My Cat Teacher

Better than an octopus; How Charlie (and Watson) always invite me into the present moment

Contemplations

How do animals invite you into the present moment?

What else have they taught you about life and about yourself?

***

My meditation buddy.

The other morning I went to go sit like I do every day. I did my prayers, played my morning chanting, and then went down to sit on my meditation cushion, ready to drop in. I let my eyes rest into a soft gentle gaze as the rest of the world began to blur away and the only thing that mattered was my breath.

I heard the soft shimmy of my beaded curtain, as one of my cats entered the room. Charlie often likes to sit on the meditation cushion next to me — the one I have on standby for guests and friends who wants to join me.

Most often the being that joins me is my dear Charles. I joke that I think he was a monastic in a past life. A somewhat anxious tabby boy, he has always found solace, ease when I meditated. Jess and I often say that his greatest hobby is to “stand guard”.

But when we sit together, me cross-legged, him loafing, it’s one of the rare moments where I get to see him let that guard down. His breath, like mine, slows. And we just both allow ourselves to be right there, in the present moment.

Charle’s normal state: Standing guard.

Never having had a cat before, I trained him to be a bit of a dog because that’s all I knew and for a long time before we got his brother Watson, a scrappy alley cat, that’s all he knew as well.

He comes running when I call him like a big golden retriever, plays fetch and sits for treats and mealtime.

So when I heard him entering my practice room that morning, my heart warmed, waiting for him to plop down next to me like he always does. I allowed myself to go deeper and deeper into my breath and body when — suddenly I felt his little paw on my leg, then chest, startling me out of my meditation.

I looked down and there were his big eyes looking straight at me, wanting attention.

“Charlie, buddy, let’s sit,” I said. I gave his ears a wibble wobble back and forth, petting him like I did my childhood dog.

I patted the floor next to me for him to come, and he slowly came down and I dropped back in. Breathing in, breathing out — only to feel both his paws and his little feline body pressed up against mine, head rubbing against me, desperate for pets.

I was annoyed.

“Charlie, come on, bud.”

This time I hugged him, squeezing a purr out of him. I picked him up this time and placed him next to me and dropped back in. And like clockwork, he climbed up my chest again, this time his nose right up against mine. I looked down and couldn’t even see his whole face because he was so close to mine.

Charlie, up close and personal. This is how close he was when I was trying to meditate!

This time I laughed.

“OK Charlie bear.”

I lifted him up and held him like a baby about to be burped — one hand supporting his backside. I held him close to me and he put his front two arms around me, hugging me back like the human-dog-cat he is.

As I held him, I looked at the incense burning on my alter in front of the Buddha, I realized in that moment that Charlie, in his own way, was teaching me to be in the present moment.

I couldn’t do anything but be with him, right then and there.

My wife often talks about how our guys are sometimes the only thing that helps her be present.

And I thought about all the ways he (and Watson) have taught me to be present — from Watson always stopping to smell our flowers to their physical furry bodies pressed against me and Jess at night, helping us drop into our own bodies and let go of any worries or anxieties.

Watson loves to smell the roses!

There was Charlie, my guy, inviting me to be nowhere but there with him. And as the world slowed, we locked eyes, and he slow blinked at me and I slow blinked back.

“I love you too, bud.”

And in that moment, I felt a rush of love run through me, making that morning perhaps one of the most transformative sits I’ve had in some time.

All thanks to my Charles bear.

Me and my guy.

***

A quick plug that my dear teachers Kaira Jewel Lingo and Dr. Larry Ward will be diving deeper into how our animal friends are our greatest teachers with their partners Adam Bucko and Peggy Rowe Ward and special guest stars — their own pets Rafiki and Tashi. Join them in their animal blessing workshop tonight from 7P-8:30P ET. Sign-up to attend live or to receive the recording on demand here.