Compassion towards abusive actions

Spirituality
#1

I struggle daily to deal with the animal abuse that i see, here in India. I work for a British Animal REscue Charity and whilst i can manage my anger and emotions ok at work, i find that the almost constant sound at home, in my neighbourhood of dogs that are kept of chains/beaten and scream and cry for hours on end can be very challenging.

As i have an emotional and angry reaction to these sounds it affects my ability to practice pranayama or asana at home and meditation is out of the question. I really have tried as much as i know how to feel compassion for the abusers and their lack of education/compassion towards animals but it regularly wears thin. Incredibely these are religious and mainly middle class people.

I have tried to focus on the fact that the soul is always free even though the body’s of the animals are suffering and confined, but it doesnt help so much when one hears such heart wrenching and bloodcurdling screams from innocent and helpless animals. i have tried to approach some of the owners in a friendly manner to discuss the issue with them but they just laugh or get defensive. How can one apply yogic principles to such cruelty? Are there any techniques to disperse the anger that rises in these moments? mantra doesnt help so much…It really is the toughest challenge i have come up against in my practice and even having lived here for 8 years i am no more de-sensitised to the sound of suffering than when i first arrived!

i do take great comfort from the thought that these beautiful animals will have a better incarnation next time…but there was mention on this forum that animals cannot reincarnate as they dont have ego. ( which i didnt quite understand):o

#2

Dear Anula, how I understand you.

Personally, this would be a great challenge for me also. I can’t stand people who abuse or hurt animals. It’s just not right and feelings of utter unfairness wash over me like the Niagara falls. Truly I could kill when in such a rush, no kidding. Still I advise you not to try and get rid of the anger and emotions you are feeling. That would be suppression for sure, because how could someone not feel these feelings? My dear…

Please love yourself enough to feel whatever it is you are feeling and know that it is only natural and it comes with being raised as a human being.

Instead I would suggest that whenever these feelings arise, you just let them come and go like the wind increases and decreases its force naturally. While allowing all thoughts and emotions and anger to arise and dissolve, don’t belief in the stories your mind attaches to these feelings. Just let the mind tell whatever it has to tell and feel whatever you feel without controlling it or replacing it, but don’t believe in what these stories have to say to you. Just see them as thought-forms coming and going.

In this way you can experience everything fully with love for yourself while not being fooled by your own mind.

That’s one suggestion, the other suggestion is a tougher pill if you still believe heavily in an external world. But I am not to judge you in this s i will just suggest this one as well:

Remind yourself that this entire world we seem to live in, is nothing but perception arising within consciousness. Much like when you dream at nigh and you really feel that there is 3-dimensional space, ‘other people and beings, including animals’ and there is suffering also in your dreams and happiness. But then you wake up! And you realize that all was a play within the mind existing of nothing other than pure mind…

Likewise in the ‘waking state’ there seems to be a whole world out there, but just remind yourself that we cannot prove them to be anything other than perceptions within our very own awareness.

So next time you feel these intense and natural feelings of grief and hatred, just feel them fully and then notice that you are actually aware of these feelings and thoughts. As you notice your presence of awareness in such situations, you can start to kind of lay back, you can rest as you are, rest in awareness as awareness. From such restful seeing you will feel that the world you see is much like a giant pool of dream-substance. It’s not solid in any way, it’s just a translucent perception within awareness.

So this does not require you to control or suppress anything, it simply returns you to rest as the primordially pure and open awareness that you are. Thus these feelings will still be there, but they will be a part of the entirety of perception, they will be part of the dream existing within you as awareness. Thus, simultaneously with the strong emotions, you will feel a much deeper peace that will increase with each time you acknowledge its presence in a situation.

Please dear Anula, most of all be gentle with yourself and shower yourself and all that comes and goes as your perception with the love of your seeing and being.

Love & Enlightenment,
Bentinho.

#3

Thankyou for your words Bentinho. OM.

