I have a real-life example, of which I think illustrates well what I wanted to discuss regarding this topic.
I went to burn wood earlier and picked up a log to put in the already-burning fire. When picking it up, a bug crawled and fled into a hole inside the log.
Now, had I used the log and put it into the flames (rather than take another log), fully knowing there was a bug that crept inside a hole in it, would I have…
- Intentionally killed a living being?
- Broken the first precept?
- Would this have been an unwholesome action (kamma)?
I think ‘yes’ for the first, although it would be good to find Sutta references to support this position, and definely ‘yes’ for 2 and 3.