Before the Buffalo Fighting Festival

The red dirt arena swirled with dust, shouts and gongs ringing through the air. Two buffaloes crashed into each other again and again, blood splattering everywhere. The wind carried the smell of straw and fresh blood. The crowd pressed close around the arena, eyes gleaming.

"Fight on! Whoever's buffalo wins takes the money!"

A man beside him shouted over the beating of the drums.

He stood outside the fence, watching the scene. Before him, the winning buffalo stood exhausted while the loser lay sprawled on the ground. People carried the carcass away, knives flashing, the meat laid out for sale. He thought: "What should I make of this?"

Someone whispered:

"I wonder if there's betting. Which one should I pick to win?"

Another said:

"Fighting buffalo meat is strong and healthy. Good to buy and eat for strength."

He shook his head. Then he asked his own heart: "What do I see?" He gave rise to a third thought:

"Is this culture really beautiful? It only breeds ferocity in the young. May there be no more festivals like this."

An older man beside him nodded:

"True, it teaches children to fight."

He thought more deeply: "In a past life, who were these two buffaloes that they became fighting buffaloes? Surely the one who organizes this will end up in the same pen, butting heads, in his next life." Then a fifth thought suddenly arose in him, and his heart softened:

"May the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) cover the whole world. May buffaloes be free from the karma of killing, and may people cease their strife. I recite the Buddha's name, praying that these two may be free from their karma."

He stood in silence, quietly reciting the Buddha's name, then turned away. A cold wind blew past, and his heart felt light and at ease.

The turning point: amid the intoxicated crowd, he chose thoughts of compassion and cause and effect (karmic law), redrawing his own soul through noble intentional thinking.

From then on, whenever he encountered something contrary to reason and virtue, he practiced giving rise to that fifth thought. His mind/heart grew peaceful, and his face brightened amid a life full of conflict.

The meaning of the story

When we encounter events, we create thoughts. Low thoughts are greedy and fierce; high thoughts see cause and effect (karmic law) and give rise to compassion. Like the story of Intentional Thinking, thoughts differ according to wisdom, but turning toward goodness is what beautifies the soul.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang