Here’s a Little Food for Thought:

Why is text messaging confined only to a hand-held devise?

     When you come across something so beneficial, why can’t you just send it to as many friends you have found along your path, along your new journey? Force an alarm to go off at the other end, raising the alert level a few notches higher. That’ll get some notice. Get someone to at least glance at the text. 

     Well, I guess I will just have to rely on this old-fashioned approach to providing info: Putting it out on the ‘Net.

     Hence, I am providing everyone — Meat eaters and non-Meat eaters — the following post that originally appeared in an article on western Buddhism. Enjoy it. Better yet, try the practice. Whether you follow a Zen approach or not, you could help yourself be a more enlightened self:

     

HOW TO EAT WITH A BUDDHIST PRACTICE

How I lost 20 lbs. in a month through Buddhism!by dragonflydm

•     When you eat, always be aware of what you are eating.
•      Continually remind yourself that food may be pleasurable, but it is fuel not entertainment or an emotional substitute.
•      Never reward yourself with a food treat. If, every time you accomplished a goal, you rewarded yourself with a $1,000 shopping spree how long would it take before you stopped and just allowed the joy of accomplishment be enough?
•      Never eat something until you had time to think about that choice. Do you need to eat it? After you have finished eating that pleasure food, will you regret it?
•      At the start of daily (or weekly meditation) take a minute to reflect on your relationship with food. “Meditation develops your concentration,” says Megrette Fletcher, RD, cofounder of the Center for Mindful Eating in West Nottingham, New Hampshire.
• ————-
•      Keep a calorie journal. My journal was an application on iPhone, but you can just as easily buy a book that notates the calories of every food and recording everything.
•      According to the Center for Mindful Eating, think of eating as scale with “starving” on one side and “stuffed” on the other. In Okinawa, there is a cultural tradition called “class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=””>hara hachi bu” which means “eat until you are only 80% full.” Okinawa has the largest population of centenarians in the world.
•      Chew your food! It can take 20 minutes for the body to register what you have eaten. Taking time, allows the mind to catch up to the mouth. In addition, chewing gum before a meal creates the mental sensation of starting the meal early and the mind—thinking it has been eating for a longer time—will lessen your appetite.
• ————-
•      Avoid ice cold drinks when eating! Cold drinks push food through the stomach, but hot drinks also loosen up the stomach muscles and give the sensation that you are fuller.
• Do not eat on autopilot. (“Don’t eat where you … !”) Eating while driving, working, watching TV are all very convenient. They are also distracting. I can eat an entire large pizza without noticing or enjoying the experience. Move your eating time to a separate location where eating is the primary mission.
•      Food is only a reward when training puppies! Did you finally get your five mile run finished in 40 minutes? Fantastic! But don’t make that an excuse to open up the pint of ice cream. When you find yourself “treating” yourself to food, stop and investigate those feelings and cravings instead. Then put the spoon down!
• ————
•      Don’t measure yourself to who you think you should be. Just as in meditation, we must be in the moment. Phrases like “only if I …” will demotivate and discourage progress. Buddhism teaches that there is the conceit of thinking we are better than others and also the conceit of thinking that others are better than us. Craving for a “self” concept and a permanent image of what our impermanent bodies should look like creates suffering.

     Many thanks, and a bow of the head (as well as the heart) to my friend dragonflydm.

Look him up! His message hits home!

 

   Discussing the History of Nat Turner

 “Ever Hear of Nat Turner?” Sheriff Joe Wilkens asked me?

     “Sure,” I said. “He’s a famous black man who led a slave uprising before the Civil War.”

     You’re right, my friend Joe said, adding that he was a direct descendent of the leader of the most notorious revolt during the US slave era. Nat Turner lived on a North Carolina farm and was secretly taught to read by the son of his master, Joe recalled. Slaves were discouraged from learning to read, and some were severely punished when their scholarship was discovered.

     Nat Turner’s master, however, permitted his “property” to learn to read. But he could only read the Bible.

     And that’s exactly what Nat Turner did, reading that book from cover to cover, back and forth, and even in in-between, realizing there was a message there for all men, no matter the color of their skin.

Spreading Anti-Slavery Message as a Preacher

     He also realized that he could express that message in the form of a preacher. A preacher who became so good at spreading the Good Word to fellow slaves that free Whites and other slave owners soon came a-visiting the nearby slave household to hear the Gospel According to Nat Turner.

     Something happened following one of Nat Turner’s evangelistic presentations. A vision appeared to him!  Something mystical occurred, some say. Something that changed Nat Turner’s view of the world from that moment on:

Slavery was not good!

     That simple notion took on a life of its own, and Nat Turner led slave after slave out of their bondage, tearing them away from years of forced servitude. Historians are mixed about the impact of that revolt.

     Nat Turner’s followers killed more than 80 people on a flight away from slavery and toward the path of freedom.

     Of course, the slave revolt did not last. A militia came to the fields, captured, and killed Nat Turner. And all that’s left is the story of the most daring slave rebellion this country had ever seen.

     “That’s quite a story,” I told Joe, setting him up for the next line. “But I may be a direct descendant of another slave who led a revolt,”

     “Who?” Joe was quick to ask, wondering how some White guy whose was Greek could try to match his story about slavery. My reply quickly followed:

“Ever Hear Of Spartacus?”

“I Am Spartacus” and other Greek Wariors also claim “I Am Spartacus!”

     Joe and I smiled at each other, understanding that good friends can often have so much in common once they share a bond together.