HummingBird

Bhakti-heart

2010-06-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

This blog site is getting slow to load. My new blog site is here-
http://bhakti-heart.blogspot.com

everyone on earth...

2010-05-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

addressing suffering

2010-02-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

I decided that my being should be dedicated to something useful for others. One of my favourite prayers says "So long as space remains... So long as sentient beings suffer and remain... I will remain in order to serve". This gives me a lot of comfort. This is the meaning of my life

The Dalai Lama

*

Ahimsa

By
Sri Swami Sivananda
[extracts]

.... There is one religion - the religion of love, of peace. There is one message, the message of Ahimsa. Ahimsa is a supreme duty of man.

Ahimsa, or refraining from causing pain to any living creature, is a distinctive quality emphasized by Indian ethics. Ahimsa or non-violence has been the central doctrine of Indian culture from the earliest days of its history. Ahimsa is a great spiritual force.

MEANING OF AHIMSA

Ahimsa or non-injury, of course, implies non-killing. But, non-injury is not merely non-killing. In its comprehensive meaning, Ahimsa or non-injury means entire abstinence from causing any pain or harm whatsoever to any living creature, either by thought, word, or deed. Non-injury requires a harmless mind, mouth, and hand.

Ahimsa is not mere negative non-injury. It is positive, cosmic love. It is the development of a mental attitude in which hatred is replaced by love. Ahimsa is true sacrifice. Ahimsa is forgiveness. Ahimsa is Sakti (power). Ahimsa is true strength.

SUBTLE FORMS OF HIMSA

Only the ordinary people think that Ahimsa is not to hurt any living being physically. This is but the gross form of Ahimsa. The vow of Ahimsa is broken even by showing contempt towards another man, by entertaining unreasonable dislike for or prejudice towards anybody, by frowning at another man, by hating another man, by abusing another man, by speaking ill of others, by backbiting or vilifying, by harbouring thoughts of hatred, by uttering lies, or by ruining another man in any way whatsoever.

All harsh and rude speech is Himsa (violence or injury). Using harsh words to beggars, servants or inferiors is Himsa. Wounding the feelings of others by gesture, expression, tone of voice and unkind words is also Himsa. Slighting or showing deliberate discourtesy to a person before others is wanton Himsa. To approve of another's harsh actions is indirect Himsa. To fail to relieve another's pain, or even to neglect to go to the person in distress is a sort of Himsa. It is the sin of omission. Avoid strictly all forms of harshness, direct or indirect, positive or negative, immediate or delayed. Practice Ahimsa in its purest form and become divine. Ahimsa and Divinity are one....

.... Ahimsa is never a policy. It is a sublime virtue. It is the fundamental quality of seekers after Truth. No Self-realization is possible without Ahimsa.... More

In Engaged Buddhism, Peace Begins with You
By John Malkin

Thich Nhat Hanh, who originated Engaged Buddhism, in an interview with John Malkin.

I met with Thich Nhat Hanh recently at the Kim Son Monastery in Northern California. I was happy to be seated on a zafu drinking tea with him, but I was also glad when he motioned with a simple gesture towards the page of questions sitting at my side: otherwise the lunch bell might have sounded an hour later without the interview having begun.

Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967, after playing a central role in the Vietnamese peace movement. He is the author of over one hundred books, including Love in Action, Peace Is Every Step, The Miracle of Mindfulness and No Death, No Fear. He currently lives at Plum Village Monastery in France.
-John Malkin

John Malkin: Will you describe the origins of Engaged Buddhism and how you became involved in compassion-based social change?

Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on-not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you.

When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war. So we were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism.

Buddhism has to do with your daily life, with your suffering and with the suffering of the people around you. You have to learn how to help a wounded child while still practicing mindful breathing. You should not allow yourself to get lost in action. Action should be meditation at the same time.

John Malkin: Why did you come to the United States for the first time in 1966, and what happened while you were here?

Thich Nhat Hanh: I was invited by Cornell University to deliver a series of talks. I took the opportunity to speak about the suffering that was going on in Vietnam. After that I learned that the Vietnamese government didn't want me to come home. So I had to stay on and continue the work over here. It was not my intention to come to the West and share Buddhism at all. But because I was forced into exile, I did. An opportunity for sharing just presented itself.

John Malkin: What did you learn from being in the United States during that time?

Thich Nhat Hanh: The first thing I learned was that even if you have a lot of money and power and fame, you can still suffer very deeply. If you don't have enough peace and compassion within you, there is no way you can be happy. Many people in Asia would like to consume as much as Europeans and Americans. So when I teach in China and Thailand and in other Asian countries, I always tell them that people suffer very deeply in the West, believing that consuming a lot will bring them happiness. You have to go back to the traditional values and deepen your practice.

John Malkin: What did you learn from Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement in the United States?

Thich Nhat Hanh: The last time Martin Luther King and I met was in Geneva during the peace conference called Paix sur Terre—"Peace on Earth." I was able to tell him that the people in Vietnam were very grateful for him because he had come out against the violence in Vietnam. They considered him to be a great bodhisattva, working for his own people and supporting us. Unfortunately, three months later he was assassinated.

John Malkin: What is your view of the current peace movement in the United States?

Thich Nhat Hanh: People were very compassionate and willing to support us in ending the war in Vietnam during the sixties. But the peace movement in America did not have enough patience. People became angry very quickly because what they were doing wasn't bringing about what they wanted. So there was a lot of anger and violence in the peace movement.

Nonviolence and compassion are the foundations of a peace movement. If you don't have enough peace and understanding and loving-kindness within yourself, your actions will not truly be for peace. Everyone knows that peace has to begin with oneself, but not many people know how to do it.

John Malkin: People often feel that they need to choose between being engaged in social change or working on personal and spiritual growth. What would you say to those people?

Thich Nhat Hanh: I think that view is rather dualistic. The practice should address suffering: the suffering within yourself and the suffering around you. They are linked to each other. When you go to the mountain and practice alone, you don't have the chance to recognize the anger, jealousy and despair that's in you. That's why it's good that you encounter people—so you know these emotions. So that you can recognize them and try to look into their nature. If you don't know the roots of these afflictions, you cannot see the path leading to their cessation. That's why suffering is very important for our practice.

John Malkin: When the World Trade Center was destroyed, you were asked what you would say to those responsible. You answered that you would listen compassionately and deeply to understand their suffering. Tell me about the practice of deep listening and how you think it helps in personal situations, as well as in situations like the World Trade Center attacks.

Thich Nhat Hanh: The practice of deep listening should be directed towards oneself first. If you don't know how to listen to your own suffering, it will be difficult to listen to the suffering of another person or another group of people.

I have recommended that America listen to herself first, because there is a lot of suffering within her borders. There are so many people who believe they are victims of discrimination and injustice, and they have never been heard and understood.

My proposal is very concrete: we have to set up a group of people—a kind of parliament—to practice listening to the suffering of America. It's my conviction that there are people in America who are capable of listening deeply, with compassion in their hearts. We have to identify them, and ask them to come and help us. Then we will ask the people who suffer to come forward and tell us what they have in their hearts. They'll have to tell us everything, and that won't be easy for those listening.

If America can practice this within her own borders, she will learn a lot. The insight will be enormous, and based on that insight, we can start actions that can repair the damage done in the past.

If America succeeded in that, she could bring that practice to the international level. The fact is that people know America has the capacity to hit. To hit very hard and make people suffer. But if America does not hit, that brings her more respect and gives her more authority.

Source

When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take seriously our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment.

- The Dalai Lama

'The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more that you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.'

'What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.'

Thomas Merton

img src

The Infinite Heart

2009-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

My sense is we can never 'share' or 're-live' an experience.
We can speak 'around it', point to it, tell tales or draw pictures to illustrate
- but the experience itself can only be experienced with awareness.

The experience can only be experienced in the present
once experienced
it is in the past
- a memory or fantasy
not 'the thing itself'

Since the beginnings of time beings have been on a search
to experience the utter sacredness of all
to find meaning of Be-ing

Endless books have been written, tales told, paintings painted and
The Enlightened Ones in their compassion have left us trails and signs
and we each walk a path on our Life's Journey

and every path leads to
Oneness which is beyond words
which only takes place in the present

So can I share an experience
I can only invite you to experience it...

gratitude, love, wonder, awe, devotion, surrender ... words keep flowing in the attempt...

... Be-ing whispers its heart-language as sacred prayer.

No words, just surrender, devotion, infinite love ...

the Infinite Heart is realised

No matter what our path
unobstructed, receptive Be-ing in the moment
- the Divine flows through the window

in the thunder of silence
Many Windows
One light
raising Gaia's vibrations

Bowing to Beloved Guruji [Swamiji Sraddhasudhasharananda, also lovingly known as Swamiji Eli] who brought the GIFT of The Gaia Minute to all of us

The Gaia Minute has two aspects:

1. Sincere prayer by 1,500-2,000 people EACH day at the SAME appointed time.

2. At the individual level, Prayer as Daily Practice.

"... morning and night, for 9 minutes beginning at 9:09, in each participant’s time zone, this Divine Mandate – will join my heart with yours in combined prayer. An hourly wave that takes place on opposite sides of the globe simultaneously, every hour. Every hour, somewhere, it will be 9:09.
Please consider also, if both morning or night at 9:09 in your time zone, does not work for you, that you may also define time by the word MUHURTA, the moment of NOW. As noted, at 9 past the hour, someone, somewhere, will eventually be part of this prayer project and will be meditating with you." Swamiji Sraddhasudhasharananda

sign in

practice The Gaia Minute daily

also join Siona's GAIA MINUTE CALL

organise a Gaia Minute prayer group where you live

...More...

Q&A

Share experiences

Do you have a Gaia Minute link?

Prayers and Meditations

Spreading the message

Om Namo Narayanam

Farewell to FaceBook

2009-11-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

For some time now my facebook account has been hacked. Although my profile page is visible, I have been unable to post, comment, etc. Now I have also been disabled to login, make inquiries about my password etc.

I would like to be able to login one final time in order to close my account and have written a request to FaceBook admin to close my account for me as I am unable to do so myself.

This morning I remembered that when I post a blog here from my HummingBird blogsite, it automatically shows up on FaceBook and so I'm attempting this avenue as an opportunity to say farewell to FaceBook - not to my friends and beloveds.

Those wishing to stay in contact are welcome to do so in the Gaia network where my name is hummingbird and my profile page is http://anuradha.gaia.com/profile.

I receive my Face Book notifications and have been sorry not to be able to respond to them. I would be grateful if those who read this message pass the word on so those who don't know, so they understand why I have not responded.

I have asked my daughter Natalie, who has lovingly downloaded all my photo albums, to post an explanation in my group 'passing', which I am most sorry to say goodbye to, but know all is as it must be and it will be in good hands. Those who wish to join http://groups.gaia.com/passing in the Gaia Network which is a similar group are most welcome - it is a very compassionate and interactive group.

Clearly I am not meant to be here any longer. Thank you for the wonder filled journey together and may those who feel a connection contact me on Gaia - and those who don't wish to join another network, know the heart is the best meeting place of all

love a

Gaia Minute

2009-11-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

Beautiful teaching on prayer
Join us on Gaia minute
Love

A Guide To Prayer Prepared For The Gaia Minute

2009-10-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

A Guide to Prayer. Prepared for The Gaia Minute meditations

Great blessings!

It is so wonderful to hear this simple but powerful teaching

Guide To Prayer Prepared For The Gaia Minute -

What we’re asking here is pray, just pray.
Pray… Pray… Pray…
Gaia needs your prayers.
Just pray with total surrender,
in complete faith…
and that prayer collectively done –
at least 1,000 or 1,500 people,
done at the same time,
will generate the positive healing energy for all of us.
Not asking for anyone special,
not even for the betterment of general life.
Nothing…
Just surrender and praying.
Om Namo Narayanam.

If you keep your palms upside down,
how can you hold the blessings in your palm.
So to receive the prayers also,
to receive the blessings also,
you are to turn your palm the right way up and receive it.
Praying is that.
Although we know that the blessings are around,
but to be aware of the blessings
we’re to put our palm the right way up
so that it comes into our palm.
That is the prayer which has the maximum power.

deep bows

Israeli-Palestinian 5 day Retreat conducted by Thich Nhat Hanh

2009-10-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

I found this 5 day retreat series conducted by The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. I have collected the whole series together so the retreat may be at the disposal of anyone wishing ‘to attend’. For any one giving this retreat the time it deserves there will be great benefit. Simply click the links below.

With metta, a

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, a poet, a scholar, and a peace activist. His life long efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thây) teaches, writes, and gardens in Plum Village, France, a Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a mindfulness practice centre for lay people. More about Plum Village

A long-term exile from Vietnam, he was allowed to return for a trip in 2005 and again in 2007. He has published more than 100 books, including more than 40 in English. He also publishes a quarterly Dharma talk in the journal of the Order of Interbeing, The Mindfulness Bell. Nhat Hanh continues to be active in the peace movement, promoting non-violent solutions to conflict. He conducted a peace walk in Los Angeles in 2005, and again in 2007. He was awarded the Courage of Conscience award June 16, 1991. More

Day 1

Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 1 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkDWWwdNKeM
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 2 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5NMd1mmBgo
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 3 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aypOSxGPLI
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 4 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhHL30XWoW8
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 5 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQqEQO9zzU
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 6 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCnDhBsFvhw
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 7 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOBEFioQnMU
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 8 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkIfW0AbRiM
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 9 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y0Lx0Hnpg8
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 10 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1UQCM6cnqM
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 1 of 5 - Part 11 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hz-BgUROU0

Day 2

Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 1 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6a-3k7NZME
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 2 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKlPQjLAV0k
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 3 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXOYJoss2m4
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 4 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvlD2SCFYJA
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 5 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEd9GKos2zE
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 6 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca7MNx5ANng
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 7 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1WIIru-8aM
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 8 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UTInRdsIZI
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 9 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y9Eh1FlgS8
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 10 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivrEqBQtb-s
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 11 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7IPoKZUUw
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 2 of 5 - Part 12 of 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EF-AYmUtYo

Day 3

Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 1 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVu2KHItg88
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 2 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRyTNGWgvik
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 3 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76X0n1T8mlo
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 4 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_CbeTWIS6A
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 5 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWl-Maeb9UQ
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 6 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnaklEsytEs
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 7 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQuo2Qi8ZA
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 8 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmb7r2lL3gA
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 9 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSFLGtTue5g
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 10 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FoSOkrim08
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 3 of 5 - Part 11 of 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XODVDo_3h3g

Day 4

Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 1 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFuvKkux2Es
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 2 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAgUBAtkHrQ
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 3 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSxy7zQG0bE
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 4 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lBl3xE3o6Q
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 5 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KaUdFxCpug
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 6 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27yz1GblQYQ
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 7 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWg_HI0eSdg
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 8 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE57WjQ5q-g
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 9 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmhQWyAPLdw
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 10 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K-kuDYTiRg
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 11 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqrdjTmG0Y
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 12 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yWCNVK8Rpc
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 4 of 5 - Part 13 of 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9uGwzu9DjQ

Day 5

Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 1 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PabJW7b1l-4
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 2 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBOja2meapI
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 3 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4aNxWP2y9Q
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 4 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h44IjoY5ko
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 5 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGve8csgv0
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 6 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxoyetS27I
Israeli-Palestinian Retreat - Day 5 of 5 - Part 7 of 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcocfMucYHg

Gaia Minute

2009-09-29T01:52:00.000-07:00

: 9:09 :
The Gaia Minute
a sacred time to beam your light, chant a holy mantra or say a prayer for 9 minutes

Each day at 9:09 in the morning and/or evening, let us contribute to the peace and harmony of Gaia, our Mother Earth, by raising our vibration and holding in our hearts all sentient and insentient beings.

To do so, we can pray, meditate, hold intention or simply visualize all Gaia, and ourselves, as healed, healing, whole, radiant. When thousands of people join together in an endeavour such as this, the energies so generated can bring miraculous changes. And when each of us does this in our own time zone, our Mother Earth and all of benefit from a round-the-clock and round the world healing. An hourly wave will take place on opposite sides of the globe simultaneously, every hour.

Every hour – somewhere - it is 9:09

The idea is for 1,000 or more people to focus positive energy on earth and beings living on earth, simultaneously

Go ahead - join The Gaia Minute in your space!

