Dogs are man's loyal friends. Countless stories about their heroic deeds have been told around the world, but you may not know that dogs are highly spiritual. They not only can feel the high vibrations and positive magnetic field of an Enlightened Master, but can even prophesy His coming. This issue's "Story World" presents a selection of funny and heartwarming stories about interactions between Master and dogs, which we hope you will enjoy.

 

The Dog That Circled Master

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Hsihu, Formosa May 17, 1992
(Originally in Chinese)

In the past few days since our retreat began, a dog has been walking around my quarters every day. He walks in circles, making seven rounds each time. After the seventh round, he sticks out his tongue to cool off, and then repeats the circling again. This has become his daily routine and I have no idea how many rounds he has made. If he does not see me, he barks a few times. The sound is unbearable. (Master imitates the dog barking.) (Master and audience laugh.) If he does not see me after the seventh round, he barks, and each time the pitch is different. When he is tired, it goes "ou" (lower note); and when he is not, it goes "oh, oh" (higher note). (Initiate: "He must be an Indian dog.") The Indian dog goes circling around the Buddha (an enlightened Being). At first, I thought he was hungry and gave him some food. But he was not hungry. How could a hungry dog move around like that the whole day!

He only circles my house. He is very disciplined and does not run around wildly. He follows a definite path. (Master demonstrates with Her hands.) If he is tired by the fifth round, he takes a two-minute break before resuming. At the end of the seventh round, he takes a longer rest.

Sometimes, I talk to him and say, "Okay, stop circling around!" But he thinks I want him to go on, and continues doing so. If I am quiet, he stands guard in a very dignified manner. Strangely, he only circles my house and moves down after finishing his rounds. The female initiates thought he was a stray dog and tried to chase him away. But he refused to leave. He ran up to my house instead. Every time he is chased, he just runs back up and starts circling again, thinking that he hasn't done enough rounds. When residents try to chase him away, he just stares at them.

Resident disciple: "The other day when I was on guard and tried to chase him away, he even tried to bite me. How ferocious!"

Bite you! Really? He had not finished his rounds yet, so how could you chase him away? You do not know his habit. He was trying to tell you, "You are only one of the guards, nothing more! You are a first-rank guard. I am a third-rank guard. We are not much different." (Laughter!)

He makes seven rounds each time and walks the same path on every round. You people on guard duty know that. It seems to have drawn a line on the ground, and walks the same course every day. He only moves around my house, and nowhere else. He may be a Tibetan dog. Tibetan people also walk in circles around the Buddha. How strange that he has been making daily rounds over the past few days, not going anywhere else or doing any other thing! Also, he is not noisy. He barks only when he does not see me, (Master imitates the barking), as if to tell me, "Here I come!" (Initiate: "It is reporting for duty to Master.") He has reported for duty clearly enough. However, I say, "Don't report anymore. I do not like noise." He only barks if he cannot see me; he does not dare bark loudly, but in an unpleasant kind of tone. If he can see me, he does not bark. It is fine seeing me once a day.

In the beginning, when he passed by my door, he would come inside a bit to see if I was there. Now, he does not come to the door to take a look. He just moves around the house, round and round like this, stopping to rest after every seven rounds.

A Dog on a Pilgrimage

When Master was telling us the story about the dog that circled Her seven times, brother Ke happened to be present.

Brother Ke said, "When Master once visited me in Hsinchu, three or four dogs that we had never seen before came to our door and just squatted there. They sat at the door the whole day. We could recognize all the dogs in the neighborhood, but we had never seen those few before. We had no idea where they had come from. They refused to leave even when we tried to chase them away. They sat there the whole day. Even when Master was out, they sat by the door waiting for Her, as if they knew She would return."

The Dog That Saluted Master

After the May 2000 retreat in Youngdong Center, Korea, Master stayed briefly in Japan. The neighbor living next to Her quarters had a big dog. The dog usually sat at the door or walked around there. Every time he saw Master come out of Her abode, he would immediately lie down on his stomach, as though he were respectfully saluting and bowing to Her. But when he saw Her attendants, he did not act in the same way.

Blessed Dogs Waiting for Master

By sister initiate Mikyung Oh, Seoul, Korea

The last owner of Master's house left us two dogs. When we were remodeling the house in the winter of 1997, they delivered three puppies. We tried to take them from the kennel into the house as it was very cold outside. But they were afraid of us because we were strangers to them. They barked constantly, not just at strangers, but also at us, even though we fed them food every day. We tried to catch them many times, but failed each time. Finally, they ran into the mountains just behind the house and were rarely seen.

In May of 1998, on the eve of Master's arrival, they suddenly appeared and guarded the gate through the night like security guards. We couldn't believe our eyes. The next morning, when Master arrived at the house, they came down to the garden and sat still looking at Her. It was incredible that they did not bark at Her! It was as though they had been waiting for Master for a long time. They looked very happy when She waved to them. We believe even dogs can recognize the Supreme Master.