What has happened to us when we no longer have the capacity to feel the suffering of others, people or animals, when we are so disassociated we have no capacity for empathy? Or when we find ourselves horrified but totally incapable of taking sacred action, when the task feels too big to do alone?
How can we take a wild elephant that is so utterly majestic and honoured as a God in India and then reduce it to an enslaved pseudo-Laksmi beggar? I’m not sure what hurt the most, whether it was seeing the grotesque spectacle of a beautifully adorned and painted elephant with silver anklets robotically performing his ‘divine’ routine or seeing the European tourists so asleep and happily taking photos on a Sunday afternoon day out? People delighted as this magnificent creature took their money and as if by magic, then blessing them with his trunk on their head. So many smiles, so much laughter while I sobbed uncontrollably. Each person was taken in by the elephant’s blessing, feeling special, desperately hoping for Lakshmi’s abundant gifts to be bestowed on them. This was what mattered, their illusion and ego aggrandisement that here was Lakshmi actually blessing their lives and making possible some more abundance in their lives. I wanted to scream and say that forcing a wild animal to perform some kind of fake divine ceremony was nothing short of obscene. Why couldn’t they see what I saw, it was so obvious, the cruel man was not hidden, he was close by the elephant for all to see? I was watching and yet stunned, frozen in shock. I kept turning to my partner to see if he saw what I did and yet nothing happened. Somehow I was expecting that others would all rise up with me, that we could make a stand. Yet everyone was taking photos, everyone laughing on their day out? I was in shock, helpless, transported back to my childhood, my own memories of having to perform, of being at the mercy of others for what they required of me. I was enraged at the injustice and yet speechless not knowing what to do. Somehow I was transfixed watching the cruel man at the back with the stick shouting clear instructions to the elephant to not step out of line, hitting his back leg at regular intervals and when this didn’t fully work, jabbing him viciously into the side of the mouth as a torturous reminder to stay in line. Yet I didn’t take action and I have to forgive myself for this as I left broken and heart broken. I did nothing, except to feel so deeply the injustice of the situation and fall into despair as no-one saw the obscene reality which was the elephant’s real existence. No-one was seeing the insanity, betrayal and slavery taking place in the guise of a devotional ceremony. No-one was seeing beneath the glamorous surface or recognising that the elephant’s apparent divine blessings were entirely because he had no option to comply or be abused. Whenever he delayed with passing the money, he was punished. All that mattered was the fun and narcissistic pleasure to be had. Animals are not here for our deluded pleasure. They are all sacred and none more than the elephant, Ganesh? I wonder what I might have done differently if I had held my inner child safely and allowed the divine to come through instead of freezing in shock? If I had managed to ask for guidance and strength in the moment in order to be in sacred service........(later this happened in India thank the Goddess...)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories |