Amor Vincit Omnia

2009-05-27T09:46:00.002-04:00

Wow, I realize I have not posted for a while. I plan on completing my last two reports over the next week: Module 7: Food: Growth and Preparation (not one of my key interests, perhaps that's why I was slow to process the data) and Module 8: Modernity: Preventable Illnes, Specific Issues, Death (very interesting!). The reading has been done for a while; I have just been distracted by career concerns, personal introspection and my new mentally sharp, sensitive and gorgeous Dobermann, Hunter, who I adore.

Next I formulate a thesis proposal and shoot it over to Dr. Cousins for rejection, edits or approval. Thinking of making a creative/spiritual proposition ... see if he goes for it.

Book Review (The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered) Eisenman, Robert & Michael Wise

2008-12-09T16:23:00.004-05:00

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered describes the discovery, disclosure process, and content of the many scrolls found in some of the caves near Qumran on the Dead Sea. With this book, for the first time the public was enabled access to the most intriguing texts from the unpublished corpus and allowed to judge for itself. Providing English translations as well as transcriptions into modern Hebrew characters, this book makes available 50 texts. Accompanied by commentaries, these texts provide insights into Messianism, an alternative presentation of the flood story, ecstatic visions, prophecies, Mysteries, astrology, divination and much more.

We are given Messianic and Visionary Recitals (of Noah and Michael), prophets and pseudo prophets (angels of Mastemoth and the rule of Belial, pseudo Jeremiah, second Ezekiel, pseudo Daniel, the vision of the four kingdoms), biblical interpretation (pesher, Florilegium, calendria) calendrical texts and priestly courses, testaments and admonitions (righteousness, truth, judgement, knowledge, wisdom,) legal minutiae, and the claim that works are to be reckoned as righteousness. Divination, magic and are explored in brontologion (future text), selinedromion (moon text), and thema mundi (world horoscope) articles. The exacting roles of the Maskil and Mebakker are delineated, as is the Way.

The tone of the scrolls is one of unbending nationalism and anti-corruption in the language of righteousness indignation. No peaceful Essenes here. The scrolls are an expression of dazzling faith and ecstatic vision and definitively identify the Essenes as a group, a movement. This is nothing less than the literature of the Messianic Movement in Palestine. Responsible for the uprising that led to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, its later stages are virtually indistinguishable from the rise of Christianity in Palestine. As noted in Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls and The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, this book too sheds light on the formation of early Christianity.

Book Review (The Dead Sea Scrolls Today) James C. VanderKam

2008-12-09T15:39:00.007-05:00

The Dead Sea Scrolls Today describes the discovery and disclosure of the many scrolls found in many of the caves near Qumran on the Dead Sea.

It surveys the various and numerous manuscripts:
Biblical
Targums (tefillin and mezuzot)
Aprocrypha (tobit, sirach, letter of Jeremiah, psalm 151, pseudepigrapha, Enoch, Jubilees, and testament of 12 patriarchs)
Habakkak commentary
Psalm 37
Themed commentaries (Floriliegium, Testimonia, Melchizedek texts)
Geneisis (paraphrases, legal texts, Damascus document
Manual of Discipline
Temple scroll
Torah
Writings of worship (cycle of Worship, liturgy, calendricalia)
Poetic compositions (Thanksgiving hymns, other poems)
Eschatological works (the war rule)
Wisdom texts

Vanderkam provides a case for identifying the original owners of the scrolls and inhabitants of the Qumran settlement with his Essene hypothesis. The Essenes were one of three ancient Jewish groups or philosophies named and described by historian Josephus; the other two (or three the Zealots are included) were the more famous Pharisees and Sadducees featured in the New Testament Gospels and Acts. Josephus tells of these three groups being active from mid-second century B.C. unit the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Pliny described the Essenes as a celebate group of men renouncing money, living on the west side of the Dead Sea, but a sect continuing over that space of history, remarkably according to Pliny, considering they were not known to traditionally breed. (p. 72)

Vanderkam suggests the beliefs and practices of the Essenes agree well with the beliefs and practices presented in the Dead Sea Scrolls. (p. 75) Vanderkam references the Manual of Discipline for the theology of predeterminism and the afterlife and practices of non-use of oil, communal property ownership, purity rites (of eating, bodily functions and spitting).

Differences between the sect and the Essenes according to Josephus included the initiatory procedure and marriage legislation. The group hypothetically could have been a variant of Sadducess or a fortress of people who during the First Jewish Revolt fled to the site from Jerusalem with the manuscripts to hide them from approaching Romans and who had no direct connection with the caves. This anti-Essene hypothesis points for evidence to the lack of legal documents and contracts and lack of (autographic) original, firsthand texts. Since the anti-Essene hypothesis fails to account for the consistency of the Qumran corpus, Pliny’s descriptions, or for the Qumran buildings, Vanderkam found that the Essene hypothesis is the most compelling of any. (p. 97)

If we accept Vanderkam’s thesis, the Qumran Essenes then had specific ideas about predeterminism, the two ways, the New Covenant, scriptural interpretation, the latter days, special laws, the universe, worship and the messianic end of days.

Interestingly, Vanderkam identifies close parallels with the New Testament and suggests that Christianity emerged from Judaism with examples of similarities, congruencies and direct matches in language, references to “the many,” the guardian, phrases from the Sermon on the Mount, practices, characters, eschatology and teachings.

“The Qumran literature has shown to a far greater extent than was sensed
before 1947 how deeply rooted early Christianity was in the Jewish soil that
nourished it. Because of the scrolls, one can more easily see that a large
number of Christianity’s beliefs and practise were not unique to it. The major
contribution of the scrolls to New Testament study is to highlight the simple
but profound fact that the uniqueness of the early Christian faith lies less in
its communal practices and eschatological expectations than in its central
confession that the son of a humble woman and a carpenter from Nazareth in
Galilee was indeed the messiah and son of God who taught, healed, suffered,
died, rose, ascended, and promised to return in glory to judge the living and
the dead. By claiming that the historical Jesus was the messiah, the Christians
also placed themselves farther along on the eschatological timetable than the
Qumran Essenes, who were expecting their messiahs to come in the near
future.” (p. 184.)

Book Review (Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their True Meaning for Judaism and Christianity) Lawrence H. Schiffman

2008-12-08T21:48:00.003-05:00

Since their discovery in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have fascinated. They include the earliest known manuscripts of the Bible, as well as nonbiblical literature, and provide information about the history of Judaism between the Bible and the Mishnah. The scrolls also inform us about the background of Christianity. These scrolls are documents of groups of Second Temple Jews embodied partly by a sect inhabiting the Qumran settlement in the Hasmonaean and Herodian periods, between 135 B.C.E. to 68 C.E. Apparently, the site was abandoned before the massacre at Masada in 73C.E. The scrolls were not the library of the Jerusalem Temple and they were not the documents of an early Christian sect. Most scholars identify the community as the Essenes (Essenoi or Essaioi, healers, doers), in a general way, because the sect at Qumran seemed to have been part of a wider movement. The only information we have about the Essenes comes from Greek sources, Philo, Josephus, and Pliny the Elder.

The scrolls, discovered and disclosed to the public between 1947 and 1967, describe the lifestyle and beliefs of a group of ascetic, observant Jews, who practiced ritual purity, shared eucharist and were led by a Teacher of Righteousness (Correct Teacher). Women and children seemed to be a part of the community.

The group seemed to be reacting against the Sadducees, extreme Hellenists who perpetrated Hellenistic reforms and opened Judaea to the interference of the Selucids, the Antiochan persecutions, and the Maccabean wars. They aligned with the Sadducean priests who continued to be pious during this period, maintaining the ancient traditions of the Temple in Jerusalem. Old Zadokites, especially pious priests, resented Hasmonaean control of the office of high priest and Temple practice and they resented the Pharisaic hegemony.

The scrolls show us that the history of the biblical canon and its text encompassed a collection of writings that formed the core of Jewish literature for all Jews. The canon was the authorized record of God’s revelation, direct or indirect, to humanity, and determining its meaning was none other than identifying the divine word.

Back then, there existed a tripartite division of the Holy Scriptures:

The Torah (Five Books of Moses
Prophets
Writings

The three together constituted what is now called the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh.

Apocryphal literature was a rewritten or retold Bible, not commentaries or supplements but independent works. The trend of Jewish thought produced a body of materials typified by the revelation of mysteries or secrets of the end of days, or a guided tour of heaven. The body included Enoch, Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon, Tobit, Testaments (Levi/Naphtali).

There were scrolls on the wisdom and mysteries of creation: Ben Sira, sapiential texts, and mysteries, and there were also found scrolls on biblical interpretation: Septuagint, Targum, and Pesher commentary. Harmonizing exegesis occurred in the Halakhic Midrash (Mishnah (200 A.D.), Midrash (400-1200 A.D.), and Talmud (rabbinic collection).

After the Roman conquest, the Essenes joined the rebel forces. Josephus records that Essenes fully participated in military action, clearly they were not pacifists. In the revolt itself, the Essenes and sectarian groups such as the Dead Sea sect disappeared as independent entities, as did the Sadducess, who lost their power base when the Temple was destroyed.

The scrolls were concerned with the (anti-Hasmonaean) self definition of the sect, how to live as a Jew, the theology of Jewish law, the law of the sect, prayer and ritual, mysticism, messianism and the end of days. It was concerned with probing the depths of God’s commands and looked forward to the permanent establishment of Jerusalem, the Holy City.

These documents represented the shaping of Jewish identity. The rules of Jewish identity are shown in the documents to be firmly in place. They testify to the triumph of the rabbinic consensus, and became the dominant form of Judaism by the end of the second century. Christians and Samaritans, formerly ancient North Israelites, were at the time already regarded as non-Jews.

“As a result of the elimination of its Jewish competition, the continuing standardization of the biblical text and of Jewish law, and a political alliance with the Roman, the Pharisaic-rabbinic movement was able to strengthen its dominant position within Judaism. By this time, Christianity had absorbed certain apocalyptic ideas of the Second Temple period; Judaism, intent on defining itself against the newly emerging religion, accordingly wrote these ideas out of its tradition. By the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the last vestiges of Second Temple sectarianism were gone from Judaism. The new consensus was essentially complete. From the crucible of sectarianism, revolt, and restoration had emerged the mature Judaism of the Mishnah and Talmud, which came to serve as the foundation of the Judaism we know today.” (p. 409)

Monthly Reading #6: (November 2008) Juice Fasting

2008-12-08T20:27:00.004-05:00

The focus of my reading for November was on juice fasting. The authors, Bragg, Cott, Cousins, Ehret, and Wolfe generally agree on the methodology, scheduling logistics, and benefits of fasting. The benefits can be said to include youthing, concupiscence, weight regulation, internal cleansing, support of self-healing, and salubriousness or health promotion.

My special interest lies in the mystical properties of spiritually-motivated fasting. Following are some of my favourite passages:

From Arnold Ehret in Rational Fasting:
“Vitality (V) = Power (P) – Obstructions (O). Stated differently: “V” equals “P” and if you simply supply the “engine” with the necessary water which is used up, you ascend into a higher state of physical, mental and spiritual condition. ...

