What an incredibly beautiful story, Paul! I’m so moved and rejoice in your kind effort to save lives. And the way you allow your animal friends to remind you to stay plugged into the preciousness of this life. I have one stray too and she’s a completely transformed cat from when she first found her way here.

Thank you for blessing us with this special story!

The world has been a busy place for me the last while but today I thought I’ll visit my friend Sandra for a little while. Very happy to share your story of the Nene. I have never seen such a bird but now I I have seen one through your loving eyes. Thanks for what you offer in your life and your blog.
Your friend Chris

Yes, it is sad indeed! If we understand the reality as it is, this can soften the blow and help us in our process of grief. Still, it’s not necessarily easy while we are still on the path learning to loosen our attachments. Thank you for your thoughts!

That is such a sad scene. I feel that the most painful and unbearable thing in life is to endure the loss of a loved one. If animals can feel it, how much more so do we as humans feel it. Such is the price of attachments which we must learn to rise above when it happens.

Indeed life is precious and we must use our moments wisely.

Irving the Vizier

Flo, our rabbit, is one of the daughters of Pearl, a rabbit Margaret and I rescued from a local live meat store in an ethnic neighborhood of Chicago. When we went in to choose a rabbit to rescue, it seemed like such a difficult and daunting task. How to choose which will live? Looking into the vertically stacked cages in the back room, just past the slaughter room with walls splattered with blood from floor to ceiling, we tried to decide which one to choose. I noticed the door on the cage on the bottom, closest to the floor, was open and instinctively looked inside. At first I saw nothing, but then as my eyes got used to the dim light, I noticed a pair of eyes in the very back, as far away from the door as possible, and said to Margaret, “I think we’ve found the one.” Little did we know that Pearl, as she became named later, was pregnant with 5 little babies inside her. We’d saved 6 lives, not just one!

Every evening after we brought Pearl home, I had a dream, more like a pinkish visual image just as I was falling asleep each night of a little baby rabbit. This continued every night after we brought her home until the morning when we had guests over. It was a special day where friends, fellow students of Sogyal Rinpoche, had gathered at our place to see some special teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche. Pearl was acting funny and had dragged a kitchen towel into her cage, pulled out some of her soft belly hair and laid down in it, heaving. In the afternoon, Margaret announced that Pearl had given birth to 5 little thumb sized babies. After that day, the dream images ended.

Now sometimes when I look at our cats or Flo, I sometimes reminded of the suffering they’re so unaware of, that so many other animals experience or the pain that I’m unaware or unmindful of that I will be experiencing the next time sickness comes to me or when death comes to me. And to use it as a reminder to stay plugged into the preciousness of this life, this moment and everything around me.

Thanks Sandra,

Love, Paul

That’s so kind-hearted of you! That’s one of the reasons I wanted to write this post – to honor the spirit of this Nene.

I’m impressed with the breadth of your knowledge. I didn’t know that about some birds. That’s fascinating. Life will never cease to amaze me. Thank you for sharing that piece of knowledge.