A “Para-Gram” by Paramahansa Yogananda

Intuition is the discriminative faculty that enables you to decide which of two lines of reasoning is right. Perfect intuition makes you a master of all knowledge. Your will and intuition should go hand in hand. A person with a strong will usually has an active intuitionanl power. You should develop the latent intuitive faculty, it can grow only through meditation. Do no make unimportant things important, nor concentrate on trifles at th expense of vital matters, or you will hamper your progress. Impulsive actions that are not in keeping with one’s real duties are undesirable. Let sould intuition guide your thinking, and then proceed confidently in any undertaking.

MONOATOMI GOLD: “Monoatomic gold allows subconsciously held beliefs and worries to surface and become understood; this process happens sequentally, bringing to light one issue at a time. Monoatomic Gold helps to develop keen insight and psychic abilities”.

There is some new info from Laurence Gardiner and the study at Oxford University about Monoatomic Gold. The scientist were injecting gold with saline into their study subjects’s veins , i think 3 people from 1000 got some type of Paulsy – part of their faces became paralyzed, but they recovered. So they cancelled the entire study after a few weeks or maybe a month in, due to possible negative side effects. I have being trying to google the information but I haven’t been lucky yet. BUT in the process look what I found!

If you google monoatomic gold you will find articles debating about it. For example:

White Powder Gold/Ormus is defined as the ORMEs, Orbitally Rearranged Monatomic Elements, which is basically gold or any other element in a monatomic form. When the white gold powder is mixed with water we get the ultimate elixir of life sometimes called Ormus. This White Powder Gold or Ormus has different names and connotations. In Hebrew it is called ‘Manna’. Manna was the holy bread consumed by the Melchizedek priest who was referred to as the high priest among the Jews. It is the food or light consumed by the body. There are many theories behind the etymology of the White Powder Gold Some rabbis will tell you that the White Powder Gold simply disappeared after the destruction of the temple of Solomon. While some say it was simply kept secret by a society called the Qumran that later became the Essenes.

YOU might also google and find something like :

ORMUS,MONATOMIC GOLD is it the Perfect Superfood?

Picture your every cell as a galaxy with a spinning black hole (singularity) at its center and a renewed event horizon (membrane) allowing it to magnetize new energy  levels, awarenesses, and cellular attitudes.

My understanding: we go through that same process without the gold, everyday, in a slower tempo because of our  little awareness of our subcounscious,  our transformation degree is manageable by our own ability to see ourselves as we are or our choice to deny what we don’t want to see…(withoutgold)…

With gold we are forced to see the subcounscious and deal with it. One can choose to react to it or to respond to it. When reacting, the character is dominated by the lower frequency of thinking. When responding, the character is trascended by the highest vibration practices. The more discipline into practice (meditation) the fastest the trascendence of th subcounscious imprint accumulated by the limiting conditioning of experience is…

The more breaths per minute the less thoughts. The more thoughts per minute the less breathing, this fact measures your level of awareness at the highest vibration level. It has been this practice of meditation and love that has pulled me out of the lowest vibration pull of the human vices of the mind (like it does too without the monoatomic gold)…

The higher dosis of monoatomic gold taken brought to the surface my greatest element in relationship with others – Trust – which has been a leading path in the way i relate with the world – so it si not the gold that makes one “paranoic” about the outside world ~ all those insecurities are there at the human level – the challenge is to trascend that state in order to go to the next one (whichever that one is)…

Which leaves me with the hypotesis that: to take monoatomic gold one must be willing to see the self as it is and have the strenght to accept one’s own humanity with compassion and love; also must have a solid trascendental practice as a tool to evolve through the karma revealed…it is like:

Budha in deep meditation encircles himself with trust in the higher good when the serpent and the lyon and the woman (lower frequencies of desire) try to frighten him/lure/seduce him out of his higher meditation state that requires a pure heart and a peaceful mind – or it is like jesus in the desert  battleing with the “devil” while in deep meditation…

Then, I would not recommend inyect monoatomic Gold through the veins  …scientists, always doubting the absolute omnipresence of God in all things dare to alter natural states in order to achieve recogniztion in discovery, a low vibration of the self…why did they decide to use needles and inyect monoatomic gold via the blood?, didn’t they read all this information? in sacred texts it clearly says gold DIGESTED, are they crazy?! this is an element that is demonstrating us the quality of traveling space through time and levitation, the qualities of light ~ bringing awareness to the self one issue at a time, one by one, I can;t imagine inyecting it to the blood ~ by experience I say that face paralysis can happen from too much stress, and you and I know that stress is caused by too much thinking…

