Prayer Flags in a Small Sherpa Village in Northern Nepal
When I start writing these posts, I usually just make it up as I go. I have a rough idea in my head about certain topics that I want to cover, but mostly it seems to come together as I write it.
Let me be totally transparent about this though. I am completely against organized religion.
It is organized religion that dictates that someone or some group must be a "middleman" between you and the Great Spirit. That same force that permeates every molecule in the cosmos. These groups want you to be sheep, not shepherds. They want you to accept their truth as gospel. And for some reason, they always seem to need more money, more donations...despite the fact that they are free from paying taxes and have VERY ornate buildings. I am not an Atheist (anymore) and not an Agnostic either. I consider myself more of a Pantheist if anything. Keep this in mind.
That being said, I was born a catholic but defected when I reached the age of REASON. How did I reach this? I finally had quiet time to actually contemplate things. I started asking hard questions. Questions like..."How come American soldiers that kill people don't go to hell, but gang members (soldiers in their own right) DO go to hell? Who makes up these rules? Why is it that every advancement in knowledge during the enlightenment period was sabotaged by the Vatican? Aren't Catholic priests worried about hell when they rape altar boys? How could George W. Bush call himself a man of God when he and his friends are obviously responsible for the deaths of countless innocent children? He told the world that God spoke to him and instructed him to invade Iraq. Now....who is the religious wacko? Ok Anthony...take a deep breath...
Ok, so this is supposed to be about Raw Food and Spirituality.
These ideas mentioned above were already in my mind by the age of 22-23. But it wasnt until raw food entered my life that I actually FELT something. Not just thought it, but truly felt it deep inside my core. My spiritual self was starting to awake. After about a month of raw food, I started to have these unspeakable moments of bliss. Where I was completely elated to the point of crying with tears of joy. It was so intense sometimes...I just didn't know what to think. I felt and knew that I was at one with everything around, and truly everything in existence. I was vibrating at that frequency for the first time. I still get this funny feeling down my spine when I think about it. All the gunk that was blocking the energy was out of my system, and I could feel something coming in. I could walk down the street and look at the trees and feel completely joyous. It was really laughable. Around me were people scurrying around trying to get from A to B, and here I was, totally drug free, being completely blown away by the sunlight illuminating the trees near Gramercy Park.
It is also during this time that the need for sleep went WAY down. Many raw foodists will feel pretty good around 6 hours, but when you are taking large amounts of greens and drinking lots of water, you need about 3 to 4 hours. A friend of mine said that it wasn't healthy to sleep so little, but he is 30 pounds overweight and takes naps throughout the day. Go figure...
So there is a connection. Ive read that the Yogis of India sleep very little. I know most of them are not raw-foodists, but their diets are likely to be pretty clean and simple. Coincidence?
Fasting was also really important for the spiritual masters, and i believe that its simply about cleaning out the system, so we can finally receive the energy that was always there...trying to get into our consciousness. I honestly don't know how anyone could reach those deep feelings of connectedness without fasting and raw food. And when you think about the high energy that the food has compared to cooked garbage, its obvious that these feelings start to occur. An excellent book on all of this is Gabriel Cousens - Spiritual Nutrition.
Back to Philosophy...this is my truth...it doesn't have to be yours. Find your own...
You have to realize that only you can save yourself. Asking some religious savior or whomever to do it for you is a slander against yourself and your innate abilities. You completely disrespect who you really are when you put that task into the hands of another person or group. Sure, we can learn valuable lessons from those masters who came before us, but they are merely guides. This is how they wanted to be remembered, as guides...showing us the way to true freedom.
Start to see yourself as the divine entity that you really are. Every single atom in the entire universe was located at one single point 14 billion years ago. So - the atoms that make up your body and mind are from the same source of atoms that made up the bodies of the Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, and every other great spiritual teacher. We are one. No one else is in the room, despite what our eyes are showing us. These individuals must be seen as our equals. To place them higher than us demeans who we truly are. The only difference between them and everyone else was that they KNEW that they were divine. They knew who they were, and lived that truth. We can get there too if we choose to do so.
