Life after Kopan

After one month of meditation and teachings on how to bring more happiness and peace into our lives, I do feel a little calmer inside (I think...)! The test is taking this feeling with me, into India and eventually back home.

Here is a little peek at the view from my room at Kopan. The mornings are quite cool, especially at 4:30 in the morning when I wake up! Rob and I do some practices with a small group (15 people) until about 7:30. Then it is breakfast until 8:00, cleaning until 9:00, and teachings until 11 (with the rest of the group - 160 people), then lunch. Anyway that is just a small taste of what the mornings have been like.



Here is a snap of my discussion group. They were like a family from all over the world - England, America, Australia, Holland, Hungry and New Zealand.



I didn't take alot of photos during the course so I could focus on my mind (well I tried..) but, on the last day there was a long life puja from the 'head lama', Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Here are a few shots.



The monks were on the side closest to the Westerners and the nuns were on the other side (there are more nuns than monks!)



Rob offered part of a mandala to Rinpoche as part of the puja. He is standing behind an amazing Aussie called Shyla, who is starting a new project, LKPY. We hope to get involved in this project to help young people and young at heart develop a more loving and peaceful outlook on life.



One of the beautiful nuns performing a Tara dance.



Yesterday we visited an orphanage that was started by this amazing member of the group five years ago. He has helped 35 childern stay off the street. I will post more details about it later. It was amazing to be part of this wonderful project.



Taff with some of the kids. This little one fell off the swing a few mintues after the photo.... so many tears for this cute pumpkin..

OK, gotta go. The next retreat starts in a few hours. This one is five days long and will be meditation only, so quite intensive... yaaaaaaaaha!

Kathmandu and Kopan

This is our fifth day on the road and I now feel very comfortable here in Nepal. The people are so friendly and the kids have such big smiles when you return their greetings of heeello or nameste.

Right now we are at an Internet place in Boudha, a twenty minute - downhill - walk from Kopan. (To walk back takes about 45mins if you don't get lost and if you are fit!!!) This internet place looks out over Boudhanath Stupa. It is amazing! You can see how big it is by looking at the picture below. The white blob that looks like a nose (between the eyes of the Buddha) is a person. Many pilgrims come here to circumnavigate the stupa, including us!! All the CD shops play the same music, Cho. It is a very special place.



Tomorrow at 5pm, our month long course begins, so this is the last blog before 'lock down'. I am really looking forward to it. Below is a picture of part of the grounds at Kopan, so as you can see, it is beautiful so spending a month here will not be so hard. The himalaya range in the background and a beautiful stupa to circumnavigate. A stupa represents the Buddha's enlightened mind. This stupa is filled with the relics of many holy beings. Circumnavigating a stupa clockwise is said to purify negative karma as it represents all that is positive.



We spent the last few days shopping for warm clothes in Tamil. It is exhausting walking in in the dirt and puddle filled streets, with cars, bikes, motorbikes, people passing just centremeters from you, breathing in all the fumes, while bartering for items. The people don't hassel you in the street and they always barter in a friendly way so although my body was exhausted, I still felt calm and peaceful within.

The food here is so cheap! Rob, our friend Ray and myself ate three plates of momo's (like steamed dumplings filled with vegetables, paneer and potato), a plate of chips and a big pot of Tibetin tea (salty, butter tea) for $5. We were so full that Rob had to leave one lonely momo behind.

Steph, I took this picture for you. There are tiny marigolds all around the gompa at Kopan. I want to bite them all off... kkkaaargum!

See, his eyes are big and beautiful!

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to 'The life and times of Sam'... He's just so cute! He seems to have a quiet contentment about him. He is happy to be alone with his dummy and he is happy to be passed around from person to person.

He really likes Rob.... and I think that Rob really likes him.

Monarto Zoo

Yesterday Chris, Mel, Rob and me took Nan to Monarto Zoo. Monarto is a 1 ooo hectare open range sanctuary on the eastern side of the Adelaide Hills. The zoo has a strong conservation role, for both native and exotic animals with many national and international breeding programs for rare and endangered species.

Nan loved the meerkats and the giraffes. They were easy to see and she could get quite close to them. I think the meerkats reminder her much loved Benny, a little Chihuahua/ jack russell who died this year.

It was great to learn about all these animals and gain an appreciation for the role this zoo plays in their survival. Many of these animals have very low numbers or are extinct in their natural habitats. I'm glad we had the opportunity to support Monarto and learn a little more about the human impact on the planet at the same time.

If you get the chance take at drive out there and do the same. You can even get up close to the human reared cheetahs (their mothers milk became infected so they had to be hand reared) or close to the lions.

These tours are booked out for weeks in advance, so we took a short camel ride around the park....

Sam

After missing out on meeting him by hours the last time I visited, Rob and I finally met Sam, who was born on the 14th September.

He is so tiny and his face seems to be all eyes - big, dark and curious.



Mum is gearing up to be a grandma/ nan in anticipation for Scott and Lynda's little one.



I'm sure this is not the last time your cute little face will be splashed all over this blog!

And my other little cute faced friend, Finn, was snuggled up with his mum before I could snap a shot of him. This shot was taken after I was shooshed down by him for my bad nursery rhyme singing..... I can't blame him, Leanne has a beautiful voice.

Leaving Bunbury - the SouWest

On the 15th of October, we packed up our remaining things and prepared to leave Bunbury, our home for the past four years. Rob claims that the reason we finally decided to leave was because the local news reading would call in the SouWest instead of South West.... He has a thing about 'th'. Maybe we are just becoming grumpy oldies....

We had a final farewell breakfast with some friends at the beach before heading off.

Soni, George, Carl and Rob - one last slide

We stopped a couple of times on the way up to check the load, few of the mats were just about to fly off the back of the ute.....

