The Dalai Lama's Cat

by David Michie

the constant companion of a man who is not only one of the world’s greatest spiritual leaders and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate but also a dab hand with a can opener.

Together we gaze out at the panoramic vista that sweeps down the Kangra Valley. Through the open windows a gentle breeze carries fragrances of pine, Himalayan oak, and rhododendron, giving the air its pristine, almost magical, quality.

In my own case, swaddled in a piece of maroon-colored fleece on a chair in His Holiness’s office, I was also aware of another fact—one of the greatest importance to all cats: I was in the home of a cat lover.

I was beginning to realize that just because an idea is simple, it isn’t necessarily easy to follow. Purring in agreement with high-sounding principles meant nothing unless I actually lived by them.

it is not so much the circumstances of our lives that make us happy or unhappy but the way we see them.”

“It is the wonderful paradox,” he continued, “that the best way to achieve happiness for oneself is to give happiness to others.”

Turns out that it’s not so much what you’re doing that makes you happy. It’s whether or not you’re being mindful of what you’re doing.

The danger is that self-development can lead us to more self-cherishing, self-absorption, self-infatuation. And these are not true causes of happiness but the opposite.”

Two main true causes of happiness: first, the wish to give happiness to others, which Buddhists define as love, and second, the wish to help free others from dissatisfaction or suffering, which we define as compassion.

I also discovered that I felt a lot happier not being jealous. Envy and resentment were demanding emotions that had disturbed my own peace of mind. For my sake, too, there was little point in being consumed by unhappy and irrational feelings.

And who, pray tell, occupies the majority of your thoughts from the moment you wake up till the time you go to sleep? Who, exactly, is the cause of your greatest anxiety and stress? Can you think of a certain party—perhaps not so far from the space you currently occupy—who at some time has become so caught up in a downward spiral of self-obsession that despite all their frenetic licking, scratching, and grooming, despite all their crazed efforts to feel better about themselves, all they have succeeded in doing is ingesting such large quantities of self-regarding detritus that they have made themselves sick—quite literally, perhaps?

the way things exist, how things exist, depends, in part, on our own minds.

“The Lam Rim, or graduated path to enlightenment, is a good place to start,” the lama told him. “It teaches us to become more aware of our own mental behavior, to replace negative patterns of thought with more positive ones.”

When you first start, Dharma practice is like a trickle of water high on a mountain. The trickle affects just a small, green area an inch or two wide, as the water flows along the ground. But as you practice Dharma more and more, the flow gets stronger

“Think about your Dharma practice like that—every day growing more and more. Giving more and more happiness to others—and gaining more and more happiness yourself.”

“When one is angry, the first person to suffer is oneself. No one who is angry has a happy, peaceful mind.”

the true cause of anger is the fridge or the gas or the lack of raspberries, then why isn’t everyone else angry at these things? You see, the anger isn’t coming from out there. It’s coming from our mind. And that is a good thing, because we can’t control everything around us in the world, but we can learn to control our own mind.”

There is a word for this way of thinking.” His Holiness’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Reframing, we call it. Yes. Like that.”

“As you have already said, the intention is important. The statue of Buddha represents a state of enlightenment. Buddhas don’t need people to bow down to them. Why should they care? When we bow, we are reminding ourselves that our own natural potential is one of enlightenment.”

It is interesting how, once you have decided to strike out on a new course of action, events often transpire to help you. Not always in an obvious fashion, or immediately. And sometimes in ways you would never have considered.

Is there a downside to being the Dalai Lama’s Cat? Simply asking the question may seem preposterous or suggest such base ingratitude that you many want to dismiss me this instant as an overpampered wretch, one of those flat-faced, long-haired felines whose expression of icy hauteur gives the impression that nothing ever will be quite good enough for them. But not so fast, dear reader. Are there not two sides to every story? It’s true that there can be few cats in history who have benefited from the peerless conditions in which I find myself. Not only are all my material needs fulfilled and my whims indulged—sometimes before I’m even aware of them myself—but my cerebral world is enlivened by the rich variety of visitors and activities that swirl around me. Emotionally, it would be hard to imagine being more loved, worshipped, and adored by those for whom I, in turn, have only the most heartfelt devotion.

As the Dalai Lama frequently explains, inner development is something for which we must each take personal responsibility. Other beings cannot make us more mindful, so that we can experience the rich tapestry of everyday experience to the fullest. Similarly, other beings cannot force us to become more patient or kind, no matter how conducive to our contentment patience or kindness would be. As for improving concentration while meditating, this is, quite obviously, something we need to do for ourselves.

If I were surrounded by humans who believed that it is the people and things in their lives that make them happy or unhappy, rather than their attitude toward those people or things—well, then I could be considered the very wisest of cats.

Was it not Winston Churchill who said that a cat is a riddle, inside an enigma, inside a delightful pelt of cuddliness? No? I could have sworn that just recently I read something to that effect in an article about him.

Albert Einstein, who reportedly said that music and cats offer the only escape from the miseries of life.

“The power of virtue is much, much stronger than the power of negativity.

“Every time we do something nice for someone else, even if it is a routine thing they expect, we can do so with the thought ‘By this act of love, or of giving happiness, may I attain enlightenment to liberate all living beings.’ Every time we practice generosity, whether it is making a donation or nursing a cat, we can think the same thing.”