Does Sending Chickens and Ducks to Eliminate Locusts Constitute Killing?

Inciting others to commit killing is an even graver offense than committing killing oneself. Why is this so? When you kill a living being yourself, you alone create the evil karma and form an evil affinity with sentient beings. But when you incite others to kill in your stead, the killing karma they create also carries a share belonging to you—your intent to kill still remains—and moreover you cause others to form evil affinities, create evil karma, and become defiled. This is a double evil karma. Having chickens and ducks kill locusts on behalf of humans means the locusts die because of humans, and the killing belongs to humans; the chickens and ducks are merely tools by which humans kill the locusts. At the same time, the chickens and ducks also form an evil affinity with the locusts and will suffer evil retribution in future lives—and this is something humans have caused. Therefore, sending chickens and ducks to exterminate locusts creates even greater evil karma than exterminating them yourself.

But when faced with such a massive locust disaster, should one exterminate the locusts or not? If the locusts threaten human survival, then of course they must be exterminated, for human life is after all many times more precious than that of locusts—comparing the two, one should first ensure human survival. A human is a suitable vessel for the Path, capable of performing a great deal of wholesome karma, benefiting the beings of the three evil destinies. As long as a person is alive, everything else can be managed. There will only be some evil retribution in later lives, which is far better than being killed by locusts or trapped by disaster in the present.

Each sentient being has created far too much killing karma over beginningless kalpas—countless deeds, great and small. Therefore every sentient being's karmic obstructions are deep and heavy, and their evil affinities are many. No matter how good you are, there will still be those who want to kill you, those who beat and scold you, those who insult and frame you, those who slander you, and those who look down on you—there are many adversaries who speak ill of you.

Encountering adverse conditions and disasters and being compelled to create killing karma is itself a manifestation of lacking merit; it is also a karmic obstruction, the retribution of evil karma. If there were no karmic obstructions, one would never encounter situations where one must create killing karma in order to solve the problem of one's own survival. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have eliminated all the seeds of evil karma, so they will not attract such adverse conditions and will never be forced to create killing karma. Even if they encounter an evil affinity, they can turn danger into safety and transform calamity into fortune, and they can use their immeasurable merit to make amends for and deliver their adversaries.