Wrong, All Wrong

I was on the bus when the news came on. The First Dog was being officially introduced to the world. During the US elections Barack Obama had promised his daughter a dog if he won the Presidency. He made good on his promise.

Although I dislike dogs, I thought of how lucky that mutt is. That slobbering and boisterous creature will have the best of everything. While millions are losing their homes to foreclosure, with countless living below the poverty line, and 40% of the world’s population surviving on less than a dollar a day, First Dog will have everything money can buy. It makes me wonder if we have been wrong all this while, attributing special status to human life when so many humans are living worse than dogs.

In Buddhism, humans are ranked higher than animals on the reincarnation scale. It is a blessing, the result of good karma from previous lives that one is reborn as a human.

Siddhartha Gautama, the historic Buddha once took a pinch of sand and asked his disciple Ananda, ‘Can you count the sand in my hand?’

‘Yes, many,’ said Ananda.

‘Ananda, how many grains of sand are there in the world?’

‘Very very many,’ came the reply.

The Buddha then explained, ‘The sand in my hand represents the number who are fortunate enough to be born humans. Like all the sand in the world, it is but a tiny drop, insignificant compared to the myriad life forms in existence.’

This parable echoes the Buddhist view that human beings are truly blessed. First, they are sentient, intelligent and fully aware beings. Second, it is the easiest for them to hear and understand the Dharma. (Given that celestials, and in some versions asuras, are ranked above humans, this creates some controversy but we are not going into that today.)

If Buddhism is right and we are indeed blessed, why is there so much suffering in the world? Some people may be reincarnated as humans, but they never get the chance to lead perfectly normal and happy lives. Every day women are forced into prostitution, some are gang-raped at the age of seven and then stoned for their ‘offences’. Some humans are born deformed, diseased, crippled or retarded. By simply existing they bring pain to themselves and those who love them. Famine, drought, wars and genocides continue to make the lives of unfortunate humans who are caught up in them a living hell.

Even with the possibility of being able to hear the Dharma and therefore attain enlightenment, that does not imply (i) people will have access to the Buddha’s teachings (ii) in this Dharma Degenerate Age, the Dharma will not be corrupted (iii) people want to hear the Dharma. (iv) people who hear the Dharma will be enlightened. Indeed, when you are living rough in a Mexican town where everybody has to be a criminal to even make ends meet, who gives a damn about enlightenment? If trouble comes knocking on your door, you take out your AK 47 and blow them to bits. Enlightenment is irrelevant, and certainly no good if you and your family are slaughtered like pigs.

Contrast that to animals. True, animals suffer greatly as well. Farm animals are kept in inhumane conditions, their diets charged with steroids to fatten them, and in their prime they are slaughtered for food. In the wild, animals kill or be killed. There is no mercy to be had, no quarter given. While 99.99% of non-human animals lead arguably worse lives than human animals, one must realize that the existence of 0.01% who don’t, has slapped the Dharma in the face and is now asking to slap the other cheek as well.

Back to the Obama family’s dog. Will a Buddhist monk argue that that dog is not living a better life than some humans? What is the point of ‘rewarding’ a person for his good deeds in his previous lives with a human form if he dies of some contagion shortly after his birth? Wouldn’t he be happier if he were born a pedigree cat or dog instead? Being pampered for the rest of his life, never having to worry about this and that. He may only be a common beast, but unlike the supposedly ‘rewarded’ form, he gets to actually live.

People may think that animals cannot know happiness because they do not have human level intelligence. Xtians will even justify this claim by saying they do not have souls and are therefore unable to perceive true joy and suffering. My question to these people is, you are not an animal so how do you know? How do you know that an animal is not perfectly content with its lot? Is human intelligence a prerequisite to being able to experience joy? I have seen house cats enjoying their siesta. They seem purrfectly happy enough!

The First Dog again. If it’s not happy, it will be soon enough, with all the good food, the cozy doghouse, and the doting of the First Family. Talk about living a dog’s life. I am sure some starving African would trade his good arm and thirty years of his existence just to live a day as that dog. I wonder how people who are living – pardon the pun, a dog’s life – must have felt when they watched the news last night.

'Where is the dog going to sleep Mr. President?’ asked an interviewer.

‘Well, not on my bed! That’s for certain.’ said Obama, ever the charming man.

Not on my bed. Some never even owned a bed in their entire lives, until they die and even then their bed is the mud, rocks, and earth of the grave.

The Dharma is wrong. The Sangha are deluded. The Buddha didn’t know better. There! I just insulted the Triple Jewels. A non-human animal in my next life? Or worst, a Singaporean?