1 Jan 2019

On New Year’s Eve, I kept seeing a giant prayer wheel in my mind. I knew that I had to make that temple trip even if I had to go on my own. And when I spoke of it to a close friend, he said he would take me there.

Caption: Lighting butter lamps in Boudha Stupa, Nepal. (Dec 2018)

So we started the first day of 2019 by visiting the Tibetan temple at Beatty Lane. We offered thanksgiving prayers and dedicated butter lamps to loved ones and to all sentient beings.

While I was at it, a much loved community cat that had disappeared in April 2018 came to mind. Despite all attempts to locate her, she was never found. I felt her feeder’s grief when she spoke of her during our Christmas meet up recently.

Caption: Bailey aka Sasha

So I thought of making a donation in the cat’s name to alleviate the feeder’s pain and most of all to grant peace to the cat in case something tragic had happened to her.

As I was preparing to write the cat’s name on the donation form at the administrative counter, a question arose. “Will Bailey aka Sasha be able to receive the merits of the donation? She is after all, an animal.”

This doubt gnawed at me as I lingered over the line where the cat’s name was supposed to be written. Then I heard “Sasha!” being said by someone from behind me. It was a mother calling out for her little girl.

Hearing the cat’s name so clearly articulated on this bright new year morning cleared my doubt. I proceeded with the paper work confidently.

The computer system responsible for processing donation details had been lagging for a while. But it sprang to life after the temple volunteer had keyed in my information. I got my e-receipt instantly.

In the late afternoon, a friend dropped by to catch up. He had brought me a gift which he claimed he had casually found online. He hoped I would like it.

When I opened the box, it was an angel holding a cat! ♥️

Caption: Welcoming Bailey’s Angel with butter lamp and marigold on the first day of 2019.

I love this first gift of 2019. I called it Bailey’s Angel. It is beautifully made, and it feels like an acknowledgement from the Great Beyond, that whatever I did at the temple this morning has been received.

29 Dec 2018

Among all the pieces of furniture in a traditional Chinese home, great emphasis is placed on the altar table and the dining table. Before they are purchased, measurements and placements have to be carefully considered and discussed.

The altar table is where the family gods and ancestor spirits gather. It basically marks the soul of the house.

The dining table is for meal gatherings and family discussions. If you’re of my vintage, it’s also the place to settle our homework, complete the art project and grow bean sprouts for the science teacher.

2 years ago in 2016 at Street Dog Care in Nepal, a battered and scratched plastic table was witness to our very special gathering among friends of different nations, all united by canine concerns.

Worn out from exposure to the monsoon rains, year end cold and even the 2015 earthquake, the table was retired when Street Dog Care needed to relocate.

I had fond memories of this cracked table but trusted that its spirit of harmony will follow the SDC staff & volunteers to their new home.

On 3 Dec 2018, we visited Street Dog Care in its new location and of course right at the heart of the centre a round plastic table welcomed us, complete with its own live dog display, Tara, the guard dog on it.

After we had placed our animal supplies on it, Tara presided majestically over the goods.

No matter how we coaxed her with words & treats, she refused to come down from the table, but stood guard regally, as if protecting the peace & abundance that the table held.

She finally made way for us briefly to gather around it for tea.

I looked at the mass produced table where supporters and well wishers of Nepal’s street dogs continued to congregate, & felt humbled.

It is common looking and made of plastic, yet its capacity to draw local & international support may be as strong as those that are made of oak & mahogany in the offices of power brokers.

So as we bid goodbye to 2018, and declutter to make room for 2019, we can still ask for the spirit of benevolence in the discarded items to stay, the way the collective goodwill bestowed upon the old mangled table continues to live in the new table at Street Dog Care. 😊

Sounds that Heal

23 Dec 2018

One morning in Patan, Nepal, I heard the soft clang of a bell in my sleep. As I listened to the clangs that came at random intervals, I realised they were coming from a nearby shrine or temple.

I woke up reverently, realising there were people already making morning prayers in the depth of a cold and dark winter while I slept.

In the 70s during my primary school days, it was the muezzin’s morning prayer call from a nearby mosque that roused me gently to get ready for school. To my chinese ears, the songlike supplication in the muezzin’s tone was very comforting.

Alarm clocks and electrical gadgets are reliable & efficient, but their mechanical beeps tend to cause some panic in me.

Whereas temple bells & muezzin calls are like telephone calls from the Divine, reminding me to first give thanks for this life, before letting the world rush in.

May the sounds that we make also bring healing to others and connect them to the Divine, the way the temple bells & muezzin calls have done for me.

A pigeon pooped on me as I was deliberating whether to climb up the steps to a shop where this textured silver pendant in Patan was waiting.

The old city of Patan is known for its metal, stone and wood craftsmanship.

El counted 12 steps which looked fairly steep to me. Hence my hesitation.

As I was resisting the move upwards, I felt the cool wetness of pigeon poop on my hair from above like the way sometimes water from dripping laundry feel on us.

So there we were, 3 tourists stuck at the junction along Swotha House with Ron holding up a packet of wet tissue paper while El cleaned away before my shock at the pigeon’s insolence turned into full blown hysteria.

Strangely, as El deftly wiped at my jacket, the ache in my feet also became less severe. So with their help & a renewed shopping vigour, I was able to scale the height that would lead me to a roomful of prayerfully crafted silver & stone jewellery that was the trademark of Patan.

That was how this moon shaped silver pendant came to be with me.

After Patan, we spent a few days at Boudha before we headed back to Singapore.

At the Boudha Stupa I asked for blessings on the pendant, like I do for most purchases that will be in close contact with my body.

I asked that it be a pleasing element to all who see it and to open up ways to advance efforts to help animals.

This habit of blessing things was first inspired by Pablo Neruda’s poem, “Ode to Things,” when I was a young woman. In my adult life, readings on Zen, Shintoism, Judaism, Tibetan Buddhism & shamanism turn this habit into a kind of practice.

3 days after I returned to Singapore, I wore this silver piece to a Freedom Film showcase at The Projector theatre in the Beach Road area.

During the interval a well groomed lady in her early sixties complimented me on my silver pendant and asked where I got it from.

“Nepal? You went to Nepal by yourself?”

She asked incredulously after I had regaled her with tales of my travel.

Her question opened up space for me to share my animal agendas and how in this recent trip, the Universe had provided travel mates to carry over 40kg of medicines and milk to the rescuers of street dogs & cats.

“My daughter is a vet!” She exclaimed.

As I gave details on how we secured animal supplies that were difficult to come by for nepali rescuers of stray dogs and cats, she nodded approvingly.

I spoke of the kindness of ordinary nepali folks I know, and their ingenuity & selflessness in meeting hardship in order to help the voiceless.

“You know, I nearly went to Nepal once. But other things in life took over. After listening to you, I’ll like to try visiting Nepal again,” she shared.

To strengthen her aspiration I took out a new 50 rupee Nepali note bearing the picture of the Snow Leopard on one side and the Himalayas on the other side.

As I handed her the souvenir from Nepal which she received with both hands, I wished her the grace of the Snow Leopard and the steadfastness of the Himalayas in her plan to visit Nepal.

After we parted, I touched the silver pendant that had initiated this exchange of goodwill, and thanked it for travelling all this way from Nepal to Singapore.

And most of all I thanked the Boudha Stupa for not thinking that my trinket was not precious or expensive enough to deserve such a powerful blessing.