Your former life will take on the appearance of a dream, and for the first time in your existence your conscience awakens to a real self-consciousness.” (p. 60)

From Dr. Allan Cott in Fasting: The Ultimate Diet:
“My own experience is like that of so many others who observe that after even a few days of going without food they feel better physically, mentally and spiritually.” (p. 15)

Dr. Cott quotes Ghandi”
“The fast was an uninterrupted 21-days’ prayer whose effect I can feel now. I now know... there is no prayer without fasting... and that fasting relates not merely to the palate but to all sense organs... Thus, all fasting, if it is a spiritual act, is an intense prayer or a preparation for it. It is a yearning of the soul to merge in the divine essence. My last fast was intended to be such a preparation... How far I am in tune with the Infinite, I do not know. But I do know that the fast has made the passion for such a state more intense than ever.” (p. 52)

More from Allan Cott in Fasting: The Ultimate Diet:
“He who wishes to have intercourse with God must thus be abstemious in order to become a pure vessel of the Spirit.” (p. 121)

Paul Bragg in The Miracle of Fasting agrees that fasting can be spiritual. He dedicates an entire chapter entitled “Spiritual Aspects of Fasting” to the theme:
“As the body cleanses and heals itself through fasting, keener mental concentration and clearer spiritual perception develop. ... You attain new levels of great tranquillity, serenity and peace of mind. You become spiritually perceptive and receptive and at one with the Infinite.” (p. 210)

David Wolfe makes some interesting assertions in Eating for Beauty:
“All knowledge and learning amount to little when compared to the need to purify and rejuvenate the body at all levels, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, because a renewed body is capable of accessing the deepest wisdom. Everyone who chooses to purify themselves receives rewards beyond their imagination, If they are willing to progress intelligently and pass the tests. It is through this process of self-purification that we become beings of pure essential beauty.” (p. 35)

And in The Sunfood Diet Success System David Wolfe quotes from Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writngs of Bah’u’llah,
“ That a sick person showeth signs of weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between the soul and the body, for the soul remaineth unaffected by any bodily ailments. ... In like manner, every malady afflicting the human body is an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and power” (p. 157)

Fasting may be the key to spiritual awakening according to David Wolfe’s contact, a Yaqui Indian medicine man. (p. 434)

Gabriel Cousins describes fasting as a process in which “Instead of eating material food, one switches over to the nectar of the Divine Energy (Conscious Eating, p. 227). He says fasting raises pranic energy high enough for Grace to awaken Kundalini. Fasting is not intended to make the body suffer, but is intended as an act of love, as sacrifice of body, mind and ego. Ultimately, it is intended at the highest level to achieve spiritual communion. “At the Tree of Life, we teach Spiritual Fasting as a process of mystical death and rebirth. This is the secret of Spiritual Fasting.” (Spiritual Nutrition, p. 341)

I am intrigued by the spiritual possibilities of fasting and am experimenting with fasting a minimum of one day a week on water, herbal tea or green juice. So far, I am experiencing physical improvements, clarity of mind and will, and heightened peace. The experiment continues.

My Shiatsu Massage Treat at the Carrot Common, Toronto

2008-11-18T16:00:00.008-05:00

Shiatsu is a Japanese bodywork therapy often referred to as "acupuncture without needles." The word Shiatsu means "finger pressure" which is gently applied to pressure points along the energy lines (Meridians) of the body with thumbs, palms, and elbows. Shiatsu is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) utilizing TCM's diagnostic techniques, including Japanese Hara and Meridian diagnosis to assess imbalances in the body's energy system. Shiatsu is a powerful treatment that alleviates pain and tension. Moreover, Shiatsu is highly effective for the prevention and cure of illness providing a valuable component to maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health.

Today I visited the Danforth Shiatsu Clinic to receive my Shiatsu Massage gift from Renaissance Yoga. The Danforth Shiatsu Clinic is comprised of highly trained therapists, Dipl. S.T. designated, and graduates of the most extensive professional training program in North America offering theoretical, practical, and clinical experience. Meridian-style Shiatsu is practiced at the Danforth Shiatsu Clinic for its strong ability to wholistically connect the entire body, providing clients with a profound healing therapy. I was treated by Sarah Walton over the noon hour.

Sarah Walton has a few specialties: Shiatsu Therapist, Reflexologist, Classical Hatha Sananda Devi Yoga, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, and Ayurvedic Massage. I found her to be attentive to my needs and concerned about providing high quality treatment. During the time Sarah had her elbows wedged into strategic locations along the sides of my spine and various other pressure points, we had a great conversation about the Ayurvedic cleanse we both recently completed, Tantra, our vows, Shamanism, conscious relationships, the shadow self, honouring the human side of ourselves, the glory of being female and wielding our feminine power.

Some of her statements are still ringing in my ears because they affirmed my recent rethinking of life passages. I now deem certain experiences as sacred that I used to, and many still do, consider mundane or self-indulgent. Believe me, I've heard all of the standard dispositions to obedience and social conformity. I have mastered the drill on how to be a model citizen and pillar of society and it's not completely satisfying.

My conditioning juxtaposed with the circumstances of this turbulent year left my body-mind in a contracted, vulnerable state and Sarah treated me with shiatsu massage, kindness, compassion and her wisdom. We probed life options. What if you stray and find yourself in a grey area of life, unexplored, provocative? Conventional wisdoms advises a speedy return to the safe, well-mapped terrain of black and white. Sarah conveys her understanding, "You are dealing with some very powerful forces." Her commentary was punctuated with elbow pokes to related chakras.

I felt a little more validated and liberated when the hour ended.

Contact Sarah Walton and schedule your own shiatsu body-mind experience at 416-939-9015. I highly recommend it.

Whole Life Expo (Nov 16, 2008)

2008-11-16T08:10:00.006-05:00

Whole Life Expo is Canada's largest showcase of natural health, alternative medicine, and eco-friendly lifestyles. With 60 speakers and over 200 exhibitors, Whole Life Expo brings the most comprehensive array of natural health products and services ever gathered under one roof.

This year, the Whole Life Expo featured two lectures by Gabriel Cousins:

11:15am- 12:15pm
EATING FOR YOUR BIOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALITY
with Gabriel Cousens, MD
Stage One

Conscious eating begins with eating to enhance one's communion with the Divine, and as Gabriel Cousens, MD, says in Conscious Eating, “Food is a love note from God.” There is a basic blueprint for the cuisine that uplifts consciousness to the level of optimal experience for the individual and the planet. Within that, with over 30,000 gene variations and each of us being unique, knowing how to combine western scientific with eastern traditional systems for determining our biological individuality is key for life-long enjoyment of conscious eating.

Specifically, Gabriel discussed the genetic factors, parasympathetic/sympathetic process; fast or slow oxidizer system; blood type system (and associated lectins); B12 issues; and the Ayurvedic system.

1:45pm - 2:45pm
LIVE FOOD AS A CURE FOR DIABETES
with Gabriel Cousens, MD
Lecture Hall 205

While type-II diabetes is commonly thought of as incurable, world-renowned doctor Gabriel Cousens asserts otherwise. In his program and new book, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program, Cousens presents a breakthrough approach: reverse type-II diabetes through practical changes in nutrition and well-being in 21 days. His revolutionary new approach shows incredible results: medication use ceases within four days and many people have fasting blood sugars of less than 100 after three weeks. This talk presents simple dietary principles for recipes of low-glycemic and low-insulin-scoring meals that go hand in hand with the psycho-spiritual approach the author developed to help diabetes sufferers free themselves from disease, and debunk the myth that diabetes is incurable.

Society is always surprised by any new example of common sense (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
The allopathic tradition has long asserted in its well-known mantra that there is no cure for diabetes, which it considers a progressive, fatal disease. Diabetes is, in fact, completely reversible.

How Does Diabetes Manifest Statistically?
Diabetes affects 246 million people. One person dies every 10 seconds of it. Between 10 to 19 years are lost in the life of a diabetic.

The body becomes insulin resistant (the body blocks its own insulin). Insulin resistance produces inflammatory cytokines; these cross-react with tand damage the beta cells of pancreas. The inflammation accelerates the aging process. Hence, diabetes is accelerated aging.

Twenty-five percent of the children under the age of 15 have diabetes (why provide bicycles? why not go straight to the wheelchairs?). Note prevalent with diabetes is neuropathy, retinopathy, heart disease, alzheimers.

It is caused preeminently by excessive sugar in the diet, as well as excessive animal-derived fat, diary, TV, vaccines, agrochemicals, coffee/caffeine, cigarettes, fibreless diet, stress, lack of exercise, wheat, soy, excitotoxins. Genetics loads the gun; lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Crimes Against Wisdom
You don’t catch diabetes, you earn it by being a party to the culture of death. The Culture of Death sees people as economic commodities to be exploited. The Culture of Death is symolized by better living through chemistry and such initiatives as Codex Alimentarius www.codexalimentarius.net/

While on a trip to another village, Nasrudin lost his favorite copy of the Qur'an. Several weeks later, a goat walked up to Nasrudin, carrying the Qur'an in its mouth. Nasrudin couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the goat's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!"

"Not really," said the goat. "Your name is written inside the cover."

Look in the right place for the right answer.

The Culture of Life
The Culture of Life is symbolized by better living through better living. We don’t expect everyone to follow Gabriel Cousins’ program. In the case of diabetes, it is moderation in lifestyle that kills, the diabetic has to be a little radical. The diabetic is advised to reject the culture of death and join the culture of life. Here are some of the actions to investigate:

See beauty in all that we do, people, and life
Relationship
Exercise
Creative expression
Humour
Spiritual expression
Mediation
Breathing/pranayama
Sleep
Nurturance, love, connection
Food

A 400-person study will occur in Patagonia and another study is planned in the Middle East.

Creating Peace by Being Peace

2008-11-15T19:54:00.000-05:00

World Peace—the healing of the world—is achieved through a very simple principle: We Create Peace By Being Peace. It is this universal truth that has inspired the Peace Every Day Initiative, a global, collective, daily, meditation of peace. The purpose is to unite a minimum of 8,000 people, while holding the vision of 144,000 or more people, to meditate/pray by becoming the vibration of peace for 40 minutes or more each day, individually and especially in groups. Any time of day is effective, though sunrise or sunset are powerful nodal times. This powerful thought-form of peace is enough to shift the global consciousness so that we may fully celebrate peace on earth! (Introduction, Creating Peace by Being Peace: The Essene Sevenfold Path.)

On Saturday afternoon, November 15, 2008, at Toronto City Hall, Gabriel Cousins’ overviewed a way to create sevenfold peace. Synthesizing decades of multidisciplinary work in meditation, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and spirituality, Dr. Cousins described a comprehensive plan for peace with the body, mind, family, community, culture, ecology, and God as a pervasive experience in life—moment to moment, day by day.

Cousens transfers a unique Essene insight into peace to modern Canadian seekers as a blueprint for realizing this reality as we walk in our lives; work according to our gifts, joys, and sacred design; and live the path of spiritual awakening—the sevenfold peace. The afternoon ended in mediation during which Dr. Cousins shared Shaktipat and an outdoor incense, candle and prayer ritual.

Gabriel Cousens, Director of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, is a world-recognized peace worker since 1967, physician of the soul, M.D., M.D.(H), Diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, Diplomate in Ayurveda, psychiatrist, family therapist, meditation teacher, teacher in the U.S., India, Europe, Israel, Lebannon, and Morocco, and founder of the Peace Every Day Initiative.

2008-11-15T18:33:00.001-05:00

On Friday, November 14, Gabriel Cousins led a worship service at Rainbow Body Yoga, Church Street, Toronto, to commemorate the start of ancient Essene-Kabbalishtic sabbat, which extends from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

The evening included ecstatic music and song led by Micheal Bedar and explication of the alter, discussion of the story of Job, relating of a Jewish parable of "the one who trusts in Hashem" (the story of the king who hated and was outfoxed by the fixer), meditation, and shaktipat delivered by a Rebbe Cousins.

The evening encompassed the rare treat of immersing in the Living Essene Way, Kabbalah, Mystical principles of the Living Torah, yogic philosopy, and Kosher, organic, vegetarian live-food grape juice and challah (challah is a traditional Jewish bread eaten on Shabbat and most Jewish holidays). It was a night of peace and healing for the individual and planetary soul.

An Intimate & Interactive Evening with Dr. Gabriel Cousens in Toronto

2008-11-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine Lecture, screening of “Simply Raw: Reverse Diabetes in 30 Days” followed by Q&A

On Thursday, November 13, 2008, I attended an event at Mel Lastman Square/North York City Hall, screening the documentary, Simply Raw. Seeing the six people in the documentary at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center (all diagnosed with Diabetes: five were type 2 and one was type 1) grapple over 30 days with executing Gabriel Cousins’ multi-levelled, food-based cure was gripping.

The challenges were striking: dissatisfaction with the raw menu, cravings for SAD offerings, lack of familial support, dealing with detox/withdrawal symptoms, the intense discomfort of shifting gears, and shifting expectations of the possibility of a real cure for diabetes. Been there.

Success seemed to come from surrendering to the process, patience, and working collaboratively and compassionately as a community. Gabriel later commented that change is better to come from a self-chosen internal place that involves the pleasure principle versus coming from an externally imposed force. It occurred to me as well that in fact all success, personal development, and self improvement, transitions through similar phases.

I was moved by some of the close ups showing facial expressions of shock, hurt, joy and compassion. Been there too. I was disappointed, as was most of the audience, when one of the older, male participants chose to leave the program half way through, in spite of his dramatic health improvements, due to his overwhelming psycho-physiological resistance to the change.

After the film, using a PowerPoint Gabriel overviewed some of the subjects outlined in his book Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine: calorie restriction and longevity; cause of disease as compromised terrain versus bacteria or virus; the self-composting action of the imbalanced body; the action of microplasmic pleomorphic protits; the necessity of growing your own food; list of mycotoxins; list of disesases; list of pathogenic microorganisms; grains, soy, GMO, vaccinations, chemtrails, and finally, a summary of his Phase I, Phase I.5 and Phase II anti-diabetes diet.

Questions from the audience included:

Did the participants stay raw?
Does the diet correct renal disorders?
Does the diet correct low blood sugar?
Is breatharianism possible?
What is the youngest a person should be to healthfully fast?
Can you go raw in a cold climate

The evening ended with a 30-minute meditation during which Gabriel shared shaktipat with each audience member. I’m looking forward to another shaktipat experience at the Shabbat led by Gabriel Cousins tonight.

Cleanse Journal Day 20

2008-11-06T08:17:00.001-05:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SURRENDER TO LIFE.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 10.

Ishwara pranidhana, or complete, free and unconditional self-surrender to God, is the highest virtue, the last niyama, and one of the trickiest niyamas. It is the release of ego and surrender to destiny.

It means “I give up.” It means “Thy will be done.” The foundation is in place and Divine will and communication is occurring to some extent. The mind prompts, "Do this" — I do it.

Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras that one can even attain the highest form of samadhi, the final stage before kaivalya, if one can effectively surrender to God. Patanjali was an advaita vedantist, and did not understand the principle of God to be a separate entity. So Pantanjali is referring to the unchanging, ever-uniform reality, not nashwara, that which is changing, decaying, and creative.

In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna, “Can you describe how a person who is realized lives, acts, walks, talks, sleeps, eats and moves?”

Krishna replies, “That person’s actions are no different to ours. He moves like you and me, he eats like you and me, he sleeps like you and me, he thinks like you and me. The only difference is that he has overcome the duality of life. Whereas initially we do everything for ourselves and are the centre of the universe, now love and compassion have become the centre of the universe, and everything else revolves around that.”

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Release identification with the self and identifying with the Self. Through the generation of faith and innocence, letting go of the self-oriented, self-centred awareness, one is able to tune to God's energy.

Manage thoughts, ideas, beliefs and convictions and develop a new perspective. Developing a new vision marks the awakening of the spiritual faculty within us. Understanding, modifying and changing the mental vrittis indicates the beginning of spiritual awareness and surrender to life.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I’m drinking a lot of teas and a lot of water.

Performed my second round of basti, yogic enema and held only a few minutes this time. Also, forgot to strain the Dashmula.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Wednesday night, yet slept about 10 hours.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
This is easy. I continue to be generally quiet, at peace and optimistic about the future. I plan to continue the lifestyle beyond the 21 days of the cleanse.

I am so pleased with what I have learned and experienced during this cleanse. It was mind-body all encompassing, and the timing in my life and with the changing of the seasons was another synchronicity. I was at home long enough and alone enough to perform the routines and contemplations. I would recommend this for anyone looking to gear down, lighten up, and explore within.

Cleanse Journal Day 19

2008-11-05T15:49:00.002-05:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SELF STUDY.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 9.

Swa is Self: Adhyaya is study. Swadhyaya is Self study. No one can do this work for me. The study of Self is a do-it-yourself research project that begins with the question: If I am not the body, who am “I?” The search for the “I” is Swadhyaya.

The “I” is said to be Spirit, or “that" according to the Vedas and described only as “not this, not this.” The “I” is revealed when the conditioned mind is deprogrammed and the trinity of knower, knowledge and known dissolves.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
There are a host of actions that can lead to direct knowledge or experience of the “I.”

The study of the Vedas and holy texts.
Working with a guru.
Acting as Spirit.
Non-attachment.
Distinguishing between knowledge (indirect experience) and wisdom (the direct experience of the truth).
Awareness of inner dialogue, words spoken, thoughts.
Asking key questions: What is bliss?What is karma? What is free will?
Kirtan and the repetition of mantra

Purify and practice Swadhyaya all the time until the truth is revealed.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I am enjoying my lifestyle.

Performed my first round of basti, yogic enema. Basti is the safest, easiest, and most pleasant of all cleansing procedures.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Tuesday night, yet slept again too long, about 10 hours.

Monthly Reading #5 Principles of Individualizing One's Diet

2008-11-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

What was learned? How is it useful?
The focus for October was on individualizing one’s diet.

The focus in allopathic medicine about individuality has been that idiosyncracies have little or no functional significance to medicine.

Conversely, Roger Williams in Biochemical Individuality: The Basis for the Genetotrophic Concept indicates that there are numerous physiological variables that make each of us unique. Williams points out that in composition, enzymes, endocrine production, excretion patterns, pharmacological manifestations, basal metabolism, growth, temperature control, pain sensitivity, oxygen use, blood pressure, electricity, taste, presence of parasites and transplantation all manifest uniquely in individuals. If we wish to “do anything about” or treat any of these areas, we best customize the approach.

We can use a variety of systems to ascertain our unique mind-body psychophysiology: autonomic nervous system type; oxidative system, Ayurvedic; acid-alkali, endocrine, lipo-oxidation, and blood type. Questions we can ask ourselves about our nourishment are:

· What am I trying to say by this food choice?
· What is nature communicating to me?
· Can this food sustain my focus on the Divine?

It’s trial and error. Limit the variables and become both the scientist and the experiment. Because I spent 21 days in October this year in Pancha Karma, I spent a great deal of time contemplating the Ayurvedic modality, in particular, and its relevance to my mind-body.

My Ayurvedic RYT, AHE, in Toronto, Matthew Remski (who studied under David Frawley), assessed me as a robust pitta(3)-kapha(1.5) prakriti with excellent structural stability and a vast pool of emotional resource beginning to quiver under a hyper-competent intellectual and professional persona. Vata is over-excited on the level of reproductive power and manas by spiritual emergence. Pitta-type psychological drive has served me well in terms of artha but cannot stop for kama or contemplation or simple rest because of a long-standing fear that foundations are insecure. I was told my body is fairly clean. The raw diet has done me well on many levels: it has eliminated many toxins (clean tongue, improved skin, feeling of lightness). However, there are four issues that I would tinker with and balance out.

Under Matthew Remski's supervision, I responded to the assessment by conducting a 21-day cleanse and making some minor adjustments to my daily diet to support my Ayurvedic dosha balance.

This is not a search for a perfect diet, but a part of balanced, harmonious life. This is not a technique for enlightenment, just a support system to aid in harmonious, centred spiritual unfolding. We know we are eating optimally when we are glowing with life, have enhanced communion with the Divine and realize the highest state of awareness and functionality to fulfill our roles in the world. And over the month of October, I did feel more grounded, more at peace, healthier and radiant.

The higher purpose of diet is to aid in spiritual unfolding; to assimilate, store, conduct, transmit spiritual energies; to balance subtle energy centers, and to enhance peace on the planet.

Diet is the cause and effect of our awareness. David Wolfe writes in The Sunfood Diet Success System that food on the chlorophyll side of his Sunfood triangle can tune us into natural resonant frequencies. (page 184) I intuit that this is true. The more green I get, the more attuned, sensitive and energized. But I also have had to manage or balance this new state.

We want to transition wisely to a high proportioned-live food diet and use the triangle to modulate and customize: weight, stage of life, detoxification issues, hypoglycemian/diabetes issues, candida, mental clarity, athletics, temperature and grounding.

Cleanse Journal Day 18

2008-11-04T10:16:00.001-05:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of PASSIONATE EFFORT.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 8.

Tapas is discipline, described as a heat or passionate effort, that releases or redirects energy and fuels spiritual passion or heat. Tapas manifests as a movement away from past dysfunctional attachments and habits and a movement toward freedom.

Tapas is an effortless release, a giving up, a surrendering (as in vairagya and ishvara pranidhana), an offering up of the old in exchange for the new. It is a free choice that manifests naturally and spontaneously without will power or effort. It was demonstrated to me the evening that I lost my interest in drinking red wine. Inexplicably and spontaneously, I realized that I did not need to drink red wine. Lovely as the experience felt, I realized that drinking a glass of red wine every night took something undefinable away from me. The whole release occurred spontaneously, in a thought, without words . My “craving” just disappeared. And I just followed with some curiosity, placed the sacrifice into the sacrificial fire for fuel, and watched the experiment to see what would happen.

From the outside the release often looks like austerity or sacrifice. My family and friends commented that my renunciation of wine was "too hard" for them to do. For me it wasn't hard at all; it was the natural flow of my impulses. From the inside, a part of me freely died and another was reborn.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Harness tapas by the conscious practice of energy conservation (pratyhara, vairagya, bhakti and tapas) one pointed focus and devotion to the Divine. Wholeheartedly desire to know the Truth of Self.

Any action that frees one from the dualistic illusion is tapas. Any action that redirects the outward flow of grasping of objects (physical or mental) is tapas. Any action that supports satisfaction (santosha) is tapas. Activities could include fasting, silence of speech and thought (mouna), and any and all of the other yamas and niyamas.

Before taking action, ask such questions as: will this activity lead to the truth? Is this action based on separateness or is it based on love? Will this action release energy or dissipate, confuse, distract, or disempower?

Daily food/elimination comments:
Losing interest in food. I am satisfied with eating much less.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Monday night, yet slept about 10 hours.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
This is easy. I continue to be generally quiet, at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 17

2008-11-03T09:35:00.001-05:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of CONTENTMENT.

What does this principle mean to me?
See notes from Cleanse Day 7.

The second niyama outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras is santosha , or contentment. Santosha is the state of cheerfulness and a condition for enlightenment. The practice of aparigraha (keeping needs simple) leads to santosha. Contentment brings happiness; discontentment brings unhappiness.

Contentment and peace of mind exist independently of present circumstances. At any time, we can create contentment, choose contentment, rather than waiting to somehow become content.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?

Contentment is not a virtue to be shown off.

Place one-pointed focus upon the Divine and identify as spirit.

Be aware and content with and accept and explore present circumstances in each moment.
Choose to be craving-free now. As one is craving-free, contentment is experienced.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Sunday night, yet slept long, again.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
This is easy. I continue to be generally quiet, at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 16

2008-11-02T10:09:00.001-05:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of BODILY PURIFICATION.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 6.

The first of the Niyamas described by Patanjali is what in Sanskrit is called Saucha or purity. Purification of the body directly influences spiritual consciousness. Saucha is an aid toward yoga (samadhi).

Any block in consciousness which does not promote the goal of Yoga is an impurity. Sense movement (chitta vritti) towards satisfaction of desire is an impurity. Even a lack of reverence of daily life or community is an impurity. Purification is multilayered, interdepent with nature, others and the Divine. Patanjali does not expound on the minutiae but the Sutras suggest that purity includes the cleanliness of the body, speech, mind and even the environment worldwide.

Mental purity is tricky to manifest. Any thought that leads the mind in a direction other than that of Yoga, is an impure thought. Any desire is mental impurity.

In The Sunfood Success System David Wolfe suggests that as you cleanse within, you express the virtues and become beautiful without. Outer beauty is a reflection of inner beauty. You will look more beautiful. You will attract beautiful events and experiences and realize instant karma as amazing synchronicities occur.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Asana (postures) and pranayama (breath work) cleanse the physical body.

“The practice of asanas tones the entire body and removes the toxins and impurities caused by over-indulgence. Pranayama cleanses and aerates the lungs, oxygenates the blood and purifies the nerves” BKS Iyengar, Light on Yoga

Saucha also incorporates the practice of kriyas, cleansing techniques ranging from methods meant to address the hygiene of the physical body to methods meant to bring balance to the energetic body. These include daily bathing, brushing and flossing the teeth, cleaning the tongue, and flushing the sinuses with warm salted water (neti pot). One of the less familiar kriyas is the practice of trataka drishti, which involves gazing softly at a candle flame until the eyes water.

Clean food, clean air, pure thoughts, dharana, sweating, fasting, tapas, vairaga, meditation, nature all work together to cleanse. An environment of friendly animals and natural flora living in a beneficent synergy manifests spiritual consciousness.

Love thy neighbor.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 16 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. My skin is clear and glowing. My facial rosacea on both cheeks is disappearing. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Saturday night, yet slept long, again.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
This is easy. I continue to be generally quiet, at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 15

2008-11-01T20:20:00.002-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of KEEPING SIMPLE NEEDS.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 5.

When first starting to consider aparigraha, ask what does it mean to need a person, object, idea, or belief? Holding anything, even the breath, negates the ability to bring in the newly valuable experience. Choose well what is consciously held.

Here’s a good experiment. In Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness, Erich Schiffmann advises the practitioner in Shavasana to “Relax every physical and mental tension, temporarily let go of everything you don’t need and then simply pay attention and see what happens.”

