THE WHALE ~ some good news finally!!
A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.
She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat.
She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a
line tugging in her mouth.
A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate- California ) and radioed
for help.
Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off, the only
way to save her was to dive in and untangle her – a very dangerous proposition. One slap of
the tail could kill a rescuer.
They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.
When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.
She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently,
thanking them.
Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.
The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.
May you, and all those you love, be so fortunate …
To be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.
And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.
I pass this on to you, my friend, in the same spirit
Life is short …. forgive quickly, love truly,
laugh uncontrollably………..
and never regret anything that made you smile…
******************************
Shirley Tan sent me the above to cheer us up. It sure did. Thank you Shirley. I live stories like this. If you find more in the future, send them please.
Finally some compassion shown in the oceans. The whale knew they were helping her and she thanked them. Brings tears to my eyes how appreciative the whale was. We must thank the whale for not having anger. She had the great intelligence to know they were freeing her and not hurting her, hence she didn't strike back. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful intelligent animals.
Tsem Tulku
NEVER EAT MEAT. GO VEGETARIAN ALL THE WAY! MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD!
that make my heart sing, thank you for sharing.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this… teary eyes now T_T
How incredibly beautiful on the whale’s part! It is true what Rinpoche says about how intelligent and appreciative she was. Beautiful indeed! Tears welled up in my eyes too as I read this…
I thank the people that helped her too, however I cannot help but think she would not be in that position if the nets were NOT there in the first place. Sigh! I do not mean to degrade the efforts put into freeing the poor defenceless whale. I just wish we would STOP putting ourselves in such situations where we HAVE TO HELP save another beings life.
We should not have to right the wrongs but we should just do the right things! It is like purifying our bad karma with good merits. Sure it is great to do but even greater when we create good merits to benefit OTHERS!
This is a pick me upper after all the nasty news about animals being killed and treated cruelly. Whales are one of the most complex mammals in the world and they can certainly feel if they are being saved and helped. So do you want to kill and eat the whale now ? So do we still want to treat animals as mindless and feelingless creatures meant only for our culinary delight? Become vegetarian now. It takes so much more of Earth’s resources to have livestocks than if we have fields of vegetables or to grow grains. If people are so gung ho about protecting the Earth, start now go vegetarian.
Lets stop the killing of dolphins and whales by Japanese http://www.savejapandolphins.org/ and the killing of pilot whales in Denmark http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/07/dolphin-killing-in-denmark.html
The connection between the animal and the human being in this story is beautiful.
It is beautiful, because it finds the common ground between beings, even if largely different in their form and intellectual abilities. On one side, the whale in dire straits was perhaps more perceptive and could make the difference between someone that helps and someone that means harm; and from the side of the diver, he was probably careful to exhibits as many signs of kindness as possible so as to be perceived correctly from the whale’s mind. Thus, efforts from both sides.
Everytime there is a connection being made between beings of different realms, a connection of care and respect, it is simply beautiful.
This reminds me of a true story I heard before from an english buddhist teacher, it is the story of a professional butcher working in the slaughter house, killing many cows everyday, he needs to prepare the cow, then kill it. One day, he says, there was that special cow that changed his life, one day there was a cow that was just not the same, she was not nervous, anxious or scared like the others, she just looked at him, straight at him with big gentle eyes and tears just came out of the cow’s eyes. Deeply touched, this butcher did not kill the cow, in fact he never killed any more cows after that, and even became vegetarian.
A few years back when I actually heard that story, two things came to my mind:
1. Could it be that this cow was a Buddha emanation?
2. Could it be that the tears were not tears of fears, but tears of compassion for the butcher that was about to kill again?
Thank you Shirley for finding the beacon of light for today. Receiving news about the dolphins in Denmark generated gnawing sadness all day. This message about people going the distance to save this whale’s life is very refreshing and hopeful.
The level of awareness and intelligence the whale displayed is remarkable. She knew what was happening and she knew to rejoice when she was freed. Although we come in different forms, but what we feel and experience are pretty much the same. The harmony we can create by giving each other is also very beautiful: the saviors gave the whale freedom and saved her life; the whale gave the saviors gratitude and an empowering lifetime experience.
Gratitude! Who said that animals do not sense kindness and have gratitude towards kind actions? I heard a story from a school friend of mine back in her kampung (village). Her neighbour reared chickens, goats and cattle. One day, one of the oldest cow had a very bad foot injury. Her neighbour (the uncle) thought it would be time to sell the cow to the slaughter house as it will fetch some money to help out with the family’s expenses rather than to pay for expensive vet nary treatment to treat its injured foot. So, the butcher came over and offered to buy the cow from him. But, his wife refused to sell the cow, and said to her husband, “This cow has provided milk for all our children for many years”, she had a strong bond with the cow and vowed to look after her till the cow dies. Right after the butcher left, the cow limped towards the wife and nudged against her with big red teary eyes showing gratitude. The husband saw what happened and suddenly felt ashamed. The Buddha always asked us to put ourselves in the place of another and feel as they would feel. Have we ever put ourselves in the place of animals that would be slaughtered and empathised with their suffering and fear?
