Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00185)

Ann:

>>My thinking is that pets provide a partial substitute for the
>>absence of human friendship and loving relationships ...

>Perhaps this is your experience but as for myself I'd rather be with
>one of my four felines than some people I have known including some
>blood relatives. Some people are poison to be around.

There are as you say other types of relationships involving hate
selfishness and mutually-harmful effects. Some people are best to
avoid if possible. On the other hand the troublesome people that
appear in our lives can prove to be our best teachers.

You have an advantage over your cats. In a relationship with them
you can completely control their lives and even terrible thought!
give them away. Your advantage is in terms of both physical power
and evolutionary advantage. They can be pets but are a bit short
of full-fledged companions.

>>>Besides psychological studies prove that petting animals reduces
>>>stress and adds to our longevity.

>>That's true. But it falls short of a relationship with another
>>human where an equal amoung of love and time is invested.

>So true. I'd much rather have a male human petting me and reducing
>reducing my stress than have to stroke a dog or cat. : -

Or a crying baby to comfort or a eager child wanting to hear
about the world or a elderly grandma to take to the park and
have lunch with ...

>>An animal is more likely
>>to live a stimulating existence and to achieve future evolution in
>>a natural setting than in a city part or human's home.

>Since I've lived in my current neighborhood we've had a cat living
>wild on our block. He had owners but they never had him neutered or
>gave him shots. When they moved away about a year ago he came back
>to his old territory and lived on the streets and yards getting
>handouts. As he was a mottled brown I named him "Bosco".

Whatever environment we find ourselves in -- we adapt to it. The
same for cats or animals. But how does the nieghborhood compare
to a completely wild setting without human artifacts?

>Last week the man that rents my garage told me he found Bosco dead
>in his front yard under a bush in the rain. He lived a short
>but very stimulating existence.

Sad. Hopefully he'll find rebirth in a better environment perhaps
one day on Globe E with the rest of the animal lifewave.

>>Gospel in the dead letter or in the living idea the mystery
>>teaching that the words attempt to express?

>Yes. Just as dead as poor Bosco.

You forgot a "<grin>" here.

The idea about not keeping pets is also found in the writings of
Blavatsky and not solely Purucker. In "The Inner Group Teachings"
page 116 we find:

"People who bestow great affection upon animal pets are ensouling
them to a certain extent and such animal Souls progress very
rapidly; in return such persons get back the animal vitality and
magnetism. It is however against Nature thus to accentuate animal
evolution and on the whole is bad."

This getting back of animal vitality and magnetism is perhaps
related to why animals were sometimes used in magical pratices.

When we shift our attention away from animals and consider plants
there does not seem to be any prohibition against keeping house
plants.

Why is it bad with animals and okay with plants? My
thinking is that it's not that long since the door to the Human
Kingdom closed and the gap between the kingdoms which is rapidly
widening is still too narrow.

For now it it possible for animals to be given an inpulse towards
the Human Kingdom which they will not be able to fulfill and which
takes them away from their animal evolution. They might advance a
bit beyond the rest of the animals then have to drop out for
perhaps a Round being the animal equalivant of what a Pratyeka
Buddha would be to a human.

With all this said knowing there are perhaps some negative
effects I still may buy myself another parrot when the kids
are grown up and out of the house if my wife Brenda does
not object at the time. Granted the effects upon animals may
be negative but it's not a major negative and in the long
run say by the next Race in 04 million years the gap between
the kingdoms may have widened to the point where the type
of interchange we have today is no longer possible. We won't
then perhaps be able to have the current type of interchange
with pets.

-- Eldon