Ian's birthday Yum Cha.

Happy birthday sweetie. I've loved sharing the creative highway, opening our hearts to love and laughing beyond tears. Kiss kiss. Kk



Ian's birthday nestles into the fun of summer and December celebrations. A group of friends gathered to feast on yum cha at the Dragon Boat Palace in Lonsdale street. $16.80 for all you can eat. My stomach bleats.



At Yum Cha we spoke with our hands, so we could eat with our mouths.

A Phelan Christmas.

Good cheer, excitment and glad hearted family memory making were the sentiments whiffing through the Phelan family Christmas celebrations. The Phelan clan of six sisters Maree, Geraldine, Louise, Clare, Frances, Paulette, one brother Philip, two sisters in law Hannah, Karen and one cherished baby Greta gathered in a rambling house in Daylesford.(Oh, and Poppy the dog. Woof)

The house was full of spiritual images, books and engery. Some of the buddha statues joined in with the festive goodwill of kindness.






Dear little Greta, who took her pleasure from the wrapping, the box, play and eating.






The kitchen bustled most of day. A tip of my hat to Louise, Geraldine and Clare for the delicious gourmet treats and for allowing me to capture sisters in domestic action.



Phil challenged all comers to boulle. The playing field was a backyard rut filled course. Well done mate. Next time, my oval at noon.




Seriously, Phil how much quiet do you need.



Lunch. Unable to resist this traditonal feast, we give thanks.








Thanks from the bottom of my tummy for a wonderful lunch and great company. Greta's innocent delight, Phil's boulle inspiration, Poppy's enthusing for umpiring. For the heavens raining down on us. Hannah,like call me on your new mobile.

5 days before Christmas. VLA librarians dine with French cuisine.

A dinner event to celebrate the end of 2006, saw our crack library team from Victoria Legal Aid, with special guest Louise Segafredo, nosh down at North Melbourne's Court House Hotel. Refined French cuisine as fabulous as Balzere in Lygon Street, less of the peasant rustic, more elegant tonality to the menu's food palette.With our tastebuds caressed and tossed with exitable selections of veal, fish and fowl, and softly set adrift with mineral water and dry wine, yum. In the tradition of merry making we shared our stories and open our hearts. Soula's playful feminised role of Santa Claus added another level of bedazzling sparkle to the night. Dessert was sublime with sensual floating lullabys of sweetness.

Melbourne coffee # 2. Julie at Eat Drink Bento

Wednesday the Eocv was amess of wheelie bins, frantic relocating of staff and wasted papers and long forgotten resources. Julie (pictured in office tinsel) and I ducked out for a coffee break, heading straight to Hardware lane. Eva and the Eat Drink Bento crew have mastered the art of hospitality. Stylish and smooth, some of the best coffee in town. We enjoyed a freshly baked mixed berry muffin. Their elegant and robust attention to the customer's experience is superb. This is a mature funky cool coffee haunt. Oh, they do great breakfast, lunch and dinners...the chef is happy to wander way from the menu to create a spur of moment dish to please.

Melbourne coffee # 1.Darren at GPO

Christmas catch up.

Elizabeth street is the location of this wonderful verandahed respite for coffee seekers. Great for a catch up with friends or making a little business. Darren had a latte with a serve of sugar. Lattes are served full bodied, creamed in after taste. Relaxing atmosphere inches away from the bustle of Christmas shoppers.

A gathering of empty houses.

I am happiest at the beach watching for treasures and creatures, with whispering breezes, power seas and whimsical skyes.

Soft burn.

Woke at 4am this morning and the flat was filled with the smell of the bushfires smoke. We are surrounded by drought and bushfires out of control, this is Australia. Our water supply is falling, water restrictions level 3, no rain insight.

Ian's photo opportunity.

Free Buddhist Audio

I received this invitation to a new web site chock full of buddhist audio. Go look and listen up. I am full of restrained excitment, oh dear were to start. Well done Sydney Buddhist Centre.

Dear Friends,

We're totally thrilled to announce the launch of Free Buddhist Audio, the new, free download and streaming service from the Dharmachakra Archive.

www.freebuddhistaudio.com

The site features hundreds of free talks as well as guided meditations, retreat recordings, question-and-answer sessions and interviews.

There's also a very extensive searchable text archive, including full access to all of Sangharakshita's seminars and talks, and many texts by other speakers too.

The site has been several years in the making, and is now live!

Come and play...

Sydney Buddhist Centre
24 Enmore Road
Newtown NSW 2042
tel (02) 9519 0440
email info@sydneybuddhistcentre.org.au
website www.sydneybuddhistcentre.org.au

Jane, Canberra - Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre. Pretty patty cakes.

I loved the party. Canberra great place for a visit, fab people and interesting cultural institutions.


Egyptian NGA's view on afterlife exhibition.

An afternoon with Ian

Tooth extraction
Latex hands, I look towards the ceiling
Empty space.

