A mouse

[Sekishi]

With the exception of, say, kudzu or starlings (https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...f-the-reviled/), these animals are simply sharing a natural habitat they have shared for centuries, if not millennia.

This is a complete aside / non-sequiter, but my wife and I used to have two European Starlings that we kept as pets (legal to do here in the US because they are non-native). They were amazing talkers and mimics, and wonderful little clowns!

Anyhow, we ran a website for US folks that keep European Starlings as pets. It was the single most toxic experience I've never been involved with online. Many people in the US hate starlings with a passion (because they are an "invasive species")! We received hatemail regularly, including plenty of photos of dead starlings that people had killed and dismembered, etc. We eventually shut the site down due to the complete avalanche of hate.

Cats, starlings, and mice all follow the rules -- they are "innocent" in that sense.

I still simply try to do my best to care for whatever being is in front of me.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

[Jishin]

Titus the Cat woke me this morning around 6 am. He was on the floor next to my bed, yipping like a dog. I told him to go away, but he kept on yipping, so I realized it was important. I picked up my phone to shine some light on him, and I saw that he was proudly standing before the warm cadaver of a mouse.

Now, I live in a semi-rural area, technical next to a farm. Mice are common here, as is other wildlife; for example, we often see pheasants in our garden. Titus the Cat is a skilled hunter, and often brings prizes back to the house. This time, he may have wanted to show his conquest to Rosalind the Cat, our five-month old kitten who has not yet been outside on her own.

Part of me feels pain for the poor mice that get slain by such a devastating predator, but another part of me congratulates Titus the Cat for his success. (In fact, I don't know if he caught the mouse outside or in the house; perhaps it was the latter, and that's why he was so excited. We only saw a mouse in the house once.) It is the natural order of things that predators eat prey, and mice are, in many cases, vermin. (Like the ones that chewed up a child seat, stored in a shed outside, that my partner bought for when her granddaughter visits.)

I know we're supposed to help all sentient beings, but should I be interfering with the natural order of things? I can't stop Titus the Cat from hunting, but I feel a bit conflicted about the whole thing.

Gassho,

Kirk

#SatThisMorningEarlierThanUsual

IMG_0706.JPG

You were tricked by Titus the cat into thinking that he was something other than what he is, a cat that eats mice when hungry. No different than this rock tricking people that it is human and it speaks English. A cat is a cat and it does cat things. A rock is a rock and it does rock things.

[emoji2]

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Ryumon]

[ATTACH]3984[/ATTACH]

You were tricked by Titus the cat into thinking that he was something other than what he is, a cat that eats mice when hungry.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

True, but he did bring it into the house to show me that he had caught it. Cats like to show off their prowess. And, as I said, it's also possible that he brought it inside, instead of just eating it, so he could show our kitten Rosalind what real food looks like. :-)

Gassho,

Kirk

#saturday

[Sekishi]

[ATTACH]3984[/ATTACH]

No different than this rock tricking people that it is human and it speaks English. A cat is a cat and it does cat things. A rock is a rock and it does rock things.

I believe that rock to be entirely innocent. It was OBVIOUSLY framed by two humans - one smart aleck who wrote on it, and another who read what was written.

[emoji23]

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat



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[Jakuden]

I can't resist adding this story about when my (indoor only) cat caught a mouse and put it under the Christmas tree. No lie, I was putting gifts under there in the dark and encountered something soft and squishy, laid carefully between the other presents. Coincidence?

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Kyonin]

Here in the United States, cats are considered an invasive species. Not so for Europe.

I am not trying to tell anyone what to do. My wife and I choose to keep our domestic cats indoors for their safety and the safety of wildlife.

In a super Catholic and ignorant city, some people consider cats are Satan's pets. People torture them and kill them very easily and with no remorse. That's why I keep Tesla and Tamale Sensei indoors.

Sometimes it breaks my heart they clearly want to go out, but they must remain here for their safety.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Ryumon]

In a super Catholic and ignorant city, some people consider cats are Satan's pets. People torture them and kill them very easily and with no remorse. That's why I keep Tesla and Tamale Sensei indoors.

Sometimes it breaks my heart they clearly want to go out, but they must remain here for their safety.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

That's horrible. To be honest, if I were in a city, I would be less likely to let a cat outside. Though here in the UK, it's not uncommon for city cats to go out. Obviously, they're not considered to be instruments of the devil. (Though I sometimes wonder if mine don't have a hint of devil in them.)

Gassho,

Kirk

@sat

[Sekishi]

some people consider cats are Satan's pets. People torture them and kill them very easily and with no remorse. That's why I keep Tesla and Tamale Sensei indoors.

That is heartbreaking Kyonin.

