After we’d been camping on the river for so long, we got one rented room. But it was full of those black and white snakes. They were all over my room and would come and sing to me and so on. Sometimes my staff were not careful and even injured them, and the snakes came complaining to me. So I told the staff not to use the brush to get them out, because that might hurt their eyes or something. They thought I was so compassionate in thinking of these animals, but I just knew. The staff thought that if they didn’t kill them, it was good enough; it was already compassionate. But you have to just use a bag and put it nearby so they crawl inside, then put them out in the bush together.

So, the snakes kept coming in, but they never bit us. They are poisonous banded kraits, with the patches of black and white. They had a whole family there: big and small, they all came singing with open mouths. They couldn’t sing aloud, but they sang loud inside. I could hear. (Master gestures to the wisdom eye.) They opened their mouth next to my sitting cushion and talked and sang, and danced. Especially the babies, they loved to hang around me. So I had to tell the staff to be extra careful where they were walking because they could walk on them. It just so happened that in our rented place at that time, the floor was a kind of marble that was also black and white and looked very much like the snakes. So they both blended together perfectly. I guess that’s why they loved to go there: They felt safe, like it was one big banded krait, as big as the whole house.

So they ran all over there, singing and laughing. They were so funny! And once one of the residents was not careful; she slept on top of them. But they didn’t bite her, either. Poor things, they didn’t dare. So the next time I said, “If you’re not careful, I’ll make you stand forever: not lying down, and not sitting!” She was a little fat and newly joined as a resident. She would just sleep and sleep, right on top of the snakes. Poor snakes! They didn’t dare to break any precept, but the resident did. She didn’t do it intentionally, but still, the snake also died unintentionally. Poor thing! So we had to apologize and walk carefully and all that.

Practitioner1： In a convent where I lived, we had five acres of fenced land, and the cows would help eat the grass and so on. Whenever I climbed over the fence, they would chase me and I was so scared. But one day I just decided not to be scared anymore. And one cow that became a friend, she came to me one morning and told me that the family that had raised her was going to slaughter her for meat.

M：Can you believe that? They even know in advance, and yet people think they don’t know anything and eat all that meat, poor thing.

P1：When they butchered her, her whole body was contaminated with something so that the family couldn’t eat it. She didn’t want to be eaten. So they had to bring everything back and then bury the remains in the ground, and not one part of her was eaten.

M：Why didn’t she want to be eaten?

P1：She didn’t want to be eaten by human beings; that’s all. I can’t explain it.

M：None of them are really willing to be eaten that way. They don’t mind giving you milk, and when they die you can use their carcass in whatever way, but they don’t like to be forced, butchered and eaten like that. You ask any of them, and they’ll say, “No.” It’s not the natural way that they should be born to be doing that. Of course if you’re hungry, if you have nothing else and you ask their permission, they would lay down their lives for you. All of them would do that. But if you eat just for gluttony, that’s very bad. Even plants also complain if you just eat for the sake of it.

So respect all life when you eat; pray and offer to God. That’s the right thing to do. And thank them. Thank God for making them, and thank them for sacrificing their life for you. But, plants are the least harmed. It’s because they’re not moving too much, and mostly they’re not as conscious. They are still evolving. But still, if you eat them with disrespect, they grumble.

So, it’s a good idea that you come and talk like this; then people will be more aware of the animal’s feelings. They are great beings; you can learn a lot from them. For example, if you ask a Maltese, he will tell you that love is the best thing. The Maltese is very loving. They call it the “million kisses dog.” He always loves you and kisses you all over, all the time. They used to be very beloved in Europe, coming from Malta Island, which belongs to Spain. That’s why they’re called Maltese.

They will tell you that love is the best thing, and that fear is the next best thing. When you’re fearful, you try to learn things and you have more knowledge. But, when you have love, you just know. You don’t need to learn. If you have love, you just know, and everything is easy. So, the Maltese has said that if you have fear, you learn, and if you have love, you know. It’s very good. So I feel sorry for a lot of people who are just munching, eating and harassing or mutilating these great beings.

P2：The first time I realized that I could talk to animals, at least to ants, I was just initiated. I was living in an apartment and there were a whole bunch of ants that were visiting in my kitchen. So I reported it immediately to my manager, who said, “OK, I’ll take care of it.” But in the meantime, something came to me and I thought, “I think I should just figure out if I can talk to these ants, so that they won’t need to be eradicated with poison.”

So, I started talking to them psychically and said, “It’s time for you now to go back; thank you for visiting, but you can go back the same way you came through.” And that was it. Two hours later, I turned around and looked into the kitchen, and only about half of them were left. And about six hours later, they were gone.

