Japan's Love Hotels

Unlike the dank motels where Americans allegedly seek anonymous sex, Japan's love hotels are playful and unapologetically sexual. Photographer Misty Keasler shows the humor, desire, and even the loneliness of these empty rooms. Though I have no idea if they are as sexually charged as Japan, love hotels are fairly ubiquitous in Taiwan. Some offering a private garage to discretely

Alejandro Jodorowsky: Psychomagic

The shaman, Jodorowsky, expounds on his revolutionary psychological breakthrough. The symbol facilitates healing with depth.

"The psychological mechanism that transforms energy is the symbol."

-Carl Gustav Jung

We can use the symbol for many purposes. We use it to create the future, dicipher the present, and heal the past. When we have done the healing work, we become more centered in the present, giving us leverage on creating the future that we desire.

Jodorowsky makes a priceless contribution to the human understanding. I wish we had him sooner.

Pt. 1 of 6:

Avocado: The "Buttery Pear" of Eternal Life

Have you ever gasped in awe at the beauty, flavor and aroma of the avocado? It resembles a dark pear with tough skin. Pull the skin back to reveal a soft, green glowing fruit that promises the sun, moon, and stars in the palm of your hand. It has seen a growing trend amongst shoppers in America in the last ten years. Vegans, vegetarians, and raw dieters praise the avocado for its protein, fat and whole nutrient content, but what about it is so special about it? First of all, if you haven’t partaken of this holy food of the Peruvian “Testical Tree” (because you live under a rock), go and buy one immediately. When choosing avocados, check for firmness as they ripen off the vine. If you want to eat one immediately, they should be moderately soft but not mushy. I recommend cutting it in half, a little salt and pepper mix it together in the skin and eat with a fork. I can only describe the taste as “nature’s ice cream”. In fact, the shape and fat content of the avocado can be likened to that of an egg, and can be used in ways that the egg would be used: ice cream, sauces, flavor, fat.



An avocado is actually a green fruit, and not only is it a fruit, it is an oily berry. The oil of the fruit is mostly monounsaturated fat and easy to digest and burns slowly. The fat content allows the individual to absorb five to ten times the amount of carotenoids out of a salad than without. Carotenoids are fat soluble nutrients such as beta carotene and lycopene. Without the presence of fat, we absorb these nutrients in a much less efficient manner. The fat is also known to lower bad cholesterol, clearing the arteries of the heart and lowering the chance for disease. (http://www.healthymuslim.com/articles/kdgzz-adding-avocados-to-salads-aids-absorption-of-nutrients.cfm)

Most nutritionists state that Americans do not get enough green foods in their diet. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the number one leading cause of death in America for men and women. The link between green foods and a decrease in heart disease has been established by many medical researchers. "The mechanisms through which vegetables and fruits protect against heart disease are likely multiple," says Dr. Kaumudi J. Joshipura of Harvard University (http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Eat-greens-to-have-a-ever-green-heart-235-1/). Green foods are high potassium, vitamin K, folate, fiber and other nutrients that are known to have a direct effect on heart disease and multiple types of cancer.

The research of others, and my own observations, have brought me to the conclusion that foods are much more than fiber and vitamins. I believe their shape, color, and feeling tell much more about their symbiotic relationship with humans. For my final project in college I was to build a website that demonstrated everything that we had learned in our web design class. My web page was going to be dedicated to foods and learning how they relate to and support various energy flows in the chakras.

The information that I gathered would be based completely on speculation, without much evidence. I found that this task was much larger than I had anticipated since there was so much to understand about the vibrational nature of the fruits and vegetables on our planet. I was pleased to find some discoveries over at Ezra Sandzer-Bell’s blog, HOWMusick (www.quantumlodge.org/ezra), which again sparked my interest in the pseudo-subject. Here is an example of one of Ezra’s Illustrations:

This is an excellent example of practical synchromysticism at work. Nature is speaking to us from every corner of our perception. My theory is that the colors of foods speak for which chakra they support. We know that the heart chakra is green, and we need green foods as a major part of maintaining a healthy heart. What other foods with specific color have an effect on the chakras?

Goji Berries are raging onto the health food scene. They originate in the Himalayas and art known to contain some of the highest amounts of anti-oxidants known to any fruit, surpassing blue berries, pomegranate, oranges, etc.

