my dog and the Goddess

[Guest guest]

Blessings,

 

One of my pets, my beloved 12 year old akita named Rhashi, died very

early Tuesday morning.

 

Though this passage is very painful, in many ways the circumstances

around his passing were unexpectedly good and wholesome, and

spiritual.

 

I don't feel that I lack anything from the Goddess around this

happening, but I was wondering if there are any references in Hindu

literature to the Goddess with pets or with dogs in particular.

 

In my own tradition we have a very strong image of the Goddess as a

Huntress with Her hounds. They are said to guard Her temple, or also

to guard the passage to Her kingdom after death. Truly my

magnificent, handsome, 85 pound guard dog enabled me to live and

worship in peace. I could go anywhere, even run in the park at

anytime of day or night with him by my side. All people who saw him

were attracted to him and respected him. The relationship between

*this* woman and her dog was special, protective and empowering.

 

I am endlessly grateful to the Goddess for the gift of love in the

form of my relationship to Rhashi. I still have another small dog and

a very old cat to love. All these things teach me in ways I did not

expect.

 

I thank you for your thoughts on this.

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

My Beloved Self;

 

Lord Datta has four dogs, they represent the vedas.

 

 

When I was at Dakshineswar, many strange events unfolded, this

one may be of interest to you. I had just had darshan of Kali Maa. I

went straight to the Hall. I sat down and looked into the Temple at

Maa. I picked up my prasad and started to eat it. A Black Dog with

swollen breasts sat down in front of me. I was a bit taken back. Was

it mean? What should I do? I closed my eyes to meditate (really more

to not look at the dog. I felt really peaceful and alive. I was

having a great time. I opened my eye and the dog was still there. So

I picked up some prasad and split it in two. I gave half to the dog

and I ate the other half. This when on until all the prasad was

eaten. Then the dog came forward and put it's paw on my chest, over

my heart. It leaned closed and licked my third eye with it's paw

still on my chest. It sat back down looked at me for sometime and

then left. I sat there for hours looking at Maa, swimming in bliss.

 

Jai Maa

 

Love baba

[Guest guest]

Dear prainbow, i am very sorry to learn about the 'passing away' of

your akita hound 'rashi' - i now exactly how you feel for my all time

favorite companion are my two basset hounds betsy and ducchess

weighing over 50 lbs each - together their weight is more or less

equal to my body weight i weigh about 110 lbs or more ...

 

 

i know the feeling exactly what you are describing... every day both

my girls greet me so affectionately when i come back from work like

they have never seen me before - when i take them out for walks ,

every passer by would stop to pet them- the great beauties that they

are.

 

well i do not know about goddeses - but i do know that in the

mahabharata (the great indian epic) there is a touching scene where

Yuddhistra (one of the pandavas) is waiting at the gates of heaven

after all his brothers and kinsmen had died in the kurukshetra war...

 

with yuddhistra was his loyal companion his dog- yama, the god of

death, advises king yuddhistir that there is only place for him in

heaven and not his dog... the king replies " well, this dog has been

my loyal companion for the longest time and he has never deserted me -

so either we will both go to heaven or none of us will enter.. " the

lord of death was so amazed at king yudhistir's devotion to his dog

that he consented....

 

I always liked this story for one reason - often times we hear about

a dog's devotion to its master but how many times we hear a man's

debvotion to his dog...

 

prainbow, our thoughts and prayers are with you at this moment...

[Guest guest]

Nameste Baba

 

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us.

 

 

OM ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

babaji, i bow to your 'higher' self that you are able to

see 'consciouness' in every creature of maa's creation.. this was maa

herself who was sitting by your side, babaji... i have seen many such

incidents being described in sree maa's biography when the divine

mother would come in the form of a 'cobra' etc and show up at shree

maa's window while she is meditationg. divine are maa's leela and

only a true devotee can experience such a state of bliss... shree

ramkrishna has also described one such incident when a black cat came

and sat next to him and how shri ramakrishna offered the 'prasadam'

to the black cat saying 'mother, how can i eat without feeding you?'

 

babaji, please keep sharing your nectearean experiences with us !

 

love

[Guest guest]

My Condolences to you Prainbrow on your lost.

 

The relationship between Human and Animal have gone way back since

the

dawn of civilization. It is a special bond created between them and I

believe its part of the natural process of survival. After all human

and Animals are the one who populate this Earth.

 

If you look at all the Goddess/God, each and every one of them have

an

animal associated with them. They can actually be interpretate as the

representation of the Goddess/God that they are associated with. Devi

= Cat ( big cats ), Ganesha = Rat , Murugan = Peacock etc. Some of

these animals act as their vehicle and at times they assume the

features of the animals example of which is Varahi and Narashimi. In

Buddhist and I believe in some hindu ideas humans have all these

"animals" in us, and when we talk about sacrifices especially animal

sacrifices, it is also referring to these "animals".

 

The relationship between human and their pet are very special. They

are like a member of a family and their presence can be very

therapeutic and to some spiritual. Therefore their lost can be very

traumatic to some.

 

In course of my life I have taken a Dog, a parrot, a bird with broken

wings, a hamster and one that I am so passionate about is a Cat,

specifically a black cat. I love to relate as to how I found my cat (

a stray ) or rather how both of us found each other but I don't think

so this is the right time. My black cat disappear sometime back, and

I

can still feel the pain.

 

So what I would like to say is that my heart and prayers goes to

Rhashi and to you Prainbrow, especially your pain.

 

OM ParaShaktiye Namaha