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Thread: BOOK OF EQUANIMITY, case 9

  1. #51
    Hi all,

    I must say that I’m with Dosho on having some difficulty getting “gummed up” with the issue of compassion for the cat. In the reading the author makes the statement, “ Hundreds and thousands of animals are killed every day, but none of these deaths is a sacrifice for our liberation. Nansen sacrificed the life of one cat for the liberation of hundreds of millions of beings.” Sorry, but that really bothered me and I have been “stuck on it” for the last couple weeks.

    Thank you Jundo for adding,
    That is why I do not think that Nansen, as an Ordained Buddhist Priest, actually killed the cat (if the story is even a historical event). Buddhist Priests are sometimes iconoclasts, but there are certain lines even a priest won't step over (and even though, in old China, cats may have been thought of as no more than pests and vermin ... about like killing a rat in the kitchen).
    I really enjoyed Willow and Taigu's back and forth on Willow's cut/suture metaphor.

    And Alan.r, I too am a Wilco fan....nice quote relating to our reading. Perhaps this next one is not directly related, but I can't help myself from adding:

    "I would like to salute
    The ashes of American flags
    And all the fallen leaves
    Filling up shopping bags"

    Gassho,
    Jisen/BrianW

  2. #52
    Thanks Brian...this really helped me too. I had trouble getting past Nansen, in my mind, essentially saying, "Say something boys or I'll commit murder!" I might have been a bit stunned too and would have been rather shocked that my teacher killed an innocent being. But of course we have to see beyond that (not one, not two) and our human conditioning (both good and bad) gets in the way sometimes.

    Gassho,
    Dosho

  3. #53
    Treeleaf Unsui Shugen's Avatar
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    Nov 2007
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    Redding California USA
    I've heard this koan so many times, it's good to get under the surface. I'm very literal minded, so have trouble with these things. It seems I'm either over thinking everything or ignoring everything. Cutting, cutting - "this is important, that isn't".

    Ron




    Shugen
    Meido Shugen
    明道 修眼

  4. #54
    Quote Originally Posted by rculver View Post
    I've heard this koan so many times, it's good to get under the surface. I'm very literal minded, so have trouble with these things. It seems I'm either over thinking everything or ignoring everything. Cutting, cutting - "this is important, that isn't".

    Ron




    Shugen

    Ron,

    Boy can I relate. About 30 years ago when I became a searcher and was more into what they call metaphysical type concepts, I was often told I was to much in my head..... thinking to much and over analyzing everything, and while that has been tempered, its still there. Maybe thats why we are here, and I am sure there are a few here who have been going through the same thing. It could be more of an Americanized problem with our culture. The middle road/ground is some times the hardest thing to navigate, when no navigation is needed.

    _/\_

    galen
    Nothing Special

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