Animals as Spiritual Teachers

In grade school my teachers taught that animals had no soul and therefore were inferior beings. It didn’t make sense to me then, and certainly does not ring true now. In fact, my experience is quite the opposite.

I have found animals to be amazing teachers in general, for demonstrating qualities humans could certainly aspire to, such as: unconditional love, light-heartedness, patience, persistence, and forgiveness. These are qualities that most of my clients would say their pets possess in abundance. But it doesn’t end there.

Author Penelope Smith observes that “animals can teach us about our own true nature, since most of them always know and never disconnect from awareness of themselves as eternal spirit functioning within the whole web of life.” I would have to agree. I have witnessed animals who are clearly Spiritual Teachers, serving to show us more evolved ways of being better humans.

I spent over two decades studying with renowned Spiritual Masters. Then I began to notice how certain animals were assuming the same roles, teaching us how to meditate, how to be fully present no matter what is happening, how to release old energies and patterns instantly, and how to do advanced and profound healings.

Animals as Meditation Masters
A client called me years ago about her cat who was diagnosed with cancer with very little time left. I sent Reiki and he had instant relief from many of the discomforts of the cancer. There was a sense of completion with his human, as he saw her through a very challenging time. But now he was a bit despondent as he was waiting to die. He needed another purpose.

So we talked about what he could focus on now and the cat showed me that he was a powerful and skilled meditator. His person confessed to being a bit stuck in this area, as she would get to a certain place of emptiness, and would become afraid. I suggested that the cat could become her Meditation Teacher with whatever time he had remaining…he became elated and got to work immediately.

Her “Buddha Kitty” then proceeded to support her by first going to different states of consciousness, having me describe them and hold the space, and then his person would more easily access them. Her fear diminished with each session.

Animals as Master Healers
I once asked my puppy Suki who she was in that little doggy body and she communicated that she was a “healer” but she wanted to be somewhat incognito and work unconventionally. I attuned her to Reiki early on, and made the mistake of initiating her paws. Suki proceeded to use her paws and “punch” people at times in their solar plexus, and just as I was about to scold her, people reported that she shifted major blockages they had been unable to release!

When Suki was very near transitioning, I was very sad as she had a huge open tumor on her shoulder. I curled up with her on the couch in my office one night. Suki immediately filled the room with a blanket of enveloping energy that was so thick I felt like I was in the Divine Womb, and all my fear and sadness melted away. Suki explained telepathically that I should not just treat the body with healing energy, but fill the room with it too so that people and animals would feel safe and be able to more easily release their limitations.

“Be Here Now”
Much of human misery stems from the fact that we are most often living in the past or the future, rarely in the present moment. Animals are incredibly able to demonstrate this ability to be fully present.

People often call me to find out if their animals are in pain. Though animals feel all types of pain, they often are not experiencing it the way humans are because they are not obsessing mentally about it. They have the ability to be fully in each moment. So one moment they are perhaps aware of their body and its discomforts, and the next they are watching a bird, and so fully in that moment that there is little or no pain experience.

So if you have been secretly wondering if your Snoopy is a Sage or Shaman, if Buddy the Beagle is a Buddha, or Lucky the cat is a Lightworker, you may be on to something. Don’t let the fur or feathers fool you! There are some pretty awesome spiritual adepts masquerading in animal garb. And I would love to hear your Teacher Tails :)