Voice of Animals-A world without a lie

Voice of Animals-A world without a lie

 

●坐禅会　毎週土曜日午前6：25～8：00　久留米市宮の陣町大杜1577-1圓通寺　初心者歓迎　参加費無料　詳細は電話でお問い合わせください。℡0942-34-0350

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"Voice of Animals"-A world without a lie

 This story is based on Animal Language written by Michael Bright, who was an English biologist and also a BBC producer. (Translated into Japanese by Kiyoko Kumada in 1986) This is the ecological note investigating 350 animals and their language. I am most interested in Velvet monkeys among the studied animals.

 Velvet monkeys are categorized as medium sized monkeys at the length of 45-60 cm. They live in a group in a savanna of the Sahara Desert. There are lots of dangerous places in a savanna due to its enormous size. To avoid predators like hawks, panthers or pythons, they make a sound. The warning sound varies depending on the type of predator.

 If they hear a fellow monkey warn of a hawk, they take refuge in the thickets. In the case of a snake they stand up and keep watch, and further, they climb a tree when they hear the warning sound for panthers. Most notably, they make a strained sound to warn their fellow monkeys if a pythons appear.

 Their voice sounds like "ga ga gha", which people cannot distinguish the difference, but they have many patterns of audio frequency depending on the situation. Consequently The dictionary of the Velvet monkey was published.

 Michael Bright said, "People also use non-verbal communication, in the same way animals do. This is the key to solve the question of whether animals have words or not. One feature of non-verbal communication is not telling a lie." Animal Language, p401

 Woodpeckers' drilling sound or crows' caws have regional specificity like our regional dialects, according to Bright. It is an interesting fact. Animals focus on just staying alive and try to help their species. The conclusion Bright made from his investigation of 350 kinds of animals and fish, is that animals do not tell a lie. 

There is no evil in the animal world. Cats and snakes prey on sparrows. However it doesn't cause extinction.

All animals and plants are alive to be part of the food chain. But people want to control nature. This is a kind of pitfall that people unexpectedly created.

We applied special coatings on the bottom surface of a ship in order to prevent barnacles from attaching. However, this caused an environmental disaster. As a result, clams and other kinds of shellfish died. Between 1945 and 1955, DDT was a necessary insecticide used on farmland. But, now it is well known as an environmental liability and is prohibited.

 The statement "DDT is useful" was deceptive and did not account for unintended consequences. There are many similar examples throughout history. Human beings are more intelligent than animals, but occasionally tell lies. We commit sins against nature. We have to confess them. The voice of birds and animals is pure and tells no lies. The reason why, "the voice of birds and animals is the Buddha’s sermon.”

 

 

 

論語の言葉6

●坐禅会　毎週土曜日午前6：25～8：00　久留米市宮の陣町大杜1577-1圓通寺

初心者歓迎　参加費無料　詳細は電話でお問い合わせください。℡0942-34-0350

初回参加のみ千円。二回目以降つづけていただければ無料です。

お休みのお知らせ。6月17日（土）10月28日（土）は都合によりお休みします。

●学校やクラブなど団体研修 坐禅申し込み随時うけたまわります。出張も致します。

費用はご希望に応じます。宿泊はありません。出張講座もいたします。