The Zen of Dogs

By Wayne Brown

The core of Zen is attention. Paying attention. Being in the moment. Of course there is more to it than that, but that's where you need to start.

Puppies are a popular metaphor for the unruly mind in Zen teaching. Puppies cannot multi-task. They are always in the moment but their attention is all over the map. One second it's your shoe, the next second it's the sound of a kibble hitting a bowl ...

I am in the midst of training my mind and a puppy, so the analogy frequently comes to mind.

When "sitting" zazen or any other kind of mindfulness practice (not strictly "meditation") the mind tends to wander. The key is to pull it back to the moment, usually by concentrating on the breath (maybe counting breaths) or stepping into some discomfort such as my recent back pain. This is the idea of Zen remembrance -- remembering to come back to the present.

When "driving mindfully" (which is just attempting to drive with full attention), I picture random thoughts (such as re-hashing my last conversation or wondering if I have enough gas) as puppies that run through my mind, across the road in front of me and off into the ditch.

When training my puppy, I always remember that the first thing is to get her attention or (at least) see where her attention is directed. All dog training relies on gaining command of the dog's attention. In the words of an expert dog trainer, you need to get the dog to respond to her name so quickly that her head will snap around quick enough to give her whiplash. And it can be done ...

Dogs, like humans, learn over time to pay attention for extended periods. Humans, unlike dogs, then proceed to fill their minds with fantasy - stories about the past, worries about the future, discomforts, excuses, complaints, theories, "observations" ... This is what it is to be human. But in the process we gradually lose our ability to pay attention even for a few seconds.

Zen teaches to swim upstream against our natural loss of present experience. It is not a natural process -- effort is required. The puppy helps me to remember how hard this is. In both cases, this new ability opens doors for both of us. To a large extent "Training" a dog or any animal is about developing habits that will work for the safety of the animal. A well trained dog is much more free to explore the world than the semi-wild version that so many have penned in their back yards. It's the same with a mindful person. Opportunities to explore the world open up. But that's another topic ...


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