If you wish you can also click to read the history - The Gaia Minute

- Spread the word -

love from Swamiji and all at One Light Many Windows

* * *
you can also
Conference call and participate with others
from all over Earth in a guided meditation

– THE GAIA CALL –

Dial-in Number: 1 (218) 862 1300
Conference Code: 855 676

Siona says -
'... those who are able and interested, I'd like to invite you .... to a virtual weekly gathering. Each Monday, at 9:09 am MST (GMT-7), I'll be hosting a brief guided meditation intended to help strengthen the connection between us each and benefit more fully from the power of a shared positive intent. I hope you can join me.'
________________

Step out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love
- Rumi -

________________

OM NAMO NARAYANA

2009-09-29T01:40:00.001-07:00

the heart holds nothing
yet is full

sitting in this fullness
nothing to hold

beloved Swamiji
thank you for the gift of your loving ways

the seeds you have sown
the myriad gifts you impart

- may they spread their branches
like wings

and soar

Om

_______________________________________________
Note Some of the seeds planted and nurtured by Swamiji -
One Light many Windows
The Gaia Minute

Forgiveness

2009-09-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

Sharing my post in One Light Many Windows, and some Rumi ...

I woke from a dream this morning round forgiveness. My dream chose deep seated subliminal material. Gien and I talked and processed - I, muddling along between intellect and heart tears. I realised, we simply cannot always understand - the intellect cannot always 'work it out'. Otherwise I could spend the rest of my life trying to unravel the details, trying to understand why someone did the particular harmful deed they did, or why I did something in my past which I would not do today, and still get no closer to the answer.

It becomes so clear when I think of my children. They aren't 'perfect' in all their actions, yet no matter what they do or will do, I love them. I hold no grievances. And it is this same approach needed for all beings. Forgiveness comes with unconditional love.

It always comes back to the spiritual path. Developing awareness - intellect just is not the same thing. Mmm, so…

The Buddha said

“Everything is so perfect you may as well

throw your head back to the sky and laugh.”

The Intellectual

The intellectual is always showing off;
the lover is always getting lost.

The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.

Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.

The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.

The man who goes to the trouble of giving advice to a lover gets nothing.
He's mocked by passion.

Love is like musk.
It attracts attention.

Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade.

THE NEW RULE

It's the old rule that drunks have to argue
and get into fights.
The lover is just as bad. he falls into a hole.
But down in that hole he finds something shining,
worth more than any amount of money or power.

Last night the moon came dropping its clothes in the street.
I took it as a sign to start singing,
falling up into the bowl of sky.
The bowl breaks. Everywhere is falling everywhere.
Nothing else to do.

Not Like This Before

I wasn't like this before. I wasn't out of my mind and senses.
Once I used to be wise like you, not crazy, insane and broken down like I am now.

I wasn't the admirer of life which has no trace, no being.
I used to ask : "Who is this?
What is that?"
and search all the time.

Since you have wisdom,
sit and think
that probably I was like this before.
I haven't changed much.

I used to try
to make myself better than everybody.
I hadn't been hunted
with the ever-growing Love before.

I tried to rise above the sky
with my ambition
yet I didn't know.
I was just wandering in the desert.
At the end,
I have raised a treasure from the ground.

~Rumi~

Thank you Swamiji Eli for this nurturing discussion topic

When a beloved passes

2009-08-25T03:39:00.000-07:00

“Last year at the end of August my father died.... I loved my father very much and for some months after he died I entered a strange sort of place. I found out I couldn’t relate to many things I usually do. So much seemed utterly irrelevant. I didn’t feel depressed, in fact looking back it was as if part of me was sort of in the realm of the dead, with my father in some way, kind of seeing him through. But so much in ordinary life, so much of peoples concerns, what people wanted to know, what people were concerned about, seemed pointless. Meaning was in the experience of mourning my father’s passing. Of fully acknowledging his passing. Meaning was in the experience of meeting people heart to heart. They as living, breathing beings. Meaning was in fact looking at leaves in the sunlight or listening to bird song in the early morning. Meaning was in these things. So much else seemed like empty noise.”

Padmavajra

This morning while I was driving my son Neville to school, we were listening these words in a recording of a teaching by Padmavajra from Padmaloka Retreat Centre. As I heard him describe his experience at the time of the death of his father, I felt for the 1st time that my experience at the time of Gra-anna’s passing and the year that followed had been put into words - I said to Neville, ‘that’s just how I felt!’... and to some extent still feel. It’s as though the passing my child has forever made an imprint on me. What I’m more conscious of these days is how she has opened my heart to compassion. I am aware that through her I feel the suffering of all beings. She has torn my heart wide open.

The other day, Courtney, who was like a sister to Gra-anna, therefore a daughter to me, said she felt that with Gra-anna’s passing my spiritual journey began. I hesitated because in a sense I’ve always been on a spiritual journey. My precious mentor for seven years, Bill Ainslie, whose 20th memorial it is today, was a formative person in my life in terms of raising my awareness in so many ways. Among so much else, he introduced me to the stories of Mullah Nasrudin and Rumi’s poetry, which Gra-anna loved. But certainly it is true that I have never been the same since Gra-anna’s passing.

Look at love
how it tangles
with the one fallen in love

look at spirit
how it fuses with earth
giving it new life

why are you so busy
with this or that or good or bad
pay attention to how things blend

why talk about all
the known and the unknown
see how the unknown merges into the known

why think separately
of this life and the next
when one is born from the last

look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb
the other speaks in words and signs

look at water and fire
earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once

the wolf and the lamb
the lion and the deer
far away yet together

look at the unity of this
spring and winter
manifested in the equinox

you too must mingle my friends
since the earth and the sky
are mingled just for you and me

be like sugarcane
sweet yet silent
don't get mixed up with bitter words

my beloved grows
right out of my own heart
how much more union can there be

Rumi

Love

Silenced by the thunder of blessings, we are the rain...

2009-08-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Buddhist Relics Tour 2009, Johannesburg South Africa

Please click here to see photograph album

The Buddhist Relic Tour was a great success on it's 1st visit to Africa. More than 2000 people visited Lam Rim Centre in Johannesburg to see the relics. There was a great sense of peacefulness and gentleness on every person’s face as they left the centre.

I am still assimilating the experience and sense it's going to take many weeks to do this. Somehow words are not flowing now - though the eyes do! I am grateful that Gien has written about his experiences here

Geshe Lama Konchog glowing relic

Geshe Lama Konchog

On the last day while Venerable Nyingje was speaking, one of the Relics belonging to Geshe Lama Konchog started to glow

Venerable Nyingje

Venerable Samden who also accompanied the Relics Tour

7 Years

2009-08-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

It is raining today, Jopoa.
I see your traces
like lines on a tortoise shell
each time I look into Giens warm heart
your ancient lined face
made gold by the alchemy of love

this love between you two
I place on my inner shrine
next to Gra-anna's face
I see…

an ancient woman holding the hand of a young man
each adoring the other
and a young woman with beauty in her sad eyes
- sorrow - the source
of the River of Eternal Compassion…

7 years,
a sacred and complete cycle in time
It's raining today, Jopoa
this day of your memorial

I do not ask, 'where are you now'
or wish to hold you with questions.
May you be surrounded by that which you truly are

Love

In this picture you are with precious beings
- your daughter, the mother of your\my precious 'Sum Goon Day',
main artery to your\my heart,
Gien, your grandson,
my husband

Johannesburg and random google findings

2009-07-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

December in Johannesburg

december in johannesburg
brought the heat wave
so familiar

to an anger torn again in
a brittle feeling of windswept leaves
high pitched laughter in
soweto shebeens and lilywhite
close corporate parties before a final
predictable violence of words
dying of maimed wounds in a brisk
afternoon of illegitimate reason.
another heat wave back home in gwalior
had cracked the north end fort wall
assaulting repeatedly the loneliness of
an earthy immortality
and sudden moments of madness that had once grappled
to stay in the shade of
your eye.

Amitabh Mitra

City Johannesburg

This way I salute you:
My hand pulses to my back trousers pocket
Or into my inner jacket pocket
For my pass, my life,
Jo'burg City.
My hand like a starved snake rears my pockets
For my thin, ever lean wallet,
While my stomach groans a friendly smile to hunger,
Jo'burg City.
My stomach also devours coppers and papers
Don't you know?
Jo'burg City, I salute you;
When I run out, or roar in a bus to you,
I leave behind me, my love,
My comic houses and people, my dongas and my ever whirling dust,
My death
That's so related to me as a wink to the eye.
Jo'burg City
I travel on your black and white and roboted roads
Through your thick iron breath that you inhale
At six in the morning and exhale from five noon.
Jo'burg City
That is the time when I come to you,
When your neon flowers flaunt from your electrical wind,
That is the time when I leave you,
When your neon flowers flaunt their way through the falling darkness
On your cement trees.
And as I go back, to my love,
My dongas, my dust, my people, my death,
Where death lurks in the dark like a blade in the flesh,
I can feel your roots, anchoring your might, my feebleness
In my flesh, in my mind, in my blood,
And everything about you says it, That, that is all you need of me.
Jo'burg City, Johannesburg,
Listen when I tell you,
There is no fun, nothing, in it,
When you leave the women and men with such frozen expressions,
Expressions that have tears like furrows of soil erosion,
Jo'burg City, you are dry like death,
Jo'burg City, Johannesburg, Jo'burg City.

Mongane Wally Serote

Johannesburg

Please don’t show your soul to me
I think I’d see the light shine through
And please don’t greet me on the street
I’d like to see a world without you
Please don’t change your uniform
And start to mourn the thousands dead
And please wear what you’ve always worn
And don’t be drawn by what I’ve said

’cause I’ve found there’s nothing more
That I could say to you
Nothing I could do to change your mind
Change your ways and your tune

So please don’t feel you have to sway
Or move away from how you feel
And please say what you mean to say
And always stay with a heart of steel

Housemartins

Walking the poem that is Joburg.....

Portrait with Keys

Trade Paperback, 211 pages
RRP: R140, ISBN 1-4152-0020-3
Publication date: June 2006, Category: Memoir

Description
A book about a city that has been described as ‘the Venice of the South’, Portrait with Keys is a portrait of life in Johannesburg – and ‘what-what’: home, habit, change, memory, mortality, friendship, ghosts, gardens, walking, falling, selling, stealing ... Neither a novel nor a collection of short stories, the book consists of 138 short texts organised in two parts – Point A and Point B – followed by Notes and Sources, Itineraries and an Author’s Note. Written by a consummate literary artist, this is a unique dossier of city life and a selective self-portrait of the author – in Ivan Vladislavić’s words “a bit like a map that shows only the side streets”.
Memory takes root only half in the folds of the brain: half’s in the concrete streets we’ve lived along. – Lionel Abrahams, poet and author.

Winner of the 2007 Alan Paton Award.
Winner of the 2007 University of Johannesburg Prize for the best creative work in English.

From Portrait with Keys, Point A, section 68
“In Johannesburg, the Venice of the South, the backdrop is always a man-made one. We have planted a forest the birds endorse. For hills we have mine dumps covered with grass. We do not wait for time and the elements to weather us, we change scenery ourselves, to suit our moods. Nature is for other people, in other places ...

Written over eight years, Ivan Vladislavić’s Portrait with Keys - Joburg & What What is a sequence of 138 passages depicting a shifting Johannesburg. source

What motivated you to write Portrait with Keys – Joburg & What What?
A while ago, I was approached by Graham Friedman, who was putting together a celebratory anthology for the 70th birthday of Johannesburg writer, author and poet Lionel Abrahams. In preparing my piece for that book, I looked over a lot of the work that Lionel had done and I was struck by how much it had to do with the city. It got me interested in Johannesburg in a new way. I started making some notes towards a book of some kind, though I wasn’t sure what kind of book it would be. The next major momentum came when I was editing a book on SA architecture and my co-editor more or less insisted that I write something for the book, so I produced a piece called Street Addresses, which looked at sites around the city; that was the core of the book.

What is it about Johannesburg that interests you?
It’s different things. The way that the book grew also reflects my different interests in the city.

How long did it take you to write the book?
It’s hard to quantify because the pieces were collected over eight years. I worked on it in concentrated periods; when I was commissioned to produce a sequence of texts for a publication I would work on that in quite a concentrated way for a couple of months, but in the interim I was working on many other things.

In the years that you’ve lived in Johannesburg, how has your perception of the city changed?
I was born and raised in Pretoria and I came to Johannesburg as a student to study at Wits. When I came here I was a nice Pretoria boy and Johannesburg had this reputation for being really fast, dangerous, big and English. I’ve grown to appreciate what’s interesting about the city; I don’t think it’s a place that reveals itself obviously, you have to work quite hard to find the things that are pleasurable about living here. Often living in Johannesburg feels like hard work, but it’s also an extraordinary place with a lot of character.

Yes, because Johannesburg is aesthetically quite an unattractive city but it also has places of exquisite and surprising beauty.
I agree, but for me there’s even a beauty in the shabby, industrial side of Johannesburg. There’s nothing quite like driving on a Johannesburg highway alongside one of the industrial wastelands and seeing the remains of a factory or a mine; I think those places have a decrepit appeal to them.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?
That’s difficult to answer. I suppose one of the challenges was making a coherent book out of the collection because it was written over such a long period.

Did you edit some of the older pieces at all before putting them all together?
I specifically didn’t change things. I was tempted to because the city changes so quickly and one’s perceptions of it change too. There were certainly observations about parts of the city that were no longer quite true and by the time I put the book together it was clear that I was thinking differently about things; but I thought there was a value in keeping the pieces as they were because it’s a documentary text.

The criteria for the Alan Paton Award say the book must ’illuminate truthfulness, especially those forms that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power.’ How does your book do this?
That’s a sweeping and grand statement; it’s not something that I, as a writer, would comment on easily about my own work. What I was trying to do was illuminate a few small corners of my own experience of the city. If that strikes a chord with other people, if they feel like I’ve captured something that rings true, that would be gratifying for me. I suspect that Johannesburg is a city of many truths.

How has democracy changed writing in South Africa?
We’ve been freed from an obsessive focus on the political. Writers have more freedom of movement both literally and imaginatively; there’s no sense of having to carry around the past and I think that’s reflected in our writing.

Having said that, do you think there is anything particularly lacking in South African literature?
The main thing lacking in SA literature is readers, but that’s another story. I think there’s so much to write about here, and not just about contemporary society, there’s still so much to write about the past. Having said that, we’re free to write more creatively and imaginatively and look at a much broader range of subjects. I don’t think that means that writers shouldn’t be looking at the past. The amount of information becomes more available and the kind of overview that you might need to write a really large, inclusive novel about apartheid becomes more possible as the period recedes a bit. That’s one area that’s still open to writers.

When, how and where do you write?
I write at night. I understand the virtues of writing early in the morning but they don’t work for me. I don’t have a rigid writing programme because I work as an editor as well. My rule is to write consistently. If you’re going to produce work regularly, you have to write regularly; it has to become a habitual thing.

What lessons did you learn from writing this book?
I learnt the lesson I learn from every book that I write — that it’s hard.

Which writers do you admire most?
It’s a shifting group of writers that changes all the time. I have certain favourite writers that I go back to a lot. I’ve just started reading Charles van Onselen’s The Fox and the Flies and that sort of work really impresses me.

What do you think separates the great writers from the good?
I think that some writers and artists are born with a gift; there’s an element of luck with genetics involved. I think what really sets the great writers apart is hard work; the ability to pursue your writing interests over a long time.

What impact would you like Portrait with Keys – Joburg & What What to have on those who read it?
I don’t think too much about that. I would hope that people find it diverting and engaging and that they recognise some corners of their own city in it.

If you were deserted on an island, which book would you take with you?
I would take a self-help book like Robinson Crusoe or The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl.

Forgot the moon

2009-07-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

Ryokan

the beginning...

2009-07-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Chinese language classes are being introduced into a school in South Africa ...

Imagining giving the Dalai Lama a birthday present...

2009-07-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

It is His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday in a few days.

Would you like to give him a birthday present?

The idea of having the opportunity of giving His Holiness a birthday present just fills me with complete, dancing on my finger tips, delight!

Well you can!

Gien and I started an amazing site after consulting with the local Office of Tibet, called Gift to the Dalai Lama.

Members have the opportunity to post a pledge and also express their gratitude to His Holiness for his tireless compassionate work. After his birthday, all pledges and expressions of gratitude are sent to His Holiness's Office by the local Office of Tibet.

Click here if you wish to gift the Dalai Lama.

