By Abdu Rafiu
Dog is man’s best friend! It is a statement that has been with us human beings for ages. The aphorism is on everybody’s lips. And many have experienced the verity of it. Today, however, it is not a statement that resonates with a great many as in the ancient of days. Then the friendship was unmistakable, when dog was not just a friend, but a trusted companion, a guide and protector. Dogs give us warning of an imminent disaster, be it fire, floods, earthquakes, cyclone or hurricane in order to get us humans out of harm’s way. The dog will begin to bark to pass its message to the owner and the household. However, despite its act of love—barking unceasingly, all its howling is meaningless to the modern man who has closed himself to the wonders and beauty of nature.
Indeed, the modern man considers the howling of a dog as nuisance, wondering what the matter is; he drives it away. If he gives the dog attention at all, it is for him to wonder if it had been fed for that day or not. When the disaster against which it has striven strenuously to protect everyone eventually arrives, the dog will be nowhere to be found except it was in a cage. It has disappeared into safety. The modern man who has put all his trust in technological wonders would dismiss any approaching danger his gadgets cannot detect, setting forth an alarm, as non-existent. He stays put and he is swept away. While the dog is safe and the large population that relies on the alarm are swept away, dead or missing.
The police are, perhaps, an exception to a little extent. They recognise the sentient nature of dogs. In most civilized countries, police authorities create separate arms that are trained and which they use to sniff out the unusual and accost criminals. Their dogs are known to detect drugs or arms. There is a peculiarity to animals. Birds sensing an imminent calamity migrate away from their area of abode where they may have been natives for years. When the disaster is over, they return. Animals move away to safer places even if they have to cross boundaries of nations to which they have been identified until calm is restored by the forces of Nature. By contrast human beings are always the victims.
Earlier this month, on 04 July, no fewer than 132 persons died in the flash floods in Texas, United States, and 170 were reported missing. The Associated Press (AP) reports, “The unrelenting power of the floods forced families to make unnerving escapes with little time to spare in the middle of the night. One woman recounted how she and others, including a toddler, first climbed into attic and then onto a roof where they heard screams and watched vehicles float past.” Commentators blamed the tragedy on the inability of Texas authority to find $1million (US Dollars) to provide flood warning system near camps.
We may wish to recall the Tsunami which swept through extensive stretches of the coast in Asia and East Africa on 26 December 2004, killing 280, 000 people. The Tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Times of India reported at the time that tidal waves measuring 100 feet high hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, the hardest hit. The report stated that in the horrific destruction that swept more than a quarter of a million people to their deaths, surprisingly only few animals were killed, and these were domestic animals—cattle, goats and dogs– that had no way of escaping, most of them in their ranches and cages. According to Times News Network: “In some cases, dead cows can be seen tied to poles and trees,” the paper quoted Kumar Nath, honorary president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as saying. In some villages where the animals were on their own, they had run away before the killer waves arrived. It was so surprising that an official overseeing relief work in an area called Cuddalore District said hardly did the tsunami kill any animal there. He went on to state that an interesting theory that is emerging is that the animals sensed the tsunami much in advance and it helped them to run away.
A Reverend Father was quoted as saying: “My three dogs were barking and howling with no reason at around 7 a.m. on December 26. I asked them to keep quiet but they continued barking and were restless.” Father PA Sampath Kumar of Holy Family Church, 15km from Pondichéry, said the first waves of the tsunami came about 8.30a.m. which was followed by another at 9a.m. ravaging the fishing village. “I definitely think that my dogs sensed the tsunami. Interestingly, during the tsunami alert on Thursday, which turned out to be a false alarm, the dogs showed no signs of panic. They were absolutely calm as you can see them now”, pointing them to The Times of India correspondent. According to the newspaper, between 50-55 villages in Cuddalore District and Keezputhupattu, the tsunami killed 600 people but there was hardly any trace of a dead cow, goat or dog. It was the same story at a fishing village where 100 deaths occurred, no animal died, so reported the army jawan involved in removing the debris of the devastation in the district and the village.
Undoubtedly, the experiences and observations in areas the killer waves wreaked horrifying havoc and the animals were out of harm’s way must be perplexing. How come that the animals and birds were able to flee to safety and man, the higher animal with his development and sophistication was caught unprepared and had to die in the disaster—whether in Texas or in South East Asia? Did it have to do with the sentient nature of the animals? As Moshood Abiola, (MKO), was wont to say: “No bird informs the other that a stone is coming!” Since birds do not hold consultations how do they individually sense danger and flee? Has it to do with what man refers to as the instinct of animals? Certainly not!!
Animals are able, far more than human beings are, to relate with Nature Beings which can also be referred to as Elemental Beings. Animals heed their guidance and warnings without thinking or first reconsidering. They pick the admonitions or warnings as the case may be given to them well in advance. A bird on receiving a warning, for example, will immediately begin to weave a new tent for itself and its little ones. Once the tent is ready, it starts to evacuate its eggs or its little ones. Many familiar with the Bible will remember the account of Balaam and its ass. As the account goes, Balaam was a prominent figure among his tribe. As the chief of his tribe, he was determined to meet Balak who was king of Mo’abites who had sent for him. His message to Baalam was for them to forge an alliance against the people of Israel. “Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray these,’curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me (Numbers 22:5-6) Dakes Annotated Reference Bible.
