Are we all the same?
Most of us know what it’s like to lose a loved one, or someone that we really care about. We get upset, angry, confused, frustrated, we feel unbearable sadness, we lose our appetite, lose interest in things we normally find interesting … some of us even go into deep depression. We feel so much grief. These strong, mixed feelings are associated with the process of mourning.
Do animals mourn too?
“An American research (1996) showed that 46% of cats eat less after they have lost a cat mate. In extreme cases it has even led to death. 70% of the cats started to miaow more or on the contrary less. It also turned out that the remaining cats often searched other sleeping places much more. More than half of the remaining cats became more affectionate towards their boss. You can conclude from the research results that 65% of the cats show 4 or more behavior changes after having lost a cat mate in his direct surroundings.
A cat reacts pretty much the same as a human being when he loses a cat mate. The remaining cat might change his eating pattern due to amongst others sickness. The cat might suddenly lose a lot of hairs which often occurs due to excessive washing. Some cats suddenly show untrained behavior. They also might stare out of the window during a couple of days hoping the other cat will come back. This waiting in front of the window is called “separation fear”.”
(Extracted from: http://www.catplaza.org.uk/the_cats_mourning_process)
Like cats, dogs show signs like: loss of appetite, less barking, loss of interest in playing or going for walks, lethargy, disorientation and confusion.
Dogs are capable of forming very strong friendships. The bond between a dog and their human and/or animal friend can be very strong, that if one of them was to suddenly pass away… the dog will feel everything that a human would: sadness and confusion… even depression.
Take a look at the 2 videos below. It is so sad and so heartwarming at the same time. The 2nd video is in Chinese, but one of my students has translated it into English also.
As you watch, remember: animals have feelings just like us. Never eat them. Never hurt them.
Tsem Rinpoche
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Cat-loses-his-love-and-tries-to-save-her.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/dogMournsFriend.mp4
Here is a brief summary of what occurs in the 2nd (chinese) video:
Time: Around 7.30am
Location: Chengdu Ring Road 2.5
In the middle of the road, one dog is already dead yet the other is still watching out for her loyally, by her side. In the passing traffic, he’s trying his best to move his mate’s body that perhaps still has some body warmth left, nearer to the side of the road.
Curled up, the surviving dog watches the cars passing by. Why does he risk his life protecting his mate’s body? Perhaps he is trying to awaken the energetic life that was still playing with him a few minutes ago.
The way animals express their love and their attachment are different from humans – more direct. The surviving dog hugged and licked his mate’s body. At that time her body was still soft… perhaps he thought he could save her…
I gave him some sausages, he bit off half of it and tried to push it in her mouth… I gave him something to drink, he hurriedly kept a mouthful to feed his mate…
There was no response from his mate, and he lay down disheartened, putting his neck next to his mate’s … There was much sorrow in his eyes… In this age of rapid development, how many animals became victims on public roa? How many animals became the sacrificial objects for modern civilization?
When someone captured a shot of a man who carried his wife on his back in the earthquake, he was highly regarded as unswervingly loyal… Yet a small dog in the howling car traffic, using his own weak body to protect his lover, what kind of sentiment does he have? There is no lowly nor noble affection, there is no high or low level. Although we do not understand them… or we feel it’s beneath us to understand them … we have the same feelings.
At a farmer’s home, under the shade of a tree in the backyard, we dug a metre of sacred space. He kept watch nearby, watching us bury his mate…
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I agree there are many similarity between man and animal, we share many same traits but are we the same, that’s a difficult one to answer. I don’t think we are the same. Mainly due to our cerebral capacity which makes us more “intelligent” and much complex than the animal. In Buddhism, it is said that only human posses all the necessary faculties to practice dharma and gain enlightenment.
What I do admire though about the animal kingdom is that animals seem to be more direct in their expression of emotions. I guess this is also why many humans who failed in human relationships sometimes thrive in relationships with animals. Perhaps these people find animals more direct, more loyal and faithful.
Knowing that animals can show deep emotions mean we should be more aware of how we treat them. They can feel sad, happy, depress, angry, afraid just like us.
I believe that we are all the same, we are all sentient beings who have feelings. Although animals cannot speak like how humans do, but they have their own ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings, of course we humans do not understand. It’s time for us to treat animals liie humans, they deserve to be treated as living beings who have full control of their own lives.
Dear Rinpoche, every time when I watch shows such as Animal Planets or National Geographic they will always tell us that animals will leave their mate after mating but they never tell us that animals such as dogs, cats and etc will still live together even after mating. This kind of actions about animals caring for each other will show people that animals have feelings too. This world will be a much better place when people start to love every kind of animals.
This two videos are so heart warming. It is sad to lose a loved one. I can imagine how the cat and dog in both this two videos felt losing their mate. Animals have feelings and emotions and we should stop treating them as some inferior being and abused them. Be kind to animals and stop taking meat.
