lotusinthemud

your ancestors

'If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.'

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

flowing with the river

I'm going to take part in Kaspa and Fiona's 'river of stones' project, starting with NaSmaStoMo. Read more about it here.....follow the trail!

approaching others with the thought of compassion

People often expect the other person to respond first in a positive way, instead of taking the initiative to create that possibility. I feel that's wrong; it can act as a barrier that just promotes a feeling of isolation from others. To overcome feelings of isolation and loneliness, your underlying attitude makes a tremendous difference - approaching others with the thought of compassion in your mind is the best way.

~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama

maija's marvellous vegetarian/vegan recipes

Have a look at these.:

Maija writes: I am a 26-year old journalist/author/foodie from Finland, though I recently moved to Amsterdam. I've been a vegetarian since 1999 and I mostly cook and bake vegan. I set up the Finnish version of this page back in 2002 or 2003. The reason why there aren't more recipes is that I mostly cook "whatever there happens be in the fridge" (or on sale, since my budget is very limited). Vegetables tend to be quite expensive here. I also often use recipes from cookbooks or Indian recipes from the web, and I try to keep this page as more than just a copy-paste archive. Most of the recipes I've created myself, some originate from cookbooks, websites or magazines but have been adapted. All of them are vegan if you use a plant-based milk. Some of the baking recipes and most of the other recipes are gluten-free or can be made gluten-free.

You can find more of my food photography here.

My food blog Vegventures has started its journey around the world, trying out vegan(ized) foods from all different cuisines of the world.

24th November 2010 Added Brussels bombs and noysters
2nd June 2010 Added saag tofu and tzatziki potato salad.
12th February 2010 Added date tamarind chutney.

Pastas

Carrot pasta

carrots
onion
parsley
garlic
lemon juice
a sprinkle of chili, cayenne or paprika
some spices (see the note below)
a little oil
a little sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup or agave syrup
salt, soy sauce or a vegetable bouillon cube

You can use almost any spices here. Herbs like thyme, tarragon, basil, mint, chervil, lovage and chives work well, or you could use some Indian-inspired spices like coriander, cilantro, garam masala, ginger, nutmeg and cumin - or a mixture of these two. I bet lemongrass would also work marvellously.

Cut the carrot into pieces and chop the onion and garlic. Cook them in a small amount of liquid until a bit mushy (if using a bouillon cube, add it into the liquid, and dried spices can be added as well). Puree with a blender or food processor. Add the oil, lemon juice, spices and salt to taste, as well as liquid if needed. Some soy/rice/almond milk, soy cream or coconut milk/cream/powder can also be added, but is by no means necessary. You can even puree in (silken) tofu or cashew nuts for a more creamy and nutritious dish. Serve over pasta.

Sweet potatoes also work well in this dish.

::look here for many more!

we can learn.....

We can learn to meet whatever arises with curiosity and not make it such a big deal.
~ Pema Chödrön

great beings throughout the three times - buddhas and bodhisattvas

Past, present and future - Buddhas, bodhisattvas....and us. Dharmavidya writes from India:

This is written in India where the work of Dr Bimrao Ambedkar is the inspiration of millions of the most disadvantaged citizens.

There is the past, the present and the future. Each exists in a different way for us and our life is a function of them. These are called the three times. In the three times there are many Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Buddhas and bodhisattvas together we call great beings (mahasattva).

What is a Buddha? A Buddha is a fully enlightened being. In particular, a Buddha understands the past, present and future. A Buddha understands dependent origination. Dependent orgination is the way in which the future emerges from the present and past, and the way that the present has emerged from the past and future. If we understood dependent origination we would not be conceited about ourselves: we would be full of awe and reverence for the wonder of existence. If we understood the three times we would have no motive to do bad things because we would be fully aware of the consequences. Buddhas see true advantage and true disadvantage without distortion. Buddhas help us to see more clearly.

What is a bodhisattva? A bodhisattva is somebody who does not think of himself, but thinks of the good of others. A bodhisattva is somebody who is on the way to becoming a Buddha. A bodhisattva is somebody who is beginning to be a great being. There are little bodhisattvas and there are great bodhisattvas. Dr. Ambedkar is a bodhisattva. Dr Ambedkar began life in very disadvantaged conditions, but he became a saviour for many people. We continue to benefit from his work and inspiration. He helps us.

We are continuing the work of Dr Ambedkar. Dr Ambedkar was continuing the work of Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha was continuing the work of Amida Buddha. We shall continue the work in the future and we are little bodhisattvas. Some of us shall one day be Buddhas and great bodhisattvas.

How does one become a great being? There are two factors. The first is important, though it is the lesser of the two. This is the effort that one makes oneself. We have intelligence. We have life. If we also have a good heart we shall make the best we can of this life. Everybody should become educated and organise for the common good. Each person should make a personal vow. That is the first way.

The second way is that we are helped by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and we have to be willing to be helped. If we each insist on doing things our individual way nothing will be achieved. If I just want my own idea to prevail, I may achieve a small thing. If I want Dr Ambedkar's idea to prevail, if I want Shakyamuni's idea to prevail, if I want Amida's idea to prevail, then something much greater will be achieved.

We cannot change the whole world on our own, but the Buddhas and bodhisattvas can change it if we are willing to help them and be helped by them. This is why we have statues and pictures. So that we are always honouring these great beings so that we never forget. If we never forget the great beings then we shall not fall into conceitedness; we shall not become selfish or corrupt. Rather we shall be helped and we shall be part of a great work. Our lives will become meaningful and one day we too will be great beings.

