Obaitori

Boxing Day Farewell

After a magical weekend of celebrating one of the most popular saint's birthdays in the calendar I spent a very lazy, somewhat contented Boxing Day watching the test match. Australia verses England in the Ashes cricket series. Happily I'm not patriotic. I'm a people without borders, one planet, one race, kinda girl. This translates as, Australia are getting whipped by the English! I also spent a fair amount of Boxing Day, 'reboxing'. Our children received so much that I'm playing the third world Santa of redistribution. We are very grateful for what they received but to ensure they truly value a few items, I'm packaging alot to go overseas to the Tibetan Children's Villages where they are in need of good quality art, craft & stationery items.

I'm signing off from here for the next week or so to have some time for myself at the ashram. Time for reflection, a new sankalpa, space away from the children - thanks Dazla - & time to complete bridging of Satyananda yoga studies.

Thanks everyone for being absolutely gorgeous & true to yourselves. Your comments, emails & phone calls really mean a lot to me. I'll be back - Insha'Allah, God willing - in 2011 with a shop of my own on Obaitori. Our group will also meet again, once a month on the Tuesday closest to the full moon. I will email out a list of the dates which you will receive if you are on the Obaitori - Spiritual Mothering email list. If you want to be placed on the list let me know. Stitches for Tibet will be resuming in February, as will the Fookers Bookclub - we will be reading Autobiography of a Yogi.

We have had quite a whirlwind of summer parties, both solstice & Christ-mass. Tomorrow I plan to dive into the ocean before I drive out to the ashram. I'll leave you here with a few images of the past couple of days.

I truly hope you are happy & well. I hope that your year ahead brings an abundance of happiness, peace, Love & joy. I hope that it is miraculous & magnificent.

All Love, Katie xxx

Water ...

Sky ...

Inner Christmas

May your day be merry & bright.

Messages from masters at Christmas time;

"Christmas is a time to celebrate two things: one is the birth of Jesus and the other is the dawn of Christ consciousness. Jesus was a person and Christ consciousness was the spirit that descended. You are a person, you have a body, you are limited and restricted by the senses and the mind, but at the same time there is the life force, vitality and dynamism which physically or externally is recognized as spirit, and which in esoteric terminology is recognized as the Divine consciousness or Christ consciousness."

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

"When we compare two ancient spiritual traditions like Buddhism and Christianity, what we see is a striking similarity between the narratives of the founding Masters...Jesus Christ and the Buddha. I see a very important parallel, in the very lives of the masters, the founding teachers, the essence of their teachings are demonstrated. I see that in both the lives of Jesus Christ and the Buddha, it is only through hardship, dedication, commitment and by standing firm on one's principles that one can grow spiritually and attain liberation. That seems to be a central and common message."

His Holiness Dalai Lama

"Adored by the Muslims as Allah, as Jehovah by the Christians, as the lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu by the Vaishnavites (worshippers of Lord Vishnu), and as Shambhu by the Shaivites (worshippers of Lord Shiva), God is worshipped as the One Supreme Self, who confers health and wealth. People may worship God in various names and forms, but the very same God responds to the prayers of all."

Satya Sai Baba

"A river uniting with the ocean becomes ocean. A drop of rain uniting with the river becomes river. The individual soul meeting and uniting with the universal consciousness becomes universal consciousness. The local 'I', which has been cleansed all around, is dissolved completely. I am no more! The extinction of this 'I' must take place and then you will celebrate inner Christmas. In every age it has been destined that some such person will come who will awaken his inner consciousness and then show the true path to humanity. Let us hope this happens."

Paramahansa Satyananda Saraswati.

 

Silent Night, Holy Night

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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

If You Want To Live Life Well, Take Your Time Go Slowly

 

It's still the Solstice. Twice a year, for three days running, the Sun rises at exactly the same point along the horizon before slowly starting to retrace its previous path. It's no coincidence that this happens just before Christmas. The date was deliberately chosen by the early church to fit in with a pre-existing festival. Not even the most ardent Christians believe Jesus was actually born in December. Which means that 'the star' those three wise men were following could have been any unusual alignment, at any time in the year 1AD, give or take a few years ~ Jonathan Cainer.

