The cat's wish
The Master paused. “It is still raining hard,” he said. “That means that you don’t want to leave me, and I also don’t want you to leave.”“Can you tell us any more stories about animals?” said one disciple.
“Yes,” said the Master. “Let me start with another cat story.
“Years later, when the young man had gone to another country and become a real spiritual Master, he went to give a talk in a private house. There were about twenty people in one room and he was sitting in another room with only three or four persons. The Master had some lines to memorise and he was having a real struggle with his memory. If he were to forget one word, then his whole talk would be ruined. That kind of serious trouble he used to have when he first became a Master. The lady who had invited the spiritual Master had a cat. All of a sudden her cat jumped into the lap of the spiritual Master. Then the cat wouldn’t move. The spiritual Master requested the lady to come and take the cat away.
“At about eight o'clock, when the time came, he entered the other room where the people were waiting for the Master to speak. Again he had problems with the cat. It kept following him, although he tried very hard to keep it away. That day the Master forgot all his lines. But everybody thought that he forgot because of the cat, and that otherwise he would have given a very good talk, which was true.
“For ten minutes the cat bothered him. Finally, the Master said, ‘All right, let me look at the cat.’ He looked and looked at the cat. Then he said out loud to the cat, ‘Yes, I know what you want, but I can’t give you the answer right now. Around three o'clock tomorrow morning I shall ask God whether He will give you a human incarnation. If a human incarnation cannot be given, a dog incarnation can at least be given; that much I can easily tell you now. A dog incarnation is quite possible. Please, please leave me now. If you don’t leave me, then I will not consider your case at three o'clock.’
“All this he said in English, not even in any cat language, in front of over twenty seekers. At that time he didn’t have even one disciple. The people were inwardly saying, ‘Listen to this cock and bull story,’ but the cat was wise enough to leave immediately.
“Believe it or not, the young Master kept his promise. At three o'clock he concentrated on the soul of the cat and asked the Supreme whether the cat could have a human incarnation. The Supreme said that He would sanction a human incarnation for the cat in its next birth.
“When the owner of the cat heard about this, she was very pleased. Everybody believes this kind of juicy story, although one cannot prove it. How can you prove whether or not a cat is going to be a human being? It is a matter of belief. When you tell juicy stories saying that someone’s son is going to be an emperor, whoever you have promised believes everything. So when this good news came, the lady accepted the story and gave the Master a very big bookcase, a T.V. set, three chairs and also a few other things as a reward for the future transformation of her cat. Also, for two or three meetings she brought juice, cookies and other refreshments. At that time the Master was very poor and he used to give talks at the homes of friends, since he didn’t have any disciples.
“Now, the Master knew that a calamity was actually about to take place. It was very easy for this lady to believe that her cat would become a human being. But she did not take the time to think that the cat would have to die first. Only after the cat died could it become a human being. If the owner had died before the cat, then no problem would have arisen. But the cat was so eager to have a human incarnation that without any rhyme or reason it died. When the cat died the lady was absolutely furious. She had had such fondness for the cat that she demanded that the Master use his occult power to make it come back. But the cat was really dead and the Master would not do this kind of thing.
“The lady became miserable, miserable, miserable! The Master got a letter of unbearable insults from her. She felt that he was responsible for her cat’s death, as if he had nothing else to do but to kill cats!
Believe it or not, she had loved the cat so dearly and missed it to such an extent that she had to go to another country where she had a friend who would console her. Finally one day the Master received a letter saying that she was not missing her cat any more, that her friend’s devoted love had replaced the cat.”
