Poem - Questions

When Jesus forbade divorce
was he talking about marriage between humans
or was it about our marriage to God?
Is remembering God about our mind, blazing with light
or is it about the pulsation of life, temporarily speaking through our flesh?
Does my heart beat in my chest
or does it beat like angelic wings, opening wide, softening the edges of my world?

--by Terra Rafael

The Homa

The Homa

The other day we had a remarkable Homa on a farm outside of Longmont, Colorado.
A Homa is an ancient sacred Vedic fire ceremony. There are many offerings to the various aspects of the Divine consciousness that manifest in our existence through a wide panoply of forms. There is a progression through the chanted mantras that bring one into deeper states of awareness of our Divinity. The offerings include fruits, rice, milk, spices, and other items, even a sari. The enormous billows of smoke that rise up from the three fire pits waft over the participants who are sitting on the ground around the Homa. Farther back, there are chairs for those who do not want to sit so close. It is extremely powerful and auspicious to sit right up front.

The ceremony is led by Sri Karunamayi, an Indian saint who is one of the leading Vedic scholars in the world. She is the embodiment of Maha Saraswati, the aspect of Divine Mother who holds knowledge, learning, the sciences, and art, and music. The ritual goes on for several hours and Amma (Mother) chants the whole time, all the while being dowsed with the smoke and the heat of the fire.

How amazed I was to see my grandson, Bodhi, sitting right in front of the fire and Amma! He is my seven-year-old redhead. He stayed there for a couple of hours, taking in the blessings and hardly flinching, as the smoke would envelop him.
He is truly Amma’s child.

Eight years ago, his mother went to Amma to receive her blessing. Doctors had told her that she would not be able to bear a child. She asked Amma for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. My son was on his way out of town that evening, but something made him turn around and come back. That night Bodhi was conceived. Our gratitude to Amma for his presence in our lives is immeasurable. Bodhi and she have a very strong connection throughout many dimensions and my devotion and Seva (service) to her increases yearly.

Prema Rose

Do you dream...?

Do you dream of a better place?

Where love flows like water

and the droughts of this world

don’t exist?

Do you hope for a world

where kindness and generosity

prevail and are the natural

order of the day?

Where murder and theft

are obsolete concepts

of human behavior?

Do you long for the company

of others and know that

in another place we all

live together in harmony?

Where true human compassion

outlawed long ago

the old ways of the world

and brought us to create

A way of life that nurtures

and includes each soul.

Right now wherever you are

in your dreaming

Take your hopes and longings

and live the way your feelings

tell you is right.

Begin to bring

That other world through

right now, right here

where you find yourself

wherever that is.

Jyoti

As I drive...

As I drive across the east side of Boulder on this soon-to-be 90 degree day, past the brightly colored spectators of Little League Tournament Games, I glance at the sky. The small pieces of clouds have formed themselves in such a way that I see an open-beaked eagle’s head with wings, outstretched to include most, if not all, of the city of Boulder.
I marvel at this vision, grateful to drive under its outstretched wing on my way home.

Jyoti

Further Memoirs of a Hippie Chick

I went for quite a few years in my hippy days without shaving my legs. Why? Freedom … Laziness … Rebellion … who knows? However, I will never forget my mother telling me over the phone that I would have to shave to be a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. It was kind of embarrassing to be in a position where my mother felt it necessary to even bring it up, but at the same time, it totally proved that I was indeed a legitimate and recognized “hippie chick”. It had to be true if even my mother noticed. And I did shave, for my brother, my mom, without a fuss. It was my gift toward my brother’s marital bliss.

Although once I arrived in Missouri and saw the bridesmaid dresses, I realized it was totally a moot point. It was a long pastel blue sun dress with a very wide ruffle ~ the width of the bodice in fact, but demurely off the shoulder. Which I remember distinctly because my mother also insisted on taking me shopping for a strapless bra, even as I argued that the design of the dress completely camouflaged the fact that I had any girl parts that needed to be covered up. However, as part of my “hippie chick” dress code, I often went braless, and my mother was taking no chances. So much preparation for such a momentous day; I was scraped clean, my mother was happy and the bride and groom were blissfully ignorant of my sacrifice.

At some point after several hours into the wedding reception, drinking and dancing the night away, I found myself in the bathroom one stall away from my sister. My very important strapless bra had worked its way down around my waist and was nestled below my ribcage. We were laughing hard as I confessed that I had no idea what to do with it, it would be much more comfortable wrapped around my neck as a stole. Would anyone, beside my mother, notice? We decided to just let it be. We left the bathroom with tears in our eyes, probably presumed to be sentimental sisters of the groom! Only the tips of my toes were visible under the long hem, I can only hope that I remembered to shave them.

* annette

Raw

This has become my favorite raw recipe. A fresh bunch of kale, washed and dried.
Chop. Chop. Chop. Keep chopping. It’s the hardest part but worth it. You chop till it is very small pieces. Then chop some more. If you like cilantro chop up a bunch of that as well. Just as small as the kale and combine them. You can also use spinach or chard if you don’t have kale on hand or mix in half and half. But I recommend kale the first time. Mostly because you won’t believe you are eating raw kale by the time this is done.

Now have a flat-like bowl and add some olive oil, a fairly good amount. Then some fresh lemon juice, pressed garlic and salt. Mix all these together and then add your chopped - more than you can imagine - kale (and cilantro if you like it.)

Massage. Yes, you heard me right, massage the kale into the olive oil mixture. It’s a bit messy for the hands but great for the kale. It helps to soften and break it down and make it very digestible. And very delicious.

You can’t imagine this till you try it. I promise you won’t believe you are eating raw kale.

1 bunch kale
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. celtic salt

opt. 1/2 bunch cilantro

I never measure and most definitely use much more olive oil garlic and salt. Adjust all the above to your own taste.


This really is amazing, one of my favorite summer side dishes and so healthy.
Try it, I promise it is worth all the chopping.

Mary

Raw

Raw

This has become my favorite raw recipe. A fresh bunch of kale, washed and dried. Chop. Chop. Chop. Keep chopping. It’s the hardest part but worth it. You chop till it is very small pieces. Then chop some more. If you like cilantro chop up a bunch of that as well. Just as small as the kale and combine them. You can also use spinach or chard if you don’t have kale on hand or mix in half and half. But I recommend kale the first time. Mostly because you won’t believe you are eating raw kale by the time this is done.

Now have a flat-like bowl and add some olive oil, a fairly good amount. Then some fresh lemon juice, pressed garlic and salt. Mix all these together and then add your chopped - more than you can imagine - kale (and cilantro if you like it.)

Massage. Yes, you heard me right, massage the kale into the olive oil mixture. It’s a bit messy for the hands but great for the kale. It helps to soften and break it down and make it very digestible. And very delicious.

You can’t imagine this till you try it. I promise you won’t believe you are eating raw kale.

1 bunch kale
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. celtic salt

opt. 1/2 bunch cilantro

I never measure and most definitely use much more olive oil garlic and salt. Adjust all the above to your own taste.


This really is amazing, one of my favorite summer side dishes and so healthy.
Try it, I promise it is worth all the chopping.

Mary