Animal Images In Buddhist Scriptures

Animal image occupies a very important position in Buddhist literature, and they are often mounts or handheld objects of bodhisattva. Animals are only beasts, but they have equal status as humans and they can obtain relief and wisdom equally. The lion, elephant, goose, cattle, deer and peacock are the most common animal images in Buddhist literature, besides, they have profound Buddhist implication. Many animal metaphors are about family ethics, compassion and enlightenment, and they are all pretty vivid and fun, with profound connotation and fascination. Through the well-known animals, esoteric dharma knowledge can be understood by a few words. By providing unique aesthetic characteristics of beautiful images, interior beauty and transcendence, people will have spiritual enjoyment and aesthetic pleasure. In addition, some mysterious animals such as dragon and garuda have wonderful powers, and the battles between them also give people a kind of new fantastic feelings. Today, our ecological environment is becoming worse, therefore, the animal images of the Buddhist literature have important ecological significance. All living creatures have nature of Buddha, so we should treat animals equally; killing is the greatest evil, so we should promote vegetarianism vigorously; mercy and releasing is the traditional spirit of Buddhism with a long history, so we should be kind to animals with benevolence. The concept of equality, vegetarianism and compassion makes contribution to maintaining the ecological balance, caring the life of animal and protecting the environment.