17 Practices for attaining success in the school of love – Bhakti Tirtha Swami

I love these spiritual relationship guidelines, I had to type them up and post them! :-)

"To develop meaningful relationships with members of the opposite sex, we must become whole human beings who have no need to look outside of ourselves for solutions. Instead we must learn to turn within ourselves and connect with higher spiritual realities. How do we make such connections? 

The following 17 points and practices, which summarize much of our discussion so far (in the book this is quoted from), offer guidelines for attaining the wholeness that can serve as a foundation for a strong, enduring relationship with a partner.

1.       1. Love is necessary for good physical and spiritual health.

Someone who is not part of a loving relationship is ten times more likely to experience chronic disease, and five times more likely to have a mental breakdown.

2.       2. Love is not a business arrangement or a contract with an escape clause for difficult circumstances.

We should not have this attitude or mood with our partner and surely not with God. We cannot approach the Lord in a mood of bargaining, and we should not begin our meditations and prayers with a long shopping list. Prayers of this nature are not based on unmotivated, unconditional love, and do not help us to develop the higher consciousness necessary to make us whole.

3.       3. Love is a decision that we can personally make at any time and under any circumstance.

No one has the power to make someone else love him or her, but each person can always give away love.

4.       4. Love is learning to love our true selves.

Those who do not care for themselves cannot love others deeply. The first love affair we must consummate must be with ourselves. One aspect of self-love is to observe four basic principles: no drugs or intoxication, no gambling, no illicit sex, and no meat eating. All these indulgences can weaken our basic constitution. The more we allow ourselves to live according to natural laws, the more we will become surrendered to the will of God. If we lack self esteem, we are refusing to see ourselves as children of God and do not have sufficient love and devotion to share with anyone else.

5.      5. Love is about a quest for wholeness, and if necessary, having a partner to share ones wholeness with.

People who think that some other person will make them complete, or people who are waiting for love to come their way will remain impoverished and waiting. The more we become loving and whole, the more we will draw similar connections from the universe.

6.     6. Love is not about two desperate people, who are only trying to find fulfillment for themselves, coming together to rob each other.

Two extremely needy, selfish people coming together cannot make each other happy. They are too busy trying to take and get something for themselves at the expense of the other.

7.       7. Love is a holy relationship in which partners come together to serve and reveal their weaknesses and strengths for betterment.

In an unholy relationship, everyone especially hides their weaknesses. Such people are normally interested in erotic love (lust) rather than responsible, selfless love.

8.       8. Love is really the energy and hunger of the soul. When we are asking for love, we are asking for a connection with the soul, which is part and parcel of God.

We should not expect love to descend on us like an attack of epilepsy. It must be rediscovered at every moment by transforming lust into love, thus connecting us with our own soul and the souls of others. We are all starving for true unconditional love.

9.       9. Love is seeing our partner as a gift from God. We must go beyond merely loving our neighbors as ourselves.

We should actually love others – especially our mates – even more than we love ourselves. When we love our partners that much, we realize that they have been given to us as gifts from God and that we do not own them. We are merely caretakers on behalf of the Lord, and our responsibility is to fulfill the Lords wishes concerning them. Any attempt to dominate them becomes distasteful. Instead we should make efforts to bring out their higher qualities – a practice that will bring out our own higher nature.

10 10. Love is seeing our mates as a pathway through which we can return our love to God.

The love we receive from our mate actually comes from the Lord, and our job is to send it back. Others channel Gods love to us, and we channel Gods love to others. The Lord is engaging us in play to see what we will do with His love. We can reciprocate Gods love by caring for our partners with great devotion, as if God Himself were present.

11 11. Love is sharing your realizations with your mate, which will help raise their consciousness as well as your own.

Then your relationship will become one of growth and acceleration. If you and your partner are not growing together spiritually, there will eventually be a breakdown in the relationship. Sometimes we fear surrender in spiritual life, afraid of having to give up our identity or afraid of losing our partner. But we should understand that surrender to the Supreme is an opportunity to regain our full identity. Without a spiritual dimension to our lives, we are not integrated and cannot experience deep love.

12 12.  Love is a relationship with your mate in which you visualize a triangle with points A, B and C. You are point A, your partner is B and the Lord is C – all of your activities are God centered.

Make an agreement with your partner to form this triangle as a permanent bond between you, so that whenever you meditate, chant or pray, you are in connection with your partner and with the Lord. You do not necessarily have to meditate together or think about the connection simultaneously. Your agreement will work any time and any place. In this way, you always keep God in the center of the relationship in all reflections and activities.

13 13.  Love is always viewing ourselves as love in action and carrying love wherever we go.

We want to be so filled with love that it naturally overflows to everyone we meet. In this frame of mind, we serve as representatives of the Divine in every aspect of our lives, consequently functioning as vigilant spiritual warriors. We can practice love in action through the breath. As we inhale we visualize ourselves absorbing the pain and frustration of our loved ones; as we exhale we send happiness, joy, love and peace back to them. Actually this is not just a practice to help those close to us, but also the entire world. We inhale; we are concerned. We exhale; we are breathing out love, compassion and healing. This is not just an idle exercise. It has a powerful impact, and if we monitor the process over time, we will witness the beneficial effects on others.

14 14. Love is about developing competitive, selfless relationships.

At first this may sound strange and contradictory. How can we talk about cooperation, sharing and selflessness, and then advocate competition? But, actually, no contradiction exists. In a spiritual context, competition means that we strive to be more selfless than our partner, seeing who can give more. We compete in reminding our mate about the Supreme and encouraging that person to move faster toward the Lord. The purpose of the competition is to assist one another in spiritual growth. This process is only for people who want to be spiritual, who seek higher experiences beyond the flickering pleasures of material life. Such a competition in selflessness encourages partners to remember why they are in this body – to become once again loving entities devoted to the Lord.

