Grateful

Feeling especially grateful thankful for the path my life has taken.

Through the joy and the pain I see it as all good....as in ok...ok-ness as my Sensei says.

All that I have walked through, ran through and cried through makes me Me.

And I do love ME (and it aint all pretty).

Here is to wishing YOU a beautiful end of the year holy days celebration. Love You. Good day.

Dharma insights in Ti Sarana

Recently I had my Ti Sarana ceremony. It was a wonderful ceremony in which I formalized my commitment to the path of Dharma.

It was a beautiful and meaningful ceremony in which I took Vows on the Dharma path. I look at the vows I accepted such as: to be truthful, to honor, to have respect and to continue to grow and increase my knowledge regarding the teachers of Guatama Buddha and dharma. This also includes holding self and others with compassion.

The ceremony took place over the telephone as I am located in Pennsylvania and Rev. Koyo and Adrienne san are in California. It was important for me to have a witness during the ceremony. My eldest children were at school during this time and only my 16 month old son would be with me and I also wanted my mother to be my witness.

Since my mother lives in Georgia I decided to call her first and then conference Rev. Koyo and Adrienne san into the call. I told my mother to have herself on mute so that airplanes over head or dogs bark could not be heard. About twenty minutes into the call I realized that the line on my mother’s end was disconnected. My first thought was that something went wrong with her line. But then I realized that was unlikely and I thought perhaps she became impatient and left the line as she needed to do something for my brother.

I felt she wasn’t there for me. All of these thoughts came within seconds and my next thought was to stop what I was doing. Stop assuming and just hope the best. Her line was inadvertently cut off.

I knew that I was also making vows to see the best in every person, situation and myself. Therefore I must direct myself to positive thoughts or better yet NO THOUGHTS.

I realized that I could assume and assume the worse and that would be unkind in two fold. I was unfairly assuming my mother let me down and I was not giving proper respect to the ceremony happening in front of me. I was disrespecting the time and consideration that Rev. Koyo Kubose and Adrienne san were giving to me and the moment.

Eventually I was in touch with my mother and she said she waited on the line for 20 minutes and heard nothing and she eventually hung up. I was so upset with myself for forgetting the simple act of transferring her being on hold into the conference call. It was my undoing. I apologized to my mother. I made such a big deal of her being there. I was very upset with myself. My mom was fine she just laughed and said I owed her $200 for her twenty minutes of time!

I was able to let go of being upset with my mom for leaving the call. I knew I had to not make assumptions and simply assume she left. It was important for me to be mindful and present. Then later it was important for me to forgive myself for leaving my mother out of the ceremony. I apologized profusely.

Dharma Glimpse: Never assume anything. Hold self and others in compassion. Learn to let go when life does not show up the way you want it to.

Happy December Everyone!

Life has been very busy for me lately however I am slowly catching up.

I am currently working on setting up an Etsy store and that should probably be ready in the next couple of weeks.

You may visit my CafePress shop for various items imprinted with my Hamsa artwork.

TheHamsaShop on CafePress

My favorite item to purchase is the greeting cards.

I do have another CafePress Shop that has only a couple of items but nice nonetheless. New artwork will be forthcoming.

DharmaMandala on CafePress

Other things going on in my life I am currently studying in a two year non-residential Lay Minister program via the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and I absolutely LOVE the program.

As I journey through my Dharma path and my studies with Bright Dawn I will share my thoughts via my blog titled OnenessDharma

The path of Dharma has been an enormous blessing in my life as has my Sensei Rev. Koyo Kubose and his lovely wife Adrienne san. Thank you.

Life is a beautiful journey of ups and downs like the ebb and flow of the vast ocean.

I seek to remain open to all that Life has to teach me and I seek to contemplate and understand the Oneness of Life in all of its multitudinous facets.

Oneness in Joy, Grace and Peace

__//\\__ Tamu Hoyo Ngina

(c) Tamu Ngina, All Rights Reserved.

Happy Bodhi Day!!

Happy Bodhi Day! Celebrate awakening to who you really are. Today is celebrated as the day that Guatama Buddha....became a Buddha...an Awakened or Enlightened one. May we all be blessed with finding the Buddha within!

Today is also a special day for me as I had my Ti Sarana ceremony. It was a ceremony for me to make a formal commitment to the Buddhist path or as I see it the path of Dharma.

I thank my sensei Rev. Koyo Kubose and his lovely wife Adrienne san for officiating and participating in this ceremony with me today.

Currently I am participating in a two year non-residential lay minister program with the Bright Dawn Institute of Oneness Buddhism. This program has proven to be an invaluable tool for my personal healing and spiritual growth.

I was given the Dharma name Hoyo which I am told means "fragrant sun".

I give thanks to my ancestors to bring me to this day.

In Joy and Oneness