And my other favorite food?  Vegetable dumplings…yum.  Best ones to be found at Peacefood cafe, a sweet version at Land Thai, an edamame concoction at Rickshaw Dumpling, and of course Ollie’s.  A surprising winner is East Dumpling House on 106th, though they are very sweet.

As for juices; well my personal faves are the Swan Greens from One Lucky Duck, as well as their Blue Green smoothie (berries, coconut water, peaches, blue green algae and banana), and the Sweet Mints juice from Go Vegan.  The sweet mints recipes is Granny Smith apples, Fresh mint and pineapple, and it does translate to home prep fantastically!

Mesmerizing Dance with Me link

xoL

Recently I was reading my nephew The Little Engine that Could (about three times in one sitting), and I had to laugh thinking he was trying to tell me something   Do you know the story?  A train full of a happiness in the form of toys and candy is heading to a remote village to spread joy among the inhabitants and reaches a point of impasse.  While stuck, a few opportunities approach, but each, when asked to help as a vehicle to spread joy, has some excuse why it will not work.  Ego, destinations (goals), perceived aptitude are all cited as reasons not to help spread joy.  At last arrives a somewhat immature opportunity in the shape of a little engine who agrees to try, and lo and behold, manages to share the joy with the remote village.

When my nephew was about 18 months he was just learning to climb the stairs at my parents’ home.  When ever he learned something new, my mom would clap her hands and say, “you did it!”  One morning, he got to the landing of the stairs, turned to my mom and said, “I did it!” which became his mantra for the next few weeks.

Check out these photos kids took!

Are you spreading joy?  If not, what are the excuses you are telling yourself?  Are you just trying to survive? You can flourish!

Frog Video Link

xoL

I’m not sure I want occult powers…what does that mean? Well occult means hidden.  So rather then having a visible physical prowess, now the power is coming from inside.  Sri Satchidananda has a wonderful commentary on this sutra:

(Disclaimer: in this age frought with domestic violence and abuse, I am NOT advising anyone to stay in an abusive situation.  This passage is not condoning the abusers in any way.  If you find yourself in an abusive situation there are many resources available to help you, and you may always start by contacting me directly. Om Shanti.)

“The direct meaning of tapas is “to burn” …by the physical tapas of fasting, we burn our excess fat away along with toxins our bodies have accumulated.  By mental tapas, we burn all our old impressions.  By verbal tapas, observing silence, we control speech.  … In order to make our minds clean and steady we must accept suffering, pain and poverty.  It is even more beneficial if, at the same time that we accept pain, we bring happiness to others. . .  We never lose by accepting pain. . .If flowery words make us happy but insults upset us, we know our minds are not yet strong. . .If we are insulted and keep a serene mind, it is higher then saying thousands of rosaries of japa.  That is tapyasa. . .A beautiful example of this is the mother who feels so much joy in bringing forth a child, although it may be very painful.  She will never avoid the pain; rather she welcomes it, knowing it is the price she pays for the great benefit later on.”

The above discussion is almost polar opposite to the words of Dr. Masaru Emoto who has written many books including The Hidden Messages In Water.  Dr. Emoto mentions that humans are composed of about 98% water.  He goes on to experiment with water crystals by subjecting liquid water to various words, sounds, pictures and energy then freezing the water to ice and photgraphing the crystalline structures created.  When water is exposed to “negative” words like “hate” or to pollution, the crystals either do not form or are assymetrical.  When water is exposed to words like “love” or to prayer circles, the crystalline structures are more sophisticated.

I would interpret Sri Satchidananda’s passage to say that learning to alter the crystalline structure of the water in our bodies internally to create beauty regardless of our external situation is the practice.

In your life is there a time for “angry determination?”

Kill Bill Coffin Scene Link…

How about a time for stillness? Funny in stillness, how you start to feel everything moving.  It’s like the opposite of moving so fast in an airplane you seem to be going nowhere.

Good Vibrations Link

Oh..FYI

xoL

What a Wonderful World Link

xoL

A few words from Emily Dickinson:

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.

All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Therefore having and not having arise together.

Difficult and easy complement each other.

Long and short contrast each other;

High and low rest upon each other;

Voice and sound harmonize each other;

Front and back follow one another.

Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.

The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease,

Creating, yet not possessing,

Working, yet not taking credit.

Work is done, then forgotten.

Therefore it lasts forever.

In 2009, Jeffrey Yuen discussed that non action does not mean sitting on our couch and doing nothing.  Nor does it mean we do not take responsibility for our actions.  Rather, we grow non attached to what we do or do not do.  We recognize the world is perfect as is, and that everything that needs doing will get done.

Sometimes the beginning of anything can be daunting or overwhelming.  How to take that first step?

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Other times, being in the middle of something you can feel so lost. Surrounded or inundated and not sure how you got there...

"The middle path is the way to wisdom." -Mevlana Rumi

Sometimes, though hindsight can be 20/20, you can't figure out how to get back to where you were, or how to move past what has already passed on by...

"I am a writer of books in retrospect. I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn." -Robert Frost

The answer is always the same.  Be present.  As my teacher Jeffrey Yuen has said, "there is no end to suffering, but perhaps we can find an in to suffering." Once we soften and step inside it, a whole new world is waiting...As Gary Zukav writes, you can always choose in every moment between trust and love or fear and doubt.  What will you choose?

Pocket Full of Sunshine Link

And other times, there may not be any answer.  It is ok not to know.

Unwritten Link

xoL