Death of a tree

2009-07-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

a photographic journal on the death of the precious tree which has taken my breath away for as long as I've lived in its shade - as long as I've received the sparkling light filtering through it's branches and listened to its whispers… which now brings tears to my eyes as I say goodbye. Aah Sonnet our cat is crippled by fear as the chain saws hack the air all about

Happy Birthday Genie love

2009-06-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning on Giens b-day! All of 48 years old, he’s in bed with a hot cuppa litchi and lemon with a dash of green tea, homemade by his wife and room temperature – due to its being a winter morning - fruit salad. The fruit salad inspired by his dream where oranges featured strongly - the symbolism made me wonder if his body wished for those vitamins. He’s writing a book born today, about a love story - birthed on the internet – LOL guess who! This book seeded by our many discussions and the so many questions and mails we receive from others looking for love and too often not finding it. We so often ponder why so few seem to find love and remain seekers of it, or give up... so that’s the beginnings. Watch this space! Next to him lies the Nepalese meditation cushion and maroon Mala bag decorated with symbols I gave him as a birthday gift. Also the beautiful book by the Dalai Lama lent to him by a friend from our Sangha... the stage is set - the day is beginning...

Love

---------

my daughter, Natalie, emailed Gien

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Gien!
Happy birthday to you!

Hip hip hooooooraaaaaaaayyyyyy! Hip hip
hooooooorrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!

Wishing you a wonderful birthday and amazing year!

You are a wonderful addition to the family, thank you for making my
mom so happy.

Love Nats :)

----------

Gien replied

Hi Nats,

I love your mum a great deal
and she loves me in the same way
Our bliss is very natural and spontaneous

In Buddhism there is the idea of compassion or "Bodhicitta"
this means love for all beings
I think this is profoundly important in a relationship
and the actual "secret" to true happiness

For a genuine relationship to flow effortless and free
we must love both the other person AND ourselves in the relationship

We know that the joy we bring our partner
is returned to us many times over
In bringing joy to another
that is the only genuine way that we ourselves can receive the others joy

If we were to take a selfish view instead
and try to GET joy for ourselves from the other
by controlling the other and dictating conditions to the other
that is when it backfires

What we create instead
is an environment for a desire and attachment filled relationship
where the conditions no longer exist for love to flow freely

When we perceive that something is wanted from us
we feel used and objectified
and that closes down our natural propensity to give
How does it feel when someone comes to us
and demands "I want this", "Give me that"?
It doesn't feel right, does it?
There is no sense of gratitude
no expression of appreciation of the other

For this reason
we have the paradox
that the selfish attitude when manifest in relationships
leads to the very failure of the relationship
while the limitless giving to our partner
is what creates the condition
for our partner's limitless giving to us

Many Blessings to you and Jason

Catching up and sharing

2009-06-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much personal news lately so today I've decided to take a little time writing to my friends. Today is a public holiday here in South Africa, Youth Day. It feels peaceful - but I will never forget the dreadful history it arises from. I will also always remember how South Africa transitioned from being one of the worlds most oppressed backward countries to being potentially among the most progressive. Now I hope to see SA rise to it's potential.

My son Neville is starting high school next year. He won a scholarship and we are very proud of him! Can you believe how time flies! He was a little cherub with dimples and wings breaking through just the other day. Now his a gangling ‘growly boy’, into hip hop and taller than his mom.

We are going to need to move at the end of this year in order to be nearer his new school and are having to start finding a new home. I can see the circumstances which have led to this but I am not totally convinced I should be living in a landlocked city for most of my adult life...

Speaking of time flying, Gien and I are celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary in about 2 weeks - where did the year go! It feels we’ve known one another all our lives and we're still to have our first fight... lol which I just can't imagine us doing!

We’re both happily busy with many varying projects. Gien is trying to set up business\es based on his many awesome ideas and vision while he still works for his previous employer in Canada. He never ceases sprouting brilliant ideas and he implements them – I am a firm admirer!

I really feel we are not in one of those dependent relationships – but I do do more because he is in my life than I would if he were not. I am still filling my days with a range of activities such as teaching yoga, art, writing workshops, running a self help course, meditation sessions, counselling at LifeLine, building websites, connecting on various networks, etc. We’re both also engaged with projects at the Lam Rim Buddhist Centre and absorbed by our spiritual journey.

The other thing on my mind right now, is I’m wanting to publish a self help book I wrote, Walking the Labyrinth, which I have actually designed already, also being a graphic designer specialising in book design. I already run workshops based on the book and created a website for them. I’m asking everyone if they know how I can go about getting it published without spending the rest of my life sending it to publishers... Having experience in publishing I could take the self publishing option – but this wouldn’t get the book out as far and wide as I’d like.

Sending love to all my friends

Ego

2009-06-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

My sense of 'I' in relation to the universe has been shifting - I guess it shifts constantly. I had been thinking the universe is something kind of unchanging\complete and I - a vessel tapping from this existing wholeness. Now I sense nothing is static and all is ever changing perception.. and the more I write, the more gobbly gook unravels…

I sense the mysteries which my rational mind will never grasp because it is not designed to.

I read this quote below recently and it dawns on me that 'the ego' is an error of perception. I quite like this because I thought I had to learn how to 'dodge' the ego - this attitude felt sort of 'Calvinistic' and seemed like a lot of hard work, like doing acrobatics to outwit myself - now I have the sense I need to unlearn a mistaken way of thinking.

There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, ie, holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being.
- Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei

Peace and Compassion March 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009-05-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Peace and Compassion March which took place under the auspices of TSSA consisted of under 100 marchers, but felt like a good beginning.
Geshe Dhonden-la blessed the march at all its stages. He opened the march with a blessing at Gandhi Square, half way through on Mandela Bridge, he blessed the march and ended with a blessing too. Guest speakers, Jo Mdhlela (South African Human Rights Commission) and Sonam Tensing (Representative of the Dalai Lama in Africa) set a wonderful tone, both speaking with wisdom, awareness and as liberation activists. The memorandum’s of the march were read and there was a sense of good spirit as marchers carried banners which spoke of peace and compassion, some bearing words of Shantideva, such as, “All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy”.
Some marchers chanted Om Mani Padme Hum while walking and the we ended with marchers in a circle, holding hands and chanting the Mani Mantra again. We have a date established for an annual Peace and Compassion walk now and can start planning well in advance for a Peace and Compassion event next year.

One can shout “liberation” in the wind but the words will not carry very far – the words of the march’s memorandum reveal more of the secret of success: “This march is our statement of our commitment to the practice of Peace and Compassion.”

You are welcome to view more pics of our march, click here
If you are interesting in starting a Peace and Compassion event or simply wish to journey with us, join us here

The place which is home

2009-05-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

After our long struggle for liberation, South Africa has placed economics above our hard won progressive stand for human rights and plain down right decency toward our fellow human beings. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is an international icon of peace and compassion - objectively it makes no sense at all to ban such a person from any country. Personally, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is my spiritual leader and I feel very sad that my country has slammed its door closed in the face of someone so precious. I realise, in order not to feel loss and bereavement, that which I call home can no longer be limited to the soil on which I stand but has to expand to the place of my heart. We should all follow the example of His Holiness and embrace all beings lovingly. I hope the people governing the place where I was born will soon learn from their error, open their hearts and allow their actions to be governed by loving kindness rather than fear.

2009-04-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

http://peaceandcompassion.ning.com/

Join Us

Invitation to South Africans: Peace and Compassion March

2009-04-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

Please circulate to your South African mailing lists...
... and those in other countries: Perhaps you'd like to organise a Peace and Compassion March too?

PEACE AND COMPASSION MARCH

DATE: Sunday, 17 May 2009

TIME: 10h00

STARTING POINT: Gandhi Square (Cnr Rissik St & Fox St Johannesburg)

ROUTE: Gandhi Square to Mandela Bridge and back to Gandhi Square (approximately 4km. See map below): Ghandi Square, Rissik St, left into Jeppe St, right into West and onto Mandela Bridge.

GUEST SPEAKERS:
Sonam Tenzing; Office of Tibet, South Africa
An invitation has also been extended to a human rights speaker and to The Honourable Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to address the Peace and Compassion Marchers. If unable to to address the marchers in person, he will hopefully forward us a letter which can be read on the day.

WHO IS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PEACE AND COMPASSION MARCH: Everyone who wishes to uphold and undertake the march’s theme of Peace and Compassion! Including human rights organisations - all individuals, groups and organisations who support the theme of Peace and Compassion will be welcomed.

MEMORANDUM: Organisations are welcome to send in their own memorandums to be attached to the general memorandum of the Peace and Compassion March. Memorandums should be in keeping with the spirit of the theme of the Peace and Compassion March. Deadline for submitting memorandums: 5 May 2009. Please make arrangements by calling Anna: 072 387 3900 or Elizabeth: 031 7014307.

PEACE AND COMPASSION MARCH MEMORANDUM:

On the 17 March 2009 we are marching in the spirit of Peace and Compassion.
We are members of the general public and also specific groups and organisations.
We uphold and practice the principle of Peace and Compassion and undertake to do all we can to foster this principle within our immediate society and the world at large.
This march is our statement of our commitment to the practice of Peace and Compassion.
We are aware that as long as there is suffering in the heart of even one individual, there will be no peace on earth.
In many countries around the world, such as Tibet, Burma, most countries in Africa and many others, we see great strife either from natural disasters or from violence and warfare implemented by our fellow human beings.

We call on South Africa to:

take steps toward demilitarisation and set an example of non violence to the rest of the world.
take steps to end violence, strife and suffering where it is found, in our country, continent and the world.
ensure there are no children to be found on our streets and all homeless children be cared for in a place of safety.
take every step possible to take care of the sick and aged.
ensure those without employment receive food and shelter.

WHAT YOU NEED TO BEING:

Please being water to drink and if necessary, a snack for sustenance while walking (please do not litter).
comfortable walking shoes
comfortable clothing. It may be cold so please ensure you will be warm enough
Peace and Compassion marchers may carry banners, etc appropriate to the theme of Peace and Compassion. Banners can be related to any points in the memorandum and human rights issues and if deemed necessary, can express disappointment at SA government's recent decision of not issuing visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to travel to SA to attend the 'postponed' Peace Conference. Those representing organisations may carry their own organisational banners and further can express anything pertaining the Peace and Compassion theme. All banners, etc must worded in language appropriate to the theme of the march ie; NO aggressive, abusive, angry language or tone. We reserve the right to remove banners that are seen as inappropriate to the theme of the march.
This march is our statement of commitment to the practice of Peace and Compassion. Marchers are requested to come prepared with an inspirational quotation, piece of writing or picture relating to the theme of Peace and Compassion, in a letter or on a card. On the day of the march everyone will exchange their letter or card with a stranger who is also participating in the march. This exchange will be a gift and also a bonding with someone we do not know but who shares our vision in their unique way.

MORE ABOUT THE PEACE AND COMPASSION MARCH:

The march has been organised under the auspices of the TSSA (Tibet Society of South Africa) but is not an event exclusive to this organisation and is open to ALL who wish to uphold the principles of Peace and Compassion to march in their own right as individuals or to represent their organisation.
Generally, May 17 can be seen as a symbolic day where we can bring to our awareness, the suffering of others and set the intention to bring about change by firmly committing to uphold the attitude and practice of Peace and Compassion in our lives. This was the date when Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted by the Communist Chinese Government in 1995. Aged six years old at the time, he was effectively the world’s youngest political prisoner. Panchen Lama, now a young man, is still under arrest and little if anything is known about him and his well being.
TSSA ‘Peace in Tibet’ t-shirts can be ordered by those who wish to wear these on the day of the march. Please see t-shirt order details below
Due to the march taking place on a Sunday, our memorandum’s will faxed by the march organisers, (rather than handed over): To His Excellency the President Kgalema Motlanthe (this mail has been compiled before the upcoming elections – memorandums will address the current president of South Africa) and copied to: UN Secretary-General Banki-Moon and the European Union Representative in Pretoria and the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria.

OTHER MEMORANDUMS
Memorandums of individual human rights and other organisations will be attached to the Peace and Compassion March’s memorandum.

Memorandum submitted by TSSA:
Tibet Society of South Africa (TSSA), calls for:
a) the unconditional release of Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his immediate family members, who have been under house arrest/captivity for more than 13 years, and calling on the PRC government to allow access to Panchen Lama by UN representatives;
b) the release of Tibetan political prisoners, who participated in peaceful protests/demonstrations;
c) independent international bodies/organizations to investigate the real conditions and situation inside Tibet;
d) the PRC government to allow foreign media to travel to Tibet for an 'unbiased' reporting of the actual situation; African leaders, including South Africa to urge PRC government to allow foreign journalists access to all parts of Tibet, without fear and conditions;
e) African leaders, including South African leaders, to urge PRC leadership to resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue. To this end, the African leaders can urge the PRC leadership to discuss the recent proposal submitted by His Holiness' Envoys entitled : "Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People" with sincerity (proposal submitted to the Chinese leaders on October 31, 2008 in Beijing)

FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO ORDER ‘PEACE IN TIBET’ T-SHIRTS:
Kindly complete the following form & return it to cormkt@mweb.co.za before 5 May, 2009 so that the t-shirts can be ordered on-time. T-shirts will be issued on the morning of the march. Kindly bring correct payment.

NAME: ...................................
CONTACT TEL NR: ....................................
NUMBER OF T-SHIRTS REQUIRED: ………………..
SIZES:
Quantity / Size:

............. small

............. medium

.............. large

............... XL

............... XXL

Cost of the t-shirt R55.00 X ............... = TOTAL: ...............................

NB: If for some reason you cannot attend on the day and we have ordered you a t-shirt, won’t you please commit to paying for it so that we are not left with a large account to pay. Thank you!

Kindest regards
Peace and Compassion March organisers

If you have enquiries please contact:
Chris Kudla, Chairperson Tibet Society of SA; 031 2668 182 - office hours
Elizabeth Gaywood, Co-ordinator TSSA; 031 7014 307 - after hours
Or Anna Varney-Wong, on behalf of Peace and Compassion March organisers; info@hummingbirds.co.za

The Kingdom of Lost Boy

2009-04-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

Generally, May 17 can be seen as a symbolic day where we can bring to our awareness to the suffering of others and set the intention to bring about change by firmly committing to uphold the attitude and practice of Peace and Compassion in our lives. This was the date when Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted by the Communist Chinese Government in 1995. Aged six years old at the time, he was effectively the world’s youngest political prisoner. Panchen Lama, now a young man, is still under arrest and little if anything is known about him and his well being.

The Kingdom of Lost Boy 1
The Kingdom of Lost Boy 2
The Kingdom of Lost Boy 3
The Kingdom of Lost Boy 4
The Kingdom of Lost Boy 5
The Kingdom of Lost Boy 6

------
Brief Introduction (obtained from the YouTube videos: The Kingdom of Lost Boy)

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is believed that several years after the death of select religious leaders their reincarnations can be identified as young children. These young children, or tulkus, are immersed in a rigorous 20-year education that facilitates their spiritual growth and transfers the rich knowledge of their spiritual lineage from generation to generation.

Thus, the story of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima begins long before he was born. His story stretches across the generations to when the lineage of the Panchen Lama was founded.

Background

In the 15th Century, the 1st Dalai Lama established a vibrant monastery called Tashi Lhunpo in the Tibetan city of Shigatse, just west of the capital city of Lhasa. Two hundred years later, when the 5th Dalai Lama was a young boy, the abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen) guided his spiritual upbringing as a Buddhist monk and scholar. History says that when the abbot died, the Dalai Lama (also known as the Great Fifth) dedicated the Monastery to his late teacher declaring that he would reincarnate again and again, and that each successor would be known as the holder of the Panchen Lama lineage (the term Pan-chen means "great scholar" in Tibetan).

As a further token of his respect, the Great Fifth offered his former teacher gifts of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery and vast tracks of surrounding land. The 1st Dalai Lama had originally established the monastery in 1447 and it was an enormously influential center of spiritual learning. Following the Great Fifth's statements and offerings a young Panchen Lama was identified as a child and grew up to fulfill his role. Thus began the lineage of the Panchen Lama at the Tashi Lhunpo monastery.

Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is both the secular head of the country as well as the spiritual leader. He is believed to be the emanation of Avalokisteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The Panchen Lama or "Great Scholar" plays primarily a religious role. He is believed to be an emanation of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light.

