Obaitori

Garage Sailing

Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"Making a habit of concern for others' well-being, and spending a few minutes on waking in the morning reflecting on the value of conducting our lives in an ethically disciplined manner, is a good way to start the day no matter what our beliefs or lack of them. The same is true of taking some time at the end of each day to review how successful in this we have been"

~ H.H Tenzin Gyatso 14th Dalai Lama.

We are having a Garage Sale this morning. Stop by if your passing through...

Pictures to come.

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama. In her words...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

A Moroccan Breakfast

I love finding out what people eat for breakfast. I especially Love a good Asian breakfast. They don't differentiate between breakfast, lunch & dinner. Instead of a sweet breakfast like we usually have in Western countries they go straight for the savoury strong flavours of chilli, salt, herbs... So on the theme of savoury breakfasts, today we go to Morocco for breakfast - with a little Indian thrown in - no pun intended, this is a vegetarian weblog.

Moroccan Vegetarian Stew

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients -

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium cooking onion, chopped
• 2 cloves minced or pressed garlic, optional
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes in their juice
• 3 cups shredded cabbage
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup seedless raisins
• 1 (19 oz.) can cooked chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, or to taste (try starting with just a sprinkle if you’re nervous!)
• Sprinkle brown sugar, optional

Method -

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion to pan and stir. Sauté for several minutes, then add garlic.
3. Add diced tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, raisins, cabbage, and chickpeas to the pan.Add cinnamon. Now is a good time to put the couscous on to cook.
4. Simmer the stew about 20 minutes, covered.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve on a bed of couscous.

This goes beautifully with an Indian roti. This recipe is from Poh's kitchen.

Roti Chanai

Ingredients - makes makes 8-10 roti

• 500g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 2 tbs condensed milk
• 2 tbs margarine, at room temperature
• ½ egg, lightly whisked
• Extra margarine
• Extra vegetable oil

Method -

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Make a well at the centre of the dry ingredients and into it, pour the water, condensed milk, margarine and egg. Work in a circular motion with your hand, gradually gathering more and more of the flour into the wet ingredients until you more or less have a single mass. Tip all the ingredients onto the bench and knead until smooth and elastic. Roll into a cylinder and divide the dough into ten pieces. Knead each piece a few times to achieve a smooth texture, then shape into a ball. Gently cover each ball with margarine and rest in a bowl alongside but not on top of another. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in room temperature, overnight.
2. After the overnight resting you will find the dough soft and stretchy. Now the fun part begins. Start by oiling a substantial area of the bench liberally. Place one of the balls of dough onto the table and press down with the palm of your hand while moving it in a circular motion. This is just to flatten and smooth out the surface of the dough as much as possible before you stretch it. It takes a bit of practice to throw the roti the professional way and while it's definitely quicker, an equally effective method is to work around the edges of the circle of dough, gently stretching the edges outwards as far and as thinly as you can (so it is like tracing paper and about 60 to 70 centimetres in diameter), and before holes start to appear.
3. Fold a third of the way in on either side of the circle, so you have three layers of roti on top of each other, then fold this elongated shape into thirds again, so you end up with a squarish shaped roti. Heat up your frypan on high heat with a dash of vegetable oil and panfry the roti until golden blisters appear on both sides. When cooked, immediately slide the roti onto a chopping board, wrap your palms around the edges and smash your hands together so the roti bunches up and flakes. Rotate the roti and do this several times while it is still hot. Serve immediately.
4. Tip: Before each fold, gently smear a small dollop (about a quarter of a teaspoon) of margarine onto the roti. This will prevent the layers from sticking and help the roti cook more evenly. 

And to top it all off -

Moroccan Mint Tea

Ingredients

• 1½ tablespoons green tea (or 2 teabags of green tea)sometimes I just double the mint leaves.
• boiling water
• 3 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
• handful (about 2 tablespoons) of fresh or dried spearmint leaves

Method

1. Put the tea in a 2-pint teapot and fill it with boiling water.
2. Let the tea steep (soak) for 2 minutes.
3. Add mint leaves and sugar to taste.

When it is in the teapot, pour it from a height into the cups, tip it back into the pot & pour again. It can be done up to three times - an auspicious number - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - Bhrahma, Vishnu & Shiva...

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

We have these Baghir every now & then for morning tea - & sometimes breakfast. They are child friendly & a yummy change to pikelets.

Ingredients -

---

• 1 cup of fine semolina
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp. dry yeast
• 2 tsp. sugar

Method - 

---

• In a bowl, mix semolina, flour, salt and baking powder.
• Mix it with with warm water and yeast diluted in warm water and sugar. Preserve the mix and let it rise 1 hour. Just before cooking stir with ladle.
• Pour a small quantity into a hot smooth pan. Cook Baghir on one side only.
• Serve hot with a mixture of honey and melted butter/ghee/olive oil or yoghurt & jam.

