Soma
Personal Blogs => Michael Maher Blog => Topic started by: Michael on February 07, 2024, 04:10:16 AM
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Neo-Advaita
I headed this Neo-Advaita, but it’s just a term to pin these thoughts together. In fact, this is much broader than the Neo- Advaita movement, yet that can be charged with the guilt of spreading the modern fashion of ‘spirituality the easy way’. But let’s go back a little because there are antecedents which need acknowledgement.
Immediatism
[Wikipedia] ‘In American Gurus: From Transcendentalism to New Age Religion, Versluis describes the emergence of immediatist gurus: gurus who are not connected to any of the traditional religions, and promise instant enlightenment and liberation. These include Eckhart Tolle, Ram Dass, Adi Da, and Andrew Cohen. "Immediatism" refers to "a religious assertion of spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight into reality (typically with little or no prior training), which some term 'enlightenment'." According to Versluis, immediatism is typical for Americans, who want "the fruit of religion, but not its obligations." Versluis points to Ralph Waldo Emerson as its key ancestor, who "emphasized the possibility of immediate, direct spiritual knowledge and power." ’
The term Neo-Advaita is useful, but in the realisation-traditions across the globe, it has been a constant companion to the structured, often ritualised path of preparation before ‘jumping off the cliff’, so to speak. I don’t know the European antecedents that Versluis refers to in his work, but I can explain where it manifests in Eastern spiritual culture.
India has had this contradistinction for a long time, which has more to do with the etheric ethos of the land – it produces, for unknown reasons, multiple examples of extraordinarily gifted saints. There is a long history of spiritual savants, who claimed enlightenment from an early age and lived outside society. They are highly revered in India.
The first problem with these prodigies, like all prodigies, is that they ‘arrive’ without effort or understanding, and too often claim this is possible for everyone. The second problem is that they are so convinced of their ‘arrival’ that they lack the will to pursue the path further. They are responsible for the illusion that there is a threshold of enlightenment – a before and after – and become enchanted with the vision of non-dual realisation: that position of perception where everything is a flow of energy, where nothing matters, no past, present or future, nowhere to go, nowhere to come from. They fail to see that this is simply a window into eternity, accessible at any point on the evolutionary path, but not the final goal of that path.
These savants have always been in competition with the priesthood – in India, the brahmins – who would lose their livelihoods and power were everyone to hive off into the clouds. Vedic tradition acknowledged there was a point where aspirants, when ready, need to jettison all shackles and release into moksha. But they strenuously hold that both individuals and community need steps of spiritual growth, and binding influences to guide us through life in a safe way.
Two of the most prominent leaders who broke with the rigidity of the Vedic/brahmanical restrictions, were Buddha and Adi Shankara. Both emphasised non-dual realisation of moksha or nirvana, and yet sustained the structured path. Buddha the most know of, and Shankara was the most forceful advocate of Advaita Vedanta. In the end, philosophical successors resolved their differences and, in principle, agreed that both believed in the same goal, even if the road to it varied slightly.
Later, Buddhism had its immediatist split, with the instant, unprepared-enlightenment developing in Chinese Chan before becoming Zen in Japan. The Great Debate in Tibet, where the king asked both sides – Immediatism from China and traditional stages/preparation path from India – to come to Tibet and debate the preferred method. The Indian side won, and Tibet became aligned with Indian Buddhism of the staged approach. Meanwhile, Advita Vedanta split into numerous streams, and it has been claimed that the immediatist development originated with Ramakrishna, but more specifically his devotee Vivekananda. Vivekananda undertook to bring the Indian knowledge of Advita to the West. To accomplish this, he needed to free it of its Vedic encrustations, to purify and deliver the core teaching in a way that the West could understand. He called this Neo-Vedanta.
Tibetan lamas undertook a similar task, somewhat more unwillingly, due to having been exiled from Tibet, they felt pressured to simplify their tradition to share it with western aspirants. Then people like Lama Yeshe took this further and focused exclusively on teaching to westerners.
One can see here a pattern, where individual saints or yogis freed themselves from their deep traditional views, to bring a teaching closer to what the West desperately yearned. But then from the Hindu stream, something happened from the other side, where individual westerners with access to these spiritual masters, took their teachings and distilled them further, in the process stripping away any vestige of preparatory obligations, and spreading a highly popular form of Advaita. Essentially claiming that we are already enlightened, and all we need to do is acknowledge that, and bingo! – there was nothing more to be done.
At this point, it would be useful to summarise the distinction between these various approaches.
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Traditional Advaita.
The process expected of a student of spiritual enlightenment, involves studying texts, contemplating on their truths, pondering the principles deeply, then becoming one with these ‘truths’ experientially. But from the guru’s viewpoint, it is held to be dangerous transmitting the more profound teachings until the student is ready. In general, what this ‘readiness’ means can be described as:
• Discernment. Capable of distinguishing real and unreal, enduring and ephemeral.
• Nonattachment. Severance from emotional identity with possessions, desires and sympathies/antipathies.
• Virtues. Equanimity, compassion, self-discipline, patience and freedom from anger.
• Hunger for spirit. Intense yet cold determination to sustain the path.
Buddhism
The Four Noble Truths - the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones":
1. Dukkha - the truth of instability or suffering from grasping.
2. Samudaya - the truth of the cause of suffering being craving and attachment.
3. Nirodha - the truth of the end of suffering through confinement or letting go of craving and attachment.
4. Marga - the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering: the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
Jaina
Jain ascetics observe fives vows:
1. Ahiṃsā (non-violence)
2. Satya (speaking truth)
3. Asteya (no stealing)
4. Brahmacharya (no sex)
5. Aparigraha (non-attachment and no possessions)
Neo-Advaita
• Everything beyond the reality of ‘self’ is illusion. There is no use for spiritual development, practices, enlightenment or struggle for truth, as there is no ‘I’, no path, no guru, only the presence of eternal ‘self’ that is not.
• All yearning for the spiritual is ego. The development of will is ego, the love of knowledge and those who have it is ego, growth is ego, struggle is ego. Know this, drop your search for truth and simply ‘be’. Just be here now.
• Morality is illusion. There is no good or bad, virtue or guilt, right or wrong.
• Being embedded in ego, the world, and entrenched in desire, is no hindrance to simultaneously being enlightened, because all of that is illusion.
Jaina, Advaita and Buddhism originate from India. It is a curious matter that in essence, or in emphasis, the only commonly known spiritual religions that focus on complete freedom, ultimate transcendence of the world, come from the subcontinent. There are numerous subtleties of difference within and between these traditions, yet the common essence could be seen as forms of advaita: one supreme reality while the transient phenomenal world is illusion.
It is this stream of spirituality that as Neo-Advaita was propagated and promoted in the West, and which infused New-Age Spirituality. New-Age Spirituality had other influences, like shamanism and European magic, but the potency of Neo-Advaita provided the philosophical foundation for much that underpins many western spiritual teachings and urban gurus.
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Advantages of Neo-Advaita
It looks, from an historic overview, that the seeding of Indian-orientated philosophy into the West was probably a timely influence. There had been many threads of influence within the European philosophical community over that last few centuries, but this had not filtered down into the popular level. Western civilisation was, and continues to be, suffering from a dearth of meaning beyond the temporal pursuit of power, pleasure and money. Advaita, a non-dual realisation and philosophy of reality, is one thread of nourishment for a spiritually deprived culture. Christianity, quite simply, is not an answer to this existential vacuum.
Disadvantages of Neo-Advaita
There are obvious problems with Neo-Advaita, like superficiality, distortion of traditions, justification of laziness and spiritual consumerism, dilettantism. If that were all, we could easily say: thus has always been the way, and unless a seeker has an inner yearning that won’t be satisfied with imitations or deception, then that’s simply how the world is.
Unfortunately, the degradation of the quest for realisation of potential-of-being, goes deeper than these distractions. It has the serious effect of undermining an earnest aspiration because the principles of Advaita are true. But due to them being ingested before the necessary preparations and ripening of spirit, a spiritual disorder results which can take a very long time to repair – possibly beyond this life.
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My personal view
Frankly, I consider the whole spiritual field originating from India to be ineffectual. I know, many will find this surprising as I espouse a lot of Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, have travelled through India for fifty years, and it has been essential in my own path of growth. Nonetheless, that remains my view. The reason I have been able to successfully leverage off the Indian architype, is because I arrive into it with a strategy and practice pre-formed and gained from a totally different source – Indian physical experience and philosophy offer me the data which I process from my own developmental blueprint.
My reasons for rejecting the Indian ‘way’ are as follows.
Advaita
Look above at the general precepts of discernment, nonattachment, virtues and hunger for spirit. All of these are conceptual qualities. This is one of the most common critiques I have of Indian traditions – they are futilely over-optimistic at the power of the mind to produce lasting, deep transformations of being.
The complexity of our being is too extensive to expect effective results from thoughts, or non-thoughts, alone. We are composed of layers upon layers, and the really difficult task for any seeker of truth, is how on earth can we penetrate below the top few superficial layers? This is a perpetual and confounding question. No arm-chair contemplation or mind-freeing exercises would ever have the potency to pierce our intransigent inter-layer buffers nor permeate the vastness of our subconscious being. That doesn’t mean the pondering of profound ideas is without merit, just that it alone is ridiculously inadequate for the task that presents to us.
Then we have the ‘virtues’: equanimity, compassion, self-discipline, patience and freedom from anger. Honestly, who do we think we are kidding? None of these can be attained directly. They can only come as a consequence of penetrating experience and transformation, attained after subjecting oneself to the most creative techniques of personal change, which are not time-out experiences like one gets from a workshop, but practical shifts that are applied consistently over a lifetime.
Nonattachment: this is one of the greatest misconceptions of all religious traditions who espouse this quality. Like with the virtues, it cannot be attained directly. It also, is a consequence of having passed through thresholds of visceral realisations – not mental realisations. The distinction between mental and visceral realisations lies at the heart of all effective spiritual traditions. We know when we have passed a visceral threshold, usually after a devastating illness or an intense struggle, that lasted years, if not decades. We know, because when it happens, we feel it not as a light-bulb event but as a flat, cold awareness in the stomach that from this point forward, life has irreversibly changed.
Buddhism
The first three of the ‘Noble Truths’ (a name steeped in pretence) suffer from the same superficiality of mentation I described above for Advaita. The last, is the Eight-fold Path - right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. My complaint about Buddhism is that it is steeped in lists of things to do or not to do. Western adherents don’t realise just how petty and inane these long lists of dos and don’ts are for the Eastern cultures who practice Buddhism.
I know the eight precepts have extended meanings, applications and attendant practices, but really, so much of Buddhist ‘method’ can be distilled down to ‘being a good person’. That just makes me vomit! I assume he was a product of his time, but the pedestrian, conforming to societal and community standards of compliant behaviour, and goddie-goddie ‘school prefect’ profile, all glorified as essential for ultimate realisation, is frankly pathetic and absurd.
The only ‘method’ Buddhism recommends, and classes as imperative, which has concrete value, is meditation. For those deeply serious, meditation must be practised over very long sessions and years of dedication. This dedication is also intrinsic to the Indian yogic path, so it has a long pedigree way back to Indus Valley Civilisation days – it is the pre-eminent emblem of Indian spiritual endeavour. Nonetheless, India is not the only land which realised the fundamental technique of inner silence through sustained physical, emotional and mental suspension of movement.
But meditation alone is not sufficient a path of spiritual growth. It ignores the fact that we have been born into a material world in which we must act. The path of inaction alone is as one-sided as the path of action alone, especially if both aren’t interwoven and engaged with through the lens of ultimately insightful technique. It is not what we do but how we do it, that makes all the difference.
Jaina
The problem with Jaina is that it is a static philosophy. By that I mean it lacks dynamic subtleties. It presents the human as a bowl – fill it with bad things and it will decay, fill with good and it will thrive until eventually its monad rises through the sheer lightness of being from expunging all the dross of life. It rejects the concept of intent.
All those rules of non-violence, speaking truth, no stealing, sex or possessions, fail to realise that it’s not what we do by why and how that causes the dross to accumulate. I just don’t buy that kind of dogmatic, simplistic, and ultimately ‘purist’ path. I expect Jaina is the cause of so much purism today, in the East and West. India is obsessed with purity in almost every aspect of life. But in the West, we have these ideas of toxicity. So many people are preoccupied with avoiding anything, like vaccines, that they believe will make their bodies toxic, flocking to de-tox programs and lifestyles. In distinction, my path is tantric – I accept the world, enter into the world, allow the world to enter into me.
This goes back to historical methods of immortality. The first approach was to find a way to sustain the life of the physical body forever – injecting the temporal into the infinite. The second was to identify and insert critical elements of infinity into the physical being, mostly by shape-shifting the physical being into extremely long-lived entities. The third method of immortality was discovered after witnessing the horror encountered by the proponents of the other two methods. This method reassigns identity from the temporal being, which is the common locus of identity, into the energetic kernel of that being, then opening the body and allowing death to flood in without resistance.
