Monday, February 25, 2008

Fable

I am currently writing this story, and I wasn't going to post it until it was done, but I thought, what the heck, put it out there, and just add and edit it as it goes along. So here it is.


Once upon a time, a noble King named Meriwether lived in luxury and plenty in a beautiful Kingdom. The Kingdom stretched in great distance from north to south, and east to west.
There was a vast arid desert to the west. To the east of the desert lay a mountainous region. To the south a tropical jungle, and to the north sat green grasslands covering many a hill and dale. Finally, in the middle of it all, in a temperate valley, stood the city of Meriwether, where King Meriwether held his court.
King Meriwether was a man who never wanted for anything. He wore handsome garments stitched from the finest silks and linens. When he slept he rested his body on goose-feathered pillows, and the furs from foxes and bear. When he bathed, he used aromatic soaps, perfumes and oils from rare animals and plants. The King liked to bathe many times a day because he did not like the smell of the human body.
The King ate delicacies from the many regions of his land. The goats and cattle produced remarkable cheeses. The beef was considered to be the most delicious and tender. For breakfast, the King would eat fluffy eggs and buttery biscuits. For lunch, he would eat braised ham, poached liver of ducks, soft billowy loaves of bread, and chocolate pudding made from the fatty milk of his most prized cows. For dinner, he supped on the ribs of bison, mashed potatoes, perfectly cooked wild game from his forests, and cakes made from whipped eggs, sugar, and wheat ground to fine flour.
The King was a goodly man and greatly cared for the people of his Kingdom, so he wished for them to eat as well as he did. He sent out his cooks to all parts of his land. They showed people in the markets how to prepare foods just as it was prepared for the King. The people, who once only ate fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds from their farms for thousands and thousands of years, now gave their lands over for the grazing of animals. The people were very grateful, and did just as the King’s cooks instructed them to do.
But for all of the wonderful food the King was eating, and the lifestyle he was living, he never quite felt well. The King suffered from depression, anxiety, and nervousness. There were days when King Meriwether would not leave his bedchamber, nor pull open the fabrics covering the windows of the palace. All day he could lie in his bed without even lighting a candle. The King suffered from periodic blockage of the bowels, headaches, and rashes on his skin. He had gained weight every year since he had become King. All of his old robes no-longer fit, and were packed away in large chests.
The Kingdom of Meriwether went on as such for many, many years. And, for much of that time the people thought it was the best time to be alive. For people who used to eat meat very infrequently, now ate meat every day. For people who never drank cow or goat’s milk, but only fresh water from the lakes and rivers, now drank milk two to three times a day. The people said that they felt stronger because of their new diet, that is was the natural way people should eat.
As time moved on, the people of Meriwether had begun to notice differences in their land, and amongst their people. Where at one time there lived the great tropical forests of Meriwether, now it had been mostly burned down and replaced by more fields to raise animals. Where at one time the arid desert region was small and hugged the coast, now it had spread into the once great rolling grass lands, and each year the desert spread wider and wider. The people, who were once renowned for their peaceful ways, now were impatient and were quick to temper. Neighbor fought amongst neighbor, and fisticuffs became a common spectacle. Also, they stopped considering other creatures as living beings, but saw them only as food, and as such, treated them with cruelty. And, over time, some of the people’s health complaints became the same as the Kings’. Many of the people of Meriwether could no longer work, but rather were bedridden, with many types of ailments never heard of before.
It was at this time in the history of, Meriwether, that a woman named, Anastasia, walked out of an oasis in the desert, and began talking of another path for the people.

Friday, February 22, 2008

My First Garden

This summer, for the first time, I am going to plant a garden. Not just fruits and vegetables, but native plants scattered willy-nilly about the front and side of the house.
I have often looked in amazement, how beautiful these gardens are, with their stone paths, tall grasses, and clumps of flowers.
When I was ten years old, I remember the ChemLawn truck going through the neighborhood, spraying everybody’s yard. Row by row, every house with a perfectly green lawn, without a single weed. What a miracle! Children played on these lawns. Nobody worried whether there were chemicals leeching into the water supply. It was just a miracle of modern technology; a Walt Disney dream of urban perfection. And, of course, it was easy. Nobody had to spend any time getting dirty, and there were no judgments from your neighbors; we all had the same lawn.
Think what if every home in these suburban neighborhoods had grasses they could juice. What if they had bushes of blueberries and raspberries growing right in their front yard? What if the people living in these houses were outside every day planting and picking their fruits and vegetables? Nobody would feel disassociated from society. There would be a sense of community most of us have never known. What if everybody was composting, and eating vegetables that didn’t come in cans and plastic?
Think of how much water we use to grow grass we don’t consume! At least the grass on an environmental disaster of a golf course has a purpose.
Most people have good intentions. Even the companies, who make the poisons, may believe that what they produce is a benefit to society. But hopefully, we are finally moving into a new consciousness.
My new conscious is telling me to plant a garden.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Poem

Here is a poem my cousin, Suzie, from San Jose, California wrote. I think its beautiful set among fields and farm. And, the other thing that is wonderful about the poem is the compassion given to the frogs trying to make their way across the road.
The poem has no title.

