'Shopping' in Wild Forests: Foraging

Q Journal: Hilary Pearlson, Akashic Records Reader, Healing Guide, founder of The Dreamerie

Health // All Recipes // People (like Mia Waselevich)  — House of Citrine

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California wild food foraging in Los Angeles' Hahamongna with Pascal and Mia

Braiding Sweetgrass (Kimmerer)

(PBS SoCal) Sept. 12, 2012: Everywhere we turn in California, there's something to eat -- if we know what to look for. Wild foragers and chefs Pascal Baudar and Mia Wasilevich of Transitional Gastronomy shop at the grocery store, but they also head out into the woods regularly, carrying backpacks and knives and compasses, finding edible plants scattered across public lands. They like it so much they've turned it into a business, with Pascal leading interested food nerds out into the woods to collect wild plants like mugwort, elderberries, lambs' quarter, cattails, purslane (verdolagas), wild radishes. and more, while Mia cooks up a feast using these wild ingredients.

KCET.org/socal/food/california... Eli Newell went out on one such veggie hunt with Pascal and learned about native versus invasive plants in Southern California's parks. (Which would you guess peaches are?) We ate flowers and asked Pascal why exactly he makes a habit of rubbing poison oak on his hands and face. Enjoy the video. And be cautiously hungry out there! Music: "Petit talibé" instrumental version, Löhstana David.

The sacred art of foraging

Chef Mia Wasilevich: Foraging and Transitional Gastronomy — House of Citrine

Q Journal: Plant-Based Holistic Health Coach Emily Rose Shaw — House of Citrine

(Suzanne Joy Teune) Oct. 28, 2023: Hello! This month is the month of foraging. It is a full moon as I upload. I am calling it the "moon of colored trees." This is a very special moon, for this season does not last long. Foraging is something I began doing for art when I attended the Burren College of Art, Ireland. I have been doing it and incorporating items gathered into my art ever since. This video is to show that it's not just about gathering supplies from nature. It's far deeper than that. It's a sacred spiritual practice. This is why I am in awe and inspired by the Indigenous people of the Americas and their art. I don't know how to put this into words.

Music: "If You Wonder" by Nebulae. I reference the short film The Great Kind Mystery by artist Ella Morton (ellamorton.com). Thanks to the late Alice Ladas who died at age 102 for her pink tights.

Buddhist Theravada Thai Forest Tradition

Ambrosia Alchemist, meditation in Sedona vortex — House of Citrine

The Kammaṭṭhāna ("field of cultivation") Forest Tradition of Thailand (Pali kammaṭṭhāna, meaning "place of meditative work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism.

It started around 1900 with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto, who wanted to practice Buddhist wandering asceticism and its meditative practices like the Buddha, according to the standards of pre-sectarian Buddhism.

• Buddhist Pub. Society—With Robes and Bowl: Glimpses of the [Austere] Life (Wheel 83) by Ven. Khantipalo

Are women able to attain? - Yes!

After studying with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo and wandering through the northeast of Thailand (Isan), Ajahn Mun reportedly attained the stage of enlightenment known as non-returning and started teaching in Northeast Thailand.

He strove for a revival of Early Buddhism, insisting on a strict observance of the Buddhist Monastic Code known as the Vinaya and teaching the practice of meditative absorptions (jhāna) and the realization of nirvana (Pali nibbāna) in this very life.

• (Anyone who attains even the first stage of enlightenment called stream entry glimpses or touches nirvana).

Initially, Ajahn Mun's teachings were met with fierce opposition, but in the 1930s his group was acknowledged as a formal faction of Thai Buddhism, and in the 1950s the relationship with the royal and religious establishment improved.

In the 1960s, Western students started to be attracted to this back-to-basics movement, and in the 1970s branch monasteries of the tradition began to be established in the West.

Underlying attitudes of the Thai Forest Tradition include an interest in the empirical and verifiable effectiveness of Buddhist practice, the individual's cultivation and development, and the use of skill in practice and living. More

Rewilding a Forest | Artist and Poet Maria "Vildhjärta" Westerberg

(Campfire Stories) Feb. 23, 2024: This film is part of a series called "Something Beautiful for the World,” which is a collaboration between Reflections of Life, Campfire Stories, and Happen Films.

