and causes harm to others, then there is some consolation and mitigation if one kills it.  However we must bear in mind that the act of killing for whatever reason is an unwholesome act.  It is not a matter of right or wrong; it is just unwholesome. We have to use our wisdom, common sense and intellectual judgement to draw the line.  It is up to the individual to set his "standard" of practice.

We may like to consider the following questions:

Is it OK to kill mosquitoes when one considers that they may kill large number of humans by spreading diseases?

Is it Ok for humans to die by refusing to kill the mosquitoes?

The choice is yours.  We must also bear in mind that we can take certain precautions to ensure that these problems be minimized with proper hygiene and healthy living.


On another note, in the Buddhist context, a person is fully responsible for the act of killing only if the following 5 conditions are fulfilled:

1.The victim of the killing must be a living being.
2.The killer must know the victim is a living being.
3.The killer must have the volition to kill the victim.
4.The killer personally act on the killing.
5.The victim dies as a result of this action.

Hope this helps.

Take care.

Justin choo