Wow! Thank you Rinpoche and Shirley for sharing this beautiful message with us.
Love this.
Yes, Andrew…The net should not be even there if one have no intention to catch or kill. Thank goodness, there are still many loving and caring people out there. These kind people has braced through the dangerous situation to free the whale. And in return the whale in his own way of gratitude thanked his rescuers.
In another words, the message is also telling us that we should not take people for granted for what they have done or helped us. A sincere heartfelt THANK YOU is also suffice to show our gratitude or/and even better by returning the love and kindness of others by changing and doing the same to help and benefit others who are in pain or in need.
Thank you again for sharing.
Thierry, how true! Anyone or any being could be an Enlightened Being and we will never know if we are so busy robbing them of their right to live, without blinking an eye lid! Well said. I also remember about the story in which an elephant came charging towards Buddha, and yet upon facing Buddha, the elephant calmed down immediately because it could sense the immense compassion in Buddha.
I truly believe that all beings can sense love, kindness, care and compassion. Anyone of us can feel the same so why makes us think that animals can’t?
My friend, Michelle sent me that whale story. She loves animals. I am sure it made her sick reading about how the Danish killed those dolphins!
I like to believe that we can exercise a more humane decision every time we come face to face with a situation that involves animals and those less fortunate than us.
Stories on Humpback whales remind me about Star Trek: The Voyage Home, where the characters of the movie were forced to travel back in time as these whales were extinct in that fictional future… hope it does not happen for real.
Humpback whales are such beautiful creature, unique for their singing and they even have individualized fingerprints! Just like humans!
It is so fortunate that the fisherman made the call to rescue her rather than turning a blind eye, a practice commonly done by most people… unfortunately
Kudos to the people who saved this whale and to those whom are spread this message.
Hopefully, with more awareness and love for animals, no creature would have to suffer the Dodo bird’s fate, which is extinction
This is a very beauitful article. Shirley, thank you for sharing. We need more of this! It actually lift my spirit up from what I read this morning on the Danes killing the Dolphins. The interaction and connection between the two beings from two different realms reinforces the fact that it is the souls that really matter after all. If we can always find this connection, which is at large, the foundation of love, care, concern, kindness & respect among humans, or between humans and animals, the world would definitely be a better place to live in.
I thank Thierry for sharing yet another uplifting story between the butcher and the cow. What touches people’s heart is always compassion, kindness, gratitude and forgiveness. These are the qualities that can shift the axile of the world.
Finally some good, heart-warming news on HUMANS! Thank You Shirley for sharing this. It brought tears to my eyes – rejoicing one.
Yes indeed it is awful to see people taking advantage of the weak and meek and especially those who cannot voice out. It is also good to know that there are those who care and will do something otherwise we’re headed to destroying the whole planet as we often forget we are all interconnected, interdependent.
If we cannot help others we should at least never harm or damage. Yes Andrew although it is frustrating to always clean up someone else’s mess, which is probably inevitable being in “samsara”, we should always choose to also never give up on anyone. And even if we have to clean up someone else’s mess a million times, we should do it happily, that is the path of a Boddhisattva. That is the teaching Rinpoche gave recently in KH during Setrap retreat, read more at http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/07/setrap-retreat-for-kwpc.html or click here to watch on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW2CX4Kzxbk This is what Rinpoche always says and advice us. Here we can see how even animals, actually any being will be able to feel kindness and compassion that goes beyond words. It is something we can all feel. Even those beings in the spirit and God realms can feel when someone is sincere and compassionate, and it is because of these qualities that is why they would bow down to the Buddhas.
This is definitely a very good news for the whale. Hardly we ever hear anyone trying to save whales except killing them. This is really a great blessing for the whale.
I fold my arms to those fishermen with such compassionate heart. May Buddha bless them and may the Humpback whale will forever be free from being tangled again with those cruel net.
If the cruelty do not stop, we will eventually lose the opportunity to gaze our eyes upon such magnificent creature.
Lets all pray together and hope authorities all over the world will put stricter force on proctecting these lovely creatures.
Om maha yakcha tsa soha.
This is a truly amazing and heart warming story. I applaud for the kind actions of the rescue team that risk their life to save the whale. If everyone would emulate this & care for other beings always, we will all be on our way to enlightenment very soon.
