Spiritual teachers come in all shapes, sizes and forms, and you may actually have one sitting at your feet right now. My dogs have been some of the most enlightening spiritual teachers I’ve ever encountered, provided I was open to and aware of the multiple lessons they’ve had to teach.
Unlike traditional teachers with a set agenda of things you need to learn, spiritual teachers instead rely upon awakening characteristics within yourself you already possess, even if those aspects have long been ignored. You’ll only learn the lessons when you’re ready. And you’ll keep learning them again and again until they eventually sink in.
Which is probably why I keep getting stuck with dogs that like to bark. While I’ve always been pretty bold speaking my mind in general, speaking up in personal relationships has always been a challenge. I’ve consistently been afraid to speak up when annoyed, offended or hurt for fear of annoying, offending or hurting someone else. This habit is a surefire recipe for resentments, along with a schedule packed with things I simply don’t want to do.
Barking is one of the most obvious ways dogs freely speak their minds, but it’s not the only way. They’ll whine, howl, grunt and moan. They’ll let their desires be known by their actions.
If they don’t like the food, they won’t eat it. If they don’t like the toy, they won’t play with it. And if they don’t really care for the brand new dog cot, they will simply ignore it – or pee on it. Dogs are certainly not afraid of annoying, offending or hurting your feelings. I have enough peed-on dog cots to prove it.
Compassion is another lesson my dogs have been keen on teaching me. One of the easiest ways for anyone to work on compassion is to simply walk into an animal shelter. I know one woman whose volunteer work at a pet shelter lasted less than a day.
“I couldn’t look into those sad, sad eyes,” she said. So she went to volunteer with homeless humans instead.
Dogs can apparently stir up more compassion that humans can, and this is especially evident if you ever adopted a homeless pet that had been abused. I found this out when I took home a rather large dog with a mangled foot and deep scars on his sides. It took nearly a week for him to stop hiding out in a corner of the yard, and another month for him to stop hiding on the side of the bed.
With a lot of compassion and even more patience, he finally learned to trust me a bit – then promptly hurled himself at my face. While it felt like he was trying to kill me, he was only trying to play. His life had been that sad and lonely that no one had taught him that play should not involve throwing all your weight at your new owner’s face with your claws fully extended.
That dog has since gotten much better with play, although he’s still a fan of those extended claws. And every time I’m scratched, jostled or knocked down, a few more lessons come firmly to mind. I’m reminded not to take myself too seriously. To have fun. To laugh out loud. That life is too short to be angry, no matter how scratched up you get.
Photo Credit
Photo from Pixabay – Public Domain
Guest Author Bio
Ryn Gargulinski
Ryn Gargulinski is a writer and editor with PetInsuranceU.com, a comprehensive online resource for pet health, happiness and insurance.
She’s also an artist and big-time dog lover.
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