• Watch the whole series: Something Beautiful for the World Title: Once Upon a Forest created by Campfire Stories

Synopsis

Maria was a romantic, animal-loving, dreamy child who, growing up, had a hard time conforming to the demands associated with the trajectory towards a "normal" life. As a young adult she became depressed and was encouraged by her therapist to go for walks in the forest.

The myriads of funny-looking twigs and sticks she found along the way immediately put her on a path to recovery. Now, 25 years later, she's a celebrated "twig poet," whose art is shown in galleries throughout Sweden.

When a climate-related crisis strikes the forest where she lives and works, she's forced into a new type of creativity in order to save the place that once upon a time saved her.

Production

Filmed in: Värmland, Sweden. Featuring: Maria "Vildhjärta" Westerberg and Johannes Söderqvist (vildhjarta.net) and Martin Jentzen (jentzen.se). Produced, filmed, and edited by: Mattias Olsson for Campfire Stories (campfire-stories.org). Sound mix: Boris Laible (borislaible.com).

The films of the series "Something Beautiful for the World" explore how small acts of love and kindness have the potential to ripple out and change the world, touching hearts and minds in ways that we could never begin to imagine.

We'll be sharing a total of 12 short films, from across five continents -- releasing one per month for the whole year of 2024 -- four from each filmmaker.

More information about the three production companies:

Campfire Stories on YouTube: @campfire-stories. Visit website: campfire-stories.org. Support on Patreon: mattiasolsson.

Reflections of Life on YouTube: @reflectionsoflife. Visit website: reflectionsof.life. Support on Patreon: reflectionsoflife.

Happen Films on YouTube: @happenfilms. Visit website: happenfilms.com. Support on Patreon: happenfilms.

A huge thanks to the following brilliant people, who gave so generously of their time to help with translations, enabling us to provide subtitles for this film, in the following languages:

• Bulgarian: Polina Stoyanova
• Dutch: Karla Greven
• Croatian: Davor Bobanac
• (English: Mattias Olsson)
• French: Amélie Macoin
• German: Tanja Pütz
• Indonesian: Ary Nuansa
• Italian: Grazia Gironella
• Polish: Anna Konieczna
• Portuguese: Sibylle Steinpass
• Slovakian: Zuzana Beračova
• Slovenian: Jasmina Kovačič
• Spanish: Patricia Aguirre
• (Swedish: Mattias Olsson)
• Compiled by Xochitl, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Commune Life: suburban Day of the D

Usually at this time of year, it's all permaculture (time-honored permanent agricultural practices) at The Commune.

Flower and incense burning in the air, folks congregating in gentle circles, hippies coming out of unhoned woodwork in one big flock, it's usually a murder of bleary-eyed magpies.

But this is a good weekend. Caroline is away, traveling. Tara long since left to find and/or make something of herself. And it's just Julia and Alan holding down the hillside for a Day of the Dead celebration.

The Dia de los Muertos altar was set up for ofrendas, honoring founding artist Zorthian (the namesake patriarch of Zorthian Ranch), lost ones, and anyone in the universe someone remembered and cared enough to commemorate

Ty on 'flower' ethnobotany and greywater (LBC)

 Z Ranch put out the invitation to all neighbors to celebrate the lives of ancestors and loved ones. They (all of Los Angeles) were invited to drop by, say "hi," and adorn the altar with an offering, photo, or personal note.

We all enjoyed cocoa, caffeine-free coffee, green tea, and a kids crafts table under the black walnut (Juglans nigra) tree, once widespread on hillsides facing the rising sun in LA, hosting many native birds.

It was a two-day event, Nov. 1 and 2, from 3:00-8:00 pm. Be in touch for the next event. Maybe another Permaculture Convergence is in the planning, or it's on to the next thing: Electro Culture for super growth.

Legacy of the Zorthian Ranch

For over 70 years, the Zorthian Ranch has existed as a haven for artists and intellectuals, a community and arts center, and a natural respite from the big city below.

It has also been used as a movie location for over 20 years, with many popular TV shows, movies, and music videos (particularly Westerns) filming on site.