What this third method implied, was specifically not building a barrier to impurity and attempting to sustain a pure inviolability, but opening oneself to the world and transforming that energy in a way that strengthened the spiritual immune system. That is tantra – that the world is not seen as pure or impure, but as a partner in the quest of ultimate freedom.
No sex. This is nothing new, and it can be found as an injunction across almost all religious tradition in the world. It has caused so much trouble in all those religions because it asks the impossible. Even if a person succeeds in denying themselves sex, serious psychological distortions are likely to eventuate. The reason for this injunction is obvious, sex drains so much of our life-energy, both from the physical and mental manifestations, that the cost is unacceptable for a serious seeker of realisation.
The quest requires more energy than we have, and many clever techniques must be employed to store sufficient energy for this task. To waste it on sex is insane, let alone the effect of having children, which can drain even more energy. Unfortunately, placing a block against sex is asking for trouble because it has been set into our blueprint by the species. Everyone has a sexual drive, even Jesus and Buddha, the Pope and the Dalai Lama, so to smother this is dangerous. And it’s not necessary.
So much time has been wasted on this precept. The solution is simple. Firstly, don’t over-indulge in sex, or anything for that matter. Secondly, accept it – sexuality is perfectly natural. Enjoy it and don’t hang all kinds of agendas to it. Just keep it to a minimum, because there is an inceptual energy concealed in sex that can drain for years, especially when sexuality is not accompanied by genuine love. I’m not talking of ‘true love’, whatever that is, but simply a relationship that channels uplifting positivity. That channel remains open for so long after sex with another, be sure it is a source of inner joy, not guilt or anger.
Neo-Advaita
This new movement failed to recognise the fact that we have two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs, two halves of the brain: we are not a unity but intrinsically a duality in the entity which we have incarnated into in this world. To deny that is to deny reality. But within that duality, the difference is between action, grasp, thought, structure, past, future, judgement, discernment on one side, and unfiltered perception, undefined identity, boundlessness, creative source on the other.
A practice that develops the whole being must foster both sides, and integrate them. One side is duality and the other side nonduality. The task of spiritual development is to utilise the duality side to build will, and to drop the duality side to experience nonduality. The simplest story to encapsulate this, is that of the seeker walking up a mountain path when he met an old man carrying a load of firewood on his back. In despair at his spiritual confusion, the seeker burst out and asked the old man, “What is enlightenment?” Whereupon the old man dropped his load on the ground. Then the seeker asked, “But what then?” The old man picked his load up again and walked on down the path.
The story has two main elements: the dropping and picking up. But people fail to realise the third critical element: the path.
Nonetheless, I find critiquing Neo-Advaita suffers from the exact same flaw as all of these Indian spiritual traditions, referred to above. The flaw is that the whole approach is ineffective. Indian spirituality originated from the life conditions of the subcontinent. For thousands of years, the natural forces created conditions that were totally unpredictable and unmanageable. No matter what, weather, in particular, but also hordes of plunderers, devastated or nourished the subcontinent. The dominant realisation was one of futility of control.
This led to a philosophy of samsara – eternal recurrence of the wheel of suffering. The only resolution, shared by all religious teachers, was to step off the wheel. There was never any solution which incorporated controlling the wheel, and building a lasting growth and evolutionary direction. Except the dominant belief that a being ‘good’ in this life will lead to a better birth in the next – the slow progress of incarnations until one reached an incarnation in which the conditions were ripe to achieve stepping off the wheel – freedom from the eternal recurrence of suffering.
That philosophy is unsuitable for aspirants who have grown up in a culture that worships meritocracy and the belief that action can produce lasting benefit. This is a European theme of identity, as essentially one of agency – that we have agency in life and the world. That concept was totally absent from the Indian subcontinent.
What is needed today, is a spiritual philosophy of development that focuses on will, empowerment, integration of both sides of our being, combined with the power of intent to merge the temporal and infinite.
But to do this, we must form a completely different approach to the old Indian model of spirituality.
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Thats a lot and breaks so much down. So in assessment - what are people really looking for with spiritual growth? I think folks DO want to be free of suffering and be happy. I do think they think about death, and can be concerned what happens when we die. Fear of it can be scary. I think people want personal power, to have some kind of control over their lives in some way. I think people are afraid of being wrong, sure. So lots of people get out and about and try to investigate. I think people can get very confused cause when they look at spiritual "answers" everyone has an answer, and some philosophies go together, and others are totally contradictory to each other. In the end how sure is anyone, of anything? Then there are those who write it all off, become atheists. Or some feel there is something out there, or inward, but dont care. Of course.
So to me where im at - ive got a pretty big pantheon now that I pay respect to, to express different things. I just do what Bruce Lee said: "Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, integrate that which is your own." I feel THAT has been some of the wisest advise, Ive ever heard. That advise keeps me sane. Stops from spiritual bypassing, or becoming totally egoic and arrogant, or aiming for the wrong thing, or exhalting myself with power, and so forth.
We have a Will, and we have Power, and we have it yet have to earn it, and then we gotta be wise how we use it. Impeccably. So im not necessarily worried too hard about the concepts or religions. Yes, of course I want to do what works. But what works for ME might not work for others. I do see the warrior path CAN work for most anybody tho. Where that leads them that is up to them, the spirit, and probably some issues they had prior to coming here. But yeah, what Bruce said. Thats how I have been, and will continue to do this.
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That is what I was wondering as well Ellen. What are people looking for with spiritual growth? Freedom from what?
Is there a natural urge towards freedom? I’ve seen it as such …
The duality … material lifeless being that cannot DO anything bc it’s just that. Lifeless material …. HOWEVER it is then imbued with Time and Change (the other side of the duality) and that time and change allows for adaptation … evolution and the “impression” of living and choice.
I see these two sides constantly at a conflict of sorts … and that sense or drive towards freedom is just the innate knowing that if there isn’t forward momentum one falls back into “pure material” which loses the ability to choose. Now you’re in a cage. Trapped.
But what started this momentum forward?? Towards the ability to choose and adapt? I guess that’s where religion comes in.
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The concept also seems contrary to being an individual. The warrior wants to retain their individuality and not lose their awareness, and experiences. We lose it each time we go in the recycle bin, and its going to take its toll energetically. Now while some of this may be true due to holographic nature, one soul, many reflections, it is still so, obviously, we are individuals. Perhaps with a whole lot of quantum entanglement, but individuals. Duality has a purpose and it seems it can be looked at as a dirty thing, or some kind of failure, to be interacting in it, or not realize non-duality. Thats where it gets weird to me. How are you supposed to get past it, or even, why? Dont we lose something vital if we are so hell bent on escaping duality?
Just a thought.
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Everything you've said here makes good sense to me.
My own interest in these traditions, in part, stems from an interest in finding a place for the intellect on the spiritual path. Where in the paths you've mentioned people utilize the intellect as a key part of the process and this was much like my path as a child before I found the Toltec path, after I found the Toltec path, around the age of 17 I spend the proceeding years at odds with my own mind. I took the message of the central importance of inner silence to mean I should be internally silent always. Despite what people in those group seemed to think, when I wasn't writing posts I'm this group (and my participation in this group wasn't nearly as much as many others), I was largely forcing my mind to be silent every opportunity I could muster. Which resulted in many spiritual experiences, the development of the capacity for an iron will, and nearly stopping the world. It also resulted in a continual sense that I had left behind some aspect of myself, this aspect was much more than just the intellectual side of me, and honestly I don't at this moment have the desire to try to describe this right now... as likely I'd do so just to attempt to justify something that is important to my personal path, and really isn't anyone's business but my own. And honestly I've done enough of that, trying to gain approval here in Soma... which is a big part of the problem, my path for sssooo long hasn't really felt like MY path. Between my tenacious desire to dive whole heartily into the Toltec path, which had much merit to it, but also resulted in me leaving behind aspects of myself without even considering integration... I mean this is how I was raised it was always the way in our house to just up and move from one place to the other, and then I never felt connected fully to anyone, which also has had its merits.... interestingly now as I work to reclaim my path fully, I find I finally have what many would call healthy family dynamics, which I'd never really fully admitted I wanted, and it is nice, it's also a bit stifling in ways, but still very valuable for my healing process, and provides nice symmetry to my journey...
But yeah, some of this wasn't really relevant to the theme of the thread just me getting some thoughts out.
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I hope you come back to this, wondering why you feel your path isnt your own path? I would hope you would realize it is.
As far as approval in soma (dont want to take it off topic). I know michael picked say for nal, who he felt for a reason. But those reasons didnt sit will. Michael, you do remember what happened when Rudy got admittance, right? Im sure you had to sit with that and realize either letting him in was a mistake, or not letting him in initially was. Cause once he found out about it, it put a very bad taste in his mouth and, in actuality, it may have ruined him spiritually cause, didnt he become an atheist later? I know his leaving was not a good one.
No one is free of mistakes.
But I did always have an issue with the elitist mentality that formed. That part, was a disaster. Now the good side. We did have some decent journeys in nal. I will give it that. But the elitist deal which there WAS one, was not good. I wouldnt say it was a total failure. But perhaps soma would have been better off without its existence.
Thats just me.
Like when i was both in and out of the section was annoying. Or kicked to restless soma.
Its ok. Thats old. Not trying to rehash. Just giving some feels for Nick how I felt about it. Now each member having a private section with michael im cool with that. Some things dont need to be anyones business. Like when I had to work out issues after losing my kids - that was helpful. Ive actually looked over my old shit and im like looking how naive and a mess I was cause my sister nailed me in my achilles tendon. But no matter. You have always been valuable in here. Dont forget that. You are much smarter than a lot of people in any spiritual community really. Should give yourself a lot of credit how committed you are. And the fact you dont give up.
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BTW Nick, as I am reading this I'm eating onion pakoras...
Everything you've said here makes good sense to me.
My own interest in these traditions, in part, stems from an interest in finding a place for the intellect on the spiritual path. Where in the paths you've mentioned people utilize the intellect as a key part of the process and this was much like my path as a child before I found the Toltec path, after I found the Toltec path, around the age of 17 I spend the proceeding years at odds with my own mind. I took the message of the central importance of inner silence to mean I should be internally silent always. Despite what people in those group seemed to think, when I wasn't writing posts I'm this group (and my participation in this group wasn't nearly as much as many others), I was largely forcing my mind to be silent every opportunity I could muster. Which resulted in many spiritual experiences, the development of the capacity for an iron will, and nearly stopping the world. It also resulted in a continual sense that I had left behind some aspect of myself, this aspect was much more than just the intellectual side of me, and honestly I don't at this moment have the desire to try to describe this right now... as likely I'd do so just to attempt to justify something that is important to my personal path, and really isn't anyone's business but my own. And honestly I've done enough of that, trying to gain approval here in Soma... which is a big part of the problem, my path for sssooo long hasn't really felt like MY path. Between my tenacious desire to dive whole heartily into the Toltec path, which had much merit to it, but also resulted in me leaving behind aspects of myself without even considering integration... I mean this is how I was raised it was always the way in our house to just up and move from one place to the other, and then I never felt connected fully to anyone, which also has had its merits.... interestingly now as I work to reclaim my path fully, I find I finally have what many would call healthy family dynamics, which I'd never really fully admitted I wanted, and it is nice, it's also a bit stifling in ways, but still very valuable for my healing process, and provides nice symmetry to my journey...
But yeah, some of this wasn't really relevant to the theme of the thread just me getting some thoughts out.
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BTW Nick, as I am reading this I'm eating onion pakoras...
I had to look that up. That looks extremely unhealthy!
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Course I can’t judge. I did plenty unhealthy prior. Now each day I’m insanely conscious what I eat. My fridge is filled with produce and things. But I feel way better than ever. But yeah that must be their version of our onion rings.
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I had to look that up. That looks extremely unhealthy!
Not sure what you saw when you looked them up???
They are basically chunks of relatively thinly sliced onion coated in Chickpea flour and then fried.... I guess the frying part could be what you mean? Personally when we made them we did not deep fry them, we put about an inch of... I think we used avocado oil, if we didn't that's the one we should have used I usually use it cause it's healthy and has a higher smoke point than the extra virgin olive I use for most everything else. Then we flip then to get evenly cooked. I mean sure probably not an every day thing to do, but damn where they yummy!
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Course I can’t judge. I did plenty unhealthy prior. Now each day I’m insanely conscious what I eat. My fridge is filled with produce and things. But I feel way better than ever. But yeah that must be their version of our onion rings.