If you let of everything, the sages say you come to know yourself.

Aparigrahasthairye janmakathamtasambodhah

"One who is not greedy is secure. He has time to think deeply. His understanding of himself is complete." Yoga Sutra II.39

“The more we have, the more we need to take care of it. The time and energy spent on acquiring more things, protecting them and worrying about them cannot be spent on the most basic questions of life. What is the limit to what we should possess? For what purpose, for whom and for how long? Death comes before we have had time to even begin considering these questions.” TKV Desikachar

At the very minimum, prioritize how time and energy is spent and scale down. What we own should not sway us from our highest goals. Avoid grasping. Release obsolete ideas, beliefs, fears, expectations, memories, preferences, and tendencies held to strengthen identity. The act of holding onto some frozen but impressive identity blocks us from reinventing or revitalizing the identity. Foster beginner's mind and avoid presenting as a knowledgeable and accomplished master to develop authentic learning experiences.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
I’m actively reassessing my life, letting go of the heavier aspects of my past and exploring my intuitions and the future with delight.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 15 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. My skin is clear and glowing. In my scurrying around, I missed the neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to prepare for Varisar Dhauti. I arrived at the studio at 4:45 a.m. and was the first student to enter the studio and begin meditation. Varisar Dhauti is the most involved stage of the entire cleansing process. The purpose of it is to expel pitta-ama from the pitta physiological zone downwards, to remove excess bile from the blood to clarify stagnant or overheated blood tissue, to clear intestinal plaques and other inefficiencies, to begin to void the colon of impacted fecal matter, to reduce hyperacidtity, to begin to heal abdominal tumours and skin disorders, to cleanse the spleen and bladder and blood toxins.

After the kriya, I ate high potency non-dairy feremented soy probiotic with 50 illion friendly bacteria (CL 1285 super strain acidophilus) to regualte intestinal function. Later in the day, I also ate a lot of fruit.

This was a tiring few hours. I reserved the entire day of the kriya for rest, but used it for schoolwork.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Friday night, and went to sleep at 10:00 p.m. and wakened at 3:00 a.m. for the cleanse ritual.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Had a few serious flashbacks of poingnant times from the past. On the whole I felt like the kriya was a new beginning.

The kriya was well organized and supervised by Renaissance Yoga.

Cleanse Journal Day 14

2008-10-31T12:01:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SEXUAL INTEGRITY.

What does this principle mean to me?

See notes from Cleanse Day 4.

Every facet of human experience, including sex, offers the potential for personal transformation and self-actualization.

Commonly translated as celibacy, practicing brahmacharya means that we use our sexual energy to connect to spirit. It also means that we don't use this energy in any way that might harm another. Brahmacharya means merging one's energy with God.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
I’m still thinking. It would be beneficial to experience the world sensually, such as enjoying more art. Most importantly, I am also discovering and being called to examine themes in my history and character of authenticity, risk, truth, tempo, tone, service versus debauchery.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 14 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. My skin is clear and glowing. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I am on a liquid fast today to prepare for Varisar Dhauti tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Thursday night, yet slept long, again.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Otherwise, this is easy. Regretfully, I had to decline an attractive offer today and that hard decision has slightly shaken me. Shortly, thereafter a more favourable opportunity was cancelled, which really destabilized my morning. Otherwise, I continue to be generally quiet, at peace and optimistic about the future.

Ayurvedic Cleanse: Mid-Term Summary of Learnings

2008-10-30T17:02:00.000-04:00

Describe my understanding of personal cleanliness thus far, on the ethical, physical, mental, and spiritual levels.

Pancha karma is a seasonal Ayurvedic cleansing plan traditionally designed for Indian rulers to help them to lead healthier and longer lives. During this preparation phase, my activity shifted to a more internal focus. This means a lot of journaling and spiritual with a focus on contemplating the yamas and niyamas and releasing obsolete ideas, emotions, and blockages. I ate only fruits and vegetables and conducted nasal cleaning, oleation and other austerities.

What is Personal Cleanliness to Me?

Balance. Instead of focusing on the spirit, we over-indulge and imbalance the mind and body. Personal cleansing returns balance to the mind and body, without ahimsa. It is an organic, dynamic process that could go out of balance again at any time. Personal cleanliness goes beyond a superficial cleansing of the skin, positive thinking, or eating a clean diet, and involves prevention of future imbalances.

On a practical, physical level, personal cleanliness promotes a host of benefits: youthing, flexibility, healthy weight, immunity, the release of toxins stuck in the tissues, regulated breath, and the free flow of Prana.

On the mind-body level, personal cleanliness triggers the healing of negative emotions. When administered prudently, personal cleanliness is a safe way to unfold spiritual awareness, unconditional love and compassion.

Patanjali says in Sutra II.40-41. "Through its effective practice of physical purity, attachments to toxins and corruptive forces disappear naturally as natural instinctual or intuitive catharsis or revulsion and as such one rids oneself of their noxious influence directly proportionately as to the development of the inner wisdom. Also through both internal and external purity (saucha) of the body, psychic environment, and through the removal of the occlusions of consciousness, there is achieved balance, cheerfulness, one-pointedness, harmony of the senses, and yogic vision. Here one is no longer attracted by corruptive influences because one has established (and is happily rooted within) an inner energetic freedom."

Personal cleanliness of the body has an easy, direct influence upon spiritual consciousness. In The Sunfood Success System David Wolfe suggests that as you cleanse within, you express the virtues and become beautiful without. Outer beauty is a reflection of inner beauty. You will look more beautiful. You will attract beautiful events and experiences and realize instant karma as amazing synchronicities occur.

My understanding of personal cleanliness was broadened to include the body, mind, emotions and ethics. Each day, I spent a great deal of time in daily contemplation and study of the principle for the day, the external disciplines.

Yamas

Ahimsa: non-violence, kindness.
Satya: Compassionate truthfulness
Asteya: Non-stealing
Brahmacharya: Sensual self control
Aparigraha: Greedlessness, Simplicity

Niyamas

Shaucha: Purity/Clarity
Santosha: Contentment
Swadhyaya: Self-Education, Study
Ishwara-Pranidhana: Surrender to God

In contemplation of the yamas and niyamas, a number of insights and distinctions became clearer to me. Following are some of my favourites:

Bodily Purification

Knowledge (Jnana) does not come about from practice of yoga methods alone. Perfection in knowledge comes after the expression of virtue (dharma) through the means of yoga. The practice of yogic methods is not the exclusive means, yet it is only out of that practice of yoga that the perfection in knowledge comes about.

Truthfulness

The philosophical meaning of the word “Satya” is “unchangeable,” “that which has no distortion,” “that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person,” “that which pervades the universe in all its constancy.” There is a more subtle meaning of the word, “Satya,” which is Citsvaru’pa, the Supreme consciousness or Purusha. In sadhana, or intuitional practice, the meaning of “Satya” is “Parahit'artham' va'unmanaso yatha'rthatvam' satyam” i.e., Satya is the benevolent use of words and the mind for the welfare of others.

Not Getting Without Giving

All the wealth of the world will be drawn to one who has mastered the practice and discipline of Asteya: not stealing, not coveting, nor hoarding, not taking what was not freely given, as well as not obstructing other people's desires in life.

Sexual Integrity

Sex is a potential modality for personal transformation and self-actualization. It is my intuition that sex can be experienced at a deeper level, even as a spiritual path, when one tests boundaries ... to experience the world in a more ecstatic and “life enhancing” way. I am also discovering and being called to examine themes in my history and character of authenticity, risk, truth, tempo, tone, service versus debauchery.

Keeping Needs Simple

The term “need” is deceptive. What do you need anyway? If it is a true need, how could you keep it simple enough to “keep simple needs”? If you can keep it simpler, was the need not then actually a desire? What is the difference between a need and a desire?

The necessity of each is open to interpretation. From a spiritual point of view there is only spirit. We are all spirit. We have everything. Therefore we need nothing. One good reason to keep your needs simple.

The other good reason is that mundane desires distract you from the Divine. Should we then be counseled to keep our needs simple? Or be counseled to amplify them infinitely to express a desire for experience of the Divine, which is not a “simple need.”

Contentment

The second niyama outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras is santosha , or contentment. It is a condition for enlightenment. Jesus urges his disciples not to be anxious about what they eat or drink or wear but to remember that, because their heavenly Father knows all their needs, they should "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" (Matt. 6:31-33).

“What is contentment? Contentment is serenity, but not complacency. It is comfort, but not submission; reconciliation, not apathy; acknowledgment, not aloofness. Contentment is a mental decision, a moral choice, a practiced observance, a step into the reality of the cosmos. Contentment/santosha is the natural state of our humanness and our divinity and allows for our creativity and love to emerge. It is knowing our place in the universe. It is unity with the Divine.” Swami Shraddhananda

To be desire-free and content, is to express patience, not only externally but mentally, towards home, clothing, food, body, mind, intellect, pleasure or pain.
Passionate EffortThere are a lot of levels to yoga practice from studying the Yoga Sutras themselves, meditation, hatha yoga practice. One must be passionately motivated to practice, otherwise the study will shrink or terminate. In I.21, Pantajali says that spiritual consciousness is nearest to those of keen, intense will.

Self-Study

Self study (Sanskrit name: Svadyaya), most crucial of the niyamas, results in the discovery of our spiritual identify. It includes the study of sacred texts or potentially all expression. For me, this is the slipperiest of the principles studied. It seems most precarious, even dangerous, (to the ego or self with the lower case s) to actually discover the source of the “I thought.”

Surrender to Life

Surrender to life, the final or tenth niyama, means turning the heart completely to God. It means “let thy will be done.” It is the highest virtue. It is the highest state of mind, the culmination of jnana, bhakti and karma. Mastery in this brings Samadhi, or divine bliss.

It means I give up.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna said to the warrior Arjuna:

"I consider the yogi-devotee - who lovingly contemplates on Me with supreme faith, and whose mind is ever absorbed in Me - to be the best of all the yogis." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verse 47) "After attaining Me, the great souls do not incur rebirth in this miserable transitory world, because they have attained the highest perfection." (B.G., Chapter 8, Verse 15) "... those who, renouncing all actions in Me, and regarding Me as the Supreme, worship Me... For those whose thoughts have entered into Me, I am soon the deliverer from the ocean of death and transmigration, Arjuna. Keep your mind on Me alone, your intellect on Me. Thus you shall dwell in Me hereafter." (B.G., Chapter 12, Verses 6-8) "And he who serves Me with the yoga of unswerving devotion, transcending these qualities is ready for liberation in Brahman." (B.G. Chapter 14, Verse 26) "Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are My very dear friend." (B.G., Chapter 18, Verse 65) "Setting aside all meritorious deeds, just surrender completely to My will. I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve." (B.G., Chapter 18, Verse 66)Several gurus teach surrender to God.For Patanjali, surrender dissolves endless agitations of the mind, and a means to the unified state of yoga: samadhi. Ishvara pranidhana shifts our perspective from the vritti-activated "I," that creates a perpective of separation. Surrender reunites us with the true Self.B.K.S. Iyengar states in his book Light on the Yoga Sutras:"Through surrender the aspirant's ego is effaced, and . . . grace . . . pours down upon him like a torrential rain." Like the descent through layers of tension to rest in the release of Savasana, Ishvara pranidhana provides a pathway through the obstacles of our ego toward our divine nature-grace, peace, unconditional love, clarity, and freedom."

Prem Rawat, formerly Guru Maharaj Ji, was quoted in 1978 as:

"But there is nothing to understand! And if there is something to understand, there is only one thing to understand, and that is to surrender!"

How would you like to change your life using these principles? What challenges will you face in implementing these principles? What do you imagine the ultimate result will be?

This change of life for me is an easy, enjoyable and a conscious choice. I do not anticipate many challenges other than logistical issues or finding time to do everything I wish to do when I return to work. I have no idea what the result will be, other than I anticipate something sweet.

