A little post christmas hello from cat dudes...

A cool and beautiful day here, I was roaming with the cat dudes who have become very camera shy.

I said, "dudes, how about a little hello and some kisses".
Ollie could not resist.

Neither could Augustus.

One of the two read a passage for reflection, the other (who shall remain unnamed) decided to monitor the city waterways.

We read:

"the world of existence does not culminate here. If this were so, existence itself would be sterile. There are many worlds of light. For even as the plant imagines life ends with itself and has no knowledge of our existence, so the materially-minded man has no knowledge of other worlds of consciousness." Divine Philosophy

So much love and kisses were piling up in these boys in the last few days...before separating to attend to individual business they made big pawfuls of kisses and blew them in the air for you.

Ciao everyone!

Surely Christmas is already here or

is it just around the corner? That's what the cat boys are thinking.
Ollie has been spending a good deal of time grooming, especially with all this rain pouring out of the sky.
He wants to know how long he should sit like this waiting.
The wise Gus, whom we now call "Aqua-cat" because he sprints in the rain, knows that Christmas is almost but not quite here yet.
So Ollie and Augustus sit around waiting and communicate telepathically while I work around the house.

Some time later I find Mr Puffy Pants in very deep reflection
and even later I find him like so by the door! Waiting is not easy for a baby cat!
One last reading before Christmas selected by our very special cat boys has us all thinking about Christmas...

"Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified..." Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

Cat boys filled their paws with Christmas kisses and blew them in the air, sending them to their friends all over, far and wide...Meowy Christmas everyone!

Ciao!

Is it raining still?

"Come and get me when it stops."


"Meow!"


"So tired."


Our choices were limited to OPERA or reflecting on a reading, and the cat boys opted for reading this morning.

"Know ye that by "the world" is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The "life to come," on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. ... Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful...." Gleanings

Wet pawfuls of kitty kisses and warm cat wishes for your week!

Ciao everyone!

Introducing the Magi to young cat boys...

The soft rain this morning

brought our little cat dudes indoors without too much hassle. I saw Ollie scrambling about and figured that he needed a story to settle him down.

Gussy, on the other hand, had already read my mind and sat prepared.
I said, "Ollie, did you want to know about the Magi?"
I know the answer was a solid "YES" when I noticed that he assumed the posture of listening, though there remained a glimpse of "what is she talking about" in his hazel eyes.
Gussy closed his eyes, he already was envisioning that period of time where people traveled on foot following a star in search of their visions.


Ollie who felt a little chill coming on, in spite of his comfortable stature, put on his christmas scarf and listened.
We read this:

"Among the Prophets was Abraham, the Friend of God. Ere He manifested Himself, Nimrod dreamed a dream. Thereupon, he summoned the soothsayers, who informed him of the rise of a star in the heaven. Likewise, there appeared a herald who announced throughout the land the coming of Abraham.
After Him came Moses, He Who held converse with God. The soothsayers of His time warned Pharaoh in these terms: "A star hath risen in the heaven, and lo! it foreshadoweth the conception of a Child Who holdeth your fate and the fate of your people in His hand." In like manner, there appeared a sage who, in the darkness of the night, brought tidings of joy unto the people of Israel, imparting consolation to their souls, and assurance to their hearts. …
In like manner, when the hour of the Revelation of Jesus drew nigh, a few of the Magi, aware that the star of Jesus had appeared in heaven, sought and followed it, till they came unto the city which was the seat of the Kingdom of Herod. The sway of his sovereignty in those days embraced the whole of that land.
These Magi said: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him!" When they had searched, they found out that in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, the Child had been born. This was the sign that was manifested in the visible heaven. As to the sign in the invisible heaven -- the heaven of divine knowledge and understanding -- it was Yahya, son of Zachariah, who gave unto the people the tidings of the Manifestation of Jesus. Even as He hath revealed: "God announceth Yahya to thee, who shall bear witness unto the Word from God, and a great one and chaste." By the term "Word" is meant Jesus, Whose coming Yahya foretold…
From all that We have stated it hath become clear and manifest that before the revelation of each of the Mirrors reflecting the divine Essence, the signs heralding their advent must needs be revealed in the visible heaven as well as in the invisible, wherein is the seat of the sun of knowledge, of the moon of wisdom, and of the stars of understanding and utterance. The sign of the invisible heaven must needs be revealed in the person of that perfect man who, before each Manifestation appeareth, educateth, and prepareth the souls of men for the advent of the divine Luminary, the Light of the unity of God amongst men.”
(Book of Certitude)

While Gussy dreamt of those times

Ollie made little kisses one at a time and blew them in the air for you to wish you a happy weekend! He was most interested in the gifts of Magi!

Ciao everyone! Enjoy the weekend!

Secrets that startle...

Sometimes an image elicits a weird feeling in kitty mom. For example, upon seeing this postcard


I had a sudden wish... I wanted to be playing in this band!


Since I could not comprehend this, naturally, I went to the two wise cats and shared my feelings with them.

Upon hearing what I had to say, they had a strong urge to rub noses!



