LOTUS HEART SUTRAS

Lotus Heart Home || Sutras part 1 || Sutras part 2 || Sutras part 3

LOTUS HEART SUTRAS

The story of Max.

Max the tabby cat and I were companions for ten years.
And I loved him dearly.
And he loved me, too. (perception: based on his
behavior towards me; the fact that he slept curled about my head
every night; that he sat on my lap whenever possible; and
that, outdoors, he always trotted, doglike, at my heels)
During the day, Max would roam about, outdoors, in
the woods, then return around dusk to eat, and curl up with
me for the night.

One afternoon, Max went outside to roam. That evening,
a nearby house burned to the ground. That night, Max did
not return home. Nor the next night. Nor the next.

Maybe he died in the fire. (assumption) Maybe the fire
frightened him and he ran off. (assumption) Maybe a wild dog
that roamed he neighborhood killed him. (assumption)
What do I truly know?
Only that Max has not returned home.
What can I do?
I can choose to cry, but that won't change anything. I
can choose to become angry, because life has cruelly
(perception) taken my beloved cat from me. (judgment) But that
won't change anything. I can choose to find someone to blame for
his disappearance. (assumption) But that won't change anything.
Max will still be gone.
Or, I can choose to simply accept this. Which I did.
Feeling grateful for all the years of companionship we did share.
Two weeks later, a little boy came to me, bearing a tabby cat
in his arms, one he'd found in his basement, crying.
Max is wasted away to skin and bones. His tail is broken
in two places. His fur is mangy, his eyes infected.

To me, he is beautiful. (judgement)
Gathering him into my arms, I take him home to recuperate.
He doesn't sleep around my head, like he used to. He
sleeps at the foot of the bed. And his eyes look different. A
friend had once said Max's eyes were like mine, full of a
warm craziness. (perception/judgment) Now, his eyes
seem smaller, more human, somehow, and wiser, but also sadder.
(perception/judgment)This is because of the pain he has suffered from surviving the fire (assumption) and pain, and starvation.
(assumption/story)

Max regains his health. He puts on weight, until he returns
to his old size. And self. (perception) For, once again, he is
my constant companion, who follows me everywhere.
Affectionate as ever (perception), he licks my face and hands. Then,
one night, Max goes into howling, yowling heat. And I realize
my cat is a young female cat. She isn't Max.
And yet, she is Max. Now. For two months, I have loved
the cat. And the cat has loved me. (perception) Now that I
know she isn't him, does that change the relationship that
exists between us? Or the love?
What do I really know?
I know that I have a female tabby cat, whom I call Max.
Has anything really changed? Except in my mind? In
my perception? (When one reaches the deepest deep of the
mind, one may experience that even the experience, the
perception that Max exists, is only a perception.) The only thing you
can control is your mind. When you control that, you
control everything. One cannot control events. One can control
how one chooses to perceive them. The less you think, the
happier you will be.

Lotus Heart Home || Sutras part 1 || Sutras part 2 || Sutras part 3

Last modified: 2/19/99
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