sey042

As stated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama: There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta , the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, "I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29

The Summer has been hectic. And good. Sofi had the final swim class today at the beach. 8 weeks of swim class 4 weekday mornings a week. Coming so close after the Olympics it makes me think how dedicated those athletes and families must be. How much they have put in even to be at the Games. Even if they go unnoticed and don't come into the limelight with a medal. I am exhausted just from toddler swim class. Taking a brief moment to stop and observe my life. I sat down and read just the introduction to 'Everyday Blessings - The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting.' Hence the caption above. It is important for all of us parents to remember that if we are intent on wanting a certain kind of child in order to feel tremendous love for them, then we will be disappointed. Instead, we can know and love well the children who are ours to love. Enjoy the child we have. Support them. Nourish them. Try to do no harm. And be in close touch with who we are as a person, and as a parent, in o...

Every day, I face a mountain of papers on our never-used as a dining table desk. It's amazing how much paperwork is involved in trying to live a simple life. Applications for preschools, tax things, bills and then the adoption work. Each day I try to fill in some of the adoption paperwork as that is the most important. But you still have to pay bills, and attend to everything that is life. It feels like managing the paper in life in and of itself is a full time preoccupation. People ask me what I do. I am not sure. I prepare the most nutritious meals I can. I clean the house. I do some work. I deal with the paperwork. And I spend time with Sofi darling. The day is full. It feels like I can never get through enough. I am in awe of those single mums who go out and work a full job out of the office. It's great. And it's relentless. To bed. Tomorrow will be another good day. And I have to complete the application to Journeys of the Heart so they can liaise with our Home Study...

I was listening to NPR and they talked about how international adoptions into the US were 23,000 just 8 years ago. And now, in the hopes of creating transparency, last year it was only 10,000. Somewhere in the region of 13,000 less children adopted internationally each year. Sad. Even if you admit that child trafficking and abuse cannot be guaranteed in our countries, something we must admit, even if it was 99% fine, then more than 12,000 kids a year are losing out. Who says these 13,000 kids a year are fine. Institutionalization at its very best, is ok. It is nothing compared to being loved and cherished in even a mediocre family. I get sad if I think about it, so I try not to. But it's reality. For this reason, I have plans to start 2 non-profits. 1st, to assist Indian origin families in the US to adopt from India. It's getting harder, smaller agencies are shutting down, but we must still try. Even if it takes longer. 2d, to help orphanages in India get the license that wou...

The shooting spree at the Sikh gurdwara in Wisconsin yesterday is saddening. Ignorance and prejudice are never helpful. In India, Sikh men with their proud turbans are admired. The Indian Army reveres them for their hard work and bravery. In the West, however, Sikhs are often singled out because they look so different. The men in my family wear turbans. I grew up in Sikh family. I did not cut my hair, consistent with our religious requirement, but I did not stand out as girls having long hair is a thing of beauty. We went to gurdwara. We learned some Sikh prayers. We naughtily avoided Punjabi lessons - although most of us now regret that aspect. I am not an active Sikh in any outward way. My hair is now short. I rarely go to gurdwara. But it is a part of how I came to be who I came to be. The Sikh culture taught me that all religions are good, that they have you be thankful to God and lead an honest life. It taught me we are all equal. No one is higher or lower, and that is why we al...

The process for adoption is really hard. I have had lots and lots of friends of friends be in touch with me thinking there is a shortcut. There is not one. The rules are getting harder. And things will probably take just as long or longer than before. And as non resident Indians or foreigners, it is getting more likely that you will need to be happy to adopt an older child and possibly one with special needs. We leave it to God to send us Tara in whatever form is appropriate. For the Home Study agency, there are only 2 choices in Nevada. A Home Study is an approval that you are fit to adopt. It is a license, not a privilege to adopt. Often people think it's easy or a breeze, but it is the hardest way to become a parent. We are using Premier Adoption agency. I have started the process by writing a big fat check. And filling out forms. Step 1 is getting fingerprints and child abuse clearances from every place that you have lived since the age of 18. The older you get, the harder it...

I have been soo sick of the process involved in adoption, that once we got back to the US, I could not bear the thought of anything further until absolutely necessary. When we needed to make a trip to London, it was finally time to get a passport. Having experienced many hurdles in India for even the smallest thing, I was dreading it. However, I have to say that if you get an emergency application to file for a passport (you must have proof you are travelling within 14 days) and go to San Francisco, it can be a pleasant surprise. We had a 1 p.m. appointment in March so that we would have time to arrive all the way from Tahoe which is just more than 200 miles. As usual, I was prepared with anything and everything they might want. They were really nice and very helpful. Amazingly, we had the passport in our hand by around 4 p.m. Delighted. Yesterday, another good day. I suddenly realized that in order to claim Sofi as a dependent on my tax returns, she had to have a SSN. There had seem...