For my world to change, I have to change. Everything is connected. As above, so below. It seems I have to learn to tune my energies to avert war, both within and outside of myself. Here are a few action items I am seriously considering to integrate into my life:

Acknowledging and honoring the Divine. Before any action, offer it to God.
Dedicate practice to something or someone other than self, like an offering. I always forget.
Recognize my own personal relationship with the Divine and use personalized language, imagery, and names of the sacred. I do this anyway.
Love. And clean food, clean air, bathing, exercise, pure thoughts, visualization or dharana, sweating, fasting, tapas, vairaga, pranayama, asana, meditation, nature to cleanse. I love all this.
Asana practice. No brainer.
Stop and appreciate the beauty of the earth and life more. Be in an environment of friendly animals and natural flora. My best friends.
Finding the connection to my inner voice and listen to how it guides thoughts, speech, feelings and actions.
Setting intention.
Chant.
Visualize.
Noticing attachments.
Accepting what is, instead of struggling.
Retire from warring. I feel an urgency around this one.
Explore kindness, gentleness, non-violent psychological and ecological solutions.
Improve my relationships. Ensure others are not dissatisfied or feeling pushed. Ask others about their feelings. Ensure I respect everyone’s role.
Conduct “intensity” checks.
Incorporate ahimsa and diplocmacy into the discipline of truth.
Experiment with silence.
Incorporate ahimsa into asteya, and avoid being self righteous about my giving.
When appropriate, give less or don’t give at all. This is a personal issue.
As much as possible, place one-pointed focus upon the eternal.
Reduce desires to our actual possessions and situation.
Be hyper conscious of contented moments, sustain them for longer, even when embroiled in chaos and disharmony.
Make time for what is really important.

Cleanse Journal Day 13

2008-10-30T15:05:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of NOT GETTING WITHOUT GIVING.

What does this principle mean to me?
Achaurya is the Sanskrit word for “avoidance of stealing” or “non-stealing.” In Jainism, it is one of the five vows that all sravakas and shravikas as well as sadhus and sadhvis must take. Asteya is one of the 10 core principles that Hindus try to abide by. The concept is frequently confused as being equivalent to the Biblical commandment "Thou shall not steal" although in principle it means more. Asteya refers to not stealing, not coveting, nor hoarding, as well as not obstructing other people's desires in life.

Asteya presupposes that misappropriation arises from a perception of lack which arises from a belief that happiness hinges on external circumstances and material possessions. It is not uncommon to spend an entire lifetime hoping for better and imagining that others have better. We do not perceive the abundance, health, other riches and the joy and love , that exists.

The practice of asteya asks us to be careful not to take anything that has not been freely given. This can be as subtle as time or attention.

Swami Jyotirmanda of Miami's Yoga Ashram frequently states that "all the wealth of the world will be drawn to one who has mastered the practice and discipline of Asteya." Life's real treasures begin to flow our way.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Incorporate ahimsa into asteya, and avoid being so internally self righteous about my giving. Sometimes I feel I should conserve more, give less, give to those that specifically want my contribution, and not exploit myself.

I can cultivate self-sufficiency to avoid looking to others, our family, or our community to meet my needs. Do not take more than is needed.

Avoid subtle ways of taking from others:

Being knowingly tardy to an appointment.
Speaking on behalf of another.
Directing the outcome of a mutual challenge.
Taking all the credit.
Focus on my abilities, gifts and strengths so not to rob myself.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 13 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. My skin is clear and glowing. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse. My forgiveness ceremony with Leslie went well Wednesday night.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Wednesday night, yet slept long, again.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Otherwise, this is easy. I am at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 12

2008-10-29T08:59:00.002-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of TRUTHFULNESS.

What does this principle mean to me?

See Cleanse Journal Day 2.

“Knowledge (Jnana) does not come about from practice of yoga methods alone. Perfection in knowledge comes after the expression of virtue (dharma) through the means of yoga. The practice of yogic methods is not the means by itself, yet it is only out of that practice of yoga that the perfection in knowledge comes about. And so it is said by the teachers: ‘Yoga is for the purpose of knowledge of truth’” Shankara.

The philosophical meaning of the word “Satya” is “unchangeable,” “that which has no distortion,” “that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person,” “that which pervades the universe in all its constancy.”

There is a more subtle meaning of the word, “Satya,” which is Citsvaru’pa, the Supreme consciousness or Purusha. In Sadhana, or intuitional practice, the meaning of “Satya” is “Parahit'artham' va'unmanaso yatha'rthatvam' satyam” i.e., Satya is the benevolent use of words and the mind for the welfare of others.

Truthfulness has always been important to me, even articulations of “brutal realities.” I find being truthful with myself has allowed me to accelerate my growth. But now, to incorporate ahimsa, I’d like to routinely express the greys, the softer and subtler, shades of truth. Being a communications professional, do I ever know how to bend the truth to be persuasive. Also, does one have to express their truth at every opportunity? I think not.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?

But now, to incorporate ahimsa into the discipline of truth, by subtler interpretations and expressions of truth.
Experiment with silence.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 12 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. My skin is clear and glowing. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not too tired Tuesday night, yet slept long, again, now about 20 minutes less.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Otherwise, this is easy. Glowing from the good news received yesterday. Have to try to see into the future as I deal with making best career choices. I am at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 11

2008-10-28T13:55:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of NON-VIOLENCE.

What does this principle mean to me?
See my comments for Cleanse Day 1.

A chief yama, ahimsa, means to lack of intention to hurt others on the physical, mental and emotional level. Here the attitude of ahimsa is more important than any actual act and includes intention.

It has occurred to me that allowing yourself to be victimized by any type of violence goes against this principle of ahimsa.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Not much has dramatically changed in me in the last week; I’ve had no confrontations. I am watching my attachments to certain mannerisms: the sharp edge, critical nature, take-charge attitude, drive, choosing reason over sensitivity. I am trying not to judge, myself or others.

I continue on with my goal to be established in ahimsa equally to all: people, animals, nature, myself.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 11 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not tired Monday night, yet slept long, again.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Otherwise, this is easy. Glowing from the good news received on Tuesday. I am at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 10

2008-10-27T11:26:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SURRENDER TO LIFE.

What does this principle mean to me?
It means I give up.

Surrender to life, the final or tenth niyama, means turning the heart completely to God. It means “let thy will be done.” It is the highest virtue. It is the highest state of mind, the culmination of jnana, bhakti and karma. Mastery in this brings Samadhi, or divine bliss.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna said to the warrior Arjuna:

"I consider the yogi-devotee - who lovingly contemplates on Me with supreme faith, and whose mind is ever absorbed in Me - to be the best of all the yogis." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verse 47) "After attaining Me, the great souls do not incur rebirth in this miserable transitory world, because they have attained the highest perfection." (B.G., Chapter 8, Verse 15) "... those who, renouncing all actions in Me, and regarding Me as the Supreme, worship Me... For those whose thoughts have entered into Me, I am soon the deliverer from the ocean of death and transmigration, Arjuna. Keep your mind on Me alone, your intellect on Me. Thus you shall dwell in Me hereafter." (B.G., Chapter 12, Verses 6-8) "And he who serves Me with the yoga of unswerving devotion, transcending these qualities is ready for liberation in Brahman." (B.G. Chapter 14, Verse 26) "Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are My very dear friend." (B.G., Chapter 18, Verse 65) "Setting aside all meritorious deeds, just surrender completely to My will. I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve." (B.G., Chapter 18, Verse 66)

Several gurus teach surrender to God.

For Patanjali, surrender dissolves endless agitations of the mind, and a means to the unified state of yoga: samadhi. Ishvara pranidhana shifts our perspective from the vritti-activated "I," that creates a perpective of separation. Surrender reunites us with the true Self.

B.K.S. Iyengar states in his book Light on the Yoga Sutras:

"Through surrender the aspirant's ego is effaced, and . . . grace . . . pours down upon him like a torrential rain." Like the descent through layers of tension to rest in the release of Savasana, Ishvara pranidhana provides a pathway through the obstacles of our ego toward our divine nature-grace, peace, unconditional love, clarity, and freedom."

Prem Rawat, formerly Guru Maharaj Ji, was quoted in 1978 as:

"But there is nothing to understand! And if there is something to understand, there is only one thing to understand, and that is to surrender!"

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Before any action, offer it to God. Dedicate practice to something or someone other than self, like an offering.

Start with our own intimate connection to the universe, Ishta-Devata. Ishta-Devata recognizes that each individual self has its own, personal relationship with the Divine and that this serves as a powerful means of finding the unity. Many sadhus surrender to the traditional Shiva, Vishnu (Rama or Krishna), Lakshmi, Kali, or Durga. Sri T. Krishnamacharya, advocated the use personalized language, imagery, and names of the sacred.

Through intimate listening to this voice within yourself, have a relationship with inner guidance in all aspects of life. Finding the connection to this inner sense of direction and listening how it guides you through your thoughts, speech, feelings and actions. Surrendering in trust to the inner voice.

Inner listening
Setting intention
Chanting
Visualization
Noticing attachments
Accepting what is, instead of struggling against it
Acknowledging and honoring the Divine
Trusting/surrendering to the Divine

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 10 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. I performed the neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was really tired Sunday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 12 hours.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
Otherwise, this is easy. I am at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 9

2008-10-27T09:42:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SELF-STUDY.

What does this principle mean to me?
Self study (Sanskrit name: Svadyaya), most crucial of the niyamas, results in the discovery of our spiritual identify. It includes the study of sacred texts or other books. All expression is divine. Sri Ramana Maharshi advocated self-study as key sadhana to discover the source of the “I-thought.” Pantajali’s sutra 2.44 “Union with the chosen divinity comes from the study of self through the sacred texts. (Svadyaya)” Unrelenting tapas, a passionate, burning desire to execute the discipline is necessary.

For me, this is the slipperiest of the principles studied. It seems most precarious, even dangerous, (to the ego or self with the lower case s) to actually discover the source of the “I thought.” I have the least amount of experience in this area and have the least amount to say about it.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Create my own satsang. Read something spiritual every day. Ask, "How does this relate to me?" The spiritual body has directed life from an unseen position and is invited to come into the foreground. Recognize the spirit and appreciate its strengths.
Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 9 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. I missed the neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Saturday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 12 hours. I must be really tired.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
This is easy. I found myself better able to be at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 8

2008-10-26T08:55:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of PASSIONATE EFFORT.

What does this principle mean to me?
There are a lot of levels to yoga practice from studying the Yoga Sutras themselves, meditation, hatha yoga practice. One must be motivated to practice … have passion for the practice, otherwise the study will be reduced to mechanical intellectual knowledge, facts belonging to the memory, a long running of trivia. In I.21, Pantajali says that spiritual consciousness is nearest to those of keen, intense will.

Firm will comes through effort; effort by faith. It is not enough to have good intentions or thoughts; we must act on them; we must live them.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Tapas is austere practice requiring burning, self-disciplined effort resulting in the purification of our character. Patanjali states in his Yoga Sutra that tapasya leads to perfection (siddhi) of the body and the senses. Tapasya is sustained and regimented endeavor to connect with the divine, while all obstacles are burned up and fall away.

The lifestyle of a householder makes it more difficult than for a monk to have an intense practice. Nevertheless make time for what is really important.

I love, in fact am even passionate about, my evolving, individualized, spiritual lifestyle.

Revisiting sutra 1.14, Patanjali stated that regularity and enthusiasm over a long period of time are what constitutes a firmly grounded practice. So do smaller amounts regularly and as this becomes doable, develop the practice in small steps.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 8 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. I did not perform a neti-pot nasal cleanse because I quickly left the house for the day.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I continue to enjoy the novelty, aroma and taste of the foods.

My timing was messed up today. Today I really only carried out the breakfast watery routines routine, because I was not home all day and spent a long evening enjoying Prokofiev’s War & Peace opera in Toronto. I ended up eating fruit smoothie for breakfast, fruit smoothie for lunch and some stir-fried vegetables.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Friday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I am still considering adjusting sleep patterns.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I’m getting it. My unique schedule has emerged; I can still tinker with it. Again, negative thoughts and memories did not pester me. I was often at peace and optimistic about the future.

Cleanse Journal Day 7

2008-10-24T14:08:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of CONTENTMENT.

What does this principle mean to me?

The second niyama outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras is santosha , or contentment. It is a condition for enlightenment.

The problem inherent with affluence is, is that we tend to draw satisfaction from material things. Consequently, when we experience lack, we are dissatisfied.

The Apostle Paul advises us: "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." Phil 4:11 The word “content” in Greek means "sufficient for one’s self, strong enough to need no aid or support” or “independent of external circumstances."

Jesus urges his disciples not to be anxious about what they eat or drink or wear but to remember that, because their heavenly Father knows all their needs, they should "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" (Matt. 6:31-33).
We over-indulge and imbalance the mind and body instead of focusing on the spirit. Material life is miserable because it expresses oppositions and reminds us that birth brings death. Desire is not squelched by the satisfaction of desire; a desire satisfied breeds another desire to experience a similar satisfaction again. The appetite comes in eating.