The journey was aborted because Balaam’s ass was perceiving a being Balaam could not see. The being blocked the donkey’s path and three times and was beaten by its master who was unaware of the encounter of his horse with the being that was obstructing his path. The elemental being was energetically trying to attract the attention of the donkey to the danger ahead in order to save it from the calamity that lay ahead.
In Numbers 22: 24-34, (DAKES), we are told: “And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in his way, and his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field; and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way”.
“And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand for now would I kill thee.
“And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
“And the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face…
“And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against in the way against me: now therefore, if it displeases thee, I will get me back again.”
The angel in reference here is a Nature Being. In the days of old, they were the teachers of our forebears. They gave them support and advice. They offered them protection. They taught them where it was safe for them to build their houses, and indeed how to build them. It was the reason why most towns were founded on mountain slopes or by river or seaside; Ibadan for example set on seven hills a.k.a. Prof. and renowned poet JP Clark. They taught them what plant to grow for food and when, showing the way of using what Nature has provided for mankind. They showed them plants the herbs of which they could extract to heal their ailing bodies. The Nature Beings were so benevolent, powerful and helpful that the early people regarded them as gods. They parted the River Nile for the children of Israel being led out of the yoke of Egyptians by Moses. They are everywhere and Cicero said of them: “For the belief in the gods has not been established by authority, custom, or law but rests on the unanimous and abiding consensus of mankind; their existence is therefore a necessary inference, since we possess an instinctive or rather an innate concept of them; but a belief which all men by nature share must necessarily be true; therefore it must be admitted that the gods exist.” They are of different species performing different roles. The nixies combine two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen to produce water, whether of the oceans or rivers, and the rains. The general name the Yorubas have for them is Oro. In gratitude for their benevolence, different people stage yearly festivals celebrating them.
I have not set out today to discuss the Nature Beings, but to show their relationship with dogs and why dogs are man’s best friend. Come with me to “…The Wonders of God”, a chat forwarded to me and which I have made the peg of today’s reflection:
“The Houston International Airport was as crowded as ever with people rushing to catch their flights. And then, in the middle of the crowd, Shadow, an experienced German Sheperd K9, started barking ferociously at a woman waiting in the long queue. It was quite an unprecedented action as she was seven months pregnant and appeared to be terribly frightened by the dog’s action.“
Nevertheless, the dogs were rarely wrong and officers asked her to step forward. They conducted a thorough search of her belongings, but found nothing out of the ordinary on her. Yet, Shadow wouldn’t stop sniffing her and barking at her. The officers were confused and contemplated their next move. Should they let the woman go? She was heavily pregnant and the entire situation made her upset and uncomfortable. And then just as they decided to let her go, Agent Grant remembered that Shadow was also trained as a medical alert service dog. Rather than her being a smuggler or carrying a dangerous weapon, could there be something medically wrong with this woman? He wondered.
Just to be sure, he explained to her that Shadow was a special dog and he would like her permission to call the emergency services to check on her. Although she hesitated at first, the woman eventually agreed. To everybody’s surprise, the medics discovered uterine rupture, which is a serious and rare childbirth complication where the muscle wall of the uterus tears under pressure. The woman was quickly rushed to the nearby hospital where she was operated upon and she gave birth prematurely. Her baby was still tiny and placed in an incubator, but luckily, both he and his mother were fine.
‘That day Shadow saved two lives. His strong senses allowed him to detect that something wasn’t right with that woman’s child. A few days after the incident, Shadow and Agent Grant paid the woman a visit at the hospital where she and the staff gave an appreciative “thank you” to Shadow in a brightly lit hospital ward. Such are the immense workings or wonders of God. A God who knew in advance and selected an animal to be man’s best friend also equipped it with ability to detect when something is wrong medically with a human being.
“A God equipped dogs with up to 300 million scent receptors so that they are able to detect diseases, anomalies or other medical emergencies in a woman it had never been seen before…Something no machine with all its sensors and gadgets can do till date. All glory to God.”
Where do we go from here, from this astounding development? In the enlightenment mediated in these times, in the unique Work, The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin, we learn that an animal possesses neither the quality not the ability of instinct as man understands the word. In incidents that perplex human beings, an animal, in this case a dog, merely heeds a warning that is passed to it.
“As I have already explained in one of my earlier lectures,” says Abd-ru-shin, “the soul of an animal does not originate in the Spiritual Sphere from which man comes, but from the Animistic Sphere. The elemental beings also originate there.” We are further told: “All these elemental beings originate in another section of the Animistic Sphere to that of the animal souls. However, the mutual homogeneity of their origin provides a greater possibility for them to recognise each other. Thus, an animal is far better equipped to recognise these elemental beings than man, whose origin lies in the Spiritual Sphere.
“The elemental beings know exactly when and where sudden changes in Nature are about to take place, such as landslides, rocks being dislodged from mountain, trees falling, the caving-in of land undermined by water, the bursting of a dam, sudden water eruptions, volcanic and fire eruptions, tidal waves and floods, earthquakes and everything else coming within the same category, because they themselves are occupied with the preparation and bringing about of such changes, which men call disasters and catastrophes.”
It continues: “Man, however, does not see these elemental beings and very often runs into danger, thereby perishing or suffering great harm.
“For this reason man should pay more attention to animals so that he learns to understand them. Then animals will truly become man’s best friends, able to fill gaps and thus be much more useful to him than they have been in the past.”
The Guardian
