Is Flowers a form of life?
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Is Flowers a form of life?
I remembered something about grass are a form of life...
If it is a form of life...or a part of a form of life...
WHY people are cutting them off and offer to Guan Yin?
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because of you.
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no idea .
but if killing life form like plants are not allowed , even monks would end up starving . -
Nice answer...Originally posted by Taiwanpolitics:no idea .
but if killing life form like plants are not allowed , even monks would end up starving . -
flower fairy flower fairy grant me my wish~
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it is a form of life ,but the karmic effect is very very small compared to offering of a dead animal for offeringOriginally posted by maggot:Is Flowers a form of life?
I remembered something about grass are a form of life...
If it is a form of life...or a part of a form of life...
WHY people are cutting them off and offer to Guan Yin?
Up to now , no scientist have proven that flowers can talk when after many years of allowing it to listen to music
offer to guanyin is a form of offering , which symbolise understand the meaning of impermanence
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i think if you really want to pay your respect and honour the Buddha or Guan Shi Yin Pusa, practise their teachings faithfully and diligently.
The Buddha and Guan Shi Yin Pusa will be very happy if you do that.
You do not have to offer flowers or lit incense to show your respect. Just practise the dhamma diligently, I am sure they will be happy if you do that -
i thought I saw it somewhere that a plant does have emotions. Anyway, I found one source... : http://www.raven1.net/seclife.htmOriginally posted by bohiruci:it is a form of life ,but the karmic effect is very very small compared to offering of a dead animal for offering
Up to now , no scientist have proven that flowers can talk when after many years of allowing it to listen to music
offer to guanyin is a form of offering , which symbolise understand the meaning of impermanence -
i hear plants scream when i pull them out
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the flowers in the nature is ALREADY an offering to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas of the TEN directions. -- Grand Master Guang Ching
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How can they be an offering when they are not presented to the person intended?Originally posted by sinweiy:the flowers in the nature is ALREADY an offering to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas of the TEN directions. -- Grand Master Guang Ching
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Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
as it's not for the intention of Buddhas/bodhisattva for one to purposely pick flowers for them.
How can they be an offering when they are not presented to the person intended?
they are more happy the flowers are grown natually in nature.
moreover, it's not just offering to one or few, the nature has it's own way of 'offering' to countless Buddhas/bodhisattvas already. so don't have to do on purpose.
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Since you put the word "offering" in inverted commas, then it is not truly a offering.Originally posted by sinweiy:as it's not for the intention of Buddhas/bodhisattva for one to purposely pick flowers for them.
they are more happy the flowers are grown natually in nature.
moreover, it's not just offering to one or few, the nature has it's own way of 'offering' to countless Buddhas/bodhisattvas already. so don't have to do on purpose.
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Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
or rather it's "true" offering, physical offering is then false offering.
Since you put the word "offering" in inverted commas, then it is not truly a offering. [/b]
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moreover, Bodhisattvas' name only signify their Specialization in the BuddhaDharma.
it is not one person/deity-figure out there where we pray/worship.
for example there are many teachers in the school. can we identify those that teaches literature or history? is he/she a male or female; tall or short; pretty or ugly; asian or westerner?
so for example, Arya Avalokiteshvara Guan Yin Bodhisattva are those noble beings who specialize in Great Unconditional Compassion. and Manjushri Bodhisattva are those that specialize in Transcendent Wisdom/insight. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva are those that specialize in Great Conduct.
hence if YOU, cultivate Great Unconditional Compassion, then You are also "Name" Arya Avalokiteshvara Guan Yin Bodhisattva!
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If all monks in the world eg thai,cambodian,tibetan (I think) preaches on non-killings of living things due to the karmic effect and still consume vegetables as part of their daily diet then I think plants and flowers are not really a form of life but a means by nature to act as a "power hub" to maintain and prolong life when they are consumed .
Thus I believe there is also no karmic effect form killing plants. There can be no karmic effect when there is no suffering.Plants lack the mechanisms and nerves necessary for generating emotions and pain. If u see observely closely the structure of the plant.You will find that its structure is tailored more towards SERVING a purpose then LIVING its purpose.Hence it is really like a tool no offence to plant lovers out there
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Then seeking refuge in the Triple Gems must be a false practice.Originally posted by sinweiy:or rather it's "true" offering, physical offering is then false offering.
