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Story · Ajahn Brahm

The cow that cried

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Expanding Your Views | Ajahn Brahm | 18 April 2008

3 min read

Content note: animal slaughter described; child stabbing and violent upbringing; prisoner who confessed to killings — private person, not named

The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

there was a prisoner over there who came to see me after I gave a a a talk on meditation. He wanted a private interview because he was very upset that he was a slaughterer in that prison, and he was about to slaughter a cow. All the cows would be screaming and hollering and trying to escape, but one cow came in which didn't quiet which didn't quiet at all, which came in I I'm going to tell the story now. I've already started. Of all the cows and the sheep and other animals which this guy had to slaughter, that was his job in Carnat Prison Farm. He was a prisoner. He was a murderer, actually, he told me. And now he got this job of killing cows and sheep, the slaughterer. He said, "All the animals who came in would always cry and struggle to escape. They needed dogs and these electric shock cattle prods to force them into the enclosure into the place where the executioner stood with his electric bolt gun. And he said that every animal would always scream and try and escape. He said on this one day this cow came in without making any noise, head down, and just walked one foot after another slowly and positioned itself voluntarily to stand underneath the platform where its executioner stood. And this cow this cow then lifted its head and looked this prisoner in the eye. Straight eye contact. This was so weird, so unusual, that this man, who was born in Northern Ireland, he told me that he was stabbed when he was 7 years of age. That was his first stabbing. When the school bully came up to him and asked for the money he had for his lunch. He said, "No." And the school bully took out a knife. "Give me your lunch money." He said no a second time. The bully never asked a third time, but plunged the knife into this boy's arm. He was badly wounded with blood streaming down his arm. His first thought was to run to his home, which was just around the corner, where his father was unemployed. He ran into his house, screamed to his father, "I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed!" His father looked at the wound and took him into the kitchen, but not to dress his wound, but to take out another knife from the kitchen drawer, give it to his 7-year-old son, and ordered the son, "Go back into the school and stab the boy back." And he said that was how he was brought up. And that's why he'd been in prison many times. And he confessed to me that he'd killed people. He was a murderer. And now he was killing cows. When you find out where these people come from, their upbringing, sometimes your view of these people as bad people just disappears. Your whole perception of them changes. You think about them in a different way. But anyway, with the cow, as this cow got eye contact with this prisoner, the prisoner couldn't move. He was frozen. He'd never seen such a thing before. He couldn't pull the gun to execute the cow. He didn't know how many minutes passed by, but then something very strange happened. He noticed in the left eye of the cow, just above the lower eyelid, there was liquid welling up, getting more and more and more. And you all know how big cows' eyes are. The water got so much above the left eyelid, bottom eyelid of the cow, that it started to drip over the edge and down the cow's cheek. The cow was crying. He got so confused. Soon he noticed the same was happening in the other eye. On the lower eyelid of the right eye, there was more water coming until that too was far too much for the eyelid to hold. And that too started to stream over the right eyelid and down the cow's cheek. The cow was crying. He swore, threw down the gun, and told and said, "That cow ain't dying." When he came to see me, he said he was now a vegetarian. Here's a murderer who is now a vegetarian cuz he saw a cow cry.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 28:48 (to 34:10)

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A prisoner who slaughtered animals at a prison farm watched a cow walk in silently, meet his eyes and cry. He threw down the gun and became a vegetarian. Ajahn Brahm saw a murderer soften. Our labels for people and animals blind us to their feelings. Look more widely, and compassion grows.

In brief (our summary)

After a meditation talk at Karnet Prison Farm, a prisoner — a murderer, born in Northern Ireland — asks to see Ajahn Brahm. His prison job is slaughtering animals; they always scream and have to be forced in with dogs and cattle prods. One day a cow walks in silently, head down, positions itself under his platform and looks him straight in the eye. He freezes. Then tears well up in the cow's left eye and roll down its cheek, then the right. He swears, throws down the gun: 'That cow ain't dying.' He is now a vegetarian. Inside the story he also tells how, stabbed by a bully at seven, his unemployed father handed him a kitchen knife and sent him back to stab the boy — that was how he was brought up.

Teaching point

When you see where people come from, the label 'murderer' falls away; and even a 'walking beefsteak' has feelings. Widen your view.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Expanding Your Views | Ajahn Brahm | 18 April 2008 · 2008-05-24 · ▶ watch from 28:48 to 34:10 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

7 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Carnat Prison Farm' = Karnet Prison Farm.

The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version

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