After studying Buddhism, many people will encounter this problem, which is whether they can still keep pets at home. There are many people who like to keep pets now, but after we learn Buddhism, we feel that it seems to be inappropriate. There are many different opinions and I do

After learning Buddhism, many people will encounter this problem, that is, can you still keep pets at home? There are many people who like to keep pets now, but after we learn Buddhism, we feel that it seems to be inappropriate. There are many different opinions and I don’t know what to do. So can Buddhist disciples keep pets? Let’s briefly discuss it today.

In the Bodhisattva Precepts 28 light precepts, there are two precepts: "Cat Cats and Crochets" and "Care animals and animals without doing pure gifts". It is clearly stipulated that disciples who have received the Bodhisattva precepts cannot raise these animals, and of course they also include pets. Then why did the Buddha formulate this precept?

The ancient destiny has a verse: "Let's keep rice for rats, and I pity the moths and don't light the lamps. Since the grass comes out, I will not go down the steps." From this verse, we can see how compassionate the Bodhisattva’s heart is and how touching the Bodhisattva’s thoughts of protecting life are. If we keep a cat at home, in order to catch a mouse, it is equivalent to hiring a killer to kill other sentient beings, which is contrary to the Buddhist way of compassion.

In addition, many animals are carnivorous, and you need to buy other animals’ meat to feed them. Raising these pets is also equivalent to indirect killing.

Of course, everyone may also say that I keep pets and cats, either to catch mice or not to let them eat meat, or because I like it, right?

This is actually not appropriate. In Buddhism, sentient beings are equal and we have no right to deprive any animal of freedom. Moreover, you are too fond of these animals, worry about them all day long, take care of their daily life, and make yourself look like a pet's nanny. Why bother? Buddhists should cherish time and practice diligently. There are still many things you need to do. It is not appropriate for you to waste your time on taking care of your pet.

Secondly, being with these pets can easily lead to feelings over time, but the lifespan of animals is generally relatively short. When they die of old age, you will not be able to let go, which will only increase a lot of worries. This is also a bad side.

Although we should not keep pets, when we encounter some abandoned, homeless, injured, or sick animals, we should still provide assistance, take them home and take them carefully to recuperate, and wait until they recover, and then find relevant departments to contain them so that they can live a better life.

Of course, it is best to be able to release them, but we must also treat them differently. If they are artificially raised small animals, they cannot be released at will. If they release them, it is equivalent to killing them because they do not have the ability to survive on their own. If we can't find other places to accommodate them, we can only stay at our home for a long time to take care of them. However, we must treat them equally and cannot treat them as playthings for fun. We should take good care of them, let them learn Buddhism with us, be our fellow practitioners, and practice diligently together.