|
| New Tortoise House |
| July 31, 2005 by Stuart |
|
Thanks to the generosity of some of Fear-No-More Zoo's supporters we are very happy to have recently completed a new, much larger house for our two Aldabran Tortoises, Yes and No.
When Yes and No arrived here in January 1996, they each weighed 33.5 pounds. Today, nine years later and at 15 years of age, they weigh about 160 pounds each, and have outgrown their original house. Aldabrans can grow to 400 or 500 pounds.
Their new winter / night house has a much larger floor space, skylights, and a large clear-glass frontage. Since we did not have the funds to build them a permanent structure at this time, we opted for this durable (and for them temporary) kit building, which will amply provide for them for another five or more years.
When funds permit we will build the Aldabrans a permanent night and winter house with under-floor heating, an egg-laying pit, and other features to enable their winters to be really comfortable. Once their permanent house is in place, the present temporary structure will be used in other ways.
In their enclosure, which will also be greatly expanded in coming months, Yes and No have the pleasure of a small hot-spring mud hole where, in winter, they can wallow deep in the mud to warm up even on cold days and nights. They always have the choice of going into their heated night-house or staying out in the warm muddy spring (with a portable roof placed over their backs).
Yes is the female of the pair. She is very friendly toward visitors, always approaching people for some contact and gentle neck stroking. She loves contact and relationship. No, the male, is less gregarious, although friendly. More independent, he is less inclined to relate with people. The two of them are very close. I will write more about their unique characters in a future article. |
|
|
|
|
|
| July 4th '05 Anniversary for Robert the Cat |
| July 15, 2005 by Stuart |
|
As it is each year, Robert the Cat's death (mahasamadhi) anniversary was honored recently on July 4th at Holy Cat Grotto, here at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary. The ceremony was attended by about 150 people in honor of Robert, who was Adi Da's first teacher. Swami Vivekananda's mahasamadhi anniversary was also honored on July 4th (as it is each year) in conjunction with Robert the Cat's passing on that same date.
(from The Knee of Listening pp.123 -- 143)
"Robert himself was nothing less to me than my best friend and mentor. He was more, not less, than human to me. I watched him with fascination. I followed him through the woods and watched him hunt. I tried to understand his curious avoidance of the sea, and how he could sit on the cliff above the sea, watching the evening sun, and the wind blowing his hairs heroically about his head. The mystery of his pattern of living, his ease and justice, the economy of all his means, the untouchable absence of all anxiety, the sudden and adequate power he brought to every circumstance without exceeding the intensity required, all of his ways seemed to me an epitome of the genius of life. And he communicated with me so directly that I was disarmed. He would call me when he returned in the evening. He would touch me whenever he needed my presence. He would lie with me as if with conscious intention to console me with his living presence. And I loved him as deeply as the universe itself."
Today, at The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary, there is an outdoor Temple named "Holy Cat Grotto" which honors Robert and his Spiritual relationship with Adi Da Samraj. Holy Cat Grotto is a wild, profound place of healing and meditation.
"I recognized that Robert had been my teacher in the wilderness. He had filled my eye and owned a thread of attention in my heart. I Knew him and he Knew me. Nothing could replace that state of life or console its absence. I treated him in death like a saint. I had him cremated, and I kept his ashes."
** The term, "mahasamdhi" refers to a consciously chosen passing from the physical body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
© 2005-2006 The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam.
All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed.
|
|
