Meditation Challenge: Day 7

Yet another entry written for our group involved in the 30Day Meditation Challenge. Sent out June 7.


I have a cat. He's one of those strange cats who acts more like a dog. We joke that he doesn't quite understand the "cat thing", which dictates aloofness and cool behavior, and instead wants to be included with everything. If left to his own devices, he would follow me around like a puppy, mewling conversationally the whole time. Needless to say, he's right there with me for each meditation session. The first night, he surprised me by coming right up to where I sat--on my meditation cushion, on the floor--and after his meowing elicited no response, stood up on his hindlegs, put one paw on my shoulder, and extended the other to my face, as if to say, "Are you all right?" That was an entirely new move.
Most nights he contents himself with sniffing me (or us, when two of us are sitting), circling our periphery. He'll give a tender nip to my elbow, his usual signal to pay attention. Then he'll leap up to the chair between us, and curl up contentedly, nose tucked under his tail. Cats are supreme meditators.
So I looked for a quote about animals and meditation, but I haven't found one yet. I'll just have to put it in my own words: if you have a pet, you have probably noticed their attraction to meditation. They are drawn to be right next to you as you practice. (I have noticed the same phenomenon with yoga, with rehearsals of both music and dance, and with Shamanic journeying). I believe that animals are drawn to congruency of body and mind, and when we calm our mind, settle into ourselves, and return to the present moment--we are finally in harmony with them.
What do you think? I know we have a fair amount of dog lovers out there--and even one dog professional!


And here's a quote for you:

"In many spiritual traditions, sitting meditation is the universal posture used for accessing the human resource of wisdom. In silence, the sitter becomes the fair witness and suspends judgment of the process that is revealed....Sitting meditation teaches people how to wait, listen, and observe what is revealed...[It] teaches us about the art of observation, where ideas and images are released as quickly as they are revealed."

-from The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary, Angeles Arrien, 1993.

Congratulations on your first week of meditation!