15  15.  Love is about offering the same quality of love you feel for your mate to everyone – but without the sexual component.

In other words, to extend to others the love you have for the most loveable being in your life. We may wonder how to subtract the sexual element. Just remember that sex and love are not necessarily synonymous. Our love for our children can be extremely intense without any sexual overtones. No matter what the circumstances, try to develop that same kind of love in each of your relationships. We all know the sweetness of loving just one person. Can you imagine how much sweeter it would be to have those feelings for everyone? Think of the loving exchanges that could develop, the reciprocation that would enrich our own lives and the lives of others. Unimaginable happiness, joy, and satisfaction would be our daily quota. We would no longer rely on particular individuals to give us this experience, because we would understand that we are really seeking God. The more we understand that God is in each person, the more we experience the Divine, and the more the Divine will make us whole.

16  16. Love is having or looking for a partner to heal the world – not escape it.

Normally many people seek out a partner to escape the world. They are miserable with life, and they feel that everything else can be tolerated or fixed if they somehow or other find that special person. We cannot heal the world if we are too wounded ourselves.

17  17. Love is about treating all relationships as practice in preparation for the ultimate relationship in the kingdom of God.

We should see all our relationships as God sending us a partner to fix whatever has to be fixed before we join up with Him eternally. This means that we should practice seeing our mate as an agent of God, recognizing our own divine nature, and remembering that we are children of God for whom great realizations and pleasures are available. Only in the kingdom of God will we find the love and the eternal relationships we long for so deeply."

Ref: Quoted from Spiritual Warrior 2, Excerpt from Chapter 6, Hari Nama Press, Bhakti Tirtha Swami

Moist Cinnamon Carob cake

This dark, moist, fluffy cake is delicious, and when its warm it almost tastes like chocolate, but its not! 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pancake waffle mix
1 tbsp baking soda
4 TBSP cinnamon powder
1 - 2 TBSP double strength vanilla essence
1 cup carob chips
1/3 cup small crystallized ginger pieces (optional)
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup safflower oil
water as required to make a runny dough, but thick enough to drop slowly from spoon

Method

Preheat oven - temp 375 fahrenheit

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredient and whisk til smooth. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake til springy to the touch and deep brown - approx 45 mins.

Make a butter vanilla icing and pour over cake while its still warm to absorb some of the flavor into the cake..
Serve warm or cool..as is or with whipped cream..nomnomnom..!! :-)

Barbecue Tofu

In my opinion barbecue tofu is one of the most delicious ways to prepare tofu, and you may like this even if you normally wouldn't eat tofu! Personally I think plain tofu is rather tasteless, and I never actually enjoyed eating it - until I came across baked tofu in Kunti's kitchen. Here's my  barbecue version of it. :-)

Ingredients

2 pks firm organic tofu, drained, sliced medium thin, and patted dry with paper towels

Coating for Tofu:
2 cups olive oil, 1/2 cup tamari, 1 Tbsp smoke flavor, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp asafoetida, 2 Tbsp Italian herbs, 1 Tbsp old Bay spice, 1 tsp ground black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli flakes.

Add everything into a bowl and beat into an even consistency with a whisk.

Method

Cover the tofu slices evenly with the barbecue coating and arrange on a baking tray. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, til lightly crispy on the edges.

Place on paper towels to remove excess oil. Great as a tasty side to any lunch or dinner. Makes approx six servings.

Almond Banana Smoothie

This smoothie is simple, tasty and vegan to boot! :-)

Ingredients

Approx 5 cups Almond milk

2 Bananas sliced (its good with a few strawberries added in too)

1-2 Tsp Alcohol free vanilla essence

3-4 TBSP maple syrup or to taste

Method

Blend together til smooth and creamy.
If you dont have almond milk ready made, or cant make your own, you can roast almonds and grind them finely - I prefer to raost for better flavor. BTW this works well with cashews and other nuts too! :-) Add the ground nuts to the mix instead of almond milk and it will taste great too. Chill in fridge til ready to serve.

Cinnamon Cranberry Log

This delicious cinnamon log is a great hit in our house! :-) I made it with extra pizza dough we had after we had no toppings left to make more pizza!

Ingredients

A ball of yeast dough approx as much as you can comfortably hold in your cupped hands

Approx 1 TBSP fresh Lemon rind - or fresh orange rind would be good too

Approx 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice - or fresh orange juice

Approx 1 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon
Cranberries
Carob chips
Melted butter

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Just make a regular yeast dough.When dough is ready to use roll it out on a floured surface to about a millimeter thick.

Brush butter over the dough.

Mix brown sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice together. Spread onto the dough evenly. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon powder. Then with cranberries and carob chips. Roll it up tightly -- like you would a carpet -- and seal the edges. Brush with butter and place into a greased bread tin which has been sprinkled with poppy seeds.

Bake til golden brown. Remove from tin and cover with a wet paper towel and a dish cloth to keep crust soft. Remove when cool.

Icing

Approx 3 TBSP soft butter
1 tbsp alcohol free vanilla essence
Approx 1 cup icing sugar

Whisk together til smooth and drizzle over the cooled cinnamon log.

Cut into slices and serve with a hot drink e.g. malted barley cup. :-)

Baked Butternut Squash

This is such a simple and tasty dish..especially in Thanks giving season when all these lovely orange squash are ripe and crying out to be used! :-) And baked butternut squash is not only healthy, but a delicious comfort food in the cold season . . do you really need any more reasons than this to use it?! ;-)

Ingredients

1 medium sized organic butternut squash cut into rings or 1/2 moons (I keep the skin on and seeds in them because they are healthy and I think they taste delicious when roasted)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Italian herbs
Old Bay Spice
Paprika flakes
Cayanne pepper or black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oil a baking dish -- I like to use earthen ware or glass dishes because it tastes better -- and rubbing the butternut squash pieces in olive oil, arrange on the dish. Sprinkle generously with salt and all the spices to your taste.

