Cats as Spiritual Teachers – and Lily the Siamese

A lighter post than some of my other serious ones…..Let’s talk cats, pets and animals!

This is Lily, a Siamese cat, who has been with us since she was a kitten, she is nearly two years old.  The photo is a bit dark but it shows her playful nature (one day she’ll ruin the blinds yep).

Aside from playing a lot, Lily unceasingly provides calm, presence and love as only animals can.  She is also a receptacle for love, endless amounts of it.  For we need to give love as much as receive it!

Each cat breed is different in character…..Lily provides a comedy routine everyday where she dashes around the place at high speeds growling like a big cat warding off a predator.  It’s just her animal instinct, she’s a sweet gentle soul really, even if you play with her in the middle of her growling sessions.  Siamese are acrobats, very playful, inadvertent comedians and also very needy…..of the cat breeds the siamese is one of the most co-dependent!!  I do try to give her therapy but she’s not a very good client 🙂 🙂 That Disney film did Siamese cats a great disservice, they are not at all cool and aloof, they are the most loving of cats.

Along with her neediness Lily has massive FOMO (fear of missing out) – if she is sleeping soundly and you go into another room, she will get up and sleepily start following you around even as she is still half asleep.  She just wants to be with you all the time.  So Siamese cats are purrrrfect if you want to be endlessly entertained and have a constant companion.

I enjoy photographing her, here are some photos of Lily.

I’ve found the love of animals has grown exponentially lately.  In this life so far I’ve lived with 5 cats, 1 dog, 2 budgies and 2 fish – thankfully not at the same time otherwise it would have been a full-time job 🙂 Having said that I would love to work with animals for they lift the spirits so.  It’s their lack of ego that I find so refreshing.  It’s an always ever present ‘satsang’ with cats, they bring us into the Now, and also into playfulness.  On the spiritual path they say we should become more playful, like children.  Cats are our teachers for that – they teach us how to reconnect with our playfulness, in spite of whatever is going on in our lives or the world.

Just look at life with more playful eyes. Don’t be serious. Seriousness becomes like a blindness. Don’t pretend to be a thinker, a philosopher. Just simply be a human being. The whole world is showering its joy on you in so many ways, but you are too serious, you cannot open your heart. – Osho

I don’t watch TV much and if it’s my choice what to watch then I’ll often watch programs about animals and wildlife.  Sadness is felt when I see animals facing extinction.  Right now the last two white-horned rhinos in the world (both female) could be dead and extinct.  However the sadness is lessened when I think they are only extinct in this relative world, their souls live on, and perhaps they chose the role of extinction to teach humans about their mistakes and about love.  Just as evil teaches us about forgiveness.  I talk about the serious topic of good and evil a lot more in this post.

As for dolphins and whales they have great emotional intelligence and are supremely kind.  Here is a beautiful display of – it seems – gratitude from a humpback whale that was freed from net entanglement and the brink of death by a lovely bunch of people, it is very moving to watch.

Just a short post in honour of our wonderful animal companions.  They lift up our spirits, a crucial thing at this time of change.

Comments, as always, welcome.

Namaste