Cats who teach me to fly…

Both of then have put on weight, especially Ajwa. I couldn’t even recognise her.

Finally this naughty boy was adopted. Owners love the name Royce and loves him too!

Their owners keep their names as well. They are the siblings of Ajwa and Mochi. Both of them did not put much weight like Ajwa and Mochi. Perhaps their owners have their concern. In such cases, we would continue to do a follow up with the owners.

She has grown so big now! She was just a little kitten roaming around by herself when I picked her home.

And finally Bourbon. Bourbon is completely spoilt by his owner. All rescuers would prefer that actually ha…

I hope to get a few cats adopted in year 2023 ans wee are all ready for the adoption drive!

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Pretty went missing since last Monday. We have been feeding Pretty for more than 9 years. We knew she was old already. We tried to catch her but we couldn’t. She didn’t allow us to touch her.

I still leave food every night at the usual place where she eats. I’ll carry on doing so for another week, just in case she returns… and will stop after 2 weeks of waiting.

Before I left for retreat at Jhana Grove, I told myself I’ll bring all the cats home from Hougang when I’m back . But 慈忠 and Pretty must be caught first. We tried but failed. The rest were easy to catch.

Finally, our mission was done yesterday.

It wasn’t difficult to put the cats into the carriers. What’s finished is done! And it was done beautifully on the last night of 2022.

We took the 4 and they are with Melanie. They can’t be caged and Mel has a master room which is big enough to accommodate all of them. I really have Mel to thank. And from 2023, I’ll have 1½ hours of free time in the evening. This free time should be used to create slides and animation for propagating the Dhamma. It is specially dedicated to all the cats, all whom we’re in touch with and the future productions will be dedicated to all sentient beings.

And I’m already in the mist of painting the monks…

Lots of rest for me in this new year too…

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I’ve aways loved December because it is the coolest month of the year. A time when Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahmali and many renowned buddhist teachers are in town to give their best talks.

Ajahn Brahmali gave a dhamma talk on the eve as well as Christmas day. I always prefer to spend my holidays meaningfully. I attended his talks on both days and brought home some knowledge and a little wisdom hopefully:). It is true that if we walk the path that Buddha did not teach, the teachings where Buddha originally taught would collape. I see the danger in moving away from the Buddha’s original teachings.

The idea of a Bodhisattva is very attractive to the lay people because everyone wants to be a Bodhisattva. I learned by the hard way that there is no Boddhisattva path. In the latest Vimalakirti sutra, it is said that to be a Bodhisattva, we have to break the precepts and this is completely wrong and dangerous. Buddha didn’t break his precepts, did he? Buddha has always told us the importance of keeping the precepts. There was never once he told us that breaking the precepts can be exceptional in any circumstances. If anyone is into the Bodhisattva path, please do not be misled by such ideas.

Suttas is the best teachings. No one can defeat the Buddha’s teachings. We shouldn’t pick up knowledge and wisdom elsewhere. Even if we do like the teachings from other teachers, we have to always remember to refer to the suttas to verify if the teachings are right or true. If only I’ve known the pali texts before the Bodhisattva path… I’ve never regret being a cats rescuer, occasionally dogs and birds, they all made me a better buddhist and the people who gave me a hard time. They made me even a better buddhist.

And on the 28th, Ajahn Brahm was in town for a day retreat. I was there for his entire talk. I always believe heavenly beings are often here to help us and Ajahn Brahm had shared some of his wonderful experiences!

There’s a zoom meeting on 1st of January 23 where Ajahn Brahm would teach again. Looking forward!

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I’ve read a lot about people waking up finding their cats dead the next morning and I hope this will never happen to me but it did…

I got up and saw one of my cat lying in a scratching box. I’ve never seen any cat ever sleep like this before. Something seems wrong. I went over to shake her leg and see if she was moving. MCC was cold, stiff and lifeless. I can’t believe she would go off just like this. I can’t believe that I could lost her just like this. I was unprepared.

MCC was a little overweight. She was independent and usually we need to “force” carry and cuddle her and she would struggle a little and will be ok and comfortable in a few seconds. We cuddled her like a baby. Vanilla and Sparkie were her brothers and Cashie loved her and she too loved all of them. They were always together forming a loving group. They are my first batch of rescues.

MCC when she was a baby. The only girl in the litter.

Now I started to realise that the rescues that weren’t adopted are the same like those we’ve adopted. Vanilla, Sparkie and now MCC, they shouldn’t be called our rescues, they were adopted. It is the same feeling that I had when I lost my first cat. They all made me up. They made me a better person.

Did MCC suffer a heart attack? We would likely think that she did. To be honest, it really scares me in a way that I was unprepared and I wasn’t given a chance to spend time with her. As a buddhist, I believe we’ll meet again and hopefully when I meet all of them again, it will be in a Dharma learning hall!

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We found Kiki 2 to 3 years ago or perhaps longer. He was deliberately released to our feeding area or abandoned, which is a more appropriate word to use and which is nothing new! He is named Kiki because we’re running out of names:).

With the way that Kiki walks, it tells us that he is a very old man. He can’t jump and requires extra effort to climb up just one step. We left him as a community cat for a few years before we took him home. He is a permanent resident since 30 November this year!

The first night was horrible. We had to keep him in the cage so as to allow him and others to integrate themselves slowly and without harming one another. However, Kiki meowed the entire night and the following nights. If I didn’t get to sleep well at night, there is always a chance to take a short nap in the day. Before I go to sleep, I’ll have to make sure that his bowl of kibbles and water are filled up and a whole can of wet food as well. With this, at least I can sleep peacefully till 7a.m. He still meows but not as often as he did.

So far Kiki has been, eating, sleeping , peeing and pooping well. We shall leave him for now. May he feel safe under the roof!

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