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bamboo juice . . . *uh-oh, mistake!

How is it that I’ve never heard of, let alone tasted, bamboo juice before visiting Otovalo? It was by pure accident that I discovered a young woman hacking away at part of a bamboo tree as I passed her shop. I’ve always appreciated all that the bamboo tree gives us. So when I saw them outside adorning the entrance to a shop, I had to double back. A hearty-looking bamboo juicer was directly in front of the shop, and in the back was a counter made of . . . bamboo.

 

I had no idea what bamboo juice would taste like. So I prepared myself, and, surprise . . . it was DELICIOUS.

The young woman was so friendly. She laughed alot, tried hard to inderstand a gringo, and let me take as many photos as I wanted. As long as I’m in Otavalo, I’m a steady customer.

*uh-oh mistake . . . I’ve been told this is sugar cane and not bamboo. : (

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paul selig

I watched an interview – Bob Olson of www.afterlifetv.com interviewed Paul Selig, teacher, playwriter, and writer of three books that were channeled.

Watching and listening was immensely interesting and informative, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this one.

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@JamesVanPraagh: There is no need for judgment. Judgment comes from the lower physical self, or the ego. Open yourself to the light of tolerance & love.

One of Cuenca’s finest

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a brief encounter with grace

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Yesterday as I was walking along Calle Larga, a busy street in Cuenca, looking for Bananas Cafe, I saw a lovely twenty-something woman with a hula hoop. She was dressed in clothes made of long, soft flowing fabric. She, tall and delicate-looking, was one with her hula hoop. Ever so gracefully she was performing in the middle of the street seemingly without a care in the world. It was mid-afternoon, and, at that particular time, everything around her briefly stopped. Then the light changed and we all woke from what seemed a dream.

I have a hula hoop. I’m practicing. She’s my inspiration.

Are you enjoying the day?

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“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear;
After that, fear has no power,
And the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes.
You are free. – Jim Morrison

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bob olson and james van praagh

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When I clicked on to www.afterlifetv.com a little while ago, there was an impressive list of videos, and when I saw the name, James Van Praagh, the medium and writer of many books, I smiled. I once saw him at a workshop, and had a feeling the interviews would be highly informative and entertaining because he has a relaxed way, is quick to laugh, and has years of experience as a medium.

Bob Olson’s easy style, and his passion about the after life comes through on every interview. He’s also delightfully expressive which makes watching fun. It’s obvious that he wants to get very clear on the subject before the interview ends, and so he always seems to leave no stone unturned. Because of this, watching and listening to him is very satisfying.

If you want to learn more about the after life, and get comfortable with it, click on and listen to the two videos with Bob Olson and James Van Praagh. I’m betting you’ll enjoy and be glad you clicked.

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From a tweet: “You are creative and powerful. Let go of your fixed ideas, change ur inner pictures, & give yourself control over your own life.” – James Van Praagh

Can you say your weekend was wonderful? And say thank you whether it was or wasn’t? Thank you either way . . . because if it wasn’t . . . “Your soul is given many opportunities to develop and expand by living through adversity.” – James Van Praagh

 

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rick archer and steve m. taylor

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I watched an interview with Rick Archer interviewing Steve Taylor who wrote Back To Sanity: Healing the Madness of Our Minds. Have you read it? I would describe it by using two words taken from Emmet Fox’s writings. Back To Sanity was for me “thrillingly interesting.”

Some questions seem to not have satisfactory answers, and that certainly includes the ones about spirituality. Well, if you’re ready to hear a meaningful dialogue about the state of our world, awakening, the ego, and some other rather important and interesting subjects having to do with the human race, you’ve nothing to lose and much to gain by sitting quietly and watching and listening attentively to the Buddha at the Gas Pump interview. www.batgap.com

A short meditation at the end by Steve Taylor, and a reading by him of two of his poems guides the listener, along with the rest of the interview, to a new kind of knowing. About what? you ask. I have a feeling that if you’re reading this, you already know. www.stevenmtaylor.co.uk

The interview is long (shorter than a movie though) but if I didn’t think it well-worth our attention, mum would have been the word.