Over the course of history the Panchen Lama became one of the foremost teachers and leaders in Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibet he is seen as second in importance and influence only to the Dalai Lama.

The Panchen Lama also shares a very unique and special relationship with the Dalai Lama. Tibetans sometimes refer to whoever is the elder lama as the "spiritual father" and the younger lama as the "spiritual son." Tibetans also refer to the Dalai Lama as the spiritual "sun" to the Panchen Lama's "moon." The elder lama gives Buddhist teachings and initiations to the younger one. For generations, the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama maintained this unique teacher-disciple relationship of the elder mentoring the younger. The elder lama may also help find and identify the reincarnation of the younger.

For generations, the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama maintained their unique teacher-disciple relationship of the elder mentoring the younger. Successive rulers of British India and China have quite often tried to use the good offices of the Panchen Lama to gain a political foothold in Tibet. When such efforts failed, the foreigners (especially the rulers from China) have attempted to create a division between the institutions of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama.

The 10th Panchen Lama

When the 10th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Trinley Choekyi Gyaltsen, was born in 1938, Tibet was an independent country and the 14th Dalai Lama was just a young boy. The two tulkus were forced to mature quickly as the political situation in Tibet steadily worsened upon the Chinese invasion of eastern Tibet in 1949, the ensuing occupation, and the eventual annexation in 1959. This was the year that the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, his life in danger, was forced to flee into exile with 80,000 of his people. The Panchen Lama, a young man of 21, stayed in Tibet and was appointed by the Communist Party as the acting chairman of the Preparatory Committee. He spent the next thirty years of his life traveling between Tibet and Beijing, gathering first hand information of the reality of the situation for Tibetans under Chinese rule. The Panchen Lama's observations during this tour formed the basis of his famous 70,000-character petition, which eventually triggered his condemnation and imprisonment by the Chinese government.

As the second most revered religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism and the most venerated lama remaining in Tibet after the Chinese invasion in 1949, the 10th Panchen Lama's death at 50 years of age was a blow to the Tibetan nation. And though there is mystery shrouding his death, no one could fully investigate what occurred in this Chinese occupied land.

The Search for the 11th Panchen Lama

But the story of the 10th Panchen Lama does not end with his death as reincarnation continues this story to the birth of the 11th Panchen Lama. Traditionally, H.H. the Dalai Lama identifies the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama and guides his training through adulthood. But exiled in India, H.H. the Dalai Lama was not permitted by the Chinese government to contact the search party. This delayed the search, usually performed only two years after the death of a lama.

Finally a search party was formed with Chatral Rinpoche, the acting abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, as the head of the Chinese official search party. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Panchen Lama identification team is made up of high-level lamas from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. Their guidance comes in the form of visions that prophetically direct their search to the true reincarnation. Following these mystical signs, the lama's test the most likely candidates by asking them to identify personal objects owned by the previous Panchen Lama. Oracles are then consulted and divinations performed to reconfirm the final candidate. H.H. the Dalai Lama himself normally carries out these final steps.

The search party compiled a list of numerous young boys whom could be the possible successor of the 10th Panchen Lama. Through hidden contact, H.H. the Dalai Lama received information and photographs of these boys. From his divinations, he identified and proclaimed Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995.

By May 17, 1995, the six year-old boy and his parents disappeared from their home, reportedly taken into Chinese police custody for their protection. Denouncing H.H. the Dalai Lama's proclamation as illegitimate, the Chinese authorities drew lots from a golden urn to select their own Panchen Lama on November 29, 1995. Six year-old Gyaltsen Norbu was selected and subsequently enthroned on December 8, 1995 sparking off massive protests all over Tibet.

To validate their authority in choosing the Panchen Lama, the Communist government cites a recommendation made in 1792 by the Manchu rulers to the Tibetan Government. The Manchus (the monarchy government of China from 1644 - 1912 made up of non-ethnic Chinese rulers) suggested that in selecting high lamas the Tibetans should institute a lottery, which was referred to as the Golden Urn system. One name would be chosen and then forwarded to the Chinese Central Government for final approval.

The Tibetans have asserted all along that a lottery system should be used when there are two very good candidates - making it difficult to choose between them - and, that they have their own lottery system which predates the Manchu recommendation. But, more importantly, the Tibetans also assert that H.H. the Dalai Lama should have a role in identifying the Panchen Lama.

Now that the 11th Panchen Lama is held in detention at an unknown location, Tibetans and supporters of religious freedom around the world are concerned about his physical welfare and spiritual upbringing. Tibetan traditions require that the Panchen Lama receive the care and instruction at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery for his well-being and proper religious education. Despite worldwide appeals, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents remain in detention. China has refused to provide information of their location or condition and will not allow any independent observer to see them.

------------------------------

Further reading:

A collection of news articles on the current Panchen Lama from The Office of Tibet.
http://www.tibet.com/PL/index.html

Vigil
http://www.freepanchenlama.org

Students for a Free tibet
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?list=type&type=16

South Africa's history and the world in 40 seconds

2009-04-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

This blog sprouted from a conversation with Meenakshi
in the World Heritage Society group in Gaia

In South Africa it seems so often there's a self consciousness which creeps in when people of different colour or culture are in each other's company - so often there's mutual distrust. Ive seen sometimes people are apologetic or feel personally guilty because of our history and go to great lengths to try and 'make up for it all' - all in one conversation over tea - it can be quite exhausting to witness! Sometimes people are anxious because of assumptions they imagine the other to be making about them and they eager to prove they're not 'like that' and start acting out these issues. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable because of differences they perceive and this leads to awkward behaviour. Sometimes people over generalise ... all sorts.

There's racial awareness and also racism - sometimes the lines between the two blur - one or both are so often an underlying flavour when people from different cultures are together. I dream of a world where theres an embracing of both the differences and the common humanity of all beings. I guess the experience of the country I grew up in has created this yearning. This is a country where the average person you meet over a certain age has spent some time in jail.

I was no major activist yet I spent a night in jail in Pretoria, covered in a grey blanket which smelt of vomit and received a 3 year suspended sentence if I were ever 'involved in mass action' again. A couple of days later there was a tiny article in one of the papers accusing us of fraud rather than the change we'd actually called for in the racial structure of how the state theater was being run at the time. There were times I would be on the phone having a conversation with a friend or family member when a voice would jut in letting me know I was 'being watched'. The art centre I taught at in one of the townships was raided and they told us minutest details about each one of us who taught there. Sometimes on my way home my car was stopped by soldiers and the seats would be removed and the whole car searched inch by inch - for who knows what? And all I was doing was giving a fellow staff member a lift home - but I was a white girl in a black township and therefore suspect. That's all it took. Then sometimes I would experience a smash and grab after I'd left the township, losing my handbag to some person who needed to put food on the table...

I decided I was going to simply live in 'an ordinary way' and not spend my time and energy looking over my shoulder. And so my phone calls to friends continued as if no one was listening and I still gave my friends a lift home.

I remember meeting an African American in the days before Apartheid was history who told me that in his experience he felt the racism in the States was simply more sophisticated and he actually preferred the South Africans he'd met. I have never been to America and could not judge this for myself - also his words were but those of one person who'd had very a limited experience of South Africa.

South Africa was a backward and damaged country with an insane law imposing Apartheid on its people. We have not recovered and recently it feels we're going back to almost square one and many are wondering what we'd been fighting for for so many years. This time its not about racism but human rights more generally and democracy.

In some of the newer countries on our planet, the indigenous people have been all but obliterated by colonialists and older nations have similar histories buried in their past. Now we witness the Communist Chinese Government which responded to the west who fed them opium and caused terrible harm to their people. ... and how often does good grow from harm?

We see what feels like a replay of bygone centuries when we look at what's happening in Tibet, Burma and other countries - now the Communist Chinese government makes it's inroads into Africa and most recently we see our government in South Africa bow to the Communist Chinese government under the weight of financial arrangements.

The mind starts to wonder about us human beings and our tendencies to power mongering and war.

I have said a lot more than I thought I would and also so little! I guess this is what
happens when one scratches the surface of 100s years of history...

------

On a lighter note, I've heard people from other countries ask questions about South Africa which reveal that they imagine our country is jungle - they ask questions like 'do we have lions roaming round the air port?' And we have to chuckle and respond, we actually have cars in our country!

Waves

2009-04-10T23:27:00.001-07:00

... sometimes I feel people get overwhelmed by the amount of tragedy in the world. Particular issues rise and fall from the surface of world attention. We are being swept away by a tidal wave of earths tears. What needs to change is the fundamental attitude - all beings should be free from suffering and all beings should work toward this in big and small ways

The Dalai Lama: An open letter to President Motlanthe of SA

2009-04-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

South Africans are speaking out for our hard earned legacy of democracy and human rights. If you wish to support the call for an apology from the South African government to the Dalai Lama: Copy this text, ADD your signature to the numbered list AT THE END and email to friends;

When there are 500 signatures,
Please forward to these email addresses:

President’s Office
President
Mr Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe
leratoz@po.gov.za

Minister of Home Affairs
Ms Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula
Mamello.Morobi@dha.gov.za

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dr Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma
somersn@foreign.gov.za

NB If you wish to continue this support - PLEASE COPY and EMAIL THIS TO FRIENDS (when emails are recieved please Copy paste emails rather than simply forwarding, in order to keep the layout tidy).

LETTER
(As in online publication: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=124115&sn=Detail

The Dalai Lama: An open letter to President Motlanthe
05 April 2009

Various individuals and organisations call for an apology to the Tibetan spiritual leader

LETTER TO PRESIDENT MOTLANTHE: GOVERNMENT MUST PROVIDE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ON HUMAN RIGHTS

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals support the call by Health Minister Barbara Hogan for government to apologise for the decision to prohibit the Dalai Lama from entering South Africa. We also call on government to reverse the decision.

As Minister Hogan stated, this decision by the government was made on behalf of all citizens. It undermines the values of freedom, equality, dignity and sovereignty upon which our Constitution is founded. Given our history South Africa should be at the forefront of resisting the use of economic power to bully other countries into silence on human rights violations. But we are also concerned that there may be undeclared interests at play in the decision to bow to China on this issue, such as party political funding.

It is unfortunate that Minister Hogan has become the centre of attention regarding the ban on the Dalai Lama. The South African Human Rights Commission and others had already publicly expressed their concern regarding the government's decision prior to the statement that was made by Hogan. The real issue is not about Hogan but about the foreign policy choices of our government.

Political leaders must be loyal first and foremost to the Constitution. Hogan was not only giving voice to her conscience, but was also speaking in defence of our Constitution and the duty of the state to represent us all in a manner that is befitting of constitutional values. In the past, threats by presidents of the United States based on its economic power did not stop Nelson Mandela and other senior government leaders from speaking honestly on global human rights violations, including torture in Iraq and the rights of oppressed people to self determination.

Again we call on our government to reverse its decision to deny the Dalai Lama entry into South Africa and to apologise for its mistake. This will take courage but our people will support it as will the global community of citizens. We also call on the government to assure us that no action will be taken against Minister Hogan whose leadership of the health department has begun to repair the damage and despair caused by her predecessor.

SIGNED BY:

Prof Quarraisha - Abdol-Karim Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Zackie Achmat - Treatment Action Campaign - Deputy General Secretary and ANC Supporter
Sieraaj Ahmed
AIDS Law Project
Paula Akugizibwe
Stef Albertyn
Gabriela Altamirano - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Yvette Andrews
Anglican Diocese of the Free State
Premi Appalraju
Tara Appalraju
Artists for a New South Africa
Assitej South Africa
Balspindie Press
Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven
Ms Vivian Black - Reproductive Health & HIV Research Unit
Ms Lucilla Blankenberg - Community Media Trust
Zenariah Barends
Daniel Barnett - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Yoni Bass
Lunga Biyela
Lucilla Blankenberg
Adv Julia Boltar - Johannesburg Bar
Andrew Boraine
Deena Bosch
Joel Bregman
Derek Brian
Dr Brian Brink - Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Nathalie R Bucher
Adv SF Burger SC - Group 621
Rober Carr - Jamaica
Centre for Applied Legal Studies
Centre for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ)
Polly Claydon
Thomas Coggin
Rachel M Cohen
Colonnades Theatre Lab, SA
Prof. Mark Cotton
Creative Voices
Anthony Day
Anne Katrin Detjen
Xavier Donceel
Nikki de Havilland
Jacques de Villiers
Andries Dippenaar
Ms Vuyiseka Dubula - Board Member, AIDS Law Project and General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign
Sandi Du Bowski - United States of America
Evi Eggers
Sharon Ekambaram
Collin Eglin
Deborah Ewing
Andrew Feinstein
Friends of TAC (FoTAC)
Anik Gevers
Erica Glyn-Jones - PANSA National Chair
Andrew Feinstein
Doret Ferreira
Jenifer Festis-Ferguson
Prof. Sharon Fonn - Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Louis Fourie
Vivian Fritelli
Nicole Fritz
Sr Veronica Fynn
Nathan Geffen - Treatment Action Campaign
Eric Goemaere
Gregg Gonsalves - United States of America
Lucia Gorne
Andy Gray - Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in SA (CAPRISA)
Temoris Grecko - Mexico
Jacqueline Green - United States of America
Dotan Greenvald - Israeli Peace and Justice Activist
Charlie Greenwood-Elliott
Anna Grimsrud
Deon Groenewald
Grant Gunston
Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Camilla Hansen
Prof. Shireen Hassim - Wits University
Yvette Hardie
Paula Hathorn
Dr Anneke C Hesseling
Health and Human Rights Programme and School of Public Health and Family Medicine - UCT
Robert Hendricks
Frances Hill
Nokhwezi Hoboyi
Rebecca Hodes - Treatment Action Campaign
Karl Hoffman
Dr Simone Honikam - Head: Perinatal Mental Health Project : UCT
Dr Lyn Horn
Denise Hunt AIDS Consortium
Gilad Isaacs
Vuyani Jacobs - Community Media Trust
Dr Marie Jobson
Dr G Josias
Demille Jovan
Rhoda Kadalie
Rozanne Kamalie
Iphegenia Kerfoot
Julian Kesler
Mazkir Klali - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Larissa Klazinga - One in Nine Campaign
Louise Knight
Justice Johann Kriegler
Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Gerald Kraak
Atlantic Philanthropies
Victor Lakay
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)
Katherine Lawrence
Adv Michelle Le Roux - Johannesburg Bar
Karl Le Roux - RuDASA
Yaron Lever - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Simon Lewin
Jack Lewis - Community Media Trust
Graeme Lipschitz
Daniel Linda - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Prof. Leslie London
Rev Steven Lottering
Carol Luka
Chani Macauley
Mikhael Manekin - Israeli Peace & Justice Activist
Mari Martinsen
Moses Masitha
Sithembile Mbete
Dr Cheryl McDermid
Stephen McGill - Canada
Anneke Meerkotter - Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre
Graeme Meintjes
Letti Mdani
Gaoretelelwe N N Molebalwa
Moeketsi Montsho
David Moore
Mosamaria AIDS Ministry
Peter John Moses
Michael Moss
Keketso Mptale
Nhlanhla Ndlovu - Board Member, AIDS Law Project and Trustee, Centre for Economic Governance and AIDS in Africa
Tantaswa Ndlelana
Attapon Ted Ngoksin - International Treatment Preparedness Coalition Secretariat
Joseph N Ngunju
Ambassadors for Change, Kenya
Dr James Nuttall
Caleb Orozco - United Belizze Advocacy Movement - Belize)
Dr Heidi Orth
Dr Nesri Padayatchi - Centre for AIDS Programme of Research in SA (CAPRISA)
Shane Petzer
Le Nhan Phuong - Atlantic Philanthropies
Prof. Marius Pieterse - Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Prof. Wolfgang Preiser
Ilan Price - Habonim Dror Southern Africa
Catherine Pringle
Public Service Accountability Monitor
Helena Rabie
Yvette Alta Raphael
Zina Raj
Fazel Randera
Molebogeng Rangaka
Michael Rautenbach - Siyayinqoba, Beat It!
Shaun Resnik
Mandy Ristow
Bernice Roeland - Director of AIDS Response
Peter Rutherford
SA Human Rights Commission
Cathryn Salter-Jansen
Joery Sasse
Eric Sawyer - Co-Founder ACT UP NY
Sass Schulz
Kira Schlesinger
Simon Sephton
Fisani Sekwele
Butjwana Seokoma - SANGONeT
Siber Ink Publishers
Gavin Silber
Abongile Sipondo
Jill Sloan
Social Justice Coalition
Theo Steele - Board Member, AIDS Law Project
Jenny Stead
Ilan Strauss
Francois Taljaard
The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa
Lega Thlame
Alison Tilley
Treatment Action Campaign
Adv Wim Trengrove- Johannesburg Bar
Adv Duncan Turner - Johannesburg Bar
Daniel Turton - United States of America
Adv David Unterhalter SC - Johannesburg Bar
Prof. Donna Van Bogaert - Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics
Dr Gilles van Cutsem
Annalie van Niekerk
Desmond van Niekerk
Vernita van Niekerk
Pieter van Rooijen - Netherlands
Gert van Zyl
Rouvanne van der Berg
Alex van der Heever
Willem van der Linde
Ahmien van der Walt
Dr Francois Venter
Sara Weiss
Adv Matthew Welz
Jodi Wishnia
Jonathan Whittall
Thein Win
Wan Yanhai - Beiking Aizhixing Institute, China
Nathan Geffen - Treatment Action Campaign Treasurer
Brian Honermann - AIDS Law Project, Researcher
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=124115&sn=Detail

Now email and ADD your signature to the numbered list below
If you wish to post comments on the original website, click here:
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=124115&sn=Detail

When there are 500 signatures on the email you receive,
please forward to these email addresses:

President’s Office
President
Mr Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe
leratoz@po.gov.za

Minister of Home Affairs
Ms Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula
Mamello.Morobi@dha.gov.za

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dr Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma
somersn@foreign.gov.za

We the undersigned, support the letter titled:
“The Dalai Lama: An open letter to President Motlanthe
05 April 2009
Various individuals and organisations call for an apology to the Tibetan spiritual leader
LETTER TO PRESIDENT MOTLANTHE: GOVERNMENT MUST PROVIDE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ON HUMAN RIGHTS”,
published on the link: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=124115&sn=Detail

1. Anna Varney-Wong - South Africa
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

South Africa - a REAL trail blazer!

