Question: Can I kill mosquitoes, flies, ants, cockroaches, woodlice, etc. if I find them in my home? What should I do if I can’t?
Answer: The Buddha taught in the Brahma Net Sutra: “Anything with a destiny must not be killed intentionally.” Therefore, any person with a destiny cannot kill it. So what should we do? Let me tell you two stories:
I lived in a detached house in the center of the city 12 years ago. There were a lot of ants there. Not only was it difficult to guard against them in the kitchen, but also in my study and bedroom, there were ants crawling on me, which was very annoying. Although I tried various drugs to kill them all, nothing worked. I even sprinkled some honey or sugar in the yard, and when the ants gathered in a group, I scalded them to death with a thermos of water. I killed tens of thousands of ants. Instead of fewer ants at home, there were more. What’s annoying is that in order to prevent ants from crawling on the food in the kitchen, I used a thin wire to hang a food basket in the air from the roof. I thought that the ants would not be found this time. Unexpectedly, I picked it up the next day. When I got the food out of the basket, it was completely dark inside! I put the basket in the yard, found an old newspaper, lit it on fire, stuffed it into the basket, and lit a “sky lantern” together.
After worshiping the old monk Miaofa, I understood the principle of not killing. Although I still ate “three pure meats” at that time and no longer bought live chickens or fish, I did not include ants in “life” at that time. They were too It’s too small! Later, when I returned home, the problem of solving ants arose again. When I sprinkled the 66 powder and insecticide I bought on the windowsills and thresholds of all the rooms, I suddenly thought, aren’t ants also alive? They must also be thoughtful, otherwise how could they be so organized and disciplined? I felt very uneasy. Thinking about Master’s teachings, I felt ashamed. Suddenly, a sense of fear came over me. I can’t count the ants I have killed over the years. Sooner or later, they will have to settle accounts with me! But now I have killed six more ants. Liuliu powder, I don’t know how many lives it will kill, so I hurriedly swept away the Liuliu powder and rinsed it with water.
Because I was the only one at home at that time, I spoke from the bottom of my heart to the ants crawling in the yard, “Ants, ants, I didn’t know the principle of not killing in the past. I killed too many ants. I I just sprinkled poison again. Even though I’ve washed it, there may still be poison left by the window sill and door. You must not crawl there. I will never kill ants from now on. I hope you won’t go into my house either. , go to the kitchen, you can crawl in the yard as you like, but don’t blame me if I don’t see you trampled to death. It’s best to move around in the flower pond, there is no danger there. Don’t bother me in my room, and I will never hurt you. .” In fact, I didn’t read the scriptures at that time. I just said these words to the ants from the bottom of my heart. I didn’t expect that if I didn’t let them enter the kitchen, where would their food come from?
A few days later, the child said to me: “Dad, there are no ants in our house.” In fact, I had forgotten about it. After the child said this, I remembered what I said a few days ago. So I concentrated on looking for ants in the yard, but there were none. I wondered if there was some climate reason that caused the ants to disappear in this area, so I went to check the neighbors and found that there were all ants! This surprised me. This joy was not because there were no ants, but because of me. I understand that people can communicate with other beings. As long as you speak and do things sincerely, you will definitely feel something. At that time, if I sprinkled some food scraps in the flower pond every day, it would have given the ants food to survive, but I didn’t understand and asked the ants not to go to the kitchen, so they had to move.
Since that year, I have lived here for 6 years, and not a single ant has appeared.
Before I took refuge, I killed animals, ate meat and drank alcohol. It can be said that “all my thoughts and actions are karma and sins.” Why do I have this kind of reaction? One is the sincere feeling, and the other is the blessing of Buddha and Bodhisattva. The Buddha’s great compassion saves all sentient beings. No matter who has a good thought, the Buddha will skillfully and conveniently save him and guide him to abandon evil and become interested in doing good. The ancient great master taught: “If you want to lead to the wisdom of the Buddha, you must first lead with desire.” I am a kind of ignorant and unintelligent person. Relying on preaching and books cannot make me believe it immediately after hearing it. Only the facts I see can convince me. Then pursue and practice. This may also be the reason why I learned to recite sutras and Buddhas in the future and dedicate them to all living beings.
My junior brother Guo Pei, who came from his hometown in Henan, told me that he used the above method I taught him to deal with the problem of rats in his house. He also spoke to the rats, apologized and confessed, stating that he would never kill rats again in the future, and then every day Give the mouse a fixed place and put some leftover food on the plate. At first, the mouse not only eats the food on the plate, but also eats other things and chews up some household items. Junior Brother Guopei said to them: “I killed too many rats in the past, and you deserve to hate me. From now on, I will recite the Great Compassion Mantra 30 times a day to dedicate it to the rats I killed and save them in a good rebirth.”
After about 3 months, the mice only ate food from the plate on the floor and stopped eating other food and destroying things. One day, Guopei’s sister came to stay for a while from out of town. Seeing her brother feeding rats every day, she laughed at him for being stupid and didn’t believe that rats would be obedient. So she put a steamed bun on the table after dinner, but it remained unchanged the next day. For three days, the mouse just ate the food on the plate on the floor. Although it was incredible, she had nothing to say. What’s even more strange is that her washed clothes are mixed with those of her brother and sister-in-law in the same cupboard door. The mice can open the cupboard door and bite her clothes. How can the mice tell the difference? She had to accept it. He said he would not kill mice after returning home. Later, the mice in my junior brother’s house also disappeared.
The above are two examples. Readers can deal with them according to their own home conditions. In short, these animals, which we call “pests”, should be treated like humans. You must know that the more you kill him, the more he will hate you. No matter how big or small animals are, they can tell whether people are sincere or not. Because we killed too many certain animals in the past, don’t expect that they won’t hate you just by saying a few words and reciting a few sutras. Yes, to withstand their test on you, only sincerity can move them.
After I stopped killing mosquitoes, mosquitoes still came into the house to bite people. I would wait for them to land on the wall or somewhere, then cover the mosquitoes with a small glass, can, etc., and then use A piece of paper prepared in advance is inserted into the sealed bottle mouth along the seam of the bottle mouth, and then moved to the hand, instructing the mosquitoes not to bite people again, reciting the Buddha’s name and passing away, giving them the Three Refuges, and then releasing them outside the door and window. After a year or two of perseverance, mosquitoes rarely enter the house. Even if they bite me, they don’t itch very much, and they form a pimple like a grain of rice, which disappears quickly. In the next 10 years or so, my family has rarely been bitten by mosquitoes. Now I introduce this method to fellow practitioners for reference.
The same principle applies to whether crops should be sprayed with insecticides when they are infested with insects. Some Taoist farmers resort to other methods of spraying pesticides. What they spray is water that has been recited 49 times by the Great Compassion Mantra. Some people also adopt the method of “notifying” three days in advance. When it is time to spray pesticides, they will recite the Great Compassion Mantra for salvation, which has varying degrees of effects. In short, you must have the heart to admit your mistakes and repent. It is impossible to recite the mantra several times and the insects will disappear. “Everything is created only by the mind”, not everything is created only by the sutra or the mantra. Reciting the Buddha, reciting the sutra and reciting the mantra are helpful conditions.
For indoor woodlice, cockroaches, etc., you can tell them three days in advance that your home needs to be cleaned and ask them to move quickly. If they are still there on the third day, you can clean them out. Do not kill them intentionally. While cleaning, recite the Buddha’s name. , Rebirth Mantra, and Great Compassion Mantra can be used to save those small animals that you have accidentally harmed (including when plowing the land). The old monk Miaofa said that doing this is more consistent with the Dharma, but over time, it will disappear.
If you are a practitioner who not only abstains from eating meat but also gives up sexual desire, and you tell them to move on a certain day, you won’t be able to see them by then, because your merits are enough to make them escape from suffering and achieve happiness, just like a king. Minister, if you want to make anyone rich, you can just say a word, but ordinary good teachers need to teach the poor step-by-step ways to make money. Therefore, repentance, observing precepts, chanting sutras, and cultivating virtue are things that practitioners should keep in mind at all times.
Each situation is different, so please make your own decision.
