nectar figs from kitchen water

check this out. my figs. no, not photoshopped. the real thing. big as my palm. HUGE.

welcome to fig harvest in my backyard.

here's the story. hwubby knows fig is my top fave fruit. fresh, not dried.

by the way i never even saw a fresh fig before i came to california. chinese make deliiish soup with dried figs. i am still awestruck when i touch a fresh, succulent fig.

so hwubby planted a mini fig tree. why mini? he said, so it's easy for you to pick. he is sweet, eh!

it took several years for the tree to take root and grow before beginning to bear fruit. it's so worth the wait. the tree is tiny but not the fruits.

being aware that california is in drought i have been watering it with....tah dah.... grey water. the tree is not directly outside kichen. i have to go thru mud room, out the back door, and down back porch stairs. so i collect grey water in a small plastic.

to be honest, it's not much. a few tub-ful-s a day at best, but, look at the amazing outcome.

heavenly nectar they are. two of them are equivalent to a basket of them from the store.

as i munch on them i am filled with amazement. such miracle. abundance. there're so much going on in all this. i don't understand any of it.

this much i know though. nature is surely, truly, super intelligent.

one, two, three, four, five, six,..huge, great good yummy fortunes beckon me so long as i keep putting forth my small, sweet effort. it's fine that i don't know the mechanism of how figs extract essence from grey water. i still get to enjoy the nectar in its fullness.

backbone of my life

from collection of pujari outfit

i love my daily meditation practice. it is the backbone of my life. i structure my daily schedule around my meditation practice, wouldn’t want to live any other way.

in the shifting sands of life my meditation practice is my anchor.

again and again, deep in meditation i experience profound contentment, happiness, strength and so much more.

over time i find it easier and easier to go about what i have to do in the world while being aware of my innate calm, clarity and certainty.

little by little, i become more and more immersed in this understanding, that when i sit down to meditate with the intention to meditate, then whatever happens is meditation. on some days meditation can be choppy, stormy, whatever. at other times i experience enchanting lights, luminous insights, illuminating visions, or.... nothing. to be accurate, it's beautiful silence shimmering quiet bliss, deep contentment and rock solid recognition of my own strength. coming out of meditation, it never ceases to amaze me, day after day, how fortunate i am to be able to sit for 2 hours quietly. i notice that the understanding is ever fresh, ever full and fragrant.

 i enjoy looking for ways to further strengthen my meditation practice in the same way i fertilize the gorgeous roses in my garden periodically. given california is still in drought i have to be mindful of using water. it's astonishing to see what a bit of weekly soaker-hosing can do to roses. it's astonishing to see how little they need to keep blooming. every week i have more than enough vibrant blooms to put on arati trays and altar.

arati tray

flexitarian. soup recipe.

let me be clear. i'm not vegetarian. what am i? flexitarian. here's what i really love about the food principles in ayurveda. they are not against any food. the classical ayurveda texts do not say, don't eat this or that. what it says is this, eat what you can digest. if u have good digestion, even poison can turn into nectar. if u have poor digestion then even nectar is poison for you. seriously. three sanskrit words sum it all up. hitabuk, mitabuk, ritabuk. seasonal. local. moderation. ayurveda is not food police. my doctor ji,  dr harikrishnan, in his gentle, straightforward manner, says, once in a while, have fun, you can eat a little bit of everything. simple, huh? but, pay attention, suk wah. the key words are 'once in a while',  'a little bit.' the problem with my old eating habits has a lot to do with...eating more than what i truly need. the stomach is of the size of a fist. ayurveda text says fill half of it with solid food, a quarter water and fourth quarter free. as i look back on how i ate i cannot tell you how thankful i am to my belly. it has been so abused and yet so forgiving, putting up with my mindless eating.

therefore it's not exaggerating to say ben and i have revolutionized the way we eat, what we eat , how much and how we eat. not to say i don't get taken over by residual habits once in a while but those habits are definitely not in the driver seat anymore.

but, i must emphasize that cooking based on ayurveda principles do not mean awful food. quite the opposite. case in point. a lentil soup i make and take to torah study has been so popular that my rabbi says, suk wah, if you want to make this soup you are welcome to my house anytime. several study mates say, suk wah, send me the recipe. nothing makes a cook happier to see the pot scooped out dry and everyone says, who makes this soup, it is delicious. so, here we go.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 12

