The
Sentient World of Animals
Darling
Sunny
in Her Babe’s House
Narrated by sister-initiate
Xin-de Xu
Recorded by the Taipei News Group
(Originally in Chinese) |
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Sister Xu and her family members
are compassionate dog lovers. Very often they bring abandoned puppies
home to raise them until they are three or four months old, and
then try to find them a good keeper who would treat them nicely.
Sister Xu now has three dogs at her
home, and among them is a black dog called “Sunny.” She
is two and half years old, with some white hair on her four paws and
mouth area. This is considered a taboo to some Formosan people, because
they think that dogs with white paws will bring bad luck. Since it
was difficult to find someone who would adopt her, sister Xu’s
daughter was responsible for taking care of her. Sunny belongs to
a breed of hounds. Although she has been on a vegetarian diet since
small, she was still irascible and impetuous in character. Very often
whenever she saw sister Xu, she would throw her 15-kg body onto her,
and force sister Xu to the ground. Her reckless actions have cost
sister Xu two broken teeth.
Last year, sister Xu’s daughter
was going to study in Korea, and sister Xu also planned to go with
her to sightsee around Korea for about two weeks. In order to do that,
they had to send Sunny to stay at a friend’s house during that
time. Sister Xu was hoping that, if Sunny managed to get along well
with her friend’s family, perhaps they would be willing to keep
her. Before leaving, sister Xu said to Sunny, “My daughter is
going to Korea now! Staying in someone else’s house, you must
behave yourself. You are free to eat anything you like; I am not forcing
you to keep the vegetarian diet. However, should you wish to come
back and be my dog, you have to be a vegetarian for life. Besides,
you must accept me as I am. I like cleanliness. If you want to stay
with me, you must behave and improve your irascible character. Please
think about it carefully during this period.”
Sister Xu returned to Formosa after
about ten days. At the airport she received a telephone call from
her son telling her that while she was away, Sunny completely ignored
everyone. She would not go out of the house and would not allow anyone
to touch her. There were other dogs at this temporary home that were
fed a meat diet. And although the family had especially prepared vegetarian
food for Sunny, if the other dogs even touched her dish or plate,
or sometimes touched her food out of curiosity, she would refuse to
eat it. As all the dogs shared the same water dish, Sunny simply stopped
drinking water. Hearing this, sister Xu was very amazed and also felt
very sorry for Sunny. In order to display her determination to live
with sister Xu and to keep a vegetarian diet for life, Sunny preferred
to endure hunger and thirst!
From the airport, sister Xu went
directly to fetch Sunny to take her home. The moment she saw Sunny,
she burst into tears. Having had only a few drops of water over a
period of more than ten days, Sunny was skinny and shedding hair from
all over her body. Sitting in the front seat of the car, she was not
acting like her usual lively self; instead, she just kept gazing to
the front as if reflecting on something.
As Christmas and the New Year were
approaching, the Taipei Center launched an activity called “Save
the Lives of Our Animal Friends—No Meat on the New Year’s
Eve Dinner Table!” Sister Xu told Sunny that if she performed
well in this activity, she would buy her a beautiful dog house as
a Christmas and New Years’ gift. Sister Xu was planning to give
Sunny a dog house with two stories, with good ventilation, sufficient
lighting and a staircase for her to climb up and down….
Sunny’s performance in the
campaign activity was superb, so sister Xu kept her promise. She asked
a fellow brother in the carpentry trade to help her build the doghouse
of her dreams. After listening to her requirements, the carpenter
brother smiled and said that it was impossible. Later, when Hsihu
Center displayed the loving doghouses designed by Master and made
by the resident disciples, sister Xu was really surprised! One of
the doghouses was very close to what she had conceived and even better.
The design had taken care of every aspect perfectly: a spacious doorway
for the dog to move around freely and enjoy sunbathing; a very considerate
small door; a transparent roof to let the light in but keep the wind
out; a small staircase for the dog to climb up and down; the color
and smell of original wood fascinated both the dogs and humans. Each
feature was a manifestation of Master’s immense love and blessings.
It was simply a fantastic design! Sister Xu immediately decided that
she must be the first to order that doghouse as soon as it was available
for purchase, because she really wanted her darling Sunny to live
in this super-perfect doghouse brimming with Master’s love.
Not long afterwards, the doghouse
was built. Sister Xu took it home and assembled it. Looking at her
new house, Sunny, extremely excited, seemed unable to believe her
eyes. Like a graceful lady, she walked in a very dignified manner
step by step up the stairs. When she reached the second floor, she
quietly leaned against the doorsill as if in samadhi. Sister Xu could
never forget the intoxicated expression on her face.
Sister Xu named the new doghouse
“Babe’s House.” Ever since moving into Babe’s
House, sister Xu noticed a change in Sunny. Previously she used to
have a bad and irritable temper, always rushing around blindly and
charging at any animal she saw. Now she has a graceful deportment
and behaves nicely. Even the neighbors were surprised to see such
a radical change in her; she seems to have become “another dog.”
According to sister Xu, Sunny has
not only changed in character, but also incredibly in outer appearance.
The white fur on her body has gradually turned into a beautiful brown
color, her eyelashes have grown longer and her bodily figure also
looks more elegant. She now looks different from other dogs of the
same breed. All these incredible changes happened after she moved
into this doghouse.
After
the loving doghouses, Master further designed a series of Happy Doggie
Celestial Clothes and sleeping mattresses for dogs, and Sunny was
fortunate enough to be one of the first groups of models. The first
time sister Xu brought Sunny to try on the Celestial Clothes at the
S.M. Celestial Co., Ltd., the clothes seemed a bit tight and did not
fit very well. After coming home, Sunny stopped eating for ten days
and drank only water. When she tried on the clothes for the second
time, each outfit seemed to have been made exclusively for her, fitting
perfectly and looking gorgeous. After putting on the Happy Doggie
Celestial Clothes, Sunny looked graceful and very dignified. During
the photo-taking session, she cooperated very well with the photographer
by displaying various postures according to the photographer’s
instruction. Everyone present marveled at her seamless behavior.
One very distinctive attribute about
Sunny is that whenever someone calls sister Xu on the telephone chatting
about something not related to Master or spiritual practice, Sunny
would bite and pull sister’s Xu’s clothes to remind her
to stop gossiping and go meditate instead. Each morning, Sunny would
punctually wake sister Xu up to go to meditate. In the afternoon,
when it is time to go to the group meditation, Sunny would urge sister
Xu to leave earlier to avoid arriving late. When sister Xu comes back
from group meditation, Sunny would fish out the blessed food among
many other things and gobble it down. Besides, she is capable of distinguishing
exactly which bottle of water is the Nectar River water brought back
from Hsihu Center and then finishes the whole bottle without stopping.
In the company of fellow practitioners, she would let them touch or
pat her, but when non-initiates try to get close, she would growl
at them loudly.
In the course of taking care of Sunny,
sister Xu came to realize that God is blessing sentient beings with
Hiers love through various channels. She thanks God for sending her
Sunny to accompany her many beautiful days. Through the numerous incredible
stories about Sunny, we understand that animals are indeed humans’
best friends, and we must not overlook their intelligence and spiritual
consciousness. Hopefully in the near future, all the loyal friends
of humans will be properly protected and become babes in their homes,
thus enjoying Master’s love and blessing together.
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