..续本文上一页hen it”s time.

　　Obviously there is no easy answer for this question. I want to say there is kind of a Buddhist “rote” answer, and that would be “no” to euthanasia and “yes” to letting the animal die naturally. But I think the dharma goes much deeper than simply giving us “rote” answers. It is not that Buddhism “allows” or “doesn”t allow” anything. I don”t think it dictates what we “should” do but rather asks us to deeply examine cause and effect. And when our motivation is kind and loving, these choices are not so black and white. So I think no matter the circumstances there are consequences either way. You would have to be callous to not feel the consequences of putting down a being you love. And yet it can seem cruel to let them suffer unnecessarily at times. So the question itself requires us to be very big and courageous.

　　Sometimes we can find creative ways to work with this situation. I have a friend who asked me the same question some years back while her cat was dying of cancer. Her animal”s pain was almost too much to bear. But then she asked her vet to prescribe pain medication and that seemed to ease the pain enough to support them both to relax and allow her cat to die peacefully. It was an important experience for my friend to see her cat off in that way. She learned a lot about her ability to bear witness to that kind of struggle and she was grateful for her choice. She realized that yes there was suffering in the process both for her and her cat, but there were moments of relaxation, ease and great joy and love as well. She realized that they could not have shared these moments if she had decided to put the cat down.

　　As for the practice, the best practice is the practice of simply expressing love and care. You don”t have to say any foreign prayers. I think in these kinds of situations there is a lot we feel – not just suffering. I”m sure you are experiencing a great deal of love and appreciation for your dog, a sense of responsibility, the sadness of impending loss, the vulnerability of not being able to do anything to fix the situation, and the realization that life is so very full and therefore it is hard to know what to do sometimes. If you can rest with the fullness of all of that, your own fears and confusion around this may also dissipate and things will become much more clear. It usually works like that.

　　* Blog posting from http://www.thepowerofanopenquestion.com

《The Question of Euthanasia of Animals》全文阅读结束。