Bake for approx 45 minutes or until a little golden crispy on the edges/peel is blistered and they are tender.

Serve hot with a greens and avocado salad and a grain dish. :-)

Gopi's Pesto Potatoes

This has got to be one of my favorite dishes of all time! :-) Home made pesto is great with pasta of course, but in my opinion its almost better with baked potatoes and cheese!

Ingredients

8 - 10 medium sized golden potatoes, washed and cubed into bite size chunks
2 tsp Old bay spice
1 tsp Smoked Spanish paprika powder
1 tsp Asafoetida
2 Tbsp Italian herbs
1 Tbsp Sea salt
Vegetarian mozzarella or Monterrey jack cheddar cheese, as needed

Method

Preheat oven to 380 degrees fahrenheit.
Place potatoes onto an oiled baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle with the spices, herbs and salt. Bake til tender and crispy on edges.

Home-made fresh Pesto

3 cups of fresh basil leaves washed and patted dry
1 cup of extra virgin organic olive oil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)
1/2 cup shredded vegetarian Parmesan cheese
2 tsp asafoetida (or to taste)
sea salt to taste

Method

Blend all ingredients til smooth. You will only need 1/3 of the pesto. Store the rest in the refrigerator in a sealed glass jar til you need it next. Guaranteed this magic green sauce wont last long!! :-)

Use a spatula to loosen the potatoes in the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the pesto over potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle mozzarella or cheddar on top and baked til cheese is melted.

Serves approx 6. Serve hot with a salad. Finger-licking delicious!!! :-)

Linguine Pesto Delight

If you have extra left over home made pesto, here's a quick, easy and tasty lunch - great for when you are in a hurry.

Ingredients

1 pk linguine pasta
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Sea salt
3 Tbsp home-made Pesto
2 TBSP chopped jalepeno stuffed olives (optional)

Method 

Boil linguine with sea salt and a drop of olive oil til al dente. Drain and place into a mixing bowl. Add pesto and mix thoroughly. Garnish with a baked tomatoe slice sprinkled with salt and parmesan.

Great served hot on a bed of sauteed kale with a spring greens herb salad on the side. Serves approx 6.

Eggplant Parmesan

My version of eggplant parmesan is very rich and is only for those special occasions if  you are health conscious. Its quite addictive, and that's coming from yours truly who used to hate eggplants after having eaten them in some form e.g. subji, pakora's, stir-fries etc., for practically every single day for 2 months my first time in India!! Seriously...

Ingredients

2 medium sized eggplants washed, headed n tailed, and sliced thin
2 big tomatoes sliced
Approx 4 cups barbecue sauce (see my post for barbecue paneer for the sauce recipe)
Vegetarian shredded parmesan cheese (Wholefoods brand is good)

Coating for eggplants: 2 cups olive oil, 1/2 cup tamari, paprika, asafoetida, Italian herbs, old Bay spice, 1 tsp ground black pepper, pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix everything in a bowl and beat into an even consistency with a whisk.

Method

There are certainly different ways of preparing this . . here's my way:

Sprinkle eggplant slices generously with sea salt and let sit for 15 mins or so til they "sweat". This removes any residual bitterness in the eggplants. Pat dry with paper towels. Coat eggplant slices evenly in the oil mixture and place on a baking tray. (Alternatively you may simply dip the eggplant slices in all purpose flour once you have patted them dry, and skip the middle step of pre-baking them . . if you use this method then you will need to bake the dish longer in the oven. It will be less rich, but very tasty this way too.)

Bake eggplants til they are browned and soft but not mushy. Handle the eggplant slices carefully to keep their shape when you remove them from the tray.

Arrange a layer of eggplant interspersed with tomato slices on a glass baking dish, cover with barbecue sauce, Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and add another layer, keep going until you use up the ingredients. The top should be generously sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 fahrenheit til nicely browned on the edges.

Great served hot with pasta and a big green salad.

Barbecue Paneer

So finally after a llllllllooooooooooooooonnnnnnngggg time Im back with some more delicious recipes! Hope you enjoy them! :-) I originally learned how to make this fantastic barbecued paneer (pressed curd/soft cheese made by curdling milk) from my dear friend Kunti, the queen of the Institute kitchen, this is my take on it. :-) This dish is great for vegetarian barbecue parties or any time really. It is almost guaranteed to be a hit with every age group, so next time you have guests and don't know what to cook, try this!

Ingredients

Approx 4 cups of pressed paneer cubes

2 x 794gram pks tomato sauce -- or better yet -- make your own with fresh tomatos

1/4 cup organic molasses

1/4 cup or less apple cider vinegar (to taste)

3 TBSP smoke flavor (to taste)

approx 1 TBSP asafoetida

1/4 cup Italian herbs

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp old bay spice

1/4 cup organic olive oil

pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes (or to taste)

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

1-2 TBSP of maple syrup if you would like it sweeter (optional)

salt to taste

Method

Preheat oven to approx 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place pressed paneer cubes on an oiled tray and bake in the oven til golden brown, turn cubes with a spatula 1/2 way through baking to prevent over-browning..

Heat up tomato sauce in a saucepan on medium heat. Add all spices etc., listed above to the sauce. Cook tomato sauce down on medium low heat til its thickened - it will be reduced by by a cup or so in terms of the water which boiled off.
Place baked paneer into a glass baking dish and pour sauce on top. Mix evenly. Bake in oven for approx 1/2 an hour - 40 minutes. Serve hot on a bed of rice and a salad or as you like. Serves 6- 8 generous helpings.