Another big realization I have is that expressing gratitude towards people that helped us will effect another person very much too. The story would not have affected us at all if the whale just swam away. Thus, lesson I learnt here is we should not be lacking in demonstrating our gratitude to those that helped us.
Thank you for sharing.
I like stories like this one; it shows that animals do have intelligence, even the big ones. As humans we tend to look down on animals as things that give us pleasure for having them around, or even as our food. What makes our pets more important than another? If nothing more than to satisfy our own feelings of loneliness, hunger and attachment.
This story shows clearly that animals can show gratitude. Animals have feelings, they have emotions, they just don’t have a medium to communicate with us, and the ones that are, people aren’t receiving because they just don’t care about animals. I was quite surprised the other day when I was with KB and Mumu, whatever you do, don’t slap or hit anyone, or Mumu will attack you and he will BITE!!!. How does he know that this action of slapping someone is bad and to protect that person? Why does mumu give a damn anyway?
A fisherman spotted a female humpback whale outside the Goldengate just east of the Faralon Islands. She was trapped entangled by lots of ropes and other types of traps which had weighed down her body making it hard for her to move. Her mouth was hooked up to a line. The fisherman radioed for help. Within a few hours the rescue team came. She was very badly hurt and the rescuers had to dive under water to untangle her. They had to be very careful as one move of the whales tail can kill her rescuer. The rescuers worked very hard and eventually free her. When she was freed she swam happily around those who have helped to free her from her trap. And swam to each and everyone and nudge them as if to say thank you with gratitude. From this episode I have learnt that if you are lucky you will find joy and happiness in knowing that you can give with joy and receive gratitude.
What i find incredible about this story is that the inteligence of the Whale who can differentiate who is helping her and she did not inflict her anger for being caught in the trap by causing harm to others. The Whale went even further to amaze me that she nudged all the crews who saved her life. Kudos to the crews who were involved in this mission for braving themselves into this “potentially fatal” rescue mission. Also a big thank you to the fisherman who found the whale in first place and care enough to call for help. We need more compassionate people like these heros rather than the cowards who kill harmless beings like what happened in Denmark!
It brings me much joy to see a different sort of treatment to animals in this posting. The rescuers are very brave and kind. But it is sad to see that there are only two rescuers seen in the pictures compared to the hundreds seen in the pictures of the killing of the dolphins. I hope these two rescuers can inspire millions and perhaps one day people may find more joy in rescuing rather than slaughtering animals. It is a relief to see rescuers volunteering in virtuous deeds, these are the people fighting for goodness. May their efforts transform the way the world looks at wildlife and its importance.
This rescue is so heart warming. A big thank you to the rescuers who took the risk by jumping into the water to free the whale! Putting the safety of the whale before theirs! How amazing!
The whale though an animal has such intelligence to differentiate between people who could harm her and people who are trying to rescue her. She co-operated with her rescuers and was freed in the end.
The most beautiful part to me is, she even shows her gratitude towards her rescuers by swimming up to each and every one of her rescuers and nudged them gently, it is as if saying a big thank you to them.
May all animals be blessed for a better future!
Thank you very much Rinpoche for this blogpost..I read this heart warming blogpost quite a few times. I love stories of animals being saved. The whale expressed gratitude..shows quite high intelligence and complex emotion…another proof that animals are capable of such feelings and thoughts just like human. The sad part is human often times, though possessing the capabilities are so self absorbed that we display less gratitude to each other.
I wish to point out also that “Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.” These rescuers risked their lives to save the whale. In giving, these rescuers received this incredible experience. What more is there to say that giving is the key to receiving happiness and fulfillment in life.
Yes, I agree with everyone here, this story is so beautiful and touching, animal’s mind are simple, they know who is being good to them, when they like you, they just like you, when they don’t like, then they’ll show they don’t like, no mind game.
This story reminds me of a movie which I’ve watched many years ago, the movie called ‘Free Willy’, this movie talks about a true friendship between human and animal (in this movie, Whale), how the people try to harm Willy (name of the whale) and how Willy escape by the support from the kid, even though nothing we can do to help, but by being there to support mentally and encouraging words can be so powerful which helped Willy to jump over a huge rock then escape. Everyone are dependant, we need each other’s care and support in order for us to continue our journey in life, regardless of spiritual or non spiritual.
I’ve learned another message from this story, no matter how mighty you are, you can’t solve everything by yourselves, if there are someone around you who appear to be useless to you, who knows? Maybe one day, he can be your life savior.
