So yes, seriously, I did in fact get run down by a black rhinoceros when I was on safari in Kenya. Lets just say that some big learnings followed that encounter. Here I will share the entry from my notebook just after the incident (because, of course, I brought notebook on safari just in case I had a dharma moment). Note, this is another example that closely follows the 5 Question Method outlined in Method to Undo the Madness :

The Story:  I am on a walking safari vacation in Kenya and we come across a mamma rhino and her baby standing a small distance away. Our guide advises us to get closer and hide behind a small bush. He then  proceeds to start making sounds that he hopes will get the rhinos to come out of the shrubs where they are eating. I watch the mamma rhino begin to shift, looking kind of agitated. I thought to ask the guide to stop, but the guide, who was armed with a gun, explained, “we are totally safe, rhinos ‘mock’ charge all the time but rarely actually attack.” The next thing I know the rhino is real charging and I am directly in her path. I think, “crap, I’m going to get hit.” Then I think, “how is this possible, I’m going to die on vacation”. Then I think, “well it clearly can happen, some folks do in fact die on vacation”. Between all these thoughts…I curl into a ball on the ground, the rhino kicks me, but I’m below her horn so I avoid being gored. And then, I’m alright. Sore, achy, but alright. We walk back to camp and I head straight for my notebook.

The Wrong View/Concept:

• 1) That the guide or the gun or the shrub would protect us. That someone or something can guarantee safety all the time.  In truth, I don’t control the guide, the gun, the rhino or the shrub so how can I assume a guarantee of safety when it is completely beyond my control?

• 2) That the rhino’s behaviors are predictable. That it will mock charge but not really charge. That any situation has a predictable outcome. That what usually happens, or what happened before, is by definition what will happen again. In truth, even if a rhino mock charges 1000 times that does not mean that 1001 will also be a mock charge.

• 3) That I would surely get run down, and if I was run down I would die. This is the same logic I used in Homeless Alana (if I hug then I will get swine flue, then die) and the story with my friend Barb (if she doesn’t invite me out then she doesn’t want to be my friend) and 1000 other places. It’s the belief that for sure A gets me to for sure Z without considering all the other possibilities in between.

The X Factor: As a reminder, the X number, is where I tie in other stories, where I identify deeper issues or tendencies going on that are part of a pattern of my beliefs/personality (sandan). In this story there is a biggie — animals and I have a special relationship together and we are, on a whole, A OK with each other. You can actually see hints of it in some of the other stories I have shared; Compassionate Alana who is kind to animals to be loved, Vegetarian Alana who defines her special goodness through not eating animals. Going all the way back to my childhood infact, there are endless occasions where I protect animals, or turn to them for love and support when I can’t get humans to fulfill those needs, or in general make myself special in relation to the animals. I asked myself, if that rhino had been a car driving dangerously with a driver that looked agitated, would I have gotten so close? Would I have so easily believed someone who said it was going to be OK? The truth is, despite my many many fears, the fact that I thought death lurked around every corner, I never worried about harm coming from an animal. In my crazy mind, which saw the world only from my view, I  thought I love my furry/feathered friends so they must love me back.  Which brings me to a final wrong view:

• 4) That its not my karma to be killed by an animal, that they are no danger to me. That I can know my karma, that it is based on my limited understandings and one sided wrong views. That this world is a simple tit for tat –I love you so you must love me too. That anything, any class of beings is uniform, the same, that I can label them all ‘safe’ and move on.

The Risks: I could be injured or killed.  The rhino could be injured or killed. The baby rhino could be left without a mom. The guide could lose his livelihood. Our vacay could be ruined. Eric could no longer want to travel. Folks could be less inclined to visit Kenya and tourism could be hurt.
The Dharma:  Clearly, rupa plays a starring role in this story. The form of the gun, the guide, the rhino… I try and reify (to make real and solid) form, assign it a certain meaning or function so that in my mind I can make it something predictable. I ignore that form changes, that the meaning I assign to it also changes, that those meanings are not for real or for sure.  I do this for my own agenda —  to feel safe, to feel a sense of well-being and security, to explain the world and my place in it. So for me, animal = friend. Or gun=safety. Or guide = all knowing. Ironically though, this fixed belief in the meaning of rupa does the opposite of keep me safe. It obscures risk, hides the dangers. This story clearly illustrates the falsehood of my  beliefs and the perils in holding them.