"Cats = Zen masters"
John may have meant that a little tongue-in-cheek, but I think there's truth in it, and so did Alan Watts, who also likened cats to accomplished Zen practitioners.
Cats, especially domesticated cats, live in the moment. They make no plans. While there may be a pecking order among a group of cats, they don't classify things, measure things, categorize things, obsess about their standing among other cats, lie awake because their week-old iPod has just been discontinued for a newer model, or do any of the other things we as Americans are supposed to do.
And as Watts pointed out, they achieve this enlightened state without zazen, without retreat, without monasticism.
Yeah - we can learn a lot from cats. I know I have. I'd be sleeping on the sofa all the time if someone else would take care of feeding me.
1 comment:
Maybe YOUR cat is a zen master, but MY cat has a damn agenda and is perfectly willing to share it with me whether I'm inclined to listen or not. He will INSIST on having my attention, at the risk of bodily harm. Sometimes I pray he will grow out of being a kitten (at most of a year old) and start being one of those sphynx-like serene gods of all he surveys. Then, again, other times, it's a kick in the pants to see him goof around. Cats are strange and brilliant creatures.
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