The Day a Baby and a Dog Both Spoke Louix’s Name

During Louix’s visit to Australia in August 2012, He came to lunch at our home. Lisa and her 7-month-old daughter, Aliyah, were staying at our home during that time, so they were also there for lunch. Our dog Barney was having an issue with Aliyah staying in the house, constantly barking and growling at her. As he was the dominant dog, I was concerned he would nip her to assert his authority, so we had him on a leash to keep him at a distance from the baby, even during lunch.

After lunch we sat in the lounge room to chat for a while. The topic came up about how much Aliyah had been speaking lately. Lisa explained that she had spoken her first words only the previous week, which comprised mostly unrecognizable babbling, but also the word “Baba.” Lisa found it interesting that she chose that particular word, as it has a spiritual significance (spiritual Masters are often referred to as “Baba,” the Sanskrit word for “Father”).

Louix (half jokingly) asked Aliyah if she could say “Bhagavan” (the first part of Louix’s Sanskrit name, Bhagavan Sri Pranananda). In response, she spoke the word, as clearly as an adult would speak it! We were all surprised and laughed as Aliyah had only ever spoken one word prior to that. Louix again said “Bhagavan,” which she repeated back a second time. Our laughter increased. Louix tried once more:  “Bhagavan.” Aliyah, on cue, said the word again. By this point, we were all laughing hysterically at the fact that Aliyah had not only said a new word, but that the word was “Bhagavan,” and she not only said it once but repeated it three times!

It gets better… Barney (the dog) was very jealous at this stage, as Aliyah was now getting a lot of attention, and so he started to bark. Louix turned and spoke to Barney:  “We haven’t forgotten about you, Barney. Would you like to speak, too?” We all looked at Barney and it was obvious he wanted some attention. “Barney, can you say Bhagavan?” Barney made the sound “Booogaaavooon” (part howl, part speaking, but the best sound Barney could make resembling speech). The whole room burst into laughter. Barney is a very communicative dog and lets Lynda and I know his needs by barking, but I had never before heard him speak an actual word! Louix spoke to Barney again, “Say ‘Bhagavan.’” “Booogaaavooon,” Barney repeated. We were all now laughing even louder as he was letting us know this wasn’t a fluke. Milking the moment for all it was worth, Louix then spoke to Barney a third time, “Say ‘Bhagavan.’” “Booogaaavooon!” By this point, we were all nearly rolling on the floor with laughter, hearing a dog “speak” so clearly. The fact he was doing it to get attention made it even funnier.

When we stopped laughing, we spoke about the significance of what just happened. After that moment, Aliyah went back to speaking only the word “Baba” for another few weeks before she added the next word to her vocabulary. So the fact that she spoke a new word and repeated it three times was highly significant. I also felt that both Barney and Aliyah were showing us that they recognised Louix as Bhagavan (the Sanskrit word for “God” or “Lord”), and that they did this to remind us that both children and animals have an instant connection to the Divine.

A few years previously, our other dog, Coco, had prostrated herself in front of our altar as Louix entered our house.

- Ron Hansen
Melbourne, Australia