SOUP

red lentil, 1 1/2 cup
asafatieda, a nice pinch. crucial to take away gas. get it in indian store. i go to bombay spice house.
cumin, 1/8 tsp
coriander, 1/8 tsp
turmeric, 1/8 tsp
rock salt to taste
pepper, couple of grind
tamari, a splash or two to taste

VEG
onion, medium chop, a few Tsp. take it out if cooking for buddist
cumin seed 1/8 tsp
coconut oil, 1 Tsp, or a little more if you so please
carrot, small cubes, 1/2 cup, more if you like
green bean, bite size, 1/2 cup at least, or other seasonal veg. green bean gives nice color and texture.
turmeric, 1/8 tsp
cumin, 1/8 tsp
coriander, 1/8 tsp
tamari, splash or two
dry mango powder, 1/8 tsp, optional, get it in indian store
asafatieda, a pinch
cilantro leaves, plenty or to taste.

let's start cooking.

wash lentil in room temp water  a few times until water clear. put in soup pot. add 7-8 cups water. put on highest notch, uncovered, to let it come to boil.

while keeping an eye on soup pot chop and start cooking veg. here's the secret. cook veg separately. the end product is so much tastier. flavor profile fuller and richer. anyway heat up a pan or small pot, depending on how much veg i have, put in coconut oil. i hear you asking, why not veg oil? first, it tastes better. second, more importantly, coconut oil has good cholesterol, you know, MCT,  medium chain triglycerides. seriously. google it. coming back to cooking veg. add cumin seed, asafatieda. by the way i always add a pinch of asafatieda. you never know what might cause gas. e.g. cabbage and cauliflower and green leafies are gaseous. when cumin seed sizzle, put in onion. stir for a minute or until translucent. sprinkle a little rock salt and splash of tamari. i always put in these two with each addition of veg. it brings out that extra veg aroma and flavor.

by now lentil is probably coming to boil. the next step is important. remove foam. that's gas producing.  huge. major. then put in asafatieda, bring it down to medium heat so it's rigorously simmering. stir periodically.

meanwhile, return to veg. add cumin, coriander, tumeric. stir rigorously for 30 sec or until you smell that beautiful aroma of spices. now, put in carrot or the veg that takes longest to cook. stir well, do the rock salt and tamari thing. if you like it more peppery go ahead and grind it in at this point. or you might do it at very end. up to you. okay, then put in a few teaspoons of water. let it come back to boil while stirring periodically. cover, cook a minute or two on medium heat. then add in green bean. again, rock salt and tamari. stir. cover. cook 2-3 minutes or until just done, not mushy.  turn off flame, add dry mango powder. throw in cilantro leaves. stir well.

somewhere in midst of cooking veg, lentil is done. add spices, salt, tamari. a word of caution. be light abot it because seasoned veg is already salted. you can always add more salt but can't take it out. turn off flame.

pour the whole veg thing into hot lentil. i scrape every bit off bottom. that's where deep flavor lies where a little caramelization action happen. mix really well.

there you have it. enjoy. pair with a bowl of grain and it's a yummy, full meal.

4th panchakarma. cellular cleansing

what is my favorite breakfast? now? or before ben and i began this practice of panchakarma? towards the finale of this, my fourth round, something remarkable happened. one morning, after morning prayer, and by the way, i feel the treatment and medicine are that much more potent when my doctors chant vishnu sahasranama, thousand names of vishnu, alongside patients at 6 am. they faithfully implement the ancient ayurveda texts. when a patient questions the way they prescribe treatment slokas would roll off their tongues. doctor ji says, this is what the text says. and since the text says mantras, prayers, homa, puja emanate healing vibration therefore chanting, praying and pujas are integral components in the healing village daily schedule. these doctors really walk their talk. i salute them for that and i trust them with my life. anyhow, what am i talking about? my top fave breakfast. so there i am walking happily along the covered walkway basking in the morning lights after the ecstatic chant and i see doctor omprakash approaching me beaming with excitement. he says, suk wah ji, there is dosa and chutney, do you want? without a blink i say, no, thanks, i'll have congee and mung. here's the context. the ideal panchakarma food is congee, mung and boiled veg. it's only during the preparation and final phase of treatment regimen that patient is offered something other than. i'm not exaggerating when, back in my first round three years prior, when i saw that bowl of plain congee the mind would run wild with imagining all kinds of tgoodies that chinese would put into congee, say, thousand year egg, fish, minced beef. but here i am, three rounds of panchakarma later, reveling in this simple metta rice congee. creamy, nutty, textred, light and satisfying. mung cooked over wood fire has a deep, slightly smoky flavor that pressure cooker cannot replicate. i feel full and fulfilled, happy and content. the mind is quiet and present.