Remembrance of Lives Past

This is an interesting article re. reincarnation, past lives etc., by Lisa Miller, the religion editor for Newsweek of the New York Times, check it out ! :-)

In one of his past lives, Dr. Paul DeBell believes, he was a caveman. The gray-haired Cornell-trained psychiatrist has a gentle, serious manner, and his appearance, together with the generic shrink décor of his office — leather couch, granite-topped coffee table — makes this pronouncement seem particularly jarring.

Lisa Hogben for The New York Times

Dr. Brian Weiss, conducting a group hypnotherapy session at the convention center in Sydney, Australia.

In that earlier incarnation, “I was going along, going along, going along, and I got eaten,” said Dr. DeBell, who has a private practice on the Upper East Side where he specializes in hypnotizing those hoping to retrieve memories of past lives. Dr. DeBell likes to reflect on how previous lives can alter one’s sense of self. He, for example, is more than a psychiatrist in 21st-century Manhattan; he believes he is an eternal soul who also inhabited the body of a Tibetan monk and a conscientious German who refused to betray his Jewish neighbors in the Holocaust. Belief in reincarnation, he said, “allows you to experience history as yours. It gives you a different sense of what it means to be human.”

Peter Bostock, a retired language teacher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, says that in the early 1880s he managed a large estate — possibly Chatsworth — in Derbyshire, England. In a twist that would make Jane Austen blush, he thinks he was in love with the soul of his current wife, Jo-Anne, then embodied as a cook in the estate’s kitchen. Married to someone else, Mr. Bostock could not act on his feelings. He says he and his wife share the kind “of attraction and recognition that a soul makes when it encounters the familiar.” In that spirit, the couple traveled last month to Rhinebeck, N.Y., where they and more than 200 others paid $355 each to attend a weekend seminar run by one of America’s pre-eminent proselytizers on the subject of reincarnation, Dr. Brian Weiss.

On this second, sweltering day of the seminar, Dr. Weiss, a 65-year-old Florida resident with a hawk-like visage and placid blue eyes, was wearing a polo shirt the color of robins’ eggs. He took a break from teaching and, over a healthy lunch, reflected on the rise of interest in the West in reincarnation. Like Dr. DeBell, he is a psychiatrist with an Ivy League pedigree (Columbia University and Yale Medical School).

Dr. Weiss was censured by the medical establishment in 1988 after he published “Many Lives, Many Masters.” In it he details his work with a patient he calls Catherine, who, under hypnosis, the book says, remembered multiple past lives, relieving her of paralyzing phobias. It has sold more than a million copies.

Now, Dr. Weiss said: “Doctors are e-mailing me. They’re not so concerned with their reputations and careers. We can talk about this openly. And it’s not just psychiatrists, but surgeons and architects.”
According to data released last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a quarter of Americans now believe in reincarnation. (Women are more likely to believe than men; Democrats more likely than Republicans.) Julia Roberts recently told Elle magazine that though she was raised Christian, she had become “very Hindu.” Ms. Roberts believes that in her past life she was a “peasant revolutionary,” and said that when her daughter sits in a certain way she knows “there’s someone there I didn’t get the benefit of knowing ... It’s an honor for me to continue to shepherd that.”

At Cannes in May, a Thai film about reincarnation, “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” won the highest prize. In it, an old man on his deathbed sees the dead as vividly as the living, and his past life as an ox is as clear as his present one. In religious terms, the human narrative — birth, life, death and rebirth — has for millennia been relatively straightforward in the West. You were born. You lived. You died. After a judgment you went to heaven (or hell) forever and ever. Eternity was the end: no appeals allowed.

But nearly a billion Hindus and a half-billion Buddhists — not to mention the ancient Greeks, certain Jews and a few Christians — have for thousands of years believed something entirely different. Theirs is, as the theologians say, a cyclical view. You are born. You live. You die. And because nobody’s perfect, your soul is born again — not in another location or sphere, and not in any metaphorical sense, but right here on earth.

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, Columbia University’s first Hindu chaplain, called it “a re-do,” like a test you get to take over. After an unspecified number of tries, the eternal soul finally achieves perfection. Only then, in what Hindus call moksha (or release), does the soul go to live with God.

SPIRITUALLY minded Americans have had a love affair with Eastern religion at least since the Beatles traveled to India in 1968, but for more than a generation, reincarnation remained a fringe or even shameful belief.

Lisa Hogben for The New York Times

Peter and Jo-Anne Bostock, in a prairie near Winnipeg, believe they have a connection from past lives.

Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times

Dr. Paul DeBell, a psychiatrist who believes he was a caveman.

“I can remember, 30 years ago, if a person wanted to learn about reincarnation, they would go into a bookstore and go into a very back corner, to a section called ‘Occult,’ ” said Janet Cunningham, president of the International Board for Regression Therapy, a professional standards group for past-life therapists and researchers. “It felt sneaky.” Now the East is in our backyards, accessible on the Internet and in every yoga studio.

At the same time, Western religion is failing to satisfy growing numbers of people — especially young adults. College students Mr. Dasa encounters, most of them raised as Christians or Jews, “haven’t given up on the idea of spirituality or religion,” he said. “They’re tired of the dogma they grew up with.” According to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 15 percent of Americans express no affiliation with any religious tradition, nearly double the number in 1990.

Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University and author of “God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World,” has made a study of Western interest in Eastern religious practice and suggests that our fascination with reincarnation is related to Americans’ relative prosperity. Modern Americans, in their optimism and material success, see reincarnation as a chance to postpone eternity for another day, he explained by e-mail. “Reincarnation means never having to say you’re dead,” he wrote.
The popular purveyors of reincarnation belief these days are not monks or theologians, but therapists — intermediaries between science and religion who authenticate irrational belief.