On Rick Archer’s website are many other interviews, and if they’re as good as the one I just heard, we’re in for some exceptional listening.

I hope your weekend was as lovely as mine was. Tomorrow is Monday. Let’s say Hooray! to that.

Sweet dreams.

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into the lives of others

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I was perusing Inc magazine while enjoying a good cup of coffee, when I saw on page 64, La Colombe Torrefaction Every Cup An Adventure Tale, and read: “This company shows the passion the owner has for coffee and lengths he’s willing to go to get it. It’s like the Patagonia of coffee.” — Bob Lord

The photo of co-founder and CEO Todd Carmichael on page 64 audacious companies helps to tell the story. He goes anywhere in the coffee world to track down “high-end beans other roasters won’t risk pursuing.” The words violence and danger don’t seem to be part of his vocabulary — he just goes. A travel channel show called Dangerous Grounds “captures each expedition.” A savvy businessman who loves what he does, does it his way, and does it well captures the definition of the word, inspiring. And www.lacolombe.com/founders-biographiessuggests that his personal life is also inspiring.

Reading about people who see the world in a good, BIG way and live with that amount of passion, feeds the mind and soul. Nice, right?

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That same day I passed Rittenhouse Plaza and there was Joseph Dupoldt, a doorman who, without fail smiles and has an encouraging word for all who pass — should they be open to it. I pass Joseph to and fro when going to La Colombe which is next door, and so have an opportunity to collect his smiles and see him in action. And I’ve noticed that he doesn’t seem to realize the impact he has on the lives of the different people who come in contact with him as they go in and out of the door where he stands. He does though. He’s aware of when people want a smile, or when they want to be with their thoughts, undisturbed — either way, he’s there for them. If you pass quietly or linger a little, you can hear him singing; he likes du bop and has a wonderful voice. It’s easy to see that he brings harmony, joy, and awareness to his job, and that’s only the things I can see. Nice, right? I want to ask him where someone as young as he is got his wisdom. I wonder what he’ll say.

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“There is nobody else like you. The more you can quiet your own thoughts, fears, doubts and suspicions, the more will be revealed to you from the highest realms of imagination, intuition, and inspiration.” – Kenneth Wydro, American lecturer

“My country is the world and my religion is to do good.” – Thomas Paine

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narcissus quagliata and michel domit

Lilou Mace has given us another exceptional interview with famous glass artist Narcissus Quagliata, and the creator of El Santuario at Valle de Bravo (two miles outside of Mexico City), Michel Domit.

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www.juicylivingtour.com
www.elsantuario.com

These two creators, with Lilou Mace, treat us to a remarkable interview which, if we carefully and deeply listen, will change us. I want to entice you to watch it on juicy living tour by writing about a few things that were discussed, and, when you’re ready, to search for the video titled “The Importance of Stopping the Mind! Mexico.” I’ll try to piece a little of it together for you to whet your appetite, although it won’t sing to your heart in the way watching and listening will. Something begins to stir in the listener when hearing about the creation of the beautiful light from the dome reflecting everywhere, and the amazing before and after story of El Santuario and the dome, hearing the words: heart, love, consciousness, creating, quieting the mind, the holy quartz mountain that has a spirit, quieting the mind, atoms, stars, the Tibetan monks, revelation, transformation, quieting the mind. . . .

Dialogue taken from the juicy living tour video:

We have two imaginations – one the perceptive, the other the creative – though no one talks about it, Silva Mind Control founded by Jose Silva does, and Michel Domit taught it for twenty years.
www.silvamindcontrol.com

Narcissus Quagliata created a beautiful dome for El Santuario. Before doing this, though, he took absolute quiet on the mountain for three months. He said that people have to learn how to quiet the mind and create a vacuum. And if you stop internal dialogue you become enlightened. He said that he created the dome by pushing away everything that was unnecessary. He said the most frequent question asked is: How did you invent the imagery? How did you invent it? The answer is simple, he said. I invented it by pushing away everything that is unnecessary. I create an empty space and then the images find me. I don’t go find them – absolute quiet and then I just stood still and within days my place was crowded with images. By quieting the mind you become a vacuum. That’s how Siddhartha became the Buddha.

