I was told this story years ago on a positive thinking course. I’ve written a blog about the sacred cows we hold onto, but it’s such a lovely story it’s worth repeating.
In the hands of a Master
A Master monk and his young acolyte were journeying through India, accepting hospitality at different homes as they travelled. They arrived at one village and were warmly welcomed by one villager to come and stay for the night. It was a very poor village and clearly the villagers were struggling.
When they got to the house there was a beautiful byre outside with a lovely, well fed, well cared for cow outside in the yard. In India cows are sacred and the villager and his family were proud to be able to have such an animal.
However, the homestead was sparse, the villagers had very little in the way of food, and their accommodation was bare in the extreme. Nevertheless they generously shared what they had. They gave the monk and his acolyte a bed for the night.
Very early in the morning the young monk was woken by his Master, who told him to be very quiet. They were leaving now. The young monk was confused but of course he obeyed.
As they left the house the Master took a knife from his robe, stepped into the Byre, and cut the Sacred Cow’s throat. The young monk was horrified but the Master would not explain himself. This haunted him for years.
Many years later…
The young monk was now a master, and he and his acolyte were travelling through India in the same way. They walked into one village that was opulent, clearly the village was thriving. The villagers were well fed and happy. Their gardens were overflowing with fruit and vegetables. It took the new Master a few minutes to realise that this was the same village that he visited many years before.
He walked through the village to the house they had stayed in. The byre was gone, in it’s place was a thriving vegetable garden. Healthy chickens were running around in the garden. He knocked on the door.
The man who had originally welcomed them opened the door. The new Master was concerned that he would be recognised but he was not. Again they were welcomed warmly, fed an excellent meal, and offered a warm bed for the night.
In the end the new Master just had to ask what had happened. He explained he was the young acolyte who had visited many years before, and couldn’t believe the change he was seeing. The story went thus:
The father told him that the morning they left someone had murdered their Sacred Cow. They’d been devastated, they had offended the gods, they suspected their fellow villagers who all claimed innocence quite convincingly, they too were devastated. The father, feeling he had let his family down went into a decline and could do nothing.
His resourceful daughter stepped in. She suggested that they take the byre down and replace it with the vegetable garden. That worked so well they were able to share their produce with the village. Other villagers swapped chickens for vegetables, and so a bartering economy was built.
The daughter shared seeds with the villagers, and soon everyone had a thriving vegetable garden, plenty of chickens, plenty of eggs, and they had their own market that was visited far and wide.
The new Master asked how they felt about the murder of their Sacred Cow now?
The moral of the story
The father said that although he had been devastated, the gods were obviously not displeased as they had thrived since the death of the cow. Due to his daughter’s ingenuity the entire village had thrived. He realised that they had been living in poverty to feed the animal, that it had been more important than food in his children’s bellies, a proper warm bed, and having enough vegetables and fruit to store for the winter.
He felt that the belief in the cow was detrimental to their lives, and that now they were focused on the right things.
The new Master walked away marvelling at the wisdom of his old Master. He had seen that the cow was in fact a Sacred block to their welfare, and taken action.
Never make anything in life more important that your wellbeing.
Never make any belief too strong to be amended.
Ensure that your focus works for you and don’t waste energy on what doesn’t.
Never forget the story of the sacred cow.
Best love
Amorah – Deb
Deb Hawken - Amorah 