Do dogs go to heaven?
READER Jo Fucio (e-mail: jofucio@yahoo.com) sent the following letter with interesting questions about dogs and the afterlife:
“I had a 3-month-old pup that died of viral infection [recently]. I miss him already... I hope you’ll be able to help me understand things, because I want to know if our pup still exists or not. Of course, I want him to be happy in heaven with God.
“1. Do dogs have a soul? (I believe every living creature God created has soul but do dogs really have a soul?)
“2. Do they get to heaven?
“3. Do they have memories of their owners when they are already in heaven? Do they miss their owners?
“4. When our pup died, its eyes were open. The vets couldn’t close them. When my father arrived after a few minutes, he was able to close them. Could it be that our pup didn’t want to go? Or did he want to see us before he went? (Maybe there is a scientific basis for this. I don’t know.)
“5. I remember when our pup died, I turned on the lights in our garage. His food container fell to the ground. I thought it could be him. He’s letting me know he’s just around. Could it be him?
“6. Do they watch over their owners? Could he be around the house visiting us? Or in the car? Because we used to bring him on our trips.
“7. We miss our pup a lot. We always mention his name, look for him and we hold his toy when we miss him. Could he sense that we miss him? Does it make him sad?
“8. Can we meet in heaven someday? (I’m aware all of us will die.)
“I hope I didn’t make you laugh with my questions. I believe we communicate in some ways.”
Answers
Here are my answers to your questions:
1. According to one school of philosophy, all living things have a soul because the soul is defined as the “principle of life.” However, souls differ in terms of function or powers.
For example, the soul of a plant is vegetative. It can only reproduce and grow. It has no sensation. (However, this last statement was challenged by the findings of polygraph expert Cleve Backster, who proved that plants had emotions or feelings.)
Animals have what is called a sentient soul. It can reproduce, grow, move and have sensations.
Human beings have a rational soul. In addition to the above powers, they can think and reason, although most don’t.
Another distinction made among different types of souls is that a plant soul simply dissolves when the plant dies. Animal soul has no individuality. When an animal dies, the soul goes back to a “group soul.” There are group souls of cats, dogs, chickens.Only human souls have individuality. When a human being dies, it retains its individual character in the afterlife. That’s the theory. There are, of course, other views regarding this that I am not very familiar with.
2. I do not know whether dogs go to what Christians call “heaven.” You must realize that the concept of heaven is not held by other religions.
3. Some domesticated animals, because of their closeness to their human masters, acquire a certain degree of individuation. And when they die, they can be seen or felt by the owner. Clairvoyants have seen dogs who have already died for several years inside the house of their masters. So it is possible that when the master dies, he or she will meet the same dog.
4. I will not give any other meaning to your dog’s eyes being open when it died. Some people die with eyes open, too.
5. Yes, it is possible the consciousness of your dog is still there in the place where he used to stay. As I pointed out, some people had seen spirits of their dogs in their homes. One was even photographed. The image of the dead dog appeared on the wall behind its master whose picture was taken. See my book “Ghosts in Photos” (Anvil).
6. This question is already answered. In one case, I was told, the feces of the dead dog was found outside the kitchen door after he died. That’s where the dog used to defecate when it was alive. It happened twice. Then no more.
7. It is possible your dog senses your concern if it has acquired a high degree of individuation. You will most likely meet again in the afterlife.
By the way, this column comes out in the Lifestyle Section of Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday, not Thursday. You can read this column, as well as other columns, on the Internet by logging in to www.inq7.net, then click Lifestyle.
source: http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72841&col=3
“I had a 3-month-old pup that died of viral infection [recently]. I miss him already... I hope you’ll be able to help me understand things, because I want to know if our pup still exists or not. Of course, I want him to be happy in heaven with God.
“1. Do dogs have a soul? (I believe every living creature God created has soul but do dogs really have a soul?)
“2. Do they get to heaven?
“3. Do they have memories of their owners when they are already in heaven? Do they miss their owners?
“4. When our pup died, its eyes were open. The vets couldn’t close them. When my father arrived after a few minutes, he was able to close them. Could it be that our pup didn’t want to go? Or did he want to see us before he went? (Maybe there is a scientific basis for this. I don’t know.)
“5. I remember when our pup died, I turned on the lights in our garage. His food container fell to the ground. I thought it could be him. He’s letting me know he’s just around. Could it be him?
“6. Do they watch over their owners? Could he be around the house visiting us? Or in the car? Because we used to bring him on our trips.
“7. We miss our pup a lot. We always mention his name, look for him and we hold his toy when we miss him. Could he sense that we miss him? Does it make him sad?
“8. Can we meet in heaven someday? (I’m aware all of us will die.)
“I hope I didn’t make you laugh with my questions. I believe we communicate in some ways.”
Answers
Here are my answers to your questions:
1. According to one school of philosophy, all living things have a soul because the soul is defined as the “principle of life.” However, souls differ in terms of function or powers.
For example, the soul of a plant is vegetative. It can only reproduce and grow. It has no sensation. (However, this last statement was challenged by the findings of polygraph expert Cleve Backster, who proved that plants had emotions or feelings.)
Animals have what is called a sentient soul. It can reproduce, grow, move and have sensations.
Human beings have a rational soul. In addition to the above powers, they can think and reason, although most don’t.
Another distinction made among different types of souls is that a plant soul simply dissolves when the plant dies. Animal soul has no individuality. When an animal dies, the soul goes back to a “group soul.” There are group souls of cats, dogs, chickens.Only human souls have individuality. When a human being dies, it retains its individual character in the afterlife. That’s the theory. There are, of course, other views regarding this that I am not very familiar with.
2. I do not know whether dogs go to what Christians call “heaven.” You must realize that the concept of heaven is not held by other religions.
3. Some domesticated animals, because of their closeness to their human masters, acquire a certain degree of individuation. And when they die, they can be seen or felt by the owner. Clairvoyants have seen dogs who have already died for several years inside the house of their masters. So it is possible that when the master dies, he or she will meet the same dog.
4. I will not give any other meaning to your dog’s eyes being open when it died. Some people die with eyes open, too.
5. Yes, it is possible the consciousness of your dog is still there in the place where he used to stay. As I pointed out, some people had seen spirits of their dogs in their homes. One was even photographed. The image of the dead dog appeared on the wall behind its master whose picture was taken. See my book “Ghosts in Photos” (Anvil).
6. This question is already answered. In one case, I was told, the feces of the dead dog was found outside the kitchen door after he died. That’s where the dog used to defecate when it was alive. It happened twice. Then no more.
7. It is possible your dog senses your concern if it has acquired a high degree of individuation. You will most likely meet again in the afterlife.
By the way, this column comes out in the Lifestyle Section of Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday, not Thursday. You can read this column, as well as other columns, on the Internet by logging in to www.inq7.net, then click Lifestyle.
source: http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72841&col=3
posted by Misteryo Philippines Network (MPN) at 2:37 PM
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