Talking to Animals – Part One
According to the ancient Hindu sages, whose teachings were first recorded in Sanskrit texts known as the Vedas over three thousand years ago, consciousness is the fundamental principle of all matter, and permeates every form, whether animate or inanimate.
When Jesus was rebuked by the Pharisees for allowing his disciples to sing his praises during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he replied: “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
Materialists naturally scoff at the possibility of stones possessing life, but as Ramana Maharshi told a visitor who announced that plants had life, “so too the slabs you sit on.” 1
While skeptics may discount this remark as a mere figure of speech, in the sense that we commonly refer to “the living rock”, it is worth recalling the words of the 20th century sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Speaking of the relationship between matter, consciousness and life, he said:
“Consciousness as such is the subtle counterpart of matter. You may consider it in a way as a very subtle energy. Wherever matter organises itself into a stable organism, consciousness appears spontaneously. With the destruction of the organism consciousness disappears. ” 2
All physical matter, therefore, possesses consciousness. It is the subtle counterpart, the complementary aspect, of the energy of which it is constituted. It follows that all life is not only conscious, but also conscious of a sense of identity.
This identity is the sense of the “I am” which is experienced as the source of consciousness. This awareness of unique individuality is the prism through which all conscious experiences in life are viewed. Again, to quote Maharaj:
“This knowledge “I am” is the same, whether it is an insect, worm, human being, or an avatar (being of the highest order); the basic consciousness is the same in all of these.” 3
Not only are all living creatures conscious, and conscious of a special sense of identity, but each form is also capable of processing information, which is the chief characteristic of intelligence.
Intelligence manifests in all forms of life, and because it does, all living organisms are potentially capable of interacting intelligently with one other.
Our current scientific paradigm has denied consciousness, and therefore intelligence, to lower orders of life, and by so doing has separated humanity from other realms of nature.
However, despite the gulf that has arisen over the centuries between human beings and creatures of the animal kingdom as a result of the materialistic view of science, it is always possible to heal this ancient breach, and to regain inter-species communication.
If we are willing to embrace a new concept of life founded upon spiritual principles, we can restore this holistic view of life. This will allow mankind to embrace a unity of expression with all creatures, a facility which up until now has tended to be the preserve of the primitive aboriginal, as well as saints and sages.
An incident in the life of the 20th century Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi illustrates this community of understanding.
“At about 4 pm, Sri Bhagavan (the term commonly used to refer to the Maharshi), who was writing something intently, turned his eyes slowly towards the window to the north; he closed the fountain pen with the cap and put it in its case. He closed the note-book and put it aside.
He leaned back a little, looked up overhead, turned his face this way and that, and looked here and there. Then he turned to someone in the hall and said softly: ‘The pair of sparrows just came here and complained to me that their nest had been removed. I looked up and found their nest missing’.
Then he called for the attendant, Madhava Swami, and asked: ‘Madhava, did anyone remove the sparrows nest?’ The attendant, who walked in leisurely, answered with an air of unconcern: ‘I removed the nests as often as they were built. I removed the last one this afternoon’. 4
Those people who have been raised in a cultural and scientific paradigm which denies intelligence and the powers of expression to the humbler forms of life, are naturally prevented by their limiting beliefs from exercising this avenue of communication between species.
But just as it is always possible to overcome one’s limiting beliefs, so one is always able to rediscover this kinship with other forms of life.
J. Allen Boone was a journalist during the earlier part of the 20th century who became interested in the care and treatment of those animals involved in Hollywood productions. This interest subsequently led him to become the first Commissioner of the Board of Animal Regulation in Los Angeles, and encouraged him to make animal-human relationships his life’s work.
At a time when movies dealing with the heroic deeds of animals were popular in Hollywood, Boone was approached to take temporary care of a German Shepherd dog named “Strongheart”, an animal star of international fame.
Boone’s association with this unusual dog was to change his life, for it prompted him to transcend the customary barriers of human and animal interaction.
It was soon clear to Boone that Strongheart was no ordinary dog. He seemed to display a telepathic understanding of his thoughts, and the two shared many unusual adventures together.
During their daily association, Boone became increasingly frustrated that, while Strongheart appeared to have no trouble understanding his own inner thoughts, he seemed to have no way of understanding the mind of the dog.
Boone eventually decided to seek the aid of a desert recluse named Mojave Dan, who was renowned for his extraordinary ability to converse with desert animals and reptiles.
Boone finally succeeded in tracking his quarry to a remote spot in the Mojave desert, and it was there, while the two of them lay beside a campfire under a canopy of stars, that he explained the nature of his problem. Dan was silent for a long time.
“Finally, Dan yawned and stretched. Then he spoke, aiming his words at the stars. There’s facts about dogs he said, and there’s opinions about them. The dogs have the facts, and the humans have the opinions. If you want facts about a dog, always get them straight from the dog. If you want opinions, get them from the human.” 5
Returning to Hollywood, Boone began to see that the barrier between himself and Strongheart lay in his underlying belief in the innate superiority of humanity and the resultant inferiority of animals.
He realised that Strongheart was not simply a “dog”, but another expression of intelligent life like himself. As a result of this insight, Boone came to change his entire outlook about Strongheart.
He stopped treating him like a dog in the conventional manner and found, to his surprise, that Strongheart stopped acting in the traditional “dog-like” manner when the two of them were together.