Dr. Weiss stresses that he is a medical doctor who was not expecting to encounter past lives in a conventional therapeutic setting. (His favorite title, he says, is not “guru” but “professor.”) Under hypnosis, Catherine, the patient in his book, had memories of times and places, and in such extraordinary and historically accurate detail, he said, that she could never have invented them. (In one life she is an Egyptian servant in charge of embalming corpses. “I see eyes,” she told Dr. Weiss under hypnosis. “I see a woman, a goddess, with some type of a headpiece on ... Osiris ... Sirus ... something like that.”)

Critics of hypnotic regression dismiss such visions as scientifically dubious. “The mind fills in the blanks, basically,” said Dr. Jim Tucker, a child psychiatrist at the University of Virginia who studies accounts of past lives. “How are these visions different from dream material: that’s quite the question.” Nonetheless, Dr. Weiss’s elite credentials, and his initial skepticism, open the door to belief for people who might otherwise stay away.

“I’m not a big New Age person,” said a 47-year-old woman from Harlem who saw Dr. DeBell to cope with grief after her mother’s death. “I was really, really angry at the way my mother died. It’s almost as if I took it personally. How could this horrible thing have happened to my family? I’ve been such a good person.” (She declined to have her name published.) After two sessions of conventional talk therapy, Dr. DeBell hypnotized her and, she believes, led her to discover images of past lives. In one, she was an Italian merchant, a man, who sold textiles along the Amalfi Coast; in another, she was an African herbalist; in a third, she was a freed slave in New Orleans who healed the sick and ministered to those in need. This deep dive “was a tremendous help,” she said. It gave her a broader perspective on her life — and on the death of her mother: “I felt more at peace. My mother came, she did great things for me and she moved on.”

In a post-Freudian world, past-lives therapy has its advantages. For one thing, it’s quick. A regression session usually takes several hours — and costs more than $100 an hour. Under hypnosis, the patient follows a guided visualization. In his workshop in Rhinebeck, Dr. Weiss talked more than 200 people into a meditative state and then encouraged them to imagine walking through one of five doors. One had on it the year 1850, another 1700, another 1500 and so on. (All this reporter could visualize were Vermeer paintings; peasants in homey kitchens and the bourgeoisie at play.) “Any good therapist can use these techniques and you can learn them in a week,” Dr. Weiss said.

Whereas in classic psychoanalysis, patients used to have to see their doctors multiple times a week to talk about parents, childhood traumas and dreams, past-life therapists promise they can access the memories from which troubles stem in just one session. Catharsis and healing are nearly instantaneous results, Dr. Weiss said. “You don’t need six months of trust,” he explained. “This is the fast form.”

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times: Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, a Hindu chaplain at Columbia, says reincarnation is “a re-do.”

Among past-lives therapists, a debate rages about whether it’s possible to solve emotional problems by “changing” a past-life memory. To learn to swim instead of drowning, for example; or to strike a killing blow at a killer. Dr. Weiss said he opposes such memory manipulation. “I want the memory to come out unedited, unchanged,” he said. Further, therapists have begun to broaden their definition of “memory,” leaving aside the question of whether a scene uncovered during hypnosis is “real” or not.


“I have done several thousand individual past-life regressions,” said Ms. Cunningham, of the International Board for Regression Therapy. “And I will also say that I don’t know where these memories come from. So when we say ‘reincarnation,’ it may be our singular soul that reincarnates again and again and again. It may be an aspect of soul energy. It may be a collective unconscious. I think some people might go into fantasy. It may be an allegory or metaphor from the mind.” No matter what these visions are, Ms. Cunningham said, uncovering them can be therapeutic.

ON the fringes of legitimate science, some researchers persist in studying consciousness and its durability beyond the body. Though Dr. Tucker, who directs the Child and Family Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Virginia, has few kind words for regression therapy or its practitioners, he continues to be committed to the scientific study of what can only be called reincarnation.

He is carrying on the pioneering research of his mentor, Dr. Ian Stevenson, who beginning in the 1960s collected more than 2,000 accounts of children between the ages of 2 and 7 who seemed to remember previous lives vividly without the help of hypnosis. Dr. Stevenson did most of his casework in Asia, where belief in reincarnation is common. There he found a child born with a deformed hand who remembered having his fingers chopped off in a previous life (Dr. Stevenson went to the village the child recalled and verified that such an incident had taken place), and Burmese children who said they had previously been Japanese soldiers killed in World War II and preferred sushi over their native cuisine.

Dr. Tucker studies American children and in one case found a young boy who started to say, around the age of 18 months, that he was his own (deceased) grandfather. “He eventually told details of his grandfather’s life that his parents felt certain he could not have learned through normal means,” Dr. Tucker wrote in Explore, which calls itself a journal of science and healing, “such as the fact that his grandfather’s sister had been murdered and that his grandmother had used a food processor to make milkshakes for his grandfather every day at the end of his life.”

Dr. Tucker won’t say such cases add up to proof of reincarnation, but he likes to keep an open mind.
“There can be something that survives after the death of the brain and the death of the body that is somehow connected to a new child,” he said. “I have become convinced that there is more to the world than the physical universe. There’s the mind piece, which is its own entity.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/fashion/29PastLives.html?_r=1

Carob Chip Spice Muffins

I made these tasty muffins for our lunch dessert today. Makes approx 14 muffins. To make them vegan simply use banana instead of yogurt as the "egg re-placer". Check 'em out! :-)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp baking soda
3 Tbsp cinnamon powder
1 1/2 Tbsp nutmeg powder
1 cup carob chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup crystallized ginger small pieces
2 Tbsp vanilla natural essence
1 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt or 1 banana mashed into a puree (I like using banana because it gives flavor)
Approx 4 cups water - use as needed to make a medium runny batter that drops from spatula slowly but easily.

