Ramblings of an Ageless Hippie Chick

the only posts that mean anything to me

2009-06-02T14:10:00.002-05:00

These are the only posts that mean anything to me after writing over 100. To those of you who have this blog blogrolled, please remove your link to this blog -- I'd appreciate it.addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

toodles -- the Ageless One is dead

2009-03-18T14:42:00.000-05:00

Adios.It's been fun.I've decided to shut down this blog, however, I will continue Linda's Yoga Journey because yoga is my life. Those of you who couldn't give a rat's furry behind about yoga won't be moseying on over there, so I will say goodbye to the faithful readers of this blog. I am blessed to have met you and known you as much as one can in the blogosphere.The reasons why are not

the story of Jack the Yogi Cat

2009-02-25T17:04:00.010-06:00

Seventeen years ago I saved him from running down a rain sewer in Texas. We were living outside of Dallas and a neighbor knocked on the door and asked if the gray and white mackerel tabby frolicking in the grass was our cat. We stepped outside and he was running around like crazy the way kittens do and I saw him head toward the long opening of the rain sewer in the gutter. I had seen adult

Jack the Yogi Cat

2009-02-25T10:51:00.003-06:00

I put my cat to sleep last night. I will write more about him later, but for now you can read what I wrote about him in 2007 in my yoga blog:going with the flowIn the picture in this post he looks healthy. When he died he was skin and bones.Jack was a street cat. Seventeen years ago I saved him from going down a rain sewer when he was a two pound bundle of fur covered with fleas and filled

we all need prayers

2009-01-11T16:26:00.005-06:00

"Pray For Me, Brother" -- "The AR Rahman Foundation presents a movement to eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals."If they can get along in love and peace, why can't we?Don't ever tell me that animals are "dumb" and don't have feelings. They have it all over us in spades.addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

poem: "concentric circles"

2009-01-02T08:27:00.003-06:00

(photo credit: TomMartinArt)I can not be as you want me to benowas you could not be as I wanted you to bethen. We have run in concentric circlesall these yearshaving the same centerbut barely touching.Years and years and yearsof being togetherbut always apart.Always together at the heartat the centerbut always apart at the edges of these concentric circles. We cheat each other in this dice gameas

"Every animal knows far more than you do." (Nez Perce)

2008-12-25T23:34:00.011-06:00

Norbert Rosing's striking images of a polar bear coming upon tethered sled-dogs in the wilds of Canada. The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of the dogs when the polar bear wandered in, but the bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs.From About.com: "The location was a kennel outside Churchill, Manitoba owned by dog breeder Brian Ladoon, who kept some 40

does religion make us more divine or deranged?

2008-12-16T07:57:00.007-06:00

(photo credit: bhakticollective)Kaustubha Das asks a very good question. no society is immune from religious fundamentalism, just look at our home-grown fundamentalist Christians. all fundamentalists have the same thing in common: devotion to their god and a belief that they are right and everyone else is wrong.in Sanskrit that would be bhakti combined with avidya with a good dash of asmita

the heroes of Mumbai

2008-12-03T21:45:00.006-06:00

(photo credit: New York Times)For Heroes of Mumbai, Terror Was Call to Action"On any ordinary day, Vishnu Datta Ram Zende used the public-address system at Mumbai’s largest railway station to direct busy hordes of travelers to their trains. But last Wednesday just before 10 p.m., when he heard a loud explosion and saw people running across the platform, he gripped his microphone and calmly

India's 9/11

2008-11-28T10:32:00.008-06:00

(BBC photo)The tragedy in Mumbai is India's 9/11. Unlike America before 9/11, India has always known terrorism, but never of the scale that has been experienced in Mumbai.Those of you who know me know that India is my second home, however, I have never been north, I've always stayed south in my beloved Tamil Nadu. a Tamil friend in India emailed me this morning to tell me how sad she is that

poetry: even yoga teachers get the blues

2008-08-18T13:03:00.004-05:00

I used to write poetry -- even won a few awards -- and one of my favorite poets of all time is Leonard Cohen....Avalanche is one of his songs from his Songs of Love and Hate album released in 1971.Cohen's recurring themes in his poetry were love and sex, religion, and psychological depression...all totally interrelated as far as I'm concerned....funny how I was so attracted to those themes as a

my mother died today

2008-06-10T13:00:00.016-05:00

not today actually, but three years ago, august 6, 2005 to be exact. it's just that I found out today doing a google search of her name and I read the Social Security death records. hey, lin, your mom died and she was 89. at least I know I have some genes for longevity because my father died when he was 86.my mother and I were seriously estranged, physically estranged for about 20 years since

daughters of India

2008-04-28T22:34:00.015-05:00

My sidebar contains photos from 50 Million Missing: the International Campaign for India's Women and Girls. I first wrote about the campaign in January, 2007.Barbara Raisbeck recently interviewed Rita Banerji, the founder of this online campaign, for her blog The Daughters of India. India is in my heart and I consider it my second home. but things happen to women and girls in India that sicken

