WISDOM ALL AROUND
For most of my life animals —mostly dogs, some cats— have helped guide me.
Apprenticeship to Love: Meditations for the sacred masculine on this crooked path
March 14, 2026
TODAY'S MEDITATION
So much of my everyday life is written in the shadow of distant wars. As I write, several images from Ukraine are vivid in my mind: in one, a man is carrying an aging Alsation on his back as the family evacuates a city under attack; in another, a woman with a tangle of dogs is evacuating them from a rescue shelter. A third, more gruesome image: An evacuating car-load of dogs has been machine-gunned by Russian troops.
I love the animals in my life. I call them my "Furry Angels." They give me warmth and comfort. They help me to slow down to enjoy this life and this peace and all of this love that I am privileged to experience.
The world is not kind to those who are angelic in their nature. I haven't always been so sensitive to these angels. My Furry Angels are a reminder. I make my life better when I care for and attend to those gentle ones —human and furry— who grace my path.
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When we reduce ourselves to our primary functions —survival, attack, escape, freeze— there is no room for tenderness or connection. My capacity for intuition is eliminated by instinctual mistrust.
For most of my life animals —mostly dogs, some cats— have helped guide me. I've only recently been conscious of this guidance. But, with the exception of a period where I was surrounded by children (another agency of wisdom and guidance), and about a decade of no dogs and no kids underfoot, I've benefitted from my Furry Angels. The vibrations of their adoration, trust, and loyalty help me to know myself and know my world that much better. When I am paying attention.
Rituals help. In the yogic tradition into which I was trained every practice starts with the chanting of two short mantras. Knowing the meaning of the words is helpful, but it's the sound vibration that's most important. The first mantra, the Adi mantra, reminds me to look to the teacher within. The second mantra, the Mangla Charn mantra, reminds me to open to the primal, ancient, silent, and unseen wisdom that is all around me. That wisdom comes to me through the "vibe" (vibration) I get, from many sources. My dogs. The trees and the forest. The mountains. Even the street and the people around me. I am a body of vibrations. Chanting is one of the ways I tune myself and bring myself into resonance with the world.
Being in tune with myself is a subtle and profound experience. When I am tuned I am able to feel and know beyond my reason. I know, not only in my own five senses and my body-mind, but through the body-mind of others. Like my dogs. My cat. My children. My grandchildren. My friends. My beloved.
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Today I hold images of cruelty in my mind, because the cruelty of the world is real and consequential. I grieve for the loss of life —animal and human— that we, as humans, visit on each other and ourselves. I breathe and I feel my heart ache.
As I breathe I slow down. As well as the ache, I feel love and gratitude. Sitting, alone, I feel myself held by my furry angels. Even in the face of so much suffering, in the world and in my life, I know myself capable of more. Slowed, I receive and enjoy the always-changing, never-ending flow of love and beauty that life brings to me.
TODAY'S INSPIRATIONS
🌀Our prayer is that you see yourself in all others; discover the unique intelligence in all creatures; ... allow all life to prosper. (Guru Singh)
🌀Cultivate peace first in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of selfishness and jealousy, greed and anger, pride and ego. Then all will benefit from your peace and harmony. (Buddha)
🌀You're not like that anymore. (My beloved)
