What would a Buddhist make of this?

Question

So I was walking into work the other night when I saw an empty Big Mac box on top of a hedge. In a random moment of kindness, I picked it up to put it in a bin which was only a few feet away. As I did so, a snail which had been hiding under the Big Mac box fell off of it and landed just where I was about to put my foot (as I was in mid stride), causing me to step on it and kill it.
What kinda crap is that?! I try and do a good deed and end up killing a snail? What a rip off. What would a Buddhist make of this?

Answer 1

i dont know about what a buddhist would say... but imagine perhaps the snail was going to be devoured by a beetle or something, and it would have been very slow, agonizing and painful for the snail... then you saved the snail, who would have died anyway...

Answer 2

Anyone, Buddhist or not, would just say "The snail's time was up." There is a time to die for us all, and you can't stop it. I am sorry you had to be the method in this case, but you can't dwell on it.
Your intentions were all good; there is no bad karma coming to you.
Heaven just needed that snail, right then and there. So, in a way, you get good karma for helping.
If not for you, the snail might have had a much more prolongued period of pain and a horrible death ...
You didn't mean to kill it, so Buddhists would say it was the snail's karma.
Oddly enough, I saw a similar thing today. There was a really huge grasshopper in the parking lot of our supermarket tonight. Near my husband's car. My husband was afraid of crushing it when he backed out, or that someone else might run it over. He asked me to move it, but it bit me. So my husband scooped it up and threw it over the fence, before I could tell him there was a ditch full of water on the other side ... I hope the grasshopper landed on the safe bank ... husband felt awful.
But if the grasshopper's time was up in this world, he would have died no matter what anyone did; if his time is not up, he will survive!
We are all responsible for taking care of the planet and all its life forms. Protecting endangered species, helping to save when we can, prolonging and enriching lives if possible ... but you can't do it all! Every living creature must die one day. As long as you don't kill it deliberately, and if possible, help to save its life, that's all anyone can do.

Answer 3

this is known as the karmic cycle.
the snail was destined to be killed by you as it needed salvation from that small animal form,
in previous births or your this birth itself it must have been someone with some karmic due to you, think of it, you could have just walked past and you might have done this earlier, but you did not you instead picked up the box where the snail was hidden and it was there for you to kill it,
you did not step on it purposefully so you have not sinned and the most important thing is that you felt guilty and more important is you confessed it here in front of so many people whom you don't know thus washing away the sin added to your deed. don't feel guilty of what you did not intend to do, the fate had it in store for you.
nothing in this world is forever neither you, nor the people around you and nor the animals around us each day several of animals are killed by bigger animals , or by humans or accidents, but each individual living being has its own life tenure to survive, when time will come there will be a reason for it, and you don't know what it will be.

Answer 4

How do you know that the consequences might have been even worse if you hadn't moved the Big Mac box. You didn't stand on the snail purposely did you? Perhaps the energy that went to make the snail was released into making it more evolved in it's next life - perhaps even now it is waiting to be born as your child? Or as your next good deed. Keep on keeping on and may you achieve liberation!

Answer 5

I think this can show you that Buddhism is a practice.

Even though our intentions are good, we can cause suffering. Next time your in the same situation, you will probably look carefully for a snail. Because of this, now your cleaning litter and caring for another creature.

Use your experience not to judge what happened. Use what happened to help you be more successful next time.

Answer 6

You should have left the box where it was. The snail would have eventually gone slowly on its way, or you could have removed the snail before binning the box.

A Buddhists beliefs, are sacred to them of which you would obviously never understand, yet they in turn are open to christian views.

Answer 7

:) one of the ten karmas: killing. BUT in your case it's not your fault that you can not take control of yourself but that doesn't mean you don't cause sin. Lets put it this way you do a good thing and a bad thing put it on a scale if your goods is heaviear then the bads hehehe we're ok:) but try to do good and avoid all evil:)

Answer 8

was not going to answer this but there ya go if a pinch of salt can destroy evil then why do snails die from it personally i loath snails and hope they all die now wheres the salt

Answer 9

too funny, if your like me you felt bad for doing it even though it was an accident, I don't kill bees in my house, I 'set them free' but as far as that Budhist stuff goes aren't they killing billions of lives every time they take a drink of water, I couldn't live with the guilt.

Answer 10

I would say that the most important aspect was the intent not the outcome, (Although the road to Hell is paved with good intentions..)