I feel like an ant among humans, a little out of place, but too awestruck to move out of the way.
The peace and tranquility is amazing, and I swear, if the mosquitoes didn’t eat me alive, I’d lay
out under the stars all night.

This evening we scooted the frogs out of the road so they wouldn’t get squished by the
random passerby. At dusk, millions of frogs cross the road from the soy bean fields to the
grass, and many get caught before they make it. In daylight, you can see flat little frog tiles dot
the road, and I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to save a few.


At home, the most amazing thing you can expect to see is the contrast of hot pink flowers
bursting out from a giant bushel of green leaves. It stops me dead in my tracks every time as if
it’s the first, and last, time I’ll see that kind of beauty. That and buttermilk poppies; bright,
playful and vast along the most barren stretches of freeway.

But here, there’s time to take it all in and appreciate the slow pace and beauty of the lush clusters of trees along the waterways, between one farm and another.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Another "Raw Family"

I know the book "Raw Family" already exists, but I should tell you about the wonderful healing that has occurred in my family. When I started this living-raw food diet on June 18th 2007, I just wanted to see how it would make me feel. The miraculous cures and health claims made me very skeptical, but I thought that I should see for myself before dismissing them out-right. I wasn't sick, as far as I know, though I was sixty pounds overweight. I challenged other members of my family to join me, as well. My wife was sick all the time, had migraine headaches on a weekly basis, and had a medicine chest full of prescription drugs. My Mother has type 1 diabetes, and although she takes great care of herself; her cholesterol level was higher than she wanted, we wondered whether she could reduce the amount of insulin she was taking, and in a separate issue, she had a chronic sinus problem. My Father, always a lean man, started to get the late fifties mid-section that most people just accept with getting older. And finally, my sister was about to go into surgery to get a cyst removed that was about to explode. You know what's coming: My Father and I lost the weight; my wife doesn't experience migraines anymore, and is almost completely off all her medications, my Mother's cholesterol levels are normal, she has reduced the amount of insulin she was taking, and the sinus problem vanished in one week. And, when my sister went to go for her surgery, the cyst was gone. So, my one month experiment is now my way of life. I'd have to be a fool to go back to sickening cooked food again.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Butt to Head to Head to Hand

Yesterday as I was sitting on a chair with little cushion, my rear-end was getting soar. No big deal that happens to every one, you just adjust your position and forget about it. But as my mind made a connection to my butt, I looked at my hand, at a place I had cut myself in the bakery a few days ago. And, of course, instantly I could feel my hand, and how it felt. I wash my hands all day because I work with food, and it is winter, so my hands are a bit dry and there are some cracks where the knuckles are. Then I thought, where did the feeling go from my rear-end? Then I thought of somewhere else on my body, and made a feeling connection to that spot. Now I was no-longer feeling my hands.
It is amazing that the observer, "The Mind" only makes a singular focus, for the most part. And this might seem like a big "duh" to many people, but it is a profound experience. Because this is the key to all our preceptions, our decisions, and our understandings of the world: WHAT WE CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON CREATES OUR WORLD! So, obviously, if you focus on negative thoughts, and live in the past you will suffer from depression, regrets and hopelessness, evreybody already knows that, but our reality goes beyond keeping a positive out-look on life, because we choose and control the physical and spiritual world we see. The feelings in our body are a physical reality, as our the images that come through our eyes, the sounds through are ears etc. And in our brain we make the connection to these objects and assign a feeling to them from our past experiences. Our brain sends out the message to the whole body on one single idea in our head. When we look at someone. When we are watching t.v., and reacting emotionaly to a world of illusion. Our palms might sweat, we might get goose-bumbs, the hairs on the back of our neck stand up. Every cell in our body is responding to each thought we think. And in doing so, the mind is createing a physical emotional reality in the world we see. So, think peace-filled loving thoughts, and make peace a reality. If everyone did this, this world would be a paradise.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Mission Statement

To create a forum for practioners of mindful living, and a living foods diet and lifestyle.

We reject, out of hand, the publications and information from corporations, the medical & pharmaceutical community, and the government.

We believe that a living foods diet & lifestyle is the most symbiotic and healthful connection to the planet.

We believe a living foods diet is a conduit for spiritual awakening that promotes peace, and loving-compassion to all human and non-human animals.

We promote the ancient teachings of the Essesnes, Eastern spiritual practices, and yoga

We wish and pray for the enlightenment of all sentient beings.


Please add ideas and comments to the mission statement.