considering other life forms "lower" implies a sense of karmic supremacy. reflect on that to improve your karma and practice better dahrma
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2026
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Yes, to be born as a man you must have some virtuous karma. You and I (and the son in the meme) have been born in lower realms many many times, same as the animals you meet.
'Lower' in this context refers to the amount of suffering. From least suffering to most, it goes –
1. Gods/devas
2. Demigods/asura/Æsir
3. Men
4. Animals
5. Hungry ghosts (preta, प्रेत)
6. Beings in hell
Even though being a human hurts more than being a god or demigod, it is the most fortunate because we have the right amount of pain to motivate renunciation. The lives of gods and demigods are too happy to drive them to seek liberation from rebirths.
A man has the ability to understand Right View, and take action to rewire his mind and choose his actions in accordance with Right View. A horse does not. There are no Dharma practitioners who are horses.
Your comment is based on the syllogism –
A) I am the result of actions taken that have led to a fortunate rebirth
B) The nature of my existence is as a separate self, outside of and in competition with other selves, capable of being compared to them
Therefore –
Conclusion: I am a superior self.
But the problem with the syllogism is the 1st and 2nd premises contradict each other. If you are a swirling-together of causes that have created a temporary formation, then you are not a separate self. And if you are not a separate self, there is no basis for the ego-view, no basis for pride.
appreciate your honest response to my joke answer.
but as someone who despises hierarchies, I rather view all forms of life, from worms to humans to possible gods. as all worth and valid forms of existing. non to be looked down on.
gives me the vibe of a parent seeing a construction worker and telling their son "that's the reason you should go to college". each one's life's is as rich, complicated and worthy of basic respect as each other.
You're equating not two but three concepts you should distinguish: complexity, respect, and the levels of suffering.
complicated and worthy of basic respect
Complexity is not the thing that makes beings worthy of respect. A chicken certainly has a less complex mind than a dolphin, but both have minds capable of pleasant and painful experiences. And so do I. Therefore, if I want my consciousness to be in nice states, and I believe feeling good is good, I should want that for the chicken and the dolphin too. Nothing to do with their complexity.
Nor is the ladder of suffering anything to do with respect. Some beings are suffering worse than others: for example I knew a girl who had mental illness and also a chronic pain condition in her knee that had her in 10/10 physical pain at all times. She's obviously experiencing more pain than me, or the happy people I know.
The intensity of suffering varies. You don't have to deny that in order to deny a hierarchy of 'respect'.
In order to deny a hierarchy of 'respect', you acknowledge that all beings have Buddha-nature, which is to say that consciousness itself is capable of clarity, capable of experiencing joy and pain. And if you accept that anything with consciousness is capable of that, you accept that their happiness is just as important as yours.
In fact, if there were no differentiation of suffering, there would be no reason to act compassionately, as everything is going to suffer equally anyway.
I'm not sure about the chicken brain but being as complex. They are extremely trainable, loyal, and demonstrate complex emotions. Except Rhode Island reds. They're aggressive AF.
All sentient beings are worthy of respect without any hierarchies.
He's just saying being born as a human is a rare privilege. You have the metacognition and circumstances to meditate and end the cycle of rebirths / suffering.
How much karma do I need to rebirth as a domesticated house cat?
Very little research in this field
Animal rebirth is caused by actions driven by base instincts with no reflection or wisdom.
Not all animal rebirths are equally nice (just like human rebirths).
So a nice animal rebirth would be caused by acting with generosity but also living an unexamined life.
The laughing and crying goat?
seems like a higher existence than being human
You just gotta act like one and you should be good. Sleep a lot and live for food and you're all set.
About tree fiddy
Means we can't effectively "live a pleasurable life / gather roses while we can in this life", because the next lives downstream will keep experiencing suffering just like we do, and it multiplies to infinity, unless we do something in this life to escape suffering.
Even if you don't believe in rebirth, it's hard to deny that it does give a good impetus and sense of urgency that gets us to look beyond our own existence.
My 888th post – seems auspicious
But if you get rebirthed as a fruitfly 1000 times, its actually fast to just kill yourself, instead of waiting 80 years.
People live longer than most but not all animals it's true.
Rebirths in hell are said to be pretty long:
- the Nandaka Sutta says says, "the complete lifespan of beings in that hell is one trillion years. Once they have suffered one hundred thousand years, suddenly they hear a strange sound. This is how they know they have suffered for one hundred thousand years."
- "Sixty thousand years have passed while we have been boiling in hell"
- "I have been eaten by a dog with torn ears for seven hundred years"