Phone Photography: feeding stray cats and kittens at Yannawa temple in Bangkok.

Some cats were so good at spotting my car. Two black cats would be running from their hiding places under parked cars to greet me. I was quite afraid they might get under my car before I had properly parked in the available space. It’s quite tricky sometimes to find a parking space so I had to park in front of the Buddhist School without any permission. I hoped the monks could recognise my car and knew that I would be there for about two hours to feed all the stray cats. Luckily, I hadn’t been chased away from that spot so far; it was my emergency parking spot.

As soon as I got out of my car, a small black cat would be all over my leg making it very difficult to move without tripping. They knew the drill, they had to wait for me to pull out all the dishes with dry food. They would wait for me to put some wet food into each dish before they started to eat. They have become picky and refused to eat plain dry food. They thought it was my duty to mix the wet food properly with those dry biscuits. When the biscuits didn’t have enough wet food, they would look at me and told me to add some more with their facial expressions. They became quite spoiled but I hoped that when time got tough, they wouldn’t be so choosy.

When I arrived in early afternoon, these cats were still sleeping in various places. So I had to call them, they would walked slowly towards me wondering why I arrived while the sunshine was still very hot. But it was nice to see the temple in strong daylight with blue sky for a change. These temple cats have become very tame and friendly as we had know each other over the years. I couldn’t have possibly continue to feed all these cats without the generous donation from my old friend. These cats were so lucky to have a kind sponsor. I had invited my friend to join me at the temple to feed these cats, but she was too busy with her business. I showed her the cats’ photos from time to time.

I thought that her good karma had some unintended consequences on her living condition. She happened to have a very good cook who could respond to any request or difficult menus. My friend enjoyed eating delicious food so much that she had put on more than ten kilos! We, Buddhists, believed that if we made merits or good karma by offering food to monks or those hungry animals, we would never go hungry. My friend seemed to have very good result as this cook was very eager to fulfil all the lists of my friend’s favourite food. I had told her to fast in the evening or just have some fruits. But she told me that the food was so delicious that she had to bring several boxes back to the city every time. So, if I let some cats go hungry, perhaps my friend would have less delicious food and could stop eating too much. Then, the cats would complain about my bad karma and I had to take the consequences. I should remind my friend to fast on Buddhist holy days to gain more merit.

People here were in the habit of doing good deeds (karma) and always expected some returns. This was contrary to Buddhist teaching, as good action should be based on good intention of ‘metta’ and ‘karuna’. This meant that a person should act out of compassion and kindness without demanding any rewards. Then, the result would be much more significant. But most of the time, people didn’t know how to give without expecting something in return. I tried to warn my friend to keep the correct Buddhist attitude.

But, she couldn’t change the old habit. This required strong mindfulness and the immediate awareness of one’s thoughts at present. Daily life and pressure had made old habits and routine very sticky. That’s probably why the unintended consequence was that my friend couldn’t restrain herself from over eating, as she couldn’t control the desire for gratification of her taste buds. She lacked the awareness to think about her health and the consequences of being too overweight.

Some rich people would complain that they had spent millions on temples and charities. They couldn’t understand why they had to suffer from long bout illness or cancer. I had an old friend who was very confident in her good karma that she believed nothing bad could happen to her health. She had two Covid jabs and lost a lot of weights including experiencing some minor illness. I had suggested that she should detox with some local herbal medicine. But she told me she did so much good karma that nothing bad could happen to her. I was lost for words. Most Thai people still practiced the rituals diligently than paid more attention to Buddhist teaching.

My friends lacked the mindfulness and ‘right thinking’ about the concept of making offerings (Dana). It was quite difficult to explain the correct approach to them. They would be sad to realise that all the donations had been ‘wasted’ (the returns on investment were dismal). So, in Buddhist teaching, a person would gain more merit by practicing meditation than building a temple. The intention of one’s action had to be pure without worldly desire for gratifications. That’s when the result of good karma would become very powerful. But at least my friend would never go hungry, though she might suffer from diabetes in the future. She would have to exercise her brain and consciousness to be conscientious Buddhist in the near future.

Over the years, some of my favourite stray cats had perished either from car accidents or killed by the crazy person who turned out to be a serial killer for cats. The bad karma had responded to that person and we were quite relieved of the departure. Now there were less than twenty cats left in this temple. Three of my favourite cats died of high fever and serious flu during the rainy season. I hoped that they had been reincarnated in much better situations, preferably somewhere in this country. So, I might stumble onto them in persons one day. Dogs and cats used to be human beings in previous lives, they had to pay for their bad karma in these forms. But their next lives would be in human form.

I used to have a younger friend who could recall being a small white dog in her previous life. She still liked to eat dog food sometimes, she told me it was delicious! That’s probably why I could see these temple cats as children who weren’t capable of critical thinking. Their expressions were similar to innocent children without any complications or hidden agenda. Their feelings could be plainly seen on their faces. That’s probably why I liked them so much as they accepted me without any conditions.

I was glad to see the five kittens growing much bigger and stronger. They used to be very timid and easily frightened by people. It took me a few months of persistence and feeding them without touching them. Nowadays, they would allow me to be close to them without making any sudden movements. The skinny monk’s voice was too loud so these kittens wouldn’t let him being so near. I hoped that one day they would approach me and let me touch them like their deceased relatives. Two kittens reminded me of my favourite cats. I hoped I could continue to feed these cats for quite some time. Things could change suddenly in the future and the temple might not allow people to feed stray cats one day.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.