Benefits of Owning Pets

[AnthroHeart]

We can give our animals unconditional love. This is green-ray love.
Even in meditation we can't do that.
Sure, we can send out unconditional love into the Universe
or to aid the planet.

But I think that actually cuddling with your loved one speaks volumes
more than meditation ever could. When you're dealing with the other
self, including an animal, you're also working in yellow ray.

And animals bring happiness to yourself, so you've got a strong orange ray
going.

I believe the love of an animal can help with depression. My dog Loki keeps
me willing to be here. He puts a smile on my face. And I think does more for my anxiety than any meditation has ever done.

What I wonder is, do you gain more polarity from showing unconditional love to a human being (which is harder), than with a pet (which is easy)?
And can you show as much unconditional love in meditation (gain polarity through it) as you can outwardly to another being?

[Plenum]

don't have a pet (I fear the poop of any animal I might own lol), but I can appreciate the positive benefits of it. A constant companion, someone that is relative glad to see you (feed me human!!), and just another entity to salve any potential loneliness.

What I wonder is, do you gain more polarity from showing unconditional love to a human being (which is harder), than with a pet (which is easy)?

good question.

I think the primary issue of devoting oneself to one's pets rather than one's fellow human beings is that you deprive yourself of the opportunity of more confronting catalyst. Human beings are more complex, more changeable, and more difficult to navigate (on average) than a 2d entity.

it's not that pets are bad (absolutely positive benefits), but its a matter of balance. I've known a couple of people who, for whatever reason (very complex reasons, no judging), but because they couldn't have a close partner relationship and/or kids, started adopting pets instead. And not just one or two; but like 7, 8, or more animals.

it all comes down to motivation in the end; and underlying reasons.

- -

oh, and I do miss the wild birds that used to visit my balcony! they made such a mess for the apartments downstairs though, that I had to give up feeding them.

closest thing to pets I've had in recent years

[reeay]

My cat owns me and I'm totally OK with that lol jk.

Laser eye cat


I love seeing pictures of Loki and you GW. Keep it going please!

[Bring4th_Austin]

I think that the relationship between a human and a pet can be immensely useful in our spiritual evolution. I'm quite positive that much of my spiritual evolution for the past 4 years was not just aided but made possible by my relationship with my best friend Plato. He passed away last year but I will never forget the effect he has had on my life.

Ever since I went to pick him out of the litter, he was fixated on me, and you could feel and see the deep compassion in his gaze. His gaze was catalyst for me on numerous occasions, spurring a full range of emotions as I went through my initial awakening and was deep into my shadow work. His undying devotion allowed me to understand a different kind of love.

I didn't always appreciate him as the brother he was to me, but in his later years I fully began to realize the honor/responsibility of being blessed with such an incredible source of love and support in my life. It may be a silly little 3D notion, but I swore to him that when he chose to move on and harvest, and was going through his own 3D experience, I would find him and be there for him like he was here for me. He was a bright lighthouse during my dark times and I have a great desire to share in spirit with him again.

[AnthroHeart]

That might be interesting going through the 3D cycle with our pet as they incarnate into a 3D being. Though I want to graduate to 4D. Perhaps I can be a guide to Loki. I've had Loki through my entire spiritual awakening, and I almost lost him. It was hard times, that I wouldn't do again. But it did get me out of work for 6 months, which was great.

Plato sounds like he was a fantastic dog Austin. Loki's only 6 I believe, so he's got a few years left.

Plenum, my mom has 7 ferrets, and she's had 12 total in her life, over the last year or so. They die so easily.

BTW, I don't have to clean up their poop. They go out in the woods. My back yard is 1/2 acre, which is enough room for them to run around and do their business. Been there 13 years, and just let the rain and weather take care of it. Usually the droppings turn white after they're out in the sun for a bit. They also like to go in the same place. One time I went back and found a collection of them in the clearing. It was funny.

But sometimes my mom's two dogs will crap in the house. Then we have to chuck it outside with the dustpan. Mine have rarely done it in the house. I crate trained Loki, so he rarely messed in the house. He used to pee, but we put diapers on him for some time till he was like 6 months old.

[Melissa]

Tesla the cat is free to go when/wherever she wants but she just keeps coming back. We like each other, a lot, and I feel responsible for her general well being, if I have to be someplace I get restless after a few hours and love coming home to her. She always tags along when I go visit friends a couple of doors away. I've even come to accept her instincts regarding hunting and dragging everything indoors, sheez, that took awhile.

