We love our cats and dogs, as spiritual master Eckhart Tolle and cartoonist Patrick McDonnell know all too well. Could we love them not simply because they're so much fun, but also because they have profound life lessons to teach us? In Guardians of Being (first published in 2009), Tolle holds up animals' simplicity as a virtue, asserting that their joy, their unself-conscious is-ness, can help humans appreciate the wonder of the present moment.
This is not a new idea, but McDonnell's cartoons, featuring beloved characters from his Mutts strip--Mooch, Earl, Ozzie and friends--keep it fresh. Both the text and the drawings can evoke smiles upon a quick reading or glance, but following Tolle's directive to sit and savor them will yield more of the promised wonder and peace. (Warning: non-pet owners may find themselves scurrying to the shelter to adopt a furry Zen-master friend of their own.) --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams