Animal Soul Adventures

By Sri Harold Klemp

“Rose” works in a day-care center. Every day when she drives to work, she likes to sing HU, which is a love song to God.

When she got to work one day, she found she was to be in charge of twelve children, ages two to three. She gathered up her little flock and joined the other children and teachers outside. As the little kids began to play and enjoy themselves, Rose found a quiet spot where she could keep on singing HU.

While she was singing HU, along came a moth. It was a beautiful, golden moth, and it landed on her blouse, right above her heart. Rose put out her hand, and the moth made its way down her arm to her hand and sat there.

The two- and three-year-old children saw immediately what was happening. They said, “It’s a gift from God to you.”

It was a golden moth—a beautiful moth. Several of the kids ran off to get another teacher. When that teacher came, she said, “Aw, it’s just an ugly moth.” A second teacher said, “It’s just a moth.” But the kids knew better.

God’s Love

So when it was time to go in, Rose and the kids talked about the moth as being a gift from God. Just before they went back into the school, they said to the moth, “We’re going to have to say good-bye now.” And the moth took off. It flew away, but it came back and landed on Rose once again. And the kids said, “You’ll always be with us, but you’ve got to go now.” Because the kids had to go too.

Then the moth took off for good. But it definitely could feel the love that was coming from the sound of HU and from Rose.

When Rose and the kids went inside, these little two- and three-year-olds talked about God’s love and the moth—how it had been time to let the moth go, but it would always be with them. The kids said, “We know that, Miss Rosie, God is always with us.”

The other teachers couldn’t shift gears, but the kids did just as naturally as a river follows its bed. They knew. And the adults, who supposedly knew much better than the kids, didn’t know at all.

By Sri Harold Klemp

A certain woman was considered to be very strong by her friends. She was the person that others went to when they had trouble in their lives. But one morning she woke up feeling depressed, lonely, forgotten, and unloved. Seventeen years ago on this date her father had died, and she had kept her sorrow to herself all these years.

She felt terrible, but she went to work. Her boss was a very understanding person. “On a day like this, sometimes it’s better just to forget work,” he advised. “Go to some special place or talk with a special person.” And the woman had someone in mind, a very close friend.

When she arrived at her friend’s home, he was painting the garage. His dog Buck sat next to him. Buck had always been very unfriendly toward women and very protective of his owner. When he saw the woman approaching, Buck began to growl. The dog sat there growling at her as she watched her friend paint his garage.

The woman needed love, but she didn’t know how to ask for it. She was too shy to say, I feel really down; I just need a hug. As her friend kept painting the garage, she felt worse and worse. Pretty soon he finished. But rather than come over and talk to her, he began cleaning his brushes. She sat on the steps watching him, feeling worse than ever. Buck had gone off somewhere, and she was glad. She didn’t need him snarling at her.

Suddenly Buck crept up behind her. She stiffened and waited for him to start his usual growling. Instead, he licked her on the cheek, then sat down beside her and let her pet him.

The woman realized that the dog understood her need and had come to give her love because no one else would give it, mainly because she didn’t know how to ask.

The dog was also Soul, responding to the divine love that comes down from the highest plane of God. The woman wasn’t someone that others would expect needed any love; she was one of the “strong” people whom others asked for love. But the dog saw her need and understood.

By Sheri Kramer

Some years ago, I was having one of those days where I felt particularly sad and lonely. Rather than stay home and sulk, I opted to spend some time at a nearby nature preserve. As I drove there, I asked the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, the inner presence I can always count on, to help me feel less lonely.

Not long after starting my walk, I noticed a snake in my path, curled into the shape of a heart. I like cats and dogs and other familiar creatures well enough. But I also have an affinity with less universally loved creatures such as spiders and, yes, snakes.

So, coming upon a heart-shaped snake immediately lifted my spirits, and I decided to take a picture. Because the camera on my phone had a very short focal length, I had to get closer and closer to the snake. I worried that if I got too close, it would simply slither away.

Instead, this beautiful being looked up at me, as if to tell me, “I’ve been waiting for you. You are loved. You are not alone.”

It never ceases to amaze me that when I ask for help and I’m open to receiving it, Spirit will show Its love in the most wonderful ways.

—Photo by Sheri Kramer

By Marilyn Sickler

How does a person who hasn’t spent much time around animals prove her belief that animals are Souls? A tender experience near a cow pasture broadened my spiritual horizons.

Years ago, my husband and I lived in the country. Our mailbox was across the road next to a big cow pasture enclosed by an old barbed-wire fence. I luxuriated in the beauty of the scenery and enjoyed the wild pasture, the trees, the grasses in the ditch, and the quiet of nature.

Living in the country was new for me. Growing up, I had never been around animals. Now, although we had thirty acres, we did not have any animals. I always knew animals were Souls, just like we are, but my experience with them was very limited.

Every day while walking up our road to get the mail, I used the time to sing HU, my love song to God. I always enjoy this nondirected prayer, and it was especially meaningful for me one perfect day. The sky was blue, the clouds were white and puffy, and I heard birds singing and insects chirping. I was filled with love and gratefulness.

As I reached the mailbox, I saw that several of the many cows were also enjoying the day and grazing near the fence in the huge field. I would always sing to them if they were nearby. Over the months of my daily walk, when I sang HU some looked up and a few walked closer. Mostly, however, they continued their happy munching and ignored me.

