I recently got a puppy and observing her interactions, she has taught me a a few lessons.
The distinct noise of the puppy food packet being opened brings great excitement and joy to Ellie the puppy. I thought, imagine if one could have such joy at hearing the sound of the meditation gong being rung, being so excited to do the meditation practice to come.
Then as the dish is being filled with pellets Ellie has absolute focus on the matter at hand, nothing distracts her attention. If only my focus was so one-pointed in meditation. During meditation preferences come up – that sound is nice so I’m carried away by it and go off into distraction. Or dislike for a particular sound makes one want to push it away, again causing one to lose focus.
Matthieu Ricard says “In Tibetan Buddhism, we teach the practice of ‘one taste’ which consists in experiencing pleasure and pain, comfort and discomfort, harmonious or discordant sounds, good or bad-tasting food with the same equanimity. It has nothing to do with apathy or indifference. It is rather a matter of allowing sensations to manifest in the vast space of awareness and not in the narrow space of a selective, anxious mind torn between what it likes and does not like.”
Now a warning, the next part could make your stomach turn. I think my puppy had mastered this ‘one taste’ as she has no preference between eating her pellets and occasionally having a taste of her own poo.
At the completion of a meditation session, one gets up and interacts with one’s surroundings. Always ready to show love and affection with a wag of a tail or a lick, the puppy brings joy to the world. Take a puppy into a room and smiles appear on people’s faces. How can we do the same?
Alan Muller, August 2024