Compassion Unlimited

A very disturbing thing to watch....
A minuscule event in the microcosm I live in...no doubt
But its impact reverberates around me...remember how those shock waves are shown lapping out, surging out from an atomic bomb? Something similar.

Cut..
The scene
Three of us in the car. I am driving, one Pattani next to me, always. That seat is reserved for him...kind of bossy, I know, but the other Pattani does not mind...

Then I see it...
A poor Rat right in the middle of the road writhing in pain, in the midst of all that traffic zooming past it. The obvious had happened. An innocent soul had come under tyres, and it was agonising to glimpse that pain even for that fraction of a second...
"Acho paavum", I reacted immediately ( Oh so sad)
"Enna achu amma" asked the senior Pattani ( what happened?)
" I saw a Rat on the road, writhing in pain di"
" Say sorry Amma"
??
" But it was not our car di"

Compassion, empathy is learnt from a 10 year old

I was defensive in my retort, but it hit me almost immediately.
Does it matter that I did not cause that harm?

I apologised aloud.

'Sorry Rat'

Then mentally I said sorry to all those creatures in this world, that suffer a similar fate. All those cockroaches, insects, mosquitoes, bacterium, viruses...
I know I may appear to be slightly overdoing things...
But just pause to think, every living thing is only doing what it is meant to do...Being...Living...
Once it is born into this world, every living thing has only one sole purpose and that is to exist...to be...
We as humans have acquired a larger than life value for ourselves; that only our existence is of primary importance over and above all other living things; that it is only our right, that it is only our fundamental core...

The rat that I saw was only living and being, and in the course of its life it got run over...fine....
Yet there are many creatures that are living and being and we consciously destroy them with no regard for their existence or their being...

Some we consider as pests...true...
Some we do for pleasure...true...
Some happens by accident...true...
Some happens through premeditation...true...
Some we need to for the harm they cause us outweighs all other reasons to allow them to exist...true...

I take this time to sincerely apologise to every creature that I have harmed....mosquitoes, rats, insects, worms, frogs...
I take this time to sincerely apologise to all those creatures that as a humanity we harm...tigers, lions, snakes, dogs, many more I don't name

I am sorry that I think my existence is far more important than yours, yet Now I know from the heart of a 10 year old that we all are only Being what we have been created for...and I apologise to all or any being that I have consciously or unconsciously harmed...

Thank You sweetie for making me aware...

Comments

  1. It was best said in the movie Matrix....we humans are a virus...we feed of other living beings ...decimate the place we live in ...and then move on to find greener pastures leaving behind a legacy that will curtail the growth of other organisms for many lifetimes...but i love U's reaction...

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  2. Lovely.....and so poignant.......give U a big hug from me! We really need to learn compassion and empathy and the joy of living and celebrating life from kids! Had a similar incident with Raghav few months ago.....your post gives me inspiration to share our insect story too someday!

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  3. well written, sowmya... so true... theres so much we can learn from our kids.. last week, i got reprimanded for killing a spider when I cleaned the cobwebs! i told him that i felt and said sorry to it before killing it :)

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  4. That was a very sweet and valuable lesson from your daughter.

    Your reaction equally touching. NO, you are not over doing things. Compassion is the name.Not just for animals but also plants.

    Some times when i am at leisure and find a dead cockroach or a dead ant stamped under some one's feet. I would be wondering if it had a family and if they would be looking for it to return home.

    I don't know if you have heard of Ramalinga adigal or vallalar. This saint believes no religion or caste but only in being compassionate to all life forms including plants. The followers of this saint don't eat potatoes and other edible things which could kill the plant. They don't drink any branded beverages since it indirectly contains eggs(form of life).

    Thought this might be of interest to you. Sorry for the rather long comment. It just flowed.

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  5. I have to offer a million apologies to the earthworms and dragon-flies for all the atrocities I committed decades back! Now, the hubby us almost on your lines- apologizing to mosquitoes, cockroaches:)Am yet to develop that 'degree' of compassion. Hats off lady:)

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  6. Oh my God, that was so provoking to our existing notions on what should live and what should not... U really got me thinking... extra hugs from here and hope she always stays alive with such independent and compassionate thought processing!

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