Here’s something unique: About two miles from our front door is the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, which was founded by the Dalai Lama’s brother. This past Saturday, the monks at the temple held The Blessing of the Creatures, so John and I took Emmett, and we met up with Em’s “colleague” from his therapy dog days, Romeo.
There were a handful of other dogs there and even a cat. The monks chanted, then blessed each of the pets individually, and gave them a protection string to wear.
Emmett started to doze off during the chanting…
The he received his blessing….
And his amulet…
Afterwards, the monks led a clockwise procession around the Kalachakra, which is a temple-like place that represents the enlightened mind.
The procession was three laps around, during which the monks took turns walking the individual dogs. When it was Emmett’s turn, I handed the leash to the monk – just as Emmett decided to tear off in the opposite direction because this little Scottie dog had just peed off to the side and Emmett had to get there. Luckily, I hadn’t fully dropped the leash yet and was able to snag it before Emmett toppled the monk.
When the ceremony was over, we walked Emmett and Romeo around the grounds, which are beautiful and peaceful. It was so hot, though, that the dogs couldn’t keep going for too long.
We’re definitely going to plan some walks there in the future – the monks allow anyone to wander the grounds during daylight hours, and you can even attend their meditations and events. It was a unique experience, and I’m thrilled Emmett was able to take part in the Buddhist blessing!
He’s been wearing his amulet proudly (though we moved it to the back of his collar instead of the front so Newt wouldn’t mess with it).
We hope you had a wonderful weekend! Any fun pup-friendly activities?
That was a wonderful experience for Emmett …..It will be nice to walk around the grounds when it is not so hot. It was to hot here in the Midwest for us to even stay outside more than a few minutes….so we mostly laid around all weekend while our mom worked in the house.
stella rose
I don’t know where this sudden heat and humidity has come from! Ugh! I don’t blame you for lounging around indoors all weekend. Hope this week is cooler for you! (Btw, for some reason where you enter your URL, it doesn’t direct to your blog… I want to make sure everyone can find you online!)
WOWZERZ – we Beaglebratz r so furry much happee that Emmett got tue go an’get a blessin’frum the monkz – that iz speshal. Wish we Beaglebratz had sumthin’like that area tue walk in. We due haf a blessin’of the animalz later in the fall – may-b mom will take us tue that.
Shiloh-Lord of the Manor an’Diva Shasta
That would be nice! I think some churches around here do blessings in the fall, too. For St. Francis’ saint day I believe? Maybe I’ll take Emmett to that! Hit all the major religions! 🙂
This story made me smile all the way through. Sounds like a really cool event, loved thinking about Mr Perfect nearly toppling a monk and I can just visualize Newt playing with a dangling amulet. Thanks for the share.
It was so funny… he was all kinds of “revved up” the entire time we were at the temple! Of course, our friend Julie pointed out that “revved up” for Emmett isn’t really all that crazy, but we were laughing because he was so spunky at a place designed for peace and quiet… when normally he’s just peaceful and quiet!
That event sounds so cool! (Not sure about a monk walking Rita though…. She’s not a huge fan of strange men. And I’m really not sure what she’d think of a strange man in a robe!) I’m surprised there were only a “handful” of dogs there! Very cool that they let folks walk around the grounds!
That’s exactly why we didn’t bring Cooper. Coop could definitely use a blessing, that’s for sure, but his “stranger danger” reactivity – also directed toward men and the robes would’ve thrown him off – it was just too risky. I figured if he flipped out and tried to bite a monk, we’d be scorned for eternity or something!
What a great opportunity and experience for you and Emmet and all the lucky dogs. We wish we had such wonderful neighbors.
That is so cool! A blessing is a special thing so we know Emmett’s life will be changed furever! He will have peace and joy!
Your Pals,
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Aww, that sounds like a fun thing to do. How sweet, and Emmett was such a good boy. I bet he loved the attention.
When I was growing up, our Lutheran church held a blessing for the animals as well. We brought our golden retriever and the pastor said a prayer for her. She wasn’t the best behaved dog in general, but she was a good girl that day.
That’s really cool.
What a unique and cool experience! I love that the monks are so dog friendly and allow dogs on their grounds as well as doing this blessing.
Ha, I’m glad my dogs aren’t the only ones that try to embarrass my in public…LOL.
Wow! This must have been a great experience for Emmet! And it’s very heartwarming to know that even monks are a dog lover too! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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If the amulet is like some Buddhist blessing bracelets I’ve seen, it’s supposed to wear out, and fall off, taking the bad influences on your life with it. Arguably, having it where Newt could reach it would get the badness out faster!
Wow! What a wonderful experience for Emmett! Truly, monks are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet during your travels. Great post!