Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog

               I invited Charlie to drive out to Sunset Crater with me, because the likelihood that something weird will happen goes up when he is around.  About two miles along, we came across two dogs beside the road: a white one with black patches lying dead -- hit by a car -- and a leggy tan one consuming it with gusto.   Neither of us said anything.  I wanted to make sure about what I just saw.  “Um, was that dog eating the other dog?”

               “Yes.”

               “You know you’re not coming with me on any more outings.”

               In a sober mood, we continued on our journey.  It was almost midday, close to the equinox, with snow on the ground.  The light level was extraordinary.  I would have gotten a headache instantly without two pairs of sunglasses. 

The ponderosa trees rooted in black cinders emanated an otherworldly peace.  Three mountain faces of O’Leary Peak loomed to the west, powerful and self-aware – an unfathomable, indecipherable mineral presence.  Charlie walked around with his walking sticks, thinking, “This is a hard place for trees to live.”

               The trees, in their serene connection with All That Is, responded, “It is what it is.”

               I sat against a tree and asked the spirits to help me understand. I tentatively thanked the dogs, my fellow beings on this earth, in advance for their good message.   I remembered my trip to India many years ago, visiting the revered mountain Arunachala, said to be the embodiment of Shiva – Creator and Destroyer of Illusions.  Arunachala was hard for me to grapple with; it probably was what they said it was.  Around its base, however, lay a sea of human poverty and desperate day-to-day survival.  I doubted any of these people gave a second thought to the divinity within the mountain.

               Asking for a dream is a good way to bypass intellect and emotion in order to receive a clear answer to a question.  We both asked about the dogs that night.  Efficiently, the spirits provided us with the same dream: a sense of constant, unending presence, all night long.  Then I understood: Dog eat dog.  As with the animals, we humans are afraid and want to live.  We compete and utilize whatever is available, including each other in order to survive.  Our world is hard, and always will be.

               The other constant is Creator’s limitless, undying love from which everything springs.  It is clearly seen in mountains and in compassionate human acts which transcend fear and self-interest. 

                Why, Great Spirit, did you make it this way?

               I take refuge in the lodge.  In the lodge there is no need to address impossible questions.  When we sweat, we feel Creator’s assuring love and come away with faith.  The peace in this place, where we are connected with all things, is its own answer.