Schedule of the Dalai lama

I was asked how people can find out if the Dalai lama will visit their country.

Well, there are several ways to find that out.

You can contact a Buddhistic Centre in your town or country and ask.
They will know.

And you can visit the site of the Dalai Lama. He's got a special page for his schedule ::here::

He'll visit Budapest for two days in september. All tickets are sold out.

Morning prayers

When I was young my grandmother taught me to wake up with beautiful thoughts.
She said that there was always something to be grateful for and all I needed to do was look around.

I've kept that habit for the rest of my life and when I bird started it's own habit of sitting on the roof and peeking through my window I always had a smile on my face when waking up. Even on days I knew would be difficult.

It was the joy of the moment that stayed with me all day.
When people would act unkind I could stay kind, because of that small bird that made me smile.
It made me aware to concentrate and focus on what I was doing, not to dwell on the past or future.

Ofcourse I was curious in which way the buddhists greet their day after I realised that my ways were very buddhistic.

Those who chant sutras often chant this part of the Sukhavativyuha Sutra:

Buddhist Morning Prayer

Full of equanimity,

of benevolent thought,

of tender thought,

of affectionate thought,

of useful thought,

of serene thought,

of firm thought,

of unbiased thought,

of undisturbed thought,

of unagitated thought,

of thought (fixed on) the practice

of discipline and transcendent wisdom,

having entered on knowledge

which is a firm support to all thoughts,

equal to the ocean in wisdom,

equal to the mountain Meru in knowledge,

rich in many good qualities....

they attain perfect wisdom.

And many love this one:

A Prayer Upon Arising in the Morning

by: Venerable Master Hsing Yun

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Today is a new beginning!

It is said that "the morning hours are the best time of day."

On such a fine morning,

I recall past experiences:

I have failed,

But have never been disappointed;

I have been sad,

But have already been able to open my mind peacefully;

I have been wronged,

But have understood

that everything in this world arises and extinguishes 

according to the law of dependent origination;

I have shed tears,

But have deeply believed that tomorrow will be better.

Today, under the blessing and protection

Of your compassionate Buddha light,

I pray to you to grant me the courage

To face all challenges on this day;

I pray to you to grant me the patience

To accept all setbacks on this day;

I pray to you to grant me the strength

To carry out all work on this day;

pray to you to grant me the wisdom

To be grateful for all causes and conditions on this day.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please help me increase my wisdom;

Please help me open my mind.

May I be able to appreciate the wonders of sky and earth;

May I be able to be grateful for the warmth of the world;

May I be able to obtain the assistance of friends;

May I be able to realize the value of Dharma.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please help me become a person wealthy in spirit

Every day, may I give with joy;

Every day, may I willingly form affinity with others;

Every day, may I practice loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity;

Every day, may I treat people with tolerance and generosity.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please help me become a brave person in life:

May I be able to purify my thoughts;

May I be able to contribute often;

May I be able to do no wrong;

May I be able to do only good.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please bless me:

May I possess spiritual wisdom

And the Buddha mind;

May I have prajna wisdom and compassion

And liberate people from suffering.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

I recognize the presence of your image in my mind.

I realize that I came to the human world to be happy;

I understand that I have entered into society to contribute;

I know that I am cultivating the Way to enlightenment to benefit all.

I vow, from this moment on,

To benefit all sentient beings

And awaken myself and others every day;

I vow, from today on

To bring good fortune and benefit to the nation and the people, and

To liberate self and others every moment.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please accept my sincerest morning prayer!

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please accept my sincerest morning prayer!

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha.

 Have a wonderful day!

.

Looking for a money tree

I hate to talk about money.

I've always lived from a bit.
No car, no posh house, no expensive clothes.
Now the children are almost 15 or older they tell me they're very happy with their youth, because I was almost always at home.
We didn't have much money, but we had lots of love and attention for our children.

I'm happy they see it that way. That they're content people and are aware that a nice label on your clothes doesn't make you feel warmer in the winter.

Because we were able to say "no" to many nice things we never were in debt.
I was so grateful for that.

But the recent attack on our family resulted in a few bills of lawyers with a total of 1500 euro!!
And buying things we wouldn't have bought otherwise, like new clothes for the courtcase and traintickets, made the gap between having and needing even larger.

