I think we covered this with what I said in the answer to an earlier question today, when we talked about wanting clothes and paper and so on. Wise reaction is to look at your intention behind all of your actions that you do and everything you want with your clothes and everything. Look at your intention.
Now, let's look at this from a slightly different viewpoint. Let's say our intention's okay; we feel good with our intention. Can we do something even more than that? When living beings get hurt or get killed, we could wish them a Compassion/Lovingkindness wish, as we encouraged you to do, as well, before the walking and so on. That's nice; that's a little extra.
Can we do something more than that? Can we make a Dedication of Intention that because those beings died for us, we are going to do our best to help beings? This goes a bit further, doesn't it? Years before the first time in my life when I separated ants from a raisin jar, if I found ants in my raisin jar, I would squish them up, kill the ants, and throw the whole thing away, the ants with the raisins. I would think, "Get rid of them. They're dirty. They're filthy." etc. But after I became a meditator, things shifted in my brain: "Here's this jar. Oh my gosh, they didn't put the top on, and it's full of ants." I took them out, spread them on a plate, phh phh phh, blew every ant the best I could, tried to save every ant in there so that they didn't die. That was kind of neat, that was weird, the first time I did it. Maybe some of you have done the same thing.
It was weird. I grew up as a normal kid, you know, killing every bug in the house, and being proud that you killed more then your brother did. It's a terrible upbringing, but that's, of course, how most people are brought up. So the first time I was able to actually blow ants off of raisins and watch them run away, alive and free, that was just such a different feeling. I don't know that I was excited about it. It was just weird. I was happy that I had the ability to distinguish whether I could save a creature or not, and it was a nice feeling. I could save these ants. So that's going a bit further, because I want raisins and raisins sometimes get ants in them. Bugs are in our house. Bugs are here, bugs are there. Sometimes we can't avoid it; sometimes we actually have to spray with insect repellent. There are times we can't avoid it, but there are times that we can avoid it, and we have the ability to help others avoid it.
One lovely thing I like having happen to me is when mosquitoes land on my nose while I'm talking with somebody. It's so interesting to watch their reaction. Now, a person who's not a meditator at all freaks out and they want to kill it for me. You know, it's okay for the mosquito to be there. Even a lot of people who are meditators just kill it because they don't know how to deal with unpleasant physical sensations. When one lands right on my nose, it's great. My showing them what I can do with a mosquito inspires them a little.
The first time that I was home at my parents after becoming a meditator, a fly was in the kitchen and my mother said, "Steven, please kill it." I went and got a glass. I got a piece of paper. I caught the fly. I put it out the window. And my mother was staring at me like I was a freak. Okay, she didn't say anything. A few years later, we were visiting them again. There was a fly in the kitchen. My mother said, "Steven, do you want to catch that fly and put it outside?" Interesting.
Can we be an example? Can we dedicate ourselves to being an example? We're going to want a shirt next week, next month, whenever. Beings will die for us to have that shirt. Can we do something more to help save living beings? Can we make that as a dedication every time that we acquire things that cost the lives of others?