Don't be fooled. The road from Perth to Bunbury is sealed. We just pulled off to a side road for local farmers.

Once we landed in Rockingham, we were greeted with a beautiful sunset. The stunning pink of the sky was an indication that summer was on its way!

Quiff

The coolest hair in town.....Henry gives Finn a quiff.


Aaaaand he has the best collection of toy cars!!!

Nameste II

Last Wednesday, instead of practicing yoga together, our yoga class met for dinner and a final farewell.... A night full of giggles!

I had a great few years practicing yoga with you all, thankyou! I will always remember your laughter, fun, support and love of yoga!

And thankyou for all of these thoughtful and travel friendly gifts! Even a plug for the sink!


On the subject of yoga, I found this hilarious yoga blog, yogabeans!, that uses figurines to demonstrate yoga poses... lol!! ha!

Namaste!

A word I will not doubt be using in the next couple of months, being Hindi/ sanskrit for hello and goodbye, but today I use it in the context of 'goodbye' to my beautiful fellow yoginis! It has been fantastic bathing in your knowledge and love of yoga.

And I'm really gonna miss all the yummy scoff fests post yoga!

Thanks for the funky pj's! I really wish there was more peas on earth... :")


This picture of Mel and Allie is just gorgeous. There is no mistaking your mum/ daughter bond! She is beautiful.

I didn't get any pics of my little friends Sasha and Charlie :"( Rob gave Sash some 'magic beans' (broad beans) which he deposited into his pocket. Apparently, he planted them as soon as he got home and was expecting them to pop up straight away! He is so cute and alert and soaks up all that is going on around him.

10th September 1916

This was when my nan was born, 90 years ago!

And so I made a trip to Adelaide to help her celebrate. I wish I had taken a big group photo because there are too many individual photos to post of nan with all her friends and family! She had a great day with lots of laughs and tears. Dad put together a great little short movie of her life. Nan viewed the movie a few days earlier, as m&d thought it would bring up many emotions that she might not want with all the people were around on the day of the premier. And it did, especially when the pics of her late husband, grandad George appeared. It showed nan as a young lady in the Land Army of England. She was posted on my grandads farm during this time, so this is how they met!

Chris and Scott gave nan this stereo so she can listen to her books on tape. She was so happy and kept going into her room to look at it! Cute!


Then he started getting cheeky and demanding birthday kisses


Mum made so much deliciousness! Mmmm, I can taste the creamerishious scones.....

My little second cousins, Elijah and Ethan, were so cute. They built this 'trap', which was covered in grass so you wouldn't see it, in the back yard. Also they had a pine cone hunt. First they collected pine cones, then they hid them, then they search the back yard for the cones they hid! So cute!


Mum and I even made a trip to the desert town of Whyalla so nan could celebrate with all of her friends there. I did manage to get a group shot there! They are a very caring group of people and nan loves their company.


It was great catching up with everyone. Especially, hanging out with Scott and Lynda for a night of fun filled Star Wars trivial pursuit. As expected Scott completely dominated, being the hard core Star Wars fan that he is. The excitement of the game even sent Jess into labour!


I really miss spending time with Jess and Leanne (><) You are so beautiful and vibrant. I'll really miss being with you two and watching your little ones grow up... I'm coming back in a few weeks time and I can't wait!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Tsa Tsa

Tsa Tsa Making

A Tsa Tsa is a two dimensional image of the Buddha. The image embodies the qualities of enlightened beings - their impartial and unconditional love , compasion and their omniscient, all pervasibe wisdom.

Green Tara - this one was not made or painted by me but is an inspiration of what you can achieve



Pouring out the plaster into a mould



Turning out the dried tsa tsa's


1000 arm Chenrezig - unpainted


Tsa Tsa making group

Tao of Drumming

If Tao comes to your town or city you should experience their performance. It is amazing! This group trains for 10 hours every day and it shows! both in their amazing skills, endurance, perfection and bodies. Wow! It is a beautiful mix of traditional taiko drumming, with a contemporary twist including females (who traditionally weren't allowed to play the drums but they are just as amazing), influences by (what sounded to my unmusical ears) to be maori and irish and the oh, so popular spray on jeans (which are making a huge come back but can only be worn by a small percentage of the population, including super fit japanese taiko drummers).

This night out was part of robo's birthday treats but I was just as lucky to experience this performance. Just watching these guys made me want to be a taiko expert like them and rob felt the same! He wanted to take up the wadaiko again and rejoin his onna troupe!
The sweet flute playing and flowing kimono with fans and umbrella were so elegant, mixed with the powerful, raw, sweating, earthy beats of the massive drums. You will love it!

www.drum-tao.com/E/site

Ayurvedic Cooking

A few weekends ago I did an Ayurvedic Cooking course. It was yummy fun and we even made paneer cheese! Here are a few pics.... Ayurveda is known as the 'Science of Long Life'. Ayurveda is about creating balance for each individual, once your digestive system (and other systems) are fuctioning well. When your body/ mind is out of balance, disease and ill health can occur. Balance is achieved by becoming aware of who you are and how external influences affect you so that you can counter these affects through diet, yoga, meditation, message, cleansing practices and other wholistic healing methods that are specific to you. Ayurveda is an ancient wisdom, so it is not a new fad. It has been tried and tested over thousands of years. The more I follow the principles of Ayurveda, the more I see the benefits. Ayurvedic Cooking is yummy, fresh and wholesome.

Above: Leah and Tiger checking things out before we begin.

Milling around, waiting to begin cooking!

The spices we cooked with.


Glenda with yummy mung balls


Joey with the paneer we made.


Glenda and Jim in their cooking aprons


All the delicious food!