This is Berry - you can find more of her delicious recipes here. Remember you can have all these recipes for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Nagarjuna & Bodhi

Today there are two special events we are celebrating in our home. The first - beginning with the oldest -  is the anniversary of Nagarjuna; an Indian adept, scholar & physician who established the Buddhist philosophical school known as the middle way.

Four hundred years after the Buddha past away; he appeared, a great adept whose heroic spiritual activity firmly established the path to transcendent wisdom, thus liberating countless disciples & promulgating the Mahayana, or Great Way. He came to be known as Nagarjuna. His appearance was predicted by the Buddha.

And thank goodness for that middle path approach. It is a golden rule that works - & it means , amongst many, many other things, that I can drink wine with no guilt attached, as long as I balance somewhere within that happy medium state.

Also making an appearance on this day two years ago, our own sweet Bodhi Kailash Tiga. Happy Birth-day beautiful boy...

Red Tent 1 & 2

These are the images of the second Red Tent we had on the Central Coast, Australia

The first one has no visual images recorded as we were all way too immersed to remember taking snaps - we do however have it in our hearts. The first one was in summer. & the second Red Tent, was in winter. A cold & still night air greeted 40 women as they prepared to immerse themselves in the warm, inviting red tent. We were graciously given the space. A very large room with a bathroom & electricity & table. Each woman brought a plate of food to share & another brought an urn of chai. 

Invitation to the first Red Tent ~

Nicole B, mother extra-ordinaire, midwife & all round Goddess was the main organiser & founder of the Red Tent events on the Central Coast of Australia.

Haven invocation ~ 

We started with a traditional havan ~ fire ceremony -  invoking Saraswati, the Divine Mother, Mother Mary, Saraswati & all of the protectors of the planet.

We had decided when organising the event that we would each tell a birthing story. It was to be like this as there were many women in the community who had been unable to freely share intimate moments of their birthing experiences. If one had not birthed, they could tell a story of their own birth, someone else's or were free to tell any story.

We started with two rules; we would'nt 'go around' the circle, once one person had stopped telling their story - anyone could start; this way the flow of the stories evolved. & to show respect, once the person had begun speaking they could not be interupted. We talked, oh boy did we talk!

It was such a priviledge to be in that room. There were stories of such a large variety & even though we created a safe space there were some women could not talk yet. We laughed & cried, we sobbed & passed the tissues around. What was really accomplished was the solidarity we all felt that this experience was truly empowering.

Quan Yin or Green Tara - pictured below - is the goddess of all Women & Children especially around the birthing process.

In the tradition of Red Tents, babies were welcome. At various times they were fed, cuddled & passed around.

If you have not yet read Anita Diamant's Red Tent book, buy a few copies for you & your sisters. I shared it with my mother, sisters & any one who would even vaguely seem interested in it.

Our next Red Tent is being planned for Spring 2010. This time we will share stories of personal 'awakenings'. Women's stories; brave, vulnerable, honest, raw, open, unedited stories about our real lives.

Below is a poem shared by Melanie. Her stories of three cesareans were beautiful, invoking & heartfelt & after reading aloud her poetry, there were only moist eyes in the Red Tent.

OUTSIDE IN By Melanie K.     They held on tight Refused to leave They rested in my womb   They fought till the end Their little protest Tied themselves within   They hung off my ribcage And rested on my heart Begged my body to surrender   Expand it did And then they hid Refusing calls to come   Begged to be born Unwilling they were torn From my bleeding belly   Now outside They try to get in Hang off every limb   They dance on my head Play five in the bed Entangle themselves Outside In

Guru Poornima 2010

Today, the full moon of July we celebrate Guru Poornima. This celebration, for those on the spiritual path, is like Christmas for Christians. It is a time we celebrate & remember all of the world's spiritual teachers who have been guiding us since the beginning of time. It is a celebration of all great masters from all traditions, a way of being grateful, paying homage & giving thanks for their luminosity & gently guiding us towards the light.

Yesterday we went out to the Satyananda Yoga ashram at Mangrove Mountain & sang kirtan, had a havan, danced, laughed, ate & had quiet contemplation & gave thanks for our great teachers. It was a special Guru Poornima because it was the first, without Satyananda there. He attained Mahasamadhi last December. He was very much in all of our hearts. He & his Guru, Sivananda are pretty much why the West today know about the word, yoga. To read more about this lineage & why a guru is important. For me Guru is foremost. Why? many ask. Guru is not only filled with knowledge but has practised these methods ~ has imbibed them. You would go to an oncologist if you had cancer. You go to Guru for an 'ego-dectomy.'

