Month: June 2017

Animal Zen Masters: Salticidae

Gerard S. Hoff1 Comment

Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the presence.

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The fear of spiders is funny, especially for this one, because it actually looks like a cute, little doggie with 8 legs.

Talking about the legs, they’re covered with hundreds of little hairs, with which the Salticidae or Jumping Spider, can smell, taste and hear. They’re not the spider-web kind of spider, they jump to catch their prey. To determine the precise location, they have four (!) pairs of eyes, that create an almost 360-degree vision and 3-D images. The eyes reflect in the dark when hit by light, imagine…

Looking at this beautiful, sophisticated, high-tech creature reminded me, that eyes are just one of our senses and should never rely solely on them.

You can’t depend on your eyes
when your imagination is out of focus.
– Mark Twain

Animal Zen Masters: The Lamb

Gerard S. HoffLeave a comment

Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the presence.

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Estimates are, there are over a billion of them.

Sheep are one of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes and the most famous one is the Ovis aries. They are as practical as they get for humans, as they produce wool, milk, manure and meat.

Originally sheep is derived from the Old English word scēap (which is the same as Frisian) and it is a single and plural name for the animal. I find that very funny, because in a way they’re never alone.

Sheep play an important role in myths and religion, as they’ve been with people so long!

Egyptians worshipped animals and at various periods held certain animals to be sacred and as representations of their gods and goddesses. Agnus Dei is a Latin term meaning Lamb of God, it refers to Jesus as the perfect sacrificial offering that compensates for the sins of humanity.

In my mind, baby-sheep are the cutest animals. I still remember spring, waiting with my granddad for the lambs to be born. Within seconds they stand up and the next day, they lighten up the green grass fields next to his farm, with their funny jumps.

Happiness is the cause of a great day,
not the outcome.