#4

dear anula

it must be harrowing to be confronted with such animal abuses 24/7 with no respite.

just wondering are there no local chapter of animal rescue organisations in india that tries to educate the public on responsible pet ownership?

is there a possiblity of utilising the power of the mass media by filming such blatant acts and post it on youtube to spark a regional/national/international debate if not outrage on such barbaric acts?

fellow yogis and yoginis in india i beseech your help and interventions.

#5

This seems to be a cultural problem and I agree that it requires action on a larger scale; such as organizing groups of like minded people, mass education, and interaction with governments and political organizations. As for dealing with your emotion and anger, I would say that compassion should be directed towards the suffering animals and simply try to recognize that getting angry will not solve the problem.

#6

im not sure how the issue can be tackled when it is so widespread, and people are so accepting of this as the “norm”. it is the norm for some people to treat animals like this here, and the people challenging it are in the minority. Locals where i live “mind their own business” and frown upon people interfering esp foreign people. They have been chaining and abusing their animals for generations and it could take generations to re-educate. Alot of the NGO’s here are so busy trying to tackle the issues with stray dogs,most do not have the resources to get involved with owner dogs. I spent two years here complaining to the GSPCA about one dog and they concluded it was ok for the dog to be beaten and chained 24-7 as it is well fed, despite the law here stating otherwise. Its almost an overwhelming task and quite honestly i dont see people wanting to get involved. In a tourist destination such as goa, with a huge number of people practising yoga also ( it seems just asana?!) Sadly, there are only about 4 permanant volunteers at the animal charity i work for, which suggests people are not interested in helping with these issues, even though our charity is well known. :o

#7

Dear Anula,

The view on the treatment of animals differ vastly between east and west. In the east they accuse us westerners of cruelty in the manner of how we slaughter millions of animals every year in abbatoires and in the west we find it difficult to understand the cruelty against animals like you mention in the light of their teachings on karma and reincarnation.

Two days into my first trip to India in 2005 I was horrified by the lack of compassion there for animals and I was ready to get on the next plane back home. However, the teachings of my teacher then transpired in the form of the blessing breath. As my teacher explained to me before I went to India what to expect she also told me that you have one powerful tool and that is to bless indiscriminately wherever you see animals or people suffering. The lack of care that you mention is just too big for one person or even the many smaller organisations in India to tackle successfully and to change it. But your blessings can make an unseen difference and I would like you to add this to your meditations if you feel like it.

The blessing breath is easy: Inwardly mention those animals and people who are suffering, either by name or as a group and start blessing them by saying out load or inwardly: I bless and bless and bless these animals/people and I surround them with all my love, Light, peace and harmony and end off with three Om’s.

May I also suggest that you look at this as a mirror that is held up and which is reflecting something of yourself as well back to you. It might be a reflection of a past incarnation where you were cruel to animals and need to learn and practice compassion towards them in this life. Meditate on this and have compassion also towards yourself in this situation.

#8

[quote=anula;24475]I
i do take great comfort from the thought that these beautiful animals will have a better incarnation next time…but there was mention on this forum that animals cannot reincarnate as they dont have ego. ( which i didnt quite understand):o[/quote]

It would take too long to explain. Maybe one day.

Right now: be sure that animals are and will be comforted for the pain they suffer today. But if this comforts you … here is a thought what is less comforting. Those who hurt animals, will reap suffering on their part, and those who do it on purpose, and not out of ignorance, nothing can save them except of God, if He wills it. Now, while being compassionate to animals, be compassionate for your fellow, ignorant men, too. Your anger comes from being hurt, yes, your pain is the pain animals suffer. And you can’t stand it. But you should. Not becuase I say so, but because anger will take you where you do not want to go. The moment your heart becomes a little more open than average, the more painful your existence becomes. One must stand the pain of being ahead. One must stand seeing that one’s ideals, most sacred things are desecrated, and rolled into dirt. What do you expect ? This world has so much cruelty, selfishness, and dirt to it, that anything good has to and will suffer. We do not really belong here, and we must learn to behave in ways worthy of a better world, and I say to you, that world is coming. Just not for all, sadly. Save them if you can, but most impotant, save yourself by standing up for what you feel and believe. Than everything will be allright.

PS. Pandara, thank you for the teaching about blessing. It is inspiring and a reminder.