For as long as I could remember I've been a lover of animals. Which is why it's always been difficult for me to understand why anyone would harbor any dislike for them or want to harm them.
It is my belief that animals have been put on the planet as teachers, healers or companions. They touch us in a way that helps us to connect with many of the ideals needed in our life's evolutionary process and solidify our sense of humanity as we perceive the profound similarities and differences between us and the natural world.
Through our observation, we are able to witness the primal side of the animal kingdom--the dynamics of predator and prey, mother and child, play out as survival of the fittest is the mode of function in the wild. This glimpse into the mode of function of nature gives us a magnificent view of the energies at play within the wildness of man. After all, we are all animals at heart. Are we not?
Survival, brutality, social conditioning, tribe mentality--they are not the distant relatives of the forces at work within our very society. They are carefully woven into the fabric of cultures across the planet. They are even woven into the nature of the evolving soul.
We eat, we breed, we conquer, lead and follow. And yet both animal and man are so much more.
As we perceive this wildness within the animal world, while simultaneously catching sight of some of the more divine qualities within them, we are put in a greater position to seek the answers about evolution, God and the Cosmos.
When animals act beyond all that seems carnal, in a mode of self sacrifice or immense charity, to save, to protect, to nurture beyond their genetic program, are we not moved? Sometimes to tears? Are we not witnessing something grander and more complex than that which we have come to expect? Is it not likely that we would be drawn to question the nature of the physical world and all that it contains? Even further, would we not question our own self restricting standards and that which impels us as a specie ?
The brilliance of the dichotomies at work in animals, the base and profound intermingling through expression of animal sentience, serves to mirror our own struggle and function as spiritual beings. It can often lead us toward seeking expansion within ourselves.
Witnessing and processing our similarities in the expression of love, longing, grief, joy and protectiveness is just as powerful and can birth a much needed respect and admiration for all creatures that share the Earth with us.
Through compassion, affection and nurturing, we have the opportunity to play the role of caretakers of these miracles, these breathtaking mirrors into our own nature. We can be set up to grow with them and learn from them, as we experience their unconditional love and connectivity. To love an animal and to be loved by an animal, keeps us in touch with the beauty and light of love that exists within the heart of man. It is the very force that is leading us toward the benevolence of the true self.