I guess there is a "middle way" teaching in all of this somewhere. Without cats (or any apex preditor) things go out of balance. With absolutist views (cats == satan, starlings == evil) suffering abounds.

Metta and bows,
Sekishi #sat

[Joyo]

In a super Catholic and ignorant city, some people consider cats are Satan's pets. People torture them and kill them very easily and with no remorse. That's why I keep Tesla and Tamale Sensei indoors.

Sometimes it breaks my heart they clearly want to go out, but they must remain here for their safety.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

That is just heartbreaking, Kyonin. I will chant and sit for all cats today.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Mp]

In a super Catholic and ignorant city, some people consider cats are Satan's pets. People torture them and kill them very easily and with no remorse. That's why I keep Tesla and Tamale Sensei indoors.

Sometimes it breaks my heart they clearly want to go out, but they must remain here for their safety.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

Wow, yes very sad and heartbreaking ... will sit, chant, and send metta for all beings who suffer such tragedies.

Gassho
Shingen

s@today

[Jundo]

I am also going to post here what is perhaps the most shocking Koan to many folks (especially us animal lovers) ... Nansen Cuts the Cat ...

Before I do relate this however, recall that no Zen Priest would so easily violate the Precept on Killing living beings (granted, back in the day, cats were not seen as cuddly pets, but more like vermin such as racoons and wild squirrels and wild rabbits and bats and rats. Even to this day, my mother-in-law who was raised on a farm in Japan can't quite understand why we adore our "varmint". So, I am not sure if Nansen actually killed the cat or not). Still, this Koan only truly opened for me when a Teacher pointed out that most references to "swords" and "cutting" in Zen stories allude to the "Sword of Wisdom" which actually cuts "into one" and wholeness, or "not two." Swinging this Zen Sword brings all the broken pieces of the world together.

In fact, the monks by their arguing had already cut the cat in two by their divided thinking and selfishness, the real division of east and west. By causing the monks to drop their divisions and opinions, Nansen saved the cat, as did Joshu. There is something so Whole, so passing through all change, that all birth and death, one or two or a billion pieces are transcended.

Something like that.

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: `If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat.'
No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: `If you had been there, you could have saved the cat.'

All that being said ... be kind to cats (how you treat rats and bats however, well, I leave that to you).

Gassho, J

SatToday

PS -



PPS - A different Zen Cat story. This is a funny one, meant to show how our "ancient and unquestionable traditions" get made ... I love this story ...

When the Zen Master and his disciples began their evening meditation, a cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. One day the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice.

Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up. Centuries later, learned descendants of the teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.

[Jakuden]

I am also going to post here what is perhaps the most shocking Koan to many folks (especially us animal lovers) ... Nansen Cuts the Cat ...

Before I do relate this however, recall that no Zen Priest would so easily violate the Precept on Killing living beings (granted, back in the day, cats were not seen as cuddly pets, but more like vermin such as racoons and wild squirrels and wild rabbits and bats and rats. Even to this day, my mother-in-law who was raised on a farm in Japan can't quite understand why we adore our "varmint". So, I am not sure if Nansen actually killed the cat or not). Still, this Koan only truly opened for me when a Teacher pointed out that most references to "swords" and "cutting" in Zen stories allude to the "Sword of Wisdom" which actually cuts "into one" and wholeness, or "not two." Swinging this Zen Sword brings all the broken pieces of the world together.

In fact, the monks by their arguing had already cut the cat in two by their divided thinking and selfishness, the real division of east and west. By causing the monks to drop their divisions and opinions, Nansen saved the cat, as did Joshu. There is something so Whole, so passing through all change, that all birth and death, one or two or a billion pieces are transcended.

Something like that.



All that being said ... be kind to cats (how you treat rats and bats however, well, I leave that to you).

Gassho, J

SatToday

PS - A different Zen Cat story. This is a funny one, meant to show how our "ancient and unquestionable traditions" get made ...



I love that story.

Thank you Jundo.
(I understand the point of the second story, but can you imagine a tied up cat being quiet for even a second? [emoji15])
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday


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[Diarmuid1]

Who killed the mouse?

[Jishin]

'Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: `If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat.'
No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: `If you had been there, you could have saved the cat.'

Hi,

My take of this Koan is that it is a compassion action Koan. Very easy. It does not ask for a word or an abstraction. It asks for an action, a Bodhisattva action. The action is snatch the cat before it is cut. Thats it. Just like chop wood and fetch water for the benefit of others. Looking for a cute turning zen turning word kills the cat.

My 2 cents.

Gassho, Jishin, ST

[Jishin]

Who killed the mouse?

You did.

Gassho, Jishin, ST