Michel Domit said that his teacher Carlos Castenada insisted so much on stopping the internal dialogue – it is not us. The mind we are using is wonderful, but if we don’t know where the turnoff button is, it’s terrible. It can actually drive you crazy.
www.castaneda.com

He devoted eight hours every day for five months to meditation before beginning his El Santuario project. And he said that the spirit of the mountain guided him in the creation of El Santuario . . . listen to the video to find out how the spirit of the mountain communicates.

And so, the above is just a skeleton of a most interesting and enlightening interview; it’s much more exciting to watch and listen to it because time and again what’s stressed is that there’s so much more to life, and to us, than what we now believe. And the possibility of things being a lot different for us were we to deeply listen to the dialogue between Narcissus Quagliata, Michel Domit, and Lilou Mace on the video “The Importance of Stopping the Mind! Mexico” is very real.

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“In the universe there is an unmeasurable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.”
– Carlos Castaneda

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lilou mace, tony samara, sonia choquette

Are there nights when you can’t sleep? And you don’t want to be bleary-eyed in  the morning so you refuse to take over-the-counter pills. The first thought that comes to mind to insure a good night’s sleep is to eliminate watching, reading, or thinking about anything that smacks of violence, or anything that causes stress in the body. We want to ease into sleep and shed unwanted thoughts. I have an idea, let’s get a cup of camomile tea or any herbal tea, and type www.juicylivingtour.com on a computer and click on Videos, and then click on Tony Samara. Next to his name it says: He was born in the UK, raised in Egypt and Norway, made decisions in the course of his life to abandon one way of living for another, “studied at Mount Baldy Zen Center in California where he learned the spiritual teachings of Kyozan Joshua Sasaki, and lived with and learned from shamanic communities around the globe including a period of time spent with some highly influential shamans in the Amazon and the Andes Mountains.” Listening to him is a treat, or maybe the word is gift. Thank you, Lilou Mace for bringing this interview to us.

I’m sitting comfortably, are you? All right! We have our tea, and are ready to carefully listen to Lilou Mace interview Tony Samara. His serene voice will explain that there’s another way to be in the world. You’re liking it? I knew you would. Shall we watch and listen again so that every word can permeate every fiber of our being? Our conscious mind has been put to rest, now another part of who we are can take over and put to use the words we’ve been listening to – the words that have the ability to change our old worn-out beliefs.
www.tonysamara.org

No need to worry about time. When the body is relaxed and stressless, it can handle a little loss of sleep. With that thought, shall we watch one last video tonight? What about Sonia Choquette? It’s wonderful listening. She’ll simply and lovingly explain about intuition, that we all have access to it, that somewhere along the way many of us chose to not use it, that it’s dormant at the moment – still there though should we make a decision to have it as our constant guide. That would be a powerful decision. She’ll show us how, and the rest is up to us. It’s just a matter of using it.
www.soniachoquette.com

I’ve mentioned Lilou Mace before, – do you know her story? It’s an amazing one in that she lost her job, and opted for “. . . The beauty and magic of following her heart and true nature.” She’s never done what she’s now doing. As she travels the world interviewing spiritual teachers – those who have something to say and have the ability to transform others, she relies completely on donations. There have been interviews that have caught her off-guard and her honesty was so refreshing when asked very personal questions. It seems that what comes up most often when she talks about herself is having complete trust in the Universe and that Love is the guiding force, a knowing that we are all connected and that we all have a right to live on our own terms as long as we aren’t harming anyone, including ourselves, and that we are all worth so much more than we realize and have gifts waiting to be tapped by us. She continues to figure it out as she goes along on her quest, and learning every step of the way and always striving to bring what she does to the next level. Good for you Lilou Mace
www.liloumace.com

I’ve read that it’s not good to use a computer or cell phone just before going to bed. We all know how they react on the brain. But every so often and when using a computer for the above-mentioned reasons, I would think that it sure beats a restless night.

Are you feeling relaxed and sleepy? I certainly hope so. Good night and sweet dreams.

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“Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” – Walt Whitman