Ritual Cat
When the spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, a cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. One day the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice.Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up. Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.
Story from: Zen Buddhist Stories
One of the most important things I can teach the students I work with is to ask questions. Question everything. Why are we doing this? Why am I learning this? Where did this idea come from?
I do not want them to simply take things for what they are and go through life just accepting everything without any thought. I don't want them to continue many customary practices without knowing why they are doing them, especially if it involves tying up a cat.
We often do many things without questioning why we do these things. For example, if I ask my students why they are learning about the Nile River or why they are learning about the precipitation rate in Midwest grass plain areas, they will often not know why or what is the point of learning these things. If they don't understand the purpose of what they are learning, it becomes meaningless to them. If we can't give our children or students good reasons or explanations of why they need to learn certain things, then what is the point?
When we question things, we learn. We can't keep going around saying, "Oh, well that's the way it is." I notice that when I ask most people why it is "the way it is", they often don't know why.
Keep asking questions even if they seem silly or if they are difficult and uncomfortable.
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That reminds me of a old story about a family cooking tradition where the mother was showing her daughter how to cook a ham. She cut the ends off and her daughter asked why. Her mother said, "That's how Grandma always did it." Grandma who was standing nearby smiled, and said, "I did that because my pan was too small. Yours is bigger and will fit just fine."
ReplyDeleteI love that story! Thanks for reminding me of that one. It is certainly more pleasant than a story about tying up a poor cat.
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