If at all use monoatomic gold as the sacred texts describe…have respect for the light ~

In relfection of my experience with Monoatomic Gold I leave you with this  ~ FROM THE TIBETAN BOK OF LIVING AND DYING:
The wise guide

Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. As you listen more and more to the tachings, contemplate them, adn integrate them into your life, your inner voice, our innate wisdom of discernment, what we call in Buddhism “discriminating awareness,” is awakened and stregthened, and you begin to distinguish between its guidance and the various clamorous and enthralling voices of ego. The memory of your real nature, with all its splendor and confidence, begins to retunr to you.

You will dinf, in fact, that you have uncovered in yourself your own wise guide. Because he or she knows you through and through, since he or she is you, your guide can help you, with increasing clarity and humor, negotiate all the difficulties of your thoughts and emotions. Your guide can also e a continual, joyful, tender, sometimes teasing presence, who knows always what is best for you and will help you find more and more ways out of your obsession with your habitual responses and confused emotions. As the voice of your discriminating awareness gorws stronger and clearer, you will start to distinguish between its truth and the various deceptions of the ego, and you will be able to listen to it with discernment and confidence.

The more often you listen to this wise guide, the more easily you will be able to change your negative moods yourself, see through them, and even laugh at them for the absurd dramas and ridiculous illusions that they are. Gradually you will find yourslef able to free yourself more and more quickly from the dark emotions that have ruled your life, and this ability to do so is the greatest miracle of all. Tertön Sogyal, the Tibetan mystic, said that he was not really impressed by someone who could turn the floor into the ceiling or fire into water. A real miracle, he said, was if someone could liberate just one negative emotion.

More and more, then, instead of the harsh and fragmented gossip that ego has been talking to you all your life, you will find yourself hearing in your mind the clear directions of the teachings, which inspire, admonish, guide, and direct you at every turn. The more you listen, the more guidance you will receive. If you follow the voice of your wise guide, the voice of your discriminating awareness, and let ego fall silent, you come to experience that presence of wisdom and joy and bliss that you really are. A new life, utterly different from that when you were masquerading as your ego, begins in you. And when death comes, you will have learned already in life how to control those emotions and thoughts that in the states of eath, the bardos, would oterwise take on an overwhelming reality.

When your amnesia over your identity begins to be cured, you will realize finally that dak dzin, graspong at self, is the root cause of all your suffering. You will understand at last how much harm it has done both to yourself and to others, and you will realize that both the noblest and the wisest thing to do is to cherish others instead of cherishing yourslef. This will bring healing to your heart, healing to your mind, and healing to your spirit.

It is important to remember always that the principle of egolessness does not mean that there was an ego in the first place, and the Buddhists did away with it. On the contraty, it means there was never any ego at all to begin with. To realize that is called “egolessness.”

LOVE

yeye

Technorati Tags: 5th-dynasty pyramid tomb of King Unas at Saqqara, alchemicalelixirs, Egypt, Egyptian Pyramid Texts, life, monoatomic gold, Orbitally Rearranged Monatomic Elements, ORMUS, Science, superfood, Tibetan Buddhism

Dear Diary…11/18/2009

As I sit in the lobby of the Programación de Educación Permanente (PEP) Hotel at Earth University near Guapiles, Costa Rica writing on a notebook made of 90% banana/10% recycled fiber I think back to my alternate life living in the United States. So much time misspent stressing about bills, about whether I would make enough money to start a family (‘cause love don’t pay the bills), and if I would ever make my “American Dream” a reality.

Now, I listen to the rain, reflect on my day spent touring Earth University and envision a night discussing the Earth’s sustainable future with my new friends and colleagues.  I relax in my chair and think about our visit tomorrow to a local bamboo guru where we will devise a plan to give work to the local Tico (Costa Rican nationals) homeless having them to help harvest, treat, manufacture and build bamboo structures to be flat-packed and shipped to Tree of Life’s properties near Dominical. These properties will eventually house everyone from teachers, the homeless, and disadvantaged local farmers to co-create sustainable villages thus catalyzing a new paradigm on Earth.