Method

Mix all dry ingredients. Mix all wet ingredients separately. Then mix everything together. Oil the muffin trays, sprinkle with oat flakes, wheat bran or something else to help prevent sticking. Fill batter into muffin tray and bake in a preheated oven (385 degrees) for approx 25 mins or until golden brown. To test if down simply press your finger tip to the surface lightly, it will spring back when done.

Serve warm or cooled, straight or with apple sauce, custard, cream etc. You can glaze them if you like.

Gopi's Bean Burgers

These nutritious bean burgers are one of my most recent experiments in the kitchen. . .they are healthy and tasty, so its all good! ;-) They are baked, vegan and also soy free. Makes approx 14 big burgers.

Ingredients 

Approx 4 cups brown rice- ready cooked

3 cups red lentils - ready cooked

2 cups cannelloni beans - ready cooked

1 cup sunflower seeds

Approx 2 cups wheatgerm

3-4 cups quick oats

1 cup nutritional yeast

2-3 Tbsp asafoetida to taste

4 Tbsp sea salt or to taste

1/2 tsp pimento powder

2 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

3 stalks celery chopped fine

1 red bell pepper chopped small

3 Tbsp Italian herbs

2 Tbsp cumin powder

2 Tbsp smoke flavor

1/4 cup safflower oil

Method

Remember that a little goes a long way with long grain brown rice, you only need 1 cup to yield approx 4 when cooked. Cook it til its mushy and drain water off.
Red lentils also expand - 1 cup yields approx 3 cups when cooked.

Stir-fry the celery and red peppers for 10 mins with a little asafoetida.

Mash and mix everything together thoroughly in a big mixing bowl. The texture is a little on the wet side and sticky enough to form - that's what we want to have burgers that are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Have 2 flat baking trays at hand, and oil with approx 2 Tbsp safflower oil (yes, you need enough oil to roast the burgers and prevent sticking).

Oil your hands and form mixture into patties and place on tray approx 3-5 cm apart. Bake in a reheated oven at 450 degrees for approx 20 mins til golden brown, turn over and bake 10 - 15 mins more (add more oil as you turn if  tray is dry).

Serve hot with a homemade ketchup, barbecue sauce, mayo or Vegenaise as part of a meal, or in a bread roll with salad greens as lunch! :-)

Quote

"No matter how good your intentions are the  world judges your presentations, but no matter how good your presentations are God judges your intentions." 

- H.H. Radhanath Swami
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/

Drama - Lonely People

Here is an incredible drama by a troupe of talented actors lead by Bhakti Marg Swami from Canada. Check it out!

Some Pics of UMD cooking class

Here's a few pictures from a class I held at UMD way back when. . . . we made Peanut choc surprise cookies as the prep of the night! Thanks to Shawna for snapping these pics. :-)

Good job writing that sign, and just look at that great smile!

There you are, a happy bunch of cookie makers. :-) But gosh, our class has expanded since then, now there's 100 instead of 20 people, only those who are in the door first get to see the cooking demo these days, what to speak of practice anything!!

                    

The meal. . .well part of it anyways!

                      Serve out time. . .well, don't all rush now!

Strawberry Blueberry Crumble

Here's a tasty recipe strawberry-blueberry crumble, it can be made with apples too, but this is a nice variation. If you make it with apples, add cinnamon into the topping and or the apples. Serves six generous helpings!

Filling:

3 cups strawberries washed and halved
3 cups of blueberries washed
1 cup organic cane sugar

Topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dessicated coconut (or porridge oats)
1 cup wheatgerm
1 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup softened butter
Milk/water if required

Deep baking dish

Mix fruits with sugar and place into baking dish.

Mix all the dry ingredients for the topping, then knead in the butter and vanilla essence to make a crumbly texture. If you need add a littel milk or water to moisten, it should be crumbly but hold togther when pressed in your hands.

Place topping over the fruits. Bake in preheated oven at 380 Fahrenheit for approx 20 minutes til its golden brown on top and fruits are soft. Serve warm or cooled as you like, with custard, ice cream or whipped cream, yummy! :-)

Lunch by Two for Six

Whenever I have the pleasure of cooking together with my friend Kunti-devi, we have good fun learning from each other. We made lunch today and below are the main recipes on the menu. She is a great cook and is kindly sharing her recipe for vegan nut-loaf with a tangy barbecue sauce, and a spice cake. :-) Each preparation serves approx six people.

Kunti's Vegan Nut-loaf

2 x 14oz extra firm organic tofu
approx 4 cups wheatgerm
1 cup lightly toasted finely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
2 tsp Asafeotida
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 Tbsp soya sauce
2 Tbsp dried parsely

1 stick finely chopped celery (optional)
1 small finely grated carrot (optional)

Drain the liquid off the tofu,and place in a mixing bowl. Mash into a paste. Add the seasonings, nutritional yeast and soy sauce mixing in evenly. Then add the nuts (and chopped veg if you are using it). There is not need to add salt because the soy sauce is salty. Press mixture into an oiled loaf tin. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes til golden brown. You can test if its ready by sticking a knife in the center, if it comes out clean its ready. Serve warm with the barbecue sauce below.

Tangy Barbecue Sauce

1 Tbsp oil
1 -2 tsp asafeotida
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp all spice
12 oz crushed tomato's
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 cup organic brown mustard paste (Eden brand is great, it has no dodgy ingredients)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp liquid smoke flavor (salt free)
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2-3 Tbsp organic molasses
1 tsp sea salt

Heat oil, saute powdered spices a few seconds, add the tomato's and sugar. Saute a few more minutes and then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for approx 20 minutes and then serve hot over warm nut loaf or with barbecued veggies etc.

