How can Animals Help Us in Our Spiritual Journey
Animals have been the spiritual companions of humans since the beginning of recorded time. The earliest indication of the spiritual significance of the human-animal relationship can be found in the 20,000-year-old cave wall paintings of Cro-Magnon people.
CULTURAL REFERENCE
In many if not most cultures, animals have served a variety of spiritual functions:
They have been linked with supernatural forces, acted as guardians and shamans, and appeared in images of an afterlife. They have even been worshipped as agents of gods and goddesses.
They have been linked with supernatural forces, acted as guardians and shamans, and appeared in images of an afterlife. They have even been worshipped as agents of gods and goddesses.
Many ancient creation myths, for example, depict God with a dog. These stories do not explain the existence of the dog; like God, the dog is assumed to have existed from the beginning.
In this assumption, these primordial people revealed their intense attachment to their animal companions.
In this assumption, these primordial people revealed their intense attachment to their animal companions.
The Spiritual Benefits of Our Relationship with Animals
Animals fully reveal to us what we already glimpse: it is feeling -- and the organization of feeling -- that forms the core of self. We also sense that through our relationship to animals we can recover that which is true within us and, through the discovery of that truth, find our spiritual direction.
Quite simply, animals teach us about love: how to love, how to enjoy being loved, how loving itself is an activity that generates more love, radiating out and encompassing an ever larger circle of others. Animals propel us into an "economy of abundance.
They teach us the language of the spirit.
Through our contact with animals we can learn to overcome the limits imposed by difference; we can reach beyond the walls we have erected between the mundane and the sacred. They can even help us stretch ourselves to discover new frontiers of consciousness.
Through our contact with animals we can learn to overcome the limits imposed by difference; we can reach beyond the walls we have erected between the mundane and the sacred. They can even help us stretch ourselves to discover new frontiers of consciousness.
Animals cannot "talk" to us, but they can communicate with us and commune with us in a language that does not require words.
They help us understand that words might even stand in the way.
Living Outside of Words
When we live with animals, we often neglect the most important lesson they wholeheartedly offer us.
Silence.
In a time when we're always busy communicating & thinking about all sorts of matters, silence is our safe haven.
We get stronger, healthier and wiser when we connect with our natural state, which is simply being in the moment.
Transcending The Boundaries Of Our Human Perspectives
Animals, however, offer us a unique opportunity to transcend the boundaries of our human perspectives, they allow us to stretch our consciousness toward understanding what it is like to be different.
This stretching enables us to grow beyond our narrow viewpoint. It allows us to gain a spiritual advantage.
This stretching enables us to grow beyond our narrow viewpoint. It allows us to gain a spiritual advantage.
Animals can lead us spiritually in a variety of ways.
They can teach us about life, participate in our social and moral development, enhance our physical and psychological well-being, and heighten our capacity to love and to experience joy.
They can teach us about life, participate in our social and moral development, enhance our physical and psychological well-being, and heighten our capacity to love and to experience joy.
By: Lora
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thank you