Ten Tenets: Killing

Killing is, probably, the most obvious of the low vibrational behaviors. The reason why is the reason it is so apparent: to kill is to take away the creative, life energy of another. This is the elimination of a particular vibration from the hum of reality, and that is, by definition, negative in nature.

Killing is not entirely negative, however, just like all the other negative aspects of the Ten Tenets. It is sometimes a necessary energy in the tapestry of life, no matter how unfortunate the circumstances under which it presents itself, and is also, at times, is an entirely unavoidable act. While it is something we should certainly make attempts to avoid at all costs, killing is not always as overtly "evil," as we might think.

We're going to start out with discussing why killing is a negative behavior, the reasons for which, of course, mostly revolve around the ego.

To determine that one has the right to take the life of another is an act of ego. No matter what was killed or why (from the simple act of eating to the horrible decision to commit murder), believing that one has the divine right to take life is negative in nature. While I think murder speaks for itself, this concept is not as clear when we look towards our relationship with food. To eat, we have to take the life of something else, whether that something else is a plant or animal. Even the case of fruits and vegetables, where the actual plant is not harmed in any way, the potential life energy stored in what we have just consumed is simply no more. While it is absolutely necessary to eat, and right (and, in ways, contradicts the negativity of the act) to express gratitude towards the life source that has exchanged itself for the sake of ours, it is wrong to believe that the life source owed its energy to us in the first place. It most certainly did not. It lost everything so that we could live. The same as we do not feel indebted to die for someone else, nothing else so owes you, me, or anyone else.

Another major difference between run of the mill death, and one that is not entirely natural, would be the presence of violence, and the absence of mercy. Violence can not only cause death, itself, but also inflicts a vast amount of damage on those who bare it witness. The wide spread effects that violence causes are not only limited to the physical impact, as a result. Killing can instill fear, insecurity, vengeance, or rage into a community or group for generations, which can cause permanent damage to systems and societal structures. It can lead to major conflicts and global disagreements, as we have seen in our lifetime.

Killing can also be incredibly wasteful, as we experience in our modern society. A lot more plants and animals sacrifice their life energy than is necessary to sustain the life energy of us, humanity. While we certainly cannot take on responsibility for the actions of others, taking more life than we need to sustain our own is a very negative act. Being wasteful of anything that is produced with once-living material (you will be amazed how much this connects together!) is certainly a behavior to be avoided.

There are also positive aspects to death and killing, the primary of which being the nature of death to clear away energy to make room for the new. Having lived for a portion of my life in rural Kentucky, I have experienced, first hand, the massive over population of white tail deer, caused largely by the removal of natural predators, and the presence of large tracts of land which people do not (sometimes are flatly not allowed to) hunt on. This creates a wide variety of issues, from the new and mysterious "zombie deer," disease affecting herds across the south, to herds numbering in the hundreds, doing large scale damage to crops. If these deer were being killed at more rapid pace, as harsh a sentiment as that might be, I don't think that these issues would be evident. Killing, in a similar way, of any life energy, allows for new, fresh energy to circulate in, and prevents the issues that would otherwise be created by overpopulation and stagnation.

Sometimes, we are also asked to kill in order to protect ourselves or our loved ones from a danger or threat. When someone else threatens our life energy with death, especially when they threaten the life energy of multiple beings, it is not wrong to protect the lives of others at the cost of the one who would harm them. While it is negative to kill something that is not seeking to kill you or others, the choice by the other entity to be violent creates a certain necessity in the energies around it to respond in accordance.

As was mentioned above briefly, death is a part of how we sustain our own life energy. So long as we are not taking more of this sacred, creative force than we put back out, there is nothing negative or wrong about maintaining our life. It is waste that makes this behavior negative or harmful to us to such a degree that we should worry ourselves. Throwing away food, disposing of materials that might have otherwise have additional uses, or lacking gratitude for the sacrifices made by energies outside of our own to sustain our own energy - these sort of things are "bad." Just being alive most certainly is not!

What is your take on death and killing? Do you agree or disagree with any of the points made? I'd love to have a conversation.

Affirmation:

I give as much or more than I take.