Chan Chat

[Guest guest]

This is not about chatting, it's about catting.

The 'chat' here is the French word for cat,

used mainly, for visual/auditory effect, or

affectation, if you like. Chan, of course,

means Zen in Chinese.

 

The Zen cat is cream colored and white,

with orange hues. The orange highlights

seem like tiger stripes, but she is a gentle

mellow cat. She lives next door, but adores

the outdoors. She teaches me Zen from her

backyard. She demonstrates how to pay

attention in walking meditation as she stalks

insects in the grass.

 

What intensity she has, who could deny her

utter concentration, the searing awareness

she bestows on those bugs. Her movements are

a dance suspended, like the flowing immobility

of a clock's minute hand.

 

And when she pounces, and captures her prey-

Nirvana is just launching, and munching away.

 

Pete