With Paramahansa Niranjanananda deep inside my heart & with tears on my face & guru mantra on my lips I give thanks for the devotion of his life to the path.

I humbly bow down before many & will mention a few more; Amma, Anandamayima, Paramahansa Yogananda, Dalai Lama, Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Thich Nhat Hahn & Mother Mary.

The writers of all mythologies wrote in symbols of what they saw and heard, they painted flowing pictures. Do not try to pick out the themes and so destroy the pictures; take them as they are and let them act on you. Judge them only by the effect and get the good out of them.

— His Holiness Swami Vivekananda

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

— Gautama Buddha

I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend with dignity, with honour.

— The Dalai Lama XIV

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home to the strangers. Be eye to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humanity.

— Baha'i Prayer

“We cannot do great things on this Earth, we can do only small things with great love.”

— Mother Teresa

Sisters

Many traditions use stories to teach great spiritual truths. Here, on Sundays, some of these stories will be re-told. They can be understood by adults & children. Where possible I will suggest a children's picture book that teaches the same or similar story.

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day,

Drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As

They talked about life, about marriage, about the

Responsibilities of life and the obligations of

Adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her

Glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance

Upon her daughter.

 

'Don't forget your Sisters,' she advised, swirling

The tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll

Be more important as you get older. No matter how

Much you love your husband, no matter how much you

Love the children you may have, you are still going

To need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now

And then; do things with them.'

 

'Remember that 'Sisters' means ALL the women...

Your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other

Women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women

Always do.'

 

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman

Thought. Haven't I just gotten married?

Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a

Married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely

My husband and the family we may start will be all I

Need to make my life worthwhile!'

 

But she listened to her Mother. She kept contact

With her Sisters and made more women friends each

Year. As the years tumbled by, one after another,

She gradually came to understand that her Mom really

Knew what she was talking about. As time and nature

Work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman,

Sisters are the mainstays of her life.

 

After more than 50 years of living in this world,

Here is what I've learned:

 

THIS SAYS IT ALL:

 

Time passes.

Life happens.

Distance separates.

Children grow up.

Jobs come and go.

Love waxes and wanes.

Men don't do what they're supposed to do.

Hearts break.

Parents die.

Colleagues forget favors.

Careers end.

BUT.........

 

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how

Many miles are

Between you. A girl friend is never farther away

Than needing her can reach.

 

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you

Have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life

Will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on,

Praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on

Your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the

Valley's' end.

 

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk

Beside you...Or come in and carry you out.

 

 Sisters, Mothers,  daughters, granddaughters,

Daughters-in-law,  sisters-in-law, 

Grandmothers, Girlfriends,aunties, nieces, cousins,  

 and extended Family, all bless our life!

 

The world wouldn't be the same without women, and

Neither would I. When we began this adventure called

Womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or

Sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we

Would need each other.

 

 

This Is Where The Children Play

Thank you for all your beautiful comments about the photo of Indira at the park. I was really touched.  I thought I would share more of the space with you & some of our little morning play.

We were in the park for some time until I looked over & saw the small river. My friend suggested we take the children over to it as this part of the park was more 'natural' even if it was man-made & much less crowded than the play structures. 

We went from here...

To here in 8 metres...

The difference of the level of play, the language & the general feeling of the children changed significantly when they were engaged with this stunning environment & the beauty of the water, rocks & plants.

This council park, in the heart of Gosford, is called Kibble Park. It has recently been redesigned & holds many events including a Growers Market once a month.

This is about how deep the river is the whole way.

the river has lots of wonderful things to discover along the way.

A silver school of fish -

Beautiful pebbles tumbled smooth by the current -

A nest of eggs -

To the sweet little house where some hobbits live, cleverly disguised by a polygon shaped door-

Exploring, discovering, adventuring - it was magic to watch these children adapt themselves with speed & sensitivity to their environment. 

We all know what it is like to play amongst beautiful things, it changes our breathing pattern, our oxygen intake, our blood pressure & consequently our thoughts. 

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama. In her words...

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Believe

Today has been a cross roads between the material & spirit world. I totally trust in the spiritual world but the material world... well it can get a little hectic, crazy & confusing to say the least. I also had to remember that the material world is transient. I've been reminded by many sisters today to trust, to feel, to cry, that all things change & that  ultimately we are all looked after, supported & cared for. Even though it was a tough day it was a day worth remembering, life changing... & remembering that the support of the sisterhood sangha is vital on this journey called life.

After the down pour of the day, literally, we caught an hour to run & play & my goodness it was fine medicine for my heart & soul.

 

"Your soul is taking flight. Let nothing interfere with its speed" ~ Satyananda.