Tiger, Tiger, Turning Light?

Thought for the day:  I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. [Unknown origin. This quote has been attributed to many different people.]

[wikipedia]

KUNG HEI FAT CHOY!

Nope, that wasn't an insult. It just means Happy Chinese New Year! 

In Oriental cultures, there are twelve animal signs, similar to the Zodiac, and  in a cyclical twelve-year pattern, each year is designated for one of these animals. This new year, which began on February 8, is a Year of the Monkey. The Chinese associate certain qualities to each animal, and by extension, to people who are born within the year of a certain animal. Alas, I regret to inform you, I was born in the year of the rat. (sigh)

[wikipedia]

But I'm not gonna write about the monkey... or the rat. No, let's pretend this is 2022, the next Year of the Tiger... the breathtakingly beautiful, exquisitely powerful, and sadly endangered tiger.

And about Wat Pha Luang, a Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, more commonly referred to as the Tiger Temple. The temple was founded in 1994 as a sanctuary for wild animals, and in 1999, the first injured tiger cub, whose parents had been killed by poachers, was brought there. That first cub died, but over the years, more and more cubs were brought to the temple, where they were raised by the monks.

[wikipedia]

As of January, 2016, there were more than 150 tigers living at the temple, where they are said to be tame, and are treated like members of the family. One monk has said that the tigers had changed... they are now Buddhists, and live lives of peace and tranquility.

wikipedia]

Photographs abound of the tigers and the monks who care for them.

[wikipedia]

The tigers are apparently docile, and at peace with the humans around them. What's more? The temple is open to tourists, and for a fee, they can be photographed with the tigers.






The more pictures I saw of this amazing place, and the more I read about the peaceable tigers, the more I thought about this painting:

The Peaceable Kingdom, by Edward Hicks [wikipedia]

 And this familiar Bible verse: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and  little child shall lead them. [Isaiah 11:6]

[wikipedia]

And I thought, WOW! Wouldn't it be amazing to be photographed with an honest-to-goodness TIGER??? To pet it, hug it, cuddle it? I mean... WOW! How wonderful!

Or is it?

Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals "love" them, but those who respect their nature and wish to let them live normal lives love them more. [Edwin Way Teale]

[morguefile]

Animal activists have long claimed that the tigers at that monastery are mistreated for commercial gain. Donations from tourists for the privilege of being photographed with these docile animals bring in one hundred million baht per year. (equivalent to more than two and three quarter million dollars.)

Since 2008, six to twenty cubs have been needed every three months to keep up with the cuddle-and-photograph demand. To meet that demand, the monks employ a process known as speed breeding, in which newborn cubs are taken away from their mothers, which forces the mothers to go into heat again. To what end? Each female can have two litters per year, as opposed to one litter every two years, as in the wild.

Accusations have been made that the tigers are drugged and chained so closely to the ground, they can't even stand up... that their claws and teeth are sometimes removed, and the tendons in their wrists clipped so they can't swat or run quickly. Even worse, allegations have been made that some are raised, only to be sold for canned hunts. The tigers are all supposed to be chipped, but supposedly, some of the chips have deliberately been removed, and those un-chipped animals have mysteriously disappeared. On January 21 of this year, National Geographic filed a report, accusing the monks of tiger smuggling, and illegal wildlife trade. Despite all of the investigations and allegations made over the years, so far, the Tiger Temple continues to operate with immunity, arguably protected because it is a Buddhist monastery. But that may change.

                                                           [by William Blake]
                                                         Tiger, tiger, burning bright,
                                           In the forests of the night;

                                                         What immortal hand or eye,
                                                         Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

                                                         In what distant deeps or skies
                                                         Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
                                                         On what wings dare he aspire?
                                                         What the hand dare seize the fire?

                                                         And what shoulder, and what art
                                                         Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
                                                         And when thy heart began to beat,
                                                         What dread hand? And what dread feet?

                                                         What the hammer? What the chain,
                                                         In what furnace was thy brain?
                                                        What the anvil? What dread grasp,
                                                        Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

                                                        When the stars threw down its spears
                                                        And water'd heaven with their tears:
                                                        Did he smile his work to see?
                                                        Did he who made the lamb make thee?

                                                       Tiger, tiger, burning bright;
                                                       In the forests of the night:
                                                      What immortal hand or eye,
                                                       Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

                                Are those tigers burning bright? Or are they... turning light?
                                                 And more importantly, is it... right?

                                   Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.