Looking for a unique and versatile location for a project? Let Z Ranch know about location needs, and Julia Z will be in touch. More

Nude beach, vegan BBQ: National Bikini Day

How to celebrate our American Buddhist freedoms most gloriously on this long Independence Day weekend?

First, the Boss says we have to work Friday. She's obviously never heard of rapper Kid Cudi and his "Pursuit of Happiness" because, like Project X which was filmed in Pasadena, we say F that.

• JULY 5, 2024 IS NATIONAL BIKINI DAY

Hedonism is no answer, but it's Nat'l Bikini Day.

"Independence" means taking days off when you feel like it. It was better in pagan times (according to scholar Dr. Hillman) in Europe when there were many more holy days to explore the Mysteries (initiation cults of the goddesses), when gentiles enjoyed almost as many holidays as Jews still do. We'll all call in sick and it should be fine.

And "bodily autonomy" means taking off everything down to our birthday suits if we feel like it -- if not everywhere, at least somewhere. Are we slaves to Judeo-Christian uptight morality or hippies who value personal freedoms above all things?

(DJ Chesley) Reconnaissance trip to Black's Beach, nudist California

(DJ Chesney) California's best nude beach? Vlog 1: It was Valentine's Day 2018, when DJ and Oliver decided to visit Black's Beach. It's one of the only nude beaches in Southern California. There's a better one. It is breathtakingly beautiful, mainly due to the scenery, not so much the naked people.

(Derek Sarno) Learn these vegan BBQ ideas from 2020: Plant Chef Derek Sarno takes backyard vegan BBQ to a whole new level. BBQ grilled veggie main dishes will elevate any chef's grill cookout game. Here are three grilled vegetable recipes to get started #veganchef #BBQ #veganbbq. Healthy ramen? High protein and low carb instant ramen soup: shop.immieats.com

• Pulp fiction and summertime reading ideas
• Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia
• The Zen Monkey and the Lotus Flower: 52 Stories to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Thoughts, Find Happiness, and Live Your Best Life
• 28 Bible verses that even the most devout find hard to explain
• 18 Bible verses that stir up controversy among believers and skeptics
• The Geneva Bible 1560 edition with Apocrypha: The Bible in English Complete from the Original First Print Early English Text (annotated and illustrated): Serena Bryce Nolan

Colon? Beauty's only skin deep! Don't look!

Second, with this heatwave and not a cloud in the sky, it's time to hit the coast of Santa Monica Bay. Six beaches in Los Angeles are brown flagged, meaning the bacteria levels are too high to swim in, but the secret nude beach should be fine. If swimming nude is good enough for the dolphins, it's good enough for us. (Bikinis optional with some sunbathing).

Except the perchlorate and other "forever chemicals" from the Great American 4th of July Pastime of "drinking beer and playing with explosives" has left the air, sand, and water contaminated. So we better wear N-95 masks and filter our water and pick a better beach than Hermosa (Hyperion to a Satyr) or Dockweiler.

Some dolphins ("killer whales") eat sharks | Although the Demiurge (God) giveth terrible teeth

to fish, the Great Spirit provideth wings to terrestrial beasts, so learn to fly before swimming

Careful: Dolphins and sharks bite as they hunt | Men don't stand a chance against beautiful women

RECIPE BOOK: Decolonize Your Diet

Third, how to build a clean and safe BBQ pit? We'll use real wood, burn it down to glowing embers without letting oil or juices drop into it, which creates smoke and flare ups that lead to acrylamides and other toxic formations (like soot and char) on food. Menu? Indigenous vegan dishes with Beyond Burgers (soy-free, gluten-free) and tangy BBQ sauce.

