Compassion and Suffering...

I had a sad little lesson in the tenderness of life the other day, involving a very small adorable animal.

You see, a couple of my houseplants had been dug-thru recently – uprooting my baby basil and goji berry plants I was overwintering inside. Nibbled 'em right up, digging up their roots even!

Having seen a friend deal with mice before, I knew they can be trouble – and immensely hard to eradicate if you've got a family of 'em… So I went right out and bought some traps and peanut butter. Yup, the death kind. Snap.

Only thing, , I didn't actually hear it when it went off at 5 in the morning – not until there was a strange scratching sound on the wall only a foot away from my bed, that is. Puzzled, I listened, and then bolted up to turn on the light. And yes, right behind one of my bedside books is a frazzled little mouse dragging a trap along…!!

Oh dear, not dead?! This presents a whole new spin – now what?! So I quickly catch him up in a large tupperware and proceed to look at the poor little thing. Whatever should I do?! He'll probably die soon, but can I know that? Should I…? I can't imagine drowning him, or otherwise doing the deed…

I finally decide to simply throw him in the trash in the alleyway outside – it's freezing out, and I'm sure he'll pass quickly. I hope.

All this time, one of my songs, "Kali's Army," is running through my head. Kali, of course, being the liberator – often tied to death. But usually when we pray to her, we think of death metaphorically – death of the ego liberating us from our suffering…

Kali, bless her heart, probably would have bludgeoned the little beast – liberating him quickly so he could be at peace.

I fall asleep, restlessly, and awake to check on 'im – yup, he's passed – thank f*c%in God! And my little home is safe from pests, for now…

Later that night, I'm at a friend's concert. He chants to Tara, goddess of Compassion. My heart fills with the thought of the little mouse, saddened at his untimely end. But it is this sadness, this filling my heart with his being, and accepting the depth of my deed, that allows me to release it. In loving, comes freedom…

Beginning the day with Kali, the liberator, ending with Tara, a heart full of compassion…