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Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
i think you still don't understand true/inside and false/outside.
Then seeking refuge in the Triple Gems must be a false practice.
must understand, true is what matter's inside, even if there's no apparent refuge ritual to show off to people.
if one seek refuge in the Triple Gems by mean of asking a masters to give you a certificate(physical), but one don't even actualize the real meaning/practice of Buddhadharma, then your refuge to the Triple Gems is false.
however the best ideal would be both inside and outside.
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As I said, even when you find no logic, you still try to argue that a practice is right.Originally posted by sinweiy:i think you still don't understand true/inside and false/outside.
must understand, true is what matter's inside, even if there's no apparent refuge ritual to show off to people.
if one seek refuge in the Triple Gems by mean of asking a masters to give you a certificate(physical), but one don't even actualize the real meaning/practice of Buddhadharma, then your refuge to the Triple Gems is false.
however the best ideal would be both inside and outside.
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Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
it's not about logic.
As I said, even when you find no logic, you still try to argue that a practice is right.
you find lying/cheating/sarcasm has no logic?
like i can pretend to be nice to u, but my real intention is to hurt you.
so is the outside pretending right?
the idea is simply 'don't judge a book by it's cover'.
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one would not understand Buddhadharma if one read word for word.
one must rid the form of wording(yan suo xiang) and form of labelling(ming xiang) to understand Dharma. Dharma is not confine by logic.
ps: "Someone who looks for me in form or seeks me in sound
is on a mistaken path and cannot see the Tathagata." --- Diamond Sutra
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Flowers is a form of life that is driven by the natural and physical force, it doesn't require a "soul/conscious" for a plant to function, hence it doesn't has its own feeling nor karma.Originally posted by maggot:Is Flowers a form of life?
I remembered something about grass are a form of life...
If it is a form of life...or a part of a form of life...
WHY people are cutting them off and offer to Guan Yin?
Having say that, buddhism don't encourage people to cut off plants without a good reason because a plant is always habitat and source of food for many living beings, not because plant is a sentient being. If I remember correctly, one of the vinaya rules for monks is not to destroy tree. -
Hmm I thought I already answered in Microorganism - are they considered as living things??Originally posted by maggot:Is Flowers a form of life?
I remembered something about grass are a form of life...
If it is a form of life...or a part of a form of life...
WHY people are cutting them off and offer to Guan Yin?
Flowers included.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Hi, it depends. Some microscopic organism have consciousness and are known as microscopic animals. This includes bed bugs, etc, many of which belongs to the insect category.
However, germs and bacteria are usually made of only one or a few cells, and although these cells are alive, they do not have consciousness, the 5 senses, or a nervous system. Like trees, they are inanimate living things. So they do not undergo rebirth. Don't worry and eat your antibiotics
So flowers/plants/trees do not have sensory and mental consciousness. -
Just a side note. I have heard from my teachers that plants have awareness and intelligence, but it is not sensory consciousness and mental consciousness/discrimination. However, I do not know a lot about this. But anyway even these things have dharma nature. Inanimate things we say they have dharma nature, sentient beings we say they have buddha nature, for they have the potential to attain Buddhahood.
Daosheng (Venerable) (360-434)
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One of the foremost disciples of the Venerable Hwei Ywan (see entry), the Venerable Dau Sheng was a great enlightened master who is best known for his propagation of the teachings of the Mahayana and particularly the doctrine of the universality of Buddha-nature, even in ['those of insufficient faith'].
"At the time when only the first part of [the ] . . . had been translated into Chinese, Dharma Master Dau Sheng was lecturing on it in Soochow Province in JungGwo. When he came to the passage that said that lack the Buddha-nature, he didn't explain it that way, but he said instead that they have the Buddha-nature. His reasoning went like this:
"'Why is it that have the Buddha-nature? It is because all living beings have the Buddha-nature, and although have insufficient faith, they are living beings. Therefore, how can one say they lack the Buddha-nature?'