Summer Delight Pasta Salad

Here is my Summer Delight Pasta Salad I made to accompany Kunti's vegan nut-loaf. Its colorful ingredients are aesthetically pleasing. Srila Prabhupada once said that a meal must have three appealing aspects which aid ones digestion; be attractive to the eye, have proper texture and be flavorsome. I'd like to think that this salad has all three! :-)

2 lb Riggatoni pasta tubes cooked al dente and rinsed under cold water to cool
1 avocado skinned and cubed, keep the stone to one side
1 handful cherry tomato's washed and halved
1 handful mixed salad greens washed and roughly chopped
2 handfuls green olives sliced into rings
A few sprigs of fresh mint leaves washed and chopped coarsely
2 stalks of fresh basil leaves washed and chopped coarsely
1 cup of cucumber pieces cubed small
1 handful cheddar cheese cubes or feta cubes (optional)
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Dressing:
1 cup of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
4 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp asafeotida
1 tsp black salt (optional)
1/2 tsp paprika (optional)
1 Tbsp dried parsley leaves
1 tsp brown sugar

In a mixing bowl beat together the oil, lemon, together with all the other seasonings, salt, and sugar. Add in the freshly chopped herbs, olives, sunflower seeds and cranberries. Allow to sit for 15 mins so that the herbs etc., have time to marinate. Then add in the salad greens, tomato's, avocado, cucumber, and cheese/feta cubes if using. Mix, add in the cooled pasta and mix everything evenly til its all coated in dressing. Put the avocado stone into the salad bowl to keep the avocado from discoloring - sounds funny but it works! Serve at room temperature or chilled. You can add some plain yogurt on the side if you like. Bonn Appetite! :-)

Kunti's spice cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup organic natural cane sugar
 1 cup safflower oil
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (or another egg re-placer for vegans)
Approx 1 cup warm water  -- enough to make a medium moist batter -- it should'nt be too stiff or too wet but drop off the spoon easily
Round spring form pan

Mix dry ingredients then add wet ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured baking pan and bake at  380 Fahreheit for  25 - 30 mins til its light golden. Test with a cocktail stick, if it comes out clean its ready. 

Strawberry Topping:

1 lb strawberries washed and halved
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 TBSP GMO free corn starch
1/4 - 1/2 cup water

Heat  the strawberries with sugar and water in a pot and when at boiling point turn down heat and simmer until they are soft.

Brown syrup:

Approx 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup water water

Simmer all ingredients until it becomes a syrup and remove from heat.

Remove the warm cake from the pan onto a cake tray. Pour brown syrup over and allow it to cool and soak up the syrup. When it has cooled, spread the strawberry compote on top of  the cake. Cut into slices and serve with a dollop of whipped cream. :-d

From Rajapur with Love

There are many beautiful and fascinating temples in India with timeless Vedic traditions of worship at the center of a culture of  devotional expression.

The ancient devotional traditions of India e.g. Vaishnavism recognize that God or Krishna chooses to manifest in many ways according to time, place and circumstance. One of these ways is through very specific forms which are described in the Vedic scriptures.

The Vedas explain that the Lord chooses to be present in such a form or deity for the benefit of mankind to give one the opportunity to develop a personal relationship of loving reciprocation with the Lord. To this end, devotees practice offering humble services or offering everything they do in their lives up to the Lord with the intention of pleasing Him. That means putting the Lord into the center of ones life.

This is known as as the practice of Bhakti yoga or devotional service. So in the temple one can observe how the Lord in the form of the deity is treated just like an honored guest i.e offered new outfits regularly, fresh flower garlands, water, meals throughout the day, prayers, music and dance, a bed to rest, and many ceremonies and festivals. Temples are sacred places for reconnecting with the divine and for purification of mundane worldly conditioning which binds one into materialistic pursuits.

One of these temples I had the joy of visiting is the Jagannatha Mandir nestled amongst the jackfruit, mango and banana groves in Rajapur, Bengal. Jagannatha refers to He who is the most merciful Lord of the Universe, and this particular temple houses the extraordinary forms of the Lord known as Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subadhra. These deities are worshiped by the local people of Rajapur and Mayapur and many pilgrims come from all over the world to visit this temple.

There are many stories of miracles which have occurred and continue to occur into the present day experienced by the pilgrims who come to see the Lordships in the temple. Examples include the blind having their sight returned, infertile couples suddenly able to have children, cures from various diseases, people who had giving up ever finding a partner for marriage soon finding a spouse etc after praying to these Deities for help.

I had a the wonderful opportunity to spend some time at this temple watching the cooks preparing sweets for the late noon and evening offerings. The cooks I met are an sweet elderly Bengali lady and her son who team up together to cook. Initially they seemed a little reserved and I felt shy not wanting to intrude in their meditative and devotional cooking process, but by the second day we were chatting away in broken English, sign language and my few words of Bengali and Hindi.

I was quite amazed to see how incredibly resourceful and  creative they are with the least facilities and ingredients. I consider myself to be a very creative person, so thats saying something! :-) The kitchen is minimalistic and by western standards it would be considered a bare unfinished room. But its functional, with a stone floor which can easily be washed down, a washing area with running water on one end, and a counter on the other end. A few sparse shelves hug the walls, several wicker and bamboo baskets holding vegetables, fruits and clay utensils grace the corners, and the big empty floor space in the middle is the main center of activity.