Care for the people around us with our sincere heart, no fake, no mind game, this world would be so much peaceful and harmony. (Wish this will come true one day)
It comes as no surprise that the whale was intelligent enough to differentiate between predator and rescuer. Whales, especially the larger ones have brains that are equivalent in size (or bigger) than human brains and many are smart enough to be trained to perform tricks in zoos. Dolphins are also common in scientific research, and some have learned to communicate and speak with humans through a series of sounds.
Many animals are much more intelligent than we give them credit for. I own a dog and I am amazed at how often I can practically watch her think through certain situations (specifically how to get the dog treat that I am holding). Even a recent rescue stray has enough EQ to blackmail his way into the house every night, for a treat and a cuddle.
Bottom line: animals go thru pain, happiness, loneliness, sadness just like we do. Let’s treat them as we do our fellow man (or better). Stop the animal cruelty.
I’m always amazed at stories like this of how people have risked all to save another being, i regain my faith in humanity reading the stories.
I am always saddend deeply by the stories about the cruelty or neglect meted out by people either wilfully or through ignorance.
Neither of these two reflects the true nature of humanity, we are all a mixed bag of actions and inactions, good and bad.
What we can do is choose who we want to be, the guy in the sea with a knife cutting away at the ropes, cutting away suffering, or we can be the guy in the sea with a knife cutting away a life, and our own future.
Pick!
Man is the most intelligent and the most powerful creature on earth. If he chooses to be the protector of animals he can do so with a lot of success. There are hundreds of NGOs in the world including religious groups and individuals that fight against cruelty to animals. I remember Bridget Bardot the French actress who became an activist because she couldn’t stand the suffering that animals undergo in the laboratories. Individuals can also help to prevent the extinction of animals. There is this story about an English man Bruce Englefield, who migrated to Tasmania after his retirement and while there, saved the Tasmanian devil from extinction by raising funds. The devils were suffering from a disease called devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) which cause a painful death by starvation within months. Yes, man can be both cruel and kind. I hope kindness wins.
A complete and welcoming contrast to the horrid Danish bloodbath post! This story brings a literal meaning to “giving is living”, and I’m sure the guys who risked their own lives for the freeing of the whale felt much more healthier inside, with content and happier minds than those who mindlessly slaughtered those poor dolphins.
This is a perfect example of unconditional giving, and it’s so refreshing to read this kind of story; it’s also inspiring to the extent that it teaches us the importance of generosity, kindness and compassion: some might think that by serving other beings, it only makes the other happy, but actually serving others makes us feel much happier inside whereas taking, ironically, doesn’t have quite the same effect.
An extremely cheerful story – I hope there are lots more of the same to come!
Kind regards,
Sandy
P.S. I was going to make a joke about the mammal having a whale of a time after being set free, but best not to ruin any credibility all in one go!
Thank you Shirley for sharing this beautiful Whale story with us. It made my day. I think whales are amongst the most enigmatic and fascinating of all creatures in the ocean and are highly intelligient. Whales are mammals as are humans, dogs, cats and elephants; they are not fish. They breathe air and so must return to the surface at regular intervals to get a breath.
Whales like most creatures senses and if they could talk our language they can communicate with us. As in the story the whale making eye contact with the rescuer knowing that the rescuer was working to free it from danger. It also has feeling of gratitude and showed rescuers appreciation.
Truly I believe the rescuer for not being the same after the incident. Kechara Oasis has a regular customer who is a diver. He really appreciates all creatures in the ocean after diving in and around the ocean. He and his family is a vegetarian.
I let a few tears flow freely today. My mom’s cat was even looking at me like “are you ok?”
Thank you Rinpoche. Thank you Shirley Tan.
I sat outside my house last night after dindin. My next door neighbor came home and his dog was jumping up and down excited because the owner came home. The neighbor was doing something outside his house and suddenly I heard him yelling at his dog. The next thing I knew I heard the dog yelped and the neighbor actually canned the dog for not being able to obey his command of ‘sit’. My heart had this sharp pain and goose bumps all over as though I felt the canning instead. Before Dharma I never felt this way, the love and compassion although a few tried to bite me before. I am so glad I feel this way now for I used to hit my dogs with my hands when they didnt obey. I feel so sorry for them as they are chained 24hours a day (most of them), yelled/screamed at and people just use them as a watch dog and nothing else.
* Sorry for not treating you better back then. May you all have a good rebirth in the future and able to be in Dharma for all lives to come. Love, Hugs and Kisses to you guys.
The part that moved me the most is when the whale actually came back and acknowledge the rescuer by pushing and nudging them one by one. What beautiful scene! And normally it happens only in the movies.
It is indeed nice to read or see this beautiful story unfold in front of us. The often untold or unreported good and happy news that happens every day in the midst of all the chaos in the world. In every 10 bad news, i believe there’s 20 good news that is unreported or unheard of.
