To my great surprise and sorrow, our four-legged neighbor suddenly left our building as her two-legged "owner" left her apartment here about a month ago. As everyone who has visited Jerusalem probably knows, this city (as well as many other cities in Israel) has many cats on the street. Our neighborhood is no exception.
Since our four-legged neighbor, who used to wait for me every morning at the entrance of my apartment, left us, I've "adopted" one small cat on the street. No, I don't keep him inside my apartment. I simply feed him first thing in the morning. He also started waiting for me every morning at the entrance of my aparment.
Most cats seem quite suspicious of humans when they see us for the first time. The cat I've "adopted" was no exception, but much less than his fellows. When I first saw him, I extended my hand to him. Then he approached me slowly but cautiously. Now he accompanies me everywhere on the street within his seeming "pale of settlement" even after eating his "breakfast". While he is will me, he literally dances, which I can't describe with words.
Having observed these two cats, I've realized a few things we humans can learn from cats (and seemingly other animals, too).
The first - and for me the most important - thing is that they are not trapped in their mind-made prison, paradoxically they aren't intelligent enough to have language. I've already come to a conclusion that language is not only a tool of communication but also the gatekeeper of the mind-made prison. Because of language most humans can't stop conceptualizing everyone and everything they encounter, including themselves.
There are two opposite states in which we aren't trapped in our mind-made prison. The first is to be below our mind, and the second is to be above our mind. Most humans are not only trapped in the middle but also unaware of this fact. I've noticed that many of the otherwise "intelligent" people tend to be trapped in their mind-made prison far more deeply than others as they use their mind, which often uses them instead more frequently. I witness this again and again, including my former colleagues in academia.
The ideal state for humans is to transcend our mind-made prison, but in the present state of our collective ego many will remain "asleep". I myself was totally "asleep" and naturally unware of this very fact. I can't say that I've been fully liberated from my own mind-made prison, but I've been waking up. The more I wake up, or the more aware I become of my own mind-made prison, the less people I find with a common "language".
When I first realized that cats aren't trapped in such a mind-made prison that plagues most humans, this was both a shock and a pleasant surprise. Being surrounded by those who can't help labeling others unconsciously, I find it a great relief to be with other living creatures that don't label me and others. At least once a day for about ten to twenty minutes I can spend time with such a cat.
This seems to lead to their mindfulness in contrast to mindlessness, which is paradoxically one of the most salient characteristics of those who are trapped in their mind-made prison as they are so identified with their thoughts that their speech and action are mindless, that is, unconscious, automatic and reactive.. Cats seem to live (in) the present moment and focus on what they are doing unlike most humans. I practiced mindfulness through meditation and other methods, but I'm still far from the level of mindfulness I see among cats.
I'm also deeply touched by the trust I receive from the cat I've "adopted". He waits for me every morning, trusting that I'll feed him. He must start waiting for me much earlier than five in the morning, when I wake up and feed him. Though I know that this trust comes from his instinctive desire for daily food, cats don't seem to betray us, while I've experienced several betrayals by other humans I trusted.