Our dog teaches me about spirituality

Mooka, our Husky mix dog, has a lot of talents. One of them that struck me on our daily two-mile dog walk this afternoon reflected how I feel about religion and spirituality.

In short, prove it. 

Mooka does a lot of sniffing as we walk along. More accurately, she both sniffs as we walk, and also stops to sniff when I'd prefer to keep walking. Here she'd just sniff-inspected a small branch that had fallen from a large oak tree in-between our walk yesterday and today.

I'm fine with her doing this because I recognize that a dog's sense of smell is hugely more sensitive that what we humans are capable of. 

So we inhabit different sorts of sensory realities. I'm focused mostly on what I can see as we walk on the two-lane rural road that winds through our neighborhood. Mooka also is highly aware of those sights, but she has a smell talent that I lack.

Now, how do I know this?

I see Mooka stopping frequently to press her nose close to some blades of grass, a spot on the road, countless other stuff. I can't sense anything special about those places her nose is so interested in. What leads me to conclude that Mooka has a capability I lack, in contrast to a conclusion that she's a neurotic dog who keeps pressing her nose against random items we pass?

Many reasons. Here's one of them.

Laurel, my wife, is by far the most experienced and capable dog trainer in our family. One trick she's taught Mooka is to find an item that she hides somewhere in our house after placing a few drops of vanilla on it. When Mooka finds it, she gets a dog treat.

It may take Mooka a while to earn the treat depending on how cleverly Laurel has hidden the item. But she always finds it eventually. Thus Mooka passes the smell test, so to speak. As do dogs trained to find drugs, warn of a cancer on a person, or, as I read today, possibly detect the coronavirus. 

Thus dogs have an ability that can be demonstrated to be true, even though the scents they're able to smell are undetectable by humans. 

Which is also what genuine spirituality should be about: a demonstrable ability to do something tangible. Like, sit still while meditating. Not becoming angry when someone insults you. Helping other people. Uttering kind words when a person is upset.

Yet much of religiosity, spirituality, and mysticism is abstract with no connection to the real world. It is filled with talk of God, soul, heaven, spirit, angels, demons, supernatural powers, and such. When asked to perform the equivalent of a "smell test," religious believers come up with excuses for the absence of any evidence that what they incessantly blab on about actually exists.

Meanwhile, our dog is finding vanilla-scented items quite easily. 

I understand the allure of repeating fantasies to ourselves, because those fantasies are pleasing. I did that myself for about thirty-five years, until I realized that there was no substance to the fantasies I enjoyed playing over and over inside my head.

"I am on a path that leads to God." "A higher power is watching over me." "After death I'll enter a higher realm of reality." Like every other religious beiiever, I could talk the talk, but not walk the walk, as the saying goes. Meaning, I had beliefs about spirituality that weren't grounded in reality, because neither I nor anyone else could show that what we believed was in fact true.

Our dog can.

Mooka doesn't simply believe that she can smell scents undetectable to humans. Mooka can actually demonstrate this. And that puts the family canine way above all the religious fakes -- gurus, preachers, imams, yogis, rabbis, etc. etc. -- who talk a good game but are utterly unable to play it in reality.

I've repeated this quote from Thoreau's Walden several times before. Here it is again, courtesy of one of the first posts on my HinesSight blog, "Corn on the cob: my calling."  

A passage from the last chapter of Thoreau’s “Walden” comes to mind: “Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe. Tom Hyde, the tinker, standing on the gallows, was asked if he had anything to say. ‘Tell the tailors,’ said he, ‘to remember to make a knot in their thread before they take the first stitch.’ His companion’s prayer is forgotten.”

I love that line, Any truth is better than make-beiieve. Our dog lives it. I aspire to it. 

Comments

[Spence Tepper]

"I am on a path that leads to God." "A higher power is watching over me." "After death I'll enter a higher realm of reality." Like every other religious beiiever, I could talk the talk, but not walk the walk, as the saying goes.

When a good dog smells vanilla it must be trained to understand. But the ability and desire to smell grass, or trees, or urine, feces, or sweat, brisk air on a cold morning, the moisture of a foggy, damp morning, these are built in. When a dog returns to its pack the smells it carries are its report of its journey to the others. And all the other dogs can't wait to smell the full report. They desire it. That's built in. You can only teach the dog about vanilla because of its built in capacity. Some domesticated dogs have lost most of that. They respond mostly to human smells. They can smell urine, other dogs and feces, yes, and on long walks with their humans they can get lost in the smells around them, and the connections to an ancient past they have no memory of. Enjoying these smells has some meaning for them, though they hardly understand what that meaning is anymore. They just know that it's important. Because whether it annoys their human or not, it's part of the dog's reality.

