Last week Thursday, I had the good fortune of attending a Bodhisattva meal presented by Dakini Healing Arts, downtown Kenosha at The Teaching Kitchen.
“What is a bodhisattva meal, you ask? It’s a meal sometimes referred to as; pending, suspended, pay what you can.
What does that mean? Everyone gets a meal. Perhaps; you make a monetary offering, do a chore, simply eat, or purchase multiple meals.
What is a bodhisattva? A realized being in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism who delays enlightenment in order to care for others.
May all beings be freed from hunger.”
— Dakini Healing Arts & The Teaching Kitchen
The meal started with hot homemade chai with coconut milk; and great knowledgable conversation about the Tibetan Buddhist holiday.
The holiday culminates in the full moon, and is called the “Great Day of Miraculous Miracles”. The holiday is a time to resign the last year, which was the year of the Water Tiger, and welcome the new year, Tibetan calendar Royal Year 2150, year of the Water Rabbit, with pleasure offerings for both celestial and human visitors.
After learning about each of the offerings, dinner was served. A hot plate of delicious quinoa and black beans, served with an onion chutney.
Thank You Dakini Healing Arts and The Teaching Kitchen
March 17 was also Dakini Day
“The Dakini represents the divine feminine.”
Buddhaweekly.com
The image below is of the Water-Moon Guanyin, from the 15th century Ming dynasty. I photographed her while she was on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art in January of 2016. As a representation of the bodhisattva of compassion, “Guanyin attained enlightenment with the guidance of the Buddha Amitabha but, rather than enter the blissful state of nirvana, chose to remain in this world to relieve the suffering of all creatures. Able to assume many guises, she is portrayed here as Water-Moon Guanyin, known to sit in a rock grotto at the water’s edge beneath the full moon. She contemplates the moon’s ephemeral reflection at her feet. Strands of beaded jewelry, flowing robes, long fleshy earlobes, long hair, and bare feet are familiar attributes of Guanyin. Her slight smile invites the confidence of the faithful, while her downcast eyes survey the emptiness of existence.”
Christina Ann Rinaldi 