So, the next day, when the manager knocked on the door with this big, huge spray gun, he said, “OK, I’m ready to get rid of your ants,” I said, “That’s OK, I’ve already taken care of them.” He said, “What did you do?” I said, “I talked to them.” He said, “You vegetarian!” He had found out that I was vegetarian a few days before that. (Master: So he knew that.)

The last story I have was with my mom. One afternoon she had those flying ants in the family room. So I saw her coming with this big fly swatter and spray gun, and I said, “Wait, Mom! Let me take care of them.” She said, “What are you going to do?” I kind of didn’t want to tell her.

M：Yes, it’s difficult.

P2：I told her, “I’ll talk to them.” She looked at me very funny, and she went upstairs. So, I talked to the ants in the same way. I said, “Please go back to your home, and thanks for coming. You’ve already spent enough time with us; bye bye.”

After I did this, I went to bed. When I came back downstairs at midnight, they were all gone. I didn’t know what happened to them. I was worried, because my mom might have gotten rid of them. So the next morning, I asked her, “What did you do with the ants, Mom?” She said, “I don’t know. I didn’t do anything to them.” I said, “Oh, my God! They did listen to me.”

M：That’s good.

P2：So from then on I knew that I could talk to them.

M：You can talk all right, but the thing is whether they answer back. You see what I mean? It’s whether you can hear them; because we all can talk to them, but we cannot hear them. That’s a special gift.

P2/span>：I was able to hear a parrot that was visiting the vegetarian restaurant in San Jose. (Master: Oh?) We have one that visits there every day. And everyone stops to see this parrot, because he’s beautiful and he talks a lot. He says all kinds of words. One day when no one was paying attention and everyone was so noisy, he started screaming like he was talking to someone, but no one paid attention. So, I started talking to him from a distance. We were talking back and forth. I didn’t realize that I was understanding what he was saying because his voice was inaudible to other people, but I could hear the words exactly.

M：In English? (P2: In English.)

M：Oh, not inside, but outside.

P2：Outside too, at the same time.

M (Addressing another initiate) So, you talked to your dog? What did he say to you?

P3：Mostly he can read my mind exactly. Also, I can receive his messages too. He’s 13 years old. One day I talked to my husband and said, “He is too old. Maybe I don’t want him anymore; maybe we’ll give him to someone else.” After that, he said inside, “Please, please don’t give me away.” He would always speak like that to my mind, always saying, “Please, please, please.” So, one day I said, “OK, OK: I will take care for your whole life.” After that he was so happy.

He also takes cares of me. One time, when my leg was broken, he just stayed sitting by my bedroom, watching me all day. Yes, this dog is very, very smart. (Master: Yes, yes.) He’s very sensitive, with eyes just like human eyes.

M：You take care of him, OK! Don’t give him away.

P3：Yes, I will keep him.

M：You promised already. Dogs like to be with their owner all the time until they die, but many dogs don’t have that chance. They say that every four seconds, one dog is killed in America, put to death because of being unwanted by the ex-owner. Every four seconds, one dog dies in America alone. It’s terrible!

This is not talking about disaster or accidents. They’ve been put to death in the shelter. Every four seconds, as I’m talking to you now, hundreds of them already die a very miserable death.

So, if you have to put your dog to sleep for any reason, because he is sick, for example, or too old, you talk to him. Tell him what’s going on. Tell him the doctor thinks it’s better for him. Tell him it’s time to go. Hold him; hug him. Be with him all the way through. Don’t just throw him in the clinic and let them do it. He understands that he has to go, but he needs love to go. He doesn’t mind going, but he needs you to love him and tell him that you still love him; it’s just that he has to go. And then bury him, be nice to him.

P3：Even though he doesn’t like to take showers, right now because he’s been sick, I give him showers, and he just listens. He lets me give him showers all the time, and he understands.

M：Yes, if you explain.

P3：Yes, just like my kids, he understands. He’s very smart, the dog.

M：All dogs are smart, believe me. When you love them, there is a response, always. Sometimes you can talk to the animals. You cannot always tell them what to do, of course. But at least he knows that you care. Even if you cannot communicate psychically, even if you cannot hear his response, you try your best and talk to him in English. And while you are talking, he understands, because you form a picture in your mind of what you are talking about. There is a relationship between what you’re saying and what you’re thinking inside, you see.

For example, if I want to ask a brother to “Please bring me a cup of water,” then in my mind there is a cup of water, and that’s what he understands. It’s just that if we don’t have the gift, we cannot understand back what he says to us, at least not so obviously. We could have the feeling and the intuition. But that’s a different thing than the sister here; she really can talk to animals if she wants.