A friend shared a story with me about a dog he had as a pet. It seemed the dog actually liked this person, he would hold the dog and at times it would fall asleep on his lap. It would lick his hand and take food from it. One day as the dog was eating out of… its bowl, this person took the food away before the dog was finished, the dog bit and scratched his hand; so much for the dog liking this individual. The dog was aware his food was being taken away, but it ended there. There was no mindfulness of who was actually taking the food, his food was being taken away and it didn’t like it. This is how many humans react to situations, they like things as long as what is liked is not taken away.
For one to get beyond this mindlessness, there must be awareness of it. This is where humans differ. Other species don’t have the ability to be truly mindful, but if you look around it would seem most humans don’t have this ability either. What will have to happen at some point for this to change is being aware of being mindful (noticing what arises when what is liked is taken away or just naturally changes). This is key if you’re not going to remain oblivious to what’s changing. Suffering comes from not being aware of being mindful of what’s changing and being controlled by what is liked. When there is awareness of what arises one can be mindful of it, but not attach to it, thus one is free. What you like will still be taken away at times, but hopefully you won’t scratch or bite when this happens.
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