Zen and the Art of Sniffing a Two-Legged Dog’s Bum

This Post Is Ode to Maggy

Downward Facing Doggy

My 2 year old Goldendoodle, Maggy, is snoozing in the corner right now. She has no idea this blog post is about her. In fact, she doesn’t even know (or care!) what a blog is. Further, she has no idea that, based on reports that Obama’s children may be selecting a Goldendoodle as the First Puppy, she’s about to become the most famous breed of dog in the world. She doesn’t care; although I’m sure she’ll love the additional attention she’ll attract on her morning walks. I can’t be sure, but I think she thinks the computer is my master. Admittedly, I do stare at it a good deal, I do rush to its side when it calls me (well, sometimes), and, yes, I often spend more time working on the computer than I do walking her.

Maggy is My Guru

I have decided to make Maggy my Guru simply because, for me, she seems to embody most of the characteristics of a good guru. A guru, says Wikipedia, is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and uses it to guide others. Other sources simply say a guru is a “spiritual leader” and make no requirement that a guru has two legs versus four. Actually, the word guru comes from the Sanskrit words “gu” and “ru”. Gu means darkness and ru means light. A guru brings light into darkness. Thus, I have decided, for now, there is a lot I can learn from Maggy.

Here are the things that make Maggy, and most dogs, natural gurus:

1. Lives in the present moment
2. Ego-less
3. Holds downward dog pose for 30 seconds (or more) with no problem
4. Drops into meditation (snooze-ville) at the drop of a hat
5. Forgives and forgets instantly
6. Protects those she loves
7. Kind no matter what
8. Does not judge others
9. Always happy to see me
10. Loves to chase balls
11. Likes to smell other dog’s bums
12. Hates cats - actually she doesn’t hate cats, she loves cats, she’s obsessed with them and follows our 2 cats around our house

Zen and the Art of Sniffing a Two-Legged Dog

Walking with Maggy yesterday near our home, we came across a dog with two legs. In order to enable the dog to walk, he laid in a a doggy-wheelchair that had two wheels on the back. He walked by scuffling his front legs forward, which turned the back wheels. Interestingly, the dog had a huge smile on his face as if he didn’t notice at all that he was different from any other dog. He lacked self-judgment and I admired his spunk. Maggy, who normally avoids wheels of all sorts, paused for a moment, cocked her head to one side, and examined this two-legged, two-wheeled creature. I wondered what she was thinking and, worried she may lurch, braced myself. Maggy, however, calmly proceeded forward and tried to smell her new-found friend’s bum through the wheels.

I’ve been searching for a guru for quite some time now and and come to found out, my guru, wet nose and all, sleeps at my feet each night. So, until I get to India and meet a speaking, human guru, I think Maggy my Goldendoodle will do just fine.

Wuff, Wuff.

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• Gratitude, Appreciation, and Abundance by Lori Hamann
• Friday’s Flow: It’s Just the Future of Humanity