I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica on October 24^th, 2009 with the intention of working in the city as an ESL (English as a Second Language) Instructor and hopefully making enough money in six months to move to the beach, build a tree house, create my art and live a life of simplicity and true alignment with Nature and Spirit. Since human evolution seems to be accelerating in quantum leaps these days, this vision of my simple life happened much faster than anticipated, proving the Divine power of intention.

After living in San Jose for one week with a high school friend, I was compelled to scan for non-profit job advertisements on the ubiquitous Craigslist. Lo and behold, what do my wondering eyes do appear? A job helping to create sustainable eco-villages, coordinate spiritually centered adventure tours, and become a member of a leading edge think-tank for a new global paradigm.

I sat back in my chair and held my breath – could this be for real? Had I traveled 5000 miles straight into my destiny? Had I honestly aligned myself with exactly what I have wanted to do for the past five years (but thought it out of my grasp)?

I left the confines of the crowded, polluted (although the mountains surrounding are quite breathtaking) city of San Jose, Costa Rica on November 1^st, and my true purpose for being in Costa Rica was revealed to me. A short 3-hour bus ride later brought me to the city of San Isidro and I emerged from the bus to the smiling, welcoming face of Jon Chapman (whose name, interestingly enough is the same as the legendary Johnny Appleseed). His countenance glowed with a mélange of child-like excitement, compassion and utter humility.

“This man is truly an enlightened being,” I thought, “eager to greet me and share his vision with someone equally as eager to listen and learn.”

Sheltering ourselves from the pouring rain and carefully shielding my two gigantic duffel bags filled with almost everything I own (I still think I over-packed) from the passing splash of traffic; we waited for our ride to the main house 40 minutes away in Platanillo, about 20 minutes East of Dominical. Jon’s eyes lit up as he made out the forest green Ryd-On vehicle, a fully converted short school bus owned by fellow compatriot, Chris Hoover. Chris also hailed from Boulder and arrived a month previous (the synchronicities kept lining up).

The Ryd-On bus sidled up to the curb and the door swung open. Inside were Christy and Bernard, their 5-year old son Gio, and the instantly lovable Akida, Koma (a play on “Kuma” the Japanese name for Bear, which oddly enough was my DJ name when I lived in Brooklyn!)

OK, now this is getting weird, but a good weird, y’know?

I immediately felt at peace, and the anxiety of blindly moving my entire life to Latin America quickly faded – these were my peeps.

Being welcomed into this evolutionary fray was like passing into another parallel dimension, truly defining the existence of the multi-verse. I was still in this dimension, but I now existed on an evolutionary plane that I would have never imagined. I spent the rest of the evening settling in to my new living space (a cot with a mosquito net on an expansive back porch overlooking the jungle), relished in my new freedom and drifted off to sleep.

I have been living here now for three weeks and my eyes and awareness are opening wider everyday. The reason, I believe, that I have been Divinely transported here, as I was Divinely transported to Boulder two years ago, is to live my life ON PURPOSE.  I could regale you with my magnificently mediocre former life as a frustrated, although passionate, remora of the music industry, or I could tell the story of a 36 year-old man who was destined to keep making the same mistakes over and over, but began meditating everyday and managed to break away from ego and drift (although very slowly) towards true realization of the Divine within – but that is a whole other story.

Tree of Life is an organization of forward thinking humans who share the common goal of evolving our planet into a new paradigm. There are myriad methods of planetary evolution, whether through technology, sustainable development, community building, or education, but the question TOL asks is,

How can this evolution take place on a global scale? Can we create a community right here, right now, where a relatively untouched 3^rd world nation can create a blueprint for a fully sustainable, socially just and spiritually aligned Earth?

We are surely going to try. As I have learned, and am still learning, evolution only occurs by first evolving the individual.  By evolving oneself into a person who is dedicated to serving their fellow human, by default you are evolving the entire human race through your energy.  There are many schools of thought on this subject, but the one that has always resonated with me is that at a quantum level we are all one energy, and one person affects the entire whole. Call it the Butterfly Effect, call it collective consciousness, call it quantum mechanics, whatever; but when just one person acts, or does not act, that vibratory emission will always have an effect on the people (plants, animals, technology, etc.) around them. That is why in order to truly evolve our society we must first evolve ourselves by serving the whole.