Olympic fallout

2008-04-11T08:43:00.009-05:00

Olympic sponsors:Atos Origin; BOCOG; Coca-Cola; DB Schenker; General Electric; Johnson & Johnson; Kodak; Lenovo; Manulife; McDonald’s; Mizuna; Omega; Panasonic; Samsung; VisaProtest the Olympics with your wallet. you don't need those Chicken McNuggets. your heart will thank you.Vanessa has a great post about Bush boycotting the Olympics. Obama and Clinton have called for a boycott of the

boycotting the Olympic sponsors

2008-03-31T10:00:00.009-05:00

We've heard all about boycotting the Olympics. Now what about boycotting the Olympic sponsors? I know these are mega-corporations and emails and voicemails to them might (will?) get trashed, but the monks in Lhasa are still raising their voices, so I think we can, too. highly unlikely that they will pull their sponsorship, but each of us can express our displeasure at their decisions to

the politics of the Olympics: the personal is political

2008-03-29T13:58:00.011-05:00

"[T]he Olympic Games as an ideal of brotherhood and world community is passé. The Olympics is so obviously hypocritical that even the Neanderthals watching TV know what they're seeing can't be true. Even Neanderthals know that the Russians stomped the Czechs and that the Jews despise the Arabs and that racists rule the US. So, all of a sudden, the Olympics comes on TV - all this smiling and hand

March 31st, global day of action for Tibet

2008-03-28T11:11:00.004-05:00

Monday, March 31, will be a Global Day of Action for Tibet.Members of Avaaz - the organization that has collected more than a million signatures in the last week calling on Hu Jintao for dialogue with the Dalai Lama - will join Tibet organizations around the world in a Global Day of Action for Tibet. Please go to Tibet Network website to find an event near you.If you want to see an extraordinary

it's not just about Tibet

2008-03-25T11:38:00.005-05:00

(photo originally uploaded: Students for a Free Tibet)Human Rights in China and the Beijing OlympicsAmnesty International has created a new poster mocking the Beijing's marketing slogan “We are Ready!”.Do we really need any more reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics?addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

Tibet: less talk, more action

2008-03-25T09:38:00.004-05:00

Here is another great photo taken by Caroline aka Sirensongs who is in Nepal right now.She wrote another great post about how to take action in support of Tibet.I checked out how many American cities the Olympic torch will pass through and there's only one, San Francisco. you can bet if it passed through Chicago I'd be out there waving my Tibetan prayer flags. Hopefully more and more protesters

for your consideration: Tibet situation

2008-03-21T16:00:00.006-05:00

This is an excerpt from a recent talk by Gelek Rimpoche, one of my spiritual teachers. Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at a very early age and he is from the family of the 13th Dalai Lama. when he escaped Tibet in 1959 he never saw his family again. any time he talks about his old life, he refers to Tibet as "good old Tibet." "Let's try to understand the current situation in

save Tibet now

2008-03-14T09:44:00.015-05:00

(Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)Tibetans throwing stones at army vehicles as a car burns on a street in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, after violent protests broke out on Friday. (NY TIMES PHOTO)The world screams about Burma, Sudan, and Rwanda, but where are the tears for Tibet? A genocide has been going on since the Chinese marched in over 50 years ago, yet the world does nothing.Chinese

boycotting Chinese products

2008-03-12T10:26:00.005-05:00

People say that boycotting the Beijing Olympics would only hurt the athletes and that's certainly a valid point. but if tainted toothpaste, pet food, and toys with lead paint aren't enough to stop you from buying stuff made in China...From the Tibetan news website:Latest threat from China: Toxic Clothes?Here's a good reason to wash new clothes before putting them on infants and children: A New

do no harm

2008-03-10T10:32:00.005-05:00

three simple words that can change us and change the world. many of us talk about how things need to change in this world, but how many of us talk about changing ourselves -- first?from the Do No Harm website:"We seem to be living in a world that is getting less hospitable every day. Look closely at any endeavor our species has engaged in and it appears we are unaware of the harm we do, we

why there's blood on the Olympic rings

2008-03-09T00:32:00.005-06:00

The Nangpa La ShootingsFrom Wikipedia: "On September 30, 2006 75 Tibetan refugees, among them many young children, and their 2 guides were trying to enter Nepal illegally via the Himalayan Nangpa La pass (5,700m). Chinese Border Security soldiers opened fire on the group and killed Kelsang Namtso, a 17 year old nun, just before the pass. Kunsang Namgyal, a 23 year old man, was hit in the leg

women helping women

2008-02-27T08:36:00.000-06:00

There is an organization called Women for Women International. Women for Women International "provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies." It is a Four Star Charity as rated by Charity Navigator. From their website:"From Victim to