Psalm 119
73 You created me
and put me together.
Make me wise enough to learn
what you have commanded.
74 Your worshipers will see me,
and they will be glad
that I trust your word.
75 Your decisions are correct,
and you were right
to punish me.
76 I serve you, Lord.
Comfort me with your love,
just as you have promised.
Ecclesiases 9
11 Here is something else I have learned:
The fastest runners
and the greatest heroes
don’t always win races
and battles.
Wisdom, intelligence, and skill
don’t always make you healthy,
rich, or popular.
We each have our share
of bad luck.
12 None of us know when we might fall victim to a sudden disaster and find ourselves like fish in a net or birds in a trap.
World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon
Chapter 4
God’s Creation and Human Creativity
Reverence for Life
2. The Sacred Cow
The cows have come and brought us good
fortune,
may they stay in the stall and be pleased with us;
may they live here, mothers of calves,
many-colored,
and yield milk for Indra on many dawns…
They are not lost, nor do robbers injure them, nor
the unfriendly frighten, nor wish to assail them;
the master of cattle lives together long
with these, and worships the gods and offers
gifts.
The charger, whirling up dust, does not reach
them,
they never take their way to the slaughtering
stool,
the cows of the worshipping man roam about
over the widespread pastures, free from all
danger.
To me the cows are Bhaga, they are Indra,
they [their milk] are a portion of the first-
poured Soma.
These that are cows are Indra, O people!
the Indra I long for with heart and spirit.
Ye cows, you fatten the emaciated,
and you make the unlovely look beautiful,
make our house happy, you with pleasant
lowings,
your power is glorified in our assemblies. 4
Rig Veda 6.28 (Hinduism)
Behold this buffalo, O Grandfather, which You
have given us.
He is the chief of all four-leggeds upon our
Sacred Mother.
From him the people live and with him they
walk the sacred path.
Sioux Prayer (Native American Religion)
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
When I was a boy living in the country, I used to hate to feed the cows. The cows know when it is lunchtime. But I didn’t want to stop playing, so I said to myself, “Cows, wait 30 minutes,” and then continued playing for another hour or two. The cows waited for me, wondering, “Where is our master, the one who was supposed to bring us in?” If I had been a cow whose master came very late, I would have gotten angry and become violent. Yet when I arrived, the cows just looked at me without saying a word. Then I thought, “Oh cows, you are great! I’m sorry.” That happened many times.
I then realized, “Cows are better than me,” and I said to them, “Now that I know that you have an aspect greater than me, I will feed you a great deal and atone for my shortcomings.” I kept feeding them until after sunset. The cows continued to eat because their master was feeding them.
Like this, I learned many things from cows. Cows sometimes appear great and kingly as they lie in the burning sunlight on a midsummer’s day, shedding sweat and looking over the remote mountains, meditating calmly.
This is why people all over the world like to eat cow meat, not the meat of dogs or tigers. In those days toothbrushes were made of cow bone. Every part of the cow was utilized. Nothing was discarded; even their manure was used as fertilizer. Therefore everything about a cow is good.
(109:40-41, October 26, 1980)