2009-04-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

Have you seen that South Africa is a REAL trail blazer?
http://silverscorpio.com/new-zealand-chinese-groups-want-ban-on-dalai-lamas-visit/#comment-11383

“Now is the time!”
I remember that power filled South African liberation cry!
It always applies.
Change is still imperative

I remember the days
when South Africans decided to bow to no one,
except Liberation…

Change requires
one not to be lethargic
- not to be a mere arm chair talker

I would so love Bishop Tutu for president! What an amazing being he is!
It's not such a crazy idea to have a holy man as president
- the Tibetans do...
maybe some day people will realise this is the way to go
- and have a president with real heart morality.

May all beings practice love and compassion.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/270266#tab=comments

I can't believe I've just been hacked!

2009-03-31T04:13:00.000-07:00

Surely there are bigger fish?
See this site where I was commenting on a blog titled: “How much did it cost to buy out the ANC’s soul?”. I commented under the name: HummingBird. Next moment there was another post by HummingBird – a real communist Chinese post saying something about Tibet being free and everyone is happy there. Where I commented next my name came up as Barry Benson! I reported the false HummingBird post and see its been deleted and there’s an investigation...
My post that put their back up:

It seems crazy to think we could be like Tibet soon. I guess the main difference is the majority of our population arent Buddhist - only a small minority is. People are only hearing the rumblings now - they dont realize what these mean yet.
http://hummingbird333.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-dont-even-have-tv.html

May all beings practice love and compassion.

I dont even have a TV

2009-03-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

I do not have a TV. I rarely listen to the news on the radio and when I do I feel I'm reminded why. I have always felt that the important news will reach me because people speak about it in the streets.

I'm not completely switched off, I have been assisting as editor on the Burmese News website and felt it was important to do this because I have friends from there and see the blood curdling stuff going on in Burma - much of which is so terrible it almost feels hurtful to be telling the world about it.

I come from a country where our recent history of Apartheid politicized me from an early age and I guess I have been happy recently to be able to take a 'relative break' with a picture of a 'Rainbow Nation' growing slowly but hopefully surely. Now for the past 3 days I'm behaving like a scavenger collecting and spreading information like wild fire... why?

We've been aware of the tragedy of Tibet since 1959 and the more recent tragedy of Burma and other countries. As with the outbreak of AIDS we had the sense, "terribly sad but it will never happen to me". Not so...

The South African government has banned the Dalai Lama from South Africa. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is my spiritual leader, so this hits me hard personally. But even when I look at the mysterious banning of this international icon of Peace and Compassion from a non personal perspective I see a chilling picture unfolding...

Remember back to April 2008, a Chinese ship full of weapons for Robert Mugabe found off the coast of South Africa? It hit the news for a few days - here in South Africa anyway...

Now I think about it - Mbeki, the South African president at the time, for some reason which baffled the minds of many South Africans never took a stand about the shocking way Mugabe was ruining his own country, Zimbabwe.

The puzzle is piecing together bit by bit...
Let's look further:

Here is a BBC report dated 2008:
China 'is fuelling war in Darfur'

Why didn't I see this earlier??? I've been hearing what sounded like jokes re China and Africa for some time - the latest was this very morning in a FaceBook post:
ANC: Another Nation for China
I guess it sounded like amusing conspiracy theory stuff.
So we just carried on...

Look at this, January 2008:
Special Report: China Storms Africa. With its resource-hungry push into the sub-Sahara, Beijing puts the planet to the test.

A FaceBooker, Donald Dean, in a Group, We Want The Dalai Lama to come to South Africa, writes:
"The Great Chinese Takeout
The sub-Sahara is now the scene of one of the most bare-knuckled resource grabs the world has ever seen:

Mozambique (a key source of timber for China)
Zambia (copper)
Congo (a wide range of minerals)
Equatorial Guinea (oil)

World Bank survey of 68 countries last year found that the sub-Sahara leads in the "percentage of firms expected to give gifts" to secure government contracts (43%).

"People are not worried about saving the environment; they are worried about getting some before it all runs out. That's the mentality: 'China is just going to consume everything -- let's get it now!' "

This morning I google news and find:
South Africa's Sad Descent and the Implications for Democracy Promotion

Demise of hard fought for liberation

I wrote this poem a few days ago in a blog:

When we turn away
(dedicated to Tibet, Burma and countries preyed upon by China... to all countries)

The enemy was a shadow
Now we see a mountain

The seed of our hearts
reaches places we do not even know

Do not turn from those in need
Their strife will be ours

Is it too late? How far has this disease spread? If aware South Africans put their shoulder to the grindstone can we still stop this wheel from turning? Will the world support us now - it is simply a matter of time before we are the New Tibet....
this disease spreads

When we turn away

2009-03-23T04:49:00.000-07:00

(dedicated to Tibet, Burma and countries preyed upon by China... to all countries)

The enemy was a shadow
Now we see a mountain

The seed of our hearts
reaches places we do not even know

Do not turn from those in need
Their strife will be ours

I thought one could start feeling good about being South African... now this

2009-03-22T06:56:00.002-07:00

My heart is very sad. I cannot accept this.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090322072906130C215845

Outrage has greeted the government's ban on a visit to South Africa by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who was due to take part in a 2010 World Cup-organised peace conference in Johannesburg on Friday.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who is in California, told the Sunday Tribune he was upset at the refusal of a visa to the Dalai Lama and had written to President Kgalema Motlanthe asking him for an explanation.

"If His Holiness's visa is refused, then I won't take part in the coming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference. I will condemn government's behaviour as disgraceful, in line with our country's abysmal record at the United Nations Security Council, a total betrayal of our struggle history," he said.

"We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure; I feel deeply distressed and ashamed," he said.

The Dalai Lama had been invited by his three fellow South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk, and Tutu.

Dave Steward, spokesman for the F W De Klerk Foundation, said, "There is no reason why the Dalai Lama, who is recognised as a champion of peace, and as a Nobel Laureate, should be denied entry into South Africa.

"South Africa should not allow any country to dictate who it should and should not allow to visit."

The Dalai Lama, who is honorary co-chairman of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, was denied travel documents on March 4 and asked to postpone the trip amid opposition from the Chinese government.

Over the past two years, South Africa has been China's key trade partner in Africa, accounting for 20.8 percent of China's trade with Africa, while Chinese foreign direct investment in South Africa was about $6 billion (R60bn), and South Africa's foreign direct investment in China came to $2bn (R20bn).

Dai Bing, ministerial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, confirmed that his government had appealed to the South African government not to allow the Dalai Lama into the country, warning that if it did so, this would harm bilateral relations.

Dai said this was a particularly inopportune time for the Dalai Lama to visit the country as it was the 60th anniversary of what Tibetans regard as China's military invasion of Tibet, but which the Chinese government describes as its liberation of Tibetans from feudal serfdom.

It was also the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet into exile in India and the first anniversary of the serious political unrest in Tibet last March.

The South African Friends of Tibet said yesterday that the barring of the Dalai Lama from the peace conference made a mockery of the intentions of this conference, and it appealled to the conference organisers, the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee, to postpone the proceedings until the Dalai Lama had been issued travel documents to South Africa.

The lobby group expressed dismay at the withholding of travel documents to the Dalai Lama, as South Africa bowed to pressure from one of the world's most oppressive nations, claiming that S F Moloi, the South African high commissioner in New Delhi, had effectively banned the Dalai Lama by not processing his travel documents,and requesting him to postpone the trip.

Ronnie Mamoepa, the foreign affairs spokesman, denied the government was blocking the invite to the Dalai Lama, insisting that, "no invitation had been extended to the Dalai Lama".

When it was put to him that the Tibetan office in Pretoria had applied for a visa for the Dalai Lama on March 4, Mamoepa said; "Visas are issued by Home Affairs and not us…"

Asked if South Africa had withheld an invitation to the Dalai Lama under pressure from China, Mamoepa said, "This place is called the Republic of South Africa and not China and thus makes its own sovereign, independent decisions based on what it deems to be in the best interests of the country."

The Dalai Lama was invited to speak at the conference, whose line-up includes the Nobel Peace Prize committee from Norway and Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman, who plays Mandela in a movie about the Rugby World Cup in 1995.

However, in a letter sent last week to the three South African Nobel Laureates, the Dalai Lama apologised for not being able to attend, saying he had been asked to postpone the trip.

The Dalai Lama has visited South Africa twice before. In 1999 he took part in the World Parliament of Religions and met then President Thabo Mbeki.

However, a row broke out after Mbeki agreed to see the Dalai Lama again separately. The Chinese government protested and Mbeki cancelled the meeting.

In 2004 the Dalai Lama again visited South Africa as a guest of the African Cultural Heritage Trust.

* This article was originally published on page 13 of Tribune on March 22, 2009

Fear as teacher

2009-03-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

A Walking the Labyrinth post

FEAR

1. My greatest fear is…
2. How fear effects my life
3. The worst thing that could happen if my fear is realised
4. What my fear teaches me

1. my greatest fear is... I see death as the ultimate loss
2. this effects my life by creating instinctual survival reactions and denial
3. the worst thing that can happen is ... I will fall into the unknown. I guess ongoing denial the worst - but as death is inevitable, eventually it must be confronted. Though I guess people sometimes use drugs and all sorts to avoid being aware... Thing is - I want to be conscious. My fear is all about not being conscious
4. my fear teaches me that I want to exist. I do not trust letting go of 'I'.

I am aware that the process of enlightenment requires this very letting go. This teaches me how profound the path is which this fear has opened up to me.
Therefore I realise how important it is to engage with this. I know that regardless of any intellectual or spiritual 'goals - this life as I know it will end. I realise this deeper awareness is helpful in that it leads me to take a more meaningful journey.

I cling to the known and fear the unknown. I look to the known for comfort. Assaji (True Eloquence) once gave me a thought to contemplate; the sun rises each day - not because I will it to - but because it is the nature of night to be followed by day. When I go to sleep at night, I do not fear, 'will day come tomorrow?'
This process also helps me work with other fears I have.

The fear of death probably became conscious when my father died when I was 7 years old. I found the religion of my environment expected me to have faith - but gave me no knowledge. There was a time I feared falling asleep at night because it reminded me of death. Slowly I grew accustomed to this fear and sleep came easily. The issue had simply become dormant. I was in denial to some extent, even while hurtling towards the inevitable.
My daughter, Gra-anna's death was part of an awareness process for me. I definitely experienced a sense of continuity of her being. This gave me some insight, although not at an intellectual level.

I practice this letting go process all the time as life presents opportunities and know it's crucial to have this practice. I am learning through the experiences life presents is that it's 'okay to let go'.

My instinct is to automatically grasp and try and catch myself if I sense I am falling. My spiritual awareness knows that it's okay to fall. My intellectual self brings useful aids like Assaji's tale of the sun rising every morning and working with the daily lessons Guru Life brings. Practice makes me clearer and stronger. This is my path, growing my awareness as much as I can. It's a process on the path to enlightenment.
I’m sure I've left things out! I'll expand later if more thoughts come to me

Through His Eyes

2009-03-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

I saw a stranger
sitting in the back of a van
beside another labourer
I gazed
through his eyes
into his timelessness

Dalai Lama 50 Years in Exile

2009-02-25T01:36:00.001-08:00

you are welcome to join us making a special pledge to His Holiness

Sky Burial

2009-02-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

(poem for Tibet)

A land in the sky was plundered
and a simple monk
torn from it’s soil
A handful of seeds
was dispersed all over earth

The teacher we could not reach
stands among us now
He says no one can liberate us
from a prison of our own making
Only we can free ourselves

Bones, cartilage and flesh
are vultures food
But the jewel
hidden in the heart
no one can destroy

Om Mani Padme Hum

Friend, stop a moment

2009-02-02T01:52:00.000-08:00

Poem for Burma

Come, friend, sit beside me
on the river bank
Hear the ripples break the stillness
See the leaf bob on the waters

Now lightning strikes the water
A body floats by
And the earth
On which we sit turns scarlet

A child whose face
Is blank with despair
Sits amongst silent corpses
Looking at the murderer
Who does not see, nor hear nor feel

Oh, may we be his eyes,
his ears and his heart!

Hush, hear the goddess
who reigns this land
Whose precious feet walk
alongside those of Ghandi,
His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
Mandela and other noble warriors

Hush, hear her heart
beat the anguish
of mothers who have seen
their children raped and desecrated

Hush, hear her whisper
to her Buddha children

“and yet... and yet
DO NO HARM”

See her face imprinted
on the hearts of saffron robed soldiers

Oh, what have we done!

http://burmanewsnetwork.blogspot.com

© Anna Varney-Wong

Do you believe there is value in suffering?

2009-01-12T00:23:00.000-08:00

Suffering implies there is pain. How can there be any value in this? The only good that can arise from suffering is if we look deeply to the root of our suffering and learn from this. Then suffering becomes a significant teacher.

It does seem that sooner or later all beings experience suffering, in small and larger ways and eventually we all die which can be seen as the ultimate suffering if we are not prepared.

We do much to try and eliminate suffering but so often our attempts to avoid suffering simply bring about different suffering. It seems the major pursuit of human beings is happiness.

When I look at the causes of suffering, I see there is no simplistic answer - like 'oh, it's my karma (speaking of which I received a beautiful response to a question about karma from True Eloquence)

So much of our suffering seems to arise from our response to situations and if we learn to see things differently, the suffering falls away.

Some of our suffering is a result of how we've lived out our lives and although we may not be able to change the outcomes, we can learn from our history and avoid similar situations in the future.

There is also physical suffering, such as great pain in the body, say from genetically inherited illness, when we may need to learn how to live with suffering as a companion and acceptance seems to be a crucial attitude.

Sometimes there's the suffering which comes from natural disasters - our homes may be swept away, we may lose loved ones or be injured. Suffering then reveals to us the temporary nature of life. An awareness which can grow from this is to live fully and make the most of precious short time we have to learn.

Suffering so often can be the result of attachment and it is only in the letting go that relief can be found. Such as when something we love breaks or when a beloved dies.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I never thought deeply about the why's of suffering until I encountered Buddhism. Here is a link re Buddhism on suffering (there are many links - I selected this one randomly).

"Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in this world,
All comes from desiring myself to be happy.

