Protect Your Noggin

Two outsiders’ assessment of initial inquiry into this ancient Indian esoteric tradition related to using food as medicine. We seek valuable wisdom from the tradition but also note the problems of ideological and religious dogmatism, the nutritional dangers of uncritical acceptance of authority, and the scientific evaluation of ancient Indian principles. We come from a Christian and Western background as non-specialists who are interested in the possibilities and possible pitfalls of the tradition.

The Tao births them. Then Te nurtures them. Stuff affects them. Life events complete them. There's not a single living thing that doesn't exalt the Tao and proclaim Te's glory. They exalt the Tao and proclaim Te's glory not through coercion, but spontaneously, because of who they are.

About a 1/4 of the world’s population has a religious restriction against pork. For other cultures, pork represents a sustainable way to find food independence, apart from empire. We discuss scholarly and intuitive hypotheses related to the reason why the Hebrew Bible and later rabbinic and Islamic traditions refrain from eating certain animals. We end with a discussion about the importance of integrating our lives in such a way that ethics, spirituality, and diet are aligned, whatever our values may be.

We discuss some ways in which a macrobiotic diet-- which consists of consuming locally sourced, organic, sustainable produce commonly in the form of brown rice, fruit, vegetables, seeds, soy products, buckwheat noodles, beans, etc.--expounded for Westerners via George Ohsawa (1893-1966) & adapted in an allegedly criminal way by Italian food cult leader Mario Pianesi.

Discussion of news stories reporting on allegations of sexual assault, misconduct, and mismanagement of a hyper sexualized culture at Concordia Preparatory School, near Baltimore.We laud the courage of the young women who have spoken out bravely about their experiences. How does this all demonstrate system justification theory? What lessons can concerned parents school administrators learn from this tragic situation, one that is all too common at schools around the country? CW: sexual assault

In the course of life and death, three in ten are cautious disciples of life. Three in ten are reckless disciples of death. Three in ten chase life but actually veer toward death. Why is this? By worrying too much about staying alive and consuming life’s treasures, they never truly live, yet death catches up with them.

Still, I’ve heard of rare individuals who’ve mastered the art of living. They travel nimbly through the world. They eat local foods abroad. They visit vibrant cities in developing nations. Remarkably, these same adventurers often carry on without getting mugged or sick, or shaken down by border agents.
How do they pull this off? They travel confidently and respectfully,
unafraid of death, knowing that death can’t touch them, since there is no way to kill their true self.

The Sage is not closed-minded but considers what ordinary folks have on their minds. I am good to those who are good. I am good to those who are not good. This is the goodness of Te. I hope in those who are hopeful. I hope in those who are hopeless. This is the hope of Te. The Sage is engaged with the world. She brings balance to the world by carefully uniting her heart with it. Ordinary folks, hearing her wisdom, turn their attention to her actions. So she sets a wise example for them, as if they were her own children. 

A discussion of the spirituality of art and whether we ought to pay attention to art created by narcissistic creeps. We discuss the differences between Dali; and Bosch, and between his possible nihilism and what we find wholesome about Taoist artistic depictions of nature. This discussion comes on the heels of our visit to a Dali exposition in Monterey, California.

Seek academic knowledge 
and you can accumulate facts 
day by day.
Seek the wisdom of the Tao
and you’ll release junk from your life,
day by day. 

Let go of more and more so you can surf the Tao.
Surfing the Tao allows you
to accomplish anything 
without forcing everything.

If you want to flourish in the world
don’t try to control the world.
Indeed, if you try to control the world
you aren’t ready to flourish in it.

We introduce our theme which is about the spirituality, ethics, religious guilt, and joys of food and what we take into our bodies. We discuss our almost vegan diet experiment, with the definite exception of oysters. We preview some future topics which will include food cults, fasting, dietary regulations in religious texts, booze, and pharmaceuticals. This season will be about untangling healthy practices and tastes from the ideologies that trick us into eating slop figuratively and literally.