The main focus of Tree of Life is to co-create a spiritually based sustainable community that will directly serve the needs of others. By providing a place on Earth that will not only teach people to live in harmony with their natural environment, but also create a harmonic, generational shift in consciousness, TOL’s efforts aim to create a blueprint for global oneness communities.

The founder of TOL (although he does not resonate with titles), Jon Chapman, has saved 12 pristine areas of Southern Pacific Costa Rican property from developers and has been running adventure tours (whitewater rafting, rappelling, hiking, snorkeling, etc.) for over 14 years.  Fortunately for the rest of the globe, his vision does not stop there. This is where it all begins.

For more information on joining our sustainable community here in Costa Rica, or to book an adventure tour with Tree of Life, please email.

Blessings,

Baird Duschatko

Domincal, Costa Rica

Technorati Tags: community, Costa Rica, diary, eco, environment, jungle, life, music, purpose, rainforest, spiritual, tours, travel, tree of life

Healthy Living Tips for Children.

By Diana Mercer, founder Clementine Art.

During a tot’s art class at my children’s art studio in Boulder, Colorado, a parent discovered that her toddler had placed a green paintbrush in her mouth, much like a lollipop. We both flinched as the paint smeared around her little girl’s lips, coating the inside of her mouth.

Springing to action, we rinsed and wiped her daughter clean. This mother turned to me with a worried look and asked,

“Is this really ok?”

“Our paint is non-toxic,” I replied.

For more than 20 years as a teacher, I have understood that non-toxic is as good as it gets for children’s art supplies. The label “non-toxic” means that a product is not related to any toxin or poison—it will not kill anyone. For many years, The American National Standards Institute (ASTM) has certified that art supplies meet non-toxicity standard ASTM D-4236 and that any toxins will be clearly listed on the label.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Parents and others buying art materials, school supplies and toys such as crayons, paint sets, or modeling clay should be alert and purchase only those products which are accompanied by the statement “Conforms to ASTM D-4236.”

Like many people, I have become concerned about our environment and more aware of health issues as they relate to my food, cosmetics and many other consumer choices. I buy organics when I can, bring grocery bags to the store with me, and ride my bike instead of getting in the car so often.

After the paint-in-the-mouth incident, I felt besieged by unanswered questions about what children’s paint is made of. Why aren’t the ingredients on the label?! The colors, odor, and seemingly infinite shelf life of children’s paint made me wonder what kind of chemicals, synthetic dyes, and preservatives were contained in my “non-toxic” bottle of paint.

As a consumer, I’m concerned by news that widely distributed toys from China were discovered to contain excess levels of lead paint; that a ubiquitous children’s dough is reportedly made using a petroleum base; and that art materials contain synthetic dyes that have been linked to a wide variety of health issues in children including allergies, ADHD, and a variety of cancers.

I love art, and children. As an art teacher, I want to provide children with safer choices. On my short list, I’d like a product that is made with natural ingredients that I can pronounce. I’d like to purchase them from a company that is honest enough to list their ingredients right on the package. I want art materials that are safe for children, and the environment.

And so—not seeing what I wanted for my children and students on retail shelves, I resolved to do it myself. Clementine Art was founded on the principle that we can do better for children. Our high quality art supplies are made with environmentally-friendly, natural ingredients, certified non-toxic. Clementine packaging is made of 100% post consumer recycled and reusable materials.

Clementine Art founder Diana Mercer has more than 20 years experience in the early childhood and art education classroom, Diana Mercer has developed a deep respect for children, and for the role of creative exploration in healthy child development.

This article is adapted from a previous article in LOHAS Journal.

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artistic, Boulder, children, clay, clementine art, Colorado, create, eco, environment, paint, teach, teacher, toxic

Why We Should Consider Organic, Homesteading, and Vegetarian Alternatives

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, and with my newly turned eco-responsibility-leaf and with one of our family members going vegetarian, this year Thanksgiving presents a whole new set of challenges.

The idea of a green or even a vegetarian Thanksgiving seems like blasphemy to die-hard turkey stuffers. To ease newbies into what will inevitably be a culture shock, I started dropping the idea of a green feast that goes beyond organic, free-range turkey. When asked how they might “green” their Thanksgiving, I got all sorts of responses from “add more plants to the dinner table” to “use green dye on the turkey!”

If we’re to be literalists, then I’d rather go cold turkey than sit across the table from a green turkey. There are however a few other great options for ‘greening’ your thanksgiving

1) Buy local turkeys

2) Raise your own turkeys

3) Go vegetarian.

