Locating the Darkness Within

For those of you who are curious, I ended up doing the last juice fast for 7 1/2 days, starting on the evening of October 4th and ending on the afternoon of the 12th. My friend Alex, who was also fasting, went about 5 days on this fast; pretty good for her first major fast 🙂

The experience was a powerful one, as you might imagine, I feel much more connected to everything now. These sorts of experiences have the potential to alter the very core of your being and call into a critical light the habits that we rarely expend any effort to contemplate during the normal course of our day.
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Zen Mind: The Beginner’s Mind – Control

by Shunryu Suzuki | Zen Mind The Beginner’s Mind

“To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him”

To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment. When we lose our balance we die, but at the same time we also develop ourselves, we grow. Whatever we see is changing, losing the balance, but its background is always in perfect harmony. This is how everything exists in the realm of Buddha nature, losing its balance against a background of perfect balance. So if you see things without realizing the background of Buddha nature, everything appears to be in the form of suffering. But if you understand the background of existence, you realize that suffering itself is how we live, and how we extend our life. So in Zen sometimes we emphasize the imbalance or disorder of life.

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Herbs For Liver Detox

Source: WorldVillage

Our liver is the one of the most vital organs in our body. Our liver cleanses everything that is consumed or eaten by us. The liver along with our kidney helps excrete toxins and waste products from our body. Our liver also controls our blood sugar, cholesterol, and heart problems. Thus it is very important for us to take care of our liver and detox it regularly. Herbs for liver detox have proved to be the most beneficial treatment to cleanse our liver.

The liver performs many important tasks; however the most imperative task is to regulate the metabolism of fat in our body. It helps throw away the extra fat from our internal system in the bile. The fat in our body is caused due to various reasons such as, alcohol, fatty food, unhealthy diet, chemicals, drugs and so on, thus damaging the liver. All the extra fat that is accumulated in our liver prevents the organ from functioning in the appropriate way. There are many ways to detox our body, such as correct diet, healthy food and medication. However, herbs for liver detox have confirmed to be the best solution for liver damage.
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The Cultivation of Realization: Energy

Ordinary people’s energy rises in front and descends in back; realized people’s energy rises in back and descends in front.  When energy goes out and in, this is called ordinary breathing; when it does not go out and in, this is called true breathing.

Generally speaking, when the ordinary breathing is stilled, the true breathing is spontaneously activated.  The way breathing is stilled is not by forcefully holding it so that it does not come out.  It is a matter of absolute emptiness and utter stillness; the steadier the mind, the subtler the breathing.

The way to do this is to return the mind to quietude whatever you are doing, not imagining what is yet to come and not thinking about what has already passed.  After a long time at this, spirit and energy merge, feelings and objects are forgotten; spirit solidifies, energy congeals, and there is just one breath in the belly, revolving without going out or in.  This is called womb breathing. Read the rest of this entry »

Juice Fasting!!

Went out to the store and bought enough Celery, Bok Choy and Carrots to last about a week. A friend and I started this fast on Friday we plan on doing this for as long as each of us feels we are capable. I think it would be great if I can keep the juice fast going for at least 10 days, which would put the ending at about October 15. If I’m still able to function reasonably well by then, there’s no reason to limit the experience, but 10 days seems like a reasonable goal to start with.

While most people that I’ve talked to seem to think that Juice fasts are very difficult, I firmly believe the difficulty lies in the mental aspects of such an endeavor. This kind of fasting still allows your body to have calories, depending on the juices selected, as well as many of the essential nutrients and vitamins.

My research indicates that juice fasts have the potential to get our bodies more nutrients than eating “normally.” The reason being, when we eat whole foods that are in liquid form, they are very easily assimilated into the body with very little strain on digestive system. Read the rest of this entry »

Floating City

by Tori Amos – Y Kant Tori Read

You went away
Why did you leave me
You know I believed you
Nothing explained
Where are the answers
I know I need you

Tell me
Is your city paved with gold
Is there hunger
Do your people grow old
Do your governments
Have secrets that they’ve sold
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Infinite Paths

by Din Fiv – Escape to Reality

You can sail the ocean blue
You can fly up on the clouds
You can search the world for gold

You can seek a life of fame
You can toil at a job
You can hear a higher call

In our hearts,
In our minds,
In our short and fragile time,
We must all decide just what it means to be alive
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A Ron Paul Presidency–

–implies defeat for the following:

1. Neoconservatives
2. The Clintons
3. Liberventionists/Beltway libertarians
4. The mainstream media
5. Federal Reserve
6. IRS
7. War on drug users
8. 110 straight years of Hamiltonian government