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<\/a><\/div>\nHere\u2019s a few reflections on dogs and humans that came together during my work-period dog walk today during sesshin.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The first reflection arises from how we let Bodhi into the zendo to hang out during zazen. I notice that humans and dogs make a lot of the same noises pushing air through various passages. For example, that \u201chumpf\u201d sound that wonderfully expresses frustration.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Zen students sometimes make it rather quietly as they sit down for yet another sitting. Bodhi doesn\u2019t hold back at all, however, especially when he\u2019s been waiting for a couple hours for a little attention. I wonder, though, if we got it from them or they from us or if we both got it from some ancient mammalian ancestor. Hmmm.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Dogs and humans, after all, have been tight for about 70,000 years. That\u2019s about 12,000+ dog generations. That brings me to my second not-so-profound sesshin insight \u2013 dogs still sometimes bite 12,000 generations later. <\/span><\/span> Finally, like in the above photo. Even though Bodhi has never caught a squirrel, he still loves a good chase, especially when the chase is down hill, even if there is no squirrel present to the human eye.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We humans, of course, also like to chase our squirrels. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a few reflections on dogs and humans that came together during my work-period dog walk today during sesshin.\u00a0 The first reflection arises from how we let Bodhi into the zendo to hang out during zazen. I notice that humans and dogs make a lot of the same noises pushing air through various passages. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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And that\u2019s another way that we\u2019re alike \u2013 it takes both species a long fricking time to change our habitual problem-solving style. For example, when cornered, dogs resolve the matter with their teeth and we with our wandering-in-circles minds.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n