Choices That Will Haunt Us for a Lifetime

A few nights ago, I was talking with someone who told me he had been listening to a talk I had given some years ago. In the talk, I had related a true story about a snake, a cat, and a compassionate husband and wife. You can read the blog entry that tells what happened here.  Essentially, a couple found a six-foot python in their bathroom.  Worried about their cat, yet not wanting to harm the snake, they called a snake catcher who caught the snake and released it unharmed in a safer habitat.

The person who had listened to the story at night later went to sleep. The next day, he listened to the news. One of the major stories was of a couple who found a snake.  But the husband's reaction was very different from the husband in the above account.  This man acted not out of compassion but more likely out of fear, and possibly anger. It is believed that he and his wife were trying to flush out the snake that was in a shed. The man's gun went off accidentally, and he shot his wife dead. They had four children.

Every moment, we decide what to do in the next. Every choice will have a consequence. What consequences?

The mind of understanding. Or the mind of fear.

Knowing that you had acted wisely. Or knowing that you had acted impulsively, without thinking.

A moment of knowing you did what was compassionate. Or a lifetime of knowing you had killed the mother of your four children.

Comments

[anybody]

i find my mind of fear can be less dramatic but stilled filled with consequences. Sometimes it is my mind of fear that compells an untruthful tale to a rather simple question.

Bad habits are hard to break. Staying clear of too much activity helps keep the way near. But soon some dear will near and create drama right here. Then its time to slow down again and again. Trying to get some perspective on the illusive.

Simple it may seem. I suppose that's why they call it practice.


anybody

[Jon]

Sounds like a terrible accident. I would not say that the person had more or less compassion then the other couple. It could be that the other couple new about these types of snakes and were not affraid of them. It could be that the other couple were truly fearful of the snake which does not signify less compassion.

http://toshogu.blogspot.com/

[Venerable Wuling]

Anybody,

Thank you. Yes, it takes much practice to get that perspective!

Jon,

Thank you for your excellent comment! I agree that it was a terrible accident. Also that the couple were most likely truly afraid of the snake.

The first couple was also afraid of the snake, but they had chosen to not allow guns in their home. (This is not uncommon in Australia where gun ownership is much lower in than in the U.S.) Fortunately for the first couple, fear was not their only emotion. They were able to temper their fear with compassion. They choose, instead, to call in a professional snake catcher.

The second couple for some reason had chosen to own a gun. I do not know why the man made this decision, but guns are violent instruments, whether you are shooting a hole in a target or a living being.

So while I am in total agreement that this was a tragic accident, I also believe there were choices that lead up to the man having a gun in his hand as he searched for the snake.

We can choose the emotions we will act on. It takes practice, as the Buddha taught and exemplified. We can give in to our fear, or we can learn to temper it by remembering that all animals fear death.