Journal

Angel Whiskers

Gita Tewari — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:05:40 +0000

Sleepy cats in pools of sunlight

lie in a state of Zen like bliss

Shadows fall where once there was light

I treasure you forever in my heart

By Thich Nhat Hanh

Gita Tewari — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:37:52 +0000

Transcending Birth and Death

We often think that birth is that which does not exist coming into existence, and that death is that which does exist ceasing to exist. When we look deeply at things, we see that this idea about birth and death is mistaken in many respects. No phenomenon whatsoever can come into existence out of nothing and no phenomenon which exists can become nothing. Things are ceaselessly transforming. The cloud does not die; it only becomes rain. The rain is not born; it is only the transformation and continuation of the cloud. Leaves, a pair of shoes, joy and sorrow all conform to this principle of no-birth and no-death...

By Thich Nhat Hanh

Excerpted from Our Appointment with Life: The Buddha's Teaching on Living in the Present

Good News!

Gita Tewari — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:02:03 +0000

My article "The Gender of Enlightenment" is featured in the recent issue of Briarpatch Magazine:

http://briarpatchmagazine.com/the-gender-of-enlightenment-female-monastics-face-a-glass-ceiling-in-thailand/

Enjoy :)

Missing the Olympics

Gita Tewari — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:10:17 +0000

I really enjoyed watching the winter Olympics this year and I'm not alone in that regard. These games enjoyed the highest ratings in their history of being televised. I was saddened by the death of the Georgian athlete before the start of the games and wondered whether it would cast a pall over the event, but the athletes rose to the occasion and, once again, showed us why watching people perform at the top of their game is so inspiring. Watching these young athletes perform with such grace and courage under extreme pressure and, for some, like the Canadian figure skater--under emotional duress--reminds us of what we are capable of even in times of great challenge. In my own life, I've decided to get out and walk at least once a day and not use the cold weather as an excuse.

Happy Birthday Kamala!

Gita Tewari — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:55:40 +0000

My niece Kamala, turns 21 this Sunday. I was thinking about her upcoming birthday recently and remembering when my sister first brought Kamala home to visit us. Kamala was six months old at the time and she was such a sweet happy baby. I remember how she laughed and smiled alot and was so much fun to be around from a young age. She still has a great sense of humor.

Kamala and I had a lot of fun together over the years. Whenever she would come visit on school breaks, we would have a grand old time going to the beach, the pool across the street from my apartment, Great America theme park--you name it, we were there. I was thrilled because I was getting to relive my childhood all over again. I'll never forget when she told me as she was leaving to go back to NYC (she was seven years old at the time) that I was too nice to her and I spoiled her by spending too much money on her. I reassured her that was what aunts are supposed to do, especially aunts who don't have kids of their own. I hope you have a wonderful birthday Kamala. You're everything one could hope for in a niece and a great older sister to Selena. Your parents should be really proud of you. I know I am. xoxoxo.

I recently came across one of my favorite You Tube videos that I sent to Kamala last year to remind her to treasure herself always.

Support the Feminist Review Blog

Gita Tewari — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:47:55 +0000

I'm one of the contributing editors and writers of this blog and I hope you'll support the Feminist Review with a donation. Every dollar counts and we appreciate your support. Click on the link below to read more about it:

I ♥ FR Campaign

Thank you!

Prayers for Haiti

Gita Tewari — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:41:35 +0000

The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.

-Helen Keller

Fall Colors

Gita Tewari — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:34:48 +0000

This is a one of the pictures I took when I first came back from Thailand and I was in my "be a tourist in your own backyard" mode. This is my favorite picture from fall 2009. I'm actually pretty proud of it :)

January Thaw

Gita Tewari — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:19:50 +0000

It's been brutally cold here the past few weeks. Mother nature has thrown all of her wintery elements at us this winter: cold, snow, sleet and it's only January, but Chicagoans don't let the elements keep them down. I'll never forget one year we had a major snowstorm (one of many over the years) that dumped a lot of snow on the area and I was feeling particularly snowbound that day; I went and dug my car out of the snow drift it had turned into--from snow plows routinely going by and burying it in even more snow--and headed over to the mall thinking I'd be one of the few adventurous souls to venture out, only to find the parking lot one-third full of cars and other fellow cabin fever sufferers wandering the mall in a glazed stupor. I think I bought a new winter coat on sale that day. That's when I realized that no matter how bad the weather is, it will never be an excuse for staying home.

On New Year's eve, my friend T. and I took the train downtown to see a musical. We decided to hoof it from the train station to the theater in the single digit temperatures we were experiencing that night. I have never been so cold in my life as I was after that half-hour walk, but I have to say, I got some kind of morbid thrill out of knowing that even I have the potential to "tough" out this extreme Chicago weather. (I guess I have a short memory, because my first job out of school required a half-hour walk to and from the train station in all kinds of weather, because I wanted the exercise and didn't want to take the bus). Once we got to the theater, it was packed and I enjoyed spending a cold New Year's Eve with my intrepid fellow Chicagoans. That's actually a really nice memory to have of the last day of 2009.

The good news is that a January thaw is on the way. Yay!

A New Year

Gita Tewari — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:05:10 +0000

It's that time again when I make my new year's resolutions and revisit last year's resolutions. 2009 was a tough year for me as it was for a lot of people, but I do feel I made progress and stuck to my resolutions for the most part. One of my resolutions for the past two years has been to push myself out of my comfort zone. I definitely did that in traveling to Thailand and staying at the monastery. It was a once in a lifetime experience and one that I will never forget.

A resolution from last year was to have more loving kindness for myself. I still struggle with that one, but I am making some progress. A new resolution that I'm adding for 2010 is to be more mindful and have more patience. At the monastery, we learned the ancient Japanese art of Origami--maybe "attempted" is the operative word here--and other crafts to help us be more mindful and aware rather than just speeding through life. This is something that I am going to continue to work on in the new year--to cultivate patience and to be more mindful.