She's her own little being and a great friend but she's not 'mine' or a pet. Had to let her climb the highest trees when she was just a couple of weeks old, ADHD kitten she was -drove me absolutely insane- letting her climb all the way down by herself required a lot of patience and support but it worked out perfectly. But she clearly has her own will and I respect that to the extent that it's not harmful. The relationship with her has changed a lot, also helped me in my relationships towards humans and whenever I feel stressed out, I look at her and do as she does;
Chill out sister. lol

[AnthroHeart]

Does Tesla let you pet her Melissa, or is she feral?

[Melissa]

Definitely not a 'lap cat' but she always let's me know if she wants huggles and cuddles, belly included; which I think is a sign that she trusts me.

[Jeremy]

Pets are a wonderful aid and a type of go to being when one feels a bit lost due to the unconditional love that's projected by them. With that said and plenum touched on it is that they lack the complexity to be a mirror and project catalysts that are needed to learn ones lessons. To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

I was like this at one point. I almost switched my major from rad tech to wildlife biologist because I simply found animals to be better than humans. I never understood humans so in my attempts to give up on them, I decided being safe and concentrating on animals was the best route. Looking back, I can see that it was me not facing this catalyst and realized that it was merely a perception and lack of acceptance towards other selfs which lead me to believe that animals were more deserving of my attention. Since awakening though, I knew becoming a rad tech was exactly what I needed to nurture and develop this acceptance of other selfs by helping what many see to be nonemergent reasons for being there but nonetheless, other selfs looking for help.

[AnthroHeart]

Here's Desperado, my 14 year old German Shepherd, who rarely gets up on my bed. He's so old now he couldn't jump up there.



And Loki Crouching:



And Loki staring out the window:

[Bring4th_Austin]

To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

I was like this at one point. I almost switched my major from rad tech to wildlife biologist because I simply found animals to be better than humans. I never understood humans so in my attempts to give up on them, I decided being safe and concentrating on animals was the best route. Looking back, I can see that it was me not facing this catalyst and realized that it was merely a perception and lack of acceptance towards other selfs which lead me to believe that animals were more deserving of my attention. Since awakening though, I knew becoming a rad tech was exactly what I needed to nurture and develop this acceptance of other selfs by helping what many see to be nonemergent reasons for being there but nonetheless, other selfs looking for help.

That's an interesting observation, I've never considered that before. But thinking about it now, it definitely does seem like a major bypass for catalyst, unconscious projections of shadow on humans and "hero" on animals which can cause a perpetuating loop.

I was rather involved with the Humane Society of the US when I was farming, and my girlfriend works at the local humane society, a decently large non-profit. Being so involved with animal activists, I've always been a bit shocked at how poorly they deal with humans. There's so much infighting within animal rights groups, and amongst the different groups, it can be a very hostile social environment for a group of people that supposedly all share a similar ideal. I think you are right in that they bypass their human catalyst getting lost in their compassion for animals.

edit: to clarify, I didn't mean my girlfriend was one of the people that has difficulty dealing with humans. I think she does an outstanding job treading what I perceive to be shark infested waters.

[Melissa]

Pets are a wonderful aid and a type of go to being when one feels a bit lost due to the unconditional love that's projected by them. With that said and plenum touched on it is that they lack the complexity to be a mirror and project catalysts that are needed to learn ones lessons. To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

Though it may appear on a surface level as if they are the most jaded towards humans; I've heard it from friends and family and have said it myself so many times; "people suck, I hate them, nobody understands me better than [fill in animals name]", what they're basically saying is; I've been hurt, I'm in pain and nobody truly hears or sees me. I know because I've been in that place for years. I'm grateful that the people who feel they are in any way, shape or form unable to either deal with their catalyst or seek external help can at least express/receive love and compassion towards animals. As these ingredients are vital for the heartsies.

Right now I've two girlfriends with the same issues, if I'm too critical about their (un)natural inclination towards animals I'm only perpetuating their distrust in humans, they become snappy at me which then gives rise to my trust issues and feelings of unsafety. so it's just not a very beneficial way to go about it. Ahem. Live and learn, right. Acknowledgement, compassion and love is what helps both me and them heal. win-win.

[Jeremy]

Pets are a wonderful aid and a type of go to being when one feels a bit lost due to the unconditional love that's projected by them. With that said and plenum touched on it is that they lack the complexity to be a mirror and project catalysts that are needed to learn ones lessons. To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

Though it may appear on a surface level as if they are the most jaded towards humans; I've heard it from friends and family and have said it myself so many times; "people suck, I hate them, nobody understands me better than [fill in animals name]", what they're basically saying is; I've been hurt, I'm in pain and nobody truly hears or sees me. I know because I've been in that place for years. I'm grateful that the people who feel they are in any way, shape or form unable to either deal with their catalyst or seek external help can at least express/receive love and compassion towards animals. As these ingredients are vital for the heartsies.

