What is a "sentient being"?

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Matt J
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Re: What is a "sentient being"?

Post by Matt J »

It will be released in English in September as the Hidden Life of Trees:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Hidden-Life-T ... C6FPAFBKHA
Ayu wrote:A German forester observed and investigated about the processes in a forest, what's going on between the trees and his conclusion is, trees are social beings with senses. They take care for eachother, warn eachother etc.

Unfortunately his work is only available in German language. Maybe there is an English equivalent anywhere out there?
His book is called: "The Secret Life Of Trees - (How they sense, how they communicate - the discovery of a secret world)"
http://www.randomhouse.de/Buch/Das-gehe ... 478046.rhd
"The world is made of stories, not atoms."
--- Muriel Rukeyser
DGA
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Re: What is a "sentient being"?

Post by DGA »

muni
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Re: What is a "sentient being"?

Post by muni »

Malcolm wrote:
muni wrote:Freedom from I and its' biased perception = no form, no feeling, no perception, no impulses... Then no eyes, no nose, no ears, no body, no tongue, no mind...no object of mind = no grasping-no clinging. Not conditioned.

Then seeing, hearing, smelling..............I-less no clinging.

Suffer and harm due to the sense or apprehended belief in "I -thought" = sentient beings.
Bases on this plant clearly qualify, since they defend themselves...

Very interesting. What we call human sentient being often do so with the intention/the wish or thought to harm the other, in order to protect "self". Or selfishly with the idea for for own profit. Not a spontaneous reaction devoid of I-idea on the back ground. Should it be so plants react spontaneously, I mean without any such idea?


Then for me most important is to see own clinging, to be free. I (me, mine, my) is the tree and its’ branches are the afflictions. When we cut the branches, there can often new branches grow. By cutting the root of the tree, which is I, branches cannot be by themselves. Then sentient beings - dream isn’t. (practice) Indeed Buddhism has many ways/practices to help.

Ps dear readers, I do not say cut tree, this is metaphor. Lol.
boda
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Re: What is a "sentient being"?

Post by boda »

DGA wrote:My intention in starting this thread was to put a lot of such stuff to bed once and for all.

It seems that many of the endless expostulations on dietary decisions here at DW have been prompted by unquestioned assumptions and teachings not shared in common among all practitioners regarding what it means to be a sentient being, what it means not to kill one, and what it means to save the totality of all of them. I'm glad we're finally probing that.
Having skimmed the topic, I found it to be somewhat enlightening in that it offers a wider view than I've previously considered. If we're less discriminating about what a "sentient being" is, we may be more inclined to carefully consider all of our choices, and not focus so much on particular choices like diet, for the benefit of all sentient beings.

:thanks:
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