I'm so worried.

Friends tell me to relax, that we'll solve the problem, but it doesn't feel good.
This makes the injustice even bigger.

So I'm looking for a money tree.
please warn me when you see it growing in my back garden. LOL!

Happiness

..

Happiness is not something ready made.

It comes from your own actions.

the Dalai Lama

The way we react to experiences makes a huge difference.
Negative thoughts about people have a strong mirroreffect on yourself. These thoughts act like poison and even though it's a struggle to erase them from your repertoire, it's well worth the effort.

Buddhism offers good tools to accomplish this task: care and compassion.
Even the worst person can be excused, because even he deserves kindness.
Buddhism doesn't speak often about guilt. because many bad acts are the consequence of a lack of learning.
If the person would have known more about the effects of the acts he would have refrained from acting that way.

Happiness also follows when you're able to live in the here and now. When you're able to let go of what happened it the past (after you have learned the lesson which was in it) and when you stop worrying and act in the present with full concentration and dedication you will feel happy.

That's true.
That's why I'm always able to deal with the most difficult situations in life.
Whatever happens, my emotions stay with it, so new concentration for a new moment gives new feelings.

Good luck.

.

gift of a moment

.

The sea

endless rhythm of waves

caressing the sand

Dark skies

reflected

in the dark grey water

a sunbeam

a bright spot

catching my eyes

gift of a moment

.

Mother Theresa

Today at many places in the world the 100rds birthday of Mother Theresa has been celebrated.

Most people know this remarkable woman did a lot of good for those in need. She worked with the poorest of the poorest and never denied someone support.

She saw in every person an image of God and treated that person accordingly.

Samdhong Rinpoche ( on July 29, 2001 elected prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile) said about  the importance of her for Tibetan Buddhism:
"For us, the Mother is the incarnation of Maha Karuna (immeasurable compassion).
For her, no one was unreachable.
The Dalai Lama had the deepest admiration and respect for her."

She's a great example to everyone of us, regardless of religion or philosophy.

Eyes feel like home

When I meet people who practice care and compassion I feel graceful, respectful and my words are kind and soft, and everything in me smiles.
The best in me surfaces and this creates a great calmness and happiness.

Having experienced the mild and peaceful behaviour of these people has made me more aware of other people and their ways of behaviour.

More and more I sense a kind of agression in people who have a different way of approaching people,
They want the world to be the way they think it should be.
They want to enforce their way of being on others, and even when their mouths speak words of respect,
the hollowness of the word in the way they use it is reflected in their eyes.
They don't smile.

They're not curious, they're not enjoyed, and they don't smile like those of my buddhist friends.

The eyes of my buddhist friends look into the world like they say: "Hej, happy to see you here too, let me see, who are you?"
They feel like home.

We'll be our own truth,

 .
You have written untruth about our family.
Maybe your eyes are troubled by your past.
Maybe your thoughts are troubled by evil you have heard.
Maybe your motives were honorable,
but your ears and heart were not alligned well.

I have to stand up against you
with the truth of our lives you're talking about.
No urge I feel to do so,
because you thought you were right,
your knowledge was just very limited,
and you were imprisoned
in your own frame of mind.

Unconditional care and compassion
is what Buddha teaches.

And so we'll smile,
and be ourselves.
We'll be our own truth,

Let's hope that speaks louder
than the reality you created for yourself.

.

How we live through a difficult time

Some people have asked how we deal as a family with the crisis we're going through.

I'll try to explain.

Right now we don't feel it to be a crisis, but we've gone through hours of sadness and other emotions and I expect we'll be stressed next wednesday.

So giving the right words to the situation helps.

People have created their own perception of our family, their own reality, based on their own past and a lot more we don't know.

At first we were angry, especially at a person who painted a very untrue pictures of our daughters, but soon we realised that even though we don't agree and our friends don't recognise the pictures he painted, he probably thinks he's right.
So in a way he doesn't have more knowledge, and the anger went away.
He won't be our friend, but we won't spend energy on what he did.
He has created his own karma by telling tales about my daughters, it's not up to us to force that upon him.

But we filed a complaint against him at school to stop him doing this again to someone else.

Upon his statements other people have created a more eleborate picture of our family, and they've made choices based on a lack of listening properly, projections based on their past and fears, on arrogance and self-complacency and on the wish to get financial gain. Their intentions were not honorable, even though they might tell that to themselves.

We did what we could to show and tell them who we really are, but they made a conscious choice to cling to their own writings.
These were filed to open a courtcase against us for bad parenting.
Ofcourse it scared the hell out of us as a first reaction, but then we remembered the 6 perfections:

• giving, 
• ethics, 
• patience, 
• joyous effort, 
• concentration
• wisdom

Especially the perfection of patience seemed to be important:

• Having patience in understanding Dharma and gaining faith.
• Being undisturbed by anguish from suffering.
• Practise patience before getting angry.
• Having patience in accepting problems.
• Being undisturbed by inflicted harm.

We realised that trying to give us a bad name is not our action, but theirs.
We have not changed at all, we're still the good and happy family we were, so we should carry on doing what we think is right.
Maybe that radiates and wednesday it shows who we are, and people with wisdom and a good observation skills will see that what we say against the writings is the truth.
We don't need to feel uneasy, because we have nothing to hide. We can be calm and OK.

Today is a calm and quiet day in the home.
Outside a storm is raging.
Nature couldn't have made a better statement of the situation here.

Ofcourse we prepare ourselves for wednesday.
But what has been done is done and is in the past.
We know we're OK and we've done metta meditations, so we can keep working with those who want to bring us down. We won't feel hatred or aggression. Those emotions trouble the mind.
We'll see what happen and try to trust the judge. Somewhere along the line there must be someone who'll see sense.

At first I felt nervous about the consequences of such a bad image of our family.
They wanted to forces all sorts of therapies upon us which were canons shoting at a sandcorn.
One of those therapies might even be harmfull on normal healthy children, so I didn't like that at all.
All I said was: go and get your indication done. (Every therapy needs a certain kind of person or group to have the greatest effect. No matter what they would say, they would never be able to fit us in.)
They turned down their request. Didn't change anything else, but changed that.

Whatever happens wednesday... whatever is said about us, we are still the same good people.
The consequences might interfere with family life for a while, but a broken laundrymachine has the same effect. It costs time too.

So we just see what's going to happen.

After finishing this answer I found this text.
Isn't it perfect?

RECOMMENDATION

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Promise me,
promise me this day,
promise me now,
while the sun is overhead
exactly at the zenith,
promise me:
Even as they strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
even as they step on you and crush you like a worm,
even as they dismember and disembowel you,
remember, brother, remember:
man is not your enemy.

The only thing worthy of you is compassion --
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face the beast in man.

One day, when you face this beast alone,
with your courage intact, your eyes kind, untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile will bloom a flower.
And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousands worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road,
the sun and the moon
will continue to shine.

.

Buddhism and (other) religions

No, I'm not going to write an extensive paper on the difference between buddhism and (other) religions.

But last week I had a talk with someone and I said that to me the difference was very clear.

When I was young the religion of my parents told me the rules of behaviour. And in fact, that religion still does.
It doesn't state how to deal with life, it just gives the end result, an order.
One needs to be perfect and how to become perfect isn't adressed properly.

Buddhism provides the way how to.
It provides all sorts of ways to deal with the experiences of life and transform them to a nourishing experiences. Buddshim provides the tools to become a better person.
Buddhism allows room for failing without the need to feel guilty about being imperfect.

Green and White Tara

Tara was born from the tears of compassion, it's said, of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
He saw the suffering of the people and his tears formed a lake, from which a lotus grew.
When the lotus opened the Goddess Tara was revealed.

The story goes that the Green Tara was born from the tears of his right eye, and the White Tara from the tears of his left eye.

Green Tara is often depicted in an half open lotus, symbolising the night.
She stands for virtuous activity.
White Tara is shown in a lotus in full bloom, often with folded legs in meditation and represents the day.
She’s pictured as being endowed with seven eyes (look at the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and her forehead) to symbolize the watchfulness of the compassionate mind. She shows serenity, grace and peacefulness.

