An Interesting Incident

I witnessed a very interesting incident while bringing some friends to visit a temple last week. I saw this gentleman standing in front of the gigantic golden statue of Amitabha Buddha with his palms pressed together in a praying posture. A small piece of paper was secured to his hands with both his thumbs. There were writings on the piece of paper, which I presume were the prayers to the lord Buddha which he wished would be answered, or granted. As he stood there, oblivious of my existence some distance behind him, praying to the Buddha a tan striped cat strode nonchalantly across in front of him. The man stomped his right foot at the cat, not once but twice at the cat as it crossed his path.

My initial reaction to that was utter shock. How dare you do such a thing to an animal that did not do anything to you but just went about minding its own business; much less in front of the statue of a being that embodies compassionate kindness, and yet you still have the audacity to ask Him for your prayers to be answered. It boggles my mind. Then I started laughing silently at the exhibition of ignorance, both his and mine. His ignorance of what Buddhism is all about, and my ignorance in letting something this small affect me.