Shantideva

Bodhicitta is a precious path where we change our focus from our suffering to the suffering of others as so beautifully described here ( http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/compassion.html ) in this prayer by Shantideva

"May I become food and drink in the aeons of famine for those poverty-stricken suffers.
May I be a doctor, medicine and nurse for all sick beings in the world until everyone is cured.
May I become never-ending wish-fulfilling treasures materialising in front of each of them
as all the enjoyments they need.
May I be a guide for those who do not have a guide, a leader for those who journey, a boat
for those who want to cross over, and all sorts of ships, bridges, beautiful parks for those
who desire them, and light for those who need light.
And may I become beds for those who need a rest, and a servant to all who need servants.
May I also become the basic conditions for all sentient beings, such as earth or even the sky,
which is indestructible.
May I always be the living conditions for all sentient beings until all sentient beings are
enlightened."

Shantideva

May all beings practice loving kindness

my gaia

What has given you the most strength?

2009-01-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

What has given me the most strength?

The challenges and teachings of Guru Life!

A scene pops into my mind...

When my daughter, Gra-anna passed on, I went to London, where she'd lived. It was the heart of Winter (I come from a country of sunshine). There were only a couple of hours of light each day - and even then there was seldom sun. One of those days I stood outside. In this gloom of cold and semi light (who dares breathe deep when the veil is terribly thin?), I saw a tree standing, silent and bare, so in keeping with the day - but - it was covered with white flowers! A silent, proud bearer of flowers in this zone of darkness, cold and concrete felt like such a contradiction, it was almost impossible to comprehend. I thought, 'omigod, just look at this! How does anything flower in such conditions?'

I think this is how we are as human beings

The gods and deity's must watch us sometimes and be so moved - maybe that's when it rains....

gaia

Wishing you a joyful and blessed 2009

2009-01-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

Gien’s words

Hello friends and family

2008 was a year of great personal change for me
It was a year I left Canada,
my home for my whole life until now
to come marry my beloved, Anna
and make South Africa my new home
A year when this love made possible by the internet age
came to fruition and manifested into physical reality

A year of sadness and joy
The sadness of parting with my family and friends
and the joy of beginning my new life with Anna
and her family and friends

If life has taught me anything
it is that it is so fleeting and so precious

Those whom we know
we mustn't take for granted
for we may not see them again
for a long, long time

Although it's difficult to live each moment as if it were our last
we can aspire to be more present with those we are with
for all of life is just a temporary journey
a dream, an illusion
and one day, each of us will reach our final breath
knowing this is the true and ultimate nature for each and everyone of us
always, always be kind to others

When we do reach our final exhalation
we want to be completely relaxed, in a state of total confidence
of what this life was, what it meant

We want to have made certain
that the life we've lived
has all been worth it
that we've not squandered it in self-indulgence
that we've said "I love you" to all the ones we care about
we've done as much in life as is possible
sought out as much awareness as possible
for both ourselves and others

To all my friends and family
on both sides of the ocean
those who I speak too often and those I don't
and to all my friends to be in the new year
those whom I've yet to meet
but which my karma will bring my way

Many Blessings for a continual raining down of awareness
as you unfold your path
May you continue to treat all obstacles and challenges
as your greatest teacher
May you learn the wisdom to welcome all enemies
as friends in disguise
May great teachers come your way
in the form of people, events, obstacles and challenges
who will help you to recognize your own mind
May the truth of these words
reach into your heart and touch a chord
that will resonate with you

May you discover yourself in the silence that pervades your whole life
and may you find the jewel of who you really are
transcending both perceiver and perceived
words and thoughts
May you recognize presence
as your true abode

Anna’s words

Dear loved one’s
Time has come again to wish you all a joyous and blessed new year!

This year is over before it began and also is packed with awesome journeys!

My love for Gien and our marriage – is so precious and fills me with endless gratitude. The reasons our happiness? I wonder if I can find the words for this... or put it in a nut shell.
Genuine love
Acceptance

We have never had a fight – and don’t expect to
Have no feelings of harboured animosity, or power struggles
Discuss feelings and issues openly
Give and take constructive criticism
Have no hidden agendas
Genuinely seek happiness for each other,

Every time I look at my beloved I see the universe in his myriad faces,
My lover, partner, teacher, student, friend, child, parent... It’s all here

I could go on but I think this gives a good sense of how fortunate we are!

I have felt happy and inspired watching Gien pursue his dreams in terms of building a music career. His energy and passion are endless. I have also so appreciated Gien’s loving, supportive role in Neville’s life. Our family feels whole and happy. Oh I must mention Giens amazing cooking too! Every meal is delumptious!

Neville is growing and doing well at school as always. Now on the foothills of his teens, presents us with a whole new hiphop Nev gangstah and all the challenges this brings! This is his last year at primary school and we’re considering the National School of the Arts for high school.

This year I became a Tibetan Buddhist, which was mostly about confirming the direction I was already taking spiritually.

I am happy to have been invited by 2 precious friends, Metta and Roland (Tiger’s Eye), to be an administrator on two special networks: Candle for Burma and The united Buddhist Networks. I have also volunteered to work on (Johannesburg) Lam Rim’s website and look forward to this in the new year. I have basic skills needed and learn on the job!

I set up a site for my teacher and mentor Bill Ainslie this year. More info needs to be added – but its up and running now http://www.billainslie.co.za
I also started an information gathering forum for this purpose: http://bill-ainslie.ning.com

Recently I started an interactive group on Gaia, Walking the Labyrinth; daily practice and new resolutions which is growing fast and feels like a good experience. It has been rated ‘most active group’ in Gaia almost since it started and is a fun self help/growth journey

So as you can see internet activities are keeping me busy! I am hoping I’m going to find more ways of also generating income in 2009 – otherwise life is full and very happy.

We are hoping to visit Giens family next year (another reason for generating income!). We’d also love to go to India for teachings and dream about Tibet too. I’d also love to visit Ian, Awen, Kate and the Branwen in Wales, before my grandson grows up!

That’s the news - I think – probably left out a ton of important things!

May this coming year see peace and loving kindness among all beings

Much love to you and yours

1/1/09

We chanted new year in with a couple of dear friends with the Om mantra - very precious!

original Gaia blog

New years gift Invitation

2008-12-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Invitation to join Group:
Daily practice and new resolutions
Click here:
http://pods.gaia.com/self_acceptance

You're invited to join my new group “Daily practice and new resolutions”.

(: This group feels like a good space and a number of friends have already joined and are enthusiastically participating :)

introduction:

Am I happy and self accepting?

If I had one last last month on earth
what are the things I would want to do?

Can I start now?

If this were the last moment in my life
- what would my regrets be?

Can I prevent these?

What inspires me?
What am I good at
and do I give this place in my life?

Am I happy with what I do with my time?
What are my activities,
minute by minute through the day?

What are my thoughts,
minute by minute
and how do they play themselves out in my life?

Share practices, routines
and perhaps do a spring clean
(of your life)
in this non judgmental, caring place

Here you can confirm your commitments
and also share when you tumble from them!

Share resolutions,
whether they be new years resolutions,
renewed resolutions
or simply new ones.

Support, be supported and inspire!

Invite your friends to this group - it may be just the gift they need!
http://pods.gaia.com/self_acceptance

Dear Friends

2008-12-09T05:46:00.000-08:00

During school time life is fairly structured for my 12 year old son, Neville. There's the morning at school, extra murals in the afternoons and homework, leaving an hour or two to do various chores and follow his interests.

Now its the holidays... and the thing which is catching my attention right now is:
Holidays, children and what they do with their time.

When i look around my sense is that its all too easy for children to have caretakers in the form of TV, computer and/or playstation games, movies and the likes. I also sense my dilemma may be fairly universal and there may be a crying need for attention in this area. Though I don't know how it is in other countries.

From what I see, my 12 year olds interests are music and the computer, seconded by spending time with friends. We don't have a TV otherwise it would most certainly be on the Must Do list. Parents are definitely NOT cool, so the days of organising shared activities are in the past (and future) to a large degree.

The 1st few days of the holiday are about unwinding and simply enjoying relative freedom. Our end of year holidays in South Africa continue for over a month and children (of all ages) often start complaining about being bored when not provided with something to keep them occupied.

My sense is that no one seems to be coming up with a solution. This has got me thinking of starting a holiday project, something which will include children of all ages (possibly children forming age related activity groups). Also something which will help people in some way, so the activity becomes a means of growing awareness while simultaneously being entertaining and creative. My thoughts are still unformed - but fairly persistent.

One thought I had; there are many mothers and children on our street corners begging for money which is really heart breaking and another area where no one seems to know what to do - after all it's been going on for years. I thought it may be a good idea to somehow get involved with one or two families like this. But i'm unsure of the logistics and know this is just one possibility.

At this point I'd like to open this conversation up and hear from you. Please share your ideas, experiences, anything else you think of

With deep gratitude
Wishing you and yours a blessed year ending and new beginnings

yesterday

2008-12-05T04:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had an electric storm as we do at this time of the year
Yesterday was also Gra-anna’s 4th memorial

When I was driving home, the largest dragonfly I’ve ever seen weaved its way in front of my car for about half a block.
I decided the artwork which I’d been planning for Gra-anna needed to include a dragonfly.
I tend to see things as symbolic so I looked up ‘dragonfly’.

Because of the storm yesterday
and wishing to connect with friends and family on the actual day
I hurriedly posted off a webcam pic
Today I create a less hurried post:
In memory of beautiful Gra-anna
Who 4 years ago decided it was time to take flight from this planet
Who left us precious foot prints
For those who still haven’t taken a peek – Gra-anna's Book is brimming with treasures and gifts to you and for those who have - take another dip into her gifting

Extract from a conversation with the Dalai Lama

2008-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

"You said you might not return. My question to you is where are you going to go?"

"To hell," the Dalai Lama retorted, bursting out in hearty laughter.

He then struck a serious note, saying that his favorite daily Buddhist prayer contains the line: "So long as sentient beings' suffering remains, I will remain in order to serve, to share their suffering."

Click here to read more

waking at 4am

2008-10-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

birds sing
the mornings 1st song

love's smiling eyes;
my horizon

we the weavers dance
suns golden hue

our heart is music
the birds sing to

Right Thinking

2008-10-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

Awen just loves cleaning,' my daughter, Gra-anna, told me with a big smile.

I watched three year old Awen with his cloth. Busy, busy wiping the floor, then shining it. When he was done he looked around purposefully to see where he could go next with his cleaning cloth.

My grandson was playing. He was playing, 'cleaning, cleaning'. If there was a spill so much the better, Awen was at it in a flash. When we finished our meal, Awen toddled off to the sink with his plate and on tippy toes, rinsed off his plate, after each meal. Happy as can be. That was 4 years ago, but the memory glows brightly in my heart.

When I partook in my yoga teacher training course, I learned about Karma Yoga. We were on a karma yoga roster for things like cleaning the dishes. I used these moments to learn to see the 'mundane' as sacred.

I was walking down the path a moment ago, going to fetch my son, Neville from school, when I suddenly remembered Awen cleaning and it all came together.

What is the attitude of play? When Awen was cleaning, he was very busy doing the work of a child which is to play. Do you remember the head space of playing? This is the way all things need to be approached, isn't it?

Something precious

2008-10-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

(dedicated to those who are loving and all those who grant others the honor of loving them)

There was something precious
about the way you left your window open
that day it rained and the wind was howling
Your gauzy curtain, a dancing muse, flying
wispy poetry for all eyes to see

There’s something precious shared
When you leave your heart achingly wide
to share without withholding
loving without a single thought
For that utterly unprotected warm place

There’s something precious that happens
When you drop those boundaries
between self and others and objects
And gift all earth with the abundance
Of boundlessness

(1st published on Metta's new site: http://united-buddhist-networks.ning.com)

Meditation

2008-10-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

For those interested in meditation, I’ve posted a series of youtube talks by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, titled Nature of Mind, which I recommend strongly. Although she is a Buddhist nun, her teachings target a wider audience and are useful for anyone wishing to understand the mind and how to improve one’s meditation practice. She uses a lovely simple approach and her manner is always ‘down to earth’. She spent 12 years in a cave in meditation; if anyone has insight into the mind, it is someone with this sort of experience.

As I watch this series, I have the sense of one who knows and understands the mind in the same way a doctor does anatomy. I get the sense of one who was watched the workings of the mind extensively and not only deeply understands, but has mastered this science/experience. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo explains things so you know ‘why’ you need to do it, which makes the meditation experience practical and sensible, instead following what you’re ‘told to do’ without explanation, as many teachers seem to expect, perhaps unwittingly, When we simply act out instructions which we do not intrinsically understand, we will seldom pursue them with in a committed way or for any prolonged period of time.

This series feels like a lovely ‘handbook’ on meditation and is excellent for beginners and also for those who have had uneven experiences and access to information on meditation and may need to ‘fill in the missing gaps’. Click here and scroll down until you see the youtube postings

2008-10-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

voicing tantalizing wandering

2008-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I just posted this, my 1st blog in Metta's lovely new site!
You are invited to visit and join if you find it interesting:
The United Buddhist Networks

While I was thinking about what to write,
how to say what I want to say
... finding what I want to say...
I was found this quotation which speaks to me so well:

"Of the many earnest, and how earnest, people we may observe reading, attending lectures, studying and practicing disciplines, devoting their energies to the attainment of a liberation which is by definition unattainable, how many are not striving via the ego-concept which is itself the only barrier between what they think they are and that which they wish to become but always have been and always will be?' - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu

Yesterday in this site, I started, what I hoped would become a conversation, on Emptiness.

I love this subject so much!
People always respond from a knowing place,
as do I when others raise a subject...

...and these responses are always helpful.
...but only to a degree.
As is the question itself.

I sense that as long as we are not enlightened
we will inevitably fluctuate between the relative realm and mindfulness
endlessly

As a person on the path my 'goal' is enlightenment.
...I know having a goal
is the very thing/concept between me and enlightenment...

The thing is
... until we have 'arrived' (become enlightened/awakened)
there will be a goal
...for at least part of the time

and you know what?
I find this a sad thing...

Which does not mean I do not also endlessly celebrate.
I do.
In each moment that I bring my awareness to the moment.

But ...there is always the underlying yearning...
this is the very thing I guess which propels me on
keeps me taking the next step,
and the next, on the path.

Moments of awareness

stillness in the mind

treasures

yet... my awareness is so limited...

and so I am propelled ...
to take the next step...

and the next...

I teach art and yoga. Sometimes people take up these as a hobby
and squeeze into the hour they can manage between the important things in their lives.
After one or two classes they reach the moment when they feel daunted,
realizing they are actually on the foothills of a mountain they need to climb.

I attended a talk by Tenzin Palmo a while back.
She spoke eloquently about how life brings us challenges and by taking these challenges on
we become fit and strengthened spiritually
- in the same way our body becomes fit and strong from physical exercise.

There is a path to walk

the journey feels arduous at times

also...

it is here
... this thing we search for
is here

http://united-buddhist-networks.ning.com/

Shantideva

2008-10-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in the world
All comes from desiring my own happiness

(The picture above is an attempt at a sketch of precious Ven Geshe Damcho Yonten whose teachings I recently attended on Shantideva's 'A Guide to the Bodhisatva Way of Life')

Dancing

2008-09-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

where is this dancer?

... when I look for it it is nowhere to be found

when I look without seeking

it is everywhere

GURU LIFE

2008-09-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

I call life GURU LIFE
because I'm finding Life to be the most amazing sacred teacher of all
- the perfect teacher -
all other teachers a mere shadow in comparison
I cannot begin to express...

I hear of those who have gurus
and their great love for these beings
- and know these gurus must either be direct channels of Guru Life
one and the same
or else paled
by their obstructions to this great guru
freelly available to all

I know the love of a disciple of a guru
I sing the same songs,
cry the same tears and dance the same ecstasy

how fortunate!
emaho

there is nothing Guru Life hands me
which is not sacred

my only desire
is to become one
with this great teacher of oneness

Why?

2008-09-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

…. I'm having a sense that the question is more sacred than any answer
simply by what is being experienced
- that its the movement which takes place in the mind

an 'answer' placates movement/creativity
leads to something stagnant -
in a sense is the death of some journey (the question)

seems it's the 'I' (ego) who wants and creates answers
while being is the movement
which gives rise to these eternal questions

- or looking at it another way
a question can be seen as
a birth process suspended in time
- the unfolding creative process

and the answer is that final full stop
- the end of the telling of a tale
or dab of the brush when the painting's all done

mmm meandering, spinning a thoughtful thread…

Why is there beauty?

2008-09-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me this question today:

"why is there beauty?"

Interesting question, I thought.