Thank you Rinpoche and Shirley for sharing this.
Dear Rinpoche, many thanks for posting this story. Many thanks to Shirley too for sharing this with us. Teary teary to read it. Very sad to know that someone has to right another person’s wrong. If we live by the rule that all negative actions or thoughts will come back to us, we will not have to spend so much time fixing the wrongs. We can instead spend more time to make ourselves, our family and our friends happy. Its like eating with your hand twisted at the back. Our perception and understanding of animals intelligence is low. This lesson showed just how much intelligence animals have. The whale understood that she was being rescued and didn’t struggle. I can imagine the pain too when she first got entangled and struggled to be free. Its like this pain we have in ourselves when we are angry and continue to wallow in the anger because we don’t want to let go and forgive.
A heart warming story from Shirley,thank you for sharing.I used to think of wanted to live and work in an island and be a diving instructor there,it was my dream.Each time when i dive ,it was so amazing how wonderful the underwater world and i admired the fishes swim freely there.They belong to the ocean,FREE THEM…
It was so touching when we read about the divers worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed the whale,and when she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.Yes ,they are happy because they are free and back to the ocean..
She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently,
thanking them. Even animal know how to show gratitude back to the one who help them.
We as a human sometimes take things for granted and never show gratitude and hurt people around us.
It’s time to wake up ! keep our promise ,get things done and show gratitude to people that helped us before.
Thanks Shirley for the rainbow after the storm. There are many documentaries and stories on real life rescues of whales, dolphins and many types of animals – rescues by humans as well as other animals. Heart- warming tales that shows so much unconditional love for another living creature.
The odd thing is that a FISHERMAN made the SOS call. Ironic! There’s always a beacon of hope in all of us and something breaks through and lets us know just when to make the right move. Hats off to the rescuers who had no second thoughts on saving this whale and for the diver who came into eye contact, I think there will always be a special karmic connection between them
I love this good news! I find it very nice that some people in the world would do anything to help animals. The whale showed appreciation by playing with its rescuers. The rescuers seemed to really like it. If I were there, I would say that during that time would also have been a very beautiful time for me. The whale trusted its rescuers, this teaches us to trust everyone, then you shall be freed. If you trust Buddha and your Lama, you will be freed from the cold and dark chains of Samsara.I think that the last pargraph was seriously beautiful, together with the beautiful sparking image of the dolphins. Life is truly short ! We must always forgive quickly when someone makes you angry. Love them truly, regardless of who they are. Laugh to make moments in your life better. Never regret anything that brings you happiness! I wish that this whale could be an example for readers to donate to KAS the make it manifest. It will benefit many animals who are tangled in a web, a web of sorrow on a dark road, with no one who bothers to help…
Amongst a hundred stories relating to animal cruelty, when you stumble upon just ONE story depicting otherwise, it definitely gives you a sense of inspiration and relieve to know that at least some people care. A lot of people think that animals have no feelings, but they are infact just as clever, just as thoughtful and compassionate like us. This story epitomizes appreciation and gratitude at its best. On the outlook, whales may seem like dangerous animals because of its size, and what we have been taught. But upon sensing, knowing and feeling the kindness it is shown, they too are intelligent enough to feel the bond, to know that they are not being threatened and in turn show respect, gentleness, and appreciation towards humans. So why can’t we constantly show the same towards animals?
This story reminded me of one that I came across a couple of years ago, a bond so strong created between humans and a lion that it made me realise that animals are able to feel what we humans can too. Simple heart-warming. The video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZaWgf_bk0&feature=related
Oh and a side point besides the compassion this whale story portrays. This story educates us that we have to take care of our environment too because if we don’t, even if it doesn’t directly harm us, it will harm other living things and their home. All actions results in a consequence, and in this case, the traps which was left in the ocean nearly resulted in the cost of a live of a living thing.
This has gotta be one of the best news that i have got today! I feel so glad that at least one of the many whales escape through the kindness of people with the sense to save and respect another sentient being’s life.
The whale’s reaction to how she was being saved is very touching. It is definite proof that animals have the same feelings like we do and is capable of gratitude. And also, i feel very glad that there are still people who are willing to risk their lives to save living beings of a different species, even if that particular being cannot repay them back in any way or form.
Since early of this year i have gradually lost my interest in meat and have been going vegetarian (with eggs only, but easing up even on that these days) at least 3 days a week. I’ll be increasing it to 4 very soon. I realize how hypocritical is it to aspire to be a Buddha on one end and eat meat on the other and that thought alone is enough to discourage me from senselessly eating meat…
Thank you Shirley for that article. Man and animal together survive in this world. This article shows that one person does wrong while another will right that wrong. In this case, the whale was freed by these good souls at the risk of losing their lives. It was not an easy task, as it took them hours to untangle the rope that got her body, tail, torso all wrapped up, not to mention that her mouth had to be freed as well. She could not stay afloat as she was weighed down by traps. The thanks that she gave her rescuers was enough to make anyone’s day. Such a huge creature that can easily kill you with just a swap of its tail; it goes to nudge each and every rescuer – her little way of saying a big thank you.