When their human grows impatient they command the dog to heel, and their walk continues. The human knows best. But the human can't smell most of those things. And the human may not understand that everthing the dog does, everthing the human twins it to do, stems from their ability, and their natural connection to it. But surely the human, who has lost their own capacity for such smells, knows best?

[Jesse]

It surely wouldn't prove a single thing about heavens or afterlives, but I think religion does have measurably positive effects on society and on individuals and in that sense passes the smell test. There are studies on these issues that I'll have to look up, but mankind didn't just believe in religion because we were primitive. If anything, earlier man demanded tangible results before helping believing far more than modern man.

[manjit]

I am of the firm opinion that Dogs are Angels sent by God, emissaries of God on earth if you will. It's no coincidence dog spelt backward is god! :)

I would ask anyone who is adamant on having a pet dog that they at least consider adopting a rescue dog from a shelter instead of purchasing from a breeder, but only if prepared to show it nothing but love and belly rubs for the rest of it's life! They will soon understand my previous paragraph if they do, I suspect....

[Turan]

Just been watching the news - with the contrasting and mis-information messages coming from political and religious leaders. I'm with you Brian - think a dog makes more sense!

[Sonia]

Sweet post. Great comments and good timing.

My older brother has been staying with us for a little while during this corona virus quarantine. He brought his dog with him who was terrible malnourished when she arrived. The way he treats his dog and other animals as well as his ex-wife and children are the reason he no longer has anyone to share his life with.

The other night I finally had it with the way he “talks” to his dog (because it relates to how he treats everything and everyone) and I let him know it was unacceptable. Naturally a “fight” broke out. It stirred up a lifetime of memories of his abuse towards people. He has a disability but I’ve decided one’s character is separate from their disability or circumstances. I finally stopped pitying him and separated his unacceptable behavior from all the excuses we’ve made for him over the years. All the feeling sorry for him...

Then it hit me very strongly that when you stop feeling sorry for the person that’s abusing you, you get more strength—strength of character. You get the kind of strength that helps you not behave the way that abusive people behave. It helps you to end the cycle of abuse and become a stronger, more self-controlled and loving human being. There are no excuses for bad behavior. That doesn’t mean that mistakes can’t be forgiven, it just means we cannot justify wrong actions and we should not allow ourselves to stay victims.

My dog protects me because he knows I love him. And he knows I love him because I show him my love by treating him with gentleness. Our guest dog knows that I love her two and the two dogs will listen to me and behave without me ever having to speak sternly to them. Because dogs sense your intentions. Dogs sense your dedication and love for them and they repay that love in spades.

Marshall and Mabelle taught me through this experience that acting out because you’re hurt in a way that hurts someone else is always wrong. It damages relationships and trust. It also makes us weaker.

Yes, these two beautiful canines have magically made me aware of my need to let go of the past and take back my own gentle strength. Thank Dog.

[s*]

Very good Sonia to be stronger because of recognising what has happened in pittying the other.
I did that life long with my Father..he was actually a narcist..and nearly always bullying.
So I learned to always say yes..just because..:(.. (saving my life and others)around him.
In the outside world he seemed nice mostly.
My mom never spoke..
Can you imagine?
Now in my old age I somewhat learn(still learning) to say what I feel and often dare to say No now..
Jeezz it costs a lifetime.
But how freeing it is to tell your Truth!!

[s*]

When Maharaji came in our life..my father went better..somewhat..a bit..
I was 19..
And I had my new Father..
Maharaji said to me ''You are just like my daughter''
He could not say a better thing then that!!
That is why I always will love him he became my dearly beloved Father..

Good to take ones own strength back..
It is still not easy with a difficult brother as you had or a difficult Father I had..

[s*]

Sorry my comments has nothing to do with dogs.
But we had also always dogs in our home and they were
like brother or sister mostly sisters in our childhood.

[Sonia]

@s*

Yes, very freeing to tell your Truth. ☺️

So, sorry you endured that with your father. Once we are finally away from abusive people we are no longer victims. Sure, when you’re being victimized then obviously your a victim—especially children, the elderly, pets and animals. Anyone who cannot defend themselves. Actually even if you’re exposed to abuse on a regular basis and you can defend yourself it’s still abuse. It still takes a heavy toll and it’s not until you are able to completely get away from that person that you will be able to heal and move on. At some point when you are “free” and removed from the situation you have to stop believing you are a victim. I think that’s very important in the healing process and the only way to stop the cycle of abuse.

I don’t think dogs ever believe themselves to be victims. But they carry obvious physical and emotional scars of abuse even after being rescued and placed in a loving home. However, they respond to love very quickly. Maybe dogs don’t have to decide whether they’re going to “forgive” or not—all they have to worry about is who they’re going to trust. Who knows how dogs think. Maybe if they could speak they could teach us a lot.

[j]

For all of The Guru's posing and feigning powers and knowledge that he doesn't actually possess, he at least is able to state his opinions without labeling those who disagree with him "fascists."