Right now I've two girlfriends with the same issues, if I'm too critical about their (un)natural inclination towards animals I'm only perpetuating their distrust in humans, they become snappy at me which then gives rise to my trust issues and feelings of unsafety. so it's just not a very beneficial way to go about it. Ahem. Live and learn, right. Acknowledgement, compassion and love is what helps both me and them heal. win-win.

That's your interpretation of your experiences and I accept that as genuine. In my experience though, most people who say only my 2d pet who lacks any type of cognitive ability to intelligently communicate back towards ones lack of confronting their own catalysts seems awfully escapist to me. If an other self gives an honest interpretation of a selfs experience or misgivings and then that self lashes out because of what they see as a lack of acceptance and doesn't coddle this fragile other self, how is that in any way helpful? We can go round and round with this as it's still an issue of honesty versus acceptance and since we still have come to an agreement on a solution, how about we agree to disagree?

If someone is unable to deal with their catalyst, what they're actually saying is that they are unwilling to deal with it which is again, running away and taking refuge with a 2d pet instead of facing said catalyst.

[AnthroHeart]

I usually don't debate with others so that I don't have to bring up unnecessary catalyst. I don't recall ever using my dog as a means to escape dealing with people. Dealing with people is a fact of life. Fortunately I've not had a lot of confrontation. When I do though, it's a means for me to learn how to respond with love. I give Loki love when others are not around, so there's no escaping another catalyst. When things come up at work, I deal with them. I don't use my dog as an excuse to not deal with problems. But I also don't go looking for additional catalyst on purpose. I don't try to get a rise out of other people intentionally, just so I can experience catalyst.

[Melissa]

Pets are a wonderful aid and a type of go to being when one feels a bit lost due to the unconditional love that's projected by them. With that said and plenum touched on it is that they lack the complexity to be a mirror and project catalysts that are needed to learn ones lessons. To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

Though it may appear on a surface level as if they are the most jaded towards humans; I've heard it from friends and family and have said it myself so many times; "people suck, I hate them, nobody understands me better than [fill in animals name]", what they're basically saying is; I've been hurt, I'm in pain and nobody truly hears or sees me. I know because I've been in that place for years. I'm grateful that the people who feel they are in any way, shape or form unable to either deal with their catalyst or seek external help can at least express/receive love and compassion towards animals. As these ingredients are vital for the heartsies.

Right now I've two girlfriends with the same issues, if I'm too critical about their (un)natural inclination towards animals I'm only perpetuating their distrust in humans, they become snappy at me which then gives rise to my trust issues and feelings of unsafety. so it's just not a very beneficial way to go about it. Ahem. Live and learn, right. Acknowledgement, compassion and love is what helps both me and them heal. win-win.

That's your interpretation of your experiences and I accept that as genuine. In my experience though, most people who say only my 2d pet who lacks any type of cognitive ability to intelligently communicate back towards ones lack of confronting their own catalysts seems awfully escapist to me. If an other self gives an honest interpretation of a selfs experience or misgivings and then that self lashes out because of what they see as a lack of acceptance and doesn't coddle this fragile other self, how is that in any way helpful? We can go round and round with this as it's still an issue of honesty versus acceptance and since we still have come to an agreement on a solution, how about we agree to disagree?

If someone is unable to deal with their catalyst, what they're actually saying is that they are unwilling to deal with it which is again, running away and taking refuge with a 2d pet instead of facing said catalyst.

(...)It makes me sad to read so much anger in your post, but I know it doesn't belong to me. If you want to talk about how you truly feel or what's going on in your life, that's ok, just let me know.

[Jeremy]

Pets are a wonderful aid and a type of go to being when one feels a bit lost due to the unconditional love that's projected by them. With that said and plenum touched on it is that they lack the complexity to be a mirror and project catalysts that are needed to learn ones lessons. To be honest, most of the people that I have known in "real life" that have an extreme form of love towards animals tend to be the most jaded towards humans which to me, signifies a reluctance to face ones catalysts and uses animals as a form of escape.

Though it may appear on a surface level as if they are the most jaded towards humans; I've heard it from friends and family and have said it myself so many times; "people suck, I hate them, nobody understands me better than [fill in animals name]", what they're basically saying is; I've been hurt, I'm in pain and nobody truly hears or sees me. I know because I've been in that place for years. I'm grateful that the people who feel they are in any way, shape or form unable to either deal with their catalyst or seek external help can at least express/receive love and compassion towards animals. As these ingredients are vital for the heartsies.