Waiting for the lift
He said, she said, intimate banter
Hearts fill.

Christmas garden party
Name tagged, platters, cold ones and soft serves
Sung off key.

Workplace acceptance
Better on, best practice, friendly diversity
Homophobia stains.

New CEO wields: restructure
We dig into our pockets for egos and loose change
Shoulders spent.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - in Victoria

17 days till the bells and whistle bring cheerful New Year's celebration and resolution, cool eh. A Charter of Human Rights for Victorians, great. A new Human Rights watchdog, hmm nice doggie.I'm troubled by a mix of excited pride and realistic concern for the Equal Opportunity Commission's crumbling staff morale and desparate financial difficulties.
This morning I donated blood to the Australian Red Cross - Blood Service and hopefully, this blood will find its way to support someone else. As the beautiful plumb red fluid flowed into its carry bag, I wondered who will donate a much need transfusion to the EOCV.

I've attached Attorney-General Hulls media release in which he significantly unleases Victoria's new Human Rights watchdog (reminds me of a scene from Cool Hand Luke. Will we too have "a failure to communicate"). Of course the Commission bares no resemblance to Paul Newman or a bloodhound. It looks more like an old mangy three legged lap dog. Maybe we'll become the human rights style queens striking a pose or is that an emperor without clothes?



FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL - media release

DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 2006


HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Victoria will make history in 19 days when the Human Rights Charter comes into effect from January 1, Attorney-General Rob Hulls said today.

“We will enter the new year as the first Australian state to have formal legal protection for human rights, with other states likely to follow our lead,” Mr Hulls said.

“This will be a historic day for Victoria as we fulfil our commitment to provide better protection of human rights for all Victorians.”

Speaking at the Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria’s annual Human Rights Oration, Mr Hulls said training for public servants was well underway ahead of the Charter’s full implementation in 2008.

“The Charter will ensure that when Victorian governments, present and future, make important decisions, they must do so with the civil and political rights of Victorians in mind,” Mr Hulls said.

“From January 1 next year legislation will be developed with regard to the rights set out in the Charter. New laws will require a statement of compatibility to advise Parliament on whether they meet the Charter’s standards.

“By January 1 2008 courts will be able to refer legislation back to Parliament for review if they find it inconsistent with the Charter, but they will not have the power to strike down legislation. The Parliament will have the final say.”

Victorian government departments and agencies will have to comply with the Charter and have regard for human rights in their day to day operations.

“The Charter is a commonsense move that simplifies our laws and bring together our human rights in one piece of legislation,” Mr Hulls said.

“Some important rights, such as freedom of speech and religion and freedom from forced work and degrading treatment, previously had no clear legal protection in Victoria.”

Next year the Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria will take on an important role as Victoria’s human rights watchdog.

Protecting Rights in a Climate of Fear

Protecting Rights in a Climate of Fear
The major human rights abuses in Australia are committed by the Federal Government, Julian Burnside QC will tell an audience of 500 people today when he delivers the 6th annual Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria Human Rights Oration.
The indefinite detention of asylum seekers; secret jail orders; secret control orders and secret hearings are just some of the examples of human rights abuses committed by the Federal Government in the name of the war on terror, Mr Burnside says.
“David Hicks has been held for five years without trial and according to our Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock’s bizarre conceptions of justice, the fact that Hicks has not committed an offence against Australian, Afghani or American law is seen as a justification for holding him,” he says.

The Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria (to be renamed the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission on 1st January 2007) each year holds its Human Rights Oration to mark United Nations Human Rights Day December 10.

The aim of the Human Rights Oration is to bring a focus to human rights as an issue that affects everyone from world leaders to ordinary Australians.
Julian Burnside QC will deliver the Human Rights Oration on Protecting Rights in a Climate of Fear
Mr Burnside blames a weak Opposition, a compliant media and Government fear mongering about the threat of terrorism for the erosion of human rights in Australia.

“If the community lives in fear it will do nothing to help the group which is the focus of their fear. It does not matter whether the fear is well-founded, or is the result of a media frenzy or Government propaganda,” he says.

Mr Burnside says ASIO’s expanded powers to secretly detain and question people were impossible to reconcile with the values of a democracy.

“By creating or exploiting a climate of fear, the government has greatly expanded its own power at the cost of individual rights and freedoms,” he says.

Mr Burnside says the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, which comes into effect on January 1 2007 served as a timely reminder that human rights are fundamental and will ensure that human rights are at the forefront of State Government actions rather than an optional extra.

When: Wednesday 13th December 2006, 12pm to 1pm
Where: ZINC at Federation Sq, cnr Flinders St and Swanston St

Source: Media release from Media Officer, Equal Opportunity Commission

Hotcross - Buddhism Haiku

Ian Row the haiku creator for the I wear my heart on my sleeve project submitted a number of haiku. These haiku were inspired from the fundamental principles of buddhism 4 Noble Truths and the Noble eightfold path I've included them in this post to give them a social life, I hope you enjoy them.

