Dharma Cats
By Judy Taylor
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About this ebook
Life with cats is full of warm purrs and fur. Yet, sometimes their antics can drive us to hissy fits, while their death can plunge us into the deepest despair. Through it all, we may learn a lot about the dharma. Dharma Cats shows us how to embrace the fullness of cat companionship while keeping both feet firmly planted in our practice. Through engaging stories and charming illustrations about cats in the author's life, Dharma Cats explores such time-honored Buddhist concepts as impermanence, compassion, mindfulness, and meditation. Read this book to explore what cats can teach us about living mindfully.
Judy Taylor
Judy Taylor was born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area. She received a BA in Business-Economics from UCLA and subsequently moved up to San Francisco to pursue and complete a MA in Film Studies at SFSU. Judy has remained in the San Francisco Bay Area studying and practicing writing, photography, alternative health, meditation, and Buddhism. Her essays and poetry have been published in various journals, including "Passing It On", "Rhetoric Askew", and the "California Writer's Club Literary Review."
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Book preview
Dharma Cats - Judy Taylor
DHARMA CATS
Written by Judy Taylor
Illustrated by Christine Emma
DHARMA CATS
Copyright © 2015 by Judy Taylor
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1370667499
Artwork by Christine Emma
Book Design by Frogtown Bookmaker
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Developing Equanimity
Meditative Mindfulness
Shadowy Presence
The Empty Cat
From Clinging to Letting Go
Developing Metta
Cultivating the Positive Through Neuroplasticity
Managing Aversion
Anger Management
Snippy Snipping
Contemplating Impermanence While Savoring the Present
Cat Gratitude
The Compassionate Cat
About the Author
Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to all the cats I have known and loved, from the random street cats I’ve befriended to my live-in cat companions.
Special thanks to:
My editor, Jude Berman, for gently working with me to shape and organize the text.
My illustrator, Christine Emma, for doing a phenomenal job of capturing the spirit of my cats and the text.
My book designer, Beth Tashery Shannon at Frogtown Bookmaker, for merging the pieces of my book together into a polished form.
Preface
Before sunrise one warm summer morning, my mother gently roused the three of us kids. We were staying the night in a modest motel in Tucson instead of one of the small cabins where we had been lodging. Well, actually, the term small cabin
is a glamorization. These places were little more than a cement platform walled in by mosquito netting and outfitted with cots, a picnic table, and a barbeque grill. We overnighted in a series of these setups as we made our way from the Los Angeles area to San Antonio, Texas, in our silvery blue Ford Falcon.
Before leaving Tucson, Mom wanted to give us a brief drive-through tour of the University of Arizona, her alma