Montana Lily; 4/28/06 -- 8/20/07
On the morning of August 20 I noticed Montana Lily wasn't waiting with the others for her morning grain. I went looking and found her off in the rear of the enclosure, part way down a slope into some bushes, lying on her side, groaning. I called the vet and we started trying to help her. We couldn't get her to sit up, let alone stand. She was panting, her belly bloated. Her rear legs were not responsive. Every few minutes her whole body shuddered and cried in pain. We stayed with her for about an hour, trying to calm and cool her, keeping her hydrated, shading her from the sun. Eventually sweet Lily exhaled and let go. We all sat silent. Some started sobbing. I drew away, wanting to leave and never return. I wrote a letter to my spiritual teacher instead.What kind of person was Lily? From her very first day here we knew Lily was special. Lily was born about a month premature. At birth her tiny feet had not yet fully formed and they took another few weeks to do so. She was little at first, yet she grew into a fine young camel of good size and proportion. Her face was a bit flatter than most camels'. Lily had big soupy eyes. She always felt compelled to walk up to everyone and look them directly in the eyes with her love. Her gaze and greetings were disarmingly sweet and innocent. She had her pouty, pissy, side but mostly she was the epitome of gentleness and depth. She stole your heart. She really was this way. More etheric than the others Lily would virtually brush you with her aura.
How did she die? We will never know for sure as no autopsy was done and nobody was with her when she fell, nor prior to it. At this point we are considering the following as possibilities:
- A rib may have punctured a lung
- Congenital internal weakness
- Fatal bloat due to something she ingested
- Snake bite or other venomous creature (no bite marks were found)
In Fiji, Avatar Adi Da did a very concentrated Blessing ceremony for Lily via her photograph. Later, He was exquisitely loving with those around Him.
We buried her body the next day in Peaceful Camel Valley. With the summer heat, by the time of the burial those present experienced the vision of death and decay very directly. Sweet Lily was now gone, her body simply a decaying, swollen, stinking, lump; yet even this was still loveable.
Coal, the big black Sanctuary dog, joined us in Lily's vigil. He sat all day with Lily's body, rarely leaving her side. Even when things happened that would normally draw him away he either stayed or came right back after investigating. He and I were up all night sitting with Lily's body. I'd never seen him so one pointed for so long. He showed me how to do a vigil. He also gave everyone so much good, serious, happy, energy.
Coming now at the very beginning of the Sacred Camel Gardens, Lily's life and sudden death is a gift of some of the sweetest innocence shown by non-humans, as well as the seriousness of this undertaking. We move forward now with this lesson always before us.
The future of Fear-No-More-Zoo and its Sacred Camel Gardens is in all our hands. More support is needed... please get involved. We invite your help and care.
According to Avatar Adi Da, the process and development of Fear-No-More Zoo can have a thoroughly benign, positive, influence in the world of man, and in man's relationship to the world we live in... and more profoundly than through any other non-human / environmental cause or project.
By giving energy to Fear-No-More Zoo, and the Vision of Fear-No-More, we contact, support and combine with what Touches the roots of human egoity, healing the heart as fear dissolves...
Service and support to Fear-No-More Zoo is a Prayer of Changes, in action, for the world at large.
When Lily died a part of me died also. Fear-No-More touches and soaks my heels. There are no mere animals at Fear-No-More Zoo, or anywhere else. Whether human or non-human we are all persons... "equals at heart".
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