Cat Wisdom

The Duel

I was walking past the coop one morning when Bruce Lee came running out and stopped me.

"Vege Cat, wait!" he yelled.

Bruce Lee seldom speaks to me except when he is in trouble or when he wants me to ask a favour from Head Nun for him. So something must be brewing.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, for the past few nights, some strange things have been going on here. My hens think that a ghost is haunting the place at night but of course, all that is nonsense.  We've lived here for years and we've never encountered any ghosts!  Even Turkey Lurkey said he didn't hear or see anything."

"Oh, what did the hens see?" I asked, suddenly thinking of HD and PH and wondering whether they had been teasing the hens for their amusement.

"They say they saw ghostly shadows outside the windows and sometimes they heard eerie wailing.  I tried to tell them it's just their imagination but they wouldn't believe me!"

"Well, what do you want me to do?  I'm not some kind of ghost buster, you know,"  I said.

"You could spend a night with us and see for yourself," he said, flapping his wings.

"You must be joking," I said.

"Scared, eh?" he said impatiently.  "Look, all I ask is one night, is that too much?  Just think how happy my girls (his hens) will be if you caught the ghost or whatever!"

"Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do," I replied.  I hastened off before he could say more, sometimes that bird can be very annoying.  

I decided to ask HD and PH whether they had been disturbing the hens but they denied having done that.

"For heaven's sake, why should we bother those silly birds?  We've got better things to do," said HD indignantly.  PH nodded his pumpkin head emphatically in agreement.  I told them what Bruce Lee had told me and they chuckled in amusement.

"I tell you what," said HD.  "We shall help you find out what's going on there, if anything."

"Oh, what do you plan to do?"  I asked, a little nervous.  Not all ghosts are friendly like my two pals here, I certainly wouldn't want to lose my head or any part of my body, for that matter.

"We'll spend the night in the grounds of the coop tonight, the three of us can hide in the old tree there and keep watch."

It sounded like a good plan and though I was scared stiff, I went along and the three of us hid ourselves in the branches of the tree and waited.

It was nearly dawn and nothing had happened.  I could hardly keep my eyes open and was about to nod off when HD nudged me and whispered, "Wake up, I see something in the shadows!" I sat bolt upright and peered through the leaves of the tree.  He was right, something or someone was creeping into the coop compound.  The "ghost" circled the building, then started wailing sending goose pimples up and down my spine!  Then it banged on the windows and made some unintelligible noises.

"Hey, that's not one of us," said HD.  "We ghosts don't do silly things like that and ghosts don't wear a white sheet over their heads!  Come on, PH, let's get him!" and both of them swooped down the tree, landed on the startled "ghost" and pinned it down.  I scrambled after them in the excitement, forgetting my fear of ghosts.

"Alright, you fake," said HD.  "Let's see who you are!"  He ripped off the white sheet that the "ghost" was wearing .and we saw to our astonishment that it was .... a cockerel!

"Let me go!" the cockerel yelled, struggling wildly, not really knowing what had hit him.

Just then, Bruce Lee came out of the coop, probably after hearing the commotion outside.

"What the hell....?" he exclaimed.  "A cockerel!  So you're the bloody culprit!"

(Neither he nor the "ghost" could see HD and PH which was just as well as it saved me from a lot of explanation!)

Then the cockerel started screaming.  "You murderer!  Wait till I get my hands on you!"

"Murderer?" I said, taken aback.  "Are you saying our Bruce Lee is a murderer?  Please calm down and let's hear your story!"

The cockerel who said his name was Cluck Luck, calmed down and in a quivering voice blurted: "That no good rooster whom you call Bruce Lee is my ..... father!"

"W...What?" stammered a stunned Bruce Lee.  The three of us were just as stunned!

"Yes, and don't you pretend you don't know anything, you scoundrel!" growled Cluck Luck.  "You had an affair with my mum, promised her the world, then left her high and dry!  You don't know the misery she went through until one day she killed herself by jumping into the river!  After years of trying to find you, I finally succeeded!  I came here to scare you out of your wits, then kill you!"

"What? You're mad!  How dare you come here and make all kinds of accusations!" yelled back Bruce Lee.

Cluck Luck then threw something towards Bruce Lee.  "Take a look at that ring!  Wasn't it the one you gave her?"

Bruce Lee looked and his face paled.  I had never seen him so shaken up, even his bright red comb had turned a shade lighter.

"What ... what was your mother's name?"  he stammered.

"Henny Penny!".

Bruce Lee stood there, unable to speak, his legs trembling.  Then Cluck Luck suddenly whipped out a knife from under his wing and shouted, "I challenge you to a duel!  For my mother, I shall take my revenge and make you die a horrible death!"  

