I have just recently been informed by a dear friend that his dog has been diagnosed with an illness that will make his death imminent.  He, my friend, says that after being with him for the last 15 years and always by his side, his buddy is now leaving.  He is devastated and heart broken.  

Why my friend is heartbroken?  Did he give his heart to the dog?  This seems to be the case with a lot of us.  But why?  

I think the reason is that my friend could control the dog.  The dog was always there to do his bidding.  Human beings, on the other hand, tend to have their own agenda.  They demand changes– and a lot of times, things we don’t want to do. Some people like dogs and others like cats.  Dogs are easier to control and cats are more independent. But with an animal there is no judgment going on, just acceptance.

Isn’t this what we all want basically?  Someone who is always there, always happy to see us, always into whatever we are into at the moment.   So what is wrong with putting all the love in our hearts on an animal or even a fellow human for that matter?

The problem is that this world is a temporary place and the names and forms in this world are also temporary.  Everyone who is born, dies.  That means that if you give your heart to an animal or person, eventually you will be separated from them.  Either you will die or they will die.  And then, if you have placed all of your love on that relationship you will be devastated when it ends.  

We are all looking for love and acceptance.  Unconditional love is what we want.  With a dog that’s basically what you get.  A live, relatable, warm, fuzzy entity who accepts you just the way you are. They don’t try to change you in any way a dog accepts you whether you have brushed your teeth or showered or combed your hair, he is always there with no judgments of any kind.  But we need to place our love and affection on someone who is going to be with us forever, not just a temporary passing form of this non-permanent sphere where we now find ourselves.

So in order to have an eternal relationship with God, we must have a process to help us come to that loving relationship. Since we are covered with these temporary material bodies, this process of coming closer to the Supreme God doesn’t come naturally for us. It takes some effort and application to move us closer to having that unconditional loving relationship that we all seek.

What it comes down to is, in these bodies, we all have four basic defects. These defects, although they don’t preclude us from having that eternal relationship with God, certainly make it more difficult. One of them is laziness.  This is why it is easier to have that loving relationship with a dog.  The dog is there, we can relate to him, it basically takes no effort on our part.  This is one reason we are drawn to animals.  The next defect is a tendency to be in illusion.  This is why we are so prone to thinking we are these temporary bodies.  Also we are unlucky just to be in a place called martyaloka (which means the planet of death). Covered by this illusion, we are easily misguided by all the propagandists and cheaters in the world.   And all of this leaves us constantly disturbed.  And so we reach out, in our misery, looking for the easiest possible means to fill this hole and empty feeling we are constantly experiencing.  

If we seek out the knowledge with which we can come to experience a loving relationship with God, we can be happy and peaceful no matter what situation we are experiencing in our lives.

I am Christa Moore, an American woman who turns 71 this year (2016). I discovered Hatha yoga in the seventies, and learned by watching Richard Hittleman on TV. I immediately loved the way it helped me to relax.

I later became a yoga teacher. I taught at the Spa in Honolulu and years later at Castle Hospital in Kailua, on Oahu, Hawaii. I was fortunate to meet my spiritual teacher, Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda and learn an even more advanced form of yoga called Bhakti Yoga. His teachings have been totally inspirational and given me a different perspective on life’s problems. I have been his student for 35 years. I can sincerely say that by attempting to apply his teachings in my life l have found peace and satisfaction.