Tulasi and Baby Manjari

Dear Readers;

The internet is a weird and wonderful place. I lost my blog some time back but somehow or other today it reappeared! Wahoo!!

Oright...so here is a  picture of Tulasi and her baby Manjari. These are two of our latest rescues.

Baby Manjari and Mama Tulasi earning their keep by munching away at the front lawn and fertilizing it at the same time!

 

 

Manjari is very strong.....our son Rama came up behind her as I was holding onto her harness. She must have been frightened because she whipped her head around and in the process sent me flying at least three feet into the air. Somehow I tucked my body into fetal position and rolled three times to the fence."

Found on the internet...somewhere......

"OMG..are you alright mom?"..my son asked, as he helped me up. Apparently.....according to him... I was lying flat on my back..laughly rather maniacally.

 ...as I tend to do..(I am told) when, I am either hurt or in shock.

Really though it was just another day on the farm.

My husband has always told me ,"You neverrrr know what's going to happen until you git oot  the doorrrr....because life is one grrrrreat big adventurrrre ." ..insert Scottish accent...

Long story short.....Tulasi and Manjari have now joined the herd. Tulasi is getting jostled around and is slowly finding her place in the herd. She has such a sweet nature but stubborn so she is neither at the bottom nor the top....but I must say..this morning she seemed to be pleading with us using her eyes. I'm sure that she was saying..."HELP....HELP..GET ME OUT OF HERE! That bull is horny and I'm not talking about those pointy things on his head!"

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Springfest At Our Buddhist Neighbours

Dear Readers;

My husband and I were invited to the local Buddhist Academy for their Springfest. We usually attend functions because we are allies in cow protection  and we just like to chat with them.

Usually the get togethers are quite small ...maybe 20 people show up but not this time....around 1000 people attended!

This pic is of the main temple room and all day long the monks and nuns gave tours to explain the meaning of the Buddha deities on the massive altar...the sacred bells..the stupas and books.

The monks also crafted these incredible dioramas of some of the Buddhas pastimes. These we were told were made from butter!

Their Guru.

The goddess of learning ...The Buddha...the goddess of compassion.

We were given a tour of the monks quarters. The rooms were very simple and quite austere. Films were shown of all the projects in the area and abroad. Everyone was fed very well!

We spent the afternoon and had a wonderful time. When it was time to go a shuttle bus brought us back to our car but not before my husband  filled his pockets with cookies!

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Yrs.Lal

New Cows!

Dear Readers;

I haven't written for awhile and I have so much to share.

While I was gone to Winnipeg to help celebrate my Mothers' 90th birthday,

My mom and her friend.

Gaura Nitai and Rama rescued our new cow Tulsi and her daughter 3 month old Manjari.

Tulsi was near death....starving...dehydrated with serious infections called hoof rot on her two back hooves. She was in such a weakened state that she could only lean against the barn wall. Gaura Nitai thought that they would only take the calf because he did not think that he could get the mom into the horse trailer. Even if he did manage to somehow drag her in...she would probably die on the way home.

 My husband is very loving and good at talking to animals...so he explained to her that she would need to gather all of her strength and drag herself onto the trailer. If...big if....she could do that..then he would do everything in his power to help her regain her health.

Well ...darned if she didn't do just that! Yay!!!!

We change her hoof dressings every second day and she is doing just fine! She eats and eats to her  hearts content! Here is a pic.

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Tulsi with her Kinky Red Boots!

Baby Manjari

Survival...or Not...

Dear Readers;

This past winter with our 17 feet of snowfall and multiple blizzards has been to say the least extremely trying...physically...mentally...emotionally and spiritually.

Chapter 2. Contents of the Gita Summarized

TEXT 14

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino 'nityas
tams titiksasva bharata

TRANSLATION

O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.............(I recite this verse to myself when ever I'm feeling like....."What the h...e...double hockey sticks!")

 

It felt like the survival of the fittest..or not....

In order to clean the barn each morning we had to physically push each cow out of the door. I didn't blame them at all for not wanting to go out ,but, go out they must, in order for us to make sure that their beds are all clean and fluffed up.

Fortunately the weather is warming up and we are feeling hopeful that spring is finally on it's way.

I was so tired that I began to think, "I can't do this anymore. This isn't simple living...it's just barely surviving!"

Fortunately cows are so wonderful that even if those thoughts did come up.....I just had to walk into the barn and all negativity was instantly forgotten:)

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Meditation and The Dentist

Dear Readers;

I've been meditating and chanting the Maha Mantra ...Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare....  for the past forty years but would I be able to mentally chant when I was sitting on the dentists chair..... feeling terrified?

Photo from Pintrest.

I broke my back upper molar to bits a little while back. I knew that I had to visit the dentist but I stalled...... forever!   I knew that the tooth would probably have to come out.....I just knew it.

My regular dentist wasn't available so a newer man/boy dentist took her place. I said that I thought  the tooth was a goner.... RIP... molar . He said that it was better to try and repair ... then if that didn't work out  he would pull it.

Long story short....it didn't work and he couldn't pull it out.

