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I've come to believe that seeking happiness is not a frivolous pursuit. It's honorable and necessary. And most people forget even to think about it. - Goldie Hawn
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Scientific American magazine recently carried a major feature titled Why We Need To Take Pet Loss Seriously. Written by psychologist Guy Winch, he stresses how real, how deep and how pervasive pet grief can be saying “we all need to change our attitudes about it.” Here are some of his insights which can guide us all to better helping a friend who's animal companion has died recently.
* Pet grief is just as real as grieving a human being. “Symptoms of acute grief after the loss of a pet can last from one to two months with symptoms of grief persisting up to a full year (on average).”
* Like human grief, pet grief can be severe.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported that a woman whose dog died experienced Broken Heart Syndrome—a condition in which a person’s response to grief and heartbreak is so severe, they exhibits symptoms that mimic a heart attack, including elevated hormone levels that can be thirty times greater than normal.
* Pet loss and ensuing grief is unsupported and therefore complicated. “Because pet loss is disenfranchised, many of the societal mechanisms of social and community support are absent when a cherished pet dies,” Winch notes. “Few of us ask our employers for time off to grieve a beloved cat or dog as we fear doing so would paint us as overly sentimental, lacking in maturity or emotionally weak. And" few employers would grant such requests were we to make them.” Thought social support for pet grief is crucial, it’s generally absent.
* Pet loss recovery is greatly helped be connecting with others who have lost an animal companion. “Given our societal attitude that invokes responses such as It’s just an animal and You can just get another one” Winch advises seeking out others who have experienced a pet death. “Our best bet is to reach out to people we know who have also lost pets as they are likely to understand our anguish and offer the best support,” he says adding that “many animal clinics offer bereavement groups for pet owners.”
* Pet grief is just as real as grieving a human being. “Symptoms of acute grief after the loss of a pet can last from one to two months with symptoms of grief persisting up to a full year (on average).”
* Like human grief, pet grief can be severe.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported that a woman whose dog died experienced Broken Heart Syndrome—a condition in which a person’s response to grief and heartbreak is so severe, they exhibits symptoms that mimic a heart attack, including elevated hormone levels that can be thirty times greater than normal.
* Pet loss and ensuing grief is unsupported and therefore complicated. “Because pet loss is disenfranchised, many of the societal mechanisms of social and community support are absent when a cherished pet dies,” Winch notes. “Few of us ask our employers for time off to grieve a beloved cat or dog as we fear doing so would paint us as overly sentimental, lacking in maturity or emotionally weak. And" few employers would grant such requests were we to make them.” Thought social support for pet grief is crucial, it’s generally absent.
* Pet loss recovery is greatly helped be connecting with others who have lost an animal companion. “Given our societal attitude that invokes responses such as It’s just an animal and You can just get another one” Winch advises seeking out others who have experienced a pet death. “Our best bet is to reach out to people we know who have also lost pets as they are likely to understand our anguish and offer the best support,” he says adding that “many animal clinics offer bereavement groups for pet owners.”
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The intention when meditating with emotion is to stay steady with every sensation, just as we might do with sound meditation. Just listening. No commentary. - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
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No matter how much of our life we have squandered, wasted, and even ruined, engaging in good deeds can transform one's karma from negative to positive. That's the point made by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. In his book, A Code of Jewish Ethics he cites Oskar Schindler writing that he was "a womanizer and a dishonest businessman. But during World War II, when he came to realize the Nazis' murderous intentions, he repeatedly risked his life and employed remakrable ingenuity to save the lives of more than eleven hundred Jews. By changing his ways, Schindler transformed the association people previously had with him and his name...'Schindler' has become a byword for courage and compassion."
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Mark Twain (1835-1910) was the pre-eminent writer of his time. He traveled the world, observed and experienced. Christianity and Christians did not impress him. Here are some of his comments -
There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him--early.
- Notebook, 1898
I found out that I was a Christian for revenue only and I could not bear the thought of that, it was so ignoble. - Mark Twain in Eruption
If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be--a Christian.
- Mark Twain's Notebook
Christianity will doubtless still survive in the earth ten centuries hence--stuffed and in a museum.
- Notebook, 1898
The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.
- Mark Twain, a Biography
(feel free to re-post and / or link to your social media)
There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him--early.