“What is contentment? Contentment is serenity, but not complacency. It is comfort, but not submission; reconciliation, not apathy; acknowledgment, not aloofness. Contentment is a mental decision, a moral choice, a practiced observance, a step into the reality of the cosmos. Contentment/santosha is the natural state of our humanness and our divinity and allows for our creativity and love to emerge. It is knowing our place in the universe. It is unity with the Divine.” Swami Shraddhananda

To be desire-free and content, is to express patience, not only externally but mentally, towards home, clothing, food, body, mind, intellect, pleasure or pain.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Contentment is not a virtue to be shown off. As the body, senses, mind and intellect become craving-free, contentment is experienced.

There seems to be no better antidote for discontent, but to place one-pointed focus upon the eternal. Identify as spirit, and desist in self-indulgence. See the oneness and interconnection of all. Discontent cannot co-exist with the idea that the whole world belongs to the Self; also, discontent cannot be held against anyone recognized as actually one with Self.

Use the process of elimination to reach contentment. Reduce our desires down to our actual possessions and situation. Choose to be satisfied by exactly what is provided to obtain freedom from the uncompromising desires.

Avoid enmity, anger, and distress and try to be happy. Do not work up the desire to have more pleasures. Contentment cannot co-exist with the thought that we must add something to our lives for satisfaction to happen in some future time. "I will be content when I get…." is the losing proposition that proposes something else will always become necessary.

Other ways to cultivate contentment are: practice asanas, pranayama and meditation; keep a journal of all for which I am grateful; be in the flow of life, as when communing with nature, when energies are positive and desireless; and be conscious of contended moments, to sustain them for a longer time, even in other times as when embroiled in chaos and disharmony.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 7 was, again, enjoyable. My body felt tremendously alive, once again, when I awoke. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Thursday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I am still considering adjusting sleep patterns.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I’m getting it. My unique schedule has emerged; I can still tinker with it. Again, negative thoughts and memories did not pester me.

Cleanse Journal Day 6

2008-10-24T09:10:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of BODILY PURIFICATION.

What does this principle mean to me?
Instead of focusing on the spirit, we over-indulge and imbalance the mind and body. Purification returns balance to the mind and body, without ahimsa.

Purification goes beyond a superficial cleansing of the skin, positive thinking, or eating a clean diet, and involves prevention of future imbalances.

On the mind-body level, purification triggers the healing of negative emotions.

On a practical, physical level, purification promotes a host of benefits: youthing, flexibility, healthy weight, immunity, the release of toxins stuck in the tissues, regulated breath, and the free flow of Prana.

Purification of the body has an easy, direct influence upon spiritual consciousness. Patanjali describes the practice of Saucha (purification), as a niyama, as a beneficial aid toward realizing the goal of yoga (samadhi).

In The Sunfood Success System David Wolfe suggests that as you cleanse within, you express the virtues and become beautiful without. Outer beauty is a reflection of inner beauty. You will look more beautiful. You will attract beautiful events and experiences and realize instant karma as amazing synchronicities occur.

When administered prudently, purification is a safe way to unfold spiritual awareness, unconditional love and compassion.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
Love and clean food, clean air, bathing, exercise, pure thoughts, visualization or dharana, sweating, fasting, tapas, vairaga, pranayama, asana, meditation, nature all work together to cleanse. Asana practice affects the mind/body, creates lightness, removes dross, as well as purifies. An environment of friendly animals and natural flora living in a mutually beneficial way will manifest spiritual consciousness. There are other cleansing activities that affect the mental/emotional and energy bodies; these can be further explored at a later date.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:

Day 6 was, again, enjoyable. In the evening, I met with two other members of the Cleanse class and the instructor at Renaissance Yoga.

My body felt great, once again, when I awoke. Zero back-of-the-throat soreness. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Wednesday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I am still considering adjusting sleep patterns.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I’m getting it. My unique schedule has emerged; I can still tinker with it. Again, negative thoughts and memories did not pester me. In fact, I got a lot of work done and received more news.

Cleanse Journal Day 5

2008-10-23T09:04:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of KEEPING SIMPLE NEEDS.

What does this principle mean to me?
The term “need” is deceptive. What do you need anyway? If it is a true need, how could you keep it simple enough to “keep simple needs”? If you can keep it simpler, was the need not then actually a desire? I'm beginning to sound like George Carlin.

What is the difference between a need and a desire? The necessity of each is open to interpretation. From a spiritual point of view there is only spirit. We are all spirit. We have everything. Therefore we need nothing. One good reason to keep your needs simple. The other good reason is that mundane desires distract you from the Divine.

Some of the schools of India say that consciousness is a mirror, reflecting, as if by magic, according to our desire, all that is perceived by the senses. Consciousness is eternal but desires experience. That desire for the perception of life instigates manifestation or the entire experienced world. Experience is finite, measurable, and has boundaries, so experience can only be illusory as compared to infinite, boundless eternal spirit. Only the Divine is real.

The debased desire (anything not focused on God is debased) manifests this illusory world. The illusion is of a cacophony of perceptions with concomitant desires which continue on to breed entire extended universes.

If instead of the chaotic psychodrama of the manifested world, consciousness is fixed on its identity as spirit, this shift is said to awaken consciousness, and by extension manifest spirit. The abstention from covetousness, in particular, reveals spirit because the root of covetousness is said to be desire to focus the will on manifested life.

Should we then be counseled to keep our needs simple? Or be counseled to amplify them infinitely to express a desire for experience of the Divine, which is not a “simple need.”

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?

Ceasing from self-indulgence is conscious mastery over the desire for sensuous perceptions. Sensuous desire is based on the longing to feel alive. However, the experience of true life comes with spiritual emergence, which often comes in silence, after the voluntarily surrender of self-indulgence.

Keeping simple needs generally keeps you out of trouble. Which is why abstaining from stealing and covetousness are often spoken against in the sacred texts of Pantanjali, Buddha, Moses, and Jesus. Likewise is the young man having great possessions counseled who asked, What shall I do to be saved? the reply being: Keep the Commandments.

Mark 12:28-34 "One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' 'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbour as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these.' 'Well said, teacher,' the man replied. 'You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.' When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions."

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 5 was enjoyable. My body felt great, once again, when I awoke. Zero back-of-the-throat soreness. I performed a neti-pot nasal cleanse.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Tuesday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I am still considering adjusting sleep patterns.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I’m getting it. My unique schedule has emerged; I can still tinker with it. Again, negative thoughts and memories did not pester me. In fact, some great things happened.

Cleanse Journal Day 4

2008-10-22T09:16:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of SEXUAL INTEGRITY

What does this principle mean to me?
Tantra views every facet of human experience, including sex, as potential for personal transformation and self-actualization. For the Tantric, life is a meditation. Every activity … eating, drinking, breathing, dancing, making love … can be entered into with awareness, bringing a quality of meditation into even these simplest of acts. I’m pretty sure one would have to demonstrate some manner of energetic integrity to achieve a Tantric state. It is my intuition that sex can be experienced at a deeper level, even as a spiritual path, when one tests boundaries ... to experience the world in a more ecstatic and “life enhancing” way. Tantra obscures the normal realm of existence and is said to reveal an exciting path that is all embracing, creative, and loving with a deep feeling of connection with the world and beyond. I’m confident about the transcendental, self-actualization possibilities of Tantra, when practiced holistically, because I have had my moments ... enough to trigger curiosity and desire for more.

Discussing this issue is problematic. Privacy, even secrecy, in this area is imperative to me as I think both intensify the experience, so I counsel and discipline myself to keep many of my thoughts to myself. Also, this subject is a huge, mysterious pool of adventure. I don’t even expect to be necessarily accurate in my perceptions, and it may be obvious, I’m winging this self analysis to begin to untangle my own thoughts and to start to unwind my obsolete conditioning. However, I offer this abbreviated and lightly censored early morning contemplation for your comments:

This principle presented the background theme of my life over the past decade, and in 2008 the theme has boldly asserted itself into the foreground. Characteristically, I have expressed myself in this area at the level of Vata dosha, which includes not emphasizing sex in relationships and consciously experiencing sensuality in an abstract way (through art, the beauty of nature, etc.). In this way a great deal of focus was expended on the depth of intimacy, such as talking and sharing feelings as a foundation for a multi-leveled engagement. This brought me great relationship stability and substance.

The way I see it, my constitution is underfed with enough Pitta-increasing sexual ideals, such as fueling the fire. The result is finicky activation of either the saint or the sinner. It’s either full speed ahead/warp speed drive or I stop on a dime. All or nothing. Extremes.

Perhaps I should add that I also have typically undervalued Kapha-increasing ideals, such as the priority of being a nurturing partner. I could always improve as a partner, we all can, I’m sure; and my husband deserves the best.

Most importantly, I am also discovering and being called to examine themes in my history and character of authenticity, risk, truth, tempo, tone, service versus debauchery.

Because of all of the above, like most human beings, I am somewhat out of balance with my Ayurvedic constitution. I predict I will be doing this discovery work lifelong.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
It would be beneficial to experience the world sensually, such as enjoying more art, nature, and other mediums that could feed my senses and spirit. Perhaps I could focus on exploring intimacy in ways that allow me to be more nurturing, compassionate and conscious. From the Pitta perspective, perhaps I could feed the flame.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 4 was enjoyable. My body felt great, once again, when I awoke. Zero back-of-the-throat soreness because I skipped the nasal cleanse yesterday.

Sleep record:
I was not so tired Tuesday night and had yet another long, satisfying rest, up to 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I am still considering adjusting sleep patterns.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I’m getting it. My unique schedule has emerged; I can still tinker with it. Again, negative thoughts and memories did not pester me.

Cleanse Journal Day 3

2008-10-21T09:05:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of NOT GETTING WITHOUT GIVING

What does this principle mean to me?
On the surface, this principle seems like a no-brainer to me. As a Pitta, I have characteristically seen myself as a giver, putting out far more energy than I have taken. What a good, effective person am I! Maybe not so much.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
I love the cyclical nature of the principle of the day: make room for new by giving up what no longer has value. There is a finite amount of space in your life, so make room! I love the thrill of the anticipation about what will appear. Usually something really good and apparently better than before. But now, to incorporate ahimsa, and how to avoid being so internally self righteous about my giving, which expends or wastes a lot of energy? Sometimes I feel I should give less and not end up feeling exploited or neglected. Or give more strategically.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 3 so far is enjoyable. My body felt great, once again, when I awoke.

I am working through an altered schedule and altered menu of food items and drinks. So far I am enjoying the process. Did not do the nasal cleanse so the sore back of the throat is dissipating.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I continue to be fascinated by the novelty, aroma and taste of the foods.

Sleep record:
I was equally exhausted Saturday night and had a long, satisfying rest, 10 hours. Perhaps I should be sleeping less. I will work on this.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I think I’m getting it. My unique schedule is starting to emerge. It’s closer to my regular routine and easier than I thought. My negative thoughts and memories did not pester me.

Cleanse Journal Day 2

2008-10-20T08:06:00.002-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of TRUTHFULNESS

What does this principle mean to me?
Truthfulness has always been important to me, even articulations of “brutal realities.” I find being brutally truthful with myself has allowed me to accelerate my growth. But now, to incorporate ahimsa, I’d like to routinely express the greys, the softer and subtler, shades of truth. Being a communications professional, do I ever know how to bend the truth to present the most persuasive position. There’s an entire methodology for how this is done which I will not go into here, but suffice to say, this can be problematic. Also, does one have to express their truth at every opportunity? I think not.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
But now, to incorporate ahimsa into the discipline of truth, I’d like to routinely express the greys, and subtler, shades of truth. I’d like to honour truth by experimenting with not trying so hard to manipulate it by the methods of persuasion. I’d like to experiment with silence.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 2 so far is enjoyable. My body felt amazing when I awoke. Everything is in good working order and I feel light and soft (from all the oils I consumed the day before).

I am working through an altered schedule and altered menu of food items and drinks. So far I am enjoying the process. Sore back of the throat most of the second half of the day.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I continue to be fascinated by the novelty of the foods.

Sleep record:
I was equally exhausted Saturday night (after an evening at the Opera) and had a long, satisfying rest. Perhaps I should be sleeping less.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I think I’m getting it. My unique schedule is starting to emerge. It’s closer to my regular routine and easier than I thought.

Cleanse Journal Day 1

2008-10-19T09:32:00.001-04:00

Yogic principle for the day: the external discipline of NON-VIOLENCE
Non-Violence (Skt.: Ahimsa)
For one who is established in non-violence, all enmity ceases in his presence.
To nurture the spirit of valuing and protecting life in all of its forms. To cultivate an attitude of physical, verbal and mental gentleness towards those around you, especially when it requires effort. To never return harm with harm. To extend this attitude towards the great and the small in equal measure.

