The Most Pressing Meditation Question of the Twenty-First Century
Should I allow my cat to sit in my lap when I meditate?
My cat Tara doesn’t like it when I meditate. She wants me to pay attention to her—all the time.
The instant Tara sees me placing my butt on the couch and crossing my legs, she strides over, determined to foil my plan.
Tara gingerly climbs up her pet stairs to the couch. She’s too old to jump, but her age does not diminish her resolve to intervene in my quietude.
Tara approaches from the side, places both paws on my left thigh, and positions herself for her next move. She carefully navigates the canyon known as my lap until she has both her front paws on the opposite side.
She then plops her body into the perfectly sized circular space made by the folds of my clothing or shawl falling between my thighs.
When she’s not in the mood for a complete crossing, she’ll sit next to me, close enough to lick my arm, hit it with her paw, or lay with her front paws on one leg where she can still get her point across.
She persists with the hits or licks until I pet her under her neck, on her head, and up and down her back. All this I must do again or again or risk another whack of her paw.
