How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
Post Reply
hermitwin
Posts: 231
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:35 pm

How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by hermitwin »

I have a friend who kills n sells chickens for a living.
After a long consideration, i have decided to tell him
it is bad to kill chickens.
I hope you can all give me some suggestions on how to talk
to him.
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by Ben »

Be careful, as your conversation may precipitate the end of your friendship.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
Mawkish1983
Posts: 1285
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:46 am
Location: Essex, UK

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by Mawkish1983 »

Why have you decided to tell him?
User avatar
cooran
Posts: 8503
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by cooran »

Hello hermitwin,

Unless your friend has asked your opinion, or has asked what the Buddha's teachings are on killing other beings - it may be better to reconsider your intention. We influence others far more by example than by criticism.

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
User avatar
mettafuture
Posts: 475
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:13 pm

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by mettafuture »

Everything Chris just said.
User avatar
tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by tiltbillings »

Best of intentions do not always lead to best course of action.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
User avatar
SDC
Posts: 9062
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:08 pm

Re: How to tell a friend it is bad to kill chickens?

Post by SDC »

What everyone just said.

Be careful how you approach this. May come off more self righteous than anything else. In my experience, if you want to help influence someone you have to help them understand, and you need to be willing to put in a lot of time with this person instead of delivering the blow all at once. Don't get me wrong, it may work, but I doubt it.

Does this friend know about your beliefs? Instead of telling him he is wrong, maybe start by asking him what he thinks about his work. Ask if he likes his job. Always keep in mind that we are all along different points on this path. Perhaps your good friendship over the years will be enough of a positive influence that he will decide to stop his job on his own.
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
Post Reply