Pigs In Zen

A white cow

A Monkey in Varanasi Airport

Cows on the street

For these past few days I have spent in India since sunday, I have noticed quite significant things. These started with our travel to Varanasi. From the moment I got off the plane, I knew something was different since I saw a monkey roaming the halls of the airport freely. It is not like I see monkeys in enclosed spaces everyday. As the day went on, I also went on to notice many weird things. Cows that block off the roads, stray dogs everywhere (even on piles of garbage) and goats stealing foods from the bazaar. These goats would tend to do the same thing in Turkey, and what would change? They would get kick and maybe even butchered. Here, it is not the same. When kicking goats is    strongly against your beliefs why would you want to do so?

Cows on the bank of River Ganges

Walking down the street to the River Ganges, I noticed that these animals are all peaceful; they are happy. Despite the hunger and the filth on the streets, they like the way they live, solely because humans treat them as they should be treated. Cows have a reason to be treated that way; they are sacred (which is a whole other story) but why treat goats and dogs the same way? Because on the contrary to everyone else in the world, these people actually believe in what their religions tell them to do. (I say religions because there is more than one prominent religion here in India.)

A dog near Buddha's first preaching place

These animals not only made me think, but they reminded me of a song: "Pigs in Zen" by Jane's Addiction. Now the content is not related to this but the name certainly reflects the idea in the India; this is the only place in the world where a pig can be as tranquil, happy and peaceful as a Zen Buddhist. Just as I was thinking of this I saw an image that supported my theory, I family of pigs was lying in the dirt looking around. Now, my mother had told me about these merry animals from her past experiences in India, but I certainly did not expect this. These pigs are truly in Zen.