Together they represent the unending compassion of the Goddess who works day and night to end all suffering.

Ofcourse this is a simplification and there's a lot more to this difference, especially from different regions and traditions, but I think you get the idea.

Nonviolence

.

Nonviolence does not mean

that we remain indifferent

to a problem.

On the contrary,

it is important to be fully engaged.

However,

we must behave in a way that does not benefit us alone.

We must not harm the interests of others.

Nonviolence therefore is not merely

the absence of violence.

It involves a sense of compassion and caring.

It is almost the manifestation of compassion.

I strongly believe

that we must promote such a concept of nonviolence

at the level of the family

as well as at the national and international levels.

Each individual has the ability

to contribute to such

compassionate nonviolence.

H.H. the Dalai Lama

An Open Heart
Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life 

.

... and then tell us they bring peace.

One of my children was sitting in the livingroom.
Her face was showing deep concentration and as she didn't react to the glass of lemonade in my hand I put it on the table without saying and left.

A few minutes later she switched on the TV and watched the news.

After an item about war she switched it off again.

Silence again.

Then suddenly I heard her calling me.

"Mom... mom, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why do grown up people ship tanks to a faraway country, and throw bombs. Why do they kill a lot of people and destroy their houses... and then tell us they bring peace."

Just being

 .

Just being

standing at the bank of a river

feeling the slow wind move my hair

ships pass faster

without entering my world

It's the sun

smiling in a wave

catching my eye

just for a moment

it's like a bird

flying through my mind

just being

that moment

in eternity

.

children and mindfulness

Spontaneously I developed a routine with the children to walk outside in our garden, no matter which weather it was.

In the summer we would walk after dinner. The sun low near the horizon, casting long shadows from the trees and plants.

In winter we just took the chance whenever the children wanted.

All my children remember these precious small walks.

This is interesting, because other children go for long walks in the woods, and mine just walked the few metres in the garden.

But plants and animals really came alive.

We studied each plant carefully. Looking for new leaves in the spring, flowers in the summer and fruit in the autumn.
Even in the winter there was enough to see, as leaves on the ground changed colour and slowly disappeared, branches changed and the promisses of spring could be seen.
And the animals... they were there too, either the birds, singing their songs of spring, the wonderful butterflies during summer, the hedgehog in autumn, or the small winterinsects beneath a tree with a fluffed up bird.

Every walk was an exercise in being together in a peaceful way, focussing the attention, and enlarging the attentionspan. Even observationskills were trained.

But most of all:  memories were created.
.

Striving for the truth

The past months life has been very difficult for our family.
One of the main reasons is that we were confronted with someone who had a strong inner urge to tell us how to live.

She saw fault in characteristics of our family that we were deeply happy with: the strong bond between us all.
I see it as the result of normal bonding between parents and children, a good basis to develop independence, and also a good example for how they can make their own future family into a real home with unconditional love.

She saw it as a hindrance for children to become independent.

When I tried to explain to her that we stimulate all our children to become independent and responsible human beings, she was not able to listen.
She seemed angry that I didn't agree, and I got the impression she came from a childhood where she didn't have such a strong bond. Or maybe something else has been bothering her and she saw a representation in us.

Fact was that she wasn't able to see us the way we are: a happy family.

I've been looking for a quote, and today I found one:

 .

In a controversy

the instant we feel anger 

we have already ceased 

striving for the truth, 

and have begun striving for ourselves.

Buddha

Blog footer

Trying to get a footer in...

It's a problem, probably because the original css prohibits it.

So for a few minutes the bottom of the site might be a mess.

I'm staying calm... you too?

 :)

death of a baby

When my second baby was born, and died a day later, I was pulled through time by events which went by so fast, that we hardly had the time to celebrate life itself.

My worst fear was that I would never ever remember her face again.

But I did.
And then I realised how much her soul had touched mine.
How much she gave to me in those few hours and during the years I also realised she had given me much more.

No teacher could have taught me better than that small lovely baby that death belongs to live itself.

When one says that all souls, all spirits, all beings belong together, it also means that those between lives stay with us.

And that's what I have experienced through the years.

My little lady had a message to the world and she left it for us to find it.

