Killing

Now we were on a roll. The class suddenly came to life as the mood shifted from sedated after a 45 minute meditation, to rapt attention. "If we eat something that someone else killed, is that OK", asked another member of the class. "What if the person killed an animal to feed his family? Does that bring demerit (the opposite of the coveted merit)", chimed in someone else. The leader was both thrilled to have this much activity and overwhelmed by the response. As the conversation continued, we found out that killing a fly, while not preferred, is less damaging than killing another animal which ranked higher on the evolutionary ladder. Not surprisingly, killing a monk was the absolute worst offense you could make in your life. "What about monks who set themselves on fire", asked someone. Suddenly the room became silent. We waited for the answer...