Buddysattva

Every day I'm reminded, through his actions and behaviours, that my cat is amazing. His name is Buddy and I'm convinced that he's a Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva is a being that has achieved enlightenment but has forsaken Nirvana to remain in the world to help other beings achieve enlightenment themselves. He or she may teach directly or show the path through their own example.

His origins are a mystery to us. We don't know how old he is for instance. All we know is that he was left in an apartment when his old human companions vanished. Perhaps they achieved enlightenment and disappeared. Maybe they just left for Alberta and they weren't paying attention to Buddy's lessons. So for a number of months he lived in this apartment with another cat. The superintendent, supplied them with food and water and litter (incidentally Buddy only drinks out of the bathtub, I haven't figured out the lesson in this). But the other cat died during this time. And Buddy was alone. A friend of my mum heard about Buddy and arranged for her to take him. So this city cat made his way to the boundless country. He must have felt he died and went to heaven.

Buddy is love. This is his first lesson. He is never upset or angry with us stupid humans. He has infinite patience for our quirks. If you want to move him he accepts this without question. For instance, if he is sitting in his chair (the most comfortable chair in the kitchen) you can scoop him in your arms, sit down and place him on your lap and he won't budge throughout the process. And when he first chooses to sit in your lap or lies down next to you in bed, he bathes you in healing purring.

He is never demanding, though he'll tell you clearly when he wants food or to go outside. He has excellent communication skills, his second lesson. And if you don't understand him, he finds something else to do until you are ready to hear what he has to stay.

His third lesson is found in his major activity, sleeping. I think he is telling me, and our culture more generally, to chill out. Sleeping or dozing is one of those simple pleasures like eating and having sex. Especially during winter, what's the rush? Where are we going? Why not save our energy until the sun is shining during long days and bright green shades surround us? Why can't we wait until we can hunt and explore in bountiful times?

He is also protective. If we go for a walk down by the brook or up to the maple stand at the back of the land, he is with us every step of the way. Maybe he's afraid of us leaving him. But I think he appreciates the adventure and watches out for us. Once he climbed a tall tree and I worried that he wouldn't be able to come down and Dan told me of a time when he leapt over the wide brook to keep up with him and Joey.

And every night he comes and sleeps next to me. Every night. I think he knows that I'm a little lonely and missing a certain friend and having a nice warm body sleeping next to me, however small, gives me happy dreams and breaks some of that loneliness. The funniest part is that he comes and sleeps right up next to my face, but not too close. Last night I lay my arm out along the edge of the pillow and in the morning I found him sleeping with his head resting on my outstretched arm. Very cute!

Even if he doesn't lead me to enlightenment, I'm glad for his friendship.