I used to have a book.
Among all the stories in that book, the one that touches me, and left the deepest impression on me most, is the story "The Cow That Cried."
The writer teaches meditation to prisoners.
One particular day before the meditation class began, a criminal who he had never met before was waiting to speak to him.
This guy was huge, with bushy hair, beard and tattooed arms.
The scars on this man reflected the many violent fights he had been involved in.
He needed to speak to the writer regarding an encounter he had experienced a few days before.
To give the writer an idea of his background, he related his growing up years to the writer.
He told the writer that he had grown up in the violent streets of Belfast.
He was only 7 when he was first stabbed in the school compound.
The school bully demanded for his lunch money and he said no.
The bully took out a knife and asked a 2nd time.
Thinking that the bully was bluffing, he said no again.
The bully didn't asked a 3rd time.
He simply plunged the knife into the 7 years old's arm, drew it out and coolly walked away.
He told the writer that in shock, he ran to his father's house which was close by.
His unemployed father looked at the wound, and took him into the kitchen.
Not to dress the wound, but to take out a big kitchen knife, gave it to his son, and ordered the boy to go back to school to stab the bully back.
That was how he was brought up.
The prison he's in currently is for prisoners who are close to being released.
It's a prison farm where the prisoners could learn a trade in the farming industry so as to prepare them for life after prison.
The prison farm he's in is one that produces cows, sheep and pigs, and it has its own slaughterhouse / abattoir.
This giant, fearsome Irishman was the slaughterer.
The slaughterhouse has super strong stainless steel railings, wide at the opening, narrowing down to a single channel inside the building, just wide enough for one animal to pass through at a time.
Next to the narrow channel, raised on a platform, he would stand, with an electric gun.
Cows, sheep or pigs would be forced into the stainless steel funnel.
They would always scream, in their own way, and try to escape.
The animals could smell death, hear death, feel death.
When the animal is alongside the platform, it would be writhing, wriggling and moaning in full capacity.
Even though the electric gun could kill a large bull with a single high-voltage charge, the animal would never stand still long enough for him to aim properly.
As such, it was always one shot to stun, next shot to kill.
Animals after animals.
Day after day.
That was his job.
That particular day, they needed beef for the prisoners around Perth.
So they were slaughtering cows.
He was killing the cows as per normal until a cow came up like he had never seen before.
This particular cow was silent.
Not even a whimper.
Its head was down as it walked resolutely, voluntarily and slowly into position next to the platform.
It did not writhe or struggle.
Neither did it try to escape.
Once into position, the cow slowly lifted her head and looked right into the slaughterer's eyes.
Absolutely still.
The Irishman had never seen or came across anything like this before.
He went numb into confusion.
He couldn't lift his gun, nor could he take his eyes off that of the cow's.
He didn't know for how long, but as the cow held him in eye contact, he noticed something that shook him even more.
Cows have very big eyes.
And as he kept looking in the eye of the cow, he saw in the left eye of the cow, above the lower eyelid, water began to gather.
The amount of water grew and grew, until it was too much for the eyelid to hold.
It then trickle slowly down the cow's cheek.
At this point , the walls which the Irishman had built around his heart over the years, started crumbling down.
As he looked on in disbelief, he saw the same thing happening on the right eye of the cow.
The cow was crying.
At that moment, the slaughterer, too broke down.
He told the writer that at the next instant, he threw down his gun, swore as only prisoners know how, that the prison officers can do whatever they liked to him,
"BUT THAT COW AIN'T DYING !"
And from that day on, the slaughterer - the gigantic fearsome Irishman with a violent past, became a vegetarian.
The cow taught the Irishman what it is to care.
If you think about it, there's really not much a difference between us and the animals.
At the base level, we all began our lives from an egg.
Or, Look at it another way :
Take the example of the Korean Christian Missionaries who were kidnapped in Afghanistan last year (2007).
When the Taliban threatens to kill each and everyone of them, how did they feel?
How did the world feel?
It's not difficult for us to know and to understand that hurting, harming and/or killing any living being is a bad and cruel act.
If you were to observe carefully and closely, you will realise why some people behave the way they did, and where they 'inherit' their behaviour from, and where they were from previously.
When you can truly realise this Truth, you'll not want to hurt, harm or kill, or cause others to hurt, harm or kill.
"All tremble at punishment;
All fear death;
Comparing others with oneself,
One should neither kill nor cause to kill."
- The Buddha .
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.
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"Anyone can be enlighten."
"Dhamma belongs to everyone (and anyone) who truly desires it.
The Buddha did NOT limit the possession of Dhamma to a particular individual.
Everyone (and anyone) who practises in the right way enjoys the same right of ownership."
- Venerable Acariya Mun Bhuridatta Thera
"He who seek his own happiness by harming others who also desire to have happiness will NOT find hapiness hereafter.
- The Buddha (Dhammapada v.131)
