Up Early With Ganesha

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
~ Meister Eckhart

This morning, as ever, I was up early. I took my mala beads, my singing bowl, and my prayer shawl and snuck out onto the veranda to meditate and greet the dawn. Today I sat with Ganesha. Buddha, by his side. A possum banged its way along my roof as he came home from a night of marauding. Owls called to me from the trees. I played to them with my bowl, long chimes that rang out into the darkness.

Eventually, I sat in silence, cross-legged on the daybed, facing out towards the dawn. I prayed this mala for the last time before it shall know the students it represents – one for each crystal bead. For the past month I have prayed this mala in meditation twice a day, for two hours. Each bead for me has been a student. This is Dana, I say as my fingers find her bead. This is Tracy. This is Phil. I hold them in my thoughts. I pray for them. I connect to them and check in on them – see how they are doing. Send them healing. It’s a Tibetan tool I use, but the techniques are purely what was shown to me by my Aboriginal Aunties. My spiritual life is a melting pot of philosophies and practices.

Now it is morning. Fragranced with jasmine and magnolia from my garden. I shall shower and dress, have breakfast with my husband, retrieve my last crystals from where they have been charging under the Hoop Pine, pack the ute and head to Sangsurya to begin our retreat. It’s a beautiful day for it. A gentle dawn. Bright sky. Birds singing. Not all of you shall be there, but I will be holding all of you in my heart.

Bless xx