Ice Cream And The Zen Experience

 

This afternoon while traveling back from shopping for that food stuff I often purchase from my former employer Walmart, I heard a fantastic interview on NPR, our local National Public Radio station.  From atop the hill in the White Mountains the interviewer was speaking with Dan Robertson a scientist that has recently published a couple papers on food that are good to help cut the possible effects of type 2 diabetes.  Fortunately I am a little out of the norm even though I'm a larger than average American Male of a respectable age, that is over 60, I don't have any signs nor precursors to pre-diabetes or the other.   I attribute this fact to the daily routines that I've established for myself.  That is, every day in an early, some would say insane time, I arise clean up and begin practicing my daily regime of Qigong, Taiji Quan, and TuMo Gong Fu.  Three practices that I have attained a high level of mastery due to a life long love of the martial arts and the esoteric practices of my culture.  I get a fairly good work out 6 days a week.  I always take one off for the natural physical healing processes.  So, my health is over all pretty darn OK. Even though  I might look "larger than life."  I'm also fairly deadly.  That's also a side effect of continued practice.  

What Dr. Robertson was saying is that he's discovered that Ice cream is actually good for you.  It' attributes to the lowering of the blood sugar levels.  He quoted from another paper that was published on similar subjects about the daily consumption of yogurt.  Dr. Robertson actually stated that ice cream may be 10 X's better at lower blood sugar levels than yogurt.  It has to do with the specific fats in dairy products that amalgamate around the sugar molecule keeping our bodies from absorbing them.  Kudos.  

Being a fan of the occasional Ben and Jerry's bing, I am a happy camper.  Makes me sort of want to climb to the roof top and scream to the heavens, "Hail, Hail Rock and Roll, Ice Cream Is Good For You!"  So far I have managed to refrain from to much of an emotional outburst.  Another side effect of my chosen daily practice.  My blood pressure is normal right around 110 over 60...  So for a Fellow of a respectable age, I'd say that's pretty darn good.  

So because of the NPR programing my day has reason to be a success.  We should all Be Happy.

"Hail Hail Rock And Roll Ice Cream Is Good For You."

Peace and Balance,

John

Delusion or Reality?

 What is reality?  We're taught that reality has to do with the ability to touch, smell, hear, taste, and see something.  Our senses are supposed to be the predeterminer of what is real or not real.  But, what is reality, really?  

A scientist is going to tell you something is real if there in empirical evidence that it exists, and if that evidence exists can it be tested and retested to make the realness concrete.  Assuming the test passes and your existence becomes real, what about the things you, "think" are real verses what you have just tested?  Let's say you have a memory of something that happened in childhood.  It happened you remember it.  It's formed the synapsis in your brain that tell you it was real, but it doesn't fit the perimeters we learned as we grew up.  You just, "know" it was real because you remember the experience, you have that tactile recall that say's Its real.  Can it be tested scientifically?  I'm not so sure it would pass the scientific method.  After all, it's all in your head.

We have the ability to create things.  We are artists, engineers, and a multitude of others,  Who's to say we can't create with our mind the perimeters for the memories stored there.  Wouldn't that make us gods?

I recently watched a Ted Talk with a philosopher that has determined that our realities are our own self created perception of the universe around us.  We create reality as we see fit to fit the mold that we have programed into our own process.  He was saying that we are all hallucinating to a certain extent, that reality was a self created delusion from our mind to make sense of the stimulus we are receiving from outside our perception.   Boy that's a scary thought.  That would make us all 100% responsible for everything we do, and or anything that is done to us.  Therefor Karma is not what comes around, but the energy we actually put into the event causing the Karma.  Karma is the reflection of our self created realities.  Could be...

So, what is reality, really?  I guess in order to truthfully and completely answer that question an amount of concentrated practice in the art of thinking is in order.

Peace and Balance,

John