Germ theory, true or false?

I've heard for several years that germ theory was a hoax. It was accepted and seen as an opportunity to make money. According to several articles I've read, the very scientist, Louis Pasteur, who pushed it rejected it on his death bed saying, "Bernard was right... the microbe is nothing; the terrain is everything." 

Another scientist and contemporary of Pasteur, Professor Antoine Béchamp, had rejected the germ theory in favor of his own theory of pleomorphism:

·    Acidic terrain, not germs, cause disease
·    Germs are already in the body by the billions and don't necessarily have to come from without (although that can sometimes happen)
·    Blood is not sterile but can contain many microbial forms
·    Germs are pleomorphic, i.e., they can change through many forms (Dr Gaston Naessens identified a microbe undergoing 16 different stages of  evolution)
·    Virtually all diseases are caused by acidic terrain
·    Diseases can be prevented or reversed by increasing the alkalinity of the terrain
--Gabriel Donohoe in natural news.com

 Click here to get the complete article.

The bottom line is the key to health is having alkaline body. How does one do that? By eating a diet high in uncooked fresh fruit and vegetables.

80/10/10

I had a bit of a cooked food relapse lately--Indian food which I find hard to resist--and decided to go on a cleanse.  Why a cleanse? Because I felt sick afterwards. In the past when I 'cheated,' I didn't have many problems. This time my stomach ached, mucus returned, and I felt bloated.

I decided not to do another series of dry fasts, but to do 80/10/10.  I've done this before with good results, so here I am, three weeks before Lent begins and already doing my Lenten fast.  Within two days I noticed one of the things I like about it: the feeling of a cleaner colon and bowl movements. For some reason, with this diet, I don't need as much toilet paper as I do when I eat more fats.  I even feel lighter.

So here I am, attempting to stay on 80/10/10.  While I was at the grocery store, I looked at those foods which tempt me but decided that I'm on a great path on which I want to stay.  Why mess up a good thing before getting maximum results?

The road to recovery is always under construction.

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.

Osho on the Three Objects

Three objects which can function as either poisons or the basis of virtue:

1. Aversion: you feel aversion to whoever you dislike
2. Attachment: you feel attachment to whatever you like
3. indifference/ignorance[I've seen both terms used together by other authors, but Osho prefers indifference]: you feel indifferent to things which you neither dislike nor like

(From Osho: The Book of Wisdom : Discourses on Atisha`s Seven Points of Mind Training)

To make the terms clear, the following is from my computer dictionary:

Aversion: a strong dislike or disinclination; someone or something that arouses such feelings; antipathy for, abhorrence of, hatred of… you get the idea.

Attachment: the condition of being attached to something or someone in particular; affection, fondness, or sympathy for someone or something; bond with, closeness to/with, affection for, feeling for…

Indifference: lack of interest, concern, or sympathy; unimportance

Ignorance: lack of knowledge or information; unawareness of, unconsciousness of [this sounds like a definition the Buddhists would use] lack of intelligence; stupidity, illiteracy… [these are the synonyms other writers use to describe indifference/ignorance. They seem to combine the two words. More on that later.]

We normally make judgments about people, places and things. We say, "I like it, I don't like it, or I am indifferent to it."  Atisha considered these objects the three poisons which can become the bases of great virtue. How is that?

According to Osho,

"if you bring in the quality of compassion...If you learn the art of absorbing suffering, as if all the suffering of the world is coming riding on the breath, then how can you be repulsed? How can you dislike anything and how can you be indifferent to anything? If you are unconditionally taking in all the suffering of the world, drinking it, absorbing it into your heart, and then instead of it pouring blessings on the whole of existence - UNCONDITIONALLY; not to someone in particular, remember; not only to man but to all; to all beings, trees and rocks and birds and animals, to the whole existence - material, immaterial - when you are pouring out blessings unconditionally, how can you be attached?" 

Osho goes on to say that by doing the above, all poisons will "transform into nectar and the bondage becomes freedom, and the hell is no more a hell, it is heaven."
This is what I imagine when practicing tonglen: I visualize my breath inward as a dark cloud or smoke. Then, I exhale the white soft moonlight.  I like the idea of changing the poison into sweet nectar and exhaling it for all to receive.

This is part of my study on tonglen which I got from The Tonglen and Mind Training website. As I learn more, I'll do my best to pass it on. If you would like to share your knowledge on this subject,  please feel free. I would love to hear from you. So far, everyone is shy and likes to lurk… That's OK. 


 If you have no object of aggression, you cannot hold your own aggression purely by yourself. If you have no object of passion, you cannot hold your passion yourself. And in the same way, you cannot hold on to your ignorance either.
--From Training the Mind & Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa

From Dalai Lama to Pema Chodron

The classes I was taking on the teaching of the Dalai Lama are now over.  I really enjoyed them and hope you have the opportunity to take them. You can find them online at Spiritualilty and Practice. I like the on-demand classes not only because they are half the price, you can take them at your leisure rather than daily.  I prefer 3 times a week which gives me a chance to digest the lessons.

I started classes on Pema Chodron a couple of weeks ago from the same website. I'm really enjoying the lessons so far.  I'm on lesson 6.  It's about rejoicing in ordinary things.  I've been calling that an attitude of gratitude which is to be grateful for everything, big or little things in my life.

It also sounds like joyful effort. Her example is setting the table with care and joy. Her idea is to enjoy everything we do, even cleaning the toilet. In joyful effort, you would even do unpleasant tasks with care and love.

....take equal care of brooms and toilets and plants in order to show their gratitude to these things.
--Pema Chodron 


Can you show gratitude in brooms, toilets, and plants? Plants are easy. I think I can be grateful for the other two because our homes and lives would be different without them.


(21)Always maintain only a joyful mind. Constantly apply cheerfulness, if for no other reason than because you are on this spiritual path. Have a sense of gratitude to everything, even difficult emotions, because of their potential to wake you up.--lojong slogan #21

Dalai Lama Class 34

The title of class 34 is : Meet Adversity with a Positive  Attitude.

That's just what I need. There's time when the person most closest to me is in a derogatory mood and I can easily go into "poor me, poor me, pour me another drink" mode and fall into the depths of a pity party.

The Dalai Lama writes, "By greeting trouble with optimism and hope, you are undermining worse troubles down the line." How does one do that when it comes to verbally abusive jokes? By using tonglen;  by accepting my pain I will  be using up the negative karma; by taking in everyone's suffering to myself, then releasing compassion and "my potential for happiness" toward them.

I know I have huge amounts of joy buried in me. I've seen it slip out from time to time. When it does, I feel like I'm my true self. When I hide myself, protect myself from potential dangers, I feel trapped like an animal who is no longer able to run free.

So Tonglen is my hope for inner peace and serenity.  Tonglen can be used toward all people.  According to the Dalai Lama, there are stories of monks who were kept as prisoners by the Chinese for years.  After their release, they said they continued the meditation practices and felt compassion for their Chinese guards. In this reading, I'm guessing they used tonglen.  This is what the Dalai Lama uses; this is what Judith Ragir taught me several years ago in her online lectures. I will continue to use it daily like I have, and know the results in in God's hands. In this way, I pray to have peace of mind.

 I practice taking others' suffering to myself and giving them my potential for happiness; this provides a good deal of mental relief.
--Dalai Lama in "How to Practice"