Killing insects / negative actions

I wasn't sure where to put this post, so I will just fo to the general section. The thing is, in the summer, ants joyfully take control of my backyard. I respect all life and recognize that there is a purpose for everything in nature . So, I leave them be, for two reasons - 1 - I hate killing even the smallest thing, and - 2 - I like to keep as much negative attitudes away from my life as I possible can.

So, to the point. There comes a time when these ants become so bold as to find any little hole they can to inflitrate my kitchen, my cats food and the kitchen's cabinets. I have been avoiding this, and had to see my mother upset
because I let the ants grow in large numbers with my decision not to kill them.

What have I been avoiding you might ask. Spraying insecticide powder around to prevent them from getting inside the house.

What I wanted to ask is... from a spiritual point of view, how negative can this action can be considered, how can this hinder one's spiritual progress, or am I just making too much out of this?

SOULWHISPERER

[Nameless]

I like your question. I struggle with this too. All my life I've lived by the code, they can live if they are outside the house, then my children started catching the spiders and things that wander in and putting them back outside and I felt bad about it. But I will still kill a spider if it is in the house and I see it, because not to kill it would leave me wondering where it went, and I can't bring myself to catch them - sorry, they are creepy. And I feel I am protecting my children from them.

The ants crawled in the house this summer and found the cat food, and it was a nightmare because the cat lives in my daugthers room, and she was bedridden this year and there was no way I was going to let them take over her room. So the pesticides came out and now we are ant free, but the backyard had to be sprayed because that was where they were coming from.

So it is a matter of perspective. And I do feel bad about it, but don't know what else to do either. Can't have them living in the house...

Originally Posted by Nameless

I like your question. I struggle with this too. All my life I've lived by the code, they can live if they are outside the house, then my children started catching the spiders and things that wander in and putting them back outside and I felt bad about it. But I will still kill a spider if it is in the house and I see it, because not to kill it would leave me wondering where it went, and I can't bring myself to catch them - sorry, they are creepy. And I feel I am protecting my children from them.

The ants crawled in the house this summer and found the cat food, and it was a nightmare because the cat lives in my daugthers room, and she was bedridden this year and there was no way I was going to let them take over her room. So the pesticides came out and now we are ant free, but the backyard had to be sprayed because that was where they were coming from.

So it is a matter of perspective. And I do feel bad about it, but don't know what else to do either. Can't have them living in the house...

Good post The thing is, I too take roaches and spiders and put them back in the yard. Sometimes I have to use a napkin. I can't stand a roach crawling on my hands. But funny thing is, I don't mind grasshoppers standing on my hands.

But I still think people have become too selfcentered, egotistical and materialistic that we fail to respect those around us, and sometimes coexist with nature and find balance and harmony, just so we can have things the way we find more suitable for us.

SOULWHISPERER

[fire]

You don't necessarily need to kill them. Personally, I would rather search for a natural repellent to ward them off.

I did a brief search on google, which seems to turn many interesting ideas. I would personally try out cinnamon and see how that goes.

On that note, I don't see how killing them off by any means would hinder anyone's progress of anything. You may become subject to guilt if you feel that you know better, but that's about it.

[knightofalbion]

[quote=SoulWhisperer]

But I still think people have become too selfcentered, egotistical and materialistic that we fail to respect those around us, and sometimes coexist with nature and find balance and harmony, just so we can have things the way we find more suitable for us.

[quote]

A beautiful and enlightened sentiment.

All life is one.

Everything has its place and its purpose.

There's room for us all.

[knightofalbion]

If it bothers 'you' that much, rather than resort to mass killing with pesticides....

The first thing is to wash down your worktops, cupboards or any place you've spotted them.
Use a 50:50 mix of water and white vinegar.
This doesn't kill the ants. It works because ants hate the smell and it 'erases' the scent trails ants leave to alert and guide fellow ants to a food source.
Repeat throughout the day to maintain the efficacy.

Peppermint oil, used in dilution, on work tops, cupboards etc. and around entry points outside is said to deter ants. Again, they cannot abide the smell and, I've not tried it myself, not needed to, but apparently they won't cross a peppermint sprayed area.

Store food away in containers. It is the smell of sweet foods that attracts them in the first place.

I've killed insects since I was a child. I remember being in the yard and catching ants and using them for "Experiments", putting them in soap and egg and the like and I didn't feel bad about it or like I was racking up spiritual bad karma. If that's the case then we're all kind of stuck in a rut because the mere fact that you're allowed to exist means that you're taking the life of some 'not seen by the naked eye' organism as we speak.

I can't even say it's a matter of killing things with respect and dignity or where the lines are drawn because I feel if we get into that then we're all wretched people and we aren't. It's something you'll find out at the very end when you go, "Oh...you mean I have to come back because I killed an ant?" (if you believe in reincarnation that is) and if that's the case then please be sure to come share your findings from the other side and let whoever came up with this law know I really can't stop breathing on account of the organisms that enter my mouth when I do.

I'm being facetious, but you get what I'm saying. There's a difference between doing what's right and respecting all living things and allowing everything and everyone and every creature to impose on you. Humility vs. Submissiveness.

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

I've killed insects since I was a child. I remember being in the yard and catching ants and using them for "Experiments", putting them in soap and egg and the like and I didn't feel bad about it or like I was racking up spiritual bad karma. If that's the case then we're all kind of stuck in a rut because the mere fact that you're allowed to exist means that you're taking the life of some 'not seen by the naked eye' organism as we speak.

I can't even say it's a matter of killing things with respect and dignity or where the lines are drawn because I feel if we get into that then we're all wretched people and we aren't. It's something you'll find out at the very end when you go, "Oh...you mean I have to come back because I killed an ant?" (if you believe in reincarnation that is) and if that's the case then please be sure to come share your findings from the other side and let whoever came up with this law know I really can't stop breathing on account of the organisms that enter my mouth when I do.

I'm being facetious, but you get what I'm saying. There's a difference between doing what's right and respecting all living things and allowing everything and everyone and every creature to impose on you. Humility vs. Submissiveness.

In your keenness to mock the spirituality/compassion of not killing insects, you seem to have missed what is being discussed here. There is a way of NOT killing the ants AND allowing them not to impose on us, i.e. to find a way of deterring them from entering the house.

Originally Posted by amy green

Perhaps you missed that what is being discussed here is a way of NOT killing the ants AND allowing them not to impose on us, i.e. to find a way of deterring them from entering the house.

Oops. I'll be sure to read more thoroughly next time.

Wait no...that's not true. I wasn't mocking spirituality/compassion at all. And soul did ask, "What I wanted to ask is... from a spiritual point of view, how negative can this action can be considered, how can this hinder one's spiritual progress, or am I just making too much out of this?" I was talking about balance.

[knightofalbion]

I recall running over ants on my tricycle when I was 4 or 5.

All these years later I still remember it, and having come to understand the unity and sacredness of all life, profoundly regret it...