With that, he lunged at Bruce Lee who picked up a nearby stick to defend himself.  A fight ensued and feathers and bits of earth flew all over the place as they fought.  The hens who had also heard the commotion were watching from behind the door of the coop, scared to death.  Even Turkey Lurkey dared not come out.

"HD," I cried.  "Make them stop!  They're going to kill each other!"  But he only shrugged.  

"It's really none of my business," he said.  I got the impression he was enjoying the "show", so was PH.  

I had to do something, I turned to run to the temple to get Head Nun but before I could do so, I heard Bruce Lee screaming.  I turned back and saw that Cluck Luck was sitting on top of him with his knife poised, ready to slit his throat!

"Stop!  Stop!  Don't do it!"  I shouted desperately.

Then all of a sudden, I saw Cluck Luck look up at the sky as though he had seen or heard something, then after a minute or so, he slowly dropped his knife.  Then without a word, he walked out of the compound and disappeared down the road.

"What happened, HD?  Why did he suddenly leave?"  I asked,  as relief swept over me.

"Tell you later," he said, a strange look on his beaten face.  "You'd better see that Bruce Lee is okay."

Meanwhile, all the hens had rushed out and surrounded their "boss", cooing words of love and sympathy.  Bruce Lee got up, dusted his feathers and said, in a queer sort of voice, "Well, I'm glad that's all over with.  That bird is mad!  He must have mistaken me for someone else.  Alright, let's all go back into the coop - and make sure the door is properly locked!"  They all trooped back inside and soon all was quiet.

Later in the temple, I asked HD what had made Cluck Luck suddenly change his mind about killing Bruce Lee.

"Vege Cat, remember we ghosts can see all sorts of things," replied HD. "When you saw Cluck Luck look up to the sky, he had actually seen his mother's image in the sky, her ghost, as you may call it.  Yes, I saw her too.  She was crying and pleading to him not to kill Bruce Lee.  That's why he suddenly dropped his knife and went off."

"Wow, how amazing!"  I said.  "So she actually saved Bruce Lee's life!  She must have loved him very much!"

"I guess she did," said HD.  

"I wish we humans could have this kind of love for each other," he continued sighing.  "All we care about is money, money, money!"  He shook his head sadly and disappeared.

Later that night, after all the hens had gone to sleep, Bruce Lee crept quietly out of the coop and flew to the top of the old tree in the compound.  He looked up at the dark sky as though searching for something, then tears started flowing from his eyes as he whispered, "Forgive me, Henny Penny, please forgive me ...."

Bruce Lee never saw his son again though he made several attempts to find him.  I guess Cluck Luck will never forgive his father for as long as he lives.

Are You Truly Enlightened?

A monk seeking peace and enlightenment was meditating at a small far away deserted island. He vowed not to be angry nor be sad, nor be happy and truly be at oneself and he vowed never to leave the island and just be content with oneself. He picked a spot, sat down near a tree and meditated and was still and calm.

"Ahh....enlightened." He declared one morning after many many years of silently meditating. he was reinvigorated and fresh and was at one with the island, the surroundings and himself.

Then he wrote and sent a letter to his previous abbott, thanking him for teaching him, and that he vowed to stay at the island, and that nothing could make him leave. he was truly enlightened and not burdened by this world.

To his surprise, his reclusive abbott too sent a reply letter. He eagerly opened it up and to his dismay, he saw his own letter with red splashes of ink around it. "Fart! Bullshit! Really?" wrote his old abbott, beside his own eloquent thanks. Oh wow, he got mad, and immediately sailed back to his abbott, to demand an explanation.

When they met, he started ripping the old abbott a new one, to which the old abbott said calmly: "You said you were enlightened, you said you were detached of this world and that you would not leave the island, but yet, just mere words can make you so angry. Tell me, are you truly enlightened?"

With Metta,

Da

Cat Wisdom

 

Cat Wisdom

Going But Not Gone

 

Ning came running into the temple one morning and said that Ah Hoe wanted to see both of us urgently.  He had no idea what it was all about but Ah Hoe did sound quite worried.

The old man was sitting on his bed looking rather fraught and distressed when we arrived.  His face lighted up when he saw us and he warmly ushered us into his home.

"Ah Hoe," said Ning.  "Is everything alright?  Why did you want to see us?"

He looked at us and said, his voice barely above a whisper: "I have something to tell you both."

He hesitated, drew in a long breath, then said, "A few nights ago, I was sitting in the porch enjoying the breeze when ... when I suddenly saw it ....."

"Saw what?" asked Ning.

"The Phoenix of Doom, the same one that Lao Lo saw before he died," whispered Ah Hoe.

For a moment, both Ning and I could not speak.  Then Ning stammered, "Are you sure?  But how can you tell? Do you know what it actually looks like?"