What does this principle mean to me?
Being a warrior pitta, means I’ve had my share of battles, won and lost. In the early wars, I felt deprived, victimized, and even abused by specific people, and myself. Many battles felt justified and righteous. Over time I adapted and became an advanced warrior. With a lot of effort, my survival skills evolved exponentially. Most of my recent battles have been psychological and complex. I see a sharp edge in me that now can soften. Certain behaviours have outgrown their usefulness. I’ll name a few: Criticisms. Take-charge attitude that intimidates some. Task orientation and driven focus. Decisions based on logic or what I think I should do. Neglecting what is in fact most valuable to me. Underestimating the contribution of others. Not valuing the needs of others enough. Driving others as hard as I drive myself. I hope I am overstating these traits. It would be characteristic of some Pittas.

Apparently, I have internalized some now problematic judgements and in so doing perhaps I am most violent to myself, in self-criticism. I hope that is some consolation to those I may have offended along the way. For my world to change, I have to change. I want to change and I enjoy change. Everything is connected. As above, so below. It seems I have to learn to tune my energies to avert war, both within and outside of myself. I will explore the possibility that it is unnecessary to fight, to struggle. Maybe there’s a better way. Perhaps there is a creative twist to discover. Also, it appeals to me that the principle of the day expressed above is highly democratic. Be established in ahimsa to all in equal measure: people, animals, nature, myself.

How do I honour it on a daily basis? What could I improve?
I now officially retire from warring. Truly, I would like to experience and explore the opposite of ahimsa: kindness, gentleness, non-violent psychological and ecological solutions. More often, I could take personal note and acknowledge contributions of others. Ensure others are not dissatisfied or feeling pushed. Ask others about their feelings. Ensure I respect everyone’s role. Ask myself what is truly important in the long term and whether my decision promotes that or is simply a logical choice. Conduct “intensity” checks. Stop and appreciate the beauty of the earth and life more.

Observations regarding the practice of my assignments:
Day 1 so far is confusing. I am working through an altered schedule and altered menu of food items and drinks. I have had to read the booklet on Jala Neti. So far I am enjoying the process. Sore back of the throat most of the second half of the day.

Daily food/elimination comments:
I was told some of the items would be distasteful, but I like it all. I am fascinated by the novelty.

Sleep record:
I returned home from my Cleanse Prep in Toronto Friday night exhausted and slept long and deeply. I was equally exhausted Saturday night and had a long, satisfying rest.

Additional thoughts or feelings:
I would like to get over my confusion and find my rhythm in this practice.

(Oct 14, 2008) Personalized Ayurvedic Assessment

2008-10-16T13:15:00.000-04:00

Prepared by an Ayurvedic RYT, AHE, in Toronto
I am a robust pitta(3)-kapha(1.5) prakriti with excellent structural stability and a vast pool of emotional resource beginning to quiver under a hyper-competent intellectual/professional persona; vata is over-excited on the level of reproductive power and manas by spiritual emergence. Pitta-type psychological drive has served me well in terms of artha but cannot stop for kama or contemplation or simple rest because of a long-standing fear that foundations are insecure. And so they are with regard to worldview: it is hard for me to believe that I am loved and lovable: such ideas are challenging to my identity.

Nourishment Fixation
Lifelong fixation upon nourishment has been a touchstone for anxiety, doubt about the beneficence of the universe, doubt of self-worth, doubt in the purpose of material life, and recently transformed into a spiritual tool of considerable value, but which carries some of the old purpose: food is a way of purifying, testing or proving or perhaps even punishing the body. It will be useful to nurture the understanding that food is just food, simultaneously mundane and divine, with the knowledge and gusto that dogs and cats have.

My Mother
My mother is in my head (this is literally true in Vedic astrological chart). It will help to examine, as I meditate “whose thoughts are these?” It will be helpful when I do my forgiveness ritual to specifically write out every single accusation levelled at me by my mother, and to see how many, if not all, have become self-accusations. Perhaps I will eventually reclaim her love by understanding her wrathful nature in a tantric sense.

My Body
My body is fairly clean. The raw diet has done well on many levels: it has eliminated many toxins (clean tongue, improved skin, feeling of lightness). However, I do have four physiological issues and one personal issue, which I will not detail here. I received a “doable” individualized diet recommendation which I also will not detail either.

Book Review (God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism) Rabbi D.A. Cooper

2008-10-15T17:07:00.000-04:00

The Discovery of Authentic Identity and Interconnectivity with All of Life
Kabbalah is a way of life and a way of interpretation. Things in this world are more than we think they are. This world is a reflection of, and is in symbiotic relationship with, other realms of reality. Everything is connected. As above, so below. The mundane and the sacred are connected. Even further, the mundane, physical aspects of life are dwarfed by the mystical.

The level of our consciousness plays a key role in what we manifest, the souls we attract, and our perception of the Truth.

The Lower Levels: Illusion of Separateness
At lower levels, consciousness experiences the illusion of separateness. What we see as beginnings and endings are actually segments of something without boundaries. Our identity is the accumulation of all of our illusions/experience.

Here love manifests as the yearning for completion. The sacred texts often refer to our relationship to the Divine in the erotic imagery of lovers merging. In the section on “The Divine Kiss” the author quotes the Song of Songs in which the mystic whispers about the kiss of its lover. “We can feel the aching heart of the lover.” I often feel this indescribable yearning.

Getting to the Higher Levels: Some Awareness Practices
Wisdom comes from within and through direct experience when we live in a way that invites it. The book describes a relationship process in which we partner with the Divine and we raise our consciousness (raise Holy Sparks in ourselves and in the world) to discover our authentic identity and interconnectivity with all of life.

Realize our hearts are covered with a thick shield. Unshielding involves learning how to let go of our fear, for fear maintains the barriers of separation. Break down the barriers, one baby step at a time. Let go of the inner critic. Peel away the veils and notice what was present the whole time.

At the higher levels of consciousness, the reality of oneness of all is manifested. This is the mystical epiphany. We do not need Divine intervention. We do not have to search for God, because the presence of the Divine permeates all things. The urge to call out to God is always answered simultaneously for there is no difference between the caller and that to which it calls. If there is a search at all, it is God searching for Itself. At each step we take, the Divine steps with us. Each breath we draw is connected with the breath of the universe. Lover, beloved, and the essence of love itself all are reflections of exactly the same thing. In these moments we know the presence of the Divine without separation. “Behold we are the source and the source is us. We are so intimately united with It, we cannot by any means be separated from It, for we are It.”

Ultimately, we may see who we really are. Do everything in our power to live with authenticity, live with integrity, and remove our finger from the dam of self-identity.

Book Review The Essential Kabbalah (The Heart of Jewish Mysticism) Daniel Matt

2008-10-15T17:02:00.000-04:00

All of Life Connected to the Mystical
The Essential Kabbalah describes Kabbalah as a way of relating to the esoteric, inner, hidden dimension of life that is both concealed and revealed. Again, as in the book God is a Verb, reality here is described as a reflection of, and in symbiotic relationship with, other realms of reality. The mundane and the sacred are connected. We are advised to raise our consciousness and raise Holy Sparks in ourselves and in the world to discover our authentic identity and interconnectivity with all of life.

The Tree of Life and the Sefirot
The Tree of Life illustrates the drama of emanation, from En Sof to creation: in other words, Emanation, Creation, Formation, and Actualization. This is the full gamut of coming into being and passing away (yogic prakriti?). The Sefirot represent the stages of God’s inner life, aspects of Divine personality (although God is undifferentiated). There is nothing else but God and God animates everything. If God’s gaze were withdrawn for even a moment, all existence would be nullified.

The Path of Ascent Back to the One
We are on a ladder of ascent back to the One. The book suggests that “Grace” can intervene to help one understand God “If you are deserving, you will understand the mystery of God on your own.” (page 27). The book describes awareness practices not unlike Eastern mediation activities. Whatever one implants firmly in the mind becomes the essential thing. Wait for the secret to be revealed to you in the course of time.

Prepare to meet your God. Learn from a teacher on the path of integrity.
The methodology rewards those purifying themselves. “One that understands this secret understands the immense power a human has to build and to destroy. (page 79)
Purify your body.
Wear all white.
Hear the voice of God in everything.
Devote your heart.
Forget yourself totally (your ego?) or God cannot clothe himself in you.

The book describes an awakening that suggests a Kundalini awakening. The purpose is to maintain the endurance of the one who apprehends with the joy of apprehension. Bringing pleasure, delight, trembling, joyful exuberance. The idolatrous mirror of thought is annihilated. It is said that this awakening is impossible to articulate or describe in words.

Who am I?
The greater you are the more you need to search for yourself. (p. 124) Go to your Self. You are a channel for the divine attributes. You are entirely soul.

Monthly Reading #4 (September 2008) Live Food Nutrtion

2008-10-14T15:04:00.000-04:00

Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, Chapters 2 and 5, established the “Live Food Nutrition” scope of the readings for the month. According to the information presented, the calorie paradigm of 1789 is completely out of date or at minimum, is incomplete and the medical community may be in grave error for ever having endorsed cooked food. It is the wholeness of a food that is crucially important. It is the wholeness of raw foods which is health-producing and non-reproducible by science. Science does not fully understand why a raw-food diet is so effective, but it is clear that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

In the reading, Dr. Cousins discusses preventing the “composting” of western civilization and points to the health-promoting attributes of live foods. Chronic degenerative disease seems to be caused by a deranged biological terrain, especially from foods high in sugars, flesh foods, grains, and dairy. Cooking or other forms of processing destroy qualities and components of our food for which the significance is not yet, or perhaps never will be, known in its totality. Not only do live foods avoid the problems with cooking (leukocytosis), live foods provide phytonutrients, enzymes, and subtle organizing energy fields. Live foods offer a natural way of calorie restriction with optimum nutrition. How we eat even affects our gene expression; activator genes are given optimal phenotypic expression with fresh organic live food.

A great deal of information was given about the attributes of enzymes. Enzymes are not simple chemical catalysts, but vital life forces that initiate a host of biochemical interactions (digestion, nervous system, detoxification, RNA/DNA repair). There are about 50,000 different types of enzymes. The body’s capacity to make enzymes, however, is exhaustible. Hence you find a lower enzyme count in the elderly, and those that are sick or afflicted with chronic disease. Live foods bring their own living enzymes to the body so it does not have to dip into its limited enzyme reserve.

I am quite interested in the electrical theories provided in the readings about live food:

Organisms are made of patterns of resonant energy. We are proverbial live wires. Subtle nutrients enhance electrical potential with micro-capillary charge (Dr. Israel Brekhanan)

There is an ultra weak photon emission from living systems and a discernable coherence in 97% of DNA (Dr. F.A. Popp)

Live foods are able to awaken inert molecules by the give or take of electrons (high redox potential). Electroluminescence is demonstrated in Kirlian photographs (Nobel laureate Szent-Gyorgyi)

We can raise our micro-electrical potential (Professor Hans Eppinger)

Electron rich foods act as solar resonance fields in the body to attract, store, conduct the sun’s energy in our bodies. (Dr Joanna Budwig)

Processed foods may act as insulators to electricity (Dr. F.A. Popp)

So we are light beings. At the micro level, we are human photocells; our cell metabolism acts as a battery. All of our cells are fully charged with light (or electricity) when healthy. The ultimate bio nutrient is light. Light is the umbilical cord to the universe. Food with light brings that light into our bodies. Live foods bring light.

Light and consciousness are interconnected. The more conscious we become, the more we become that light. Food deeply and radically affects the way we think, feel and behave. The virtue of beauty is a function of inner cleanliness or light. The more perfectly clean or light your body, the more perfectly it will radiate the super-natural powers of an extraordinary human being with unlocked dormant powers.

That is the “secret” of conscious eating.

