The Parable Of The Cow: You Are Not Your Thoughts

A monk was walking through the marketplace with his disciples when they saw a man dragging a cow by a rope. The monk asked the man to wait and told his disciples to surround them.

“Let me teach you something,” he said. “Tell me, who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is the man bound to the cow?”

The disciples replied without hesitation: “Of course the cow is bound to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope. The cow has to follow him wherever he goes. The man is the master and the cow is the slave.”

“Now watch this,” said the monk. He took a small knife from a nearby greengrocer and cut the rope. The cow then ran away from the master who ran after it.

“Look at what is happening,” he smilingly said. “Do you see who the master is?
The cow is not interested at all in this man. In fact, the cow is trying to escape from the man.”



[*Adapted from a story I once read]
  

Free your mind! by Catrin Welz-Stein

The Parable of the Cow deals with the case of the thoughts in our minds. All the nonsense we carry inside is not interested in us. We, on the other hand, give it much attention. We love to identify with it and obsess about it until we become its slave.

The reality is, we are NOT our thoughts. We are conscious of them, while they are not conscious of us. They don’t sit around thinking about us and ruin their day and life; they barely even know us. It’s actually us who create them. It’s us who bring upon the nonsense.

Another significant difference between our Higher Self as opposed to our ego self ― the generator of thoughts ― is that the thoughts come and go. They are ephemeral, they are transient, they are temporary; just like the ocean waves, always in motion. We, are not. We are temporary only in the physical sense.
 
Yet, since most people identify with their ego, they tend to identify with their thoughts as well. They neurotically overthink while filling their heads with them all the time. Naturally, they go crazy trying to make sense of everything in their world; trying to always be in control ― by taming the cow with a rope. Their attachment to the thoughts work like a splinter in their brain which constantly disrupts their inner peace, leaving them unsettled, burdened, and consequently unhappy. When the mask is worn for too long whenever one is dealing with the outside world, they could start deluding themselves into believing that the mask is them just as they are the mask. Overthinking, however, remains a choice. Fortunately.
 

As long as we’ll get thoughts in our brain, as long as we are alive, then separating ourselves from them seems to be the path to wisdom and inner peace. You see, everything changes for the better once the thinker inside our heads is silenced, and instead we embrace the role of the observer. Perhaps not silenced in the sense of censored; because we need thinking, not overthinking, as much as we need not to censor ourselves much. That is, if we want to remain true to our inner being ― the director of our own saga.

Not having any control over our next thought, the evanescent stream of thoughts is ought to be merely observed. Without obsessions, compulsions, attachments, or identifications, we can carefully reflect upon the incoming content rather than act upon it in a reactionary, often-emotional fashion. Remember: Choosing not to be led by your emotions does not mean you’re cold or heartless; it means you’re wiser. Be reflective, not reactive.

As such, true awareness lies in the power of pure observation. It is our ability to observe through impartial eyes — without the corresponding thoughts and emotions; no analysis, judgment, evaluation, calculation, justification, expectation, or conceptualisation. Only then do we become aware in the full sense of the word.

Our thoughts, you see, are programmed to create interpretations of the outside world in the same way sensations create emotions. Imaginary ‘events’ then invade the mind. They create problems that never were and drain our energy, which is followed by worrying and overthinking about the imaginary scenarios. Such compulsion can potentially lead to a miserable loop of a life... or madness.

This whole process, however, can be observed through pure awareness. When you go higher than the nonsense our thoughts and emotions usually generate you end up by not taking part in it. In the same way an eagle rises above the storm; it does not actually run away from it, but rather, it uses its winds to soar upwards. A reason why the fuscous storms life occasionally throws at us can teach us how to fly.

With awareness and observation we come to learn how to detach from the thoughts and emotions. We learn how to simply allow them to flow through — unobstructed. Then we let go. This detachment, this equanimity is a fundamental preliminary for mastering the mind. For if you don’t master your mind, it will master you. Or, someone else may do it for you.

By Knowing Thyself we equally know we are not our thoughts nor emotions. The realisation lies in, again, becoming the observer of the observer who is aware of this separation.

To live in the present Here and Now entails becoming at peace and in harmony with the natural flow of the cosmos — synchronising with our ever-expanding universe. One Mind. One Consciousness. Satori. Nirvana. The Source. Pure Creative Energy. Pure Awareness. Other beings, who are naturally more in-tune than us Earthlings, tend to be drawn to your vibrating emanations. Be it a fruit fly or an elephant, energy does not speak language and it rarely ever lies.

 

The illuminating moment we separate ourselves from the thoughts is the moment we’ll lose interest in the garbage polluting our heads. Thereby understand the uselessness of our attachment to it. Only then, shall it all start to disappear... just like the cow ― it will escape and disappear.

The moral is, we do have the choice, the power, to let go of unwanted thoughts and achieve peace of mind. For in order to grow we must let go. It has no other way. Now cut that rope and set yourself free.

 

Theory of Mind: Thinking About Thinking and the Benefits of Observing the Observer is a more thorough exposé which came to follow several years later. Also, 
The Parable



 of the Nugget of Truth is another recent parable. 



*The featured photo was taken in late 2008 in Sri Lanka. Apparently a monk came to a slaughter farm to stop and to save cows from being killed. After he had done so, this white cow fell in front of the monk and prostrated to him. Prostration is a traditional way of paying respect between Buddhists and Sangha. Another view is that the cow was simply standing up when the capture was taken. Either way, it quite seems quite suitable to be added here.



ALSO VIEW:


The Parable



 of the Nugget of Truth

Theory of Mind: Thinking About Thinking and the Benefits of Observing the Observer

What Nomad Lions Can Teach Us About Growing Through Life 

On Love and Attachment  

Why We Should Not Fear Death 

Who Are We?

The Parable of the Elephant 

My Journey Towards Self-Transcendence

Unfollow The Crowd  

The Intertwining of Genius and Insanity 

Dealing with High Awareness and Empathic Accuracy 

The Significance of Letting Go 

Things I Got Rid Of To Become Happier

Codependency: What Being Addicted To Someone Means 

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