"This is all too puzzling", I said...so we decided to read and reflect about this:


"Know, that the pure hearts upon which the mysteries of the Kingdom of God are printed and pictured, are reflections one upon another and thus the one can discover the secrets of the other, because such hearts are only mirrors confronting each other on which the secrets of unity, affinity and concord are printed and reflected." (Selections AB)

and

"living with ambiguities as a natural and inescapable feature of the process of exploring reality" (shoghi effendi)

Startled as we three were in discovering our secret emotions none of us were questioning our open feelings of love for our friends and so the cat boys filled their gorgeous paws with sweet kitty kisses and blew them in the air for you.

Ciao everyone!

An update...

Following two cats with different agendas has not ended.
While Augustus has matured exceptionally in the last week, Ollie, now known as TTOTT, which means "the terror of tiny town', has become rebellious and spends all days outdoors.

So the mature cat (Gus) and I read and reflected on the topic of 'self'.


"Regarding the questions you asked: self has really two meanings, or is used in two senses..; one is self, the identity of the individual created by God. This is the self mentioned in such passages as "he hath known God who hath known himself", etc. The other self is the ego, the dark, animalistic heritage each one of us has, the lower nature that can develop into a monster of selfishness, brutality, lust and so on. It is this self we must struggle against, or this side of our natures, in order to strengthen and free the spirit within us and help it to attain perfection. (Living the Life)

and

"Know verily that whenever this Youth turneth His eyes towards His own self, he findeth it the most insignificant of all creation. When He contemplates, however, the bright effulgences He hath been empowered to manifest, lo, that self is transfigured before Him into a sovereign Potency permeating the essence of all things visible and invisible..." (Gleanings)

Paws

and ponder.

Reflect

Relax




TTOTT played and

played


and received a 'talking-to' ...


from Sylvester the big cat.


Regardless of their diverging agendas when I said that I was going to post a blog the two cat dudes immediately filled their paws with kitty kisses and blew them in the air for you, to wish you all a lovely Tuesday.

Ciao everyone!

I don't need help figuring out what the cat dudes do, generally,

but I sure need help to understand what they read, occasionally! Whiz boys confuse me!


"Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise its function, and will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is indubitably clear and evident that each of these afore-mentioned instruments has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its manifestation all these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the suspension of its action they are all destroyed and perish.

It would be wholly untrue to maintain that this faculty is the same as the power of vision, inasmuch as the power of vision is derived from it and acteth in dependence upon it. It would, likewise, be idle to contend that this faculty can be identified with the sense of hearing, as the sense of hearing receiveth from the rational faculty the requisite energy for performing its functions.

This same relationship bindeth this faculty with whatsoever hath been the recipient of these names and attributes within the human temple. These diverse names and revealed attributes have been generated through the agency of this sign of God. Immeasurably exalted is this sign, in its essence and reality, above all such names and attributes. Nay, all else besides it will, when compared with its glory, fade into utter nothingness and become a thing forgotten.

Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of man's development." Gleanings 165


While I was busy reading and pondering and reflecting those two rascals filled their gorgeous paws with sweet cat kisses and blew them in the air for you and your delight! See you next week dear friends!

Ciao everyone!

Two cats, two agendas....

Sometimes, and nowadays that is more frequent than ever before, each cat dude likes to do his own thing. After a good number of hours of exploration Augustus likes to come in, nosh and drink some water, then go to his bedroom where I tell him some cat jokes. Some light humor is an essential ingredient of his spiritual development.

Next we read a bit while he relaxes himself by grooming. The reading he chose on this occasion was very profound and if you are to read it we recommend that you do the same...groom during or after the read.


"Now there are many wisdoms to ponder in the dream, which none but the people of this Valley can comprehend in their true elements. First, what is this world, where without eye and ear and hand and tongue a man puts all of these to use? Second, how is it that in the outer world thou seest today the effect of a dream, when thou didst vision it in the world of sleep some ten years past? Consider the difference between these two worlds and the mysteries which they conceal, that thou mayest attain to divine confirmations and heavenly discoveries and enter the regions of holiness…
All these states are to be witnessed in the Valley of Wonderment, and the traveler at every moment seeketh for more, and is not wearied…
Likewise, reflect upon the perfection of man's creation, and that all these planes and states are folded up and hidden away within him.

Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form
When within thee the universe is folded?

…O friend, the heart is the dwelling of eternal mysteries, make it not the home of fleeting fancies; waste not the treasure of thy precious life in employment with this swiftly passing world. Thou comest from the world of holiness -- bind not thine heart to the earth; thou art a dweller in the court of nearness -- choose not the homeland of the dust.
In sum, there is no end to the description of these stages, but because of the wrongs inflicted by the peoples of the earth, this Servant is in no mood to continue:
The tale is still unfinished and I have no heart for it –
Then pray forgive me." The Seven Valleys

Augustus reflects and

falls asleep!

I now have to occupy myself with cat dude #2 who wants to get ready for Christmas. He puts on his Santa hat, which does not fit him anymore. It barely covers one ear!
Well, that's about it...two cats, two agendas...the only thing they share is their love, so they fill their paws each day with kisses and blow them in the air for their friends!

Ciao everyone!