{"id":74048757,"date":"2022-09-20T13:01:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T13:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=74048757"},"modified":"2022-09-20T13:01:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T13:01:42","slug":"the-illuminating-spark-monastic-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=74048757","title":{"rendered":"The Illuminating Spark: Monastic Pets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some commentary and a poem.<\/h2>
<\/figure>

(Image description: A photo of a side profile of a cat\u2019s face. The cat is resting is resting in a light-colored hammock near a rope-covered scratching post.) Credit: Photo by Jack Seeds<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>

The title of this post might seem kind of funny, as you might not immediately think of domesticated animals as having anything to do with monasticism. I think each pet and its personality can offer small lessons to contemplate.<\/p>

While there might be other examples in literature, I\u2019m reminded of the 6th century Irish poem Pangur B\u00e1n<\/a><\/em>. The anonymous poet-monk finds commonalities in their separate tasks, him at his desk and the cat near a mousehole. This poem offers an example of insights found in seemingly ordinary situations from unlikely sources.<\/p>

As of late, one of my cats, Mystic, has been having health issues. She\u2019s elderly and has been with me for a very long time. As of writing this post, she\u2019s still with me. However, thinking back on her life, I can see the lessons she\u2019s taught me and the value they have in my monastic practice. I have summarized her lessons for me in the following poem.<\/p>

Hermit Cat<\/h3>

Chirp of a bird,<\/p>

tiny fierceness,<\/p>

this is how we met.<\/p>

Your Halloween-coat<\/p>

and your quietness<\/p>

are your namesakes.<\/p>

Curmudgeon at heart,<\/p>

my fuzzy hermit<\/p>

finding joy in solitude.<\/p>

Even chasing your tail<\/p>

reveals the happiness<\/p>

of your own company.<\/p>

At other times, you seek<\/p>

the love and care<\/p>

to fill your needs.<\/p>

Not too much,<\/p>

nor too little,<\/p>

everything in moderation.<\/p>

Sweet kitty, you<\/p>

are wisdom, a deep well<\/p>

of simple truths.<\/p>

If you have any beloved animals in your life, consider what lessons they can teach you and cherish the knowledge you learn!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some commentary and a poem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74048757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74048757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74048757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74048757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74048757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74048757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74048757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}