The Bed

This morning Sensei was quite lonely, whining and pitifully looking for some one on one attention. My student was in bed but heard me and came to see if I was okay. Then, much to my surprise, she picked me up and carried me to bed with her! For reasons I do not know, they do not take me into bed with them. They take others, but not Sensei. It could be that they do not feel that they are worthy of sleeping beside me. Or, it could be that they are afraid I shall create rules with the others concerning the bed, either way, I have not yet been invited.....until this morning. It was quite nice! It was still dark and everyone was asleep. They have many soft covers on the bed for Sensei to roll around in. I rolled and rubbed and snuggled into them. Unfortunately, I sneezed on them quite a bit as well. It was a nice morning indeed.

Dalai Lama

She went! My student went and saw the Dalai Lama speak, without Sensei much to my dismay. She reported that the experience was overwhelming and profound. The message was that kindness and compassion for others makes us healthier, stronger and more happy. Do what you can, no matter how small it seems. Every little bit matters. Money and possesions don't make us happy or content, that comes from peace within. Powerful stuff. So say Sensei....

Clean

She gave me a bath. Dreadful. There is nothing I hate more. As usual the towel drying felt quite good, and it is a warm day. Perhaps not so bad. She said I have to be prepared to accompany her to a lecture she is giving tomorrow. I wonder why Sensei is being dragged to her lecture instead of the Dalai Lama talk on Thursday that I really want to attend. But, I digress....

His Holiness....

My student will be attending a public talk of the Dalai Lama. As you may have noticed from Sensei's Pearls of Wisdom, I am quite a fan of His Holiness. I am a bit hurt that I was not invited to attend with my student and her friends. I am sure that no other Pekingese has spread the word of the Dalai Lama as much as Sensei. I am sure His Holiness would be happy to have Sensei in attendance, but alas, it is not meant to be. So, I will not attend, but Sensei shall be there in spirit....

Pearls of Wisdom

"The kind of behavior that really is spiritual practice consists of refraining from falsehood and abiding by the truth, neither humiliating nor mocking others, being humble, and having a good heart and helping others."
~Dalai Lama

A Basset? Seriously?

Wait until you hear what she has done now. My adoring student can make some downright stupid decisions for such an intelligent human. This time her heart has completely disregarded her head when she brought home a 3 1/2 month old puppy. A Basset Hound mix puppy no less! The animal in question is Jenny, a young puppy who has had a rough start in life. Her mother, a purebred Basset Hound wandered into someone's yard and gave birth to a litter of puppies. Two days later she and her littermates were taken to the local animal shelter. Shortly after that they went to their first foster home. Jenny's mother was not particularly interested in her puppies or caring for them which was too much for the foster home so off they went to their second foster home where they were to stay until they were old enough to go to suitable permanent homes. This poor pup had a pretty rough start, but was so desirable looking that she was quickly chosen by a family looking for their first dog. Despite the fact that Jenny was cowering and afraid, they chose her. By the second day after she had began growling at the family and friends and had a frightening episode at the vet they realized that she wasn't the puppy for them. Enter my student.... She was contacted to evaluate the puppy and Jenny came here and is here to stay, at least for a while. She is doing much better, but it still a very fragile and fearful little thing. Sensei is trying to be patient and compassionate, but puppies...ggrrrrrrrrr. She has a lot to learn about Sensei's space and boundaries! That will come with time and lessons from Sensei I suppose.

Lionlike

If you school yourself on the topic, which all of you should by the way, you will find that in China, the Lion is a symbol of greatness. 2000 years ago, the people of China had never seen a Lion, only heard about them from travelers. Through these reports and through their own experience seeing wolves, they began to depict the lion in what became known as Fu Lions which is basically a creature with both dog and lion features. The Fu Lion became a symbol for pride, strength and prosperity and statues of Fu Lions could be found outside of palaces, temples and tombs. It became realized that they could create dogs that looked like lions as well, so became the Fu Dog, the first Pekingese also called "little lion dogs of Peking". Pekingese were owned only by the wealthy and royalty. It was very prestigious to live with a Pekingese, or lion dog.

So, when my student decided to trim my gorgeous coat into a lion clip I wasn't at all offended. For I understand that she only wanted to help me to remember my ancestors and to remind people of what Sensei is, a little lion dog of Peking who represents strength, pride and prosperity.