The Dog's Most Recent Teaching

Remember my roommate’s Black Lab puppy? The dog who ate my favorite eye pillow? This semester living with Shiner and all the messes and all the puppy kisses she comes with has certainly been a mixed bag of blessings and curses. I’ve begun to think of Shiner as my own personal Karma dispenser, a powerful and terrible entity charged with dealing out my cosmic fortune one chewed belonging at a time. She’s certainly claimed many of my things, the eye pillow being only one of many.

            When she vanquished my eye pillow, Shiner led me away from detachment. She helped me along my yoga path in her own canine way. I was certainly thankful for her aid, and I soon adopted a mindset of acceptance whenever I noticed she had torn through another of my socks. Recently however, Shiner waged her quiet puppy war on an object so important, so valuable, that even my considerable skills of carelessness couldn’t assuage its loss: my new pair of glasses.

            My glasses are integral to my survival. Without them, not only am I blind, but I also feel that I lack the confidence and “me-ness” my spectacles seem to provide. Due to my optical difficulties and penchant for bold eyewear, I had chosen a pair of thick black-rimmed Ray Bans and wore them with pride. That is until Shiner decided to snack on them.

            I still feel sick when holding the mauled plastic carcass of my most valuable accessory. My parents just recently bought them as a replacement for a pair I had lost, and this will be no cheap fix. I will certainly be without clear vision (and impeccable style) for a while before they can be fixed or replaced, and even then, who knows how long they’ll last before Shiner gets them again?! I have been crippled by the loss of my glasses. I’d like to imagine that even Patanjali couldn’t expect me to practice detachment at a time like this, but I know I’d be in error. My glasses are not a part of my true Self. My eternal soul is not blemished by my lack of vision or by my negative thoughts and emotions associated with their loss.

            My glasses have been taken from me just as easily as they were given to me. Shiner has fulfilled her dharma of destruction, my psyche has been shaken, yet my Self remains perfect and undying and, of course, free from chew marks.