The Better Part
 

Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her.

So I'm tossing the Frisbee to Benny after a heavy rain storm and that phrase starts floating around in my head. I'm worrying about co-teachers, child neglect, and staying sober while Benny is taking wide looping arcs to catch the disc so he can splash in the puddles. We evolved together dog and man and yet the dog chose the better path didn't he.

Honey Badger don't give a shit?

Honey Badger could take lessons from Cat on not giving a shit.

A monk asked master Joshu, "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?" Master Joshu answered, "No."

Another monk asked master Joshu, "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?" Master Joshu answered, "Yes."

Which dog took the better part?

Master Basho said to his disciples, "If you have the staff, I will give it to you. If you have no staff, I will take it away from you!"

From whom did the dog take the better part?

Thanks for that.

Any cat or dog which is a pet in a good home is one of the luckiest animals in history.

Am I the only one who is confused?

Incorrect, he answered "Mu". :rollanim:

No. No, you're not.

I hope that dog bites Master Joshu right in the nuts.

Does the dog have Buddha nature, or, don't the dog have Buddha nature? Master Joshu seems to be an ambivalent little fuck, don't he? And who the fuck is Master Basho? What the fuck does he have to do with anything? And, what staff? A walking stick? People who work for the monk? Why are the people who work for the monk being taken away? What happens to them? Where do they go? If I have a walking stick, why do I need another one? Is Master Basho taking me skiing? How does Master Basho get the time off? He don't do shit around here, except strut around making confusing statements.

Who the fuck do these flea-bitten monks think they are, anyway?

Whew, I thought you were talking about me there for a minute.

:)

I agree with grav. Master Basho sounds like a name of one of those plastic turbaned fortune telling heads.

Griff, sometimes life seems too complicated. I think we all have times like that. I hope you come to the other side of your troubles soon and stop being jealous of ur dog. ;). Xx

Screw those monks, Samurai make there own rules.

Being a beloved pet dog sounds good. But then there's that whole stopping a bullet for your master thing.

That one on the end looks a bit dodgy to me.

:)
Actually I was watching him and came to a little realization about my not Buddha nature. I'm going to try to emulate him.

Your dog has empathy too, just lucky to not have awareness beyond his turf.

My boy Diz would have the perfect life, if only he didn't have a Napoleon Complex.
He rules me with a rod of iron, but for some reason he cannot get rid of a furry ginger creature who lives in the same house.

Chillax, I say (I can say it to a cat, NEVER to a person)
You got me, I say.
I adore you.
You got food and warmth and clean litter and love and care and fresh water if God wills it. Oh, I mean fresh water full stop.

But no, he's gotta be the only cat in the village.
Poor baby boy.

Griff, you have the better part.

Benny is happy, in addition to being a supremely awesome dog. But your part, you have so much more going on than he does, you have the better part. That part *does include* feeling more strongly, more widely, and that includes bad parts too. Like stressing out about co-workers, kids who aren't getting what you think they should be getting, excitement and decentralized anxiety about your kids' future, all kinds of bad stuff. But good stuff too that Benny can't grok.

He loves his life, and loves you as wholly as he can, but your capacity is much greater. The bad with that good is that you question yourself. That feels bad sometimes, and it is bad sometimes. But it's part of being greater, better.

Still, you have in your (greater) capacity, the ability to feel as purely and cleanly as Benny does. You have all of what he has and more. To my mind, that is the better part.

yabut frisbee

perfect

:D