Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Black Cat, White Cat, Brown Dog

Anyone who has attempted to meditate would agree how utterly difficult the practice is. The mind plays various games. The more we try to control it, the more ingenuous the games become. Let me know if you identify with the black cat, white cat and the brown dogs our mind conjures up.


I sit to meditate.
“Observe your breath, focus on the divine… achieve silence, silence of the mind...silence “so the teachers teach
I am determined that today will be the day when there will be silence.

Silencesilence…silence...silen

A  black cat appears. MEOW. It walks towards me, tail held high twitching. It slinks into my yoga mat and

SCRATCH …” how could he say that to you?”
SCRATCH … “this is unfair.”
SCRATCH scratch…” who does she think she is? She shouldn’t have done that”
scratch scratch … loss, failure, anger, hatred, disgust

Some part of me tells me “…observe the black cat…”I look at the black cat and it vanishes. I come back to my silence

Silence…silence…sil

A white cat appears. PURRR. It gets onto the mat and then climbs into my lotus. It sits there purring. It notices that I haven’t budged. It sits on my lap patiently. After a while it brings up one paw to its face.

Lick… “the money can help start a school”
LICK…”the school will be for needy kids”
LICK LICK …”many kids will learn there, they will have a good future”
Lick LICK LICK LICK.. “I will teach them yoga and how to mediate”
LICK

With a jolt I realize the presence of the white cat.  The white cat vanishes

I sit to meditate once again
Silence…silence…s

A brown dog comes up to me. Sparkling eyes, wagging tail, pink tongue.

WAG… “Sivananda says an ounce of practice is worth tons of theory”
WaG wAg WAG… “I am doing `my practice. Soon I will feel the difference.
wag waG  ... "I will glow. I will be filled with love. With Silence.”
WaG wAg wAg… “With peace…with joy… God bless everyone. Love and light to all”

The wagging continues.

I don’t even realize that for the last half hour the brown dog has stolen my silence.

Dark thoughts come scratching. Once this black cat has been banished, the white cat appears. The white cat is hard to shoo, it is a happy heady high. I still manage to shoo it away.

The toughest yet is the spiritual brown dog. Hours go by as the mind plays and replays religious texts, spiritual ideals, yoga practices.

Someday I will shoo the brown dog too. I wonder what awaits me then… A white elephant?

9 comments:

  1. Yes, I identify with all that, one days there are more black cats and some others is all grey! I think there are even more than those in my meditations, but as you say, one need to drop even the last one...

    Carry on with your practice! Om shanti!

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  2. Nice to meet you here and love your stuff. I have plenty to say about the cat in your meditation.
    Thanks for adding me The Stranger View...much appreciated.
    Om Shanti Om

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  3. thnks fred. nd i lov the pics u post! let me know if u have ways to get rid of the cats in meditation :)
    lov n light

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  4. hi ya.. i have never seen any cat or dog during meditation. :)
    chk the link http://www.sahajayoga.org/ and trust me you will find all the answers and the peace you are looking for :)

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  5. viv, blessed are the ones with no cats, no dogs. hail to you if you have no thoughts, no games the mind plays... or did the mind trick you into believing that? :)

    ps: i been chking with sahaja group in hk on when they have a next event. wud lov it if u can let me know.

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  6. Hmm...nice way to put things. I've had all of those phases and passed on now glaring into a vast eternal realm of nothingness. When you try to do nothing, when you try to think nothing, when you try to feel nothing, when you become "nothing", that is when these cats and dogs and also maybe one of those "monkeys" which haven't appeared yet will disappear. :D Suggestion - Have you watched "The Little Buddha"? It is inspiring.

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  7. the monkey? u mean the three with schizophrenia trippin on speed...aware of that one too :) sometimes other peoples monkeys visit me - that gets confusing

    leaving the visions and travels and silences for a different audience :)

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  8. gooooooooooooooooooooood gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame

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  9. goooooooooooood fuking game

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