The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Power of Meow (The Dalai Lama's Cat, #3)

by David Michie

“HHC?” Ever punctilious, he referred to me using my official title, His Holiness’s Cat.

“Lotus plants grow in poor conditions. Their roots are in the mud, sometimes dirty swamps. But they rise above that. Their flowers are very beautiful. Sometimes when we have problems we, too, can use our difficulties to create something we may not even have considered before. We can turn our suffering into the cause of extraordinary growth.”

“There is a famous story about a novice monk who asks an enlightened master, ‘Tell me, what is the secret of happiness?’ The master tells him, ‘I eat and I walk and I sleep.’” His Holiness chuckled. “This makes the novice confused. He has to confess, ‘I also eat and walk and sleep.’ So the master has to spell it out for him. ‘Yes, and when I eat, I eat. When I walk, I walk. And when I sleep, I sleep.’ Mindfulness is when we focus on the present moment, instead of being caught up in our thoughts.”

“Being mindful of the mind is when we are aware of thoughts without becoming engaged with them. We see a thought merely as a thought.

“When our understanding of an idea develops to the point that it changes our behavior.”

But take that same rock and cast it into a tranquil lake—then see the result. “Same with the mind. When our minds are calm, quiet, and we consider, for example, self-compassion, our understanding deepens. There is a chance that, instead of just considering it a nice idea, we realize the truth of it. And, little by little, our behavior starts to change.”

Whatever the inspiring stories about him, however, Yogi Tarchin was more inspiring still in person. Like the Dalai Lama, his presence was something you felt. You weren’t introduced to him so much as touched by his being. A field of profound serenity extended well beyond his physical form to embrace all those around him.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” murmured Yogi Tarchin. “Much better to be here and now, on a perfect afternoon in the courtyard, than lost in cognition.”

“We all go around creating causes for future effects without even being aware of it. Then, by the time the effects happen, we have no idea why because we’re not even the same beings we were when we caused them.”

“Yes, yes. Different person. But same subtle continuum. Same energy. Energy is not created or destroyed. Because consciousness is energy, it, too, is never destroyed. It changes form, yes, but it’s always there and always has been there. “Our big problem, as humans, is mistaking this very temporary thing we call ‘me,’ this acquired personality, with our subtle consciousness, which is primordial. We do things to advance the short-term interests of this temporary ‘me,’ even things that involve harming others, thinking that because there is no immediate effect on the temporary ‘me,’ that there will be no effect at all.

“What moves from one lifetime to another with the flow of subtle consciousness isn’t the acquired personality. It isn’t intelligence, a memory, religious views, or race. It isn’t even species.”

“There are massive changes even when people have fairly poor concentration. It doesn’t take us long to discover the truth in Shantideva’s verse about emotional protection.” “Which one is that?” asked Serena. “‘Where would I possibly find enough leather,’” quoted Oliver, “‘with which to cover the surface of the earth? Yet wearing leather just on the soles of my shoes, is equivalent to covering the earth with it.’”

“Think of the Dalai Lama,” said Oliver. “When he was reinstated on the lion throne in the Potala Palace, he was given many names. The Lotus Thunderbolt. Great Precious Prince of the Soft Voice. Mighty in Speech. Excellent of Knowledge. Absolute in Wisdom. The One Without Equal. Powerful Ruler of Three Worlds. Of course, most of us know him simply as the Presence.” “Kundun.” Tenzin used the Tibetan word.

In Tibet we have a saying about meditation and ethics. For a non-meditator, an unethical action is like a hair falling on the hand. For a meditator, the same action is like a hair falling on the eyeball—big problem. When people meditate regularly, greater ethical awareness quite naturally develops.

Fortunately, we have discovered that when people meditate regularly, especially as a team, they don’t get so hung up on small things.” “Less attachment.” The Dalai Lama was nodding. “More openness.” “Exactly. In fact we’ve come up with this phrase: A company that sits together, knits together.”

As Buddha said: ‘Mind is the forerunner of all actions. All deeds are led by mind, created by mind. If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows, as surely as one’s shadow.’”

“Both happiness and unhappiness arise from thought. Our challenge is to develop those thoughts that create happiness and avoid those that cause us to suffer. So much of the time, we are having negative thoughts without realizing what is happening because we’re so caught up in them. Or because we can’t help ourselves. But with mindfulness, it’s possible to become more aware. To observe what we are thinking, and if necessary, to change.”

“The mind is like a garden,” he told me. “You choose what to grow: weeds or flowers.”