As kittens we feel it often. All it takes is a wind-blown feather, an unexpected delicacy, or the alluring rush of water and instantly we are caught up in it: Wonderment. Enchantment. Being fully absorbed in the here and now.

By the time we reach senior status, way beyond the point of being impressed by such trivia, we have become knowing and indifferent.

But we have lost something, have we not?

Which begs answers to some intriguing questions. Is it possible to recover the unaffected zest for life which once came to us so naturally? To become un-blase? Can you and I, dear reader, awaken the kitten within?

The Dalai Lama's Cat is confronted by a most unpleasant truth: she is getting old.

A routine visit to the vet confirms this. But is a future of decrepitude and senior cat biscuits inevitably a cause for despair? As it happens, she soon finds that a startling reminder of life's transience is exactly what's needed to renew our gratitude for life. To lighten up, accept ourselves, and value what truly matters.

With irrepressible mischief, the Dalai Lama's Cat explores the intriguing insight that reality is a projection of our mind. In so doing, she comes to discover that awakening the kitten within is not just possible -- it is our purpose! For when we do so with a particular wisdom, we catch a glimpse of our own sublime nature. With a benevolent energy that reaches from the pages, this is the Dalai Lama's Cat at her most tender, irreverent, joyful best.

Dalai Lama's Cat Awaken the Kitten Within, David Michie, Conch Books, Paperback, 282 pages, $16.45

David Michie is the internationally best-selling author of The Dalai Lama's Cat series of novels, the spiritual thrillers The Magician of Lhasa and The Secret Mantra, as well as other fiction and non-fiction titles including Why Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate, Hurry Up and Meditate, Buddhism for Busy People and Buddhism for Pet Lovers. His books are available in 30 languages in over 50 different countries.

David is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer and coach on mindfulness and meditation. He has extensive experience presenting to a wide variety of different audiences around the world.

In 2015 he established Mindful Safaris, leading groups to Africa - where he was born and brought up � encouraging people to visit unexplored places, outer and inner, through a combination of daily game viewing trips and mindfulness sessions.

David writes on Substack: https://davidmichie.substack.com/