Thank you pal, your words were truly a relief for me, because we don't need to be perfect, but if we manage to do what is right most of the time, it's already worth it, especially for them. And I have peace of mind knowing that I did.

I remember some people I know questioning why I only offered expensive super-premium food, always tailored to her age. Amid all of this, I felt a little less sad when one of the vets who treated Nina told me: “—Her condition is quite delicate, but I want to say that, looking at her test results, it's clear that you took very good care of her and that she had a good life. The care you've given her over these 14 years is evident. Unfortunately, feline triad syndrome is a complex condition with causes that are still not fully understood (there are several, at least eight, that can occur and combine together).”

So it's really about understanding and internalizing what you mentioned. Once again, I felt a little lighter reading your words, despite the sadness.

 

Some consolation can be found here:

WHAT IS DEATH with GM WOLF and MATT RICKARD ©

https://www.youtube.com/@GrandmasterWolfmystic

 

Thanks again for the suggestion. The video is very interesting and summarizes my belief: when the “vehicle” reaches the end of its useful life, it is discarded, while the true “driver”, the consciousness or spirit, remains intact and continues to live, but on another plane, where it can park or prepare to reincarnate again, according to the individual circumstances experienced by each one.

Without intending to turn this into a mediumship session or a post about religion, I leave here a recommendation for those interested in the subject to consult the materials produced by a South American medium named Rogério de Almeida Freitas, also known as Jan Val Ellam (http://www.janvalellam.org/about). What he says about spirituality is simply mind-blowing!

 

Thank you for the tip and the link. I'll read it tomorrow and then form my opinion. I'm really looking forward to his website.

Consciousness Beyond Death | Dr. Pim van Lommel

Cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel became internationally known after his ground-breaking study on NDEs (Near Death Experiences) was published in the respected medical journal The Lancet, in 2001. The study was remarkable in that it was a prospective one: conditions were set and ready before patients underwent cardiac arrest.

The results showed that merely physiological explanations for the NDEs were inadequate, thereby raising profound questions about the nature of consciousness and its relation to brain function. In this in-depth interview, Essentia Foundation's Natalia Vorontsova discusses the philosophical implications of these findings with Dr. van Lommel, at his house in the Netherlands.

This video has human-created English, Spanish and Russian subtitles, so don't forget to click on the 'CC' button and Settings icon below the video to enable them.

00:00 Intro
00:03:25 Involvement with NDE research
00:07:55 Perceptual change
00:09:45 Possible root causes
00:25:05 Explain unexplainable
00:28:58 A man who lost his dentures
00:34:08 What about science?
00:37:11 Consciousness and body
00:46:03 Science and subjective experience
00:49:37 Science and non-local consciousness
00:53:53 Paradigm shift
00:56:38 Personal impact
00:58:57 Personal insights

More: https://pimvanlommel.nl/en

 

Last edited: Jul 29, 2025

I am a dog rescuer. I live in a kinda backwards country where people are polarised on stray animals. I looked at the situation and decided that I cannot change the system which devours street dogs but I could rescue whichever I could reach.
I have personally saved and re-homed, or helped to find a home more than hundred stray dogs. I had looked after almost all of them at my home for some time, before they had moved into their forever home.
When I was a child a street dog used to be perceived as the pet of the whole neighbourhood. Now some people here consider them as pests. They have no idea about how we humans had domesticated the wolves and how we have all kinds of dogs now. They are all our own produce.
I have a great respect and love for all the dogs. They have taught me a great deal about life. I am much more humble, open, caring and understanding now. Which I could hardly say about my old self.
They have definitely helped me in becoming a better human being.
The only bad thing about the dogs are that they have relatively short livespans. I had to let go several loved ones during the last fifteen years. It was not an easy experience. But that was life. And who can say our universe is the best?

 

Your gesture constitutes a silent and loving form of resistance against a crappy system, and that is profoundly valuable. Your comment reminds me of Panther5’s previous one, as both reveal deep connections with animals and denounce the failure of a system that should protect them. On one hand, direct rescue that transforms lives; on the other, outrage against the commodification of animal health. Both express a pursuit of ethics, dignity, and justice for beings who remain defenseless in the concrete jungle.

 

A living being is much more than mere matter: it possesses both body and consciousness (not only humans, but also animals and plants!) To truly understand life, it's necessary to include subjective aspects/consciousness. Tesla stated that the acceptance of a non-materialist view of consciousness will be slow, as it involves a paradigm shift. Near-death experiences (NDEs) are important because they suggest that consciousness can exist independently of brain function. Thus, we can perceive that reality, when we move beyond a pragmatic-materialist bias, is subjective, shaped by the current state of our consciousness. Change is gradual and involves practical learning: living each day with love, gratitude, respect, and an awareness of our connection with everything and everyone. JUST AMAZING!

 

I no longer have any photos of my dog Squiggy, but I miss her sooo much. Coming up in my teen years she was always there for me. When I got my heart broken, when I lost my gig with the band and she was my cooler keeping me from taking that .45 & blowing someone's head off.
I knew she was sick and the vet suggested youth in Asia I just couldn't kill my dog. I rescued her from a kid that was abusing her. And she was loyal.
Rest In Peace Squiggy Daddy still loves & misses you.

