The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Power of Meow David Michie

Between us, dear reader, admit it, how many times have you said to yourself: "Come on, it's decided, I'm going to meditate", but that a lot of (good?) reasons made you postpone the moment to sit on a cushion – or a chair, or adopt any other position, provided it is comfortable – until “tomorrow”, “later”, or even “when I am retired and have time »? Well, if it can reassure you, you are not the only one! No. And it is nothing less than the Dalai Lama's cat himself who confesses this to us. Our feline narrator admits to being full of qualities, to having become a world celebrity, but an accomplished meditator, alas not, and this despite the privileged environment which is hers. She sheepishly mutters that as soon as she tries to concentrate even on her breathing, her mind immediately jumps to a frantic thought of the delicious food prepared for her by the Nobel Peace Prize's private cook. Or even the discomfort and pain felt in the positions adopted if on the contrary… Does this remind you of something, or rather someone?

So that's the stated objective of this third opus of David Michie : encourage us and offer us ways to practice meditation and take the reins of our tumultuously distracted mind a little better. But for what purpose? Indeed, the practice of meditation, although potentially a source of immediate well-being, is not an end in itself, it is only a tool to achieve true happiness. We are all faced with more or less acute difficulties, but the way we deal with them can change the way we go through these trials.

What the famous Tibetan monk conveys to us here through his feline companion is that the thoughts that cross our minds are not permanent. They arise, stay, then pass, but they in no way constitute our mind, just as the clouds that sometimes darken the sky also eventually disappear. What meditation allows us to discover is nothing less than the true nature of our mind, that of pure and immeasurable love, accompanied by pure and immeasurable compassion.

Through the often mischievous narration of our famous CDSS (Cat Of His Holiness), likely to arouse the reader's smiles, the author clarifies some regrettable misunderstandings. So is the confusion about mindfulness. Is it also meditation or is it more of a state of mind? It is not for us to report here the explanation given by the Dalai Lama and that our mischievous cat reveals to us. What we can say, however, is that The power of meow is a tasty guide that offers us paths to find the way to well-being and the discovery of our true nature.

From now on, we will feel nothing but enthusiasm at the idea of ​​sitting on our cushion to indulge in meditation because, as the lexicographer and poet Pierre-Claude-Victor Boiste wrote: "Meditation draws the soul from a prison, she makes him breathe heavenly air”