Dog Whisperer, the Mind and How to Think Like a Chef
In other posts, I have talked about how things come to us how we need to hear them. One of the ways consciousness speaks to me is thru my TV set. Almost magically I will have been asking about something and for some reason I find myself watching a show. It might be a show I watch often or one I have never watched. Now, I see everything as not being what they might immediately appear.
My sister was visiting. She had just got a dog. The dog was not with her. I have never been good with dogs. My mother came out of WWII and her entire experience of dogs was the Nazis using them to attack people. She was terrified of dogs and passed this PTSD on to me as a child.
When my sister came we watched the Dog Whisperer. It did not take long before I was amazed at the simple yet brilliant observation into dogs Cesar has. He had observed and learned from seeing how dogs interact with each other. He related and communicated to them in the dog's way. Dogs responded to him in ways that amazed the people. It seemed most everyone that was having problems with their dog(s) was having it because they were not relating in dog or saw the dog as a person. Things that they did that would be good for relating to people might be very bad in relating to a dog. A dog would be happy in calm submission as it had its place and so felt secure and safe. It was demeaning to the dog but rather kind.
I am not going out and getting a dog. I did jump from this to looking at the relationship I have between I, the observer and I, my mind. This might be leap, but for me it makes sense. Let's play with the idea that my mind is a dog and that the observer consciousness is like the Cesar, the dog whisperer. Let's play with the idea that like a problem dog, my mind can be noisy, complaining, worrying, depressed or otherwise not balanced. Let's play with the idea, that like on the show, the problem is that I am sending out the wrong signals from my I.
One of the things that consistently comes out in the show is the people want Cesar to fix the dog. As he says, he rehabilitates the dog and trains the people. This came to me as an Ah Ha. I have focused on my mind as the issue, just as the people focused on the dog. There intentions were good, but misguided. My mind was not the issue, my I or observer consciousness was. In this revelation, I found immense peace. Just like on the show when the dog stops yapping, biting or other bad behavior almost immediately. My mind did as well. I had the experience of I, walking peacefully leading i, or my mind. It was really that simple.
I had soon after an encounter where I was around someone who was really angry and directing it at me. I saw the situation in the same way. It was their "dog" mind doing this. I now, could see the situation in a way I had never seen it before and I felt no threat, anger or malice towards the person at all. Just like on the show, the person made lots of racket and then came into balance as if by magic.
My wife is a superb chef. She is very talented and creative. We have a large library of cookbooks. We watch lots of cooking shows and particularly like Top Chef. Tom Colicchio, one of the judges has a cookbook out. The difference with his is that almost all cookbooks are recipe books. My wife loved his, as it is not a recipe book. It is how to thinks like a chef. This is a simple concept. If recipes were all that were needed to be a great chef, then computers could be chefs. This came to me and was just what I needed to hear to add to my consciousness. Now, I ask, "How do I think like _____?" when I approach something. This new questions gives new ways of seeing things.
How can I think like an awakened being?
John
