EVEN SQUIRRELS CREATE MERIT
July 18, 2007
Knowing today was a Special Buddha Day, commemorating the anniversary of Lord Buddha's first teaching, I awoke especially joyous. This day celebrates the first turning of the Dharma Wheel, where the Lord Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths at Sarnath. Interesting, as it had been hot lately, with draught warnings, and today it was cloudy and even rained a little, so everything felt fresh and purified.
A Buddha Day's benefit is that karmic results are multiplied by one hundred million, as cited by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. So it is an excellent day to be generous, be kind, say prayers, and so forth.
This morning, I sat outside doing my practice, on my back porch amidst the redwoods. Sipping my hot steaming coffee and turning my prayer wheel, I had just finished the Tara mantras, OM TARE TUTARE TURE SVAHA. A squirrel climbed down the redwood tree onto the deck, and started timdily walking towards me.
Surprised, I softly said, "Hello there!"
Several squirrels and birds have been coming to share with me in the mornings as I do my mantra and meditation practice. This has been going on for several years. Every morning I light a stick of incense and a candle before meditating. The smell of the incense and candles became the sign for the squirrels and birds that I was doing my practice. The smells would attract them. Usually I would also throw a small handful of seeds and nuts over the deck railing for them. I named the squirrels "Dharma Puja," for some reason. And they all have the same name, since I cannot tell them apart.
My voice frightened the squirrel, and it turned to walk back to the redwood tree. However, it stopped in front of the large Tara prayer flag floating from a bamboo stick on the porch railing. Distracted from it's fear, it strectched up onto it's hind legs, to get a good look at the Tara banner. Her picture is in the middle of the large flag.
I said a few more kind words to the squirrel, as it scooted up the redwood tree abit.
Then the squirrel turned around and climbed back down the tree, onto the deck, and started to walk towards me once more. Again, it turned around, walked towards the tree, and stretched onto it's hind legs to get a close up view of the Tara prayer flag! After a good look, the squirrel scooted back up the redwood tree and jumped onto the next tree, into the forest.
Pretty smart squirrel!
That was when I realized that even squirrels can create merit.
Happy Buddha's Day and blessings to all sentient beings.
Ask A Lama: What Exactly Is Merit?
copyright Anupama Deanne Kallman