Rethinking the Main Course

A growing number of Americans are trying homesteading. In addition to healthier, steroid-free livestock, you’ve done your part to substantially reduce your carbon footprint (talk about local!).  Furthermore, you’ve reaffirmed a commitment to sustainable living and can even reap government benefits—some states allow homestead exemption to owners of principal, full-time residences (see Office of Tax and Revenue).

The other option is to try going vegetarian. The veggie kick brought with it the “Tofurkey,” a tofu turkey that received grimaces from most non-vegetarians, including myself if only because of the horrid name for it. Another option is to try a soy-seitan turkey – (for a great recipe, check out Chef Bryanna Clark Grogan). Soy is an alternative to tofu, and for many it has a much more appealing taste.

Most people are immediately turned off when thinking of vegetarian alternatives to traditional meat dishes.  But this isn’t because of experience, (since mostly like they’ve never even tried it), but rather because of conditioning. We’re brought up being programmed to think fowl when imagining a Thanksgiving meal.  It’ll take a lot of deprogramming and a little willingness on people’s part to taste a soy turkey – but once they try it, they’ll be one step closer to rethinking their attitude.

Your part in all this is to make sure you don’t botch it up.  Find a great recipe, and do quick pre turkey day test run.  This way you can be sure that on the big day and know your feast will be a big hit, with some turkey somewhere thanking you for being spared the gauntlet.

DID YOU KNOW: Approximately 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. on Thanksgiving?  That’s about a sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year.

With facts like these, it’s all the more important that we do our part to bring this number down.

Why You Should Green Your Meat

Not to long ago, there was a bigger to-do about our carbon foot print. More recently, people started looking at the carbon foot print of cattle, or what they called a “cow emission”. According a 400 page report by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s report entitled “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, the world’s 1.5 billion cattle are responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than all other forms of transportation combined.

A great measure of how much awareness is spreading about this issue is to look outside of the green community.  When my non eco-friends started discussing it, I knew were starting to gain ground on the importance of the impact cattle has on our environment.

It’s a more commonly known fact that cows produce a tremendous amount of methane a year, adding to an already increased global warming problem.  As a natural part of a collective species, it’s a small and likely insignificant “contribution” – but when considering cattle is farmed to sustain a billion dollar beef industry, we can start seeing the compounded impact to our ecology.

Cows aren’t the only one. Any livestock that is farmed bears a similar burden on the environment. And if you recall the number of turkeys harvested and killed to cater to a Thanksgiving feast, you can start using your abacus to tally up the figures.

The Problem with Turkey

Turkey dinners have their own carbon foot print, or in this case a “wing print”, according to NPR, which did a piece on tracking the amount of resource it takes to raise a turkey and then transport it to its final destination. The added global impact of transporting livestock also strengthens the case for homesteading your poultry. Each step along the way burns natural resources from farming turkey to the fuel it takes to transport them.

DID YOU KNOW: A landmark study at Cornell University revealed that turkey meat “production consumed energy in a 13:1 ratio to protein output.” The study goes on to add that:

• Animal agriculture is a leading consumer of water resources in the United States.
• Livestock are directly or indirectly responsible for much of the soil erosion in the United States
• According to David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology at Cornell University, “More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of the world’s grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans.”

With these clear cut facts, we find ourselves hard pressed not to switch out turkey for soy even if just for one day. My recommendation is to email this article to your friends and family, particularly your guest list to get them thinking about the importance of an eco-friendly Thanksgiving feast.

At the end of the day, Thanksgiving is not about the food as much as it is about community – a gathering of loved ones over a feast regardless of what type of feast it is.  And it’s hardly a celebration of gratitude if you’ve forced a turkey sacrifice for it, who I’m sure isn’t very grateful to have been included as an unwilling participant.

If when you serve your “green meat”, and there’s a chill in the room with you on the receiving end of cold stares, warm up the place with a portable space heater. Ignore the stares and dig in.  Sooner or later everyone else will likely try it too – especially considering it’ll be too late to go anywhere else for a last minute meal.

If you’ve got to get people to consider alternative lifestyle choices by hook and by crook, then so be it.  We’re on about 45 million turkeys here that will be very grateful to you for your efforts.

Shireen Qudosi’s article is brought to you by heater-home.com, where you’ll find an abundance of heater articles to help guide you through a cold chilly winter. And don’t forget to follow them on Twitter.

