 Prepareable of the Ritual Cat There once was a great monastery high up in the mountains of Tibet. One day, when the spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, the cat who lived in the monastery started making noise. So much noise, in fact, that it completely distracted them so the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice so that they could meditate in peace. Years later, when the teacher died, the practice of tying up the cat continued during their meditation sessions. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and was tied up during their meditations. Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treaties about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice. The parable of the Ritual Cat is a story about the questioning of authority and rituals. Today, there are endless number of rituals, beliefs, and ideas about the world that extend back into ancient times. But how many of these are actually our own and not someone else's that have been passed on to us? This parable highlights our attitude to authority and the ever-pervading belief that just because someone isn't expert in something doesn't mean that they're right 100% of the time. Logically speaking, the monks could have just let the cat out and shut the door when meditating, which would probably have been much better for the cat. But because their learned master made the decision, later monks attributed great significance to an event that they weren't even around to see or understand why. This parable reminds me of an old children's game, telephone, where you would whisper something into someone's ear and then the message would be passed along from one kid to the next. By the time it got to the last child, the message would generally be very different from how it was when it started. Perhaps this is how silly superstitions develop. You've probably heard the phrase, all myths have some element in truth, or there's no smoke without fire, which say that there's always a cause and origin story to our favorite myths, but over time they get distorted as they are passed from one generation to the next. Eventually, you'll have a generation of people who believe something entirely different from what it used to be. There's also something to be said for interpreting ancient traditions from a modern perspective. We should always remember that way back in the old days, when many of our legends and traditions developed, society was very different. Morality and social dynamics were considered differently, and people lived fundamentally different kinds of lives. Just because a tradition developed a thousand years ago, doesn't always mean that it will work today without going through, perhaps at least, a little bit of change. This story always makes me wonder how many seemingly spiritual or mystical traditions actually began as practical solutions to some everyday problem. A funny example is found in the British Iron Age, where for years archeologists thought the position of the door and entrance in roundhouses was because of some spiritual or mystical reason in their mythology. Linguists even spent years looking for symbolism with evil texts until someone had the very bright idea that by looking at where the central fire and livestock would have been in the village, most of the doors were just facing the other way to avoid the smell of the cows and the smoke from the fire. I think the most important takeaway from this parable then is to always question your beliefs and try to adapt them with the times. Always think about the reason you're doing things and if it makes sense to you. And while there is something to be said about experts who have devoted their lives to their field, remember to trust yourself as the highest authority in your own beliefs. I think a lot of us live our whole lives like this. We do this and that over and over without really thinking about the significance or meaning of it. And if we actually stopped to look at some of our traditions, we might see that someone or something always suffers from unnecessary superstitious behavior. Take black cats for example. There's a common superstition that if one crosses your path, it's often considered bad luck. But in parts of Europe and England, it's apparently good luck. How many black cats have missed out on adoption because people just thought they were unlucky? Ultimately, this story is far more about the failings of people than rituals, cats, or scholars.