Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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!

Friday, December 10, 2010

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!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

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!

Friday, December 3, 2010

I really could use enhanced perception...

A certain tree outdoors looked like this and I found it so pleasing that I had to have it captured for the blog and the cat boys' viewing; however, the real show was indoors.

When I saw Augustus sitting on the bed with this look in his eyes...well, I knew something was up with these boys!

Ollie was modeling his Christmas scarf,

and asking August what he thought of it...was it slimming, did it bring out the hazel in his eyes?

August approved of the look

but suggested that Ollie wear the scarf more around his neck, like this:

This was new to me and I went down to think what was up. I thought it was best to play cool and let them have their fun. Upon returning upstairs I witnessed this:





(actually this is not them but that is what they were doing)

Really, all I could do was to leave them with this reading, which they accepted to study jovially.

"Know thou, verily, insight (or mental perception) seeth that which sight (or physical perception) seeth not and apprehendeth that which the body perceiveth not, inasmuch as the sight seeth the mirage as water, the images pictured in the mirror as a reality and genuine, and it seeth the earth as stationary, the great stars as small. But the insight correcteth the mistake of the sight and apprehendeth the reality and seeth that the mirage is not water, that the images pictured in mirrors are naught else save mere reflections, that the earth is moving and the distant stars are great. Consequently, the truth of insight, its effectiveness and power is proven, as well as the weakness of sight, its inefficiency and defects." Selections AB

As I was heading downstairs and back to work I heard smooching sounds, I knew the catboys were filling their paws with little kisses and blowing them in the air to wish you a lovely Friday and weekend!

Ciao everyone!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Perception....

Rather early this morning, five-thirtyish, I was out with the doodles. I had stuff on my mind, thinking how much I liked to be able to see 'outside the box' so to speak, to have acute foresight, insight, ??.
Too dark...I need a lighter sky,
this corner pointed out to me by the boys looked more interesting.
Augustus assumed the snack-eating posture, both he and Ollie enjoy receiving a few treats at designated treat stations.
I was impressed by the clear skies, the shiny Jupiter! Not bad for being right in the middle of a city, wishing I had my loaner telescope handy.
We did the usual walk down the street, Augustus likes to lead while I pull on his tail once in a while, Ollie likes to hang behind to make sure all is safe, that little boy is still a baby!
There he is, Gussy Gus, scoping the street to make sure it is alright to walk,
and little Ollie Ollie!
Back in our courtyard, still dark, I admire Gus, his shadow, we continue to talk about increased perception, this, that and other discourses of spiritual significance.
Some time later, perhaps 15 minutes later, it is light, Ollie was fascinated by how the light was turned on, me too in fact!!!
I grabbed the foofer and the puffy pants and brought them in quickly before the usual courtyard noises started...they were caught off-guard by my efficiency and not so happy! Heh heh!
Ollie wanted to know what all the discussion of boxes all about, he was interested to know if there were some treats hiding in the box or outside the box. He said that foresight is great if it lets him find treats. I was blown away by his intelligence!
The two of us prayed;
I was wondering if pussycat would like to have some pink boots;
I had to comb his luscious fur;
he told me that he is now going to do a flip, somersault and land on kitty dad (which he did and I heard a UUHH).
After showering I found him on his director chair,
I think he was dreaming of treats!
Downstairs was this tired boy,
tranquil, reflecting on
this passage that we read together:

THE PHYSICAL POWERS AND THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS

In man five outer powers exist, which are the agents of perception—that is to say, through these five powers man perceives material beings. These are sight, which perceives visible forms; hearing, which perceives audible sounds; smell, which perceives odors; taste, which perceives foods; and feeling, which is in all parts of the body and perceives tangible things. These five powers perceive outward existences.
Man has also spiritual powers: imagination, which conceives things; thought, which reflects upon realities; comprehension, which comprehends realities; memory, which retains whatever man imagines, thinks and comprehends. The intermediary between the five outward powers and the inward powers is the sense which they possess in common—that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outer powers discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates between the outward and inward powers and thus is common to the outward and inward powers.
For instance, sight is one of the outer powers; it sees and perceives this flower, and conveys this perception to the inner power—the common faculty—which transmits this perception to the power of imagination, which in its turn conceives and forms this image and transmits it to the power of thought; the power of thought reflects and, having grasped the reality, conveys it to the power of comprehension; the comprehension, when it has comprehended it, delivers the image of the object perceived to the memory, and the memory keeps it in its repository.
The outward powers are five: the power of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell and of feeling.
The inner powers are also five: the common faculty, and the powers of imagination, thought, comprehension and memory.


Seeing the puzzled look on my face Gussy assured me that we would continue our discourse on improving perception later!
Before starting their morning siesta catboys filled their paws with the usual sweet kisses and blew them in the air for YOU!

Ciao everyone!