Present Perceptions

In a delightful book titled The Dharma of Dogs, Andrew Holocek writes about his relationship with his dog—giving several examples of how his dog, in sort of a human-dog turnabout, is often his teacher. Many people have described the special relationship they have with their dogs over the years. I have done so several times on this blog. Dogs have a unique way of seemingly mind-melding with humans. We two different mammalian species have been bosom buddies for tens of thousands of years.

Holocek describes how a dog's world is a “highly sensual one, and our senses only operate in the present. I can't smell the future or see the past. I can't taste the future or hear the past. My senses are forever nailed to the present moment.” I had never thought about my senses in this way—that they operate completely in the present moment. When I see something, it's caused by photons of light impinging upon my eyes... right now. Yesterday's photons are long gone. When I touch a fine piece of wood, the sensation it causes is right now. My sense of touch cannot lean into the future.

Given that a dog relies heavily on its senses—especially its sense of smell—it very much lives in the present. It is responding right now to the sounds and smells of its world. When we humans are in the company of our canine friend—say when our minds are lost in the past or are thrusting into the future—responding to our dog can bring us back to the present. I can't remember how many times I've been strolling through the woods with my dog—my mind fussing over yesterday's events—when his sudden dash into the underbrush yanks me back into the now. Am I out here in nature to fret over yesterday's lost opportunities, or to find rejuvenation in its beauty? Thanks, my puppy friend.

Buddhist teachings add a sixth sense to our commonly accepted five (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste): the mind. I've always liked this concept. All five “normal” senses send electrical signals to the brain, which then does a lot of processing on them, so as to interpret what those signals mean. The workings of the brain are what constitutes the mind. We need the mind to tell us what's going on around us; to interpret, process, and correlate those signals. An important part of that interpretation is also to bring memory (the past) into the process; as well as to ponder where all this may be heading (in the future).

The human mind is far more sophisticated than a dog's mind. That's what makes us so powerful. But there's a disadvantage to all this mental capability: we tend to spend an inordinate amount of time pondering the past and fretting over the future. It causes us to lose a lot of what's happening right now.

So a dog—whose mind is less developed or dominant—lives in a “highly sensual” world. It is far more likely to respond to the immediate sights, smells, and sounds of its environment than we are. And if we are in the company of our dog, it might just pull us back into the present moment—into a world that is, in many ways, more real than either yesterday or tomorrow. Thanks, my puppy friend.