..續本文上一頁ned in one moment and one moment contains all things. This combination of single and universal in one unity culminated in the concept of “Buddha-Nature” (deBary 156–57). “Buddha-Nature” is nirvāṇa in saṃsāra, perfection in the mundane, the Buddha in each of us and in every living thing. “Buddha-Nature” is the inherent perfection of each thing as it naturally is. All things have “Buddha-Nature,” and to acknowledge this quality is to realize that all things are perfect in their essence, just as they are. In the T”ien T”ai vision, everything has inherent value, spiritual value, and one can learn important religious truths from every aspect of the physical world.

　　Buddhist moral conduct is “built on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all living beings” (Rahula 46). Buddhism inherited ahiṃsā from its land of birth, India, and added some uniquely Buddhist expressions of this universal moral ideal, such as metta (loving-kindness) and karuṇa (compassion). Compassion toward non-human animals has a high profile in the ancient and foundational Buddhist Pāli Canon, as well as in extracanonical writings (Waldau 149). Buddhist literature features prominent injunctions not to kill any living being (Waldau 136). The Dhammapada, a popular and important text in the Buddhist canon, teaches that those who follow the Buddha will not only avoid causing harm, but will, “ever by night and day,” “find joy in love for all beings” (78).

　　In the Buddhist teachings, animals are not lesser or “other.” This ethic is consistent with Buddhist philosophies of karma and oneness. For a Buddhist practitioner, harm done to others is harm done to oneself, for we are all one, and we are bound by karma. The Bodhicharyāvatāra of Shantideva (circa 600 CE) teaches that fellow-creatures are the same as the practitioner. The Buddhist is to remember that “All have the same sorrows, the same joys” and must be protected (Burtt 139). We are all equally fellow creatures. “There is never a hint in Buddhist teachings that intellectual ability, a sophisticated sense of self, or any characteristic beyond the ability to suffer is relevant to moral standing” (Phelps 40).

　　Buddhism teaches followers to exhibit “an unlimited self-giving compassion flowing freely toward all creatures that live” (Burtt 46). “Indeed, Buddhists see this orientation to the suffering of others as a sine qua non of ethical life” (Waldau 138). The virtue of compassion is “one of the indispensable conditions for deliverance” (Kushner 148f); the Dali Lama has often stated that loving-kindness is his religion (Gyatso 8). One who is cruel will not attain to nirvāṇa; only those who “hurt no living being” will reach nirvāṇa (Dhammapada 68). A truly great person is not one who succeeds in worldly matters, but one who “hurts not any living being” (Dhammapada74). Buddhists are to vow: “With all am I a friend, comrade to all/And to all creatures kind and merciful” (Burtt 79). The Buddhist Sutta-Nipāta includes the following beautiful contribution to spiritual literature encouraging compassion in humankind:

　　May all be blessed with peace always;

　　all creatures weak or strong,

　　all creatures great and small;

　　Creatures unseen or seen

　　dwelling afar or near,

　　born or awaiting birth,

　　—may all be blessed with peace!

　　… As with her own life

　　a mother shields from hurting her own,

　　her only child, —

　　let all-embracing thoughts

　　for all that lives be thine,

　　—an all-embracing love

　　for all the universe (Burtt 46–47).

　　Compassion is expected of monks, saints, and all Buddhists, “ahiṃsā, or non-injury, is an ethical goal” for every Buddhist (Shinn 219). Those who successfully travel the Buddhist path will be filled with mercy, living a life that is “comp…

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