The secret of conscious eating, or the spiritual implications of the living foods lifestyle excite me most about this month’s reading. “We live in an environment of excessive stimulation, empty calories and negative thoughts. We are a country of overabundance in which overeating has become a major way of avoiding unwanted feelings such as intimacy, sexual desire, loneliness, feeling unloved, and anger. It can also be a form of self-sabotage and self-abuse, as well as a slow form of suicide. Overeating food has become one of America’s most serious addictions.” (Conscious Eating, p. 532)

Living foods provide prana to the body and mind, allowing us deeper perception of Truth and Oneness. “To heal oneself requires the ability to love oneself enough to have the intention to reconnect with the Culture of Life which is our birthright. In that way we perform an Act of Love for oneself as an individual person, and as part of the living planet. This results in the healing of the planet and all species. The healing of diabetes in this context is an Act of Love, Compassion, and Consciousness.” (There is a Cure for Diabetes, p. 359)

On a practical level, the optimal diet apparently is one that is organic, vegan, at least 80 percent live-food, high in mineral content, 15-20 percent plant-only fat (no animal fat), high-fiber, low-glycemic, low-insulin index, well hydrated, individualized, and prudent food intake ... a cuisine that is sustainable for the duration of one’s life, and prepared and eaten with love.

Monthly Reading #3 (August 2008) Vegan Nutrition

2008-10-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, Chapter 1, outlined how bacteria, yeast, fungus, and eventually mold develop, feed on vital body substance and produce mycotoxins resulting in degenerative disease symptoms and composting action. David Wolfe called these organisms nanobacteria, I believe. Protits form colloidal energetic fields, within cells, and also in extra-cellular fluid and the lymph and the blood. To this is added Dr. Cousins’ theory of Tachyon energy and subtle organizing energy fields (SOEF). So the whole biochemical experience becomes quite subtle. In disease, as a result of acid-producing conditions, red blood cells lose the normal, healthy negative charge that keeps them repelled from one another and turn positive and begin to clump. And hence disease progresses. Flesh foods further act as a sludge to the flow of Kundalini. Hence Dr. Cousins recommends people eat whole, natural, organic (poison-free), low-protein, primarily living foods, be conscious of subtle sources of energy, obtain adequate sunlight, and breathe, bathe and work the earth.

A great deal of the readings this month focused on the nutritional, economic, socio-cultural and spiritual reasons to be vegetarian or vegan on a low-protein diet. I note with interest the quote that “because food is more primary than sex, whatever changes we do make have a deep impact on an emotional, mental, and spiritual level. With each change of habit, a little more consciousness is liberated. Part of the self-discovery process is that as we change, old thoughtforms must be brought up, examined, and ultimately discarded.” (Conscious Eating, p. 413) Negative thoughtforms are stored in the subtle system of the body at lower vibrational rates. At the same time, “When we eat, we are biting into the living planet. What we eat is the consciousness of the living Earth. If our eating process is not based on Love and compassion, all of our other actions are bound to suffer. Anna, or food, is the first name of God or Brahma in Sanskrit. In the act of eating, we are partaking of the entire universe and demonstrating our Oneness with God or Life. Everything in the universe is food, therefore what we eat is God, and therefore feeds our souls.” (Spiritual Nutrition, p. 251-252)

Much of the reading this month was so disturbing I could hardly read it, let alone describe it now. The books, Beyond Beef, Diet for a New America, The Food Revolution, and Genetically Engineered Foods were terrifying. They did not have to convince me to be a vegan, I am already there. But I did wish I had known the information sooner. Slaughterhouses, factory farms, the chemical controls of crops, fishing, hunting, the sociological injustices of meat eating, and the health problems disgust me. Clearly, people are poor stewards of the earth and each other. Especially, when the world can already grow enough food to feed everybody. To simplify and summarize, as David Wolfe says, “What we eat deeply and radically affects the way we think, feel and behave. We are what we eat, and we eat what we are. Food affects every aspect of our being. Food is the foundation of our physical body. If the foundation is stable, all that is built upon it will be stable. Everything you physically are was once the air you breathed, the water you drank and the food you ate. The colloidal mineral structure of your body is built out of the foods you have eaten. If there is an alteration in the food, then it is reflected in the look and function of the body. Improve your food choices and you dramatically improve the foundation upon which your body is built.” The Sunfood Diet Success System, p. 78)

Monthy Reading #2 (July 2008) Food Effects on Mind, Body and Spirit

2008-10-14T14:52:00.000-04:00

This month, I noted yoga and the Kabbalah similarly describe the multileveled body-mind-spirit. It is said that aspects are interrelated; when you affect one aspect, such as the body, you also affect the other aspects, such as the mind and spirit. I also noted in myself that as I change personally a number of levels change simultaneously as in a Domino effect. Also, I see these interrelated aspects manifesting in myself first and then read about them later, as if the books and teachings are confirming my experience.

The 1988 statement by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), quoted in Eating for Beauty, on page 14 suggests a positive relation between a vegetarian lifestyle and the decrease of several chronic degenerative diseases like obesity, heart/coronary disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, and other conditions. The virtues of this lifestyle are rewarded on other levels of the body-mind-spirit complex; the cause and the effect become blurred.

The Sunfood Success System reading articulates that you will begin to attract beautiful events and experiences and realize instant karma as an amazing synchronicities begin to occur. You will look more beautiful. In Eating for Beauty Wolfe also adds, “you are what you eat” Your food choices will paint an accurate picture reflecting refinement of character. You will enjoy life and love more fully. Improved appearance and increase in synchronicities are some of the phenomena I experienced first in my transition into yoga and the living foods lifestyle.

Currently, my changes seem more on the emotional or heart level. My emotions demand to be authentically claimed/recognized by me, even if I formerly would have judged them “illigitimate.” Some of these are ecstatic, some are painful and some are a mixture of pain and joy and not all are directed towards God (that I am aware of). A number of quotes speak to me: “Until the first three chakras are balanced and our consciousness is merged and integrated with their higher functioning, the consciousness of the heart, or Love chakra, and the superconscious fifth, sixth, and seventh chakras cannot completely emerge or be fully integrated in a way to create the alchemy of meditation. (Spiritual Nutrition, p. 169.) It will be easier for the pranic energy of the system to be drawn into the upper vortex field, the goal being the superconductivity of Kundalini and directly experiencing the ecstasy of God. “...there arises an experience of an extraordinary, exquisite, gentle flow of the Divine spirit, God’s light, and Divine sound filling the body.” (Conscious Eating, p 172.) I feel moments of this state and am excited by further prospects. Apparently, noncausal joy should run through every cell and be omnipresent.

Awareness (Toxemia Explained, p 10), the path of the heart, our holy rhythm and lifestyle can be affected by the biochemical stress and post-stress response and addictions involving neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, glutamine, GABA), endorphins, lack of EFAs, excitotoxins, and other biological chemicals. These can shift the consciousness of identity and consciousness of the nature of the world. At least on the physical level one can try to dietary approach of an individualized, organic, vegan, live-food, high-mineral, low-glycemic, well-hydrated, sattvic (holy), moderate-intake diet prepared with Love as a powerful aid in the process of spiritual evolution. (Spiritual Nutrition, p. 198.) I look to wake up to a new level of awareness and joy.

Monthly Reading #1 (June 2008) Anatomy & Physiology (Physical & Esoteric)

2008-10-14T14:15:00.000-04:00

In June 2008 I contemplated the energetic and consciousness aspects of live food mastery and yoga. I can now appreciate the subtle details of the cosmology described. The book Spiritual Nutrition defined Kundalini as the inner spiritualizing energy that takes us to the experiences of non-causal ecstasy, joy, peace, love and God awareness, none of which I really “believed in” or thought possible in the past. The notion that the body is energized and transformed by prana and stabilized by the Six Foundations (nutrition, prana, service, satsang, silence and shaktipat) is becoming real to me. The experience of the three knots opening, chakras transducing energy, and body-mind koshas evolving from food focus to non-causal bliss, all conducting a form of seemingly electric energy, is I think possible. As my physiology changes in accordance with my lifestyle, I watch my thoughts and emotions change in tandem. Subjectively, I notice all kinds of wonderful synchronicities. I have even had brief glimmers of non-causal happiness that have surprised me. I intuit that I am on this pathless path. I definitely want shaktipat.

I also note the unconventional idea that the adult needs spiritual energy more than tangible food energy. “Once the adult form of the crystal, the human physical body, has completed its growth, we only need a minimum of nutrients to maintain the homeostasis of the system. The main purpose of nutrition at this point becomes primarily the supplying of energy to maintain the subtle organizing energy fields of the overall system. … The idea is to eat the minimum necessary to keep the energy and conductivity of the body at a maximum. As we shift toward absorbing less condensed energies into our organism, we need less and less material food even as a source of energy.” (Spiritual Nutrition, pg. 167.) David Wolfe echoes this radical idea in his book, The Sunfood Diet Success System, (pg. 345) “little energy comes from food, stimulation comes from food. The digestion of food takes energy away from the body. Energy comes first from the spirit, and then primarily from the air, from oxygen, and from a lack of obstructions in the body.” Experientially, for me this minimalist recommendation for eating is also now true and very important.

The monthly reading also described subtle organizing energy fields (SOAFs) and the subtle organization of the physiology and how disorganization could lead to fermentation, entropy, aging, and disease.

Food stimulates inner forces. To improve the eating experience and energy organization, Conscious Eating suggests one should look at food as a love note from God, that provides a spiritual message that affects the entire body/mind/spirit complex. The body is not exclusively a mechanical organism but an organism undergoing an alchemical energy-release process that involves step-downs of energy from solid to liquid to gaseous and to etheric forms that could potentially trigger mind/body states of ecstasy. We want that.

Finally, the sections on water also reframed how I understood the function and character of water and energy organization. Apparently, water is the solvent that regulates all functions of the body including the solutes that are dissolved in it. The readings describe water as having various functions: hydrolysis, hydroelectric energy generation, adhesion, transportation, viscosity reduction, information transfer, chemical reaction trigger and antioxidant. Water has the added cosmic qualities of being a carrier/retainer/transferer of consciousness and solar energy. Water is the great communicator of consciousness. When it is blessed, water can mirror the soul.

History: Background of the Cleanse

2008-10-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

∞ Health History
My father died in 1964 of a massive heart attack. My mother died in May 2002 of colon cancer.

2002 was a major turning point in my life from a health/spiritual point of view. I made conscious changes to manifest my physical/spiritual potential. I took up Ashtanga yoga and immersed my self in Yogic philosophy.

Immediately thereafter, I decided to simply improve my diet. My entire life I felt that my diet was nutritionally inferior and I strongly resisted the (Czech and Slovak) eating traditions of my family in which I was raised. First, I transitioned to a standard American diet (SAD) and within about three months experienced radical and provocative physical improvements.

As I contemplated the relationship between food and various aspects of life, I explored via the web some of my emerging fundamental questions and interests. On the web in 2003, I discovered an upcoming lecture given by David Wolfe in Montreal. I travelled to the top of Mont Royal to hear the talk which would change my eating habits forever. It was an evening of shock and awe. His passionate commentaries on raw foods resonated with and excited me. When I returned to Toronto after that weekend I began to study his books, consume his products and went on to examine the related works of Gabriel Cousins and the Hippocrates Institute, and I began regularly attending raw food events in Toronto.

Living Foods Health Educator, Wayne Gendel of Toronto helped me to enliven my diet. Since then, I became immediately vegetarian, then vegan, then in 2005 60% raw, and in 2008 95-100% raw (mostly, and most happily, at 100% raw).

My changes feel like they are taking place less on the physical level and more on the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual level. I more often feel luminous, clear headed and better than ever before in my life. I continue to be passionate about studying, understanding, and experiencing every nuance of the raw vegan lifestyle. I feel I still wish to further refine myself biochemically and spiritually. I have experienced numerous changes, synchronicities, magic and miracles that I believe have arisen from this discipline exclusively. Since it is impossible to pinpoint causes, I have come to the conclusion that I don't care if this is all pure imagination. It's working for me.

∞ Current Issues/Holistic Aspirations I feel I am being led on a path customized for me. I yearn for more knowledge and experience. I would like to purify my body optimally (whatever that means) and express myself with authenticity and integrity both in my personal relationships, in my career, and with the Divine. I aspire to experience myself as a superconductor for communication with the Divine (a Gabriel Cousins' concept). I am exploring the phenomena of happiness, peace, compassion and bliss, ... all of which challenge me.

I would love to experience God directly, Samadhi. And I don't. Scared.

Plans and Actions

2008-10-12T21:14:00.000-04:00

Studying Ashtanga yoga and Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras since 2002. Try to keep yogic hours. Every Sunday, I contemplate the next sutra, compare several translations and apply my own interpretations.

Working on my second Masters degree: Spiritual Nutrition: Vegan and Live Food Mastery program, University of Integrated Science California (UISCA) (two-year, distance learning). This entails a 27-day retreat at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in 2009. The back view of the Tree of Life Cafe is shown to the right.

On Friday, October 17, 2008, I am starting a 21-day cleanse supervised by Renaissance Yoga.