Sesame

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Sesame (til, gingili)
goma 胡麻 sesame

***** Location: India, other areas
***** Season: Late Autumn
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an ancient cultigen. Today, it is mostly grown in India and the Far East (China, Korea), but its origin is probably tropic Africa (although some other sources seem to favour an Indian origin).



Sesame is among the most important oil seeds of mankind, and one of its oldest. There are very different kinds of sesame oil available, and some knowledge about their culinary properties is required to make a competent choice.

Oriental sesame oil owes its characteristic flavour to a huge number of compounds which form only during the toasting procedure. Toasted sesame seeds are a common spice in Eastern Asia; it is often sprinkled over Japanese and Korean dishes.

Read more and look at more photos of Gernot Katzer:
Sesame, (Sesamum indicum L.) : Spice Pages


Various names for the Sesame in India, this is the beginning of a list:

Gujarati : Mittho-tel, Tal
Hindi : Til, Gingli
Marathi : Til, Ashadital, Bariktil
Nepali : Til
Punjabi : Til
Sanskrit : Tila
Tamil : Ellu, Yellu, Jinjili

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Til oil - which is called - Nalla ennai, meaning 'good oil' has been in use by Tamizhs for centuries.
When we were children my mother use to rub Til oil on our hair every Saturday. A ritual that she meticulously followed for years. She would rub and coax the oil in gently into the scalp and the movement used to be so soothing. . . an experience in itself.

pickle making:
the smell of sesame seeds
as it bursts in oil

kala ramesh

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Worldwide use

Japan

sesame, goma　ゴマ、ごま、胡麻
fresh sesame seeds, shin goma 新胡麻
cutting sesame plants, goma karu　胡麻刈る
............. MORE
Goma ... Sesame KIGO in mid-Autumn

This plant has been know to Japan since olden times. Its oil and seeds are ingredients of the Japanese quisine. The seeds are harvested in September.
The seeds come in four colors, white, black, golden and green.

Sesame Tofu　(gomadoofu 胡麻豆腐）、a kind of pudding, is one of the best treats of the Zen kitchen.

See the SESAME SUMMER KIGO below.

Gabi Greve

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Tibet

Tilopa

One of the famous Mahasiddhas, Tilopa, is closely related to the Sesame plant.
Some wall paintings in Tibet show him pounding sesame seeds in a mortar. As the oil is within the seed, but not visible, so is enlightenment innate to a human being.

Tilopa pounding Sesame



© Photo from an article by Rob Linrothe
Orientations Volume 37 - April 2006

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Tilopa (988-1069)
was born a brahmin in India, but he renounced the world while still quite young to become an ascetic. After a short period, he had a vision of a dakini who gave him an explicit tantric initiation that connected him directly with the Void. She enjoined him to throw away his monk's robes, to act spontaneously and to practice in secret.

He became a wandering yogi and received instructions from several siddhas. In Bengal he spent twelve years earning his living by producing oil from sesame seed during the day, and working in the service of a prostitute by night, thus abjuring completely his brahmin status. (Tilopa was named for the til or sesame seed.)

Later on, meditating in a seclusion in a tiny grass hut, he came face-to-face with the form of Buddha Vajradhara. The Kagyu denomination holds the Mahamudra teachings that were received directly from Vajradhara via Tilopa.

Following that realization, this unpredictable and powerful master wandered about the country teaching and performing miracles.
He is considered a master in the attitude and techniques of four distinct transmissions.
http://www.khandro.net/TibBud_Tilopa.htm

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Things found on the way

Sesame cookies with haiku inside!
www.boisepoetry.com/news.htm

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HAIKU

Two Haiga from Japan



胡麻を煎るほどの笑いや全学連　
goma o iru hodo no warai ya zen gakuren

such a laugh
when roasting sesame seeds -
All Japan Students Association
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

時枝武

Zengakuren (全学連)
All-Japan Federation of Students' Self-Governing Associations

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黒蜜と胡麻がコラボだなだ万風
kuromitsu to goma ga korabo da nada manpuu

black honey and
sesame in collaboration -
what a desert pudding !
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

ちるりん さん
http://haiku.blog.livedoor.com/ichiran.php?kg=8681

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Stray sesame seed
Lodged in the stapler
Breakfast at his desk again

George M. Wallace: A fool in the Forest

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enlightenment
not too far away
sesame paste on my bread

Gabi Greve, March 2006

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Eat you up then
enlightenment through gingili gingili
it's so easy so easy!

Aju Mukhopadhyay, India

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On Saturdays, before rubbing the oil on the head, two things are traditionally done:

1. The oil is to slightly heated before such a bath is taken/given.
2. Mother or some other elder of the house dips her/his finger into the oil bowl and make seven (five for girls) dots of oil on the right thigh (left for female).

Seven signify the seven mythological Aswathaamaa, Bali, Vyaasaa, Hanumaan, Vibishanaa, Kripa and Parasurama – all these are believed to have no death - "chiranjeevi" ie living for ever.

Five signify the five mythological "kanyaa" ( exact equivalent –
virgin ) but generally here refers to exceptionally virtuous women held in high esteem - Akalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandotari.

The idea of keeping the dots – the person being given the oil bath is to be like them or to be blessed by them.

saturday
he has sesame oil bath
with the seven

all over body
nalla ennai cools her
five smiling

alone
she remembers mom
taking oilbath

fragrance
sesame oil lingers on hair
saturday morning

Diwali
kid shows off in new clothes
after oil bath

A.Thiagarajan


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sesame flowers -
a yellow sun slips
from a monk's fist

- Shared by Harvinder Dhaliwal -
Joys of Japan, 2012



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Related words

***** Sesame Kigo for Summer

sowing sesame, goma maki 胡麻蒔き
sesame flowers, goma no hana　胡麻の花


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