What do buddhists think about animals? Are they lower life forms, ignorant and tied to samsara, or are they innocents, free from karma in some way? Just curious...my dog is laying here looking awful cute, and I hate the idea of her being stuck in some wheel of samsara for ages and ages, haha.
From what I've read, it seems Buddhists have an appreciation for animals...like most buddhist monks are vegeterian. And I think that Literature on Buddhism says that evrey living thing should be treated with respect...no matter who or what they are. I hop that helped.
Since animals by their very definition are closer to their natural state, the animal state, they are not subject to samsara since they supposedly do not have a split mind, an ego. They have consciousness but of a purer form than humans - they don't have hand written languages, they don't pay taxes, they don't use tools. Some do marry for life and mourn their dead. But, being one with nature they are not under samsara.
