V for Vendetta

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Dorena

V for Vendetta portrays an aspect of spiritual development that is frequently overlooked and rarely embraced. In many traditions, both Hindu and Buddhist, there are fierce deities that perform the job of removing obstacles. Two such fierce babes are Kali and Ekajati (Blue Tara). Some of the many obstacles that these two remove are complacency and deep seated fears and addiction.

If that little bit of wine you take at dinner every once in awhile keeps you comfortable and not growing spiritually, then they can create circumstances that turns that into a devastating addiction. Or if your great job and comfy home has lulled you into inaction, Kali or Ekajati will be glad to take that job away for you.

In V for Vendetta Natalie Portman, our lead star, has suffered from anxiety most of her life, probably due, in part, to losses she experienced as a child. Then through torture and trial she overcomes the greatest fear (fear of death) and becomes free. It might have been thought she did not have what it would take to withstand her circumstances and stay in integrity, but she did. And through her strength of will she tapped into an even stronger and more eternal sense of self.

It is when we lose attachment to things and then finally ourselves that we achieve true freedom. As long as we are acting from fear of any sort we are chained. As my favorite quote of the week says:

…swept along on four fierce river currents, chained up tight in past deeds, hard to undo, stuffed in a steel cage of grasping self, smothered in the pitch-black ignorance.

Je Tsongkapa (Three Principle Paths)

Natalie’s liberation came because of a choice she made. Eventually, due to that choice, and the actions that followed she was able to realize a cessation of fear. This absence of fear (a major mental affliction for many of is) means that she actually realized a greater truth about who she is.

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Tooth Decay

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dorena

It doesn’t look like much, but here is a close up of the gold inlay filling that just “fell” out of my mouth. It was put in about 20 years ago.

I’ve been losing parts of my teeth over the years. I used to have quite a reaction to this. I’d get all worried and desperate. This time after only a moment’s perturbation, I wondered if it fell out because my teeth were beginning to regenerate and no longer needed it. I was quite pleased with the thought.

Here is a picture of the space left behind. Doesn’t look like much, but it feels like a huge gap. The low area has a sharp ridge to it that I keep running my tongue across. You can see that next to the hole where the gold inlay was is a mercury amalgam filling from my childhood.

I Space in tooth left behind when gold inlay fell out. (November 1, 2014) Notice an older mercury amalgam filling remains in the tooth.

So what am I going to do? I decided right then that I was going to stop and reverse any tooth decay. This motivated me into action. I immediately went online and googled “How to heal a broken tooth naturally”. That lead me to a blog site and then to this book: Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition. I’m still studying the problem and solution, but it seems that what I need to do is eliminate phytic acid from my diet. There are a lot of testimonials on Amazon about how effective this diet is.

The book also goes into the rationale behind the diet and talks about holistic dentistry. I was especially interested in the author’s opinion regarding mercury fillings since I have several from childhood. Actually, the author is not opinionated at all. He gives the facts, explores the pros and cons, and lets the reader decide on a course of action. I’m still in a wait mode when it comes to removing the fillings. I think I have a mercury resilient phenotype.

My diet is pretty close already to the one recommended. In addition, I was already gearing up to eliminate my favorite sugar source, dried fruit, because I thought they might be causing cravings. However, dietary changes can be challenging, so I decided to call my mom to fortify my motivation.

I asked her, “Mom, how much have you spent on dental work in the last couple years?” Well, last year she bit into a dried mango and the tooth her bridge was attached to broke. That was $5,000 to repair. The year before she had gotten extensive restoration work done to the tune of $12,000.

$17,000. That was good enough for me. I do not want to spend $17,000 on my teeth. She also has osteoporosis, a condition that would also benefit from the dietary changes I was considering. Further, changing my diet is alignment with my idea that I should eat to live, not live to eat.

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Grape Leaf Skeletonizer

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Dorena

I know the “Grape Leaf Skeletonizer” sounds like the perfect ghoul for Halloween. Indeed, this unwelcome trick-or-treater did come dressed in the most fabulous costume.

I was outside arranging my grape vines and enjoying the cooler weather when I came upon these lovely caterpillars. They are Grape Leaf Skeletonizers (Harrisina metallica). Despite their beauty, they are unwelcome visitors to my garden. (Especially since I spent the summer picking caterpillars off my defoliated passion vine.)