She taught me that I'm not afraid of death.
And that we have to accept what happens in our lives, that we have to let go of the pain, to be able to be in touch with ourselves again.

A mail for all who care

Dear Friends,

      I am sorry to inform you that, i got a message from our
most venerable Bhante Sanghasen, Founder President of Mahabodhi
International Meditation Center Ladhakh (India) that the Beautiful valley of ladhakh turns into a valley of horror in minutes. Suddenly an
unprecedented flood created destruction, devastation, havoc and turn the city and valley into ghost city. Hundred of residential houses are destroyed, several hundreds lives lost, thousand of people are severely
injured and effected. Please share your any types of financial co-operation
to them. Please see the flood photographs on the following website.
www.mahabodhi-ladakh.org

 

Name of the Bank: Citibank,NA,
Account No: 0-412501-004
In the name of Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre,

Bank address: Jeevan Bharti Building,
124, Connought Circus,
New Delhi- 110 001.
Swift Code - CITIINBX
F.C.R.A. # 152710017
Indian friends may send to our local account as below:
Name of account: Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre
Name of the bank: Sate Bank Of India
Bank address: State Bank of India,
P.O. Leh, Ladakh (J&K) 194 101
Branch code: 1365
RTGS Code: SBIN0001365
Swift code #: SBININBBA280

Yours,
Dr. Milind Jiwane
Nagpur (India)

My gram

My grandmother was an interesting woman.

As a child of her time, she got 7 children, worked hard and was not afraid to deal with many challenges.
She was in the resistance during WW2, with the rest of her family, and apart from the gratitude of her children and grandchildren never received the acknowledgement she should have had.

She was bot a person with a huge ego.
She lived her life in touch with the people around her and with nature and was happy with that.

She was different from other women though.
She always thought it to be important to stay relaxed, and to develop more of her talents than motherhood alone.
She was a good actress, a wonderful singer and she took each tuesday afternoon off to do something she felt she needed to do. That could be playing cards with her nieces, drinking tea in town with me, or anything else that popped in her mind.

She told me it kept her refreshed, aware of the needs of other people, and able to deal with her severely asthmatic son who wouldn't live long. (He died at the age of 33 in her arms).

My gram taught me how to live. How to deal with other people, how to deal with myself.
She taught me that in order to develop myself, I should never be afraid of thinking my own thoughts. All great thinkers and scientist, all great poets, all those great men and women of history had the same characteristics: the inner need to make the world a better place, an inner need to express themselves, and the ability to discover which thoughts would renew the world.

To me, she was just my gram who gave me chocolate when I left so the sweetness would accompany me on my way home. She was the best person in my life. She saved my life when I was a baby and later, when she was already dead, her lessons saved me from many awkward situations.

Now I realise she was a wise woman. A very wise woman.
.

Concentrate

.

Do not dwell in the past,

do not dream of the future,

concentrate the mind

on the present moment.

Buddha 

.

Wishlist

.

• Het Boeddha-boek - Lillian Too - ISBN 90 453 0294 2 (see here)
• Tara box
• I would love to learn to draw Thangka's. (100 euro)
• I would love to follow good education in Buddhism. (300 euro a year)
• Rattan meditation chair, but a meditation cushion will do too.

Donations are welcome.

Thank you very much!

.

How it all began

It's unclear when it all started.
Probably in the 5th or 6th century before Christ.

Siddhartha Gautama was born in what is now called Nepal, in the place Lumbini.
At the time the Vedic cicilization was the dominant culture of northern India but the place of birth would have been either at the border of it, or outside the area, because early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with these teachings

He was raised in, what was at the time, the small kingdom or principality of Kapilvastu, which was later during Gautama's lifetime, annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala.

His father was King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu. Gautama was the family name.
His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) was a Koliyan princess.

The story goes that on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side.
According to the Shakya tradition she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth.
But she gave birth on the way in a garden beneath a sal tree in Lumbini.

Queen Maya died either directly at the birth or a few days later.

The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhatta), meaning "he who achieves his aim".

Asita, a hermit seer examined the boys feet and birthmarks when he put his feet in her hair and she forecasted that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.

At the naming ceremony on the fifth day, the king invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All predicted that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.
Only the youngest, Kaundinya (Pali: Kondanna), was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.

