Bed bugs and Buddhism??

I have been following a buddhist philosophy for a few years now, and I do not kill bugs that I find in my apartment, I just put them in a jar and let them go outside. Now there is a bed bug epedimic in my area and I am pretty sure my apartments have them, and it looks like the other tenants and my landlord are not wanting to do much about it. The only way out of this with out spraying pesticides would be to get rid of EVERYTHING I own and move. I am a student and am quite poor so this is not an easy thing for me to do. I have heard that since I live in an apartment they can transfer HIV from one person to another and other deseases. Just thought I would see how other buddhists would deal with this situatuion.

I truly respect your perspective and your beliefs. Even as an Atheist, I do the same thing with bugs - let them go outside. I have a single spider (I hope!) who lives in one high corner of my living room - he does his thing with any errant mosquitoes and he stays pretty much were he belongs.

However, for the sake of your pocket book and your sanity, please use your common sense and have your residence bug-bombed.

Killing is permissible when the creature is parasitic and cannot be reasoned with. They will adversely affect your health, and you're opening yourself to the potential of blood-carried disease.

Convert the bedbugs to Buddhism and they won't bite any more. Problem solved!

i am not a buddist but i believe that if it comes down to my getting a disease or killing te bug problem then sorry little bugs you got to go. You have to wiegh the coast to the benfit.

I think you could actually spray to keep them from getting into your apartment or bed and not actually be killing any bugs.

They will not spread HIV, so don't worry about that.

good luck with that one

This is a very difficult dilemma. what you need to do is have an educated decision. I suggest you research the University of Kentucky website. They have researched the subject and published their findings on the web. You are very unlikely to catch anything from them. They can make you Anemic, and bites will show on face, arms neck and hands. They tend to bite on exposed areas of the body. They will look unsightly but will do little harm. You could look on the experience as an offering, after all they are a sentient being, and as a Buddhist this is a very good practice. Only you can decide. Please do go to the website, then decide. Good luck in attaining a solution.

Redshirt has it dead on.

If a lion refused to listen to reason and tried to attack you anyway, you are perfectly allowed to defend yourself-even if it means death.

Death is always the very last resort, in buddhism. Violence is pointless, and all that such...

but at the same time, these little guys are going to hurt you. Horribly.

TRY vacuuming your mattress and immediately emptying the canister outside. It may kill a few of them, and that is regretable... it's terrible, but there's no way to convince them to go otherwise.

:-)

"Do not kill"
is what's written,
"Love and honor all creatures"
is deeper meaning of that teaching.
So basically we cannot follow that commandment, since we need to kill and eat vegetables, we kill microbes when we brush teeth or wash hands. Hmmmm!
Through your question you made it really clear you cannot live your sane peaceful life without killing the bugs. Maybe you haven't realized it, but you already made your decision.
Kill them, pray the best for their spirit, then don't think about it any more,
rather focus your energy on meditation and enlightenment.
99% of his teaching is about meditation and enlightenment, right?
If you kill the bugs so you can clear one worry and spend that mental energy into enlightenment, those bugs are building good karma.
If you are simply waisting your own life away, you owe big for all the vegitables you eat to sustain your life.

I'm not giving good excuse for you to get away from the problem. I'm little concerned why you are afraid of being poorer or getting HIV. If it happens to you will your life be misarable? Also I wish your mind was not bothered by those bedbugs. Well, maybe some time. (I cannot push you too far)