Metaphysics

On the Suffering of Animals

I received a comment on one of my videos, and wanted to answer that comment here.

One of the remarkable things about many of the world's oldest spiritual traditions is that they point toward a common understanding of the living world. Native American philosophy, the traditions of the Ainu, Shinto, and even Buddhism begin from the understanding that humanity is not separate from life. We are participants within it. Therefore, Animals are not resources. Instead, they are considered nations of beings with their own intelligence, purpose, and place within creation.

Allow me to explain.

Much of this way of seeing has faded in the modern world. Ancient peoples understood themselves as living within a community of beings. Animals, forests, rivers, mountains, and the spirits associated with them all participated in the same sacred reality. The world was encountered through relationship. Today, nature is mostly viewed either as something to be used or as nothing more than matter governed by impersonal processes. The older traditions offer another vision. Every living being participates in a reality that extends beyond the physical. Historically, many Indigenous peoples hunted, but the relationship was fundamentally different from industrial exploitation. The hunt was surrounded by gratitude, reciprocity, and an understanding that taking a life created an obligation to live in a way worthy of that gift. Nothing was wasted because the animal was never viewed as an object.

In Ainu tradition. it is said that the kamuy enter the human world clothed in physical form. A bear is not simply a bear. It is a kamuy appearing as a bear. When the body dies, the kamuy returns to its own realm, carrying with it the memory of how it was treated by humanity. If it was received with gratitude and reverence, it returns, clothing itself in another body.

Many Native American traditions express a similar principle through totemic relationships. A totem represents a living relationship with a nation of beings. The Bear, Eagle, Wolf, or Raven is not simply one animal but part of an enduring spiritual reality expressed through countless lives. Wearing feathers, antlers, skins, or bones is an act of honoring that relationship rather than possessing it. Some natives who are connected to these nations of beings become medicine men within their tribes, and call on them to purify the energy bodies of a patient in much the same way as I call on the kami during my Shinto purification rites. This is all possible through reverence. In Shinto, mountains, rivers, forests, ancient trees, and animals are all manifestations of a living sacred reality. A fox is never just a fox. A mountain is never just a mountain. The visible world is the expression of the invisible world.

This perspective changes everything.

Humanity exists within its own soul group, just as wolves, bears, ravens, and countless other nations of beings do. When an individual animal dies, it returns to its own spiritual community, carrying with it the experience of that life. In time, it returns. The relationship is never broken because consciousness is never lost.

The spirits of mountains, rivers, forests, and ancient places exist differently than animal spirits, just as animal spirits exist differently than human beings. Consciousness is not a hierarchy with humanity at its summit. It is a living web of different modes of existence, each fulfilling its own purpose within creation.

This also changes how suffering is understood.

There is a difference between suffering that belongs to incarnation and suffering created through cruelty. Hunger, aging, illness, death, and change belong to embodied existence. Cruelty does not. Cruelty is the unnecessary imposition of suffering through domination, indifference, or pleasure. It violates the sacred relationship between nations of beings. This is where I think many people today unintentionally burden themselves. Their compassion is beautiful, but it is often joined to the belief that physical death is the absolute end of a being's existence. If that were true, every death would be an irreplaceable tragedy. Every animal lost would be gone forever. It is understandable why someone would carry unbearable grief under that view.

The older traditions offer another perspective. They do not ask us to care less. They ask us to see more.

The body dies. The spirit does not. The kamuy returns. The relationship continues. The nation of bears continues. The nation of wolves continues. Nothing about that lessens our responsibility. If anything, it deepens it. We do not honor animals because they are temporary. We honor them because they are eternal companions sharing this world with us.

Even Buddhism, which places compassion at the center of its teachings, begins with the recognition that suffering is part of existence. Birth, aging, illness, separation, and death are not mistakes in reality. They are part of incarnation. The First Noble Truth is not an invitation to despair. It is an invitation to see reality clearly.

The above image is a simplified spiritual construct; however, it is not incorrect.

Acceptance is often misunderstood as indifference. It is the opposite. Acceptance means recognizing what is woven into existence without allowing it to destroy your capacity to love.

Compassion without acceptance becomes despair.

Acceptance without compassion becomes indifference.

Wisdom is holding both together.

If your heart aches when you see an animal suffer, do not lose that compassion. It is a sign that you recognize another nation of beings as your relatives. Let it inspire you to reduce unnecessary suffering wherever you can. Protect life. Honor life. Stand against cruelty.

But do not carry the weight of the entire world upon your shoulders.

No human being was ever meant to do that.

Instead, perhaps consider a different perspective. Instead of seeing a world where innocent beings simply suffer and disappear, see a world where eternal beings enter physical existence, learn, return to their own people, and come again. From that perspective, compassion becomes steadier. It is no longer rooted in fear that everything will be lost, but in reverence for relationships that can never truly be broken.

One final thought regarding your comparison between humanity being "farmed" and the way humans treat animals.

I don't believe the comparison is entirely accurate.

Regarding the intelligences that take advantage of humanity, I don't see them as predators in the natural sense. These things operate from concealment. They influence, manipulate, and exploit precisely because they remain largely outside of ordinary human perception. They benefit from our inability to recognize them.

That is fundamentally different from the relationship humanity has traditionally had with the natural world. A wolf does not hide its nature. A bear does not deceive you into believing it is your friend while feeding upon you. Nature is often harsh, but it is generally honest. The danger I see is not that something is stronger than we are. Strength exists throughout creation. The danger is deception.

The first step toward freedom is seeing clearly. Once you recognize a pattern of manipulation, it begins to lose its power over you. Whether one interprets these forces spiritually, psychologically, or symbolically, the principle remains the same: awareness dissolves unconscious control. So while I encourage compassion toward all living beings, I also encourage discernment. We should strive to reduce unnecessary suffering wherever we can, while also recognizing that there are forms of exploitation that are far more subtle than physical violence. Those are often the ones that do the greatest damage because they remain unseen.

To me, the spiritual path is not simply about becoming kinder. It is about becoming both kinder and more awake.

Thank you for your question.