If everything is
Suffering, then pain is a
companion to love

Pain is a gift
Grace, courage and the right love
are its rewards

You won’t need a map
Life bears its gifts, takes its toll
Take this compass

Where are you going?

Do you really need all this stuff?
First, you must unpack!

I wear my heart on my sleeve - Heart project

Project Brief - I Wear My Heart on My Sleeve

In this project,I wanted to show my commitment and motivation in practicing buddhism and that it is a circular one; by developing the attitude of loving kindness and a desire to live by the 8 fold path. These two activities have become both a support and inspiring energy and the motivation to continue on my way.

Creative Team: Karen McVean, Ian Row, Diana Nguyen, Sam Santana.

Background:
Karen is a member of the Melbourne Buddhist Centre (associated with FWBO) Women’s Study Group who meets fortnightly on Tuesday evenings. Over the past months the topics for study have been the Noble 8 fold path the guiding principles for Buddhist ethical living. At the end of this current study period each member is asked to deliver a project of their choice, using inspiration from the study of ethics.

Theme:
My idea for the project started from a desire to give (an act of generosity) to members of my group something that would act as a reminder on our enjoyment in studying together.
As a collector of ideas I’d gathered a number of Buddhists sayings that amused me and had been toying with the idea of transforming these words of inspiration into a wearable garmet - I suppose a moveable postcard. (Greetings from buddhaland - nothing!)
As all good ideas evolve, so has mine. I was actively looking for the right words and a co-worker suggested a lovely practice meditation sent to him from a monk friend in Vietnam.

Water flows over these hands
May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet.


I discussed this meditation text with my friend Ian Row creator of Hotcross Haiku. We decided it wasn't quite right and instead, I invited Ian to write haiku inspired from the 4 Noble Truths and the ethical principles of the Noble 8 foldpath. Ian cruised onto my idea and suggested the image could sit on the sleeve of the tee-shirt, as in “I wear my heart on my sleeve” The concept was taking form.

Image:
Next, I needed the creative ability of a fab graphic artist, I approached Diana Nguyen my friend at Victoria Legal Aid, encouraged her to get involvement with creating the image for I wear my heart on my sleeve. Diana liked the idea. For the image we started to work with expressing the positive energy that sustains commitment and motivation, for the individual to live the ethical path. We wanted to convey a playful, serious heartfelt visual that would engage a viewer and please the wearer of the garment.

Heart – plump with compassion, loving kindness our source for motivation and energy flow. Attitude.

Dharma wheel – the symbol of the ethics, pillars of the Noble 8 foldpath. These principles are the blueprint for living as Buddhists.
Together heart and wheel are like our compass and energy/attitude all we need for the life path.

Text:
The text/haiku will tie in the image onto the tee-shirt so the viewer can be entinced to explore the meaning of the words in relation to the heart and dharma wheel. The viewer and wearer can follow the path from the heart/dharma wheel to the sublime meaning of the text or vice versa

See haiku post


Outcome:
Distribute to creative team, the remainder to Melbourne Buddhist Centre to sell in their shop – all profit to the MBC.
We all get to be creative and wear our hearts on our sleeves. And give these as gifts to others.

Dipa Ma's Ten lessons

In my work with people, computers, information and deadlines the busyness of doing can take me away from the replenishment of my inner energy. There's a tendency to externalise energy and become an accumulator of stress. To keep a little balance and well being in my life, I return to the inner self and draw upon the vast energy of nature. I use my tai chi practice, meditate, look for the poetry/humour in everything and take inspiration from teachers like Dipa Ma. I offer these ten lessons from Dipa Ma, extracted from chapter 11, in Amy Schmidt's book Dipa Ma. The Life and legacy of a Buddhist master.

DIPA MA'S TEN LESSONS TO LIVE BY.

1. Choose one meditation practice and stick with it.
If you want to progress in meditation stay with one technique.

2. Meditate every day.
Practice now. Don't think you will do more later.

3. Any situation is workable.
Each of us has enormous power. It can be used to help ourselves and help others.

4. Practice patience.
Patience is one of the most important virtues for developing mindfulness and concentration.

5. Free your mind.
Your mind is all stories.

6. Cool the fire of emotions.
Anger is a fire.

7. Have fun along the way.
I am quite happy. If you come to meditate you will also be happy.

8.Simplify.
Live simply. A very simple life is good for every thing. Too much luxury is a hindrance to practice.

9. Cultivate the spirit of blessing.
If you bless those around you this will inspire you to be attentive in every moment.

10. It's a circular journey.
Meditation integrates the whole person.





Let me be free of enemies
Let me be free of dangers
Let me be free of mental anxieties
Let me pass my time with good body and happy mind