Perfumed Silence

is the thought that came to our minds, the three of us, as we relaxed in each other's presence.
Augustus obliged, and hung around for a while, sending a look this way and one the other.
Ollie had found the right spot in the humble disorderly grass of our disorderly backyard.
Ahh, look at that glance! I felt the strong urge to give him 199 kisses but did not want to disturb his peace.
Since his grand words in the last blog post I thought that perhaps I should call him Confucius. I will be thinking about that.
Just to test him and to make sure that this outpouring of genius was not accidental I decided to ask his opinion on another profound topic- that of powe

I told him that I knew what the contemporary understanding of power was- it is a zero sum game in which the power of one side is derived at the expense of another.

I wanted to know what was his spiritual understanding of power.

He was startled yet prepared!
He said that power was a force that was infused into a relationship or emerges therefrom once there was harmony within, such as the power of love.

Then he quoted an eastern spiritual teacher on this topic:

"In the world of existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of love for when the heart of man in aglow with the flame of love, he is ready to sacrifice all-even his life." (Abdul-Baha in Promulgation of Universal Peace?)

I felt quite amazed but I had to conceal my emotions of pride and love, just making sure it does not go to his head.

You may think from all the Ollie photos that I am biased towards him, over Augustu

I assure you that that is not the case. On this particular morning Augustus was flying left and right and I could not take any more pictures or chat with him longer!!!

The two cat boys eventually gathered for kiss-blowing, paws were filled juicy kisses and sprinkled on top with best wishes, and they blew them out for their friend

Wishing you a lovely Wednesday!

Ciao!

When June gloom burns off

there is clarity. We look up at the blue skies, what a change from the dreary morning...clarity.
I noticed that Augustus wanted to sit and chat, he was in that sort of a mood.
Then I saw Ollie, and detected that he was in a similar mood, reflecting, meditative. Not know quite what to discuss I ask Ollie what he thought we should be striving for, a difficult question for a normal cat.
He scratched his head before talking, and I was sure that he would say something related to expanding the farming of tuna and salmon, or installation of more bird feeders in the yard.

Ollie came up with this list of things we three should be striving for:

"the worthy service of unifying mankind","investigating reality and promulgating international peace", "progress and development of humanity", "spreading and proclaiming true education", "expression of love towards your fellow creatures", "the removal of prejudice", "blend together human hearts and give light to the human world"

... (Promulgation of Universal Peace 334)

"Whoa", I said.

I could not contain my amazement but Gussy who trusts the inner abilities of his puffy-pant-wearing brother did not flinch. He was just enjoying hearing these thoughts.

He assumed his usual reflection posture,
and then started making kisses for everyone. This is what he could do today.
They sent off kisses and their best wishes for a lovely week for all of their friends. Enjoy!

Ciao everyone.

June 10th 2011

Today is commencement ceremonies at Caltech. I am in my office. The day is unseasonably cool and gloomy, to me that is. Earlier this morning, 5:30 or so, it was equally overcast but cat boys like overcast skies with cool temperatures. It stimulates them, and that is all fine; however, it makes it difficult to get them to sit and listen.

I wanted to tell them more about the talk...creativity, practice, all that good stuff.

Ollie was trying to hide himself, he is always sure that we cannot see him.
Gussy was wondering how a furry ginger cat could camouflage himself in a green setting.
"Nope, I can still see you", he meowed to Ollie.
Ollie decided to give in. Next time perhaps he will try to camouflage amongst orange leaves.
Augustus preparing to listen.
Augustus listening intently.

"..God has given man the eye of investigation by which he may see and recognize truth. He has endowed man with ears that he may hear the message of reality and conferred upon him the gift of reason by which he may discover things for himself. This is his endowment and equipment for the investigation of reality. Man is not intended to see through the eyes of another, hear through another's ears nor comprehend with another's brain. Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in the creative plan of God; therefore depend on your own investigation..." Promulgation of Universal Peace, 292

My teacher friend firmly believes that each of her students is capable of creatively expressing themselves, and each has that endowment, which allows them to do so.

The cat boys agreed wholeheartedly, theirs is always an authentic investigation, never through the eyes of another. I asked for kisses and kisses they prepared and blew in the air wishing all a grand weekend.