A Golden Moment

This particular day, being alone and at one with nature, I grabbed my mail and walked up to the fence while still singing HU out loud. A big black cow came right to the fence where I stood knee-deep in weeds and wildflowers.

I started to sing louder. Then I bravely put my hand out, reached over the old fence, and patted the black cow’s head. Not being an animal person, I found it to be a nice feeling to touch its soft and silky fur.

To my surprise a big tear slowly welled up in one of the animal’s beautiful eyes and came streaming down its face. We watched each other for a while, and those huge “cow-brown eyes” seemed to look right into me.

It was as though we were no longer cow and person, but totally Soul and Soul. It was very clear to me that this Soul had felt the love of the HU, the sound within all sounds, and was able to connect with it. I felt moved by this perfect moment.

A Spiritual Surprise

Later that day I saw the owner of the cows when I went into town. We stopped to chat, and I told him some of what had happened between his cow and me. He was an older, salt-of-the-earth sort of gentleman and had been raising beef cattle for years. I said, “I was singing to your cows, and one of them walked up to the fence and let me pet it.”

The old rancher told me he couldn’t believe it. He said, “That animal you were petting was not a cow, but a very mean, aggressive bull!” He was totally amazed that the black bull had even come close to me, much less let me pet him.

I walked away with a big smile on my face. I knew now that I’d had a confirmation. This truly had been a golden moment of Soul reaching out to Soul. My heart overflowed with gratitude for the glorious experience.

It proved to me that even a so-called mean bull could hear and relate to the sound and call of Soul.

By Janet Starr

I was looking out the window of my home one summer morning, wondering why I always reacted a certain way to a particular situation. Suddenly I saw a very large woodpecker fly to the tree in my backyard. He began to loudly peck at a branch and was tearing apart the limb.

Very quickly, I got the message: I needed to stop allowing my mind to peck on this situation. It was hindering my spiritual growth.

Soon I noticed a blue flash in front of me. I blinked in amazement. Missouri’s state bird is the eastern bluebird. For me, seeing a bluebird is a very rare occurrence. I used to see them on the farm where I grew up, because they like open fields. Now a bluebird had arrived here, in my small backyard with its little fountain. As with the woodpecker a moment ago, I knew the little bluebird was also delivering a spiritual message.

What was the waking dream?

When I put my attention on what seeing the bluebird could mean, another bluebird flew into the yard. Then another. Now there were three of them. I felt joy and love building inside of me. I had the playfulness to say, “Well, if one more comes, then I know this is a gift of the Light and Sound, the ECK.” More arrived, until there were six bluebirds drinking and playing in the fountain. I felt grateful to receive this gift.

And the waking dream? The bluebirds were there to remind me to sing HU when this particular situation arose again, and to let my long-held attitude and concerns fly away. For me, singing HU as a love song to God opens my heart so that I can soar above the things that hold me back spiritually. The bluebirds’ beauty showed me how beautiful and truly loved I am as Soul.

The gift of the bluebirds went straight to my heart. It will remain there forever.

By Sri Harold Klemp

This is the story of “Alita.” She’s the mom of Minnou, a cat she’s owned for ten years. I have to say, the only name that I haven’t changed in these stories is Minnou’s. I don’t think she’ll mind.

During the ten years that Minnou has lived in Alita’s home, the Spiritual Exercises of ECK have become very important for Minnou. This is the HU session with the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, the Inner Master.

Well, Alita had just taken up knitting. She became so engrossed in knitting one day, she knitted clean through the time set aside for the HU session. OK, Minnou forgave her that day, but this HU session is for Minnou too.

 

You have to understand that animals have a state of consciousness sometimes that is much greater than that of the humans you find around yourself. They have an understanding of human nature—something that is far and away above that of many people. Except animals don’t know how to speak; their vocal cords don’t lend themselves to it. And they don’t write because their paws don’t lend themselves to bending around pencils very well.

Minnou Has Something Important to Say

So, the next day, Alita was knitting away, totally lost, trying to keep track of the stitches. All of a sudden, Minnou made a meowing sound such as Alita had never heard before. She looked at her cat and asked, “Minnou, what are you saying?” But Alita couldn’t break through.

Whenever she and Minnou run into this stalemate, they have a little “show me” exercise they do.

So Alita said, “Show me.” And Minnou walked into the bedroom, stopped by the chair, which is Alita’s special spiritual-exercise chair, and then looked up into Alita’s face very expectantly, waiting for something. Alita thought, Well, it must be an hour yet before the HU session with the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ. I just can’t figure out what Minnou is doing. She must have gotten her time schedule off.

But then Alita looked at a clock, and she said, “Oh, it’s nearly at the end of our session!” Then she realized that Minnou had waited through the whole session. She had let yesterday’s slip by, but today she was saying, “No, Mom.” Alita realized that Minnou’s meows were simply saying, “Hey, it’s time. This is the time we meet the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ.”

The interesting thing is that around this time Alita had been focusing on a contemplation quote which was dealing with the expression “God is love.” And she realized then that Minnou had proved the point.

Well, that too showed a change in consciousness, where change is change, because Alita had to be more aware. She had to reach a higher state of consciousness if she was going to keep knitting and continue the HU sessions. At the same time, Minnou was showing that she understood things about the spiritual life in a way that Alita had undoubtedly never realized before.

Change in consciousness. Expansion in consciousness.