"He lectured on the question in a way opposite to the reading in the first half of the Sutra, which outraged the other Dharma Masters of his time. They protested, 'That's the talk of demonÄ kings! The Sutra which the Buddha spoke plainly says that don't have the Buddha-nature, yet he says they do. That's really messed up.' No one would have anything to do with him after that, and when he lectured on the sutras, no one came. The Dharma Masters ganged up and told all the disciples and good people of faith, 'If Dau Sheng lectures, don't go. Anyone who listens to his Sutra lectures will fall into the hells.'
Since the whole reason the good men and women of faith were studying the Buddhadharma was to avoid falling into the hells, when they heard they would fall into the hells if they went to Dharma Master Dau Sheng's Sutra lectures, they didn't dare go to listen.
"Dharma Master Dau Sheng was not one to remain silent, but was determined to deliver Sutra lectures. He said, 'Okay, you won't come to listen? Then I'll go lecture to the rocks and see what they do.' And so he went of to Hu Ch'iu Mountain and collected several hundred rocks from all over the area. He set them up in front of him and said, 'I invite you to a Sutra lecture. Be good rocks and sit there nice and still.' It turned out that the rocks were very obedient. They didn't run off or roll away, but stayed right where he put them. When he got to the passage about not having the Buddha-nature, he said, 'That isn't correct. have the Buddha-nature too. "Those with and without sentience identically perfect the wisdom of all modes." will become Buddhas too. I SAID DO HAVE THE BUDDHA NATURE! DO YOU AGREE?'
"What do you think the rocks did then? Probably, although they were supposed to enter , they had not quite gotten into it and had not yet had a chance to fall asleep. When the rocks heard the Dharma Master ask that question, they all jumped to attention and started moving. This dull rock nodded its head, and that dull stone nodded its head. They all nodded in agreement, bumping into each other, because each would hit the rock in front of it.
"Someone might wonder who verified that really happened. It is not something that the venerable Dau-sheng said himself. It was said by those who opposed him. How did they end up saying such a thing? The reason people were against him in the first place was that he lectured too well. His eloquence was unobstructed, as if lotuses were blooming on his tongue. Almost everyone was jealous of the way he could come up with explanations that never occurred to anyone else, and of how he could make the sutras come alive, as it were. That is the way people are. If someone is better than they are, they get jealous, and if they are better than someone else, they look down on that person. Living beings have that kind of knowledge and outlook. And so the people of his time formed a faction in opposition to Dharma Master Dau Sheng. When he went to the mountains to lecture to the rocks, some of them followed him on the sly to see what he was doing. Then, when he lectured there and all the rocks began to move, nodding their heads--without being blown by the wind or splashed by the rain--the Dharma Masters who were spying on him, those who believed in him and even those who were against him, all saw what occurred. That is the origin of the saying,
When the Venerable Dau Sheng spoke the Dharma,
Dull rocks nodded their heads.
"Afterwards, when the had been completely translated, it turned out that the Sutra itself says that also have the Buddha-nature. That proved that Dharma Master Dau Sheng had completely understood the doctrine without having seen the entire Sutra; it showed the extent of his wisdom and insight. Afterward this incident even those who had opposed him no longer did so and came to bow to him.
"The meaning of the dull rocks nodding their heads is that those who had no faith in him were the dull rocks--otherwise how could they have failed to believe in him? Yet in the end even those who had been jealous and opposed him prostrated themselves before him." (WM 71-73)Master Tung-kuo asked Chuang Tzu, "This thing called the Way-where does it exist?"
Chuang Tzu said, "There's no place it doesn't exist."
"Come," said Master Tung-kuo, "you must be more specific!"
"It is in the ant."
"As low a thing as that?"
"It is in the panic grass."
"But that's lower still!"
"It is in the tiles and shards."
"How can it be so low?"
"It is in the piss and shit." -
Buddha never stiplulated to the followers that they must offer flowers to him or his disciples.
It is a cultural thing. In fact I think offering of flowers has to do with culture and customs than Buddhism.