Tofurky day cometh soon...........

Well I am beginning my travels the day after Thanksgiving and was going to be
home for the holiday since my girlfriend is traveling to Thailand on Thanksgiving day and will meet her in India in 2 weeks, and the yoga class I was going to teach at the center Thanksgiving Day has been canceled since it will be closed on that day. So I will have a Meatless Thanksgiving with my roomate and landlord, who is going all out, a lifelong vegetarian who has never tried meat and son of a Krishna devotee whose father is an excellent cook having cooked prasadum for several decades, and he is going to begin his cooking on Tues. or Wed. for Thurs. Tofurky day festivities

Meatless Thanksgiving

Nothing says Thanksgiving dinner like tofu turkey, textured soy protein stuffing, and creamy mashed potatoes made with soy milk. Okay, that may not be exactly true for most Americans. But vegetarians have been feasting alongside omnivores since the first Thanksgiving, and they know how to cook up some tasty dishes, too. In these times of rampant obesity, skyrocketing cholesterol, and safety concerns over meat products, maybe it's time to see how the other 2% lives. If you're not ready to abandon the turkey, you can start with meatless side dishes. Meat substitutes may also minimize cravings for delicious animals. Tofu has been a popular choice for thousands of years, though hardcore carnivores have been known to call it bland and slimy. Textured soy protein and wheat gluten also have mild flavors, but have textures more similar to meat. They're commonly used in imitation meat products like Tofurky, a faux bird that may be the easiest way to go cold turkey. A fake drumstick or a meatless Thanksgiving may sound a little too radical, but remember: even the President pardons a turkey each year.

Suggested Sites...

• Vegetarian Thanksgiving - delicious recipes for side dishes, main courses, and desserts for vegetarians and vegans.
• Turkey-Free Menus - festive vegetarian holiday ideas from Food Network.
• FamousVeggie.com - follow in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, Hank Aaron, Leonardo da Vinci, Andre 3000, Socrates, and Pamela Anderson.
• Fake Flesh - a taste test of meat substitutes that finds some of them amusingly disappointing.

Directory categories: Vegetarian Thanksgiving, Meat Substitutes, Tofu, Textured Soy Protein, Vegetarian Recipes

Fast......................

I'm doing a one day fast and using the time to study, meditate, do mantra, and most important organize and get ready to ship out! I enjoy fasting as much as I love food, even though I've only done a fast on just herbal tea a handful of times, okay this is the second time! The fast frees up a lot of time to focus on practice and not go running around doing errands, so brings you within. I thought I lost my original paper tickets for my travels, but found them after an hour of looking, they were in a folder on the very back of a bunch of plain envelopes. The following is an account of studies with K. Pattabhi Jois i.e. Guruji, the 91 year old ashtanga yoga master. I plan to study with him for 2 months in Jan. and Feb. It is quite funny, a woman from England I believe is keeping the blog at mysorebum.blogspot.com

Conference was really good. Guruji sat in his chair on the elevated platform (I don't think it's big or high enough to call it a stage), and sat silently smiling at us, waiting for a question. No one asked one so he turned to violetta who was sat in the front with me and said "You! You have a question". She told him 2 days earlier that she had something to ask. Not a bad memory there. She asked whether everyone could do every single asana or if some people would just never be able to do some of them. He answered "Everybody asana, everybody". So no excuses people! He went on to talk about food and said that we should not eat fish because it creates excess fat in the body, that we should eat breakfast, lunch and no dinner. We should drink 1 litre of milk and ghee everyday. He recommended a fully vegetarian diet. He said that we should eat when we are happy I think, rather than stressed or something. We should think good thoughts, do good things, think god and we will be happy. He said that each man is given 100 years to live but it is possible to live even up to 200 if you live right.

He looked at Violetta during the whole time he spoke as if he was speaking only to her. He likes her because she is lively and cheeky around him. Guruji seems to like being treated like everyone else rather than some kind of deity or something. He's a lovely old man with a great big heart and he likes to have a good laugh as well.

One person asked about loud breathing during practice. He couldn't hear what he was asking so a few people repeated it to him louder and louder until he heard properly. He answered that the breath is very very important, that asana was secondary. In fact asana is just the foundation of yoga, it isn't yoga. The people at the back didn't hear properly and so he shouted out "breath very important!" and then laughed, we all did. he has an excellent sense of humour.

