[note: As some of you may know, Sherlock was an advanced Zen master. The photo shows him with his paws on the zabuton, indicating that he had full ownership of that cushion. Full ownership was a very important principle to him, and he always demonstrated it in his practice. Masters in the Buddhist tradition often know they are dying, and leave final instructions. We discovered the transcript of this talk to the Kittens, his followers, on our computer last night.]kittens dear kittens
lifeanddeath is
the great matter
and now my time is come
i have spoken
with you often
telling you about
things as i see them
and i am most gratified
to see that a few
of you were
paying attention
although i must agree
that tustling and napping
were often a more
appropriate response
i am much more gratified
than with my silly attempts
to train my people
in the noble skill
they insisted in calling
giving the cat his treats
i quickly gave up on the man
seeing that he was simply unable
to grasp the subtle intricacies
which were required
the woman was coming along
very nicely until she got it
into her head to move
the library box which
made no sense at all
even she never quite grasped
the notion that constant practice
was necessary in order to
master this routine
i was telling you this story
in order to make a point
but my mind has become cloudy
everything passes quickly away
kittens don’t look
to the tallest
or the strongest
or the smartest one
to tell you what is true
the answer always lies
within yourself
nowhere else after all
you are - The Cat
thank you very much
and now get on
with it
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