holidays...

I’m tired of jingle bells, mass texts and candy canes

And all the happy Christmas songs are driving me insane

… Turkey's burned - your uncle's drunk

Your second cousin's spouting junk

Bragging about some stupid crap

I hate holidays

I hate holidays

I hate holidays

How many of you are on Mat Musto’s side (the singer of that song) ? Funny/sad, but I find that many people hate holidays. So, why do we do it to ourselves? We bring people together who cannot get along; we exhaust ourselves in SMALL TALKS, we max out our credit cards and get depressed as soon as the first statement arrives.  We over eat and we drown ourselves in booze just to get through the day….

And, of course, there are some of us who will never admit (falsely) that any of those things are common or known to them. Nevertheless, we also have the true winners who manage to genuinely enjoy the holidays…. So, how can we get more people on the happy side of the fence?

…. How about trying one of the yoga methods and head for the Truth or the Absolute Reality, the only thing that really matters.  I will try to explain it in a very concise form: The Truth is real and it is unchanging. Everything we experience in the external world is changing and is a manifestation of something else. A house is made of bricks, and the bricks are made of sand. The flowers arise from the soil, only to return to the soil. If the external world keeps changing, then the unchanging Truth is not to be found there. We experience the world through cognitive senses: smell, touch, tasting, seeing, and hearing. Those senses are not constant; they are continuously changing with the unstable external world. And therefore, our observation of that world is limited to the momentum. However, lots of people fixate on that momentum and rely on it as it would have been an Absolute Truth. And with that, the MIND gets closed and all the behavioral patterns get adjusted to the false Truth. Somehow, that also results in sufferings, which with time become so familiar and eventually viewed as a normal state of being.

….So how to differentiate the Truth from the changing world? How about starting with clearing up the mind from the clouds made of memories, opinions, prejudice and ego? We are the victims of our own mental conditionings, we are the habit patterns that define our personalities, that we mistakenly come to believe is "who we are." Try for a moment to clear up your behavior patterns; imagine that you have a clear white sheet of paper in front of you and nothing ever been “written” about you. See if you can open up your mind to this changing world and do not fixate on the things that are not True, the things that you did not bring with you to this Life and will not take with you when you leave.  … You have to see the grey area in what I just said. It is not a suggestion to stop striving to build a comfortable life or to kill your ambition. Instead, it is a suggestion to liberate yourself from the sufferings caused by attachments to your behavior, your clouded mind and built in judgments. To work around the clouded mind first means accepting the reality that the clouding is the setback. Then we can train ourselves to be more observant and do a better job of discriminating our opinion. Try to differentiate the changing from the unchanging worlds.  

It also helps reminding ourselves (through internal dialogue) that holding onto the negative attitude is going to do nothing but bring unending pain and misery. Just think about this  …..what attitudes we might cultivate to stabilize or calm our own mind; are those the attitudes of friendliness, compassion, goodwill, and neutrality???? When do you feel happier and liberated? When you felt like you had a good day, what made you to feel that way? Activate the internal dialog. How often do you have a straight talk with yourself? Do you bring your attention inward to see the true self?

Anyhow, if the drawing inward seems difficult, get yourself a good yoga mat (smile) and head to a near by yoga studio… the transformation will start there, with your first breath ….

Make it a ~ Happy Holidays, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is something sweet for your vegan table:
Almond based “Cheese” Cake

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup pecan or walnuts

1/2 cup soft dates

¼ tsp. sea salt

Filling:

2 cups raw cashews or almonds, soaked in water overnight

1 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla extract

1/2 cup raw coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup  honey

1.       Lemon layer

2.       Chocolate layer: 3 table spoons of raw chocolate power

3.       Raspberry layer: 1 cup raspberries (thaw completely if using frozen)

Directions:

1. Place pecans and dates in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop. The ingredients should hold together. Scoop out crust mixture in a small , about 7” pan and press firmly.

2. Warm coconut oil and honey.

3. In the most powerful food processor, place all filling ingredients (except the chocolate and raspberries) and blend on high until very smooth (this make take a couple minutes so be patient).

4. Pour about 1/3 of the mixture out onto the crust and smooth with a spatula.

5. Add the chocolate to the next 1/3 part of the whipped filing. Place on to the top of the lemon filling.

6. Add the raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour onto the second layer of filling. Place in freezer until solid.

5. To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating.