Buddhism

I understand Buddhism not just as a set of rigid doctrines, but as a highly practical, psychological framework for understanding and reducing human suffering. 

Instead of demanding blind faith in a creator deity, it functions like an ancient medical system for the mind, offering a diagnosis, finding the root cause, and providing a step by step treatment plan to achieve peace.

To become a Buddhist you must understand the foundations of the religion by familiarising yourself with the core concepts of dissatisfaction, suffering and the impermanence of life, by the Four Noble Truths.

1. Suffering. Life inherently involves dissatisfaction, pain, and instability. While there much joy in life, nothing lasts forever and suffering takes many forms physical pain, illness and aging, the distress of being separated from what we love, and the subtle anxiety that comes from knowing happy moments will eventually end.

2. The Cause of Suffering. The source of this suffering is craving, desire, and attachment. We suffer because we constantly crave things to be different than they are. We grasp tightly to pleasant experiences, try to push away unpleasant ones, and mistakenly expect temporary things to give us permanent happiness.

3. The End of Suffering. It is entirely possible to end suffering and achieve true peace by letting go of craving, ignorance, and attachment, if you can you are liberated from this cycle of dissatisfaction. This is not a complete lack of empathy but the ultimate freedom, clarity, and peace of mind.

4. The Path to the End of Suffering. True peace is achieved through a practical, balanced lifestyle. By training yourself in wisdom, ethical daily conduct, and mental discipline. Then you naturally dismantle the habits that cause suffering.

The Four Noble Truths Point to the Path, the Eightfold Path as the way to achieve that end.

The Eightfold Path organises the practice and to make the eight steps practical, they are grouped into:

Wisdom (1. Right View, 2. Right Resolve),

Ethics (3. Right Speech, 4. Right Action, 5. Right Livelihood),

and Meditation (6. Right Effort, 7. Right Mindfulness, 8. Right Concentration).

If you think of the Eightfold Path as a wheel, Ethics (3–5) creates a calm, quiet life free of conflict. This quiet life allows you to practice Meditation (6–8) to steady your focus. A steady focus gives you the insight needed to experience true Wisdom (1–2), which then naturally makes your ethical behaviour effortless.

Doing this you also observe the Five Precepts and undertake to develop in yourself the virtue, wisdom, and mindfulness to:

1. Endeavour to refrain from harming living things, have respect for all life. (Right Action)

2. Endeavour to refrain from taking what is not given, I will respect others’ property. (Right Action)

3. Endeavour to refrain from sensual misconduct, any overindulgence in any sensual pleasure. (Right Action)

4. Endeavour to refrain from false speech, lying, or gossip and respect honesty. (Right Speech)

5. Endeavour to refrain from taking intoxicating substances and appreciate a clear mind. (Right Livelihood)

Interestingly in buddhism you do not have to commit to all five right away. The precepts are training guidelines rather than absolute commandments, and your practice is viewed as a gradual journey not transgressions or sinning. While the ultimate goal is to practice all five to fully protect yourself and others, you need to start where you are. Its not any punishment or control of you by an institutional patriarchy.

There is also the Law of Consequence (Karma). Buddhism views Karma simply as the natural law of cause and effect. It is completely psychological,  your current intentions shape your mindset, and your mindset shapes your future actions and experiences. You are the architect of your own mental state.

Additionally I am drawn to the art of Sak Yant tattooing, a sacred buddhist talisman. Rather than purely aesthetic, you receive them from a monk or an Ajarn (Lay Master) to give you powers, spiritual protection, and good fortune. The "power" of a Sak Yant comes from Buddhist imagery, activated through endeavouring to adhere to the five precepts. The magic of a Sak Yant is conditional. If you break the ethical code the tattoo loses its spiritual power.

See some specific Sak Yant meanings here - https://wfrblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/sak-yant-buddhist-good-luck.html

Home Made Traditional Naturally Fermented Ginger Beer

To make traditional naturally fermented ginger beer at home, you just need create a wild yeast starter called a ginger bug (we used to call them a ginger plant) using fresh organic ginger, fresh lemon juice and pulp, sugar, and filtered water. Feed it daily until bubbly, then bottle it and wait a few days to build carbonation, and chill.

I have vivid memories of sipping Mums homemade ginger beer in the summer when I was a kid in the 1960's.

Ginger and sugar attract natural yeast and micro-organisms from the surrounding air. These micro organisms feast on the sugar and turn that sugar into carbon dioxide, which is what gives the ginger beer its fizz. This process is called lacto fermentation and produces a delicious and healthy soft drink, full of probiotics.

Antique ginger beer bottle from the 1920's

Ginger Beer Recipe

This takes about three weeks. Start a bug (plant)

Day 1, in a 1 litre glass jar add:

4 sultanas (they have yeasts on their skin which will help)

The juice and some pulp from two lemons

480 ml (2 cups) filtered water

2 tablespoons of ground ginger

4 tablespoons of white sugar

Stir to combine and dissolve sugar.

Cover with cloth or paper towel and elastic band.

Leave for four days.

Day 2 - 4, stir each day.

For the next 6 days:

Day 5 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 6 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 7 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 8 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 9 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 10 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 11, for a new bug (plant) you will need to strengthen it enough to bottle.

Filter the bug (plant) through cheesecloth and use half of the sediment to add it into your new bug (plant). You can discard the ginger liquor as it will be weak.

Day 11, in a 1 litre glass jar add:

Your saved sediment from the fist plant (bug).

4 sultanas (they have yeasts on their skin which will help)

The juice and some pulp from two lemons

480 ml (2 cups) filtered water

2 tablespoons of ground ginger

4 tablespoons of white sugar

Stir to combine and dissolve sugar.

Cover with cloth or paper towel and elastic band.

Leave for four days.

Day 12 - 14, stir each day.

For the next 6 days:

Day 15 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 16 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 17 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 18 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 19 add 2 tablespoons of sugar + 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Day 20 add 2 tablespoons of sugar only.

Day 21 bottle:

Add 2 cups of white sugar to 480ml (2 cups) of boiling water.

Stir to dissolve sugar.

Add 3.3 litres (14 cups) of cold filtered water.

Add ginger liquor from your strained plant (bug).

Fill to your bottles.

You can use plastic 1 litre or 1.25 lire soft drink bottles.

In each bottle add 2 sultanas and fill with unfermented ginger beer.

Store them in a cool dark place for 5 days to activate bubbles.

Transfer to refrigerator.

Open carefully when cold.

Keeps for years, the older the drier and more flavour develops.

Remember once you have a strong plant (bug) you can repeat to make more ginger beer od store it in the refrigerator for months and activate it when you need it.

Enjoy

Mums Passing, Anniversary 2016

Seven years after Mum passed away and here is a couple of pictures of Helen sitting on Mums lap.

Helen as a puppy with Mum on her 86th birthday, 2019 in the nursing home.

Helen 7 years later sitting on Mums lap again 2026.

Old Red Gum Pizza Oven Wood

Red gum firewood is a dense, slow burning hardwood known for producing high heat and long burn times. Perfect for my pizza oven but expensive and hard to get these days.

Houses built in the 1950's often used River Red Gum timber stumps for their foundations, which had a typical lifespan of up to 80 years. These days older houses frequently require re-stumping replacement when they are renovated.

A near neighbour had this done and I scored the 70 year old foundations that were removed. About 2 cubic metres which I cut off the rotting or damp ends that was on some. I then cut to length and split the dry aged red gum with my wood splitting machine.

The dry hard river red gum.

Some of the stumps.

One full and two I/4 layers of sugar gum hard wood under the pizza oven.

Two full red gum stacks behind.

Some kindling as well.

I still have about half to go.

Yeah Baby!

8 feet 4 inch mini mal Surfboard

Cleaned up my 8'4" mini mal shaped by Billy Tolhurst in 1999.

In perfect Nic but the leg rope had perished. The mid length surfboard is one of the most versatile boards you can own. Sitting between a shortboard and a longboard its typically in the 7 to 8'6" foot range. A mid-length combines the paddle power and wave catching ability of a longer board but with more manoeuvrability.

dead leggie

The deck

Tail and deck

Fins and bottom

Fins

Billy Tolhurst

Standing up

Winter Breakfast Ciabatta

Got up early today its a feels like temp of 2.6 C. Lit the pizza oven and baked a ciabatta and had it with some home made chicken soup for breakfast. Just added some thyme, sage and rosemary blossom from the garden to garnish the soup. Yum

Ciabatta baking

Chook soup and Ciabatta

totally unrelated fox lamp :-)