What a wonderful beautiful story which really did cheer me felt the me up as well. I loved the part about the diver who felt the whale looking at him as he released the rope from the mouth which all the communication they needed. They say that the eyes are the windows to one’s mind, and in this case, no words are needed to know that theses creatures feel and express sadness and happiness like any other living being. I also rejoice for the divers that had a the great compassion and bravery to do such a noble act and I’m sure has changed their lives in the way that they look at animals and perhaps their outlook in life.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. It is so beautiful and also because it has a happy ending. Hehe i love stories that end with “And they live happily ever after!”. In this day and time when all that one hears of and reads in the paper is murder, rape, robbery, accusations, this story is very refreshing. It gives us hope that far out in the deep ocean, human and animal, are side by side, the care giver expressing their selflessness by endagering their lives to save a being who they do not know and the care recipient (the whale) responding with so much gratitude. I will share this story with my firends and hope they will be enlightened by this inspiring story too .
Thank you for the story. It’s so good to hear about people going all out to save animals instead of hurting them – a welcome respite after all the horror stories about killing dolphins, whaling, cruelty to animals etc. Maybe all hope is not lost, and that such stories move us precisely because they help to remind us that there is a compassionate side to us which we can get in touch with and develop further? And most wonderfully, animals must have it in them too because they seem to be able to recognise and respond to compassion so naturally and immediately.
This episode is so touching!
The world will be a better place to live in if humans and animals can live in harmony. Even a humpback whale can display her gratitude to her saviour after she was being saved. There are also many reported cases of whales and dolphins that have saved humans in the ocean too.
The act of kindness is universal. We must be able to apply kindness not just to human beings and animals but also to all sentient beings. If we go all the way to help others, we can really make others happy. When others are happy, we will be happy too.
THE WHALE ~ some good news finally!!
Thank you, Shirley for sharing such a wonderfully touching story. The rescuers were practising true bodhicitta risking their lives to rescue a whale which they can easily and justifiably ignored it and let it die in the ocean. By taking the risks they found great joy from saving a life and thus changed their lives forever.
Kechara Animal Sanctuary (KAS) can give us the opportunity to rescue and care for animals such as dogs, cats, fishes, horses etc and experience the same joy that the rescuers did but risk-free.
Due to Rinpoche’s blessings and influence, I am slowly becoming an animal lover and the desire to help them is increasing day by day. May KAS manifest quickly so that we can contribute towards animal care.
Thanks Rinpoche and Shirley for sharing this lovely message with us.
This message definitely make me feel there still has heart warm story about human.
Animals do feel pain and emotions, its far too cruel to kill animals because they dont talk, dont scream their pain out loud.
I remembered i met a guy who is vegetarian all the way for years, he said he chose to be vegetarian because at one time he witnessed the killing of a pig, at that moment , he felt that the pig was staring at him for help, to recue from killing and he was so vulnerable and helpless that and he could not do anything to save the pig’s life.
From that day onwards, he promised to himself he will never eat meat again…
I’ve seen similar rescue being done on a whale on the Discovery Channel few weeks ago. It was a heart-warming sight to see humans go all the way out to help an animal knowing that if help was not given, the creature will definitely die. And yes, the whale did survive the ordeal and continue to be free to roam the open ocean.
Just when we think that we have lost sense of humanity in people, this incident proves that there are still people with big heart and even bigger hands out there who without hesitant will just hold it out to help when its needed.
Lets hope we can do more…for all living beings in this world.
This will be an unforgettable moment for all the rescuers who freed the poor whale. It is sad, but too often the case that people choose to walk the other way when caught in a situation like that. Most will choose the easier path. It is obvious that these rescuers are true animal lovers from the heart. Knowing well the risk that they might get hurt if the whale decided to act aggressively, they went on anyway. Painstakingly cutting the net off her while submerged in water for hours. The kindness and selfless act of the rescuer deserves much respect. Probably, that’s why the whale swam to them and nudges them one by one to thank them. She must have felt their sincerity in helping her and felt thankful that she was saved. Even animal shows gratitude. This means, we should not hurt animals. They have feeling too. They too will feel pain, sad and happiness, just like you and me.
With much love and respect,
Joe Ang
It’s so nice & heart warming to read the story. It shows that amongst all the animal cruelty story we have been constantly hearing, there’s still people out there who are compassionate & care towards saving animals. There’s still hope in this world.
