BEING KAREN

This photo popped up in my Facebook memories today, it's a lovely moment to be reminded of. It’s not me, but it is my chuba. I was in Mahlo which is up in the grasslands in Amdo, Tibet. The rest of my group had gone off on a small trip but I had stayed behind to take the Lum or bath therapy. You have two very hot baths with prescribed herbs every day for a week. Normally you stay at the facility to keep the warmth in your body. But as I was there alone I didn’t have help to

I miss the wind. The clear skies. There is no blue like an Amdo sky. And the deeply dark, silent temples, with towering deities, who don’t even notice me. Shy smiles and wide stares. Elders. Malas always moving. A constancy of chanting, soft drone of mani bees, breathing the mantra in and out, turning the world as if it were a giant prayer wheel. It is. Butter tea, hot, salty, fill my cup, please. I miss throwing a handful of lungta high on a mountain pass, the wind takes the

"What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?" Job 38:19 Job had real questions, he called out to his God with frustration, despair and anger. When we are tested those are the right emotions. And probably a few million more. That is the test, move through and you will, you will, find your way to the abode of light. We all will. We are made of light, we just forget to shine. Photo taken at the birthplace of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Elder, father of Tib

Melbourne enters day 200 of lockdown days since march 2020. A sober thought, two thirds of a year spent at home. Like everyone else I miss travel, even the idea of travel, so have been spending time with photographs and journals from past journeys. The Jowo Buddha is the most important statue in Tibet. It is believed to have been personally blessed by the Buddha. It came to be owned by the king of Magadha , who gave it to a Tang emperor of China. One of the emperor's clansma

This is me drinking poop coffee, or more politely, coffee made from beans that have passed through the digestive tract of the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). In Indonesian, Kopi luwak, it is also called civet coffee. Poop coffee. Yes I am drinking it and smiling, but that is the least remarkable thing about this picture. I had never been to Bali, which is practically un- Australian. It was on my radar as a beautiful place that I had no intention of visiting be

"... close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like ..." Seriously anywhere. I feel like making a small shrine to my passport :) Time travel in the form of flashbacks to happy days in other countries will have to do for now! Delhi, 2018, paying respect to Gandhiji. The Gandhi memorial park (and place of his cremation) is a surreally peaceful oasis in the heart of this wonderfully crazy city. I love Delhi, (would not want