Technorati Tags: animal rights, cattle, cow, eat, eating, eco, environment, green, guide, meat, methane, protein, responsible, soy, thanksgiving, Turkey

In our house we use cloth diapers for our babies.

But lately, as I’ve tried explaining to other people why we do it

I’m beginning to realize…

that in today’s world “ease” has become almost like a virtue.

and the choice to work harder than we have to

makes us seem…well,

a little strange.

What am I to do about these people?

I asked Nathan if “easy” could be a virtue.

He said “no,”

That “easy” was actually the opposite of a virtue,

and by definition,

virtue is difficult to achieve, that’s why it’s praiseworthy.

It requires skill and practice.

But if you think about why we “work” and what we consider “work,”

we mean, “make money.”

And we make money, in order to make life easy…

So it’s not hard to see how we might lose touch with the true meaning of virtue.

Everyday, I ask myself, “What am I to do for these people?”

I can make them cuffs…

but they have to accept them.

and really, we are a little strange…

but worth knowing.

“I fought in a war” by Belle and Sebastian

lveo. peace~ the travelingneighborhood

Technorati Tags: belle and sebastian, cuffs, cuffs for everyone, I fought in a war, the revolution of the mommies

I notice something every winter. People suddenly get the urge to decorate their homes with tiny porcelain bowls filled with colorful, foil-wrapped chocolate. Or gumdrops. Or that terrible iridescent ribbon candy that sticks together.

 Is this some kind of seasonal survival technique? Better keep candy close in case of a snowstorm – we could all starve in here!

 (Of course, this would be a misguided effort. If you are ever starving to death and have to choose between white sugar or nothing, eating nothing will keep you alive longer. Did you know that?)

 But even Mother Nature chooses to provide us with colorful sweets in the winter months. How does she do it? She doesn’t even have a subscription to Martha Stewart Magazine.

Think about it. With bright colors and festive shapes, winter squash are some of the sweetest vegetables nature has to offer. And pumpkin is just the beginning. You will also find varieties like butternut, acorn, delicata, hubbard, kabocha, (japanese winter quash) and spaghetti squash.

 Sugar feels comforting. No doubt. From the first taste of mother’s milk, babies are drawn to sweet tastes. This is a good thing – our cells need glucose to function. So you might enjoy a handful of candy, at least in the short term. But in the long run, refined sugar causes mood swings, weakens your immune system, interferes with the absorption of calcium, and leads to diabetes. Now that’s not very comforting.

 Naturally occurring sweet flavors are the way to go, really. According to Ayurveda, eating seasonally is key to staying in balance. Winter squash is a sweet, comforting, warming food loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin D, potassium and dietary fiber. This week it was on sale for $1.49/lb at my local store. Enough said.

Not sure how to cook squash? Make sure you have a heavy knife, cutting board, roasting pan and a bit of elbow grease.

 Wash your squash. Such delight in how that rhymes.

1.Chop squash in half, lengthwise. This can be tricky if you can’t muscle the knife all the way through. Start by setting the squash steady on a cutting board surface. You might need to cut off the bottom to be flat. Then, wedge a knife partially into the squash and use a rubber mallet to gently push the knife down. Don’t forget to breathe.

 Oh, who am I kidding? I bang away with a hammer until the darn thing splits open. I promise, the first time might feel odd but soon you’ll get the hang of it.

2. Scoop out the seeds. But don’t throw them away. You can roast them in a pan with a bit of oil and seasoning for a delicious, healthy snack.

3. Time for roasting. Place squash halves in pan, skin side up. Fill pan with 1/4” water and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 400F for about 45 minutes, until the skin is soft and easily pierced with a fork. Cooking time will vary with the size of your squash.

!Voila!

 You’re all set. After cooking, squash can be served as is, with some melted butter in the hollow center. You can also slice or pureé for use in different recipes. Don’t be afraid to eat the skin – it is edible and can add texture and color to your dish. (With spaghetti squash, use a fork to pull apart the flesh of the squash into spaghetti strands.)

 Of course you can also buy pumpkin or butternut pureé in a can. Whatever works. Enjoy your sweets!

Michelle Pfennighaus is a certified holistic health counselor and yoga instructor with clients worldwide. She readily admits to being afraid of handstands and is in love with her immersion blender. Visit Michelle’s Website! Or follow her on twitter @MPfennighaus.