He immediately sent me to the surgeon. While I was waiting I saw the  x rays of my teeth. The roots of the molar were a little bit bent around my wisdom tooth.

I heard the surgeon talking with his assistant and they said that they would have to remove two teeth! I quickly chimed in," No..no just one is good." He said ..."Your dentist said another would have to be removed to extract the broken one." Me..."No that would be a misprint....he said that he would repair the other one so you just need to pull the seriously broken one."

He did not make the call to confirm what I said...thankfully. Hairdressers can get scissor happy and dental surgeons may get a little ...."Pull them little suckers out happy."

I received another three shots of Novacaine....putting me up to seven in the past few hours.( My husband told me..."It's cocaine...call it what they like...it's still cocaine."

They left me alone until the freezing could take effect.

My thought pattern was...OH MY GOD!!!.....I'M GOING TO END UP LIKE THAT GUY......HALF MY FACE PARALYZED.....THIS IS MY MONEY MAKER! I MAY NOT BE BEAUTIFUL OR EVEN PHOTOGENIC BUT IT'S ALL I'VE GOT.....AHHHHHHH!!!! I CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY BECAUSE I CAN'T EAT. .......I KNOW I HAVE TO DO THIS.....IT'S GOING TO HURT.....I'VE NEVER HAD A TOOTH PULLED....IT'S GOING TO HURT...WHY GOD WHY? WHY ME???? WAHHHHHH!

Photo from Pintrest.

On the outside.....I just appeared like a very relaxed, mature, pleasant women.

....now...I'm thinking..."Pull yourself together! Have you not been chanting and meditating and trying to control your senses...like ...FOREVER?....errrr...yes?.....ok then....what did you do when the airplane went nuts?......I went into a deep meditation.......right....do that now!"

I took one deep belly breath...held it...let it out slowly. I did this three times....then I chanted and meditated on  Krsna and told him how scared I was feeling. Then I "saw" in my mind the roots of my tooth straightening out.

The surgeon and his assistant returned to find a peaceful,  slightly lopsided smiling women. He took his pliers and crack...crack...yank....ha!...it's out!

I realized that ...why yes, you can meditate anywhere...at the dentists or the surgeons and it can take just minutes...even seconds to dive deeply into a very happy place.

Until next time.
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Clothing or Fashion?

Dear Readers;

I have often  posed the question to myself, "As a spiritualist...are clothes important to me?"

Yes!!! That would be a resounding yes!

Every morning when I get up I have to decide what to wear according to the weather...according to my daily activities.

Now that I am older I've decided to forget about fashion and wear what ever suits my mood and small requirements.

 I like to see but not be seen.

 I don't like to be the center of attention....I find that embarrassing.

 I love black.

I found that this Japanese designer, Yohji Yamamoto, to be pretty cool. I like his style...simple.

He says things like..."Let me talk like an old man. Young people, be careful. Beautiful things are disappearing every day. Be careful.…You don’t need to be [shopping at fast-fashion stores], especially young people. They are beautiful naturally, because they are young. So they should even wear simple jeans and a T-shirt. It’s enough. Don’t be too much fashionable.…The brand advertising is making you crazy. You don’t need to be too sexy. You are sexy enough." yohji yamamoto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ovpSDZRAlw

I won't purchase his clothing because I buy most of what I need at the local thrift stores but I am inspired by his view point.

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Bent Not Broken In 2015

Dear Readers;

Happy New Year 2015!! May all your wishes both material and spiritual come true.

Wowee! Can you believe just how quickly 2014 came and poof!....it's gone?

 I almost feel as though I've reached the summit of a hill and now I'm rolling down faster and faster. My only consolation is that we are all in this together! Sometimes I think....I can't believe that I'm 56 years old! I've been living in this body for 56 Winters....56 Summers....56 Sping times...and my all time favorite time of year 56 Autumns!!! Perhaps I like the Autumn season the best because I am in the Autumn season of my life.

I'm not thrilled with the aging process...the skin getting a little loose...especially under the chin and underarms. Yet...forget the body for a moment and I feel for the first time in my life that I like myself. This past year I've made so much peace with myself. I used to think that I was weird because I didn't want to be surrounded by stuff. As a creative person I felt that I should want to be surrounded by colour...by odd things...by people.....I should want to travel to find inspiration....that I should be happy all of the time...that I should let go of my past....

The French have a saying,"Tu a le droit!" ....You have the right!

This year I've given myself the right to acknowledge  that I had a shitty childhood. That having being ripped away from my family and culture as a four year old and placed into an physically and sexually abusive home was devastating.

Running away from the pain is exhausting!

Now I say, " I had the right to feel the terrible pain of loneliness,betrayal and gut wrenching fear!"

....but......now....I'm OK.........I survived......dented perhaps....bent but not broken......

I'm wabi-sabi......imperfect....impermanent and unfinished....

I'm looking forward to a great year of discovering new realizations, new friends and new adventures.

I hope that you also can find a little more peace and happiness in this New Year of 2015.

Until next time,
Hare Krsna,
Lal