Importance of Gratitude
(Venerable Ledi Sayâdaw)
Even animals have gratitude for their mothers and feeders. They show love and gratitude when food is given to them. Even wild animals become tame if people feed them with kindness. They love their benefactors and show loyalty and devotion. It is strange that meat-eaters do not love cows— showing them no civility. It is remarkable that meat-eaters do not show gratitude even though they eat the flesh of animals. Yet animals show love and gratitude to human-beings. They do not receive kindness and gratitude in return, even though they serve the people. Human-beings do not show much humanity.
Even the factors of gratitude, love, and compassion can arise in fierce animals such as lions, tigers, snakes etc., who live in the wild. Those who live in the villages become tame and show gratitude toward human beings. Yet these three virtues are often absent among the people. Buddhists should display these three factors of goodness. Those who live by the labour of animals must cultivate the three good factors habitually.
Those who have little faith but plenty of delusion, differentiate between high and low-class persons in the matter of gratitude for benefits received. Their minds are not clear and steady. Thus they will often acknowledge and speak in praise of gratitude received from high-class persons, though the amount is small. They exaggerate the facts to honour people in high positions in an ingratiating way. The high-ranking person is praised out of all proportion. A dignified person is acknowledge with thanks a thousand-fold, although the deed is small, wild hyperboles are made by fools to those of high-status.
Fools do not show any appreciation when they receive help from low-class persons and beings, even though the benefit is great. They belittle the amount of benefit received. A thousand pounds worth of benefit is reduced to only twenty-five. Sometimes they totally ignore the help received from others. If their benefactors lack position, power, wealth, etc., they show even less gratitude. They dismiss the debt of gratitude that is due, concealing the benefit received. They do not help their benefactors when they are in need. They now shun them. They are glad when their benefactor dies because they do not want to repay their debt.
So the gratitude owed to animals is often denied. One seldom reflects on or acknowledges one's debts to animals, not even to the smallest extent. As cows have no status, being dumb animals, people neglect to show any gratitude. The virtue of gratitude therefore diminishes, promoting vanity and folly among mankind, and callousness spreads. People become partial towards the upper class and biased against those of lower class. Dignified persons receive undeserved praise and exaggerated gratitude, while low-class benefactors are belittled, or totally ignored. Because it imparts righteousness, the importance of gratitude even towards trees was taught by the Buddha. The Pali text “Yassa rukkhassa sayara” teaches us to preserve gratitude even for non-sentient things like trees. People should not destroy trees as they enjoy shelter under them. People should not say unkind words. This is the teachings of the bodhisattas and the Buddhas. They habitually practise this virtue.
Among the various good deeds deserving gratitude, the giving of sustenance ranks in the highest class. So man owes gratitude to cows in the same way as to parents. Cows are like our fathers and mothers. It is very strange that man, having enjoyed the services of animals at will, still delights in eating their flesh. Old cows are killed or sent to slaughter-houses. The gratitude that is prevalent among animals is absent among mankind. People lack genuine faith, and hold wrong views to the fullest extent. It is hard to realise the truth of gratitude. Seeing meat-eaters, one can know their lack of loving-kindness and compassion. Lacking loving-kindness and compassion, they discard also a sense of gratitude, a fundamental characteristic to become a good person.
Love and Compassion
When gratitude arises, love and compassion are sure to follow in its wake. Seeing meat, one will see the flesh of ones' own parents. Cows' flesh is comparable to the flesh of one's own brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Visions of one's parents will appear in the mind. So instead of eating, one will certainly cry. One will not touch beef. Since past thankfulness reappear now. This is the way of a good person's heart and conduct.
On the other hand, if owners use the labour of draught animals, and then eat their flesh, the honour and dignity of animals is reduced to the lowest order. Although man owes limitless gratitude to cows, not the least acknowledgement appears. Man's lust for eating meat overwhelms all gratitude. When one remembers how the Buddha honoured the Tree of Enlightenment for seven days by showing his gratitude, such behaviour towards cows becomes incomprehensible. The depth of folly is unfathomable, if ingratitude reigns supreme.