ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 24, 2017
Dharma Dogs: Can Animals
Understand the Dharma? Textual and Ethnographic Considerations
James Stewart
University of Tasmania
Pāli textual sources
occasionally mention the existence of unusual animals with an aptitude
for the Buddha’s dharma. In the Jātaka,
clever animals do good deeds and are thus reborn in better circumstances.
In the Vinaya,
the Buddha declares to a serpent that he should observe Buddhist holy
days so he can achieve a human rebirth. But can animals develop
spiritually? Can they move towards enlightenment? In this article I will
be examining textual and ethnographic accounts of whether animals can
hear and understand the dharma. Using ethnographic research conducted in
Sri Lanka, I will show that although animals are thought to passively
benefit from being in proximity to dharma institutions, there seems to be
agreement amongst the monks interviewed that animals cannot truly
understand the dharma and therefore cannot practice it. Animals are
therefore severely hampered in their spiritual advancement. However,
these ethnographic and textual findings do indicate that passively
listening to dharma preaching, whether it is understood or not, has
spiritually productive consequences.
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