A Shaggy Dog Story.

What kind of dog are you? It occurred to me some time ago that, if I had been a dog, I would probably have been a labrador. I share certain characteristics with the animal in that I have a generally placid nature, we are both prone to be a little overweight with a tendency towards laziness and, dare I say it, we are quite pleasant to look at. My wife on the other hand displays the cool elegance, fine looks and reserved nature of an afghan hound. The image of Winston Churchill depicted as a Bulldog has become iconic and embodies the pride of the British fighting spirit. Who could deny that Graham Norton displays all the charm of a yorkshire terrier in being small, yappy and over excitable. In the recent crop of useless celebrities there is Rylan Clarke who bears a startling resemblance to a poodle in that he is high maintenance, odd to look at and completely pointless. The list goes on.

Any cat or dog owner would tell you that their pet has a personality. I am no zoologist but I would suspect that this is true of all the more intelligent mammals. No doubt sea-lion and dolphin trainers all over the world would claim the same. That's why we humans are so fond of animals, we can see ourselves in them. It's no surprise that the ancients believed in re-incarnation when they could see their loved ones spirits in the animals around them.

I have heard it suggested that there is more evidence for re-incarnation than  for a heaven. No one has ever come back from heaven to state the case, even the TV spiritualists admit it's all a fraud. However, there are plenty of documented accounts of memories of past lives and people speaking in languages they couldn't possibly have known. The most famous case is of the current Dalai Lama. When the previous incumbent died, the other lamas consulted their oracles and went to Lake Ihamo La-tso to wait for a sign from the lake spirit of where the old leader had been re-born. They were shown an image of a little house at the bottom hill in a distinctive village; it took them four years to find it. So the story goes, the four year old child immediately recognised his former colleague dressed as a slave and started talking in a dialect not native to that particular region. It doesn't say why the lama felt it necessary to disguise himself, perhaps it was to prevent over eager mothers forcing their children on him in the manner of the ugly sisters and the glass slipper. After many tests perfected over centuries including picking out items belong to the previous Dalai Lama from a jumble of artefacts, it was deemed that the young lad was indeed the reincarnation and he was whisked off
to begin his religious training.

For me, the jury is still out on this reincarnation business because people see what they want to see. Animals do seem to have personalities though and many are a lot more pleasant than some humans. If I ever find out the answer I will let you know, assuming I still have hands and not paws.