J18 Matakabhatta Jataka -- The Goat that Laughed and Wept v230930

A wild goat which was about to be killed, both laughed and cried. Why did the wild goat act so strangely?

MORAL
Importance of abstaining from killing

READABILITY
Beginner

REFLECTION
Protection of one’s own life

In this story, we learned not to hurt or kill other beings, as killing brings about unwholesome causes and effects; this is the Law of Nature.

Is the effect of hurting or killing ourselves good or bad? Definitely, the answer is bad.

If our last thought before death is unwholesome, where do you think it will lead us? Can we be reborn as a human or in the heavenly realm? No, the unwholesome last-moment thought will land us in woeful realms. If we wish to gain happiness, it is important to abandon the ignorance of killing one’s own self or others as a means to solve problems. Cultivate meditation, when one progresses to the stage of seeing Dependent Origination, one will be able to see the causes and effects of rebirths; you will be able to see what caused your human birth; and you will realise that the effect of being reborn in wholesome realms were causes of wholesome mind and the effect of reborn in woeful realms were causes of unwholesome mind; You will understand that whatever is happening now is due to the past causes. As a result, you will be mindful as you react to challenges in life with a wholesome mind and create wholesome causes as much as possible.