So yeah I looked it up, been awhile since I read about fried foods, which I do rarely eat. But yeah I guess frying something can expose you to carcinogens, but that seems most a problem when burning and or frying in the oil for a long time. Not sure that was a problem when we made these though did overcook a couple of them. Still 90% of what we eat is super healthy, and I can't eat nuts now cause of a severe nut allergy, can't eat wheat, lactose (I cheat with that a tiny bit), and for now anyway can't do spicy cause of bad acid reflux... sigh. I think I figured out that maybe I'm actually drinking to much water though and that can cause several of the IBS type symptoms I have. Did yah know apparently even 8 cups of water is more than we are supposed to intake? The 8 cups thing apparently was 3 or 4 cups from liquid, 3 or 4 from food, and the remaining our body makes internally without our help. Or so I've read
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BTW Nick, as I am reading this I'm eating onion pakoras...
Sssooo yummy!
I need to remake then with that, ah, I think it was chala seasoning stuff.
I also need to find my next food adventure... not necessarily Indian food but something yummy and foreign.
I know I'm grown up cause I still enjoy a pizza but it's noonger my favorite, my favorite is now Mujadara. Not sure if the version I make is authentic or not bur I found numerous recipes and read its made a bit different in different areas and even from family to family, so I took different seasoning I liked from a few recipes and combined them, it's so satisfying!
I do so love food 😋
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So yeah I looked it up, been awhile since I read about fried foods, which I do rarely eat. But yeah I guess frying something can expose you to carcinogens, but that seems most a problem when burning and or frying in the oil for a long time. Not sure that was a problem when we made these though did overcook a couple of them. Still 90% of what we eat is super healthy, and I can't eat nuts now cause of a severe nut allergy, can't eat wheat, lactose (I cheat with that a tiny bit), and for now anyway can't do spicy cause of bad acid reflux... sigh. I think I figured out that maybe I'm actually drinking to much water though and that can cause several of the IBS type symptoms I have. Did yah know apparently even 8 cups of water is more than we are supposed to intake? The 8 cups thing apparently was 3 or 4 cups from liquid, 3 or 4 from food, and the remaining our body makes internally without our help. Or so I've read
The chickpeas are ok! Well I am on a health kick which began last year, and now im doing the vegan thing which so far, im sticking to. I have no desire to go back to meat and dairy. Sure ill miss some things. But I definitely feel way healthier, and im dropping weight. Its amazing how food affects us. Yes the american diet is super unhealthy so sure most folks eat very unhealthy. Im getting away from that. That too, is a way to unplug from The Matrix. :)
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The concept also seems contrary to being an individual. The warrior wants to retain their individuality and not lose their awareness, and experiences. We lose it each time we go in the recycle bin, and its going to take its toll energetically. Now while some of this may be true due to holographic nature, one soul, many reflections, it is still so, obviously, we are individuals. Perhaps with a whole lot of quantum entanglement, but individuals. Duality has a purpose and it seems it can be looked at as a dirty thing, or some kind of failure, to be interacting in it, or not realize non-duality. Thats where it gets weird to me. How are you supposed to get past it, or even, why? Dont we lose something vital if we are so hell bent on escaping duality?
Just a thought.
You've never experienced a state of awareness in which you felt as if duality was false?
I'm not saying we aren't also individuals, I suspect both are paradoxically true. And for that matter that it'd true that there is no truth. ;)
No, I'm just curious if you've never had experiences that at least hint at nonduality as being true?
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You've never experienced a state of awareness in which you felt as if duality was false?
I'm not saying we aren't also individuals, I suspect both are paradoxically true. And for that matter that it'd true that there is no truth. ;)
No, I'm just curious if you've never had experiences that at least hint at nonduality as being true?
Im not gonna say ive had the ultimate realization, but kind of. I get its all one and its all a hologram and everyone has a little of us in them and the world mirrors back to us ourselves in some way. Like sometimes ive had that download, what if I was God, and I wanted to make a game and see if I can figure shit out and get my ass out of the game just cause I was bored?
Like Buddha realized everyone was really him and he was just ONE and...but he still had to interact with all beings in his own way.
So I get it. But I also wouldnt necessarily want to be sitting alone in the universe in some bliss all by myself and no one to hang out with. I suspect that God, however defined, didnt like it either, hence the BIG BANG and all "this." So even if all is maya and everyone is what they are. I think duality is necessary for relationships and it would be boring to me, to go up and up and up and just, sit in bliss all by myself. But thats me.
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I found it curious that Della was against the idea of total absorption into nonduality. Ramakrishna had a big struggle to get back, and advised his followers to leave it until at death.
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I found it curious that Della was against the idea of total absorption into nonduality. Ramakrishna had a big struggle to get back, and advised his followers to leave it until at death.
Im not. She was because you lose your individuality. That has always been the light aim. She was more a dark path person which is about retaining individuality.
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Let me explain it
Back in the day where Della, Vicki, I met on delphi. There was a thing with light and dark type groups. Now I know that all seems silly. But there was a thing and it was quite visible. Light people when die go into the light head to the tunnel. They want that. But those on a dark path want to avoid the tunnel of light. They dont want to become one with it, cause to do so they feel they lose individuality and identity.
Della was somewhat cut from that cloth and would not want to lose individuality. Thats probably why the toltec and the double helped her to resolve the issue. Darting past the eagle and becoming what she said "a singularity of consciousness" is what she wanted. So its easy to say that she would not want to lose the individuality, or be at the mercy of a recycle bin.
Now course I do think of that as well at times. I dont want to reincarnate over and over. IM TIRED personally. But I dont think becoming one with all is necessarily my aim either to sit in bliss or whatever, you lose indivduality. It seems per don juan and toltec they taught a way you could keep it. Go as you please. Have some kind of choice I thought we were aiming at this.
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Coming back to this cause this got me thinking back in the day. I had conversations with many, light, dark. I remember vicki said to me once "You and I are gray." So I think we respect the light, but we also know at times we may have to act on the gray. It aint easy but we might have to. But we arent dark, like totally dark. Tho we know our dark sides cause everyone has one. The error is when folks try to deny they have one and it comes out and crushes them.
