Catching up on writing, creativity, Buddhism and life in general

Well hasn’t it been an interesting time over the past two or three years! 

It feels like a period of time has been lost, because of the pandemic – and yet it has also been a very busy time. There have been some quite radical changes in our life through this period, which is probably true for many people. In this post—my first since 2020—I offer a sketch of these changes.

My husband, Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin, retired from full-time employment in May 2019. It is quite an adjustment to move from being at home alone all day, five days a week, to almost never being at home alone. The transition has been gradual and creative and we are both enjoying having so much time together.

Because of the pandemic, physical attendance at Aro Ling Cardiff had to cease. We changed our weekly meditation group to a virtual meeting on Zoom. This has been most successful. For two years we included a short teaching as part of the meeting and these have been posted to YouTube. No longer needing premises for Aro Ling Cardiff created the unexpected benefit of being able to offer this space to our son to live when life became difficult for him during the pandemic. 

Battlecry of Freedom—my book about Mind Training (bLo sByong – Lojong—was published in 2019, and has been well received. It is published as a paperback and an e-book at Lulu, and available in all the usual channels, such as Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and so on. I also created slogan cards, which can be purchased at makeplayingcards.com.

My next book, Travelling at the Speed of Mind, will hopefully be published by the end of the year.

 

 

 

As ever, I have continued with craft work, making items for myself, the home, and also for our grandchildren. The pictures are of the blankets I made for them last Christmas.

I have bought a knitting machine and a peg loom, and recently learned a new technique: fingerloop braiding. I’ll leave that for another post.

I did not continue with the Art Journalling for several years, having rather lost my inspiration. I also stopped tangling. However I have recently revived this interest and am enjoying drawing again.

 

Another new venture is the creation of my store at RedBubble. I’m not expecting to earn anything from it, but it is such fun to see my artwork on all sorts of items, such as mugs, T-shirts, scarves, bags, and so on. They will make nice presents if nothing else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll stop here because this is getting quite long. I hope you have safely come through the pandemic and any other crises – such as Brexit in the UK. To finish, here are the details of our weekly meditation group which will start again on September 12th, marking the end of our summer break.

Monday Meditations.
7 - 8:30 pm on Zoom (UK time) every Monday.
Zoom meeting ID: 85249620913; Passcode: 640389.
Do join us for silent sitting and yogic song, with a short teaching in the middle.

The meetings are hosted by Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin, an ordained teaching couple of the Aro gTér Lineage. They dedicate their time to practice, teaching, the Aro gTér Lineage, and working with their students. Ngakma Nor’dzin is an award winning author. Her books are: Spacious Passion, Relaxing into Meditation, Battlecry of Freedom, and Illusory Advice (co-authored with Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin).

Interfaith Fire Ceremony for Buddha Day at Aro Ling Cardiff

At Aro Ling we were delighted to be part of a series of events being organised by different faith communities in association with the Interfaith Council of Wales. We hosted an Interfaith Fire Ceremony to celebrate Buddha Day. It was a joyful occasion. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event, and everyone enjoyed taking part in the celebration.

First I gave a short talk on the significance of Buddha Day for Buddhists, and the format of the ceremony itself.

The fire was created over a mandala, and oil was poured onto it as an offering throughout the ceremony.

A thread-cross was burned at the end of the ceremony. The woven threads symbolise the elements earth, water, fire, air, and space, using the colours yellow, white, red, green, and blue. The elements represent physical and psychological qualities. The threads are woven to decrease distortion of the elements, and to increase the enlightened qualities.

After the ceremony, while the fire was still lively, those attending were invited to place messages in the fire. The symbolism of burning messages is to let go of something unhelpful, such as a grudge or an irritation, and to effectuate something helpful, such as a good wish for someone, or a personal aspiration.

Teaching and walking; sunshine, woodland, and anemones

The spring weather has been so glorious that we decided we had to get out into the countryside for a walk over the weekend, even though we were busy. On the Saturday we taught at Aro Ling Cardiff. This went well and we also had a few for the morning practice session on Sunday. Then the rest of the day was free.

Sunday was also ’ö-Dzin’s birthday. The sun was shining, the birds singing, and our hearts were joyful. We did not want to spend hours in a car, so we explored the area east of Caerphilly, not far from home. We had hoped to find a Ridgeway walk, but didn’t quite succeed in this. Next time.