All this comes through understanding the past, the present and the future.

::link

amida trust - why are we in india?

Dharmavidya and Jnanamati are visiting Sahishnu in Delhi. Here's his anwer to the question as to why....with a little history of the project there:

Seems as if it is a good question. However, if this really means "what is our aim?" there is really no very good answer. We do not have a plan. We simply go forth in faith.

We are wherever we are in order to honour the Buddha. We go where we are invited and teach those who ask us to teach and then one thing leads to another and, on this occasion, we find ourselves here. My own life is increasingly one of wandering in response to such calls. We follow the call out of faith. I came to India in the first instance a decade or more ago in response to a letter from a member of the Chakma tribe living in the north East who asked for help. Many Chakmas are refugees, displaced from their homeland in Bangladesh. Out of this friendship came others. Anomadharshi Bhikkhu, another Chakma, came to live with us at The Buddhist House in UK for several years. He asked us to send somebody to teach English in Delhi, so, eventually, when we could, we did. That was the start of our operaions in Delhi that have continued ever since. We taught English with no charge and an open door. We found, however, that the poorest were reluctant to come through that door and, as with so many things in India, it was often the well off who took what was on offer. It was suggested that we might offer classes out in the poorer areas, so we did, and still do. 

Our style of Buddhism is as close to the spirit of the original Dharma of Shakyamuni as we can be in the modern world. I do not mean by this that we slavishly follow out of date forms and customs. I mean that we try to implement the spirit of what Gotama was saying and doing. He went forth for the good of the many to relieve suffering and we do the same. He taught that we should help one another and, in that spirit, we try to help people to help others. He taught that suffering and well-being both start in the mind. This does not mean that material conditions should be ignored. It means that one should act with a generous heart and use one's intelligence in constructive ways. Good heartedness and intelligence need expression through the conditions of the material world, and that is what we try to do.

Buddha taught faith and devotion and he taught mental cultivation. These are not two separate things. Our practice is to keep the Buddha always in mind. To help us do this we say his name on all occasions. The Buddha's name is our object of meditation and it is on our lips and in our heart all day long. This is the simplest practice and also the most profound one. For instance, in the Vissuddhi Magga, the most important Pali manual of meditation, the highest object of meditation is the Buddha. That is our practice. In the Mahayana Buddhism of the far east it is also calling upon the Buddha that is the highest practice. If you have the Buddha always with you how can you do wrong? How can you lack inspiration? How can you fail to concentrate your mind? No obstacle can defeat you.

We are in India and we are many other places and all because we have the Buddha in mind. We are, as yet, few, but we have far greater impact than our numbers would suggest possible and this is simply because it is not by our power that results come but by our self-entrustment to the Buddha. The Buddha goes with us and is always ahead of us. We follow the call of sentient beings in need and we have faith that things will unfold as they should. Everybody must do something with his or her life. What one does will be a function of what one holds most dear. If you hold the Buddha most dear you will end up with a life such as this; and a wonderful life it is!

the person who practices

Dharmavidya writes:

When we meet people who practise we notice that they do not tell lies; they do not cheat; they do not take bribes; they do not pursue simply their own advantage; they do not steal. When we meet people who practise we notice that they do not kill sentient beings; they are not cruel; they are not violent. When we meet people who practise we notice that they speak words of kindness; they rarely become angry; they are patient; they speak well of others. When we meet people who practise we notice that they are helpful and kind; they are happy to co-operate in good work; they are generous and hospitable. When we meet people who practice we notice that they are adaptable; they have few desires; they are easily pleased; they have peace and contentment irrespective of the circumstances that they find themselves in.

Why are people who practise like that? Because they have gathered their faith and centred it upon something wholly worthwhile. They have placed it upon enlightened people; upon enlightened teachings and upon real community. These are the things that they treasure and have faith in. These are the things that they believe to be worth working for.

Such people do not lie lie or steal because to them there is no point in doing so. Everybody does things and everybody has reasons for each thing that they do. The person who steals does so in order to get a personal advantage and does not see the loss to the other person as something that matters. To the person who practises, however, firstly that person has few desires and sees that gaining many things is going to be a burden rather than an advantage and secondly that person cares for the other people and so it is not a gain to him that the other person lose something. In fact, he sees that theft simply generates a more sour world that will be unpleasant to live in. He views theft as one might view dropping dirt into the water supply that one shares with everybody else.

How is it that the outlook of people who practise is like this? To practise means to establish something wholesome at the centre of one's life and to contemplate that wholesome object. In Buddhism we call the most wholesome objects the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. If we would have faith in them then we are always struggling to see them more and more clearly. To act in harmful ways, however, makes them more and more difficult to see. The person who practises wants to see the Buddha everywhere; wants to hear the Dharma all the time; wants to live in the embrace of the Sangha. This is what matters most to the person who practises. Thus it is quite natural for such a person to do what makes Buddha, Dharma and Sangha more visible and to avoid what makes them disappear.

::link

huge, vast and limitless heart

"When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space."

~ Pema Chodron

lhasa temples

::photographs and introduction to the following 4 monasteries:

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The unique culture and long history makes Lhasa in Tibet a shining pearl on the snow-covered plateau. Being the Tibetan center of Buddhism throughout the centuries, Lhasa boasts row upon row of magnificent Buddhist buildings, including the well-known Jokhang Temple, Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery and Ganden Monastery.