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NEWS- Monk-eying around with feline
- Subject: NEWS- Monk-eying around with feline
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 22:03:00
Subject: NEWS- Monk-eying around with felines
Monk-eying around with felines
Monastery attracts tourists with jumping cats
June 24, 1999
Web posted at: 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727
GMT)
In this story:
Commander lives out hoop
dreams
Training DiCaprio, Madonna, Demi
Moore
RELATED SITES
INLAY LAKE, Myanmar (AP) -- Few places exude a greater
air of otherworldly abandonment than the 155-year-old Phe
Chaung monastery on the shores of this isolated lake.
That was before the world discovered the jumping cats.
The half-dozen Buddhist monks here used to train the
monastery's resident cats to jump through hoops as a way
of
dealing with boredom. Now, they have little time for
tranquil
meditation as thousands of cat lovers from around the
world
come to see the trick.
"French, Germans, Italians, Japanese," recites Kai Ti,
the
abbot. "For them, it's something you don't see every day.
Some of them have done videos that made the jumping cats
famous."
A teak beam in the sanctuary is covered with tour company
stickers, evidence of attempts by the cash-strapped
military
regime ruling Myanmar, also known as Burma, to end
decades of isolation and woo tourist dollars.
Commander lives out hoop dreams
But not just tourists come. On a recent day, a squad of
armed soldiers came to check security for the regional
battalion commander, who was to visit later in the
afternoon.
Cpl. Htay Hlaing was amazed by the leaping felines and,
after several tries and a little help from a monk, got
one to
jump through a hoop.
"I love cats and have many cats at home, but I've never
seen
anything like this," Htay Hlaing said.
Pulling up to the monastery dock on Inlay Lake, a water
world in northeastern Myanmar where fisherman and farmers
virtually live in their teak canoes, newcomers know
they've
got the right place.
A fine-boned, calico cat sits regally on the steps as a
sort of
welcoming committee. A couple of kittens sharpen their
claws on the railing. Inside, two dozen felines scamper
between Buddha images or wait impatiently for Kai Ti and
his young acolytes to fill scattered feeding bowls.
One French guide always makes sure to bring flea powder
and Friskies food to supplement the cats' normal diet --
usually, whatever is left from the begging bowls and an
occasional lake fish.
Training DiCaprio, Madonna, Demi Moore
"I've liked cats since I was young," Kai Ti says. "I
can't really
say why I like cats so much, but I hate dogs."
Kai Ti, 64, has been at the monastery for 40 years. Many
years ago, three or four cats appeared and he began
caring
for them, feeding them with leftovers from his morning
begging rounds.
One day, he was bored and began experimenting to see if
he could get them to jump through a hoop.
The abbot motions a young acolyte to demonstrate.
Getting a kitten to stand still, he lifts it up and down
gently
under the chin and stomach three times, then makes his
arms into a circle a few inches off the floor.
The kitten jumps over and is rewarded with a bit of fish.
Then the monk takes an adult cat and holds an eight-inch
hoop about three feet off the floor. The cat easily hops
through. All the cats, who are descended from the
original
group, can jump, Kai Ti said.
Caught up in the celebrity, the monks have started giving
the
cats names: Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Demi Moore,
Marilyn Monroe, Diana.
The temple contains true treasures -- lacquerware Buddhas
covered in gold leaf, for example, that are rare
antiques.
Visitors usually leave donations, but the generosity
rarely
seems spiritually motivated.
"Nobody comes to look at the Buddhas," Kai Ti grumbles.
"Nobody ever asks about Buddhism. They just want to see
the cats."