Whenever I give talks at the Bandar Utama Buddhist Society (BUBS), the Sunday School children will come see me after the talk to either get my autograph for my books, or talk to me about their pets or about my pets (!) whom they have read about and believe me, they know every single detail, too. Some would insist on chipping in a donation for AnimalCare.
Today, one of my favourite little girls waited until after the talk to tell me about her two pet rabbits.
Here she is...she's completely adorable.
And that's her mum. We're talking about their pet rabbits, Lucky and Brownie. Her mum is very encouraging and supportive of her learning more about the proper way to take care of their rabbits.
And the one on my right is Sis Teh Sok Lan. She has contributed generously to a few reprints of my books. Today she gave a donation to AnimalCare.
The young and the young-at-heart...both interested to help the animals, isn't that nice? Thank you very much to the members of BUBS for their donation to AnimalCare today.
I met Winnie Low (ex-parvo Brownie's rescuer) at BUBS today. Winnie collected 67 tshirt orders from us, from the staff at her company! Thank you so much, Winnie. That really, really helps.
While we rejoice that there are so many who care for the animals, there are also those who don't....
Later this evening I was walking along the five foot way in SS15 after the rain. There was a stray cat licking some rain water off a puddle and a little child was pulling her mother towards the stray cat, saying "Mummy, look....so sad, look at the poor cat." She must have been a child about 3-4 years old. The mother ignored her. Yes, indeed, how sad...not only for the cat, but also for the mother and to a certain extent, for the child too. I've always said that young children have a natural compassion for animals. But some parents hinder and prevent this natural compassion from blossoming.
Life has a strange way of always reminding us that it takes all kinds to make this world, and as rosy as the world sometimes appear to be, we are quickly reminded of the stark reality that it actually isn't. I suppose that is why this is called Earth and not Heaven. It's good to be solidly grounded on Earth and face reality at all times. That's not being pessimistic, but just realistic so that one does not get too disappointed and disillusioned.
One of the topics I often talk about in my public talks is called "Creating Heaven in an Imperfect World" (the talk has been reproduced on audio CD, distributed free). It talks about how, in spite of all the many imperfections in our world and our lives, we can still have a relatively happy and contented life. It talks about four virtues which we can develop, namely, unconditional love, compassion, appreciative joy (feeling happy for others) and serenity (being able to accept things as they are and let it go after we have done our best). For more details? Read my book, Indy Jones and the 4 Pillars of Kindness - available here: www.tiny.cc/paws.
Meanwhile, I wish the little girl, her mum and their rabbits well, Sis Teh Sok Lan to continue to have good health, the members of BUBS good health too. And the other little girl in SS15 to have great compassion for animals despite her mother's lack of interest and may the mother one day realise that the animals' suffering is also our suffering.
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