Healing an ant?(urgent)

[Jack]

I think I wrongly stepped on an ant,it is not able to walk now although he is still living,he is able to walk for a few little steps but then stops.Seems like I hurt it's body, is there anything I can do for healing it?Maybe intention manifestation method,does it work?

I am very sensitive about animals and I don't want to hurt them even an ant.

[ttt]

Place it among other ants, maybe they'll help

[jeff3]

Do you also obsess over the pathogens your body constantly kills in order to keep you healthy and alive? It's an ant for christ's sake, just move on.

[Jack]

Thanks for your answers.

ttt,I did what you said.It seemed like the ant started to walk when I place it outside,but I am not sure i lose it (the place where I put it was not a smooth place and it is dark in midnight but I am sure it walked at least a few steps because I couldn't find him where I put it on).I hope the other ants help it like your guess.

jeff3,yes I don't obsess over pathogens which are killed by my body,but when I step on an ant,I think I identify with it,and feel what the ant feels(what I think it is feeling).So it's difficult for me to move on and forget it.

[jeff3]

There was an order of monks who wore masks to keep from inhaling small insects and they only walked on well swept stone paths lest they squash a bug, all this was done to keep from incurring karma. Boy I'm glad I'm not bound by their belief system, I raise beef cattle.

[aggie]

too bad jeff3.

back to jack....i think it is wonderful that you have such sensitive deep feelings...even ants are beings that exchange air, albeit differently from us and also have nervous systems...so i think it is callous for one to think they don't physically feel anything.

they are organized and industrious creatures, unfortunately by accident or on purpose they can't always co exist with humans well.

my thought is if something is injured, even an insect, and you cannot save it...you just put it in a safe place where it will be as comfortable as possible until it dies..sometimes that is the best and all you can do.

[Albalida]

If it makes you feel better, I'm beginning to have these strange thoughts... that colony insects like ants and bees aren't conscious beings individually, but the actual consciousness is the Colony, or the Hive, in collective. For a single ant to die is like us sloughing off a skin cell, or forgetting a memory so that the neurons shrivel up. The Colony is aware that the ant is hurting, like we would suffer if our foot fell asleep and a muscle cell wasn't getting the blood and oxygen they needed, but, just like the cells of our bodies, the ant's individual ego is surrendered to the collective.

Of course, I've never been an ant and can't be sure, but that's the sense I've been getting lately.

Anyway, even the order of monks who sweep the path before them and wear masks, have an immune system that massacres the single-celled animals. Life is death. To really respect nature, I think we need to recognize that it's not all light and life. Furthermore, we're not above it-- we do a baseline of harm so that we just survive, whether it's consciously eating another organism, unknowingly competing for resources, or by unintended happenstance like stepping on an ant. I think the most we can do is take responsibility for the harm we do cause, and your empathy is all well and good-- but, if I may say so, I personally don't see it here as a means to take responsibility.

[Acting Like Godot]

It is quite common for Buddhist monks to take care not to inadvertently kill insects - this is not limited to any particularly esoteric order or sect of monks.

The practice needs to be understood in its proper context. Cultivating a respect for even such small, simple creatures means that you naturally would tend to develop an even deeper respect for bigger, more complex creatures .... and deep love, for your fellow man.

[Andrew Brunelle]

We step on and kill many microscopic creatures throughout our day. We don't mourn those deaths, do we? Sure, it's sad that an ant is hurt, but I can't see even a vet performing leg replacement surgery on an ant.

[magic1]

I do not kill anything either...if an ants are in the house, I shoo them out by tapping on the bench, almost like I am mustering sheep...

Hate fishing as well...barbaric...

I do feel though, it may be nice of you, to pop him out of his misery...its not nice to let him live if he is maimed...

[magic1]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

It is quite common for Buddhist monks to take care not to inadvertently kill insects - this is not limited to any particularly esoteric order or sect of monks.

The practice needs to be understood in its proper context. Cultivating a respect for even such small, simple creatures means that you naturally would tend to develop an even deeper respect for bigger, more complex creatures .... and deep love, for your fellow man.

ants are probaly more more complex than us....who is the judge of whats important and what is not...bit like LOA misconceptions, what big dreams and whats small???

understand what you mean though, but all life is precious, even rats and vermon! they feel pain, desire to survive...like the rest of us

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by Albalida

If it makes you feel better, I'm beginning to have these strange thoughts... that colony insects like ants and bees aren't conscious beings individually, but the actual consciousness is the Colony, or the Hive, in collective. For a single ant to die is like us sloughing off a skin cell, or forgetting a memory so that the neurons shrivel up. The Colony is aware that the ant is hurting, like we would suffer if our foot fell asleep and a muscle cell wasn't getting the blood and oxygen they needed, but, just like the cells of our bodies, the ant's individual ego is surrendered to the collective.

Of course, I've never been an ant and can't be sure, but that's the sense I've been getting lately.

Jack, I agree with Abalida on this one. It is my understanding that animals are generally not ego driven like human beings are. Of course, this is different for pets like cats, dogs, and other animals that live in mutually interactive close proximity to humans all the time, as those beings are in the process of gaining incarnational experience designed to bring out their individuality so that they may evolve to more complex forms of consciousness.

The consciousness of insects and most wild animals is more of a collective nature, and they learn group lessons.

Try not to feel bad about accidents. Accidents are a product of ignorance, and it would be no different if a meteor had landed on it. Accidents are accidents, after all.

[Brown Eyed Mystic]

A few days back, I unintentionally, rather unknowingly hit a lil fly. I was sitting in my room and I can't be sure what I did to hurt it, but I was sure I did it coz I saw it falling down just in front of me. I felt so bad, like why couldn't I be more conscious So, it was lying there, almost dead. I somehow just wanted it to live, and with that intention on my mind, I tried to send it love and peace energies. Like really thought of a beam of white light toward it. I haven't ever done it before, idk what made me do it. I kept doing it for sometime, it moved a few times meanwhile, and I tried still more.

Eventually my attention was grabbed by something else, and after a while when I looked, it was gone....... I don't know what happened of it. I am hoping it flew up, up and up (in the physical world I mean) but don't know.

What Albalida said sounds true too, to me.

Life can't be forced...its better if its happening to let it happen...if it seems unstoppable, though I felt bad.

[joelr]

Originally Posted by jeff3

There was an order of monks who wore masks to keep from inhaling small insects and they only walked on well swept stone paths lest they squash a bug, all this was done to keep from incurring karma. Boy I'm glad I'm not bound by their belief system, I raise beef cattle.

Yes, the Jane (sp?) monks were part of a form of Buddhism that pre-dates the current version. They in effect "quit" the world and took some concepts to the extreme. Siddhartha, the most recent Buddha had a philosophy of being involved with the world and the cycles of life and death. In this respect they did not concern themselves with accidental killing of bugs. Even meat eating is practiced as long as it holds to certain ethics.
Currently there are groups of Buddhist who refrain from meat and others who do not.

But the earlier Monks were afraid to breathe, walk etc.... for fear of harming any life. Siddhartha considered this line of thinking to be flawed.
The tradition is still carried on today in some places.

[Lisa McGregor]

This thread reminds me of how I once accidentally smacked a large bluebottle fly with my ruler in a rather boring pattern making class. I was so horrified as the fly was only injured and I didn't know what to do. I can't remember what I did in the end just the horror of seeing this half dead little creature.

The fact is we live and we die. That's the nature of life, and if you weren't intentionally cruel you shouldn't worry about it.

Love
Lisa