I had the privilege of traveling to the little kingdom of Bhutan recently, and one of the many gifts I received from that visit was the inspiration to spread the word about GNH. For Bhutan’s policy-making is guided not by the GNP (Gross National Product) but by GNH–Gross National Happiness. It’s more than just a cute-sounding idea. There are documents …
Lobo’s postscript
Last week I was sitting in my meditation room where I had finished a meditation and was re-reading theologian Jean-Yves LeLoup’s translation and commentary on the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. In it, he was referring to the word “nous,” his translation of a word in the gospel that refers to a state of consciousness. The “nous” is related to what …
Lobo’s Last Lesson
We owners know intellectually that our dogs’ lives pass by much more quickly than our own, but when they begin to fail, it’s utter torture. Lobo wasn’t a big fetcher, but over the years, Jon had convinced him to go out to get the morning paper and carry it back to the house for a treat. This was …
Lobo’s Lesson #6
A family of coyotes built a den below our next door neighbors’ property, and must have been mystified for ten years by the next door neighbor dog who chased them one minute and howled with them the next. We’re not sure what Lobo was saying when he joined in with their songs, but he sounded like a songdog just tuning …
Lessons from Lobo #5
As protective and fierce as Lobo could appear, sometimes he was a big baby. He must have heard Thunder speak to him like a great god who came ripping over the mountain growling and barking with a voice big enough to send him under the dining room table or huddled behind my office desk. Our Tucson monsoons are …
Lesson #4 from Lobo
Whatever breed made up most of Lobo’s genetics, he was a watchdog. Perhaps his primary job was to protect his property, and most of all, his two-legged underlings. His ideas about who was suspicious may have come from unfortunate early experiences, and this gave him the appearance of prejudice. He barked at anyone with dark skin, anyone wearing a …
Lobo’s Lesson #3
It didn’t take long to discover that the poor excuse for a fence around our yard was not going to keep Lobo at home. We weren’t sure all our neighbors were as enthusiastic about his presence as we were. Judi, who lives next door, gently pointed out that her husband Rick was not a dog lover. Lobo was turning up …
Lesson #2 from Lobo
Lobo at 1 in 2005, with our grandson Simon Amnesia works in strange ways. In the same way a mother forgets the agony of childbirth and signs up to do the same thing again, dog lovers forget what it’s really like to have a puppy. “He’s going to be big,” our vet friend Sonny said, looking at the giant paddy …
Lessons from Lobo #1
Portrait of the young Lobo by Tomar Levine (http://www.newyorkpetportraits.com/memorial-portraits.html) Lesson #1 Lobo first came to me in a wild and mysterious dream. A dream unlike any I’ve ever had. It was 2004, I believe. The year I had my second bout of breast cancer. So perhaps I thought it was effects from the radiation. Or simple madness. I …
