The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/141816
Yoga Life Pure & Simple By Ashok Kumar Malhotra By Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower Rajneesh Led Disciples to Savor Their Bliss Sow Thistle and Eggplant on Bed of Basmati Rice Last month, we looked at the teachings of Baba Muktananda, who offered a simplified version of Hinduism to his upper-middle-class devotees. While Muktananda's disciples were still feeling good in the glow of the master's enlightenment, another guru, Bhagwan Rajneesh, was offering enlightenment through sex, love, and prayer to his Western disciples thousands of miles away. Rajneesh, who had operated from India since 1970, suddenly decided to leave his Poona, India, ashram in 1981, to set up residence in the United States. Rajneesh had sent his disciples on a spiritual reconnaissance mission to America, where they advised the Rajneesh Foundation to establish two ashrams in New Jersey and Oregon. From the beginning of his career, Rajneesh had been a controversial figure. Though trained in philosophy, Rajneesh called his approach psychological rather than philosophical. As an eclectic guru, he had drawn from various philosophical systems, religions and psychotherapeutic methods. He declared that a human being was a divided being: both a beast and a god. Though still an animal, a human being had the potential to be a super-mind. Rajneesh's goal was to cure this sickness by bringing unity to this fragmented creature. He believed that this unity could be achieved through the technique of dynamic meditation. All traditional methods of meditation were inadequate because they did not take into consideration this peculiar condition of a human being, Rajneesh taught. Zen, transcendental meditation, and other methods could relax you, but they could not accomplish unity in the person. Rajneesh emphasized that before beginning with the technique of "dynamic meditation," one must accept one's neurosis. To be aware of one's insanity was a sure road to sanity. Once one was prepared, one should follow dynamic meditation in five steps in the order given below: 1. Breathing: Meditation should begin 6 O-Town Scene June 6, 2013 with ten minutes of chaotic, deep, and intense breathing from one's nose. 2. Catharsis: After the practice of breathing, one should express whatever came to one's mind. If one felt like laughing, weeping or dancing, one should display these emotions spontaneously. 3. Use of the sound "hoo": One should use the Sufi sound "hoo" instead of the Hindu mantra "om," because the sound "hoo" affected the sexual organs and aroused energy at the most primitive level of our existence. "Hoo" would move the energy upward through the heart, intellect, towards the spiritual centers elevating one to the level of "the highest man possible." 4. Silence: The first three steps were cathartic leading to the fourth step. Stop all activity! Do nothing! Be still! Become a silent witness! Let consciousness expand and become cosmic divine energy. 5. Celebration: After tasting this divine energy, one should indulge oneself in 10 to 15 minutes of celebration to savor this bliss. The technique of Dynamic Meditation should be practiced individually or in a group. If group meditation was possible, the energy would be particularly potent. Meditation should be done on an empty stomach, with eyes closed or blindfolded, and with a minimum of clothing worn. Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra's work through the Ninash Foundation to build schools for the female and minority children of India earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. His program on "Yoga for Relaxation" is shown at 9 a.m. Saturdays on the Public Access Channel 23. His articles are condensed from his books, available at amazon.com and www.info@ ideaIndia.com. When you go out to harvest for this recipe, go to either the vegetable garden or the compost pile, not into the garden. What you'll be looking for are two Aster (Composite) family wild greens. Their common names and scientific names are common sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) and spiny sow thistle (Sonchus asper). Be sure to identify with 100 percent accuracy. There are many great photos online to help you. As you are looking at thistles, you may wonder, "Why on earth would Marguerite even consider to want to consume them as a food?" But if you find the right thistles, you'll soon see and probably feel the difference. At this time of year, they are also flowering, which makes them easier to identify. Spiny sow thistle requires some cooking to soften its gentle spiny edges; common sow thistle can be eaten raw. About 3 ounces of uncooked common sow thistle leaves and tops contains vitamins A and C, protein, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. As a clinical herbalist, I know bitter-tasting plants support better digestion, assimilation (absorption of nutrients) and elimination of wastes. Recipe: Sow Thistle & Eggplants on Bed of Basmati Rice Ingredients: 1 serving Basmati rice, prepared as instructed 1 large eggplant, sliced 1 inch thick ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup of water 6 garlic cloves, crushed 20 minutes before cooking pasta sauce 2 handfuls sow thistle leaves and tops, with buds and flowers, cut into 4-inch lengths 1 handful of dandelion greens, cut into 4-inch lengths 1 large onion, cut in thin slices 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup water miso, nutritional yeast, to taste While the Basmati rice is cooking, bake eggplant. Place in a glass baking pan, with olive oil and water. Cover and cook at 350 degrees until soft. Add crushed garlic for last 10 minutes of baking. When done, remove from oven and mix with sauce, enough to turn the dish light red with still very visible signs of eggplant. Cover and return to a warm oven until remainder of dish is ready. Heat a cast iron skillet with olive oil. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add sow thistle and dandelion greens. Saute for 5 minutes. Add water and immediately cover. Cook 15 minutes, or to taste. Remove from heat. Add miso and nutritional yeast to taste. To serve, place rice on a plate. Top with sauteed greens, some pan liquid, and a dollop of prepared eggplant. Add miso and nutritional yeast to taste. To share your thoughts or recipe ideas with Marguerite UhlmannBower, email her at 3moonsisters@gmail. com. A Note About Wild Foods When you're new to eating any wild food, eat small amounts at first, and eat only one wild food at a time. There are two reasons for this practice. For one, if you're new to eating wild vegetation, you may end up having a sensitivity or an allergy to the plant. Eating one plant at a time helps in identifying this sensitivity. Second, eating too much wild food the first time could make you feel nauseated or even give you diarrhea. Our digestive tracts have to adjust to the larg amounts of nutrients, fiber, fatty acids and bioflavanoids in wild foods.