Happy Chanukah

Sweet potato latkes. Even gonna try to make sufganiyot. Very ambitious intents this morning. Coming up on the 3rd night of Channukah. Having a little family party. Wish me luck!

HAPPY HOLY DAYS EVERY ONE! Whatever you hold sacred this time of year may your heart's soul be filled with healing light.

Ki - the energy of Life

Ki is the Japanese term for Life energy.

There are seven energies on the physical plane with ReiKi being the highest of the seven energies which in turn connects with divine energy otherwise known as ShinKi.

Kekki - the KI of blood - provides fundamental strength. It is the most powerful and most basic of the seven energies, and the least structured.*(*Reiki: the true story by Don Beckett)

It is a known fact that the strength of a person's blood is what gives them the foundation to approach their life with a certain amount of vigor and consistency. If the blood is poor the person can suffer from fatigue and all sorts of ailments such as iron anemia. If there is not enough oxygen in the blood or not enough red blood cell production the foundation of a person's energy is affected.

Good strong Kekki , the ki of blood is very important. Kekki is indeed the essence of who we are physically speaking.

Keep your kekki strong and flowing.

Dharma Mandala

In last night's Lay Ministers class are assignment was to create a mandala that included our favorite sayings and capping/code phrases from previous classes.

I decided to use anything that came to me. So I started with the space in the center which represented my pure soul of being. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche refers to it as the wisdom body of all the buddhas.

From there I led outward in the lotus with the Eightfold path. Straight from there are four sayings of Rev. Koyo sensei and my dear mother that have helped me on my journey. Be thankful. Let go. Keep going. In oneness.

Intermingled throughout those four I placed the Bodhisattvas  vowa. I dreamt a writing out the full dharma vows from my TiSarana ceremony but the paper was too small or I was too lazy so it was Boddhisattvas vows instead as for me the represent the entire vow.

Outward from there I remind myself to say Y.E.S to (your) everyday spirituality. And spirituality is everyday because as Rev. Gyomay Kubose sensei said "The teachings are everywhere, all around us if only we open the mind's eye to see...."

I really enjoyed the assignment and look forward to creating more word mandalas.

Other's in class also presented some really nice mandalas as well.

I have attached mine.

Enjoy.

Grace and peace in oneness...

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.