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LIFE LESSONS | BUDDHISM | CATS
I had always wanted to be a loser, but then I took in a cat
(or: how to live in a strangely attractive world of love and attachment)
The practice of perfecting the art of being a loser has traveled with me through the years, only to get shattered to pieces when we finally decided to take in a cat.
I do realize that this might sound a little pompous. Perhaps dramatic. I am sorry for this. But bare with me.
It began with Buddhism
My journey into the the praxis of being a loser began when I encountered Buddhism. I realize this too may sound preposterous, so please grant me a minute of your time to explain. I was young and a student and brazen. I read Sanskrit and took a Pāli class merely by accident. And schmack, like so many of my generation, I got into this thing. If you’re not careful, the basics of the Buddha’s teachings are innocuously attractive. It’s like falling in love with a cat. Easy peasy.
I wasn’t careful. I haven’t been careful, twice.
Buddhism teaches that life, no, everything in life, is a question, not a fact. More precisely, Buddhism presents a framework of mind, training the practitioner to understand that nothing really…