Ten Course Vegan Menu

1. HempFu (soy-free hemp seed tofu) sauteed with BBQ sauce
2. Jack-o-Molie (guacamole of avocado, Tajin, fresh lemon, serrano chilis, sea salt, cilantro/coriander leaves, cayenne pepper)
3. Salad (leafy green with tangy raw soaked seed dressing)
4. Amaranth, Mexico's indigenous staple (before corn)
5. Beyond Burgers (pea protein with avocado oil)
6. Three Sisters (beans, squash, and purple maize)
7. Salsa (tangy, spicy appetizer with lots of cilantro)
8. Purslane (verdolagas, one of the healthiest plants)
9. Mint lemonade (filtered water, ice, sweet lemons)
10. TJ's chocolate chip cookies (almond flour, coconut sugar)

Plant-based charred BBQ ('shroom burgers)

Easy vegan BBQ | Summer Feast

Meat-eater's bikini: flank, rump roast, giblets...

(The Happy Pear) July 2021: Elevate your plant-based cooking with this Recipe Club, only €2.99/month🌿 * 600+ delicious plant-based recipes * Fresh flavors: Weekly new recipes for never-ending inspiration. 📚 * Tailored: Save favorites. ✏️ * Cooking Made Easy: Step-by-step instructions for all skill levels. 👩🍳 * Connect and share: Join community and exchange tips. 💬 * Health-forward: Enjoy meals that nourish body and soul. 💚 Get ready to transform kitchen with us. 🎉 We are huge fans of eating our food outside. Even while traveling, we’d rather share fruit on the side of the street rather than sitting down inside. During the summer months we’re also HUGE fans of cooking outside. BBQing is a pleasure when the sun is shining and having people over. This recipe is quick and easy, and we can’t recommend it enough. All the best, Dave & Steve, #TheHappyPear

• 🍄Hillary's prime plants Super Mushroom veggie burgers
• What to wear? US celebrates National Bikini Day July 5th
• Where to celebrate Native American heritage in the USA
• Lissie ("Pursuit of Happiness" Kid Cudi cover); Nudist DJ Chesney; Plant Chef Dick Sarno; Dave and Steve, The Happy Pear; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen, Seven, Crystal, Jaclyn, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

L.A. Permaculture Convergence (10/13-15)

LosAngelesPermaculture.com, Zorthian Ranch (zorthianranch.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Zorthian Ranch is a non-profit organization for education and art and stuff (Facebook)

Come by the commune at the top of Fair Oaks Ave. starting from the 134 Fwy. in Pasadena

2023 Los Angeles Permaculture (@losangelespermaculture) • Instagram photos and videos

This year's Los Angeles Permaculture Convergence 2023 runs from October 13-15, at Zorthian Ranch in the foothills at the top of Fair Oaks Ave. in Altadena. For current details, see losangelespermaculture.com and Instagram @LosAngelesPermaculture. It's a weekend of workshops, featuring:

• Larry Santoyo
• Ray Cirino
• Daylan Boeken
• Pearl Kumar
• Chris Martinez
• and more: Los Angeles Permaculture 2023 (@losangelespermaculture) • Instagram photos.
  

Food is being prepared and presented by SHDY SHPRD and Elaina's Community

Easy "Balloon Meditation" explained

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Balloons over Bagan, Burma: How to learn about Buddhism (learnreligions.com)

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Trying to explain "meditation" after a long Buddhist meditation retreat of hundreds of hours of sitting is tough.

But it's about the only time one might be able to explain what happens or what's "supposed" to happen. That's because things are fresh and pre-verbal.

Once the talking (verbalizing) starts up again in the mind, concepts, assumptions, connotations, and confusion come in.

What hasn't been said before and much more cleverly?

Buddha Balloon art (Banksy)

But my mother asked me to, and an example sprang to mind, one never heard before: It could be called "Balloon Meditation."

If one were to get on a balloon laden with the weight of the world and lots of luggage (psychological baggage), one might wonder why the floating, the rapture, the blissful uplift, didn't start right away.

One is ready and gung-ho for a journey, an adventure, a wild ride into the unknown celestial spheres above mundane human experience.

One might think to make more heat, blow more hot air, or jump up and down to shake the basket.

One might well become restless on top of being over-eager (full of craving for the experience), experiencing aversion about not getting off the ground already, confused about what's not happening for all the desire one is generating for something to happen.

How high can a "balloon" go? All the way to the moon because it's really in the atmosphere.

