OBE's for: Cats? Cats and dogs? All animals?

[phitau]

I've read cats are believe in some ancient cultures to be very important. In Siam, the Siamese cats are royalty. In Egypt, also Maya, the native people thought of cats to be guardians of the underworld (or spirit world). With all that, I am now thinking that cats must have souls.

Furthermore, dogs are said to be "man's best friend." Most people reading this can probably say they know a guy (or girl) that is very connected to their dog (or cat). Also, let me add this, usually the guardians of a mummy in movies and stories (ie. Night at the Museum) have masks of what looks like a dog's head. With that, are cats and dogs here to protect us from evil entities?

Well I can't go any further since I don't know much more about all this. Also, where do other animals fit in? Are the rest just for food and life cycle? Everything must have a purpose--although food is one, but let's try to find some more purposes of life.

Now to the actual topic. From all that, they must also have lives of their own. I know my cat appears to sit around all day, do some bathing, then occasionally come up to bother me because he's hungry. What do you think he does in his spare time when he looks to be sleeping. Is he really astral projecting? Cats have a lot of free time. They do a lot of sitting around, staring at stuff. I noticed tonight, as I was petting my cat, that he suddenly was looking at the other side of the room. He was very focused on this one spot, like it was in the air somewhere. Evil spirit or ghost? I'm not sure, but it must be something.

What do you think?

[phitau]

Oh yea, I also wanted to add this:

We all know that some animals are naturally peaceful. They believe no religion and start no wars between each other.

Well I can't say that for bees because I saw this one special on Discovery channel about honey bees and cape (I think that's the name) bees in South America. Basically, the cape bees send their workers into honey bee hives to ultimately destroy the whole honey bee hive.

Anyway, back to the peaceful animals. Also, like cats, they don't do much, or it seems that way according to wild life videos on Discovery channel. Could they also be meditating and astral projecting since they live such peaceful lives? As for people, those who I know personally that practice yoga, meditation, and all that are genuinely peaceful people. They live healthy, happy lives, and so do animals.

[Stookie]

Most animals are more stressed out than humans ever get. Have you ever walked into the woods and watched little furry animals scurry? They're afraid for their lives! And they do that 400 times a day. It's a constant worry for their lives and when they will eat next. Cats lay around because they have to conserve as much energy for the hunt as they can. They may not have religion, but they can be violent and go to war when there territory is invaded, just like people. Animals aren't "enlightened", they're just instinctive. House pets are lucky because they don't have to worry about food or constantly run for their lives.

[Whitehawk]

Hi Phitau,

This is a neat topic and one I have thought about many times. It seems almost anyone who has a pets learns that animals do have their own... personalities, for a lack of a better word. I have three cats, each raised from the time they were kittens, and each one has a distinct personality. One is laid back and lazy, one is absolutely fearless, and one is high-strung and easily freaked out, (think of Tweak from Southpark). It amazes me how anyone can say animals don't have emotions.. or personalities. I know they argue that the pet owner is just projecting meaning onto the animals instinctive behavior, but I, along with most pet owners,  know this is hooey.

Anyway, to the point of your post, I do believe that animals meditate. I have no proof of it, so take it for what its worth. But I do believe they meditate, at least in terms of chi kung and the movement of energy throughout their bodies. My teacher also had this belief. And some of the chi kung training I do supposedly came about from the observation of animals. So who knows.

As far as cats detecting evil/negative spirits/energies, I do have a brief experience to relate. Four or five years ago I was meditating one evening and everything was pretty much normal, when suddenly, I mean in a flash, everything changed. There was suddenly this feeling of negativity everywhere. It was oppressive in the extreme. Even the air seemed thicker and almost buzzing. Even my wife, who doesn't practice meditation, felt what was happening. And the cats went NUTS. All three running around all over the house wild-eyed and crazy. It was a site to see.And then stopped as fast as it started.

CWH

[Stookie]

I suppose you could say that animals are always meditating, because they don't have erroneous thoughts filling up their brain. They constantly stay in a single-thought mentality. We meditate to get to their level of being able to accept life in the moment. I do like logic and rationality too though. They miss out on that.

[Whitehawk]

I've been thinking about the post above all afternoon. It is true that, to me, animals seem to live in a state of natural Satori. But I guess the difference is that they don't know it.

The rational mind can't be suppressed, and indeed it shouldn't be. We can never go back to the Eden-type innocence of the animal world. For humankind the journey is forward not back.

Ken Wilber says with much more eloquence, we must transcend the rational mind, which means we go beyond it but still include it.


Thanks for making me think. 

CWH