Siddhartha was destined however to a luxurious life as a prince.
He had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) especially built for him. His father, wanted him to become a great king and he kept religious teachings and knowledge of human suffering far away from him.
Siddhartha was raised by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.

When Siddhartha Gautama reached the age of 16, he was confronted with an arranged marriage to a cousin of the same age: Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā).
The story goes that in time, she gave birth to a son, Rahula.

Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilavastu, living in wealth..
But he had a growing feeling that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.

At the age of 29 he left the palace to see the people of his kingdom.
Even though everything was tried to keep him away of real life, he saw an old man.
One of his servants told him that every human being grows old.
Siddharta went further into his kingdom and met all sorts of people and he realised that old age, illness, and death are the destiny of all.

He decided he would live ascetic to learn how to overcome this all.

He escaped from his palace, accompanied by Channa on his horse Kanthaka.
The story goes that the gods muffled the sounds of the hooves, so none could his departure.

Siddhartha went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street.
Siddhartha left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers.
The first one was Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), who asked Siddhartha to succeed him, but Siddharta wanted to learn more and left.

He then became a student of Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra), but even though he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was asked to succeed Ramaputta, he moved on.

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya deprived themselves of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification by eating just a nut or leaf a day. Then he collapsed in the river while bathing and nearly drowned.
Recondiering what he was doing he remembered his childhood and attained a concentrated and focused state, the jhāna.

A small girl from the village, called Sujata, thought he was a good spirit, and brought him milk and rice.
He was sitting under a pipal tree, we now call Bodhi tree, in Bodh Gaya, India, and he vowed nhe would never go from there until he had found the Truth.
His companions left him because they thought he had stopped his search.

Siddharta meditated 49 days and then he attained Enlightenment. He was 35.

From then on he was called the Buddha, "Awakened One" or "The Enlightened One." Another name is: Shakyamuni Buddha, which means "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."

What is buddhism?

Buddhism is not a religion with one God to worship and people on earth who represent this God and enforce the rules which are provided in a Holy Book.

Most Buddhists won't describe their religion as a faith or a belief system, because there's no belief in a personal God and no focus on the relationship between humanity and this God.

Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focusses on personal spiritual development to enlightenment.
Enlightenement can be attained through practice and development of morality, meditation and wisdom.

Personal responsibility is the core of the tradition.
As everything is connected compassion and peace are of utter importance.

Comments are welcome

During the past years I didn't have much time and opportunity to discuss my life with friends and those who mean well.

To compensate for this I tried to find moments of quietness, mainly before going to sleep, and I used them to get rid of all those emotions that put people down, burden them, and take me from what I feel is the inner me.

These moments of relaxations and turning inward became beakons in time, and when confronted with a situation that would certainly feed my bad emotions, like anger and irritation, I would stand still and just grasp that inner silence, before going ahead.

It would enable me to keep just enough distance to think, to reflect on what was going on, and to make sound decisions.

Now the children are either grown up or in their teenage years there's finally time for me to find new friends, visit old friends and find those who can teach me more.

So, comments are welcome.

My mala arrived

It seemed only logical to start a new blog about my path on Buddhism the day my mala (strain of prayer beads) finally arrived from Tibet.
So many things are coming together during the last weeks, so many bad things are happening.

It's like the good and the bad in people clash right in front of my face, after I witnessed a beam of lightning right in front of me a few weeks ago.
Don't worry, I wasn't hurt by that force of nature even though a lot of electrical equipment was down and broken by it.
It has made a lasting expression and it will never disappear from my mind.

A few days later we had bad, hurricane like storms, with forceful fallwinds, before unknown to this area of the world.



It's a time of tremendous change in my life.
I expected to move to Scotland, but instead I was planted on another path of life.



Not an unfamiliar path, as I've been spending a lot of attention on Buddhism during my university years. I even gave meditation classes.

But when I was caught up in life, married and got children, I didn't see myself as Buddhist.
The Buddhist in me, however, never disappeared. It found it's way, made me de mother I was, made me the person I am.




And then, suddenly, I saw an article about mindful parenting and suddenly I knew.


The pieces fell together and I smiled.