Right now I've two girlfriends with the same issues, if I'm too critical about their (un)natural inclination towards animals I'm only perpetuating their distrust in humans, they become snappy at me which then gives rise to my trust issues and feelings of unsafety. so it's just not a very beneficial way to go about it. Ahem. Live and learn, right. Acknowledgement, compassion and love is what helps both me and them heal. win-win.

That's your interpretation of your experiences and I accept that as genuine. In my experience though, most people who say only my 2d pet who lacks any type of cognitive ability to intelligently communicate back towards ones lack of confronting their own catalysts seems awfully escapist to me. If an other self gives an honest interpretation of a selfs experience or misgivings and then that self lashes out because of what they see as a lack of acceptance and doesn't coddle this fragile other self, how is that in any way helpful? We can go round and round with this as it's still an issue of honesty versus acceptance and since we still have come to an agreement on a solution, how about we agree to disagree?

If someone is unable to deal with their catalyst, what they're actually saying is that they are unwilling to deal with it which is again, running away and taking refuge with a 2d pet instead of facing said catalyst.

(...)It makes me sad to read so much anger in your post, but I know it doesn't belong to me. If you want to talk about how you truly feel or what's going on in your life, that's ok, just let me know.

Hahaha it's not anger in the slightest. It's simply an interpretation of my own experiences with those who seek refuge in the arms of an animal instead of facing ones catalyst. I'm not saying seeking the affection of an animal is not valued as I definitely agree that such complete acceptance from a 2d creature is quite uplifting in times of need. I'm just saying that running into the arms of a 2d creature while crying about the pains inflicted upon ones self because they had an issue with an other self is a form of escape and not an optimal way of confronting the catalyst given by this other self.

Crying woe is me, people hurt me but only a 2d creature (which has absolutely no advanced cognitive social ability to effectively communicate) understands me is quite indicative of avoidance. If people wanna find consolation with their 2d creature, I'm quite fine with it actually as it's their path not mine. But one can't admit that they are effectively confronting ones catalysts this way. But hey this is my opinion so you're free to disagree and I'm completely ok with you not agreeing because in the grand scheme of things, whether you agree with me or not, is your issue and not mine

Moving on...when Ra spoke of balancing ones energy centers, I'm pretty sure this had to do with actual human interaction and not animals since animals are incapable of communicating in any type of intelligent manner so that one can see ones imbalances mirrored back to them so the justification for energy ray work relative to animals isn't something that seems possible.

[Bring4th_Austin]

I basically agree with both of you, mostly, but I think a key thing Melissa said was this:

I'm grateful that the people who feel they are in any way, shape or form unable to either deal with their catalyst or seek external help can at least express/receive love and compassion towards animals.

This is not a simple or easy environment for processing catalyst. Some evolving beings program too much catalyst in their lives to the detriment of their growth. Some may have gained biases, mental or physiological, somewhere along the way which makes facing catalyst head-on difficult. And most people aren't even aware of the mechanism of catalyst for spiritual growth, even if they are on a path of evolution, so they can't look at it in such terms. I do think that pets and animals can be used to bypass catalyst, but sometimes I think that the fact they can offer comfort and solace and show compassion for humans could be a net positive effect in the life of an individual, allowing them a sort of safe and compassionate environment from which to break a perpetuating cycle of catalyst. I especially think they can be useful if someone's lessons are in dealing with loving the self, and I think accepting love from a pet can be very healing.

Anything can be used to bypass our lessons, and it seems to me that solace in pets and animals is probably one of the more common ones, but I don't think that necessarily means that any time someone seeks comfort in their pet that it is not a positive influence on their path of positive evolution.

I don't necessarily agree with this:

when Ra spoke of balancing ones energy centers, I'm pretty sure this had to do with actual human interaction and not animals since animals are incapable of communicating in any type of intelligent manner so that one can see ones imbalances mirrored back to them so the justification for energy ray work relative to animals isn't something that seems possible.

I think that certain energy ray balancing can be applied to our relationship with anything, whether it's a human, a pet, or a rock. Just because animals cannot communicate to us in an intelligent way does not mean we cannot use our experiences with them to work on our imbalances. We can project onto anything, and that projection offers us a reflection of our biases. Even in the absence of any living creatures, one might find themselves getting upset or angry with inanimate objects, or with themselves.