"God has no Religion" - Ghandi
It should be known that Ghandi often experimented with raw food. This man was a true experimenter when it came to eating. He would restrict his diet to 5 simple items each day. However, his lack of raw fats left him pretty frail at times, so naturally he was excited to learn about the avocado from Paramahansa Yogananda. We are REALLY lucky to know what we now know about raw food, and to have the resources to get the best raw foods from around the globe delivered to our door. Think about it...you likely know more about raw food than Ghandi did, and he experimented with it for decades.
Another thing to feel immensely grateful for...
We have all these wise teachers that lived before us to illuminate the path. They cannot save us, but they can show us how to save ourselves. This is a very important concept to remember. Please...PLEASE don't pigeonhole yourself into merely one way of thinking. If you are a Buddhist, read the teachings of Jesus ( I recommend the Essene Gospel of Peace). If you are a Christian, read about Sufism and Rumi, or Buddhism or Hinduism. Study the Jains, study Krishna, study Ghandi. Learn about Animism. Do yourself a HUGE favor and read the Upanishads. At least look into the Bhagavad Gita. To limit yourself to the religion which was taught to you by your parents is an insult to your true self, and a mockery to humankind. Expand your horizons.
You have to find YOUR truth though. Not anyone else's. The great masters of the past didn't want to be idolized. They wanted everyone on Earth to wake up and to realize what we truly are: and I believe what we truly are is the Great Spirit (God, Allah, Brahma, the Force...) experiencing one small part of the cosmos in a tiny little (and temporary) human body. This spirit is the same in all of us. No..it IS us...but we are just fooled into thinking that we are only our most recent human story. Much deeper friends...MUCH deeper.
Go raw (with lots of greens) for a month or so, and see what you FEEL.
If I offended anyone, I am sorry that you were so easily offended! Destroy the EGO! Merge into the Oneness. Open yourself up to new ideas if any of these sounded threatening. Expand to infinity.
Ok...NEXT...Exercise and the Garden Update...I think Ill post it tonight as well.
Someone asked about bananas too...Limit these strictly! Bananas are highly hybridized fruits that are VERY far away from the original banana which contained little black seeds and wasn't as sweet. You can still find closer types in Southeast Asia...or go for Plantains if you are really craving the banana creaminess. I maybe have one every two weeks or so in a smoothie...and always organic. They spray the life out of conventional bananas.
Please comment, its always welcomed! And if this post was a little heavy, have no fear...more issues like food and exercise are on the way.
Let me be totally transparent about this though. I am completely against organized religion.
It is organized religion that dictates that someone or some group must be a "middleman" between you and the Great Spirit. That same force that permeates every molecule in the cosmos. These groups want you to be sheep, not shepherds. They want you to accept their truth as gospel. And for some reason, they always seem to need more money, more donations...despite the fact that they are free from paying taxes and have VERY ornate buildings. I am not an Atheist (anymore) and not an Agnostic either. I consider myself more of a Pantheist if anything. Keep this in mind.
That being said, I was born a catholic but defected when I reached the age of REASON. How did I reach this? I finally had quiet time to actually contemplate things. I started asking hard questions. Questions like..."How come American soldiers that kill people don't go to hell, but gang members (soldiers in their own right) DO go to hell? Who makes up these rules? Why is it that every advancement in knowledge during the enlightenment period was sabotaged by the Vatican? Aren't Catholic priests worried about hell when they rape altar boys? How could George W. Bush call himself a man of God when he and his friends are obviously responsible for the deaths of countless innocent children? He told the world that God spoke to him and instructed him to invade Iraq. Now....who is the religious wacko? Ok Anthony...take a deep breath...
Ok, so this is supposed to be about Raw Food and Spirituality.
These ideas mentioned above were already in my mind by the age of 22-23. But it wasnt until raw food entered my life that I actually FELT something. Not just thought it, but truly felt it deep inside my core. My spiritual self was starting to awake. After about a month of raw food, I started to have these unspeakable moments of bliss. Where I was completely elated to the point of crying with tears of joy. It was so intense sometimes...I just didn't know what to think. I felt and knew that I was at one with everything around, and truly everything in existence. I was vibrating at that frequency for the first time. I still get this funny feeling down my spine when I think about it. All the gunk that was blocking the energy was out of my system, and I could feel something coming in. I could walk down the street and look at the trees and feel completely joyous. It was really laughable. Around me were people scurrying around trying to get from A to B, and here I was, totally drug free, being completely blown away by the sunlight illuminating the trees near Gramercy Park.