But also light is not like totally love and fluff. Vicki and I both respected the Hermetics, the CMs, the Kabbalists, who worked with THAT Light, which is a little different than the light and love light. Thats where light has its power at its peak. I dont want to necessarily walk that path. But it was still good to know the basics at least of those old players. Nick knows and is smart enough to study up on it, or even chaos magic and things tho that isnt my thing but I know how to use it if I must. :)
But if I had to choose and I cant be gray of course light I have no choice on that. Thats suicide for me not to. But I dont think della made like a mistake going about things her way because she is also right the method to get past the eagle and she lived an impeccable life which is, a light thing to do. :)
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Im not gonna say ive had the ultimate realization, but kind of. I get its all one and its all a hologram and everyone has a little of us in them and the world mirrors back to us ourselves in some way. Like sometimes ive had that download, what if I was God, and I wanted to make a game and see if I can figure shit out and get my ass out of the game just cause I was bored?
Like Buddha realized everyone was really him and he was just ONE and...but he still had to interact with all beings in his own way.
So I get it. But I also wouldnt necessarily want to be sitting alone in the universe in some bliss all by myself and no one to hang out with. I suspect that God, however defined, didnt like it either, hence the BIG BANG and all "this." So even if all is maya and everyone is what they are. I think duality is necessary for relationships and it would be boring to me, to go up and up and up and just, sit in bliss all by myself. But thats me.
For me I've never even been sure if total immersion in nonduality is possible while still in a physical body. But I've assumed the idea of nonduality is a tool to shift attention out of the known. This is because it seems the known state relies on the conception of duality to maintain its footing. I'm not saying just contemplating nonduality is enough for most people to gain leverage out of the first attention, but if I'm going to have an approach that utilizes my whole Being contemplating profound ideas like nonduality is a nice accompaniment to other practices.
I've never experienced complete nonduality but I've certainly experienced many intermediate stages along the way. As far as stages go, I watched a video with Rupert Spira, Adyashanti, and this Pendergast dude (can't remember first name). And they were saying something intriguing I hadn't come across from other nondual teachers that goes along with what Michael was saying about neo-advaita cracking open the mind but not necessarily anything else. They where talking about students becoming awakened in different centers, either The mind, heart or deep in the gut (I may not be recalling the exact details now). Interestingly Adyashanti was the only one of the 3 who outright claimed an awakening deep in the body, and then I thought well he also used to be a professional athlete, and supposedly meditated for 3 or more hours a day, which he now claims sometimes that that much meditation may have held him back, but I'm skeptical. Sometimes I think just because they are awakened, even if the had to struggle doesn't mean they understand the mechanics of what worked and why, which again is why I think pondering is important. How do we teach to our best potential if we don't understand how this stuff works?
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But wait... when we stop the world, don't we experience a nondual state?
Isn't this what we are aiming toward with inner silence practice, which stops time perception, and time is whatseparates, ssssoooo...?
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But wait... when we stop the world, don't we experience a nondual state?
Isn't this what we are aiming toward with inner silence practice, which stops time perception, and time is whatseparates, ssssoooo...?
When I did last year, thats not what I felt. I felt the breath of the infinite on me for a moment. Like nothing else existed but that. Like time ceased for a moment so I could pause and breathe.
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If nothing else existed but the infinite isn't that by definition nonduality?
Unless what you mean is that you experienced that moment in time as if only you and the infinite existed...?
If that is the case this does not sound like what I've longed for my entire life. It has always come back to a sense of deeply profound interconnection that defies rational limitions. I long for this so thoroughly thar over the course of my life I've integrated the quest for it into nooks and crannies you wouldn't expect to find it. When I draw I seek the feel of the whole of what I'm drawing all at once, when I do philosophy I seek the interconnections in the ideas, I feel in love with the martial arts not because of some interest in fighting bur because of the grace, poise, flow of movements that glided into each other with such delicate harmony that reflected a person in touch with deep integrity, and now I seek to integrate all the skills into one method.
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My experience could be far different than yours. That’s ok. I was off meds. Going thru a thing. But even while enduring, because it was absolutely necessary, I stopped the world. For certain. Now you need to understand, I’m not done processing. I just know, it was a necessary maneuver in the moment. I wasn’t thinking about anything much but getting it done. But don’t mind my experience. It was like a maneuver for me to prevent me from falling into a black hole I’d never return from.
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One part of the rational of my fear when I almost stopped the world and then I pulled back, was what if I'm wrong that this isn't the right direction for me to go, what if instead it drives me mad or doesn't lead to what I've always intuited it would lead.
That said any glimpse of the infinite is welcome and is what I'm looking for, I just felt that when I crossed the sense of connection would be much more profound than your description. But alas descriptions can easily be lacking in one way or many ways for obvious reasons
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That said though, if we are genuinely stopping our perception of time, I don't know how we could experience anything but a world of deeply profound interconnection, as by definition time is what separates everything, so if this isn't what is meant by stopping time... huh I don't know...
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There are gradations of all aspects of nonduality. One can gain a piercing insight - a scouts perspective. One can step into it unwillingly without losing the easy path back. And one can experience complete submergence, from which it is nearly impossible to return as that saps completely one's life force - the energy to do. It is best to have snippets of nonduality, because there is so much work to be done in duality.
I'm not of the view that the goal should be nonduality. That is the landscape, and it is good to know the landscape - how to utilise effectively the known, unknown and unknowable. As such, there are different gradations of stopping the world. In essence stopping the world is the experience of nonduality, but I also not happy to describe this as a negative - a 'non'. Much like negentropy.
Along the path, we need occasional glimpses of the infinite, but we still need to tread the path of our destiny.
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There are gradations of all aspects of nonduality. One can gain a piercing insight - a scouts perspective. One can step into it unwillingly without losing the easy path back. And one can experience complete submergence, from which it is nearly impossible to return as that saps completely one's life force - the energy to do. It is best to have snippets of nonduality, because there is so much work to be done in duality.
I'm not of the view that the goal should be nonduality. That is the landscape, and it is good to know the landscape - how to utilise effectively the known, unknown and unknowable. As such, there are different gradations of stopping the world. In essence stopping the world is the experience of nonduality, but I also not happy to describe this as a negative - a 'non'. Much like negentropy.
Along the path, we need occasional glimpses of the infinite, but we still need to tread the path of our destiny.
I was thinking this was the likely answer. This would seem to further explain why one can spend too much time in the Second Attention.
This of course doesn't alleviate the fear that stopping the world could cause problems for me... but then a lot of things can cause potential harm.
Most recently while doing the dreaming workshop I had a day where I started to feel I might be on the verge of something, didn't feel quite like last time I almost stopped the world, but similar in some ways, and for some reason though I started to feel simultaneous boost of energy and extreme fatigue, and I couldn't hydrate enough (which I found alarming). So I took a break from the workshop, I'm now focusing more on my physical health than I was, I have some muscle tension I can't get rid of, IBS symptoms, frequent urination, all problematic but stuff the doctor apparently can't do much for. But I'm gonna find a solution or at least make myself feel significantly healthier before making another serious run for cracking the shell.
