The holy man and his cat?

Question

once upon a time a holy man owned a cat whom he loved a lot and took the cat with him to the temple and tied it near the alter ok.

A few years later the cat died and the holy man found another cat as a pet and did the same by taking it to the temple and tying it near the alter.

A few years later the man died and the next man who took over from him felt sorry for the cat and adopted it and did the same by tying it near the alter

This story continued and 300 years down the track it was the same. There was a temple, a holy man , a tied up cat and a congregation.

in other words the followers could not worship their god without the presense of a tied up cat. and no one knew how this tied up cat happened to be a part of the service either

now dont you think this applies to religion as well?

xmuslim / free thinker

Answer 1

What the hell are you going on about?

Answer 2

It cuts both ways... and it's found in almost every field of human activity, not just religion.

"During World War II, British engineers analyzed films of artillery crews to improve efficiency. The films showed gun commanders raising their right arms, clenching their fists, and pulling forward just prior to giving the firing order. Baffled, the engineers questioned the officers about the purpose of this seemingly superfluous action. None of the officers could give a cogent explanation. Probing further, the engineers showed the films to artillery instructors. Immediately, a veteran instructor figured out the significance of the raised arm. "They are holding the horses," he said, meaning that in the days when horses pulled artillery pieces, crew commanders would grab the reins to prevent the horses from running away when a gun fired... Long after artillery pieces began to be towed by trucks and jeeps, artillery commanders continued to "hold the horses" before firing their guns."

But sometimes the meaning of a ritual or superstition can be lost, and the meaning was important.

The traditions concerning the hunting of Siberian marmots were ignored by Chinese cashing in on this resource in the early 1900's, with the result that thousands of poor Chinese died in the ensuing outbreaks of bubonic plague.

"The hunter will never shoot a marmot that doesn't give the alarm call, as this natural response is not given by creatures infected with the plague. Moreover he'll never eat an animal that he's found already dead or could catch and kill with his bare hands."

A folk wisdom or tradition that mattered.

Answer 3

Senita
This is a somewhat amusing scenario that gives mental graphic to a view WHY persons should be VERY conscience of the importance placed on "ritual" within the context of their own personal relationship with God !!
Religion is and always HAS been -- VERY much influenced and shaped BY mankind -- and for that major fact alone should be viewed with understanding that -- in things Spiritual -- any and all alterations to the purest of content at core -- is a major leap away from the absolute center OF God's Will !!
And, there is a gigantic difference between religion --- and spirituallity !! So, in one's own search for the center of God's Will for themselves, on a personal basis --- they must be Very Careful not to be concentrating too much on the manmade, rituallistic window-dressings OF religion or they could VERY easily miss the Will of God completely for their undue attentions to "taking care of ---- the cat " !!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

Yep! I sure do--another classic example is the "Pachal Mystery" of the Catholic faith. A really strange ritual indeed, wherein a host is dipped three times into a holy water font, and then this litany that mentions deer is spoken over it--bizzare--yes! And how does a ritual serve any purpose, when the followers of a faith do not understand it's significance???.... got me.

Answer 5

I observed a fat previous guy in overalls sitting on an overturned bucket via the edge of the line. He had a black cat that became no longer tied up; it sat in front of him and walked around him and did no longer pass away him. i assume all of us could learn how to untie the cat.

Answer 6

She is stating that maybe we follow traditions and worship in particular ways because we constantly saw others doing this and assumed it was the way it had to be done.

Another story similar to that is my wife cooking chicken.

Every time my wife went to bake a chicken, she would cut it in half. I asked her, "Why do you cut the chicken in half when you bake it?" , her response was

"That is how my mother always did it."

"Why did your mother do it?"

"I don't know..."

After dinner, we called her mother and she answered, that is how her mother always cooked the chicken. We got a hold of her grand mother, a sweet old lady at the ripe age of 94, (she will drink you under the table and knows more about horror movies than any other person I know), answered "The oven I got is too short to allow the whole bird in, so I always cut it in half...."

Answer 7

Naweed, is this not similar you to constantly stating your a woman and an ex Muslim in the hope that if you say it for long enough someone is actually going to believe you?

No ex Muslim, no free thinker. Poor boy.

Answer 8

Yes, I get the analogy. Your right. Religion is based on history and the man made philosophies (mostly). Dogma. I agree. If more would get in tune with their spirituality, I think more would be more excepting of all human beings.

Answer 9

there is no "holy" man that have 50 % attention to a cat and 50 % attention to God. And why don't he just leave the cat home?
There are no holy men in this world.

Answer 10

Do you mean ex-muslim, which menas you have given up on it?

Yeah, religion has some pretty silly traditions, that perhaps are misinterpreted or taken up as important and really shouldnt be or something.

Answer 11

That is a Buddhist story and the way I heard it was an adherent asked the monk 'Why do we tie up the cat?' and the answer was...'that is how it always has been'...