This thought came from Buddhism where a person may be reincarnated as any living thing. Therefore the question could be posed at to weather or not animals could hold any idea of some spirituality. Some animals we hold at a higher regard for their humanistic qualities, such as a dog's moods. We can see that animals feel pain but are they aware of death, do they understand the meaning and if so do they fear it. This may be a completely ridiculous question, but if we are reincarnated how do we retain our spiritual beliefs if we don't have the brain capacity? Can we assume that these beliefs just remain throughout our existence? But then how do you explain an animals nature for survival. The Buddhists believe not to harm any living thing for it may have been a relative or friend in a past life, but animals have to for survival. I believe the Buddhists eat meat and therefore they must thank the animal for its sacrifice, this may be the same for hunting animals. I think its ludicrous to believe that animals have any idea, or care, what happens after death. They understand it, Koko the gorilla new when her kitten died. She grieved for the pet and this is evidence that on some level she understood the meaning. But how can we know that she wasn't pondering more, and wondering where her kitten had moved onto? Critical thinking has been researched on many animals, my sister is working on developing the dolphin's cognitive processes. All we can assume is that animals live based on their thinking therefore the more intelligent the animal the greater the possibility of it having deeper thoughts on life. Truthfully I don't believe animals would have anything we could relate to religious beliefs but studying their concept of life and death would be a very interesting study
Are Animals Aware of Death?
by Gary Kowalski
The Souls of Animals. 1999
http://www.kajama.com/index.php?file=articledetail&id=DC508A2E-0F28-42CA-882B-8B4818CFB53E&PageNum=1
Maureen Sheehan, a staff member at the Gorilla Foundation, interviewed Koko about her thoughts on death.
Where do gorillas go when they die?
Maureen asked.
Koko replied, Comfortable/hole/bye [the sign for kissing a person good-bye].
When do gorillas die?
she asked.
Koko replied with the signs Trouble/old.
How do gorillas feel when they die: happy, sad, afraid?
Sleep,
answered Koko.
Gorillas not only mourn. Like human beings, they seem able to reflect on their own demise and struggle with the same sorts of questions that haunt us when a loved one dies.
1 comment:
This is an interesting question. I think that it's connected with the primacy we give to science as an underlying mode of truth about not only the physical world but the spiritual one as well. Here, for example, my question in response to the question of whether or not we can retain our spiritual beliefs if we don't have the brain capacity is if brain capacity is a requirement for that which we believe in? It seems to me that the concept or idea we believe in exists independently of our brains. But perhaps you mean something like this. A Buddhist dies having certain pacifistic as well as vegetarian beliefs. Having been unable to reach liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth in this life for whatever reason, the problem is that in the next life he reincarnates as a tiger. Now the tiger doesn't have such beliefs or at least it would be strange to find a tiger that doesn't hunt and kill other animals, but in fact saves them from predators in some peaceful manner. How can we say that any of this makes any sense in any way given the practitioners beliefs while he was human? The Buddhist answer to this (at least one answer) is that the only way to reach liberation from the illusion - mara - which is constitutive of the cycle of death and rebirth is by incarnating as human. No other form has salvific potentialities - not even if you're reincarnated as a god, contrary to some forms of Hinduism. I think, however, that this is not the real bugger. Forget reincarnating as an animal, what if a Buddhist is reincarnated as a Christian, or more specifically, a Christian who follows the sermons of Joel Olsteen? I think this is where the question of beliefs while inhabiting a different physical form becomes hairy theologically and, more generally, ideologically. But I'll leave that to you.
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