 

It's heartbreaking loosing best friends. My puppy Dodie had a bad kidney at birth and was sick for most her life. She lived for 6 years and I had to put her down around a month ago.
One of the most pleasant Lucid dreams I've ever had was of my dog Gypsy who had passed and she was chasing a man on a old bike who was dressed in clothing from the 1920's. She was running behind him on the street I grew up on in Garden Grove. They were trying to teach me how to fly and I was flying after them a few feet off the ground.

 

To me, it becomes increasingly clear: feelings are forces that transcend dimensions, capable of crossing existential planes and touching those we love, wherever they or we may be...
May our beloved pets, whether they are in a process of spiritual healing, preparing to reincarnate, or already reincarnated, receive our unconditional love for them!

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2025

I'm still heartbroken over the loss on April 1st of our beloved dog Marley who blessed us with his incredible being for 16 years, a rescue from Hungary brought into the country by a sweet one woman rescue machine. He was absolutely huge for a dog weighing in at 5 1/2 kilos. I never had him on a leash and he would strut with his very special swagger as I followed him as he guided us on our walks through our village and surrounding farmland. He brought joy to everybody who saw and knew him which was so very easy to recognize by the huge smiles and grins on people's faces when in his presence. I was engaged in conversation by strangers perhaps thousands of times, asking me what kind of a dog he was (Pekingese/Shitzu) and having an overwhelming need to pet him and have audience. He never met a cat that he didn't want to make friends with and always held his own with even the largest dogs he would encounter. Marley loved children and was the first dog so very many young children first touched (there was lots of babies cooing as parents guided their little ones hands on his fur in first encounters) and many children who had a fear of dogs quickly got over it after coming into the circle of his love. If we came back from a stroll during the kindergarten mid morning break with the class that shares the plaza/playground of our apartment complex he would always plop himself down in the same spot on the grass and instantly be encircled by all those little kids who adored him. He couldn't get enough of it and rolled on the ground in happiness with a smile on his face.

Marley was his own man. There was at the time a mandate when we first he had come into our lives that all newly registered dogs need be enrolled in an obedience course. While all the other puppies were listening to their humans and in return getting little treats for sitting, running the obstacle course or rolling over Marley would have none of that. He couldn't be bribbed to perform and would rather just play in the snow or to do what Marley did best...pick a small spot of ground and scrutinize and catalog evert single smell that resided there which he could do for hours if not nudged to move on. Since he had no snout to speak of his face was always stinky and needed a wash which he disliked wholeheartedly. Thank goodness the certificate was only participation based and not one of achievement else they would have put him on the next bus back to Budapest, lol. None of that mattered as he learned in spite of puppy schol to stop when I told him to before crossing the street and to walk when it was safe to do so. Everything else was Marley's decision as to where to go and he always would take us on a different path home than the way we got there in the first place.

This story pretty much defines in a few words the soul and innate intelligence of who we were dealing with. When he was about 7 1/2 months old, was just pretty much a ball of hair on a 2 kilo frame, during a hike Marley decided to check out a flock of maybe 20 sheep in an enclosure of about 20 x 20 meters. When he entered the pen by slipping effortlessly without even ducking his head under the bottom of the wooden post fencing, all the sheep in fear of the little intruder moved hurriedly away from him. He picked up immediately on the power that he held over them and began herding the flock into the four different corners of the pen one and then the next. It was awesome to watch that tiny thing lord over them. Afterwards we gave him his very first bath as he was literally covered from head to paws in sheep shit...at which point we learned that he hated being washed.

I love that boy.



He is and will always be missed

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2025

I'm pretty spiritual, though not a fan of spiritual guru's who generally peddle courses, books, you tube channels, etc normally orientated around some convoluted world view that pays the bills.

BUT people like Professor Bernard Carr, and the large scale NDE investigations I think are surfacing growing evidence that human bodies are receivers for an eternal/timeless consciousness connected to a larger loving super consciousness (that may well be the underlying system that builds physical reality). Science and consciousness studies seem to be really expanding their models recently, and moving away from pure materialism.

I'm not convinced we can accurately detail the mechanical system running all this (which maybe impossible, in a time based, human three dimensional state), it may never be fully provable - until you die yourself :D. I'm OK with a simple model that feels believable to me.

If we go with the theory that consciousness can adapt to any physical body/form, including its cognitive limitations, there's no reason we cannot have been or will be, or are also animals, alien life, pets, etc....anything that's sentient?

Hell, if i was an evolving consciousness trying to understand the universe and myself why not experience multiple forms?

So, I like to wonder who my cats might have been..or will be, and i deeply believe they continue on their journey

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2025

Hi @barryconvex, do you have a link to Professor Bernard Carr?

The Internet offers a wealth of information, so you can even educate yourself for free:

"Consciousness is Immortal.“ | An In-Depth Interview with Tom Campbell

Tom Campbell: Life Between Lives as Consciousness 9/29/12

 

Rest in peace my best friend & family I miss you too much.

Time will heal to a certain extent but the pain will remain for life. all the best to you Mynock ..

 

There you go Pulse

 

This is a wonderful thread.
We have three cats. They become family. The eldest is 14 so we will have to go through the same thing in the not too distant future (again). The prior two (yes we have had several) ,are buried in the backyard and we planted flowers and a tree over them.
Again, thank you for the thread.

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2025