The Spiritual Practice of Cats
Another telepathic communiqué from Kato the mystical cat, delivered this morning at 3 AM when I was half awake, half asleep:
“I just completed another 30 sessions of sitting perfectly still, being very quiet.”
Not in an audible voice – just a fully-formed thought, entering my brain as the cat stared directly into my sleepy eyes.
Questions for Theological Reflection:
1. Is it possible that “sitting perfectly still, being very quiet” was part of Kato’s “hunter training” when he was a kitten?
2. Could this be Kato’s daily spiritual practice? Eckhart Tolle once said, “I have lived with several Zen masters, all of them cats.”
3. Why would Kato do this in multiples of 30? Does the number 30 hold some significance in ancient Egyptian and/or Coptic spirituality? (30 was Jesus’ age when he began his ministry of healing and teaching...)
4. Is it possible the author of this blog has lost his mind, or perhaps had a little too much of the narcotic cough syrup the doctor prescribed for the nasty cold he has been fighting?
5. Do cats view it as part of their mission on earth to make their staff-humans believe that they are losing their minds?
Discuss . . .
“I just completed another 30 sessions of sitting perfectly still, being very quiet.”
Not in an audible voice – just a fully-formed thought, entering my brain as the cat stared directly into my sleepy eyes.
Questions for Theological Reflection:
1. Is it possible that “sitting perfectly still, being very quiet” was part of Kato’s “hunter training” when he was a kitten?
2. Could this be Kato’s daily spiritual practice? Eckhart Tolle once said, “I have lived with several Zen masters, all of them cats.”
3. Why would Kato do this in multiples of 30? Does the number 30 hold some significance in ancient Egyptian and/or Coptic spirituality? (30 was Jesus’ age when he began his ministry of healing and teaching...)
4. Is it possible the author of this blog has lost his mind, or perhaps had a little too much of the narcotic cough syrup the doctor prescribed for the nasty cold he has been fighting?
5. Do cats view it as part of their mission on earth to make their staff-humans believe that they are losing their minds?
Discuss . . .
posted by Darrell Grizzle | 10:52 PM
5 Comments:
Oh Hamza, Hamza - how you make me laugh.
That post was great.
But, on a certain level, cats (as well as other animals) do have a lot to teach us about contentment, peace, even, dare I say, zazen.
Not being a cat person myself, I can't fully answer your questions, but this is going to be an interesting thread!
Cheers!
To answer your questions. Yes. to all of them. Except number three.
That one's answer is that 30 in particular has no real significance. Kato simply found it amusing that at 03:30, he had just completed 30, making it 300330 or 3 3's and 3 zeros...and that was pretty cool and needed to share it with you.
Whoa, great picture of Kato, and I enjoyed spying on your bookshelf.
I wish Talbot and Kato could meet. I think they'd have LOTS to talk about.
Trev: Kato has taught me quite a bit about zazen, as well as the Buddhist virtue of equanimity.
Jo: Interesting theory about the threes and zeros! I love it!
Jon: I can imagine Talbot and Kato hitting the catnip together and sharing a laugh at how they handle their humans...
That particular bookshelf is a row of books (some of them first editions) that are autographed by their authors. I'm kinda proud of my eclectic little collection, which includes Ray Bradbury, Harper Lee, Bishop Spong, Marcus Borg, Will Campbell, Matthew Fox, Jimmy Carter, Jane Fonda, Tammy Faye, Chris Glaser, Daniel Helmeniak, Rudy Ballentine, and Hsin Tao (Dharma Master of a Buddhist monastery in Taipei), as well as books by friends of mine: Carl McColman, Andrew Ramer, Toby Johnson, John and Caroline Westerhoff, and Kelly Cresap.
Oops, I forgot - I also have a signed book by Deepak Chopra in that collection.
In another bookcase, I have signed leather-bound editions from Easton Press of books by John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Ursula K. LeGuin, Laura Esquivel, Heinrich Harrar, Sir Edmund Hillary, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Joan Didion.
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