Anarchy in the US of A

Wowzers people!!! Sending love out to all. I'm still trying to process everything myself. I'm not sure what deep intellectual thing I could possibly write at this point in time but I felt prompted to send out my love to one and all.

My dharma sister said that she was visualizing Red Tara on the top of Trump's head, which for those of you who practice Vajrayana will get what she's saying. I told her I was visualizing Lion-faced Dakini with all of her protector elements! Either way, the Donald is getting a lot of dharma juju sent his way. Let's pray that this is why we have a connection to him; to transform from the basis of eternal love.

Dharma Mama Blog Return!

Lama Tsultrim Allione

Three years of designing, mothering and dharma-ing. My role as mother recently expanded to my own mother. Dementia and other health issues have brought her into my home. All the emotional baggage of the mother/daughter relationship is as volatile as you could imagine! This post is extremely vague and light, but I wanted to mention a book that has helped me. Feeding Your Demons by Tsultrim Allione.

The exercises in this book are based on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of chöd. "Allione brings an eleventh-century Tibetan woman's practice to the West for the first time with FEEDING YOUR DEMONS, an accessible and effective approach for dealing with negative emotions, fears, illness, and self-defeating patterns."

Typical Pacific Northwest weather. Cloudy, rainy, windy, grey and cold. Still, i am surprisingly happy; content and at peace with myself - finally.

With one exception...

Baths and showers all around. Baby girl, myself & ... the cats. yes, the cats. they need a flea shampoo bath. They get the flea drops and we have used the carpet spray from the vet, but they keep coming back. i'm not sure what to do short of getting rid of the cats.

Now for the rest of the story...

So the whole flea thing is not that big of a deal and isn't making my life miserable...it's just an irritation that i wanted to get out of the way... oh yes and my capital i still isn't working...as well as my capital y and delete button. at some point i will need to clean up the mess that was made. ok, done with the complaints for the day!

To do list for the day:

• Baths
• the usual household chores, i.e. laundry, dishes, vacuum
• file my weekly unemployment claim
• work on a design mockup for one of my projects

yes, sounds daunting doesn't it? Maybe i can get a little morning practice in too and coffee.

Knitting...

i need to finish the cotton wash cloth i started months ago. Then, i would like to start a new fun project like a hat and scarf for Lily.

i am still fighting the instant gratification need and so my project ideas are still of the small variety; children's sizes, hats, scarfs.

Spinning...

This is my secret hobby desire & want: to be at a weekend beach front cabin in the San Juan islands with a fire burning in the fireplace, toasty warm, and spinning luscious fibers to my heart's content whilst Ryan taps away at his keyboard, writing to his heart's content. oh, and there would need to be a yarn/spinning store within walking distance! and a local funky coffee shop!

Dharma...

Early yesterday morning, i was up before light and did 108 prostrations. it was the perfect way to start the day. it set my body and mind up perfectly for moving through the day with the right motivation.

Evening practice yesterday was a grounding way to begin the closing of the day and handling the chaos that typically ensues when Ezra comes home from his dad's and Lily hasn't seen her big brother all weekend.

Tonight, Red Tara tsok dedicated to Lama Gyatso & Dave Heinrich.

Tomorrow night, Red Tara tsok, in commemoration of H.E. Chagdud Rinpoche's parinirvana.

Busy week full of blessings.

Now on with the day!