Today, on this glorious day we collected our crytals that had been charged up with the power of the full moon, solstice & eclipse. The moonstone was positively shining. We also collected water  in a crystal dish that had been charged up with that strong vibration overnight by the sweet moon. Tonight the crystals are safely tucked away & the water, after washing our faces has been stored to use in times of need. The prayers that we said at the moon gathering of our little family are falling around us & have been vibrated throughout the universe. Last night the children naturally danced in circles around a sun-dial. Dancing in circles is often associated with honouring the Sun. Oh, beautiful summer solstice. Later on in this day, the children & I bathed in the sun & collected yellow, gold like flowers to place around the altar. All is well, all is good.

If you want to live life well, take your time go slowly. A short extract from the film, Brother Sun, Sister Moon. The life of Saint Francis of Assisi. In this part of the film you meet  Saint Clare.

 

 

Saint Francis of Assisi's ~

 

Canticle of Brother Sun, Sister Moon

 

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,

especially Sir Brother Sun,

Who is the day through whom You give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,

Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,

And fair and stormy, all weather's moods,

by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,

So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,

Mother Earth

who sustains and governs us,

producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.

Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,

from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.

No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,

And serve Him with great humility.

~~~

The scary 'mortal sin' means 'tidy up your life', if you have created bad karma - work it out in this life time - otherwise you will need to keep coming back until you 'sort it out!' 'Blessed are She finds doing Your Will' means it is a real relief & true blessing to work out what your 'dharma' is in life.

I hope for you a glorious solstice. & whever you are put your crystals, jewellery, malas or rosaries out to soak up God's Loving vibration at this auspicious time of year. This sublime vibration continues up to the fourth of January. Sending you all, waves of oceanic Love.

Joy to the World

Renewal, Reflection, Revival

Wishing you all a beautiful solstice wherever you are on our magestical Mother Earth.

This year, alongside the seasonal cycle, there's an unusual development. The Moon, shortly before moving from Gemini to Cancer, opposes the Sun just moments before it moves from Sagittarius to Capricorn. This is no ordinary full moon. The Sun, Earth and Moon align to produce an eclipse. That's a deeply auspicious omen ~ Jonathan Cainer.

This is a great time for making the seemingly impossible happen. Work out what you need, pray & expect nothing short of a miracle.

 

Here, we are celebrating an ancient festival of renewal and rebirth, a celebration of hope, Love, trust, inspiration and dedication. May your solstice be overflowing with delight. May it be calm, serene & deeply peaceful.

A Family Tradition

The week before Christmas my very lovely elder sister hosts her party. It is always a whole lot of fun with relatives  & friends gathering together to celebrate the end of year, Christmas & friendship. This party has all the trimmings & has many beautiful handmade traditions which I'm sure you will see.

Yes, Indira's first cousin once removed does indeed have greeney blue hair.

What I noticed when I was going through all my photos was there was almost always the obligatory glass of red wine in the background. What I saw too was a family who are dedicated to each other, who celebrate life, a family who is close & a family who truly care for & Love each other.

I hope you had a very happy weekend.

 

The Three Wise Women

Today, for you a joke, with a bit of fun, tongue in cheek & a little giggle.

"What would have happened if it had been three wise women instead of three wise men turn up to the stable in Bethlehem?"

They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts and now there’d be peace on earth.

{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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Queen of the Night

Once upon a time, BC {before children} Dazla & I were on a bus in Thailand (or was it Laos?) up high in the mountains. We stopped for lunch at Paradise. We sat away from the other travellers, over on the other side of the road. We sat in the shade near a waterfall in a small valley filled with flowers & butterflies. All we could do was smile & laugh. & we ate. Dazla had brought some fruit for the journey. Pawpaw, jackfruit & a dragonfruit. It was the first time I had eaten dragonfruit & if the location was perfect, this fruit was overwhelming divine. A gift from God.

Later on I found out more about this crazy looking fruit. Dragonfruit's mother is Queen of the Night Cactus. They are night flowering. It is a large fragrant flower  - bigger than the size of a human head - that open for only one night & are pollinated by moths in the wild.

Photo - Dragonfruit Flower

A friend's going away 'cake'. The essence of this huge flower is; working with you in dreamtime to gain clarity of purpose. For a little more information visit Pocean. This fruit is available from warm, subtropical & tropical climates. Whenever I see this fruit, available now in Australia my mind returns back to the magical little valley filled with butterflies & flowers.