Why it matters how we think about animals

I am sharing with you some ideas on how to look at animals, why that matters, and one film about communication with a leopard which is worth your time.

The way we look at our world is the way we look at us. It is obvious that seeing is really about perception. When seeing an animal, for most of human history humans have been wondering: "Will it hurt me? Can I eat it? Can it serve me?" These three questions asked and applied to various groups of animals - from big mammals to cattle to fish and birds and guinea pigs - have avoided the real and only question that should and can be asked in the 21st century: "What and who is it?"

When I saw one morning so clearly that this is the only question that moves us really forward, I never looked the same way at nature and its infinite expressions again. Actually I never looked the same way at humans, at our own culture and how we speak with each other. The question "What and who is it?" is not asking for an opinion - it is actually opinion free territory. It is inquisitive and observing. And that is when the learning curve begins - and the grace and the mercy. And the progress.

A start is to look at animals as teachers in their own right, and after spending much time with music and the arts I have thrown myself more than ever before into understanding the natural world. In the wake of this exploration I was healed of a life-long fear of horses, mosquitos and wasps stop stinging me, and two cats are moved into our home. It also changed radically what groceries we buy and how we cook. Talk about change. It is a gift to look at animals free from opinions and free from comparisons with humans. As much as comparing you and other people doesn't really help to bring out the best in you, in the same way we only see animals in their full potential, beauty, and power when we don't let humans set the bar, but actually God. The incredible glory of creation is brought forth in our consciousness by quiet observation and shared silence, really. It is God, Life, Truth, and Love, being expressed everywhere. God is the Mind of man. God is the Mind of the leopard. God is the Mind of the entire creation.

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