Technorati Tags: butternut, candy, cooking, healthy, pumpkin, seasonal vegetables, squash, sugars, vitamin d, winter

Update: there’s a wonderful blog with many comments and remembrances here.

~

I was inspired by today’s gathering, wake, at Centro in Boulder, in honor of Taige, to write something up in his honor. Not knowing him much, I’m inadequate to the task, so if you’re reading this and knew him well, or know of a friend of his who might be inspired to write a dedication, just email it to me and I’ll post it instead of, or on top of my weak attempt below. Please also feel free to leave dedications in the comments section at bottom. ~ W.

Taige Smith, a gentle giant and manager at Centro in Boulder, passed away unexpectedly and too soon last week. Still, if life is measured by our ability to “be of benefit” to others, as they say in Buddhism, Taige lived a full life. He was beloved by all who knew him, and inspired more love than most anyone I know. He will be missed.

I didn’t know him well at all—but like so, so, so many in Boulder, I liked him a lot. He was that kind of modern fun-loving gentleman: everyone loved him, from all different walks of life…he brought ‘em all together and made a whole new community. Taige’s community of true friends was in full, teary but cheerful and even joyful, yet still heartbroken effect today at his crowded wake at Centro. You knew who his family was—like Taige himself, they towered over a crowded room.

One close friend of Taige’s was crying so much it seemed her eyes were blue waterfalls. She cried not with anger, though, but with love. It was a beautiful, powerful gathering, and a hard one to stay at—the emotion was so strong—but it was even harder to leave, as the love was so full.

Click the above photo for Hosea’s tribute.

From his family:

Technorati Tags: centro, Dave Query, death, dying, rip, taige smith, wake

There are many cool things about being a book reviewer. One of them is that from time to time, I get a cookbook to look over and review; as an amateur foodie and person who generally loves to cook, this is a super great perk… especially if it’s one of the more useful and interesting cookbooks.  The Complete Tassajara Cookbook (named for the Zen Buddhist meditation center in California) definitely falls into that category.

While the book contains a collection of recipes like every other cookbook, this particular cookbook encourages the reader/cook to go beyond the recipes: to experiment and play with them in the spirit of love of adventure in cooking.  Scattered throughout the book are various anecdotes and reflections on cooking and the process of spiritual and personal development through time spent in the kitchen.  The book reads as much as a script from a (good) cooking show as it does a standard collection of recipes and how-to’s.

For the new (or even not so new) cook, there is a complete section on tips and techniques for everything from knife care to cooking techniques to working with various, specific ingredients. The recipes themselves (all vegetarian) are nicely simple and easy to follow, and I have to say that the results are pretty tasty. This is definitely a cookbook that should be on any cooking enthusiast’s shelf, vegetarian or not; it’s definitely going on my top books of 2009 list.  From Shambhala Publications and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Shop independent, shop local, and tell ‘em you saw it on Elephant Journal!)

Technorati Tags: Edward Espe Brown, Shambhala Publications, Tassajara, Tassajara Cookbook, vegetarian, vegetarian food, vegetarianism

In my last post we explored the concept of selfishness as it pertains to personal growth. To take the conversation a step further, we have to talk about service. Why? Because if you really want to talk about not being selfish, then a conversation about being self-less needs to happen.

But what is selflessness? What does that really mean? And how do I know when I am being selfish versus selfless?

I’m here to assert that by being “selfish” you can be genuinely selfless.

Selflessness, or serving and helping others, is one of the core pillars of being a revolutionary man. To live is to serve. If you want to be the kind of man leaves his mark, consider making service a central part of who you are and how you spend your time.

Conventional Service & Service Materialism

How is it that service is so often taught as “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours?” In our modern, western culture, service seems to be fairly conditional. I’ll help you, but I expect something in return. I’ll give you my $20 million, but I want the stadium named after me.

Not only that, but service in many circles overtly excludes and discriminates against people. WTF?

For example, some religions teach that if you serve “correctly” and according to God’s will, going to heaven one day will be your reward. So rather than serve because it genuinely comes through me, I serve so that I can get the carrot– heaven.

Some groups will even teach their followers to only help certain groups of people while discriminating against others (people of color, gays, women). Hmmm. Seems fishy to me.

