Lessons of Compassion Learned from a Naughty Monkey
Known for its 5,000 temples, being Krishna’s divine playground and the widows of Vrindavan, the fourth thing Vrindavan is known for is its thieving monkeys. The roving gangs of primates that lurk behind hallowed temple pillars, jumping out at unsuspecting pilgrims, grabbing eyeglasses, cellphones, bags of garland offerings, any bag of anything, are notorious!
They love plastic bags that they can tear and spill the goods all over the ground. Meanwhile, your body is still spritzing adrenaline trying to figure out where the attack is coming from. Monkeys are good at ambush; the element of surprise, the run-by-grab-and-dash.
Monkeys are perhaps reincarnated beings who steal people’s eyeglasses. Hoping this will adjust their vision, and they will see the true spiritual beauty that is Vrindavan. The Vrindavan that transcends the everyday garbage and grime that we “see” in a dualistic material world.
Like taking chapatis from the blind
As you will see in the video. It happens so fast, I had to slow the video down to one tenth of the speed for you to even see the little bugger as he calculating steals from the blind.
My first thoughts were something like this:
(Edited for all ages)
“Oh, that naughty monkey! Stealing food from the blind couple! If I only had my slingshot, I’d get him good!”
A man ran after the monkey to give him a good kick in the butt, but the monkey was too fast!
Devin thought to pick up a stone and pelt the monkey. (He didn’t, but the thought crossed his mind.)
But the man in charge of the Seva, the charity bringing food to all denizens of Vrindavan, grabbed some more chapatis from his warm stack of buttered chapatis. He replenished the ones stolen from the old blind couple and then threw some more towards the monkey, clutching his stolen flat breads.
“We feed everybody, dogs, cows, monkeys and people. Anybody who is hungry, we feed. We do not decide nor discriminate. All who are hungry shall eat.”
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth. Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40
Wow!
And I thought I was doing pretty well working on compassionate. This reminded me I have still a long way to go.
My heart fills with ugly thoughts of
“Mine versus yours.”
“This person is deserving but this person is not.”
The dualistic nature of our material world.
Jesus said, whenever you feed or clothe someone who is overlooked, deemed unworthy, you have served ME.
We are not called to judge, we are called to love our neighbor with all our heart, mind and soul.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, a true yogi or enlightened person recognizes God in everything and everybody and acts accordingly.
Not to condone stealing but still have compassion for all
Not that I condone stealing, nor did the charity passing out food. But they understood the monkey deserved to be fed as well, that all sentient beings have a need for your compassion and understanding, not judgement.
If you have food, then feed them. If you have extra change in your pocket, give it to them.
This one act of compassion woke me up to a lack of compassion in my heart. It has prompted me to be more mindful of opportunities. To show compassion for living beings, and not judge based on a capricious dualistic material system of me deciding the worthiness or unworthiness of their right, their need for kindness and compassion or food.
Developing Compassion and Kindness Towards All Sentient Beings
There are several steps that can be taken to strengthen your compassion. One is daily metta meditation. I’ve provided some resources below that I use. Daily mediation on compassion, as per Buddhist metta mediation, is very helpful. And though I fall short, missing the mark, I’ve still come a long way in the compassionate department!
Developing Compassion is a matter of Neuroplasticity – Daily CONSCIOUS Choices add up over time to new ways of thinking, leading to behavioral changes.
Another approach to developing compassion is to look at it as a conscious choice governed by the universal law of cause and effect. When we consciously choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the resulting karma for us will be happiness and success. That’s just how the universe works. Since the law of cause and effect governs the base or root (Muladhara) chakra or energy center in our body, listening to your body and the feelings it generates from your root chakra will give you a pretty good idea when you are not acting in the best interests of your karmic outcome going forward.
Choose Compassion – it only makes good karmic sense!
Red is the color associated with the root chakra, so carrying something red or wearing a red mala will help strengthen this chakra and keep the energy flowing. When you consciously choose compassion, the karma that comes back to you is compassion. There may be a time in the future when you have need of compassion and it will be given to you as you gave.
The true yogi, with his heart centered in ME, recognizes the self in all beings, and acts accordingly. Bhagavad Gita 6:29
My Recommendations
If you are on Insight Timer, I recommend Ajahn Achelo or Adam Mizner, both give lectures with profound insights on compassion. Ajahn Achelo also does guided meditations on compassion or metta.
Adam Mizner
Adam gives great insight into compassion and all Buddist teachings on Insight Timer. I see he also has a website, but looks like a course for sale. Check him out on Insight Timer and if you want more, you can purchase his course. I’m sure it’s great teachings.
Ajahn Achelo
One of my all time favorites on Insight Timer. He has some lectures on Compassion and also guide mediations for all levels. Find him on Insight Timer, or here are links to his FREE lectures and mediations on his website:
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