"Lao Lo described it to me," he said.  "Look, it's clear my time's up.  After all, I'm nearly 80 now, how long more can I last?  That's why I called you both here, to let you know my last wishes."

Ning was stunned.  He had always been close to Ah Hoe especially during the time when the latter made veg burgers for sale and he was helping him.  They enjoyed working together and he often spent nights with Ah Hoe to keep him company and in the mornings, they would both go fishing. Ah Hoe was like a father to him and he just couldn't believe that his old friend was "going away".

"Ning," continued Ah Hoe.  "As I mentioned before, after I'm gone, I want you to have this hut and all my savings.  It isn't much but I haven't got anything else.  You can stay here for as long as you like."

Then turning to me, he said, "Vege Cat, I want you to conduct prayers for me when the time comes.  This old soul needs a lot of cleaning up before I can make it to heaven," he said, forcing a smile.

I couldn't say anything as there was a lump in my throat and I saw that Ning too was on the verge of tears.  Then Ah Hoe said, "Hey, why so glum?  I'm not dead yet.  Think of it in a positive way, I shall be rid of this old diseased body and be able to start a new life, free from suffering!"

He then gathered both of us up in his arms and gave us a big, warm hug.  

"Look, don't be sad.  We all cannot escape death, it has to come one day.  Now that I've got it off my chest, let's sit down for brunch.  Ning, I've fried some fish the way you like them and Vege Cat, I've got some veg stuff.  Let's sit down and enjoy!"

Of course Ning and I could hardly eat and we were both feeling quite miserable when we returned to the temple.  

"When do you think it will happen?" Ning asked, his voice trembling.

"I don't know," I replied.  "But you needn't worry, Ah Hoe is a good man and he will go peacefully."

Ning nodded, then said, "Look, I'll go to the Club and have a drink.  I need it."

He bounded off and I found my way back to the temple.  I wasn't sure whether I should tell Head Nun and after thinking it over, decided not to say anything yet.  I was  hoping that Ah Hoe had dreamt it all and that he hadn't seen the Phoenix.  I remember Lao Lo also telling me about it before he passed on.  It was indeed a bad omen.

A few hours later, Ning came running back to the temple, very excited.

"Da, Da!" he yelled.  "I've got something to show you!"

I saw that he was carrying some photos and he showed them to me.  "Da, these are photos of the drone light show the other night.  Do you see what I see?"

I saw a number of beautiful light formations in the dark sky, animals, flowers, stars  and rockets, and so on.

"Look at this one!" cried Ning excitedly.  "Don't you think it looks like a bird?"

I looked and said, astonished, "Why, it looks .... it looks like the Phoenix of Doom!" 

"I believe that this was what Ah Hoe saw," said Ning. "I traced back to the day when the drone show was on and it was the same night as Ah Hoe said he saw the Phoenix!"

"You mean it's not the Phoenix of Doom he saw but lights by a drone?"  I gasped.

"Yes, I believe so!  Come on, let's show these photos to Ah Hoe!" and he dragged me off with him to Ah Hoe's.

Ah Hoe was astounded when he saw the photos.  "OMG!  That's the one I saw, the Phoenix of Doom!"

Ning then told him about the drone light show and he opened his eyes wide and gasped, "You mean....you mean all I saw were some lights ..... and I'm not going to die?"

"No, you're not going to die!"  Ning and I chorused together, laughing in relief.

The three of us hugged each other, tears streaming down our eyes.  To think that we were not going to lose a dear friend after all and be able to share many more moments with him in the near future was just too wonderful for words.

.................

Somewhere up in the skies, a beautiful winged creature looked down and smiled.  He turned to his Master and said, "Lord and Master, you are so right in asking me not to take the old man away yet.  It was clever of you to let them think he saw lights and not me.  I've never seen so much love between a human and two animals and it moves me very much.  I'm glad I listened to you."  His Master smiled and gently said, "We'll be back again but not so soon..."  and both of them slowly vanished into the clouds.

Cat Wisdom

May All Living Beings in All the Worlds be Happy

 

Namo Buddhaya

 

Sadhu!  Sadhu!  Sadhu!

Happy Wesak!

 

Wesak Day is always a special celebration at the temple.  Weeks before, the nuns will start cleaning up and preparing the temple for devotees coming to pray and when the big day arrives, everything is shining and gleaming from head to toe! Our Lord Buddha always looks resplendent surrounded by flowers, some of which are home grown by Head Nun.

May the Lord Buddha enlighten us all on the path of love, peace and truth!  May all be well and happy and let us not forget to pray for peace and the end of suffering in the world!

HAPPY WESAK EVERYONE!

12 May 2025

With Metta,

Da