Dog is God

The dog park is the most joyous place on the planet. The frolicking, the playing, the happy greetings, and that’s just the people. Dog is God spelled backwards, and indeed, every being there is in a state of grace. There is so much reciprocity of love, so much space and unbounded openness to run and play and explore and share and be curious, to be loved and free.

Until the Ranger comes.

There is a law at this particular park that says that dogs must be on a leash. Sometimes these rules are bent. And broken. Just like speeding on a highway, sometimes you get away with it and sometimes you don’t. I get it. I understand laws. I value safety.

And I cherish humanness.

On Memorial Day, my family was at the dog park enjoying the beautiful day and chill vibes. Laila, our 3-legged dog, was lying next to us on the expansive lawn chewing passively on a blue and orange rubber ball. She was off-leash. How the Ranger saw this from the top of the hill, I have no idea, but he sped down the lawn in his patrol car and promptly asked for a license. When a conversation was attempted, the Ranger not only dismissed it, but proceeded to speak in such an offensive, venomous tone, getting out of his car and threatening arrest, that it took my breath away. In disgust. In awe. In anger. He then astonishingly called for back-up and two more patrol cars showed up.

After fifteen minutes, the Ranger finally came out of his car and issued a ticket. As he drove away, I felt my blood boiling, my head spinning. What was it that made that Ranger act with such animosity? What makes people so mean? Was he just wielding his power around? Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe he had a horrible childhood.

Later I meditated on it. He was a bully. And there was nothing we could do about it. The Ranger had the upper hand and that was that. Yet it still felt so unnecessarily demeaning. Where was the humanness?

So I sent that human Ranger love. Abundant, shimmering, glowing, radiant love. Hope. Peace. Safety. Prayers for kindness. Will it help him? I’m not sure.

But it definitely helped me.

And that’s what this practice does. It helps my corner of the world. And your practice helps your corner. I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea if that Ranger felt it. But I like to think that if I walk around in a peaceful way, it’ll inspire someone else to walk around that way, and they’ll inspire someone else, and who knows, soon we’ll all be walking around paying it forward and showering each other in peace.

Pipe dreams? Maybe. You with me anyway? I hope so.

Share these teachings

With all generous-hearted people

Who come your way and ask.

When you meet someone

Whose heart is vibrating

With the flow of love,

Let your words and energies

Be as free as your breathing.

Friends, relatives, neighbors, people who abide

in your village, city, country -

Be not concerned with their attitudes

Toward these teachings.

Everyone is discovering the intimate universe

In their own way.

The nectar is here.

- from The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche