Nirvana = The Cessation Of Craving

Unfortunately for me, my upright companion is a practicing Buddhist, the precepts of which neither one of us practice particularly well.

People often say about dogs that "there is a Buddha at the end of every leash," but that really only demonstrates how much humans project themselves onto us and how little they understand of our nature.  What we do against that nature, people, we do to to please you.  If we like to play or eat, it's in our best interest to learn that game.  So, most of us do.  Except several terriers I've known.  Maybe that's why everyone says they are so smart:  they aren't out there seeking perfection.  Just a nice rodent to kill.

That is me up there, CRAVING THE BALL, but obeying the command to "WAIT."  I'm sorry, wait for what?  Let's just cut to the chase, grab the ball and play.  Please notice my intense focus.  Please notice the little line of drool dribbling from the corner of my cheeks.  Please notice that I've WAITED long enough for her to grab her camera, scramble to the floor and shoot, oh I don't know, a billion pictures of me staring at THE BALL. 

Because I am a glutton, I am made to wait.  I wait.  But waiting when told will not eradicate the craving for THE BALL or my dinner or her shoe.  I'm a good dog, but I'm a dog.  If I could speak, I might mention to her that acceptance is also a Buddhist precept. 

I might also mention the possibility of a correlation between the adherence to the pursuit of Nirvana and the fact that the Jack Russell and I are the only ones who share her bed.