The Dalai Lama’s cat
Last Updated on August 20, 2024 by Ingrid
I used to have this postcard on my desk in the office. It read, “Mindfulness is a source of happiness.”
I found it on one of my business trips to Munich. After lunch, I left the cafeteria and rushed into meetings. It caught my attention and made me stop for a second from my “gold rush.”
Well, I have never been good at mindful living, and I have thought that maybe having something constantly in front of my eyes to remind me to stop and realize what I am doing and why I am doing it might help. Not sure it did 🙂
Returning to this post’s title, I’m not sure if Dalai Lama actually has a cat, but in my mind, he does. And that cat is brilliant. I like her. The two of us are so very similar. Hmmm, maybe that’s why I like her so much.
If you haven’t realized yet, I am talking about David Michie’s book “The Dalai Lama’s Cat.“
This post contains affiliate links. It helps keep our site running at no additional cost to you. Read more about it on our disclosure page here.
Table of Contents
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
I received the book from a friend some time ago and read it during a yoga trip in Italy. I figured the two might go very well together. And they did. But the book might go well in any circumstance.
I loved the story for a couple of reasons.
First, I love cats; second, its simple and funny writing made me stop and think about some profound things.
It’s interesting how the author chose a cat to be the center character of this book since everyone knows how cats are: selfish, gourmand, suffer from attention deficit, and basically like to be the center of the universe and the “masters of puppets.”
But this particular cat (yes, I am also talking about me) has learned so many things from the great Dalai Lama.
“Everycat,” who aspires to be a “bodhisattva,” is taken on a spiritual and self-discovery trip, being given the possibility of moving back and forth between two worlds: the Buddhist monastery world where people focus at every moment on the small things that make life what it is, and the “outside” world of a restaurant where people have a whole different approach to life, focusing more on other places or things than on the present moment and what it has to offer.
The Snow Lion made me see myself from the outside. I felt like I was sitting at the table in that gorgeous restaurant, with all that variety of high-class food in front of me, not paying any attention to that, but with my nose deep in the telephone, looking for other ways of spending future time. And it made me sad. It made me sad because I saw how I didn’t appreciate what I had now and had never done it.
His Holiness’s Cat also learns that you should never judge a book by its cover. Once you open the book, you will see that what you find inside is very different from what you thought, but you need to take the time to open it.
Even if you know all these lessons, it takes time and experience to internalize them and act in consequence.
I’m not proud to say that I haven’t made so much progress in this regard, but I am pleased to say I am working on this. And this is it, in my opinion: while we live, we learn, and we need to be open to anything and everything (almost). Travel has made me a better person.
I might still have a long way to go, but I’m taking it one step at a time.
Oh I love this book! 🙂 I got myself the other two in the series as well.
The Dalai Lama’s Cat and The Art of Purring and The Dalai Lama’s Cat and the Power of Meow
I feel you! The next thing i did after finishing the book was by “The Power of meow”! Did you like them just as much?
I just started reading The Art of Purring. Power of Meow is next 🙂