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Death Cat

harlanharlan
edited July 2007 in Buddhism Today
I find this story comforting. A cat in a home that curls up with the dying. Seems to me he is witnessing the passing into the other bardo.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070725/ap_on_fe_st/death_cat

Comments

  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited July 2007
    Probably just waiting to suck their souls out once they're gone.

    Palzang
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited July 2007
    Lol!! Palzang, you're terrible!!
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited July 2007
    That's a great story. How I love cats! I've got a big orange one lying between me and the computer as I type this with great difficulty.
  • harlanharlan
    edited July 2007
    LOL! Love it. Anyone else brought up with stories that 'cats steal your breath'?
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited July 2007
    Yeah, sure, it's an established scientific fact that they sit on your chest waiting until you're asleep so they can suck your breath out, so why not souls? :winkc:

    It's funny, when I was in Mongolia, the Mongolians did not like cats at all (nor dogs either, but for different reasons). They were very superstitious about them and were basically afraid of them. One time we were sitting on the concrete foundation of the large dining ger (yurt) at the ger camp we were staying at in the Gobi, and the camp cat (kept for demousing, not as a pet) stopped by to say hi. We complied with its wishes, petting it and gushing over it, much to the abject horror of the Mongolians! It was pretty funny actually.

    Palzang
  • ZopaTenzingZopaTenzing
    edited July 2007
    An reason for their reaction Palzang? Sounds like a long standing superstition, with some potential humor!
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited July 2007
    I don't know why. It's very difficult to get into the minds of the Mongolians as they are very diffident, much like their near cousins, the American Indians. There are some aspects of their lives they just don't talk about, especially with furiners. Of course, there is also the language barrier. I was only there for the summer, so I didn't really have time to break through the barriers very much. My fellow monk, Konchog, has spent much more time there and is only really just now getting past some of those barriers with the people in the Gobi. I think you're right though, it is just old superstitions probably.

    Palzang
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited July 2007
    Cats were considered sacred in Egypt, but elsewhere, they were thought to be the help-mates of witches...some thought they were the devil in disguise, or they were agents for the Devil.

    This website has more interesting feline facts........
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