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Yeah look at diet, see if something needs to be changed. Im doing vegan this year. Dropped beef last year. So far im good. Tho Michael worries ill get kidney stones. Not if I get enough protein. There are ways to get protein besides meat. I got a bag of garbanzo beans last night, for example. And I take b-12 among a host of other things. So see about diet. Now vegan is working for me, might not work for you. BUT at least abandoned processed food, and dont touch fast food at all. It weighs you down hard. I feel a massive difference changing my diet, and the last lbs are slowly coming off.
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I havent had fast food in probably 5 years give or take. That's not counting the occasional gluten free pizza (I have gluten intolerance probably a part of the IBS), but I like to Pack on the veggies when I do pizza.
Been full on vegetarian for about 2 years now, not vegan, still get substantial protein from dairy.
The health problems I'm having have been going on long before going vegetarian though and haven't gotten worse with the switch.
The frequent urination is likely mostly from drinking too much water. I've had doctors tell me I was drinking too much, but then I'd try to decrease it only to feel extreme fatigue and anxiety even from a cup less. Then recently I came across this Gut Sense website and some of what it said about chronic constipation (I take about 20 psyllium husk fiber pills a day to be able to poop!) and over hydration got me wondering. It also said some other things about how the body works when drinking fluids that caused the anxiety and fatigue to make sense. I took them as signs of dehydration even though it didn't make sense that just a little less was dehydration. Now I've been decreasing the water by about a cup a week, and in the beginning the fatigue and anxiety would be off and on for the first couple days of the week, then I'd level out to normal. Now I'm at the point where I don't even get the fatigue, I'm still over 8 cups a day, and when I work out I let myself drink more. So the water is the main focus right now, and getting consistent exercise.
Other than lactose free milk (got an intolerance there to), I am eating only the harder cheeses as they are lower in lactose, but they still cause stomach pain so I'm going to cut them out or dramatically down as well, and hope my body eventually gets better, cause I LOVE cheese.
I'm also slowly decreasing the fiber as the website says you can have too much fiber, and based off the look of my poop I probably was using too much. I seem to be at the sweet spot now though. So I'm gonna keep the fiber there for now and monitor things closely. It is crazy that even on a vegetarian diet I was struggling to poop without 20 fiber pills, every meal I eat is already high in fiber! This confirms for me that fiber isn't likely the problem.
This is also where making sure I exercise regularly comes in because that also helps move things along.
I'm also taking a prebiotic supplement daily, and I do still use Greek yogurt which doesn't seem to upset my stomach much if at all.
It irritates me a bit that I'd have doctors tell me decrease your water but then when I described my symptoms from doing so know one had an explanation. Now I know that water consumption effects blood pressure and some other factors, likely my blood pressure would drop causing fatigue, anxiety would kick in as a kind of alarm system saying why is our blood pressure dropping abruptly. And like I said I've not had this problem since I crossed a point in the process of decreasing that water.
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Sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things! Now on cheese, since you seem to be lactose intolerant, consider non dairy cheese. Im switching over to this, which can be difficult at times. But we have the brand Daiya. Cause one thing, cheese can clog up the poop. But non dairy cheese try that. I like cheese as well. That was a thing. I read that cheese does the same effect on the brain heroin does! Now why did cheese become a big thing with livestock industry? This is interesting. Back in the day, they opted to sell to the country less fat was good for health. So in milk, they skim the fat. Like 2% milk or skim. Well, what do they do with the fat? Make CHEESE! Then pushed all this cheese on us, which is hard to walk away from. Load up pizza with cheese, and cheesy crust, then we hooked on cheese.
But try non dairy cheese see if that helps.
Also for poop, prunes you can do that. Grapes help as well (I love grapes)! Love them a lot. But yes you can drink too much water. I am similar. I always have to have a drink nearby. Water etc. Now I know say diet soda is crap. But I still like it. I like it on hand. I know the artificial sweetner can confuse the body. Where I used to drink it a lot, now I have it every other day maybe a can, at most.
Yes tho water is essential but dont go crazy with it.
But also look to supplements. If vegetarian B 12 is essential. Multivitamin. I take a bunch of amino acids right now for working out. So far my energy has been really good. I just want to be sure, cause Michael is right, vegans can get kidney stones. But I dont want to go back to meat if I can help it. The documentaries convinced me the way they produce meat in this country, is unhealthy as all hell.
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Sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things! Now on cheese, since you seem to be lactose intolerant, consider non dairy cheese. Im switching over to this, which can be difficult at times. But we have the brand Daiya. Cause one thing, cheese can clog up the poop. But non dairy cheese try that. I like cheese as well. That was a thing. I read that cheese does the same effect on the brain heroin does! Now why did cheese become a big thing with livestock industry? This is interesting. Back in the day, they opted to sell to the country less fat was good for health. So in milk, they skim the fat. Like 2% milk or skim. Well, what do they do with the fat? Make CHEESE! Then pushed all this cheese on us, which is hard to walk away from. Load up pizza with cheese, and cheesy crust, then we hooked on cheese.
But try non dairy cheese see if that helps.
Also for poop, prunes you can do that. Grapes help as well (I love grapes)! Love them a lot. But yes you can drink too much water. I am similar. I always have to have a drink nearby. Water etc. Now I know say diet soda is crap. But I still like it. I like it on hand. I know the artificial sweetner can confuse the body. Where I used to drink it a lot, now I have it every other day maybe a can, at most.
Yes tho water is essential but dont go crazy with it.
But also look to supplements. If vegetarian B 12 is essential. Multivitamin. I take a bunch of amino acids right now for working out. So far my energy has been really good. I just want to be sure, cause Michael is right, vegans can get kidney stones. But I dont want to go back to meat if I can help it. The documentaries convinced me the way they produce meat in this country, is unhealthy as all hell.
You said a lot I agree with, not going to parse it all out now though. Suffice to say I love cheese but I don't eat an exorbitant amount of it. I would say my love of cheese is a bit more of a foodies love, I'm not going crazy on the amount, but I am eating it and exploring different cheeses. Suffice to say I love food, which is why I gave up on fast food a long time ago, it really doesn't taste that good when you've explored so many different kinds of delicious foods. I first gave up on fast food not for health but for flavor. My favorite meals right now are Mujadara, chickpea curry, various different Daal recipes, Roasted veggies on abed of lentils and brown rice.
