Wonderful — the moon of this moment,
Distant, vast – Ryokan
When first
learning about Zen and/or meditation, you can get a
headache. In the West, it’s just not a concept that is introduced to us
like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. However, one of the best things you
can do for your health and to lower your stress levels is to take up
meditation. To learn how to meditate, we all need to learn from the Zen
Masters — our dogs.
The Guard Dog Next Door
We’ve lived next door to this German Shepherd-type guard dog named Bear who
always growls and barks at my dog whenever she comes into view. My
poor neighbor has been working hard to get Bear to be quieter but gets
exasperated with Bear sometimes. "You see this dog every
day!" he finally yelled.
"Why do you have to bark!"
"You never know," I said, grinning. "Bear let’s her
guard down for one moment and THAT’S when Pony {my dog} is going to do
something!"
We had a good laugh over the ways of dogs, but it did serve to remind me
about meditation.
The Moon Of This Moment
In meditating, you are only mentally present in the moment. There is
no past, there is no future. There is only now. This serves to not
only help you stop worrying, but to appreciate the beauty in everyday
things. But how to do this is much, much easier said than done.
It’s like trying to express the inexpressable.
However, dogs teach us all about living in the moment. No matter what
happened the day before, they wake up wagging their tails. When they
greet you, it’s as if you’ve been gone for ages because, for them, it
has
been ages. When they look out the window or are on guard duty, they are
entirely absorbed in watching, taking nothing for granted. Yes, they
might have seen that old white alley cat walk by a million times before, but
they are going to track that cat as if it was the first time — because you
never know…the cat might suddenly try to break into the house and steal all of
the Milkbones!
I’d continue on with even more examples, but
my dog Pony is currently staring at me
and whining to play ball. Ah, I guess I have no choice but to obey my
guru. It’s for my own good.