Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Cow Mind

A Swiss Braunvieh cow wearing a cowbell (Wikipedia)

        When you have "cow mind", then decide if you can eat cow. This thought occurred to me last night. I'm not vegetarian, but I am very curious about the mindfulness of eating. Rather than speaking of plants and animals as commodity, what if we related to them as the parts of the greater whole that we all are? There are numerous thinkers and teachers who can give more comprehensive, exhaustive reasoning, but I'm just thinking out loud here. If we really entered into communion with the life around us, what differences would there be in us and the world we inhabit? Is it possible to recognize the consciousness of our fellow inhabitants? Is it possible to know/have cow mind, dog mind, flower mind, tree mind, rock mind? How does one enter into this practice?