When I was going through my initial shadow work, which means lots of balancing work, there was a lot of emotional feedback I gained from interacting with Plato, even just through his gaze, as I said. There were some times I felt I was not worthy of such love, and this would spur self-inquiry as to why I could not accept his love.

I think other people will offer the most catalyst to work with, and certainly is ultimately required for proper balancing here, but I do think that balancing can happen on other terms.

[Jeremy]

Yea I can kinda see your point regarding a simple look from a pet after saying something like self deluding such as feeling unworthy of such love thus balancing an aspect of ones self. Like I said earlier, this is all simply my opinion and even during the times where life was literally a living hell, I faced it head on rather than running to my dogs for comfort. I guess it's just how some deal with a particular scenario but I've never been one to run from my problems so it's mainly a lack of understanding the mechanisms and benefits to such a thing and this was way before I found this material.

Like I also said before, hey if consoling with a pet helps takes the edge off great as long as it doesn't bypass the catalyst that caused the initial reaction. This is where, in my opinion, things to awry.

[Melissa]

Jeremy, I'm going to send you a pm which will hopefully assist with moving on into a different direction.

[AnthroHeart]

Loki loves his pool water.

[xise]

Does anyone have any experience caring for an unspayed cat/dog? Are they much harder to care for?

I love animals, but I don't want a pet if I had to spay or neuter them.

[AnthroHeart]

Does anyone have any experience caring for an unspayed cat/dog? Are they much harder to care for?

I love animals, but I don't want a pet if I had to spay or neuter them.

If I'd have had a choice, I wouldn't have let Loki get neutered. But my mom neutered him without my permission, when he was 5. She claimed it would calm him down around strangers.

But he's never had a problem with people. The neutering didn't change his personality at all. He's still gentle as ever towards people. However, he doesn't get along with other dogs that he doesn't know.

[Spaced]

Does anyone have any experience caring for an unspayed cat/dog? Are they much harder to care for?

I love animals, but I don't want a pet if I had to spay or neuter them.

I was against getting my cat spayed for a long time, but at one point she was living in a barn and my girlfriend convinced me to get her fixed so we wouldn't risk adding to the stray cat population. When we finally took her in the vet found a huge cyst on one of her ovaries that would have caused her some major trouble down the line so it turned out to be a very good thing. Also it made her MUCH easier to care for. A cat in heat can be extremely annoying

[AnthroHeart]

Loki is really the only one who can tame my inner restlessness. I feel like my life is for him. He makes life worth living.

[AnthroHeart]

No, Loki isn't spoiled at all

[Jade]

Loki looks like such a sweet/happy dog.

Does anyone have any experience caring for an unspayed cat/dog? Are they much harder to care for?

I love animals, but I don't want a pet if I had to spay or neuter them.

My last two pets have been unfixed. My shih tzu is 7 and he's unfixed, a couple of vets have expressed a small concern because only one of his testicles is descended, and I suppose the temperature difference can cause growths. They were fondled recently and the vet said they were in good health, at this time luckily. He doesn't have any sexual drives to speak of really, either, and being small even if he were to want to hump your ankle it'd be no thing. Really the thing I think it affects most is when he's outside - his brain shuts off and he runs around marking EVERYTHING. Only outside though.

A larger breed, unneutered male can be a bit of a liability. My friend had a pit bull that weighed ~80lbs that would full on tackle me and lock on with his big meaty claw-paws to try to mount me. It was painful, and dogs get bigger than that even. Now, neuturing a dog doesn't mean that this won't happen anymore, especially if the behavior is already there, and training is always possible, but sometimes hormones do take over. Just something to be cognizant about.

When I was little, my dad had our dog neutered because the vet told him it would cut down on him getting out of the yard and running off (it didnt - he was a hunting dog, he liked to chase everything) So it really isn't always a solution to behavior issues.

My female dog (german shepherd) it was a little bit more of an issue, but we would fit her with men's briefs and it would be adequate for her to wear and keep her out of her kennel. When she was in heat the little shih tzu would react, but he may as well be impotent with his size (esp. vs. hers.)

[isis]

HEY EVERY1 - GUESS WHAT! i got a kitten on sunday!!!!!!! i named her maui. she's so great

i have a super-soft blanket that she can't walk on w/o kneading it...it's terribly cute...i can tell it frustrates her, though, that she can't not knead it. it's funny

[Jade]

Um, pics????

[isis]

Um, pics????

um, mushroom experiences???????





recognize anything in this 1?

i really need to figure out how to adjust the shutter speed on my camera sometime soon...