Pestered like a Flayed Cow!

Suppose there is a freshly flayed cow —

If she’s set exposed to a wall, the creatures that dwell in the wall will nibble at her!

If she’s set exposed to a tree, the creatures that dwell in the tree will nibble at her!

If she’s set exposed to the water, the creatures that dwell in the water will nibble at her!

If she’s set exposed to the open air, the creatures that dwell in the open air will nibble at her!

Whatever that flayed cow stands exposed to, the creatures there will nibble at her!

It’s the same way for the nourishing contact of the senses. No matter where they’re set, exposed senses are pestered like a flayed cow!

When the nutriment of contact is fully realized, with its three kinds of feelings—pestered with itching for the pleasing, swatting at the suffering, and shooing the neutral! — then, there is nothing further to be done with it.

(SN 12.63)

https://suttacentral.net/sn12.63

Sensory contact and input is necessary—finding what’s nourishing requires the discernment of what’s good, bad, or neutral. But it’s best for it to be seen as a fuel and not an invitation to overindulge or overexpose the senses. Because like a flayed cow, the senses will be pestered no matter where they are placed.

A Torii gate, like a Torana, are honorific gateways that invite the attention and engagement of the senses — to the spirit of the place, or the sacred space, or the beauty framed. So in hanging a flayed cow there it illustrates the sutta and the ‘contact’ the structure requests.

It’s common to imagine that further stimulation of the senses is what we need to relax, like seeking entertainments. But the engagement of the senses is always just the ‘exposure’ of our sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind — to discerning whether things are good, bad, or neutral. So relaxation is really found through a practice of seclusion and sense restraint, the guarding of the senses. 🐄