C has been reading Tagore. Yesterday morning she read me this.
RECOVERY - 14We have a dear such dog, so we get that. She also read me the commentary note (from here) :
Every day in the early morning this faithful dog
Sits quietly beside my chair
For as long as I do not acknowledge his presence
By the touch of my hand.
The moment he receives this small recognition,
Waves of happiness leap through his body.
In the inarticulate animal world
Only this creature
Has pierced through good & bad and seen
Complete man.
Has seen him for whom
Life may be joyfully given,
That object of a free outpouring love
Whose consciousness points the way
To the realm of infinite consciousness.
When I see the dumb heart
Revealing its own humility
Through total self-surrender,
I feel unequal to the worth
His simple perception has found through the nature of man.
The wistful anxiety in his mute gaze
Understands something he cannot explain:
It directs me to the true meaning of man in the universe.
Dharma and canine fidelity are linked in a famous passage near the end of the Mahabharata, when Yudisthira, eldest of the five Pandava brothers, refuses to enter heaven without his dog Dhruba. Eventually the dog is allowed in, and turns out to be the god Dharma.I'll return to this soon.
. . . .
During the afternoon, in the office here, we watched a live internet broadcast of celebrations at Dharamsala for the 75th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Here are some screen snaps from that.
An artist presents a portrait.
Samdhong Rinpoche, Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, speaks at length.
To which His Holiness responds.
The Dalai Lama acknowledges the presence of "our Chinese friends". They are seated to his immediate right.
The speeches are mostly in Tibetan.
Various national/cultural groups offer gifts of song and dance.
After several hours His Holiness takes his leave ...
... and the celebrations continue.
Towards the end of the concert a dog appears and wanders freely among the performers. No one makes any move to remove it.
Dharma.
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...
LOGOS/HA HA