This was my response:

I just asked my daughter how she'd answer your question
and her reply was:
"beauty is food for the soul"
and I responded:
"does this mean so called 'ugliness' is not?"
and she said:
"ugliness is food for thought"

I enjoyed the playfulness of her response

I personally do not think there's anything such as beauty
- rather it's a perception which we create or do not create.

Right now the chat is unfolding with my daughter (she's in London and I'm in South Africa) and she's just said something rather nice:

"anyway, that's why we need beauty, for its positive energy. Coz it's love in another form"

I like that ;)

What do you think?

Shadows & reflections and Before thought

2008-09-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

1.
Shadows and reflections

Shadows and reflections have been inspiring me so!
I have been photographing them and contemplating painting too.

The other day while teaching an art class I noticed
a reflection cast by light through the window
reflecting on the floor tiles
I was enraptured.
The 'picture' was so powerful and entrancing

I glanced from the window which cast this image
back to the light reflecting
and back...
mesmerised!
in that moment I found they were the same

I posted photographs of shadows and reflections in a facebook album
I was delighted to see the responses of others
- they too were entranced
a dialogue started between myself and a friend
I tried to put in in a nutshell:

'...lately I'm looking at shadows and am not sure which is more 'the object' -
this is really abstract (love this word - it lets me off the hook of trying to explain!)
but I'm seeing the world and life as reflections or shadows

....Plato spoke of this:

""The Allegory of the Cave" symbolizes this trek and how it would look to those still in a lower realm. Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall."

2
Before Thought
Life is short and as long as we travel towards enlightenment we shall mourn this.
When we become enlightened we shall no longer be rocked by these journeys.

Life is so short
bearing this in mind – we need to use each jeweled possible second
because we do not know when it’s going to end.
We must love others in each second
because we do not know when their moment of passing will arrive.

I read something beautiful the other day about ‘before thought’ - and it has grabbed me!

'Before thought' is a place in the mind which is so sacred and liberating.
A simple shift of focus.
It is thought which creates all this pain, sorrow and passing joy.
There is peace, love and eternity in before thought

Calling on all women (Johanna's Blog)

2008-09-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Johanna's Blog

This is the Hawk, that greeted the 1,000 Hummingbird All Nations Rebirthing Ceremony planners, Johanna and Corrina, when they went to the ancient village site, to meet with our native sisters. This ancient one made sure we understood it was by permission and authorization of the ancient hearts of that place, that we were invited to participate....

This new to our era process of joining native women with all nations of women, for the purpose of calling in our own rebirthing as a powerful force of wholeness and loving unity, has been dreamed of by many, and accomplished only in our hearts until this day.

The women of this circle...13 healers called together by fate, and representing multiple nations of mostly indigenous or native ancestral ceremony practitioners, are now preparing our most amazing meal ever: a ceremony to launch healing for women and children WORLD WIDE...like the stone in a pool on a full moon night...the sparkling ripples have already begun to call us forth.

From the most powerful showing of healing fire, within the depths of our lodges...we have been tasting the reality of profound spontaneous healings. WE have RE-MEMBERED ourselves as HOLY and are PREPARING to begin this most sacred march of WOMEN into our lives as empowered healers of world culture.

These words may sound lofty, yet we have been shown by the ancestors, when the dark is darkest...this, is when the light of LOVE shines most brightly...

In service of this understanding, we seek to host the light of loving and healing, by hosting for the women of our nation, and world...the seed ceremony for the One Thousand Hummingbird All Nations Womens Rebirthing Ceremony to be held for four years running, (2009-2012) as a preparation for networks that will connect women around the globe to other women of healing sources and resources.

Om Nama SHivaya
Oh Mitakuay Oyasin
Oh Mateo
Praise be to the consciousness of LOVE!

Gra-anna's visit

2008-09-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

I had a powerful dream where Gra-anna visited me

wearing a long flowing dress.
Her hair was long too.
She felt very beautiful and in a good space.
In the dream Gra-anna was going to a further realm
and wanted a blessing from me

She was carrying an ancient book
which she referred to
She’d chosen this day for departure based on the book which guided her to selecting this as the most auspicious day.

Time was running out and she had to go soon
moving to further realms

I said to her that if I could keep her I would
– but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do

I told her my wishes for her are wisdom, creativity and compassion
And that my personnel wish is that she carry my nurturing maternal love
with her to the furthermost reaches of the infinite universe
to draw from when she needs to

I woke feeling acceptance and also sadness

Gra-anna my beloved daughter
journeyed on this earth
1979-2004
She still is on a journey
We all are

Please, never forget

2008-09-08T03:17:00.000-07:00

Take a listen to this special song dedicated to Burma
by David Rudder

http://www.burmadavidrudder.com/index.html

Gifted to us by our precious award winning journalistic blogger, Metta

Metta requests us not to forget Burma

sharing...

Mettacara's Covocation

you are welcome to share an expanded version of this blog here

thinking versus experiencing

2008-09-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Shadow and reflection
Are no different from object

It’s all here

it's thinking about it
that diminishes the experience

My True Name

2008-09-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Please Call Me By My True Name
Thich Nhat Hanh

Do not say I depart tomorrow,
for even today I still arrive.

Look deeply: I arrive in every moment,
to be a bud on a branch,
to be a tiny bird with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the hearth of a flower,
to be jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive in order to laugh and to cry
in order to fear and to hope.
the rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.

I am the may fly metamorphosing
on the surface of a river,
and I am the bird, which when spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog, swimming happily
in the clear waters of my pond,
and I am the grass-snake who,
approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly
weapons to Uganda.

I am the 12 year old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable
of seeing and and loving.

I am a member of the politburo
with plenty of power in my hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his
“debt of blood” to my people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring so warm it makes
flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain like a river of tears, so full it
fills up the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,
So that I can see that my joy and my pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
that so the doors of my heart can be left open,
the doors of compassion.

To my love

2008-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Come beloved
Let’s play again
The meadow dances
yesterday’s laughter!

Come beloved
Let’s play again
Hide and seek
Cat and mouse
Till we find
Ourselves again

Oh this is a death game!
I am so consumed by love
And you
Laughingly stoke the flames
Paying no heed to the funeral bells!

Now its ash ash ash
Ashes all about
I am gone!
The love furnace is all ablaze!

Love burns away all that is not itself

2008-09-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

Surrender to love...

Love consumes...
all ability to see anything as outside of self
all fear, animosity...
...reduced to ash...

...fluttering away
in the sweet perfumed breeze

I am another you

2008-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

...everything the eye sees is itself...
there is nothing known to self
that is not self

love flows to love

Doha

2008-09-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Precious song of enlightenment

share this beautiful song

For a beautiful interview which is also a teaching, click here

and scroll down to "See the True Nature, then Let Go and Relax in That"

A dream

2008-08-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

A precious being, 'X', told me a dream he had the other night.

A friend was committing suicide.
He poured petrol over himself and set himself ablaze.
It was a shocking and horrifying experience.
X ran inside to call people and tell them what was happening.
When he returned
...he saw Buddha seated where his friend had been
At that moment he woke.

I found this dream beautiful and meaningful
It spoke to me of the masks of Buddha.

Everyone is a masked Buddha (universal truth)

Life, the great Guru
brings us many many sacred lessons
- they all take the form of the Masked Buddha

We went on to speak about the difficulties life presents.
The great suffering one experiences.
Death of beloveds, financial hardship, loss, loss, loss...

I thought of the shock 'X' experienced in the dream
- seeing his friend in flames
then the awed amazement to find
Buddha sitting amongst the ashes

I thought of that feeling in our hearts and bodies
at the moment of trauma
loss or extreme hardship
- that sharp pain
that sense of 'AAAAH!'
- THE CRYING OUT WE DO INWARDLY AND SOMETIMES OUTWARDLY TOO.

What is the cause of the immense pain?
Is it the holding on to the mask
which will shift in time
if we allow it
to reveal
the Buddha

Pain is...
holding onto the mask

We went on to speak of the ultimate loss we will all experience
- the loss of our own lives.

I thought of the so obvious yet surprising statement
i heard on the radio the other day:
In 90 years
only a handful of all people living today
will still be alive.

Life is our guru
bearing sacred lessons
preparing us for the final letting go

Each painful experience we have
is an opportunity
to prepare for the final letting go

is an opportunity
to practice acceptance
and going with the flow

This morning I was reflecting on X's dream again/still
and I remembered a while back when I became aware
of the umbilical cord
which holds 'us' to this body.
A sense of awareness that there is an 'etheric body' (for want of another term)
connected to this physical body
And I could feel the cord somewhere above the physical navel area,
perhaps in the area of the solar plexus chakra.

- the sense of this cord is an echo or imprint of that 'aaah' we experience
in those very tough moments,
I wandered if this umbilical cord is also the cord
between ego and higher awareness

The physical body, it's emotions, survival instincts
bound up with the ego's sense of mortality, limitations, need to be in control. etc
whereas our higher awareness which we develop/commune with when we are meditating
is boundless, non dual, etc...

I wondered if enlightenment is the cutting of this umbilical cord
in the same way a baby's is cut
to be freed to live independent of the womb
which brought it to earthly existence

This blog has been quite hard to write
in the sense to trying to describe feelings coherently

it always seems to come back to

Acceptance and

Letting Go

A personal request

2008-08-29T01:34:00.000-07:00

A Personal Request

Dear Friends,
You might have seen the Appeal issued by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee to request all Tibetans, Tibet Support Groups and peace-loving people of the world to observe a 12-hour symbolic fasting
and prayer on 30th August 2008 for world peace and, particularly, for the departed souls of the Tibetan people in recent months in Tibet . The appeal also re-commits ourselves to the path of non-violence. The objectives and how to observe the fasting are mentioned in detail in the appeal. If you have not received the appeal as yet, please visit our official website

http://tibet/en/prelease/2008/140808.html and www.stoptibetcrisis.org.

We consider this as extremely important non-violent action taken by Tibetans under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a very critical period for Tibet , particularly the post-Olympic period. I personally request you and your organization to kindly participate in this fast and prayer and encourage many other people to join us in this effort to reduce our own defilements and to create wisdom and compassion in the minds of the oppressor. I believe you will cooperate
us in this non-violent action.
With my warm personal greetings,

Your sincerely,
Samdhong Rinpoche
KALON TRIPA

We consider this as extremely important non-violent action taken by Tibetans under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a very critical period for Tibet , particularly the post-Olympic period. I personally request you and your organization to kindly participate in this fast and prayer and encourage many other people to join us in this effort to reduce our own defilements and to create wisdom and compassion in the minds of the oppressor.

I believe you will cooperate us in this non-violent action.
With my warm personal greetings,
Your sincerely,
Samdhong Rinpoche
KALON TRIPA

Important Appeal

The world, at large, is plagued by hosts of problem such as poverty, violence, environmental degradation, religious disharmony etc., that are the reasons for various unending sufferings humanity is facing today, and will so in future too.
For the last nearly about sixty years, as a direct result of PRC's ultra leftist policy & their discriminatory programs aimed at Tibetan Nationality and oppression of Tibetan people, hundreds of thousand of Tibetans have lost their lives and thousands of Tibetan cultural and sacred religious institutions have been demolished so far.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the various policies and decisions that are currently being implemented in Tibet is leading to 'Cultural Genocide' in Tibet . Furthermore, the merciless and harsh crackdown on the non-violent, peaceful Tibetan protestors since March this year over demonstrating their deep anguish and aspiration has left many hundreds dead and thousands more injured, tortured and detained.
Unfortunately, this unthinkable atrocity is still continuing unabatedly with the apprehensions growing about further intensification of repression after the Olympic Games.
It is evident that, not just Tibetan, but the Chinese masses are also deprived of religious freedom and freedom of conscience & expression that can be understood from The Tiananmen Square Massacre and how the legitimate demands and grievances of many farmers and workers are meted with force and intimidation.
To bring an end to such injustices, a 12-hour symbolic fasting shall be observed by all truth and justice loving people of the international community and, particularly, by Tibetans in exile and Tibet supporters everywhere on Saturday, 30 Aug 2008, which is the last day of 6th month in Tibetan calendar. This symbolic fasting, which will begin and end at 0700-1900 hrs, is done in order to purify oneself from negative actions and to accumulate good karma, to stress the non-violent perseverance in struggle for the ideals of freedom, justice, democracy, freedom of expression and for transparent
political order for the whole world, Tibetans and Chinese people in particular. It is an appeal to all the justice, truth and peace loving people to effectively support such non-violent struggle and cause in whatever capacity.
This is also appealed to all the Tibetan elsewhere, Tibet Supporters and international community supporting truth and justice, and believing in non-violent struggle, to participate and observe this symbolic fasting and prayer service at your respective places. If we are able to observe this fast and prayer with loving compassion and in most altruist spirit, we believe it will certainly bring changes in the hearts of all beings, even in the hearts of our oppressor, to shed ignorance and confusion of mind, help pacify feelings of hatred and foster love and trust in the creation of a harmonious society.
The details of this program will be sent to you shortly.

Tibetan Solidarity Committee.
August 07, 2008

Detail programme of 12-hour long Fasting and Prayer Service to be observed by Tibetans, Tibet supporters and by the peace loving people of the world on 30th August 2008 or Last day of the 6th Month in Tibetan Calendar.

1. Aims of this Fasting and Prayer Service:

a) To purify negative actions of all beings, particularly of Tibetan and Chinese
people, and, to accumulate and multiply our collective good karma. As a result, this
will:
b) Bring long, healthy life to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and help his activities to
prosper and benefit all sentient beings.
c) Ease all the conflicts, diseases, sufferings, and natural calamities in the world, so
that all beings shall live in peace and harmony.
d) Cleanse the negative actions of all those Tibetans who have died fighting for their
political cause in the aftermath of March protest in Tibet this year and help them
reborn in higher realm and eventually get freed from vicious Samsaric cycle. And,
instantaneously relieve those Tibetan who are still enduring atrocities under the
brutal Chinese oppression from their sufferings, and for the truth of Tibetan issue to
prevail soon.
e) Finally get all those people in the world in general and Tibetans in particular, who
have been victims of forced oppression and violence and deprived of their religious
freedom and freedom of conscience and expression, be freed and enjoy state of
well-being and freedom. And, dismantle all the hatred in the hearts of oppressors
and guide them with discerning wisdom, and
f) Earnestly remind and appeal to all the human beings to effectively counter the acts
of oppression, violence and injustice with non-violent and peaceful means, borne
out of compassion and loving kindness to our oppressor.

2. Duration of Fasting and Prayer Service:

a) On the auspicious day of 30thAugust 2008 and the last day of 6th Month in Tibetan
Calendar, the Fasting and Prayer Service shall be observed in one's respective area
from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m. for 12 hours.
b) In specific area of special cases, if the above timing is inconvenient they can modify
the timeline, suppose, from 0800 hrs to 2000 hrs but the idea is to observe 12 hours
long fast and prayer on that day.
c) Those who are old and infirm, patients and children who cannot participate in a
12-hour fast can join in for 10 minutes or half an hour or up to one hour, according
to their disposition.

3. Observing Fast:

During the period of observing fast, one is allowed to drink hot or cold water (plain
water). But drinking tea, milk, fruit juice and other energy drinks should be barred as
well as eating, chewing and munching any eatables. However, daily medical
prescriptions are exception; one can take them as in their daily routine.

4. Program of the Prayer Service:

a) In the monastic assemblies of four great traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and Bon,
as well as in other smaller monasteries and nunneries, apart from performing one's
own traditional pujas and activities unique to them, all should recite as many as
possible the Payers for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Guru Prayers, Dhen-pai
Nga-dra, Dhen-stik Mon-lam (Prayer of Truth), Prayer of 21 Taras, Six-syllable Mani
mantra and invocation prayers of deities Palden Lhamo and Nechung.
b) Those Tibet supporters and others who are non-Tibetan and who do not recite
Tibetan prayers can observe silent fast or they can recite prayers and hymns of their
respective faiths.

c) At intervals, official statements may be read out and speech on introduction of this
fast campaign should be invited. But raising slogans and aggressive speeches
should be avoided.
d) To make offerings and prayers to any place of worship nearby your fast observing
site.