It is also during this time that the need for sleep went WAY down. Many raw foodists will feel pretty good around 6 hours, but when you are taking large amounts of greens and drinking lots of water, you need about 3 to 4 hours. A friend of mine said that it wasn't healthy to sleep so little, but he is 30 pounds overweight and takes naps throughout the day. Go figure...
So there is a connection. Ive read that the Yogis of India sleep very little. I know most of them are not raw-foodists, but their diets are likely to be pretty clean and simple. Coincidence?
Fasting was also really important for the spiritual masters, and i believe that its simply about cleaning out the system, so we can finally receive the energy that was always there...trying to get into our consciousness. I honestly don't know how anyone could reach those deep feelings of connectedness without fasting and raw food. And when you think about the high energy that the food has compared to cooked garbage, its obvious that these feelings start to occur. An excellent book on all of this is Gabriel Cousens - Spiritual Nutrition.
Back to Philosophy...this is my truth...it doesn't have to be yours. Find your own...
You have to realize that only you can save yourself. Asking some religious savior or whomever to do it for you is a slander against yourself and your innate abilities. You completely disrespect who you really are when you put that task into the hands of another person or group. Sure, we can learn valuable lessons from those masters who came before us, but they are merely guides. This is how they wanted to be remembered, as guides...showing us the way to true freedom.
Start to see yourself as the divine entity that you really are. Every single atom in the entire universe was located at one single point 14 billion years ago. So - the atoms that make up your body and mind are from the same source of atoms that made up the bodies of the Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, and every other great spiritual teacher. We are one. No one else is in the room, despite what our eyes are showing us. These individuals must be seen as our equals. To place them higher than us demeans who we truly are. The only difference between them and everyone else was that they KNEW that they were divine. They knew who they were, and lived that truth. We can get there too if we choose to do so.
"God has no Religion" - Ghandi
It should be known that Ghandi often experimented with raw food. This man was a true experimenter when it came to eating. He would restrict his diet to 5 simple items each day. However, his lack of raw fats left him pretty frail at times, so naturally he was excited to learn about the avocado from Paramahansa Yogananda. We are REALLY lucky to know what we now know about raw food, and to have the resources to get the best raw foods from around the globe delivered to our door. Think about it...you likely know more about raw food than Ghandi did, and he experimented with it for decades.
Another thing to feel immensely grateful for...
We have all these wise teachers that lived before us to illuminate the path. They cannot save us, but they can show us how to save ourselves. This is a very important concept to remember. Please...PLEASE don't pigeonhole yourself into merely one way of thinking. If you are a Buddhist, read the teachings of Jesus ( I recommend the Essene Gospel of Peace). If you are a Christian, read about Sufism and Rumi, or Buddhism or Hinduism. Study the Jains, study Krishna, study Ghandi. Learn about Animism. Do yourself a HUGE favor and read the Upanishads. At least look into the Bhagavad Gita. To limit yourself to the religion which was taught to you by your parents is an insult to your true self, and a mockery to humankind. Expand your horizons.
You have to find YOUR truth though. Not anyone else's. The great masters of the past didn't want to be idolized. They wanted everyone on Earth to wake up and to realize what we truly are: and I believe what we truly are is the Great Spirit (God, Allah, Brahma, the Force...) experiencing one small part of the cosmos in a tiny little (and temporary) human body. This spirit is the same in all of us. No..it IS us...but we are just fooled into thinking that we are only our most recent human story. Much deeper friends...MUCH deeper.
Go raw (with lots of greens) for a month or so, and see what you FEEL.
If I offended anyone, I am sorry that you were so easily offended! Destroy the EGO! Merge into the Oneness. Open yourself up to new ideas if any of these sounded threatening. Expand to infinity.