Am revisiting this old post and thought that if anyone chances upon this again, they might also like to read this post about the beautiful friendship between a man and his cow, and just how sad the cow is to be separated from her owner: http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/so-touching-you-will-cry.html
If we consider that we are all mindstreams abiding within samsara, and can incarnate into different forms – cows, dogs, cats – then of course it makes very logical sense that animals feel the very same emotions as we do and have the same attachments – not just to their human owners but also to each other. I have seen how my own dogs grieve and become extremely subdued when another dog of the family dies. Even if one of the (human) family members are sad or troubled, we will often see our dogs crowding around us, putting their paws on our knees and looking up at us with a look of great concern. Many of us might be surprised to know just how much more sensitive animals are than many of us block-headed humans!
i think that we are all the same. Animals have feeling just like us humans. And they deserve to be treated like respectable humans. Not killed for their meat and tortured by others. They need love and compassion, just like how a mother should care for her child. Its the same thing. Thank you for sharing this with us Rinpoche.
It was rather difficult to watch the 2 videos especially the first one. The emotion was so very raw we would have to be completely blind not to see that animals have feelings as intense as ours. The desperate attempts to revive a loved who has just passed away, the refusal to give up hope, the sorrow, the denial and the gentle heart felt love…these are all such human emotions. We express and communicate our grief in ways that animals may not be able to. I am very touched by these videos and it really drives home the truth that all sentient beings are alike, and no different to human beings and all trapped in this hole of suffering. The pain animals feel is no less the pain we feel and therefore we should already be able to identify with their sorrow. That we are born with the capability to improve our condition whilst animals aren’t should be reason enough for us to have compassion. How can we not feel for them?
Animals have feelings too do not ignore them just for our convenience sake.
I do not know much about cats, but I do feel that dogs have an unwavering amount of loyalty inside their hearts. It seems like a nature that is with them the moment when they are born, just like dogs without doubt will only bark, but not meowing.
Because animals are viewed more often as an insignificant part of our lives, what they do is usually not regarded highly. So we usually will only give them a cursory glance when they do something great or noble.
In regards to loyalty, dogs do much better than us. Loyalty is a second nature for them, there is no question about it. For humans, we think twice about this. So in this aspect, we are doing much poorer than our companions.
Dogs have eyes that are as pure as those of newly born babies’.
This video is very heart wrenching. The particular scene that moves me is when the lady helped to move the dead doggie to the side of the road. The brown doggie was grasping tight to his mate’s lifeless body as it was being carried away. I am sure animals have the same feelings as human. In fact, I think dogs are even more loyal than human beings in some instances. We should be kind to animals, regardless whether it is a pet or whether it is a stray.
In terms of emotions, we humans and animals do demonstrate similar feelings. Animals are unable to talk to us in our language but their body language shows similar traits. On this logical deduction, we are the same.
昨天，我在面书看见一则关于双目失明的狗儿莉莉跟7岁的导盲犬麦迪逊相依的故事，或许我们不懂狗的语言，但是从照片中莉莉挨着在麦迪逊的模样，可以感受到那份浓厚的感情。
英文的新闻是Blind Great Dane and her guide dog find a home： http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/blind-great-dane-guide-dog-found-home-dogs-trust
中文的有这个：http://news.cnhubei.com/ctdsb/ctdsbsgk/ctdsb29/201110/t1864393.shtml
我们总以为人类的感情高尚，比动物高尚，但是人类世界里对自己、同类和其他生物包括其他动物残酷的例子很多。我们一般都说动物是畜生，了解越多我们越发现其实不仅是人类有哀伤、悲鸣、快乐和同情的感情，其他的生物也有，或许表达的方式不一样而已。
这让我联想到在最新版本的电视剧《西游记》里，唐僧说，取经路上遇见不少妖怪不少人，但是有些妖怪有人性有情有义，有些人看是人模人样，心眼却坏极了，像个妖魔。看到这里，告诉自己，切记，课不要让自己变成长得像人，内在却是个妖魔至极的家伙。
视频二猫儿的故事实录很感人，会让许多不珍惜真爱与关怀的人惭愧。爱要及时表达，爱更要超越同类—包括跟你一样宗教信仰、文化背景、说同样语言的人。
This story in the news paper yesterday showed a chimp mother mourning the death of her child. Very sad, shows how we feel the same sort of emotions as animals. It says the other chimps kept a respectful and quiet distance to allow her to mourn. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/895272-grief-etched-on-mother-chimps-face-as-baby-lies-dead-in-her-arms
Anyone who believes that animals don’t experience all of the same feelings as humans has either never had shared their home with an animal or isn’t paying enough attention. I’ve seen my dog Chibi go through a wide variety of emotions, joy, sorrow, fear, jealousy, love, hate, and separation anxiety. If I leave the house he cries the entire time I’m gone even if my husband and daughter are home with him! Fortunately I’m a stay at home mother, so it’s very rare that he and I aren’t together. We won’t go anywhere for more than three or four hours without Chibi. Even if he was alright with it we start missing him too much. 🙂
Please do not ignore animals and take their feelings for granted. Please stop cats and dogs slaughter!