Theos-Talk Archives (July 2002 Message tt00058)

Mauri wrote:
> Ritual
> 
> When the spiritual teacher and his disciples began
> their evening meditation, a cat who lived in the
> monastery made such noise that it distracted them. One
> day the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during
> the evening practice. Years later, when the teacher
> died, the cat continued to be tied up during the
> meditation session. And when the cat eventually died,
> another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up.
> Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual
> teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious
> significance of tying up a cat for meditation
> practice.

Two comments: 

1) In systems analysis, that is called confusing the solution with the
problem.

2) One day, during a meditation group meeting at the New York
Theosophical Society, while my wife and I lived in an apartment above
the center, our cat, Thomas, got loose and decided to visit this
interesting group of humans. My wife and I were looking for the cat,
when we were greeted to the sound of, "Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme
Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum.... look! a puddy!"

Bart Lidofsky