let me be clear. there's nothing wrong with fresh dosa and coconut chutney, nor thousand year egg congee. yummy they are. but i do believe my palate has been radically transformed after four rounds of panchakarma, or shall i say, cellular cleansing. the palate is purified and refined. i taste the essence of essencej, ojas, of rice and mung. bright. alive. rich. the highest and innermost self of me is one with the self of congee. 

chanukkah. lights within and without.

The menorah ablaze in full glory is an expression of the light in my heart, your heart and everyone's everywhere.

okay, so, here's a question. why do we celebrate the first day of chanukkah, not 8th day? here's what comes to me. it takes a lot of guts and faith to start lighting menorah with just one day of oil while more oil won't be available in another 8 days. just to refresh, the main thrust of chanukkah story is this. menorah in temple was lit 24/7. so when people reclaimed temple they wanted to get menorah lit up asap. there was one day of oil on hand. btw this oil was prepped from fresh olives in a certain method. it's an 8 day process. so, to light or not to light? evidently the people did.  what a remarkable leap of faith. indeed this teaches me that i can only keep my eye on doing the right thing, however you call it, dharma in sanskrit, tsedek in hebrew, it's the same thing.  lighting up menorah is the right thing to do. just do it. start doing the right thing with whatever i have. let go of worry. that's poverty consciousness. i show up, do what i can and let grace takes it from there. in bhagavad gita lord krishna says to arjuna, yoga is skill in action. it really just means throw yourself into the task at hand and let go of expectation of outcome.  such ancient wisdom still shines bright of truth. how lucky we are to have such guiding light 24/7. halleluja.

i want moksha

It's 3.30 am. I'm oiled hair to toe and I am also immersed in incomparable bliss. i never thought it would be possible for me to meditate and chant all day in the full glory of pujari outfit, and then keep up with daily ayurveda treatment during full immersion retreat schedul, not to mention preparing food according to ayurveda guidelines from dr harikrishnan. but then with guru's grace, full-on support from hwubby, and a burning desire to know my own Self anything is possible. so here i am. 

vata. hashem.

chinese say, being patient long enough makes one doctor. i won't go so far. i would say, though, being someone 'vata aggravated',  after two full rounds of panchakarma and two years of home treatment and medicine i am certainly more aware of it. a person passes me by and i think to myself, i see vata aggravation.  here, in this case, i'd say, hwubby is the opposite of it. vata pacified. seriously. look at him. he's shining, radiant, glowing, rosy. i have the aid of cosmetics. he has none. think about it.

ayurveda says the growth of a tree trunk is a nice metaphor in connection with this. the newest growth is supple, moist, smooth, tender, translucent. think baby skin.  as time goes by, new growth become old. eventually what once was young sap becomes bark. dry, flaky, wrinkled, cracked, rough.  think arthritis.

salutations to the ghee we take everyday ( i make my own ghee on full moons ) and daily oil application. they keep our skin amazing, joint lubricated, and so on and so forth.

scriptures say it is not unusual for yogis to have lifespan of 160 years.  examples are everywhere. moses was called to lead hebrews out of narrowland at 80. g'd called avram to leave his fatherland at 75. so hwubby is very, very young. hallelujah.

i thank our guru for guiding us to find each other. i thank the rishis for bestowing humanity with the knowledge of health. i thank vaidyagrama for making authentic ayurveda available. such great good fortune.

blessed i am to have such a marvelous husband.
no matter how much i think of him
he thinks of me so much more.
he's such a bright, warm light.
he is illumined and he illumines me.
his sweet, brave light brightens mine.
i know his light is always on for me.
two lights as one.
when i wave the sacred flame i experience his love, guru's love,
god's love,
my own love.
one love.
ever young. ever fresh. ever brilliant.
adonai eloheinu. adonai echad.
the force of hashem is in all. the force of hashem is One.
he's of the form of love.