As they began to function together as two equal and rational companions, Boone came to place himself completely in Strongheart’s care, allowing Strongheart to be the teacher, while relegating to himself the position of student. Boone later described his inner metamorphosis:
“I had a large assortment of wrong beliefs about dogs and other animals; these notions had to be cleared out in order to make room for the facts. It took discipline, a sense of wonder and appreciation, inner and outer flexibility, unlimited expectancy and a willingness to follow facts wherever they led.” 6
Boone came to regard Strongheart as a spiritual creature filled with unlimited possibilities like himself. During the days they spent in each other’s company, the two came to share an exalted state of communion. While Boone chose what they would do one day, he allowed Strongheart to decide what the two of them should do the next.
On one particular day when Strongheart was in charge, Boone was taken on a long march up into the hills, until they reached a promontory of rock which towered over the surrounding scene. The two of them sat together on the rock, gazing at the setting sun. In this sublime setting Boone mentally framed the questions which had plagued him for so long.
“Sitting there on the ledge with his back in my direction, Strongheart had heard the questions I had mentally asked him. When I went into that blank state of mind, without knowing what I was doing, I had become mentally open and receptive.
“Then, turning his head in my direction so as to get my full attention, he had silently answered my questions. I had spoken to Strongheart in the kind of speech which does not have to be uttered or written, and he had replied to me in the same language.
“Without the exchange of a sound or gesture between us, each had perfectly understood the other. I had at last made contact with that seemingly lost universal silent language which, as those illumined ancient’s pointed out long ago, all life is innately equipped to speak with all life whenever hearts and minds are properly attuned.” 7
Boone had bridged the gulf that normally divides human from non-human understanding, by breaking down the barriers of his old beliefs.
It was only when he had succeeded in stripping away the encrustation of his intellectual preconceptions that he was able to share that inner communion which attends true kinship between all forms of conscious life.
Boone’s interaction with Strongheart was based on a faculty of mind which parapsychologists today call “Telepathy”, or the transmission of information without using any of the known senses. And because it bypasses our customary sensory channels, telepathy is included under the term ESP, or Extra-Sensory-Perception.
But whereas telepathy is usually considered by parapsychologists to be limited to cases of communication between people, Boone demonstrated that it was possible for a human being to communicate intelligently with another species of the animal kingdom.
Sceptics, as well as those trained in modern materialistic science, naturally reject the idea of telepathy between people, or the possibility of inter-species communication. Yet there are more and more people today who have not only learned how to communicate with other species themselves, but have been able to teach others how to do so successfully as well.
One of the best-known exemplars of inter-species communication in the world today is Anna Breytenbach. Anna was born and raised in South Africa, where she later gained a degree in Psychology, Economics and Marketing at the University of Cape Town.
She subsequently began an international corporate career that took her to places like Australia and the United States, where she was able to pursue her interest in wildlife and conservation by volunteering at various animal rehabilitation and educational centres.
It was while she was living in Silicon Valley that Anna was able to receive advanced training in animal communication at the Assisi International Animal Institute in California. For the past twelve years she has been working in South Africa, Europe and the United States with domestic and wild animals.
This has included educational and rehabilitation programmes with such animals as baboons, cheetahs, lions, wolves and elephants. Without doubt, one of the most extraordinary examples of Anna’s uncanny ability to relate to animals is the episode involving a black leopard named “Diablo”, which can be seen in the video below.
According to Anna’s website, her goal is to raise awareness and advance relationships between humans and other species, on both the personal and spiritual levels, and to be a voice for animals and the wilderness.
To this end, although Anna now makes her home in the Wilderness area of the South-Western Cape, she continues to travel around the world conducting animal communication seminars.
Anna’s work, as well as the efforts of those who share her mission, is helping to open up new portals in the understanding of the nature and role of different species in the eco-structure of the planet.
It could also provide a vital breakthrough in humanity’s stewardship of species that are threatened by environmental degradation, by helping us to communicate directly with the animals that are most at risk.
Furthermore, it would enable us to find out from the animals themselves how they feel about living in captivity, instead of turning to scientists who merely study their outward behaviour and then utilise their own value judgements in determining how best to treat them.
Those readers interested in the outcome of the saga of “Diablo”, or “Spirit”, as the black leopard came to be renamed, the operators of the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary in Plettenburg Bay have provided the following video update:
Over the years, Anna continued to maintain contact with the Jukani Sanctuary and follow the life of this extraordinary leopard, who was later joined in his enclosure by two adult leopard sisters who were surrendered by a zoo that was closing.
Then on 19th June, 2023, she announced that Spirit had left his body peacefully on that day, assisted by kind curators and vets who accurately determined that his cancer was uncomfortable and untreatable. He lived to an amazing 21 years of age – almost unprecedented for a leopard.
References
1 “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi“, recorded by Swami Saraswathi, Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, 1968, p. 20.
2 “I Am That“, Conversations with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, translated by Maurice Frydman, Book II, Chetana, Bombay, 1973, pp. 5-6.
3 “Seeds of Consciousness“, The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj”, edited by Jean Dunn, Grove Press, New York, 1982, p. 196.
4 “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi“, op.cit., p. 597.
5 Allen Boone, “Kinship with All Life“, Harper and Row, New York, 1954, pp. 47-48.
6 Ibid, p. 55.
7 Ibid, pp. 71-72.