Ciao everyone

Practice

Last night I went to hear my teacher friend talk. She teaches creativity, child development and curriculum development at a school in Long Beach. She was going to talk about "Practice". When I returned home I called the curious cat boys who always want to know everything to sit in the courtyard so I could tell them about this talk.

I called out for Gussy..."Gussy, where is my Gussy?"
"Gustopher"
"Come on SweetPants...come to the courtyard."
Ollie was already in the courtyard...taken over by catnip perhaps.
When I called for PuffyPants, he just rolled around.
"You called me", he said.

"Yup, I called you, angel breath!"...notice his ears change position, he is so talented.
I asked them to assume a posture of learning and this is what we got...

I shared one quote from the handout my friend had prepared:

"O Jalal! Upon thee be My glory! We commend the friends of the true One to good deeds perchance they may succeed and act in accord with that which hath been revealed from the heaven of command. The benefit of the utterance of the merciful One goes to those who practice. We beg of God to strengthen them in that which He loveth and approveth, to enable them to act with justice and equity in this irrefutable command, to make known unto them His signs and to direct them unto His right path." (BWF-202)

We three liked the idea of practicing good deeds, and if we did not succeed, we would practice again.

At this point I noticed that Ollie was looking at Gussy like this:

I think he wondered if he and Augustus were listening to the same reading.
Yes? No? Perhaps?

The precious cat boys did not waste any time, they filled their paws with kisses and blew them in the air for their friends, that was one of their good deeds for the day.

Ciao everyone!

Seriously, this was this morning!

The night before, that would be Sunday night, the air was so drenched with moisture that it spritzed water but it did not rain. This morning seemed to me more of the same but when Ollie came and dragged me out I suddenly fell in love with the sun that shone on the trees.
We had to go to our little back yard and play, Ollie dropped himself to the ground and swatted the stick that I used to poke him with.
Augustus was already in his vista awaiting the arrival of birds. He had other plans this morning and he let me know about them with a silent meow...so no bird would hear.
Lurking, lurking...
Ollie had to come and take a look, and I know this look. It says 'I have grand ideas and trying to think of strategies to execute them'.
I took advantage of the moment of intense focus and took a snap shot of his luscious lips so you would see again those sugar-shedding lips that send you kisses.
I could not compete with the birds and the bees and so had to form a thought in my head...I thought of this, and how I could be it.

"Let your vision be world-embracing rather than confined to your own self..." (Gleanings)

As I parted with the boys they yelled out that they would be sending kisses throughout the day for their friends.

Ciao everyone!

This past weekend...

In a parallel world I would be attending a conference during this past weekend but in this world I did not. I wondered briefly about it, I told Augustus about it.

He sensed that being there might have been important to me but his calm demeanor let me know that I was not missing anything.

When he looked me straight in the eyes I knew that he was right.
Following the direction of his gaze I knew that I would find
Ollie there. He was wondering what this private discussion was all about.
He suggested that I do some back stroke, look at those stretched out paws!
"Just like this", he said.
Of course, his train of thought was interrupted
and he had to run...


Once we were together again we read:

"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." (The Hidden Words)

Cat boys filled their paws with kisses for you, for your Monday morning, and blew them in the air! Enjoy!

Ciao!

June ....

The cat boys know that next week is final's week, and then comes graduation. I feel the same way, something lifts off my shoulders, and we three sit down and make plans for books to read, things to do, etc., etc.
Here's MrSweetPants, no introduction needed I am sure.
Here's MrPuffyPants, no introductions needed again. He is always plotting, sitting in the pot right above MrSweetPants!
"What is this look?", I ask him, "What do you have in mind?".
He said that he was not telling. He plays innocent with me.
Augustus...

We reflected on this:

"God has given man a heart and the heart must have some attachment. We have proved that nothing is completely worthy of our heart's devotion save reality, for all else is destined to perish. Therefore the heart is never at rest and never finds real joy and happiness until it attaches itself to the eternal. How foolish the bird that builds its nest in a tree that may perish when it could build its nest in an ever-verdant garden of paradise.

Man must attach himself to an infinite reality, so that his glory, his joy, and his progress may be infinite. Only the spirit is real; everything else is as shadow..." (Divine Philosophy)

We three reflected and then the cat boys made their usual bundle of kisses, which they blew in the air for their friends. Happy Weekend everyone!