Upon first observation, the berry appears a deep red. This would tell us that it supports the base chakra and everything that energy is used for. The red chakra grounds or roots us in this reality, so that we may maintain stability. The goji berry contains 19 amino acids including the 8 essential proteins needed for life. It is packed with trace minerals and vitamins and a good candidate to cover all the needs of the physical self in this reality. Anyone who has ever soaked goji berries in water will notice that they start to bleed orange. I would guess this is because they are a greater source for beta carotene than carrots. If you have ever enjoyed a glass of raw, unfiltered goji juice, you might have noticed the similar taste to a strong carrot juice. What does this say for the sacral chakra? Many venders rave goji as the new Viagra. While these claims are unproven, my personal experience is that they improve overall sexual function and libido. I already have a somewhat high libido, so I’m not the best test subject but other testimonies have divulged the same sort of information. It could be that the highly complex polysaccharides offer an overall energy boost that works its way up the entire chakra system, lending most of the energy to the lowest chakras.

Applying these same principles to the avocado, I believe that the Universal consciousness has introduced this fruit at this time to resonate the energy of humanity closer to the vibration of unconditional love. Dr. Len Horawitz has claimed that the exact center of our visible spectrum is the vibration of a love song that the creator sings to emanate creation. The center of our color spectrum is green, resonating around 528 terahertz. When we see the earth from above, the first thing that we notice is the color green because this is the color of life.

Dr. Horawitz has stated that listening the frequency of 528 hz will have a major impact on the overall vibration of being. As we begin to “attune” ourselves to this frequency, our hearts will send out that signal to be picked up by other individuals that we come into contact with, communicating unconditional love.

This is the true “green movement”. A movement towards unconditional love disguised as an ass backwards attempt at cleaning up pollution and having a handful of respect for the living being that is our planet. So eat avocados in your salad if you want to save the planet.

One Last Message...Love

According to the Urban Monk, the blogosphere is coming to an end. If I had just one last post, what would it be? What would I want to leave as my legacy?

Love... wide and deep, infinite and all-encompassing.

Paradox of love is that the more I give it to others the more it seems I have received... Even if you give love and it's not returned, your brain fills with serotonin, a hormone of well being. The giving of love brings well being.

Power of love is expressed in actions and not just words. For instance, if I show grace and mercy to an enemy I gain more than I can through revenge. Though another person's intentions toward you may be bad, and causes cortisol to fill your brain, you can begin to turn that around by finding a new solution...a "where to from here" approach as you walk away from it and start afresh. For example, Terry Waite, a journalist held captive in Lebanon forgave his captors for taking away five years of his life. He resumed freedom with new vigor rather than stewing in the juices of wrongs. When cortisol fills the brain, it takes years off your life and leaves you susceptible to disease.

Celebration of love brings people together in ways that spills happiness to all. In events such as the first words, the first steps and smiles to graduation, marriage and career to the way we choose to face our final days to bless others around us demonstrate how powerful love is in our lives. These celebrations fill us with serotonin a hormone of well being.

Love for people in the wider world If you're fearful of people unlike you or if you hear rumors about groups of people, ask what you can do to change your assumptions about others since they're likely not true. Many volunteer to care for the wider community.

For instance, I belong to Rotary, which I joined because I want to give "service beyond self." Many Rotarians help meet needs of people in the inner city. I work on a camp board that provides a camping experience for special needs children. By participating in these activities and others, our fears of others soon vanish and we build new respect for many people in the community. Through gifts of Rotarians, polio has virtually been eradicated across the world. Rotarians "build good will and better friendships."

Love for the Natural World We've inherited a very beautiful world. We demonstrate love the natural world by being a good steward of what we received. In this way, we share that bounty with future generations.

The Message of Love a contemporary rendering of the Bible from the original languages by Eugene H. Peterson, provides the goals I have and they reveal the true nature of love in very majestic language...

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure int the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

To love well takes a whole life's journey and I keep learning more! But be a little easy if I slip up and I'll do the same for you!

Cody McKibbean tagged me as part of the Blog Apocalypse meme. If you want to participate in the Blog Apocalypse meme–Urban Monk will give $500 to charity!! Anyone who wants to participate is welcome–just link to my post here, and link to this page that tells you all about the Blog Apocalypse meme.

STEP ONE
The blogosphere is ending. No more blogs. Blog apocalypse. The Internet is still working, the world is fine. But you can’t write anymore. Write your last post. Make it a good one. What is the reason you blog? What is the last gem of knowledge you want to leave? What do you want to be remembered for? Who are you? What is the meaning of life? Haha…well not exactly but you get the point. Pour your heart into it.

I'm tagging Mike Sansone, Liz Strauss, Rob Watts, Starbucker and Ellen Weber because I'm curious about what they'll develop.