These examples are what I call service materialism—serving in hopes of material reward and discrimination cloaked in the name of service. Essentially, service materialism is when you use service as a way to confirm yourself or get what you want for your own benefit.

Idiot Compassion

Another term for this kind of behavior is “idiot compassion.” In a conventional sense, acting selfless gives you accolades and confirmation from friends, coworkers and colleagues. But remember, acting selfless doesn’t mean that you are selfless. Tibetan Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche called acting nice and kind “idiot compassion.”

Rinpoche defined Idiot compassion as “a slimy way of trying to fulfill your desire secretly.” Or as the karmayogini journal states, “It is when you give people what they want as opposed to what they need, all in the name of being nice and compassionate [so that you can feel better yourself].”

Idiot compassion then, has serious strings attached and is all about the givers own neurotic needs and desires.

However, for some of us, idiot compassion is the doorway to true compassion. I remember in my college fraternity we would do a philanthropy just to get the University, neighbors, and national office off our backs. But once we actually got in there and rolled up our sleeves with the elementary school kids, my heart would melt and I would have a blast genuinely serving the kids.

Genuine Service & True Compassion

Genuine service on the other hand, comes from your heart and there is no need to get anything in return, such as tithing, a trophy with your name on it, a back rub, or even a thank you. However…read the rest here.

Technorati Tags: idiot compassioin, service

It’s a lucky week for me: last night, I got to introduce one of my true idols, Lester Brown, overa at CU, and have dinner with him after (though I ran off early to go climb at the Spot Climbing Gym). This Saturday, I’m on a panel with…Ann Cooper, the School Lunch Lady who I first read about in the New Yorker, and saw on Colbert Report…she’s working to bring back cooking and real food to schools across the nation. Next month, along with Kimbal Musk of One Riot, Tesla, The Kitchen and Dave Kingsbury of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Bcycles, Ann will appear on our Walk the Talk Show at Naropa University.

In Boulder? Come Saturday, it’ll be fun, and spread the word if so inspired. Not in Boulder? I’ll post photos, video of Ann and I, and report. ~ed.

Cornucopia of Local

Cornucopia of Local Panels – Schedule – 11.21.09

11am – Eat and Grow Local; Food, Environment, and Wellness

Catherine Harley – Personal Family Farmers
Topic: The Square Foot Garden Method makes it is easy to grow your own produce

Kipp Nash – Community Roots

Topic:  Neighborhood Supported Agriculture Model in suburban communities

Meg Cattell, PhD –  Veterinarian and the co-owner of Windsor Dairy Organic Farm

Topic:  Creating positive changes in environment, local food, and your health
Indira Gupta, MSW – food to connect personal to planetary wellness, sustainability & Ayurveda

Topic:  Ayurveda; homemade yogurt, ghee, and Indian Cheese for your personal wellness
Vijay Gupta, PhD – Professor of hydrology at the University of Colorado, Boulder

Topic:  Fundamental relationships between water, agriculture, and climate change

Noon – Beekeeping, Backyard Chickens, and Permaculture

Tom Theobald – Niwot Honey Farm

Topic:  Impact of honeybees (or their absence) on the viability of local food production

Barbara Mueser – The Garden Muse

Topic:  Permaculture at Home – Design your home garden and practice being sustainable

Mary Young – Neighborhood Activist and Member of the City of Boulder’s Planning Board

Topic:  Urban Hens with University of Colorado; designed & constructed many backyard coops

1pm – Transitioning to Local Food – Why & How

Michael Brownlee – Co-founder of Transition Colorado; Catalyst for Relocalization

Topic:  Transitioning from an oil-based industrial model to a localized model

Shanan Olson – Part Owner; Abbondanza Organic Seeds and Produce

Topic:  CSA – Community Supported Agriculture

2pm – Living Locally – Supporting Local

Ann Cooper – Boulder Valley Public Schools; Chef, Author; Lunchbox.org

Topic: How local food plays a role in the district’s new food system

Ravi Dykema –Boulder Independent Business Alliance Board President; Publisher, Nexus Journal

Topic: Locally owned independent businesses impact on our economy and our community

Waylon Lewis – Editor, elephantjournal.com. Host: Walk the Talk Show

Topic: Why “local” is the old-fashioned, timeless, modern key to resilient business communities

Eladia Rivera – Boulder Public Library; resources

Topic: Free resource supports citizenry and local business involved in green pursuits

Technorati Tags: Ann Cooper, biba