We had lunch at the Hollybush in Draethen – a lovely meal. Then we drove back to Llwyn Hir woodland and walked for a couple of hours. It was delightful to be warm enough without a coat. The woodland anemones were shining in the undergrowth, blooming boldly before the trees are in leaf. It took a while to find a high enough and open enough space to sit and practice sem-dzin, but eventually we did. We were surprised to be able to see the Severn Bridge in the far distance.

We are going on pilgrimage to Bhutan in October and will need to be fit for walking, so this was useful exercise in preparation. It is good to find inspiring walks near to home.

Catching up - the life and times of Nor'dzin, February to September

Life’s been busy since January . . . here’s a whistlestop summary:

• February: winter retreat with our students, in our home ─ Losar celebrations in Penarth, where we danced a Tibetan folk dance, and ate Tibetan recipe food ─ Ying’khor teachings with Lama Bar-ché
• March: St David’s Day Service ─ started receiving acupuncture and Chinese medicine ─ taught about Living, Dreaming and Dying in Bristol
• April: taught The Five Principles of Awareness in Cardiff, looking at the precepts ─ started work on turning our garage into a meditation room ─ went to see a Gothic ballet, Sleeping Beauty, which was fantastic

• May: had a wonderful weekend in Cornwall with a few Dharma friends ─ my birthday (61!!!) ─ decided £600 was too much to pay to rescue a tooth, and had it removed ─ taught sKu-mNyé in Hamburg, Germany ─ gave notice for the Aro Ling Cardiff venue in Whitchurch village

• June: a wonderful garden party to celebrate my Teacher’s birthday ─ attended the opening of the Vth Welsh Assembly ─ opened our new meditation room as the new Aro Ling Cardiff ─ had a tooth abscess, the most painful experience imaginable, and lost another tooth

• July: summer retreat with our students in a field in Shropshire ─ new tent, a Lotus Belle, which is the best tent ever and will see us out ─ created a Georgian outfit for myself and for ’ö-Dzin
• August: our son, Daniel, finally completed on selling his flat, and moved in with us for a while ─ a week’s retreat with our Teachers and sangha ─ danced Georgian dances in our Georgian costumes at the Natural Dignity banquet ─ lost my hearing aid
• September: two glorious weeks in Pembrokeshire, staying in an apartment located on North Beach, Tenby ─ acquired a new hearing aid

So I could have─and possibly should have─blogged about all of this. Sadly I did not . . . so I am just going to move on into October in my next post. Another thing that I have started again this month is art journalling, which had also been neglected since March. Illustrated above are my art journal pages for April, May and June. This is as far as I have caught up so far. 

Non-Conformist Christians meet with Buddhists

Aro Ling Buddhist Centre in Cardiff was proud to welcome a group of twelve non-conformist Christians on March 12th. The meeting came about because I sat next to their minister at the Muslim Council of Wales dinner. We chatted and he expressed a wish to visit the centre and hear about Buddhism.

It was a delightful evening. They asked myself and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin splendid questions, and we had a lively and interesting dialogue. Eglwys Minny Street and Aro Ling Buddhist Centre intend to continue their connection, and hopefully we will be able to visit their chapel soon.

Mae cynulleidfa o Eglwys Minny Street siarad Cymraeg. Do ni ddim yn gallu siarad â nhw am Fwdïaeth yn Gymraeg anffodus, ond ohonom ni’n gallu eu croesawu yn Gymraeg.

The congregation of Minny Street Church speak Welsh. We were not able to talk to them about Buddhism in Welsh unfortunately, but we were able to welcome them in Welsh.

According to Wikipedia, non-conformist Christians are Protestants who would not conform to the Act of Unity in 1662. Non-conformity is a strong movement in Wales and may include Presbyterians, Congregationalist, Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, Quakers, Plymouth Brethren, English Morovians and The Salvation Army.

Living, Dreaming, Dying - a successful event.

I declare our first weekend retreat at Aro Ling Cardiff a great success. We had a good group of people for all 5 sessions. They asked great questions and enjoyed the topic of Living, Dreaming, Dying.

We decided to try weekend events this year rather than running evening classes. It looks as though it will be a popular change. As well as local people, three people from Bristol attended and one from Cornwall. We had hoped that changing to weekend events would attract people from farther afield, and clearly this is the case.

There will not be a weekend event in Cardiff in February because we are teaching at our sister centre in Bristol, but we will certainly be planning one for March.

Weekend retreat at Aro Ling Cardiff Buddhist Centre

Happy New Year! 

We have had a good first week back at Aro Ling Cardiff with attendees for most of the sessions. I am looking forward to our first weekend event next week. It is good to have a few complete weekends free again, rather than teaching every Saturday, and—as was hoped—people are travelling from a distance to attend Living, Dreaming, Dying. This will increase the range of possibilities for Aro Ling Cardiff Buddhist Centre.

Below are the details of the weekend event, 16 - 18 January. Hope you can make it!

Living, Dreaming, Dying

– a weekend retreat: January 16 – 18, 2015

£6 a session or £25 for the whole weekend – attend any or all sessions

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Session 1:  Friday January 16th  19:00 – 20:30
Dream Yoga – learn the practice of dream yoga and how to make sleep-time useful

Session 2:  Saturday January 17th  10:00 – 12:00Living and Dying Every Day – death and impermanence as the natural ebb and flow of existence

Session 3:  Saturday January 17th  14:00 – 16:00
Changing Mind Moments – the realms of existence through which we move because of our emotional responses

Session 4:  Saturday January 17th  18:00 – 20:00
Tantric Empowerment – transmission of the practice of Yeshé Tsogyel, the female tantric Buddha

Session 5:  Sunday January 18th  10:00 – 12:00
Death & Birth of Each Moment – discovering the continuity of discontinuity through the nine bardos of the Aro Lineage

Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin will lead this weekend of teachings. They will explore how we can we live with honour and integrity, ensuring that we are always existing as open-hearted human beings, rather than falling into other less human states of mind. Learn the practice of dream yoga and discover how dream consciousness differs from waking consciousness, and how can we make this time valuable rather than a period of unconsciousness. Discover living and dying, permanence and impermanence, as a natural and continual flow throughout our lives, rather than fearing death as a single future definitive event.

On Saturday evening, Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin will give empowerment into the practice of Yeshé Tsogyel. She is the female tantric Buddha from whom the Aro gTér Lineage originates.

Stall, events and appreciation - Aro Ling Buddhist Centre and being an author

Gosh this week has been busy! We had our usual weekly events at Aro Ling Cardiff Tibetan Buddhist Centre, and then on Sunday had a stall in Whitchurch Village. The event was the illuminating of the Christmas lights in the village. A great number of people came along to the event, and we gave out quite a few leaflets and had nice chats with a number of visitors to the stall.

This was followed on Monday with a journey up to Birmingham with my son to visit my 99 year old aunt. We took her out for lunch and then a walk round the park which she thoroughly enjoyed.

There have also been several trips to the vet for our younger cat, Spots. I say younger, but even she is an old lady now. She has one pupil fully delayed in her right eye that does not return to normal. Poor thing.

To finish the week on a delightful note, I received some very nice feedback on my first book Spacious Passion from a lady via Facebook. She has posted a review on Amazon. I am hoping that there will be two new books published in 2015.

Extra cushions at Aro Ling Cardiff Buddhist Centre

We have had good attendance for the meditation group recently and also for the current course Wearing the Body of Visions. We decided we needed to take in a few extra cushions, so our shrine room at home is now missing these for round cushions.

Thank you to all the people who came to classes last week. The donations and course fees received for that week meant that, for the first time, Aro Ling Cardiff paid it's own rent.

Tomorrow, 13th November, we have our first visual presentation using our new, recently-acquired projector. We've had three practice runs so we think we have it sussed.

Happy First Birthday Aro Ling Cardiff

It started as an office space with plain magnolia walls.

Aro Ling Cardiff is one year old. We formally opened the door to our little centre on September 28th 2013. It has been a good year. We have met a lot of new people and introduced them to Vajrayana Buddhism.

The room was painted in shrine colours.

The autumn programme is up and running, and we have added a couple of extra scheduled events.

'ö-Dzin and I teaching at Aro Ling Cardiff.

***** Happy First Birthday Aro Ling Cardiff!!*****

Monday	closed
Tuesday	19:00–20:30	Meditation Group – open group, all welcome
Wednesday	14:00–15:00	Tibetan Yoga – through these movements Mind finds itself in its own free space
Wednesday	15:45–16:15	Children’s Story-time – stories from Buddhist Traditions
Wednesday	17:30–18:30	Tibetan Yoga – through these movements Mind finds itself in its own free space
Thursday	19:00–20:30	Courses on Vajrayana Buddhism – for details please phone, pick up a leaflet, or visit aro-ling.org/cardiff
Friday	10:30–11:30	Tibetan Yoga – through these movements Mind finds itself in its own free space
Friday	12:00–13:00	Guided Meditation – enjoy a delightfully different lunchtime break
Saturday	10:00–12:00	1st Saturday of the month: Meditation – discover the spaciousness of Mind, & learn how to start or establish a regular practice
Saturday	10:00–12:00	Other Saturdays – courses & events – please phone, pick up a leaflet, or visit aro-ling.org/cardiff for details
Sunday	closed (unless we are running a weekend event)

A day in the life of a Ngakma

An amulet similar in style to the one I made yesterday

Yesterday I had a very Ngakma-type day. It was wonderful feeling that I was being really useful to my community and tradition.

In the morning I taught sKu-mNyé at Aro Ling Cardiff. We have only just started offering these sessions at the centre and it was most encouraging to have people turn up for one yesterday. Aro Ling Cardiff is a single, small room, so I have limited the group to six. In reality, only four people could lie in the meditation posture. But yesterday two people came to the class and there was plenty of room for me to demonstrate and for them to practice. They enjoyed it and said that they will come again. I find most people like sKu-mNyé. It contains interesting exercises that produce both relaxation and enlivenment.

After the class I made an amulet for someone who needs help at the moment. This took about two hours, so that was two hours of mantra and practice. I then visited the person in hospital. The amulet was in the style of a namkha and quite small so that they could wear it round their neck if they wished (which they did).

The covers of the three songbooks.

In the evening I worked on the text and covers of the Aro Lineage songbooks. There were a few corrections and updates that needed to be made. We have three songbooks. The first is a public songbook that includes our regular practices of yogic song and Long Life Wish-paths. These are the practices that you will find if you visit an Aro Lineage centre or attend any Aro Lineage retreat. Then there is the tsog’khorlo (dana puja) songbook for the practice of sharing food, and embracing harmony and friendship with everyone and everything everywhere. These two books are available for anyone to buy at Lulu.com. The third songbook is for Aro Sangha members only and contains all the practices of the other two, plus a few more sangha practices.

Meditation Group

It was quite a balmy on Tuesday evening for our meditation group. Consequently we had to open the windows. It was interesting meditating to the accompaniment of the aroma from the chip shop next door and the sounds of nearby pubs and restaurants. No one was unduly distracted however, and enjoyed a focused and inspiring session.

Insurance and advertising

There are two things in which I have never had much faith: insurance and advertising.  This year however my lack of faith has been challenged.

I have always been inclined to think that insurance is a waste of money – the money is paid out every month with no apparent benefit.  It feels a little like setting fire to bank notes.  The money just disappears.  This year we have been so glad for our insurance policies however, as we have had to call on three of them.  We claimed on our house insurance after the fire in February.  In July we claimed on our pet insurance because of Spots’s operation.  Finally in September we had a slight bump in our vehicle and decided that the repair was expensive enough to risk a partial loss of our no claims bonus.  So there we are.  Insurance policies saved us several thousand pounds this year.

It is still probably true that we have spent far more than we have ever claimed – or will ever claim.  The only way around it would be to have invested that monthly amount of money for the same period of time - but who manages to do that?  Whilst, for example, the cats’ insurance has cost us a fee every month for more than thirteen years, we could not have known that we would never need to draw on it until they were both so advanced in years.  When all’s said and done I have to let go of my negative view of insurance.

In September we opened Aro Ling Cardiff.  The initial advertising was achieved by distributing printed leaflets all around Cardiff.  This was a lot of work for quite a few people, but was pretty successful.  A reasonable number of people attended the open day itself, and we had sufficient interest to run our first courses.  By November however, the affect of this advertising appeared to have waned and we had to decide what to do next.  We decided to try an advert in a local free magazine this time.  The cost was about the same as having leaflets printed and the distribution was part of that cost.  We would not have to take the magazine around places ourselves.

To my surprise the advert for our meditation group that we placed in The Local Advertiser has produced a lot of interest.  We have had a lot of phone call enquiries and people attending events since the advert appeared.  So advertising has proved itself as well, and well done to The Local Advertiser!

Natural Heroism

We have a special event at Aro Ling Cardiff this Friday.  Naljorpa Bar-ché from Helsinki is visiting Wales for a few days and has kindly offered to come over to Whitchurch for an evening to give a talk.  Aro Ling is small and can accommodate only small groups, so booking is advised - and this event is filling up fast.

Natural Heroism

an evening talk with Naljorpa Bar-ché Dorje

Friday 11th October

7 – 9 pm £8

Natural Heroism is a cycle of teachings which expounds spiritual warriorship in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. Naljorpa Bar-ché is one of only two teachers authorised to present these teachings at this time.

“We influence everyone we encounter – even if we do not speak. Our feelings and thoughts are part of our communicative display and thus resonate with the entire situation. Being a practitioner is: having the courage to face yourself at all times; exploring the open space of the unknown with eyes wide open; allowing fear to be an ornament of the journey into vastness; not compromising; being strong in view and promise; forgetting yourself and whatever defines you; and, being beneficial to everyone, everything, and everywhere. Being a Buddhist is cultivating warrior mind.”
Naljorpa Bar-ché Ying-rig Dorje

Where is Aro Ling Cardiff?

Aro Ling Cardiff opened successfully on September 28th.  It was a delightful day with a good number of visitors.  Thank you to everyone who came.  We have now been open for a full week and it has been most enjoyable.  People have attended all our different type of events - drop-in meditation, evening classes and therapy sessions.

We now have a meetup for aro ling cardiff - www.meetup.com/aro-ling-cardiff.  Please do sign up to find out about all our events.

Our ‘front door’ is in fact the back door of Chambers Estate Agents.  This means that it is not immediately obvious that we exist to a visitor to the main shopping area of Whitchurch village.  Soon I will have an A-board at the front which will advertise our existence and indicate how to get to us from there.  I have also been working on some maps and images to use in general advertising to help people recognise and find us.

How to find aro ling from Merthyr Road in Whitchurch village.

Access to aro ling  from the car park in Whitchurch village.

How to find aro ling from the major roads around Whitchurch village.

A stylised drawing of aro ling.

 

Blessed

At last the painting and preparation is finished and Aro Ling Cardiff is ready to be presented to the world.  Today Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Lineage Holder, came to the centre and performed a blessing ceremony.  We are now well and truly ready to offer Vajrayana meditation practice and teaching in north Cardiff. 

Our opening day is on Saturday (28th) from 10 till 4.  If you are in Cardiff, please do call in and find out about our drop in sessions, classes and the therapy we offer - and see our beautiful meditation room.

Yellow and red

Preparation of the room which is being transformed into Aro Ling Cardiff is moving on at a good pace.  Today I completed all the first coat of yellow, and of red on one side of the room.  With luck, I might finish the yellow and red tomorrow.  Then it is just the orange and green stripe.  After that I will give the carpet a clean and start moving in furniture.

The third coat of blue did the trick.

First Buddhist item in the room - an amulet I made on retreat to encourage the venture to manifest

Makeshift signs in the windows to start to let people know about Aro Ling.

Today's achievement (pale blue lines are masking tape)

A small room with big ideas

There is a small room in Whitchurch village that has big ideas!  It will gradually transform into Aro Ling Cardiff over the next week or so.  On Saturday we signed the papers, on Sunday we started painting the ceiling and this evening we drew out the horizontal line to mark the section of the wall that will be yellow.  As is usual in our tradition, the room is being painted in the colours of a Nyingma gompa – a colour scheme handed down from Düd’jom Rinpoche’s artist and thangka painter, Ögyen Tobgyal.  It will be an interesting room because the ceiling is vaulted and high with three sky lights, while the walls start relatively low down.  Hence there will be quite a lot of blue in this room.  The blue will be darker than it looks in this photograph.  The schedule for the new centre, which will open officially on 28th September, is on the ‘aro ling’ page of this blog.

aro ling cardiff

At last I can reveal the project that has been brewing since May.  I am about to open Aro Ling Cardiff - a baby sister to Aro Ling Bristol.

It has taken longer than I expected to get to this point and this is because the premises I originally hoped to take up had to be abandoned in the end.  The premises I am taking is much smaller and offers less scope but it in a perfect location and preferable in many ways.  During September we will sort out the details and get the room set up, and our launch will be

aro ling
opening day

Saturday 28th September

The centre will be located in a room above Chambers Estate Agents in the heart of Whitchurch village.  We will be offering drop in meditation and relaxation sessions, Buddhist courses and therapy.  Courses will start on October 1st, and there will be four short courses in the forthcoming autumn term.  Please see the static page ‘aro ling’ at the top of the blog for details.

It is a busy an exciting time and I’m looking forward to it all getting going.

soon-to-be aro ling

Aro Ling book sale

We are always trying to think of ways to raise money to support our Buddhist centre, Aro Ling.  It is wholly run and funded by volunteers and donations.

Recently we held a second hand book sale and also offered chai and chapatis.  There were also DVDs and and CDs for sale - and videos, but no one wants videos any more.

We probably bought more books and DVDs than we donated, but they are good items and we are happy to help.

The day was most successful and raised a reasonable amount of money.