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The
Sentient World of Animals
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By sister initiate Aler, Miaoli, Formosa
There are many squirrels in the mountains near my home, and I have always wanted to make friends with them. One day a squirrel was hopping on the trees outside my house, so I took an apple and waved to him, suggesting, "Come and get it." But he just looked at me. I then put the apple on a bamboo stem. At night when I returned, I found that the squirrel had eaten half of the apple, and the next day it was all gone.
On another occasion, my sisters and I found a baby squirrel in a ditch that was soaking wet. We took him home, dried him with a hair dryer and then fed him milk each day. Soon he was able to hold a guava by himself and chew on it with gusto. We named him 'Chi-chi' (two syllables with no special meaning in Chinese) and found that he wasn't afraid of people and liked to climb up and down our bodies. We were very happy to have him around. When Chi-chi grew up a bit, he loved to explore outside in the daytime, but would always return at night. The first time he returned, we were watching a videotape and when we saw him, we all cried out happily, "Chi-chi is back!" and then hurried to get him some food. When Chi-chi grew older, he went to live with other squirrels. Perhaps because his squirrel friends taught him to guard against humans, after a while he refused to play with us like he had before. But each day he still came back for apples, guavas or other fruit we left out for him. Sometimes he would also bring along his friends.
Each day, little birds also came for the fruit we prepared for Chi-chi. On this Lunar New Year's Day, I was having breakfast under a tree when a group of birds flew near. Before we had even placed the fruit on the tree, the birds began chirping loudly, calling attention to their presence. I hurriedly offered them some apples, and told the others in the kitchen, "The birds are shouting, 'I'm hungry! I'm hungry!'" They thought that I knew the birds' language, but I told them it was only my own interpretation. So someone joked, "Perhaps today they are saying, 'Happy New Year!'"
On another occasion, a neighbor told me that squirrels were getting into her house and stealing her fruit when she was not around. I said that during the past few months I had been putting pieces of fruit on a tray outside my door as decorations, and the squirrels never touched them. Actually, I was feeling a bit complacent. I felt I was special because I had protection. However, when I returned home that day, I found my whole tray of fruit overturned, and some of the fruit had squirrel bite marks on it.
The incident with the squirrel was meant to remind me of the power of thought. Whether positive or negative, once a thought appears in our minds, it will materialize. For example, when I was talking about the squirrels' stealing fruit, they actually came, especially as I was also in the mindset of showing off. This is just like having one's protective shell punctured, allowing the negative force to rush in. The lesson I learned in this case was to be forever vigilant.