Animals can feel the love too as clearly demonstrated in the above incident. The whale knows that the fisherman is trying to cut her loose and save her, therefore she did not try to hurt him. And the whale even showed her appreciation after she was freed. When we show our kindness to help, even animals can feel our love. They are part of nature and we should be co-existing with them and not do any harm to them. They have a right to live too.
Thank you Rinpoche & Shirley for sharing such an uplifting story.
Refreshing to hear a story where an animal finally gets the justice it rightfully deserves.
Disgustingly irresponsible and greedy humans have long been a large cause of death in whales. There are only 10,000 odd humpback whales roaming the world today. A miniscule THIRD of their population a hundred years ago.
Misuse of technology for the wrong reasons have encouraged the inhumane massacre of these harmless cetaceans. This advance has made the fight between humans and whales much less fair. Modernized tracking ships are able to hunt and chase whales effortlessly. Some chases lasts a few days, giving these whales a torturous death. Often, whales have been harpooned and then chased resulting in their suffer from exhaustion and blood loss. An average of 20 whales are killed a day!
Dead whales are then hauled aboard a factory ship where they are “processed” in less than an hour (sometimes when they are still alive but weak)and turned into raw materials for products including shoe polish, dog food, margarine and tennis racket strings.The whale population is further endangered with the much controversial Japan whale hunting pastime.
This heart-warming story is a much needed change. Well done, Rinpoche and aunty Shirley(:
Well, whales are mammals, just like us after all. No wonder this one’s behaviour is so human-like, for instance being able to sense your good intention, cooperating with you so you get a job done that eventually benefits herself, rejoicing and showing gratitude. Such consideration and mindfulness! We should learn a thing or two from the whale. It is also heartwarming to know that there are still kind people in this world who would risk life and limb to save an animal in distress.
The Buddhist philosophy of being kind to others because they have all been your mothers before is a concept that could be the answer to world peace. If we seriously take every other living being as our mother, on an ideal situation, we would end up not hurting anyone, not even an ant. But more than just not hurting them, we are asked to take it further. Since our mothers have been kind to us, we should repay their kindness. That means not just talking about how much you love them but demonstrate it.
An example closer to home would be taking affirmative action like feeding the poor, saving animals, and best of all giving them the gift of dharma that would benefit them beyond this life. I see this very philosophy being lived out by Tsem Rinpoche and instead of just reaping the merit of these positive actions alone, he shares this with us by giving us all the avenues to practise this philosophy too, hence benefitting us all, hence the 13 departments of Kechara. We should never view this as work and servitude. Instead it’s a gift from our Lama and we should grab the opportunity and benefit from it while we still can.
A brief history of whaling: “Whaling is said to have begun in the 9th century among the Basques, whence it spread to England, Holland, and Norway. By the 15th century, they had exhausted the right-whale stocks around Europe… By the 19th century the Europeans had depleted the stocks of bowhead whales as well… Meanwhile American colonists had discovered whales off the East Coast and from the 18th until the early 20th century, American sailing vessels dominated the whaling industry… After depleting coastal stocks of right and gray whales, the American ships began to target sperm whales… After depleting stocks in the Atlantic, they began to venture into the Pacific. … whaling developed in Japan over the same period. …The whaling tradition came to an end around the middle of the Meiji era (1868-1912) for the simple reason that there were no longer sufficient numbers of whales. The fishermen of the region concluded that the Japanese whalers had depleted the stocks, but more recent analyses suggest that the whale population was decimated by the American whaling ships working off the coast of Japan. …around the middle of the 20th century, the focus of whaling shifted to the Antarctic Ocean, where at first the blue whale was targeted, primarily by British and Norwegian whalers….During the 1960s and 1970s, the focus of Antarctic whaling shifted from the now depleted blue whale to the fin whale, sei whale, and minke whale… But by then the demand for whale oil was petering off, as vegetable oil and petroleum resources were developed… The last countries to continue whaling operations in the Antarctic were Japan and the Soviet Union. … environmental organisations accused the Japanese of lingering in the Antarctic after all the Western countries had withdrawn and hunting the whales to extinction,… But it was the Western nations, such as the United States, Britain, and Norway, that had hunted the whales to the brink of extinction.” (Japan Echo, October 2002) N.B. In this article, Japan is trying to defend its whaling activities. The Japanese have always treated the whale as a food resource and utilize every part of the whales they catch and even making graves for them and performing Buddhist memorial ceremonies in their honour. I’ve also read about Japanese termite exterminators who perform regular ceremonies for the ants they kill. This is a unique Buddhist practice.