How not to meditate

Sukhothai, Thailand (Alamy)

I sat down, strapped in (braced myself), and wished to go. But nothing happened! A wise meditation instructor might then point out a very simple thing: This isn't a plane, a crane, or other mechanical transport moved by force or combustion power.

Struggling and striving, wanting, craving, needing to go -- and getting angry, reacting, or getting confused -- will keep one on the ground and soon out of the basket. (One can overdo blowing hot air, overheating and burning up the balloon: Just enough heat is enough, let go of everything, and wait without expectations).

How to meditate

The way to go, wherever it is one might go, is very easy: Let go. Not only let go of whatever binds one to the ground. That's easy. Now do the hard part: Throw the luggage (baggage) out. Get rid of all excess weight. And as one does, whaddyaknow, it works.

• Think of "meditation" not as what one does but as what happens to us when we are not doing anything but sitting mindfully and still, dispassionate and content, full of wholesome states of mind. It's natural. It doesn't need "doing."
• It needs allowing, patience/forgiveness (khanti), and contentment (Pali santutthitā, Sanskrit santosha) coupled with the balanced effort to persist without pushing.

I did it, and now I know how others did it.

It can't be faked. One can't "let go" by appearance and hold on in secret. That doesn't work. One actually has to let go.

One can let go with the help of faith (saddha, confidence/conviction) in one's meditation teacher or the historical Buddha or the noble sangha (the invisible community of attained practitioners who followed the Buddha's instructions, most of them while not wearing monastic robes).

It's hard to let go out using reason and logic and certainty; that tends to bind one up in uncertainty, circular questioning, skepticism, and doubt.

Doubt is good inasmuch as it leads to investigation. It does no good now, sitting waiting to go. It's time to go (now), so let go (now). Allow to go. There's no need to push.

Instead, look around the basket. Let go (get rid) of all that dead weight, all that baggage holding the balloon to the ground. The balloon is enough to carry one to lofty heights but not if it's laden with cares, worries, concerns, attachments, fear, or the weight of the world on one's shoulders.

How?

Take a wider view (Buddha Doodles/Facebook)

There's a line of inquiry that might unload some of the weight or make it possible to cast off the weight we were formerly cherishing and holding onto for protection. What? Contemplating how harmful it's been, how it holds us back (in a sad attempt to protect us).

Aversion (dosa, hatred, fear, boredom, hesitation) is fundamentally an attempt to protect ourselves. Now when we don't need it, it's still here doing its job. Let it go.

Look at the harm being done by not letting go, and it may just be possible to wipe the sticky glue from the hand and be free of it. Better things are waiting.

If not rocket force and thrust from below, what will be the "propulsion"? Rapture (piti), effervescence, joy, a floaty sense of weightlessness, taking oneself lightly. It works! But it's closer to play than work. It plays! Play.

Okay, now what? We have the balloon. We have the fire. - Okay, let go. Just let go.

How to overcome wandering "monkey mind"

Talk 3: Overcoming Thinking with British Theravada monk Ajahn Brahm

(BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & Media) May 10, 2014. clearmind4me.com. With kind support for practitioners' meditation and personal development, the authors of this channel are offering a free video on "Five Steps on How to be Free from Worry," guided meditation, and workbook: clearmind4me.com.

Thinking is good, just about the best thing but not when meditating. Then it's just about the worst thing. When it gets really bad, it's called "monkey mind," pointless discursive thinking, like a monkey going from branch to branch to branch, grasping and chasing cravings, first here then there -- restlessness at its worst. There are Five Hindrances to progress in meditation (stillness and insight or samatha and vipassana) -- sensual desire, anger, lassitude-and-sleepiness, restlessness, and skeptical doubt. Thinking and thinking, it's fruitless.

Let the mind be. Let it think. Ignore it and, eventually, it will stop. So long as it doesn't stop and can't be ignored, it's torment. Try it. Here Ajahn Brahm talks about how glorious it is when we finally get it to stop. It's peace, it's blissful, it's rest. Think afterward. Think before. Think the whole rest of life, but "meditation" (stillness or insight) won't happen so long as we are disturbed -- pulled in by greed, feeling aversion (including its manifestation as boredom) by wanting it to stop already, or getting confused by ignorance manifesting as wrong view.