- Notebook, 1898
I found out that I was a Christian for revenue only and I could not bear the thought of that, it was so ignoble. - Mark Twain in Eruption
If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be--a Christian.
- Mark Twain's Notebook
Christianity will doubtless still survive in the earth ten centuries hence--stuffed and in a museum.
- Notebook, 1898
The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.
- Mark Twain, a Biography
(feel free to re-post and / or link to your social media)
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Aiming to emphasize and affirm interfaith harmony in multicultural Singapore, Singapore Buddhist Lodge and the Hindu Endowments Board on 3 May donated several tons of rice to mosques around the Southeast Asian city-state, according to a report in The Buddhist Door.
On 3 May, the Hindu Endowments Board donated two tonnes of rice to Abdul Gafoor, An-Nahdhah, Ba’alwie, and Jamae Chulia mosques, and in April Singapore Buddhist Lodge donated 35 tonnes of rice to various mosques, including Ba’alwie Mosque in Singapore’s Bukit Timah neighborhood.
The rice will be used for making porridge and other evening meals with which needy groups within the local Muslim community will break their 30-day fast during Ramadan.
“Praise to God, with this rice donation, we will prepare breaking-of-fast food such as porridge,” said, Mujahidin and Al-Amin Mosque executive chairman Muhammad Khairul Jameel Yahya.
Ramadan is a religious tradition upheld by Muslims during which they commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. Ramadan traditionally takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This year, Ramadan began on 6 May and will end on the evening of 4 June with Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast.
“The month of Ramadan gives everyone, including non-Muslims, an opportunity to slow down and recalibrate our lives and values. It is also a time of extraordinary generosity by the Muslim community,” said Hindu Endowments Board chairman R. Jayachandran. “Hence, it is an appropriate time for the Hindu community to reciprocate the kindness and support which the Muslims extend.”
On 3 May, the Hindu Endowments Board donated two tonnes of rice to Abdul Gafoor, An-Nahdhah, Ba’alwie, and Jamae Chulia mosques, and in April Singapore Buddhist Lodge donated 35 tonnes of rice to various mosques, including Ba’alwie Mosque in Singapore’s Bukit Timah neighborhood.
The rice will be used for making porridge and other evening meals with which needy groups within the local Muslim community will break their 30-day fast during Ramadan.
“Praise to God, with this rice donation, we will prepare breaking-of-fast food such as porridge,” said, Mujahidin and Al-Amin Mosque executive chairman Muhammad Khairul Jameel Yahya.
Ramadan is a religious tradition upheld by Muslims during which they commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. Ramadan traditionally takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This year, Ramadan began on 6 May and will end on the evening of 4 June with Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast.
“The month of Ramadan gives everyone, including non-Muslims, an opportunity to slow down and recalibrate our lives and values. It is also a time of extraordinary generosity by the Muslim community,” said Hindu Endowments Board chairman R. Jayachandran. “Hence, it is an appropriate time for the Hindu community to reciprocate the kindness and support which the Muslims extend.”
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Be wise and get your life on the right track. Don’t just follow what other people do; understand for yourself what the true path to freedom and happiness is and follow it. - Ajahn Brahm
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In Buddhism, adversity is a catalyst of growth. Feel grateful when confronted with adversity. Encounter it but do not seek after it. - Cheng Yen
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Right now, it's like this!
A foundational teaching of the Buddha. Nothing is permanent. Everything is changing. That which is subject to arising is subject to passing. There is an alternating rhythm to life from positive to negative, good to bad, yin to yang. Understanding this reality, one must learn to just go with the flow and wait out the dark time. Everything is always changing.
A popular modern mantra which reflects the wisdom of impermanence is this: Right now, it’s like this. That five word mantra can effectively cut through any feeling that one’s present circumstance is permanent.
A foundational teaching of the Buddha. Nothing is permanent. Everything is changing. That which is subject to arising is subject to passing. There is an alternating rhythm to life from positive to negative, good to bad, yin to yang. Understanding this reality, one must learn to just go with the flow and wait out the dark time. Everything is always changing.
A popular modern mantra which reflects the wisdom of impermanence is this: Right now, it’s like this. That five word mantra can effectively cut through any feeling that one’s present circumstance is permanent.
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Don’t create stories around good and bad, about how things should be. Remember, shadows cannot be separated from light. - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche