there was that real “its alive! its alive!” moment when the bread dough began to rise. i had read how the yeast are sensitive creatures, if the water was too hot theyd die, if there was too much theyd drown. so carefully they had to be tended and then part of the cooking process was to stop the yeast from rising any further in other words to kill them. so we take good care of them to kill them. i guess no matter what we eat we have to kill something in order to do so.
the native people of america recognized this, but unlike us they didnt view the creatures they ate as inanimate objects. they might have thanked the diety but they also came to terms with the gift of life the individual creature gave them. how admirable, to have the courage to do this. they saw how all beings were connected in some way, how all life had equal right to exist. rather than bartering that away for some illusionary comfort they held the sanctity of all life to be equal and the tension/guilt over the killing of fellow creatures was a thing to be dealt with not avoided. the white buffalo woman brings the ritual to give thank to the animal and appease its spirit by performing the sacred ritual which would bring them back to life – ensure the continued survival of the buffalo. to face the fact that we humans must kill other creatures live. you could either wrap it up in plastic and sell it as unrecognisable bits in a supermarket or you could face and cope with your true actions and feelings. vegetarians kill to eat as well. plants are living creatures, full of life force. i’m not saying we should starve but i am wondering what if we had an honest relationship with our food. what if we acknowledge the equanimity of all life and at least be respectful enough to be grateful and to become involved with the creatures we call food?
for native peoples it was not negotiable whether or not all life was sacred. from that point the developed a civilization, culture and sacred ritual which incorporated them into the real world. what do we have in our life that is non negotiable?
padmasambhava, one of Tibet’s most sacred teachers advises his students – Want nothing, need nothing, know nothing. how brave would we be to meet the world that way? to allow, accept, and realise? to be unhidden from ourselves the world? to cope with what is rather than create elaborate avoidance techniques?
so today was sunny and a perfect day for the all Ireland foot ball championship – kerry beat cork by 4 points. if you dont know irish football check out GAA http://www.gaa.ie/
best fastest hard hitting sport i’ve ever seen. tomorrow a new batch of st johns tincture will be ready.
todays yoga music was American Beauty by the Grateful Dead – one of the greatest albums ever by one of the ironically most underrated bands ever.
Tip for the day: try something new like bread or the grateful dead, or get somewhere comfortable and think about where does the sky begin, where does it end? where do you begin? (guess thats moe than one tip)
all roads are dead ends
designed to lead us where
someone else
thinks we should go
sage
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