Something to think about

[Duskwaith]

Ill apologise for the grammar.

No there isnt a typo he put the shoes on his head. It sounds like most people are just blaming the story because they cant provide an answer.


dampascooch has given a good reason with his shoes on cats head thing.

 

[DSEZ]

i think he puts his shoes on his head to show that there is no reason to kill the cat just like there was no reason to but shoes on his head

 

[Jedamethis]

I know.
"You shouldn't kill the cat, because I have put my shoes on my head."

Because the head monk didn't want to kill that cat anyway, so any reason would do.
The other monks were probably looking for a deep, meaningful reason. Any one would have done.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

I know.
"You shouldn't kill the cat, because I have put my shoes on my head."

Because the head monk didn't want to kill that cat anyway, so any reason would do.
The other monks were probably looking for a deep, meaningful reason. Any one would have done.

Taking this a little further, anyone could have saved the cat but they were all convinced that the task was beyond them, so Kitty died because noone intervened in even the tiniest way, even though the tiniest intervention was all that was needed. [http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/a-fascinating-intersection-of-true-crime-psychology-and-media-misinformation/]

Domestic and feral cats are all utter sociopaths anyway, though.

 

[Brandon237]

What is this? What? No, seriously, what?

Amen to that, this makes no sense. If they use that to achieve a clear mind, what do they do to confuse people?

Poor cat, psychotic monk, monk who understands shoe speak of the psychotic monk, and an important lesson was learned by all...
...
...
[HEADING=2]WHAT?[/HEADING]

 

[PurpleSky]

Hey Escapists.

Me and my uncle where haveing a chat over philosphoical ideas etc. when he told me this storey.

There is a cat that is fed and tended two but two Buddhist temples, the cat makeing trips between each one for food and the like. One day the head monk of one of the temples grabs the cat and says "Give me one reason not to kill this cat" no one answers and he kills the cat.
Later on the head monks' top student arrives home and is angered to hear that the cat has been killed so he confronts the head monk. The head monk asks him "what reason should have stopped me killing?" The student then removes his shoes and places them on his head causing the head monk to exclaim "If only you were hear the cat would still be alive"

They are designed to make you think so Escapians tell me what do you think. Buddhist monks use these types of storys to achieve a clear mind and accept there is no clear answer

Enjoy ,its been on my mind for 2 days now.

It has no meaning,but it did get me thinking,interesting,got any more?

 

[Rarhnor]

I got it! BOTH of the temples' head monks should've killed the cat?

Or maybe, since there is no reason NOT to put your shoes on your head, there no reason NOT to kill the cat?

Yeah... And I'm supposed the be the forum stupid!

 

[Jonluw]

My initial thought was: There was no reason for me to put my shoes on my head, so there was no reason for you to kill the cat.

I like dampascooch's explanation better though. For some reason the thought of a cat carrying shit around is amusing to me.

 

[Danpascooch]

I corrected your original entry for spelling and grammar, I'd edit the OP

There is a cat that is fed and tended to by two Buddhist temples, the cat making trips between each one for food and the like. One day the head monk of one of the temples grabs the cat and says "Give me one reason not to kill this cat" no one answers and he kills the cat.
Later in the day the head monks' top student arrives home and is angered to hear that the cat has been killed so he confronts the head monk. The head monk asks him "what reason was there to not kill the cat?" The student then removes his shoes and places them on his head causing the head monk to exclaim "If only you were here the cat would still be alive"

These stories are just designed to make you think for no good reason. There isn't an answer that wouldn't just be pulled out of our ass' because it's a nonsense story. You could come up with ton's of metaphors like 'we're as lowly as the cat is' or maybe 'do you need a reason not ware shoes on your head?' or any kind of tripe.

But the truth is there isn't an answer because there isn't a question. It's just a nonsense statement. He could have put his pants on his head or wiped his arse with nettles. It doesn't matter because it has no real bearing on the story. It's just a forced ending trying to force the listener to search for an answer that doesn't exist.

Hardly a way to achieve mental clarity unless monks think that just ignoring every problem because you can't solve all of them is a good philosophy.

Actually, I think I found a bit of a funny answer that makes some sense.

With the cat traveling between the temples, they could have used him to transport small items (such as shoes) back and forth by attaching them to the cat's back, that's the reason not to kill him, he could have been used as a small beast of burden, and now they have to transport the stuff themselves! By putting his shoes on his head, he was saying "Hey dumb ass! We could have had the cat carry shit like this"

Lol

That's a bit of a strech even by wild metaphoric terms.... but I like it XD

It's the most practical reason I can think of, I don't buy the "Shoes on head has no point, so killing the cat has no point" because the story made a point of saying the cat traveled between the temples, why bother specifying that if the reason is: "Don't kill shit, killing shit is bad"?

 

[Danpascooch]

It's the most practical reason I can think of, I don't buy the "Shoes on head has no point, so killing the cat has no point" because the story made a point of saying the cat traveled between the temples, why bother specifying that if the reason is: "Don't kill shit, killing shit is bad"?

It never makes a point of telling you that any one other than the cat know this though. Like I said there is no point to the story other than to make you think. There is no correct answer and I think that's the answer you're supposed to draw from it. Any answer we could give is 100% made up because the story hasen't given us enough proof to draw a rational conclusion. Your story, although funny, is just 100% assumption on your part. If the cat had taken small items from temple to temple. (which I can see no reason for in the first place) Then it would have been mentioned.

It's just a nonsense story and not a very good one really.

Don't get me wrong, I think the story is stupid and pointless, but I'm saying that I think my explanation is the best so far because it uses more of the provided information than any of the others.

Also, the point was that they weren't using the cat to move stuff, but they could, that was the reason not to kill it.

 

[Sam Eskenazi]

Perhaps the inanity of the student's actions is a symbol that any reason is sufficient to not kill an innocent creature. That's really all I can think of.

Life is precious, and any reason's enough?

Edit: Ninja'd...

 

[Ph33onix]

Hey Escapists.

Me and my uncle where haveing a chat over philosphoical ideas etc. when he told me this storey.

There is a cat that is fed and tended two but two Buddhist temples, the cat making trips between each one for food and the like. One day the head monk of one of the temples grabs the cat and says "Give me one reason not to kill this cat" no one answers him and he kills the cat.
Later on the head monks' top student arrives home and is angered to hear that the cat has been killed. He confronts the head monk. The head monk asks him "what reason should have stopped me killing?" The student then removes his shoes and places them on his head causing the head monk to exclaim "If only you were hear the cat would still be alive"

They are designed to make you think so Escapians tell me what do you think. Buddhist monks use these types of storys to achieve a clear mind and accept there is no clear answer

Enjoy ,its been on my mind for 2 days now.

The answer is simple.

Because if you look a cat in the eye grass dances in the wind and shoes can sometimes save your life !

But really there is no logic in Buddhist stories, it's more of a self-interpretation and thought wave-length matching game.

 

[Duskwaith]

But really there is no logic in Buddhist stories, it's more of a self-interpretation and thought wave-length matching game.

Thank you. Your the only one who seems to understand this.

The story isnt meant to be a masterpiece its just to make one think, of course its stupid through a logical stand point so you have to look at it through an different point of view

 

[Jinjiro]

My interpretation is that the Buddhist head monk was testing his students to see how they value life, and most of them failed. The top student saw the futility in the act of killing the cat, as it harmed nobody, and so in return did the most futile and pointless act he could think of by putting his shoes on his head.

I do think the whole 'two temples' thing is a little misleading, but that's my opinion, and others have obviously made something else out of that fact.

*shrug*