In this kitchen one cooks squatting on the floor or sitting on a small wooden chonki (wooden table) in front of several gas burners holding woks (deep bowl-like pots for stir-frying etc), a basin of water for washing on the side, ingredients and utensils on another side, all within easy reach. One person works at the cookers and another at a counter rolling and shaping various pastries and sweets from dough made with many kinds of spices, nuts etc.

The cooks here have learnt the art of making certain signature sweets of the ancient Jagannatha temple in Puri, Orissa. These recipes have been passed down through the generations of priests and cooks of Lord Jagannatha and also to these cooks who have combined these with their own local specialties. The food they prepare is offered to the Lord where upon it is considered karma free, sanctified food known as prasad or the Lords mercy. It is distributed to eager pilgrims who honor it with great eagerness.

So I will share two of these recipes with you. Have fun! :-)

Kaja - Jagannatha Tongues

White flour - use as much as you feel you will need
A little ghee - clarified butter rubbed into flour to create a fine crumb texture
Water - enough to make a stiff smooth dough
A wok of ghee or oil for deep frying

For the icing, you can either use:

Traditional glaze:
4 parts sugar to 1 part water
Cook down into a syrup - that is it falls off the spatula in thick slow drops

My own preferred glaze:
Icing sugar mixed with enough freshly squeezed orange juice to make a runny icing
Pistachio nuts crushed fine

Knead the dough for a good 10 minutes til dough is stiff yet very smooth. Let it rest for a few minutes. Then on a floured surface roll out the dough til it is approx 1 millimeter thick. Smear soft ghee over the pastry and then sprinkle it with an even dusting of flour. (This is important to create layers later).

On one end of the pastry create a ridge by turning over the side onto itself. Use this ridge to roll up the whole pastry evenly into a snake. Seal the edges by pinching the dough together all the way across and on either side. Then take a sharp knife and cut the dough into even slices approx 1 - 2 inch thick.

Put on the wok of ghee to heat over a medium flame. If you choose to make a traditional sugar glaze now is the time to put it on to cook down.

On a floured surface roll out the slices into long rectangular shapes, rolling on one side once. Turn over, sprinkle with a little flour as needed, and roll again. Repeat this procedure until the pastry is a strip about 3 inches long and the edges will look layered and fluted.

Check to see if the ghee is hot enough for use by throwing a small piece of dough in. If it sinks and immediately rises, sizzling, its ready to go. Gently slide the kaja into the hot ghee. You can fry about 6 at a time in a medium sized wok. When it rises up bob them up and down a little with the back of your spatula to encourage the layers to puff and separate a little. Turn them over when they are golden brown.When done remove from wok and drain in a colander lined with paper towels if you have. Gentle - they are fragile.

Then when cool enough to handle transfer to a tray or if you are using the traditional glaze carefully slide them into the syrup and submerge them. Remove from the syrup as soon as they are covered in it and transfer onto a tray to cool and dry off.

If you are using my preferred glaze, simply dip them into the runny icing and place onto a tray to dry off.

Jagannatha Roses

Use the same dough cut into slices and roll spiral side up into rounds. Turn over on a floured surface on each roll to prevent ghee in the layers from squeezing out. When it is an even round, deep fry the roses using the same method as for the Kaja til golden brown. Drain and follow either of the same procedures above for glazing. Sprinkle crushed Pistachio nuts over the top to garnish.

The secret ingredient to make the food you cook taste extra special is to prepare it with a mood of love, offer it to the Divine/the Lord and enjoy! :-)

Gopi's Truffle Lollipops

I created this recipe for truffle lollipops today for my friend Kunti Devi, who needed a quick sweet for lunch. Give them a go, they're easy to make, healthy and scrumptious!

8-10 unsulphured apricots
4-6 dried figs
8 prunes
2 handfuls seedless raisins
1/2 handful cranberries
1 handful crystallized ginger pieces
1/2 handful organic chocolate chips
1/2 - 1 cup organic pure maple syrup as required
1 tbsp vanilla essence
2 cups wheatgerm
3 cups freshly ground almonds
 Lollipop sticks/cocktail sticks

To cover:
1 cup organic choc chips melted
1 cup organic white choc chips melted

Rinse the dried fruits under running water and drain. Chop all dried fruits fine in a food processor, add ginger, then vanilla and maple syrup. Add to almonds, wheatgerm and choc chips in a mixing bowl, and knead together. Roll into smooth balls, makes approx 16. Push the lollipop sticks into the truffles. Dip into the melted chocolates and place onto a tray covered with waxed paper. Chill and harden chocolate covering by placing in the freezer for 1 hour. Watch out they are addictive! :-D

King of Vegetables

Srila Prabhupada once said that the humble potato is the king of vegetables. It is so versatile and of course being Irish I'm biased! I love potato's, baked, steamed, roasted, pan fried, mashed, in salad and soup . . . I was just in Ireland and made a creamy potato soup on a cold spring day for my family and it was a hit with my teenage siblings . . . knowing how fussy teens can be, its a good one to have up your sleeve. So hope this one becomes a favorite of yours too.

Gopi's Potato Soup

10 medium sized potato's washed, peeled and chopped into chunky pieces
1 small parsnip washed, peeled and chopped
3-4 medium stalks of celery, washed and chopped
8 - 10 fresh nettle sprigs and or fresh basil leaves washed
2 cups milk
3/4 litre spring water
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3/4 tsp black salt
1 & 1/2 tbsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch paprika (optional)
1 - 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
few sprigs fresh herbs e.g. parsely, marjoram washed

Put water on to heat, when boiling add in the vegetables and cook on medium heat til soft. Add in nettle leaves/basil, milk, seasonings, and butter stirring over low heat til butter is melted. Turn off heat, add the fresh herbs and salt and then blend to a smooth consistency with a soup stick or blender. Serve hot with wedges of fresh homemade buttered bread. Yummy! :-)