All Hallows' Eve & the Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is about the deathless Self. It asks the question why do we die? What happens after death?  What is left? And who am I anyway? I love the translation by Eknath Easwaran in The Upanishads. 

In this Upanishad it says that through meditation one can begin to know the Self and rare are those who follow this path. It is a choice that must be made at every moment. 

"The joy of the spirit ever abides,

But not what seems pleasant to the senses. 

Both these, differing in their purpose, prompt

Us to action. All us well for those who choose

The joy of the spirit, but they miss

The goal of life who prefer the pleasant. 

Perennial joy or passing pleasure?

This is the choice one is to make always. 

Those who are wise recognize this, but not

The ignorant. The first welcome that leads

To abiding joy, though painful at the time,

The latter run, goaded by their senses,

After what seems immediate pleasure."

Mayama

Don

Nap

I chose a power nap over a dog walk. I don't think Felix appreciates it too much.
I wrote earlier about a check-in. Daily. The power nap is important too. I can lie down for 15 minutes and get enormous energy for the rest of the day. Sometimes it feels like there is no time. I know this. But test it out for one week and see if you are not convinced of its benefits. It could be taken right after work, before supper, or after supper, or closing your eyes on a coffee break. Start with the weekends and go from there. A Quantum Energy moment!

Wandering along the water

I had a friend over for coffee this morning. She is moving next week to Sarnia. We've known each other since our girls were born 10 days apart, 29 years ago.  Don's daughter is also moving to Vancouver in about 2 weeks. I feel left behind somehow. A bit melancholy today. 

The edge of Lake Superior soothes me. It just feels like I belong here. So that's where I walked today. 

Check-in

I ate all those oat coconut bars yesterday. I had help but mostly it was me. Good grief, put some goodies in front of me and I wolf them down, but gingerly, slowly, a little at a time, so that no one really notices that I ate them all. And right in front of them too.

So, I had oatmeal for breakfast and a smoothie for lunch, instead of an all out big meal. I picked the rest of my kale into the smoothie, frozen blueberries, pumpkin seeds, a little bit of kefir (yogurt would have been good too), some vitamin C powder, and water. Taddah!

I raked some leaves into a big paper bag. I emptied a few more flower pots into the compost. Now, I am sitting by the new window. Oh my! And I feel really good having my tea, writing, and planning my next bit of work at home. And paying attention. This is the best part of my day. This centering, breathing, and checking in with myself. It is necessary for my well being. I so easily keep on going from task to task and not noticing myself at all. There is more to me than a moving machine. Or a thinking, moving machine. And that's the part I check in with, the part of me that is more than my body and my mind. Every day!

Oat coconut granola bars

We just did the taste test for these bars. Very good. They are unbaked so very quick. 

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened 

1 tbsp oat flour (I ground mine from oats                 in a coffee grinder)

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup honey

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp mashed banana (about 1 banana)

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, oat flour, flaxseed, pecans, and salt. Stir everything well. Set aside. 

2. Melt together coconut oil and honey until thin. Add vanilla and mashed banana. 

3. Pour oil mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Mix in chocolate chips. 

4. Scoop into 8 x 8 inch pan. Press well down. Cover and put into fridge until set. About 2 hours. Cut into 12 bars. Keeps well for a week in fridge. 

Recipe from the magazine Mother Earth. Living. November/December 2013

It's a beautiful day

Writers

Since Thunder Bay is in the middle of nowhere (8 hours drive to any city in Canada), we have an amazing entertainment scene. Folks have to stop somewhere all the way through Canada. Lucky for us. Last night we attended an evening with Douglas Gibson, publisher, editor, writer and raconteur. He wrote Stories about Storytellers, a book of some of the famous Canadian authors he edited during his long career. His stories were fun and enlivening! I heard of authors I have never heard of and some more famous like Alice Munro and Hugh MacLennan and 3 Prime Ministers of Canada. I look forward to reading some of these books. I was so amazed to be so close to Douglas Gibson. It was like brushing elbows with royalty. I have a love affair with authors. I think of that profession as well......wow! The most amazing thing to do! Writing down words to amuse and inspire and inform.

Years ago I met Andy, a seeker like me and an avid reader of new age and spiritual books. He told me about Awareness by Anthony de Mello, a book which I have read more than once and it brings infinite joy to just open it anywhere and read a passage. I saw him in a parking lot much later and thanked him for getting me to read that book. He said he was reading an even better one. I was all ears. It was the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and I was in love again. I could feel the message of this wonderful book in my deep, quiet Self. Once, I even phoned his publishing company, Namaste, and asked if he could come to Thunder Bay to speak. I was ready to host! A lovely woman on the other end of the phone said that he couldn't make any engagements for the next year because he was on retreat, writing his new book, which was The New Earth. Eckhart has become so famous I dare not ask again.