Master Tells Stories: The Karma of the Cow Owner
We must reflect upon our actions at all times and take good care of our minds. We must always diligently cultivate genuine sincerity. We must be genuinely sincere in treating people and dealing with matters. Indeed, that is the attitude we ought to have. We must also be aware at all times to avoid giving rise to greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt.
Thus, it's said in the Water Repentance text: Due to greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance, we give rise to the thoughts of killing. And, with evil intentions, we vow to kill, resolve to kill, or use a curse to kill. Even the slightest deviation in mindset will result in a cycle of evil thoughts. The intention to kill is an evil thought.
And if one commits a killing, bad karma will be created instantly. Karma is always formed as a result of a cause. Likewise, bad karma is formed from evil thoughts. All the karma we create come from our mind. When we give rise to greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance, bad karma is created.
There was once a man who raised a cow which had grown very large and was ready to be sold. So, he wished to take it to the cattle market. The cow knew that after the auction at the cattle market, it would be taken to the slaughterhouse. So, no matter how hard its owner pulled it, the cow's four legs just wouldn't budge.
The owner not only pulled hard but also beat the cow with a club. When the club snapped, he whipped it. In great suffering, the cow could only follow its owner. On the way to the market, they passed by a rich man's house. A government official happened to step outside. Seeing the official, the cow quickly knelt down, wept and shed bitter tears, and pleaded desperately for him to save its life.
The official felt sorry for the cow. He asked, "Where are you taking it?"To the market, to sell it for slaughter. The official then said, How much is the cow? I'll buy it from you. Eight thousand taels of silver. It was very expensive. Yet, feeling sorry for the cow, the official said, "Fine. I'll buy it."
However, angered by the cow, the owner had ill thoughts in mind and said: Even if you give me triple the money, I won't sell it. I must kill it myself, devour its flesh first and then sell its remains. Helplessly, the cow followed its owner. Arriving at an empty house in a remote place, the owner thought it was an ideal place to kill the cow and cook its meat.
After the sun had set, the owner killed the cow. Finding a stove, he collected firewood and cooked its meat. Feeling tired, he laid down and slept. Around dawn, he thought that the meat should be almost done. So, he went to the stove, stretched his neck and peered inside.
At home, his wife wondered why after an entire day and almost another, her husband hadn't returned home from the market. She went along the streets to look for him. At a village by an abandoned house, she saw a pool of blood. She went inside the house and saw her husband half-submerged in a boiling pot. Both the cow's flesh and her husband's upper body had been cooked tender.
In this story, the man raised the cow to sell for slaughter. This is a kind of killing in itself, not to mention that he gave rise to evil thoughts and decided to kill the cow himself. Raising animals for slaughter creates bad karma, even if the killing is done by someone else, let alone doing the killing personally. Didn't the man's evil intentions arise from greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance?
It was only because the cow refused to follow him. So, even when the official offered to buy the cow for a very high price, the man gave rise to evil thoughts and was set on killing the cow and eating its flesh. Such intentions of killing are truly evil upon evil and create heavy negative karma. With evil intentions and heavy negative karma, the man's karmic retributions came instantly.
All this was brought about by giving rise to greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance in his mind. If he had just sold the cow, he'd have the money and let the cow live. Wouldn't that have been nice? Just because Just because he had struggled with the cow, he gave rise to evil thoughts and set his mind on killing it himself. This is truly very malicious. The evil thoughts people give rise to are truly frightful.
Source: Master Tells Stories (DAAI TV)
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