Ok...NEXT...Exercise and the Garden Update...I think Ill post it tonight as well.
Someone asked about bananas too...Limit these strictly! Bananas are highly hybridized fruits that are VERY far away from the original banana which contained little black seeds and wasn't as sweet. You can still find closer types in Southeast Asia...or go for Plantains if you are really craving the banana creaminess. I maybe have one every two weeks or so in a smoothie...and always organic. They spray the life out of conventional bananas.
Please comment, its always welcomed! And if this post was a little heavy, have no fear...more issues like food and exercise are on the way.
10 comments:
I discovered your site last night, and have been enjoying reading your posts. You seem like a very insightful, intelligent guy. I look forward to reading more of your stuff in the future!
what about carrots?
Hi.I came across your blog few weeks ago.I have been reading your posts everyday.This is Korea.(Do you know Where Korea is?)I'm not good at English.So it takes time to read your posts.(this post waw too difficult to read.lots of words that i don't know)but I really enjoy it.I'm really glad to finded your blog.I will try to eat raw food and green life.
(sorry for my bad grammer^-^)
Hi Anthony!
Nice thoughts on religion. You are most certainly right!
Keep the words coming!
Peace, Gaia
WOW! You are sooo awesome! If only you didn't have a girlfriend and I wasn't madly in love with my husband!
I love reading your blog, looking at your pictures and now watching your videos.
Your writings about owning your own acre of land and living in a yurt are truly inspirational! Please keep them coming :)
Anthony,
Still impressed by your postings. Absolutely loved the most recent on organized religion.
You are destined to be a guide to change for many...keep on doing what you're doing....and being who you're growing into being!!!
Much love and many blessings,
Carolyn J.
hi anthony, i really enjoy your blog, and i love how you advocate raw foods so passionately and with such excitement, and i especially like your post about adding the good stuff now and not focusing on what you can't have--i think that's key.
one thing i'd like to comment on about this post: while i understand the common fear and bitterness toward organized religion and the hurt it's caused in the world, i also think it's important to remember that any "organization" is composed of people, who, by their nature, are not "good" or "bad"--they are a mix of both. thus, any organization can and will have the capability for both good and bad, for creation and destruction, for hurt and for healing.
i'm a pastor's daughter, i was raised in the church, and while i've met other adults with similar upbringings who were so negatively affected by being raised in the church, i couldn't say enough good things about it, personally. i don't agree that "organized religion dictates that someone or some group must be a "middleman" between you and the Great Spirit." for me, organized religion--my church, a group of people organized with the same religious beliefs, exists to encourage and help people connect to God on a deeper level, and help each other grow. ultimately, this is the utopic idea, and, sadly, we often fail, or we run into problems, because we are human and that's natural. but the important thing is that we try, and that we try with good intentions in our hearts. and just like the raw food community is a community of people who often have contrary opinions yet still continue to inspire and learn and grow together and encourage each other, so can "organized religion" be this way.
a connection to god/higher power IS a very personal spiritual journey, but it's nice to have encouragement and company, and often helpful, too :)
Hey Anthony,
It's great to read your posts. Also, I totally identify with the paradox of working in a job that isn't necessarily the way you want to live ultimately...we're all on a path and it takes time, right?
About organized religion: in my opinion, the main doctrines (personally interpreted, of course) are not the problem. Jesus, Buddha, the top Jewish Dogs, etc. have all been interpreted by others (usually men). But I participate in my Jewish culture AND feel a personal, un-mediated connection to God (a better one now, through raw food). No one in my synagogue tells me how or when to pray and I don't feel like I'm not Jewish because I have my own interpretation. So I don't believe that my organized religion has led me astray. And I'm raw, green, and intelligent to boot! So there's another point of view for ya...:)
Hi Anthony,
I'm amazed to know about your knowledge on so many different topics. I'm Jain, vegetarian and originally from India and could relate well to your thoughts. Ive been thinking of experimenting with my diet and am glad I found your blog. Will read more and try going RAW, although it sounds scary right now.
P.S.: Its spelled Gandhi, not Ghandi ;-). Totally loved his book 'my experiments with truth'
best,
Abhii
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