We had decided to go to the cinema to see a bollywood film, but when the rickshaw pulled up outside there was a massive queue that went round the cinema. All single men stood in a tight line...no thanks, that's just scary business none of us wanted to be in that kind of situation. Instead we went to see the palace be lit up. Every sunday they switch all the lights on and it looks beautiful. There was a military band playing music and of course lots of people trying to sell you things, flutes, wooden carvings,...you have to be firm with them, they go away then. Otherwise they'll trail you everywhere you go.

The evening was quiet, I had a bowl of cereal and went to sleep, exhausted, too tired even to write a postcard.

Today I practiced but it is my time to have 3 days off now, but I usually do 1 or 2. I respect this because I think Guruji knows better than me and so do the senior teachers, but I guess it's different for everyone. Guruji was right...1 week. I managed to touch my fingers for the bind in Supta Kurmasana. That's more progress in a week than I have had in endless months. I was a bit like "aaawwww...I feel like doing more now because I'm having loads of fun". Still I went straight to the finishing room.

This morning was surpisingly busy, I have run out of t-shirts I didn't bring nearly enough, so I went downtown with Violetta on the scooter. I trust her driving just I don't trust all the other people using the road. I found a shop selling cool t-shirts and I went to buy a shawl. Because of the pollution it's good to shield yout face sometimes, and in the morning too. Anu says you should avoid breathing in the morning mist. After being ill I'll listen to any advice. Violetta got a dress made which is lovely and picked up some very nice material to use as a blanket in Savasana. We went to Lakshmipuram for lunch at Sandia's who is a little indian lady who opens up her house for yoga students to come and eat. It's like stepping into the past, the little house is humble and clean and her food is amazing.

A combination of things makes the yoga particularly good here. Eating very healthily, sleeping well, no stress from work, no alcohol, and the heat. I love it here and I feel good and relaxed but I think this isn't easy to reproduce in the UK. I am taking Guruji's advice and eating a good breakfast and a good lunch and skipping dinner apart from milk. This would be difficult at home for example because the evening meal is the only time I have with Mister R.

I have signed up for Kumar's ayurvedic massage course. 14 days intensive, 10-5pm. That'll keep me busy and I've always wanted to do this. There is zilch to do in Mysore really (on a daily basis) so taking lots of classes like sanskrit, chanting, hindi lessons, drumming, sutra, etc... is a popular choice. As well as having lots of massages of course. Ho-hum...isn't life hard :)

Actual Sign from North India Yoga Studio...........

Yeah. That is a real sign outside "The Welcome Center" in Rishikesh, North India. It is run by an Indian woman and her husband from Holland, who is fluent and speaks excellent Hindi. Anyways, they run a nice place where you can rent out a room, study yoga, and his wife cooks excellent and some organic authentic ayurvedic food So the husband has this sign up because a woman from China came for classes and was more interested in the whether or not the teacher was single and cute. She wasn't that interested in the style of yoga, so she winds up taking classes with one of the teachers and marries him, so they lost a great teacher. Anyways funny story and funny sign, only in India I guess!

numer 9 and culture............

Nine Days left to FL, 17 days left to NYC, and 21 days left until the return to Mamma India. Lots going on btwn work, teaching yoga, spending time with my darling, packing, decluttering and so forth.
I am taking an enjoyable yoga philosophy class that shows how Yoga/Hinduism is related and connected with Buddhism. We are reading a Buddhist book by Insight Meditation founder Jack Kornfield and a Yoga book by Deskichar. One thing that bothered me last night was that several advanced students in the class were extending their feet with the bottom of their feet facing the teacher. Obviously they weren't aware that this is disrespectful in Indian culture, as the feet are considered dirty an shouldn't be facing the teacher. Paradoxly, the guru's feet are seen as sacred and are often touched by devotees. We aren't in India and are in America, but makes me wonder how much culture should be apart of the practice. During the satsang we were sitting on the floor, not in chairs and in a circle, so that alone is brining Indian culture to the space. Just food for thought I guess.

pilfer, paradox, and probot

I went to Denver to attend satsang and go the the huge 5 or 6 floor library, and explore the city this weekend and was reading a book about Vipassana meditation on the bus ride down from Denver, when after reading for about 45 minutes, took a break and put on headphones to listen to a mix cd and as getting off continuted to listen to Probot, Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer, band Probot featuring him on drums and various frontman for the record including Lemmy of Motorhead fame, well I was listening to the Probot song "Shake Your Blood" and left my shoulder bag on the bus, I kept my main backpack though. The shoulder bag featured scrap recipts of numerous natural food stores with stuff written on them, some Merry Hempsters Lip Balm, a notebook, some natural European liquid breath drops, and some flavored prophylactics. Thanks Lemmy!! I guess it is good to practice of apigraha, the fifth yama, is the non-accumulation of worldly objects, caused by covetousness and attachment.

"Shake Your Blood"

Looking for relief in your miserable life
You need some rock and roll
And you better get it right
Got to roll them bones,
Do everything they say
If you're cool, you're the fool.
Make it work everyday.

Rock out, make it quick
My, my, my, let it rip
Rock out, feeling good.
Break your heart. Shake your blood.

Out upon the stage, crowd is going wild,
Love to see them women, babe
I ain't in denial.
Make you crazy too. Make you show it out.
Feeling good, get some wood
You should, You knew you could

Rock out, do it now
My, my, my, show me how
Rock out, make it good.
Break your heart. Shake your blood

Want to be a winner, want to be the man.
Want to drive yourself insane,
Join up with the band
Want to fall in love, want to make your mark
Want to get out in the storm, want to break
A thousand hearts

Rock out, strike it rich
My, my, my, it's a bitch
Rock out, I knew you could
Break your heart. Shake your blood

Twas the night before Halloween

Twas the night before Halloween, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even Shanti, our tabby cat.
The kirtan was finished as I drove my bike home through the cold after conversation and prasad
I walked in the house to discover an illumanted Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin decorated w/ Christmas lights
I purchased a "How to Learn Hindi book" via the internet
listened to some Alanis and Krishna Das
and went to sleep

Strange Days

"Strange days have found us
Strange days have tracked us down" The Doors

So I'm a busy bee w/o much time to keep a blog, but will drop a quick line. I am taking two yoga workshops this week, working nearly 40 hours, in a relationship, and was going to sub 6 yoga classes this week, and my usual yoga class makes 7, so I send an email to the director and write down all the classes on a scrap piece of paper, she responds thank you for picking up these classes. I go to work, leave work to drop off some items at the Ginsberg library and the Main Library, come home eat some beans, rice, w/ Jack cheese, kale, and sprouted corn chips. Check my email before the yoga workshop, and she says the teacher will be doing the Fri. morning class, but says I will sub the rest of the classes. I look at my scrap sheet of paper and it turns out I didn't write down that Fri. morning class even though I agreed to it in the email. Strange indeed, or a tendrel moment. Enough blogging, time to hop on my bike to attend yoga workshop, then shiva bathing and kirtan at the ashram, and not sure how I'm going to fit my hour a day practice of learning Hindi, but Namaste and thanks for stopping by.
Peas
Gopala

Aghori dreams and Naga Yogis

The iconic three heads represent Shiva as Aghori, Ardhanarishvara (half male-half female God) and Mahayogi (great Yogi). The photo of me is taken at the Elephanta caves in island clusters off Bombay (Mumbai) city, India.

I had a great dharma dream last night about an Agorhi yogi in a charnel ground doing yoga asana on a dead body. It was a pretty far out dream, the yogi was smeared in ash and naked w/ dreadlocks. I wasn't too scared, but kind of awestruck like our cat Shanti seeing snow for the first time. The dream was probably a result of listening to Alan Watts give a talk on Hinduism on cd last night prior to going to sleep. He spoke of how in India everything is crumbling, falling apart, and yet still bursting with life, and how the Hindu sees life as a drama, nothing is permanent, but that is the beauty, because it gives special meaning to life and not holding on, but letting go, pretty cool and then I fell asleep to dreams of an Agorhi Naga Yogi!

dropping gold in the form of words from Laksmi's hands

Dropping gold in the form of words from Laksmi's hands

A 2 hour yoga class this morning, followed by teaching an hour class, followed by sauna and whirlpool and 6 hours or so of work, cooking up yummy organic gluten free cuisine in a hot kitchen to the tunes of John Frusciante, R.E.M., Paul McCartney's Band on the Run, Fugazi, and other selected certified classics as snow melts in sunny, but cool CO air and the coutdown to East Coast and East India travel ticks away, Spearhead show in Denver this Sat. and life is good, reading Baba: autobiography of a Blue Eyed Yogi by Rampuri, and heart is still in India perhaps, but loving the cold season for what it's forth.........