I'll never replace cheese with vegan cheese, I've tried all the substitutes out there, none of them.compare to real cheese. And most of these veggie cheeses make a half decent fake American cheese, and I don't even really like American cheese much at all. They don't have a good extra sharp cheddar, like the kind that is so hard it crumples when you cut it with a butter knife and to the taste it has a hint of nutty, a bit of a bite to it. Or a smoky gouda, omg! A yummy gruyere... sigh. Oh how I will miss fondue night! Alas I haven't had a glass of wine in ages cause of my acid reflux but I'm really hoping when my water drinking gets low enough the acid reflux might also go away, as too much water can cause that as well I've read. Then I can have wine and cheese again!!!
But I can live without my love of cheese for now, I'd rather go without any cheese then insult my taste buds with the fake stuff. My spouse calls me a snob, but then she likes to eat burnt food so what does she know! 😂
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Yeah cheese is a hard one. The Daiya is not that bad tho! But I know its limited, if you want to explore good cheese. And wine and cheese I know! I am doing my best to avoid wine. I loved it, but I could drink way too much and flowered up. Now on occasion with a nice dinner ill have a glass so its different. But yes I know cheese is hard to part with. But I definitely gotta have some non dairy cheese. Matter of fact, im out of it and am going to hit the store today, just for cheese alone. I got plenty in fridge. But I need some grated cheese. ;D
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Ah yeah so you mention grated cheese, last I checked the Daiya stuff doesn't really melt well. And I am picky I'm the kitchen. I can work for hours in the kitchen experimenting to get a recipe just right (probably why daughter is working to become a chef), and there are so many recipes where I would be upset if the cheese didn't melt right.
I see they have stuff labeled mozzarella and chedder..cheddar... I'm skeptical 🤨 😂
I do like the new Impossible Burger stuff though, and I hear they have been working on a milk substitute. If they do dairy as well as they do burger that could potentially change things for me.
For now, I'll just have little to no cheese. I haven't had good bread in probably 10 or more years anyway, so if I can do that I can manage with the cheese... I think 😂
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Oh and the thing with lactose, why I'm hoping I can change this
A. I wasn't always lactose intolerant
B. When they test me for lactose intolerance I don't come up as intolerant
But the Gut Sense site says this kind of thing is common for people with IBS, which he also insists is not a purely psycho somatic problem as many doctors seem to assume.
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Yeah thats the weird thing, most people around the world ARE lactose intolerant. I was surprised when I started researching all this, it took me down a huge thing of info. But many are, and maybe we werent meant to drink milk, intended for baby calfs! ;) Now in India I guess they ok with the milk and butter, just not EAT the cow! ;D And yes impossible burger is pretty good. I just got back from store. I got a different brand of cheese which I used last time, melts better than Daiya. The brand is "Open Nature" non dairy. I have no problem melting that one. But at least Daiya exists. Im also trying to do sour dough bread instead. Getting used to it. And yes I gotta figure out a way to do vegan pizza! Like I was like the other day "Man would be nice to have a pizza!" But I know its horrible for us! But yes impossible burger I hit store, found it 30% off so grabbed a couple of those. I like to use it for spaghetti, tacos, things like that. And I have the patties if I want a burger. But yeah switching over Im figuring it out, doing things like tofu for stir fry. But like tonight I grabbed it tho im not a fan: KALE. It just...the taste. I know its super healthy for you. But I gotta get used to it!
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Not big on the texture of Kale, I love Spinach preferably uncooked. Have to cook Kale though, and usually put it in with something else. Roasting most veggies helps get rid of any bitterness I've found. I've read that leafy greens should be the real bottom of the food pyramid, bur I've yet to manage that many leafy greens, other veggies I've got a plenty.
I don't think pizza really is bad for us, I think the way pizza is typically made is bad for us. Replace normal pizza dough with a high fiber alternative, use something like chickpea flour and the fiber is high, carbs are low and it's the best texture I've found as of yet. Add a small amount of coconut flour to the chickpea flour to increase fiber, careful not to much or the flavor is wrong. I'd use cheese personally, but do it margaritas pizza style and go super low on the amount of cheese. Throw on a ton of veggies, red sauce if you wish, in cause I use a white sauce made of extra virgin olive oil and herbs. Most cultures, it seems, have of some form of flatbread they eat, a pizza is just that, flat bread with the meal built in, some careful adjustments and it's healthy.
And in my opinion when it isn't drowning in cheese it actually tastes better as all the flavors are more balanced.
Which isn't to say that I don't still enjoy the taste of a pizza with too much cheese, but if I'm honest, less cheese and more balance of flavor is far more interesting.
Sourdough also seems to improve the texture of gluten free bread. You have to get used to sourdough?! Sourdough was a favorite of mine even before I started experimenting with interesting food, is to die for.
I disagree with the notion that people in general are lactose intolerant, I've read this myself and wasn't impressed with the logic or the quality of the sources to back the ideas. On the logic side of it, just because the milk is for the calves doesn't mean it would by default be bad for people. After all if we applied the same logic to all thr food we eat, we wouldn't eat anything, as it stands to reason that none of the food we eat was made for people, all the food we eat evolved for the plants or animals in question. The Spinach leaf is to catch rain and sun light for the Spinach plant, not to feed a person. Nuts and seeds are for the procreation of the plant in question, again not primarily to feed people. As a rule what an entity eats is not intended for its survival. We can even argue that the sun wasn't made to nourish plants or animals. The interdependence of nature doesn't require things to be intended for thr nourishment of the Other. Even if we bring a God into the equation I'm still not convinced anything was made with its primary intent to feed a person, but I do suspect God made duality to experience something new. Being a nondual entity, it wasn't lacking in anything, so forcing its creation, which is still it, to not remember what it is, and to require nourishment that wasn't primarily intended for it, forces that creation to survive by connecting with other aspects of God. To drink the milk of a calf is to know an aspect of God... I'll call this the Dao of Nourishment.
You're definitely right about just needing to get used to the new foods, in my experience anyway the more we expose ourselves to new tastes the more easily fluid our pallete becomes. Acquiring tastes is a beautiful thing.
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We like a hard cheese with wine - I'm over the soft cheeses because they are too eatable. I prefer Manchego.
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How did this go from non-duality to cheese? ;D Im not sure, but its funny!
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How did this go from non-duality to cheese? ;D Im not sure, but its funny!
Right, 😂
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Always reminds me of that famous song:
All we are saying, is
Eat Cheese in France!