5. How to assemble:

a) In monasteries and in nunneries, all the monks or nuns should assemble together
for mass in their respective Prayer Halls or Monastery Assembly Halls.
b) Dharma and Retreat Centers should assemble as many people as possible in their
prayer halls.
c) In schools, all the students and staff should gather in the school auditorium/hall to
observe the fast.
d) In Tibetan settlements, people may assemble in community halls or any other
facilities available in the area.
e) Hospitals and Old Age Homes that have difficulty assembling with masses can
gather on their own in their respective premises.
f) Scattered Tibetan community who don't have specific meeting place can observe by
themselves at home or together with their neighbours.
g) Tibet Support Groups can observe fast by gathering at convenient location or at
specific place where large participation is possible
h) Those Tibetans, Tibetan supporters and justice and peace loving people of the
world, who cannot go and join the masses to observe fast and prayer service, can
observe it at their own home.

6. Reporting:

On completion of one-day fast, a report should be submitted by Regional Committees, Associations or individuals clearly mentioning the number of attendance and the detail programmes of the event, to Tibetan Solidarity Committee, Dharamsala.

Tibetan Solidarity Committee
Dharamsala
13th August 2008

Sharing True Eloquence

2008-08-25T02:19:00.000-07:00

I was looking at Assaji son's (True Eloquence) photo this morning
and we were sharing our sadness that traditional clothing is not often worn

my thoughts:

isn't it like that?
The youth always want to create something new
or at least 'be modern'
and so what was once status quo becomes traditional
and 'an old hat'
... to be followed by nostalgia

I guess that's why I loved wearing a chuba and following the traditional Tibetan ceremony on my wedding day!
Because Tibet is so threatened a culture
- having the opportunity to bring these traditions into the wider world
is so special - and gives them longevity

The other thing is -
the new is also inevitable

We have a push and pull situation going on

... looking over our shoulder with longing
while forging new paths ahead ...

Gandhiji

2008-08-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

1 makes a difference

...may every single person know their heart can make a difference...
Gandhiji was ONE man...
May we never march as though peace does not exist...
Never put ourselves on the outside
Of the experience of love...

There is only love
Love is all there is...
all else is tricky shadow
Sun will cast away
As sure as night flees the day

Peace does not arrive
Peace is
Om resonates over all earth

On the outside all is chaos and confusion...
Within is emptiness where all is peace
leap off the cliff into the Arms of the Divine
Om Shanti
*

Where is it?

2008-08-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

where is my heart?

torch

2008-08-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Salutations; Madiba, Graça Machel-Mandela, Steve Biko, Bob Marley, Hector Pieterson...
to mention but a few...
But we are all here
...In this crowd

It's all the same

You say I am prettifying..
White washing
with sweetness

I am taking a ride through the galaxy
on the tail
of a shooting star

We see Biko in his coffin
His face has been tidied up
But not enough to hide the hideous atrocities
Which break our heart so

we zoom in further..
Deeper...
We see ourselves..
The pain underlying the rage...
see the causes of this pain
The impotence felt as witnesses
The guilt
...at not having acted more..
Always could have done more...
Always reasons for holding back...
The anger..
Pain..
Hurt..
The... WHY!!! WHY!!! WHY???
Echoing thunderously through the mind

Zooming in further..
Further..
Further...
The killer is embracing the murdered...
The murdered... The killer...
Further..
Further...
Finding true essence...
one in all...

And zooming out
Out...
out..
out
Same thing..
Same thing...

we start...
...by seeing others
end with self...

Then beyond

all the same

All the same

To mention but a few...

2008-08-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

lack of love... so costly...

reflections

2008-08-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

we merge to find the nondual

laudnon eht dnif ot egrem ew

power of love

2008-08-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

May mercy flow to all beings...
may suffering and pain on earth be embraced rather than denied...
so it can be seen as the illusion it is...
And give way to the eternal power of Love

tears are shed...
listen.. the sobbing echoes through all time

in this life
...child
...arranged bundle of bones
...you look out knowingly through large eyes
...woman burned by your husband
...men bear the scars of war... below the skin

aah my cry echoes through all time...
my arms reach out to enfold
you
to my weeping heart

Kali looks on...
she knows the cycles
of this dual existence

and we fear her! and these cycles...
...until we embrace them lovingly to our Heart

when we reject the object of our fear
how fear thrives!

and fear
must dissipate in the face of love...

... written after reflecting on a trauma counseling session

Gra-anna's Wings, Gra-anna's Love

2008-08-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Flames rain
Falling upon me,
I am aflame
My wings are the drum

In the sun, rivers explode
in rippling laughter
She is dancing
upon the crescent moon
My wings are the drum

From the essence of my being
I am called to be free
Inspired by the moment
My wings are the drum

Rising from the ashes renewed
I greet the dawn
Listening to Earth's heartbeat
Child's laughter echoes
across the Earth
My wings are the drum

by Gra-anna

Suffering in Burma (1 Oct 07)

2008-08-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sharing Blog with Love Gien who received the following mail from a friend

We just got phone call with our sister living in Yangon about a few hours ago.

We saw on BBC world, saying that 200 monks were arrested. The true picture

is far worse!!!!!!!!!

For one instance, the monastery at an obscure neighborhood of Yangon,called

Ngwe Kyar Yan (on Wei-za-yan-tar Road, Yangon) had been raided early this

morning.

A troop of lone-tein (riot police comprised of paid thugs) protected

by the military trucks, raided the monastery with 200 studying monks.

They systematically ordered all the monks to line up and banged and

crushed each one's head against the brick wall of the monastery. One

by one, the peaceful, non resisting monks, fell to the ground,

screaming in pain. Then, they tore off the red robes and threw them

all in the military trucks (like rice bags) and took the bodies away.

The head monk of the monastery, was tied up in the middle of the

monastery, tortured , bludgeoned, and later died the same day, today.

Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the monastery, warded off

by troops with bayoneted rifles, unable to help their helpless monks

being slaughtered inside the monastery. Their every try to forge

ahead was met with the bayonets.

When all is done, only 10 out of 200 remained alive, hiding in the

monastery. Blood stained everywhere on the walls and floors of the

monastery.

Please tell your audience of the full extent of the fate of the monks

please please !!!!!!!!!!!!

'Arrested' is not enough expression. They have been bludgeoned to

death !!!!!!
___________________________

http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

___________________________

Dear friends,
Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.
People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php
The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.
The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

Journey

2008-08-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

falling into emptiness

takes us home

every time

Jopoa

2008-08-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Spirit

Love and Devotion
incarnate

humbling all who cast their eyes
upon this magnificent Being
so ancient
this lined face
so endlessly youthful
so slight in frame
so boundless in spirit

Jopoa left this realm

but her presence ever here

e-maho

2008-08-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

e-maho
Tenzin Palmo

sharing what I wrote...

last night listening to Tenzin Palmo
what beautiful spirit
bringing up a vision of a surfer
sitting in perfect poise
meditation on the crest of a wave
saying 'I am bliss
no wave shall ever rock me
I am perfectly centred
knowing every trial
strengthens me
and is welcomed as an opportunity'

...and when she reached for a bottle of water to drink...
there was an endless moment of poignant silence
and an unexplained tear ran from each of my eyes...
feeling utter love

I'm adding to this entry a few days after writing the above....having reflected with loved ones....

….that moment when she stopped…
and reached for a bottle of water to drink.
when I felt tears spring to my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

... Later talking about it to Gien
… he is so beautiful… the way he reflects things back…
we reach greater understanding this way…
...made me I realise what moved me so intensely

…. it was the way she held the moment...
she wasn't 'taking time out'
saying.. 'aaah excuse me for a second.. just need a drink' … and then returning…
she was moving into this moment.. as she had the previous…
and Being in this moment
as authentically
as she had been in the previous…
it was as though it didn't matter
if she was saying something profound
or having a sip of water…
it was all the same…
…sooo beautiful!
e-maho

EarthBirth

2008-08-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

EarthBirth

Maitreya

2008-08-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Maitreya's name is derived from the Sanskrit 'maitri' meaning 'universal loving-kindness'. Infinitely compassionate and all-knowing, Buddhas teach by their words and example in order to guide us along the path to our own spiritual maturity.

When Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings disappear from this world (the teachings of the historical Buddha of our current age), negativity and misfortune will grow until, spontaneously moved by his overwhelming compassion, Maitreya will manifest in our world as a radiantly beautiful spiritual teacher inspiring people to practice the path of virtue, especially loving-kindness. '

http://www.share-international.org/maitreya/Ma_main.htm

http://www.maitreyaproject.org/en/index.html

Meditation

2008-08-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

Meditation with my love

Where do I feel I most belong?

2008-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

In the moment...

RUMI

2008-08-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

These beautiful poems were gathered by Gra-anna from our Friend Stephen Moss

Poems by Rumi

I am a painter,
Painting pictures all the time,
Yet when I see them near Your beauty
I want to throw them all away.

I am a sculptor, carving images
and filling each with life,
Yet when I compare these with Your beauty
I want to dump them in a fire.

O bringer of sweet wine,
Enemy of the sober
You have laid waste to
every house I ever built!

Tell me, are You the cupbearer or do You take the cup from my sober lips?
Perhaps You are both, the builder and the ruiner of all that I build

My soul has merges with Yours-
Water into wine, wine into wine.
Now there is only the scent of Your rose perfume.

Every drop of my blood calls out,
Dye me the colour of Your love
Make me the jewel of Your affection.

In this house of water and clay
my heart is in ruins.
O Beloved, please enter my house or let me leave this empty world

---

Last night I gave a star a message for You.
On my bended knees, I begged her to tell You
How much I pray that You turn my stony heart
golden with Your radiance

I bared my chest to show my wounds
And asked her to tell You that if I sway this way and that, it is because I need to calm
the infant of my heart
As babies sleep when rocked in their cradles

My beloved, my heart was Yours always,
nurse it like a child, save it from wandering

How long will You keep me in exile?

I will be quiet now, but even in my silence
my heart will long for one glance of Your grace.

---

Do not worry if our harp breaks, thousands more will appear.
We have fallen into the arms of love, where all is music.
If all the harps in the world were burned down,
still inside the heart
there will be hidden music playing

Do not worry if all the candles in the world flicker and die
We have the spark to start the fire

The songs we sing are like foam on the surface of the sea of being,
whilst the precious gems lie deep beneath
But the tenderness in our songs is a reflection of what lies in the depths

Stop the flow of words
Open the window of you heart
And let the spirit speak

---

When You come back inside my chest
No matter how long I've been away
I look around and see the way

At the end of my life, when I have one, last breath left in me
If You come to me then, I will sit up and sing

Gra-anna's Memorial Day (4 Dec)

2008-08-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

this was probably the hardest poem I ever wrote...
and like all tough journeys undertaken
a door opens

Loved one
4/12/05

Dear one you came to this planet
through the passage
of my womb
You reached for the umbilical cord again
as you took your life
hanging from this tree
with the scarf I¹d given you
a little while before

I think of this
as I sit at the foot of the tree
molten rock of attachment
runs red rivers from my eyes
I say quietly
'loved one, I gave birth to you,
you never asked
if you could end it all'
A bowl of swirling liquid
filled with silver and shadow
presents itself to me
In it I see the blend and journeys
of your sacred life
These I did not sanction either
none of this was mine to direct
I thank the Great Mystery for imparting this wisdom
softly returning to the arms of the Beloved
the place of 'It is so'
the place of eternal rest

Wordless prayer

2008-08-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

mmm.. I am loving wordless prayer...

... exploring the breath...
seeing how the breath reflects the whole....
reflecting duality..
in-breath... out-breath..
warm nostril... cooler nostril...
dominating nostril alternating throughout the day...

breathing
...listening to the sound...
like the ocean..
waves rising and falling...

breathing...
reflecting action with the in-breath
letting go with the out-breath...

aah...then the 3rd way... the middle way
reflected in the Khumbaka; breath retention
...that pause between each breath...
at the beginning and the end of each breath...

awareness
how breath and mind are intimately connected...
one reflecting the other...

...when we are anxious...
the breath shallow... fast...
when we are relaxed..
breath even...

pranayama.. control of vital energy..
breath
can also control the mind...
we learn this in yoga...

Khumbaka...
same pause again
.... in between thoughts...

we think a thought...
then a pause...
and in this space...
the next thought is born...

this pause...
this empty space
... the space
where we dive into deep meditation...

mm Deepac Chopra speaks beautifully of this..

this space
...the womb of all creation...

Om Shanti

Dream appearances

2008-08-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

dreaming you...
dreaming me...

dreaming this
which we name Life....

body is birthed
by mother earth

body & earth
each belonging to the other
...made of the same stuff
...all material realm....

fleeting visit

blink of an eye

sacred precious moment

no matter what's the matter...
...always sacred...

living compassion

2008-08-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Compassion is not an idle word
but is a living expression of love
that we embody in every single action

There is no enemy other than ignorance
Ultimate freedom means ultimate awareness
All beings have been our mothers since beginningless time
Other living beings don't harm us
but their ignorance does

When confronted with ignorance
be like a doctor fighting a disease
love and care for the patient
but heal the sickness

(by Gien and HummingBird)

The path

2008-08-23T12:04:00.001-07:00

the path is breathtakingly beautiful
there's no doubt about it

at times we are presented with difficulties
which may feel daunting
and cause us to shed tears
but they are never insurmountable
we always always have what it takes
to meet the challenges these initiations present
...and we are spiritually strengthened as a result
... then we can share with others what we learn

brave fellow travelers
this path is breathtakingly beautiful
...have no doubts

May I speak to you

2008-08-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

May I speak flowers to you
precious Be-ing

may my words be silent
...and my heart spill from my lips

may my small heart beat resonate
with earth's pulse
....aah I am of the same stuff of this Mother
...this precious Earth
who births this body in every moment

may I release all that stains this emptiness
so I may be open
and my heart rays shine with the sun

Peace of Mind

2008-08-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

we are manifestations

of one mind...

animosity is like

inner conflict

...there can be no peace of mind

while it exists...

On a friend's blog...

2008-08-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

“The needs that weren't fulfilled by your parents won't be fulfilled by your mate. “

...there is ‘love’ and there is love...
love is healing…
but our intentions are sometimes not aligned with love
sometimes we have obstructions to love…
like damage and stuff arising from childhood or other events in our lives…

sometimes we turn to another for our healing
when in fact we need to take on this responsibility ourselves…

sometimes the person we turn to is even more wounded than we are…
has even more obscurations…
and we end up in a mighty muddle…

sometimes we meet beings…
...may be a lover or teacher in other ways…
who have less obscurations
and their open flowing love
may help us along our path of healing
… if we are open to this experience….

mmm… love is all there is;

our wounds but temporary visitors;

initiations…

When food is poetry

2008-08-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

aaah...
Joong Sticky Rice Wrapped in Bamboo Leaves) - vegetarian version which
Gien is teaching to me...
and me keen on creating a South African version -
perhaps using mealie meal instead of sticky rice -
for this beautiful, tasty, yet economic meal.
In South Africa (as I guess in many countries),
meat is often equated with wealth.
I can really see how the introduction of amazing vegetarian food...
and yoga/Buddhist ways can
MAKE A DIFFERENCE...

Aaah South Africa beloved land...
so much violence and poverty here...
yet so many transcendent beings too...
...country of warmth...

...where Gandhi made his mark
...where Gandhi can still
...because the spirit lingers...
even while blood is staining the earth
and AIDS orphans bury their parents...

..mmm... back to Joong & yoga (union of mind, body, spirit)...

...OmOmOm
blessed be
...may the tree which grows from this seed of suffering
bear fruit which will truly amaze and astound
and lead all on earth to a new way of Be-ing...

...MMM this blog has wandered all over the place :D

Prayer

2008-08-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

Prayer

Buddha Nature in All

2008-08-22T00:48:00.001-07:00

...at first we believe
this existence is all there is

then we believe
we must find the truth

then we find it is
all
there is...

Does a single tear make a difference?

2008-08-22T00:45:00.001-07:00

Does a single tear
make a difference?

I know it does -
when it is straight from the heart
pure and salty...

I shall cry an ocean...

does a single smile
make a difference?

I know it does -
when it is straight from the heart
pure and sweet....

I shall laugh
straight into the sun...

does this wanderer
make any difference at all?

I know I do
when in silence I sit

and nothing is done
...yet nothing undone...

Notes on a still life

2008-08-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

today I was teaching an art class….
we had a simple still life up..
a couple of black and earth pots
…made me remember Morandi whose work I love so much

aah! I fell in love
walking round and round
looking from this angle and that
bits of light
blendings of tone
one object melting into another
each angle a new drama
… took my breath away…