This “GO VEGETARIAN” thing has been really “strange”. I was someone who eats a lot of meat, and I will complain to my mum if she cooks less meat. I even told her “you might as well kill me if you ask me to eat less meat”.
The best thing is I also managed to convince my wife to go vegetarian on every Monday 
In January this year, just about 2 weeks before I join Ladrang, I visit the kechara.com website, and what is shown right smack in my eyes are “Go Vegetarian. If you are Buddhist, you should go vegetarian. No IFs, No BUTs”. Even though I am not a Buddhist, I GET it, and at that point, I decided to go vegetarian. It has been almost 6 months since I go vegetarian, and I am enjoying it
Very touching story, I wish one day, I can start to love our earth, our mother nature, love the animals in the world, love our family, love ourself. very few of us, mostly myself, don’t know how to love our own self, and because of this, I don’t know how to love my family, and expend to I don’t know how to love the animals in this world, and I don’t know how to love the mother nature and so on, all because I don’t know how to love myself. Well, Actually, I love myself the wrong way, I love myself with selfish motivation. That is the problem. I wish one day, I can be a more generous minded person. I wish to start from being Vegetarian for life. so that I know I can do some real thing to show to the animals in this world, I do love them, I can do something for them. I can be not a selfish person, I can don’t eat their meat. I know we are can show love to animals in this world by slowly becoming Vegetarian.
After being shocked by the nasty news in Denmark I am gratefully relieved that we are doing some good in this world, and have to thank each heroic/brave diver ( like the whale ) who saved the helpless whale. If only this happened more, than the destruction and death that many of us bring to the innocent earth would be reduced. Killing hundreds of dolphins for fun ( in the other blog ) and only saving one whale is not good enough. However I am very grateful that we could at least save one living being, even the whale kindly appreciated by nudging and thanking the divers. Thank you for posting this beautiful story.
It is difficult to fathom how anyone would go about hurting this creature. But this story also reminds me of a Greek mythological story of gratitude ‘Androcles and The Lion’ in which the kindness that Androcles showed to the lion when it was injured in the forest was repaid, when Androcles was later thrown to the lions as a sport.
I must say that for every report of animal abuse, there are also many stories of kindness shown to animals that goes unreported as like His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama once said in a public talk I attended that good news don’t sell newspapers.
And on the subject of kindness shown from animals, I can’t help but remember the story of a 5 year old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure and lost consciousness. Jambo, an adult gorilla stood guard over the boy when he was unconscious, placing himself between the boy and other gorillas in what ethologists analyze as a protective gesture. He later stroked the unconscious boy. When the boy regained consciousness and started to cry, Jambo and the other gorillas retreated, and an ambulanceman and two keepers rescued the boy.
Even if one doesn’t believe in karma, one should have the basic understanding that animals share the same feelings as we humans do, e.g. fear, happiness, sorrow, etc, and even the animals have the same capacity to express gratitudes towards the kindness shwon by others, which is clearly illustrated by the story above.
How can one with that basic understanding still afford to eat meat, knowing the tremendous fear and despair the animals have to go through before being slaughtered.
Be mindful that before the sheep, goats or the cows are slaughtered, their throats are slit and they are left to choked to death by their own blood splurting out from their throat. Some of those animals are still breathing after having their throat slit and they have to undergo another unbearable pain of being skinned alive before having their bodies being chopped into pieces.
Immagine the feelings of pain, agony, fear, despair, that the animals have to go through before they are served as meat on our plates.
How can one still afford to eat meat after knowing all these?
If one believes in Dharma, immagine that it is our parents, children, friends, relatives, benefactors of previous lifetimes, who had showered compassion and love to us and some to the extend had sacrificed themselves for our well being, due to the fruition of their past karmas, are reborn into the animal realm, having to experience to the same process before being served as meal for one to consume.
How can one afford to eat the flesh of our loved ones from previous lives?
The above is the thought process that convince me to stay out of meat in my everyday diet and I have not consumed meat for the past 3 months. I hope that it might somehow helps to convince others to be the same too. By understanding the sufferings that others have to go through one can only elevates his/her level of compassion towards other beings.
I thought it was a very inspiring story. You don’t often hear many stories about whales being saved. If many people followed this example of compassion the world would be a better place. Whalking is common in Japan and if they got rid of their selfishness and greed perhaps they would think twice about killing these creatures. These whales are being sacrificed for their hunger for money. Then when a story like this occurs, it just shows that there are people in the world who are willing to help. The divers helping the whale put their life at risk when they could have easily left the whale to die in order to keep themselves safe.
Wee Liang,
I like your observation! The ratio between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ people is so depressingly small!!
Together let’s turn the ratio around and make this a better world — by going vegetarian!