Saturday, April 30, 2011

Hungry Yet?

So, apparently there's quite a few Raw bloggers out there. I subscribe to a few but it usually all runs together. The internet's all grown up now. Seems like only yesterday I was looking at green text with a Dos operating system. My, how time flies. Food's all grown up too. Not too long ago, organic was organic and you could trust the farmers. Well, those days are close to over. Planting seeds, of all kind, has become quite a hot-button issue.
It's not really my place to constantly criticize the commercial agriculture machine. I'm a big boy and I understand that everyone's out to make a buck, well not everyone, but most people. If conspiracy theorists are right about all this doom and gloom, will you know how to get food when the shit goes down? If ATMs aren't functioning and all the food is rotting in supermarkets, do you have a plan? I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a clue. When I was on a plane last month and mid-flight they "ran out of food," I was the only one on board with an avocado and a tomato. Guess who ate guacamole while children behind me cried? I wish I'd had 300 avocados and 300 tomatoes. It was pretty grim to say the least. We're the only culture that grows food, locks it up, and then makes ourselves work to buy it back from ourselves. Daniel Quinn clearly pointed this out but why don't more people question this hypocrisy? It's as if we've given up. Just imagine for a second that all resources were shared. Totalitarian agriculture works for Monsanto and no one else. Tom Vilsack is a chicken hawk and people are beginning to see that. Special interests and revolving doors in D.C. are literally making us sick to our stomachs.
I've been searching for something lately. I'm hungry in a way that I cannot even begin to describe. Hungry for the truth. The raw truth, however unsettling it may be, is out there. It's also inside. All I ever really wanted from this blog was to publicly acknowledge all the bullshit that goes on in my head. If people get something out of it, great. If you write this off as mental fodder, great. It's not about me all the time, it's really about you. There are thinkers, and then there are doers. What are we going to do about it? When are we going to realize that the Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth? Don't give up, no matter what. As a great band once said, choose your Heaven or be content to live in Hell.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Struggling in the Raw

Staying Raw has been a struggle. Trying to figure out how often, if ever, to eat a cooked Vegan meal has been a real challenge. My life is in a bit of a transition right now. I'm trying my best to get out to CA to do something different with my life. Plans change, and mine change a lot. That's the nature of impermanence. This blog has been my therapy. I can bang away on the keyboard and get it all out. And by out, I mean for the whole world to see. Holding back is not in my nature.
Clearly, being a Raw Foodist is difficult. It's simple, yet not at all normal in mainstream society. I think people want to be healthier, but don't know how. A multitude of distractions make for unthoughtful meal choices. Everyone's trying, in their own way, but it's easy to get down on yourself. Maybe some people truly don't care. It's easy to give up and surrender to the standard american diet. That's a real shame though.
I've always wanted nothing more than to help people. I give myself away every moment of the day. It's not money I'm after, it's happiness. That starts with a Raw foods diet. Our current system is leading us away from all the wisdom we once had. For example, my generation's grandparents knew how to grow food and be self-sustained. What a sad state of affairs we're in today when companies like Monsanto feel they can patent seeds. You cannot patent life. Our government is more corrupt now, than at any other time in our history. Look at what the World bank and the U.N. do around the world. This is a global resource war and our food is a major factor. Money HAS to be taken out of the equation, in a Venus Project sort of way.
The Essene tribe was Raw. Jesus of Nazareth was a member, maybe you've heard of him. The Buddha was Raw as was Leonardo Da Vinci. Not bad company if you ask me. Those were some pretty good teachers and artists. The Raw Truth by Jeremy Safron is such a great source, which is where I learned that bit of information. There's a great line in there that says "The truth doesn't need to be proven." Here here.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

We Are Risen

The journey is the adventure. The destination is completion. This is a very linear way of thinking. I'd like to think of things more like this: The circle is spinning in its cycle. Being that it's Easter Sunday in a lot of Western households, it's a great moment to reflect on our own cycles. It's a great metaphor for inner light and transparency. I've been battling myself for quite a while now. I'll let you in on a little secret: It's Exhausting! 
Raw and Living foods has, at times, spun me out of control and, other times, into perfect balance. Such is life. Having some cooked organic grains a couple times a week has been my saving grace. As long as it's Vegan and healthy, I have no issue with eating Asian and Indian cuisine. What I will always stay away from, is gluten and tofu. I'm not a huge fan of being binded up with glue and mucus. 
My mind and body have pretty much served as a biological and culinary science project for the last six months. My spirit, on the other hand, is unshakable. I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. I investigate everything, with great skepticism. I go to great lengths to critique my own understanding of this Earth, its inhabitants, and the Universe as a whole. I've given you, the reader, a glimpse into my own undoing and subsequent rebirth via diet and lifestyle change. I've nothing to offer anyone and I expect nothing in return.
In the Daniel Quinn sense of the word, I am a Leaver. To co-exist in this culture is emotional and social suicide. When everyone and everything is healthy, organic, and taken care of, including and especially the homeless, maybe I'll stop blogging. Until then, expect fierce resistance in every sense of the word. I am not angry. I am not bitter. I am not scared. We have a responsibility to do better. We are risen, right here, right now. May love and peace conquer all.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Abiding in Equanimity

Yesterday I was reading an anarchist zine that had a great piece about legitimacy and our place in it. It begs the question: How legitimate is a Raw Vegan lifestyle? It's different things to different people. My hope has always been to bring everyone together under the unifying tent of togetherness. Maybe I'm naive, but maybe not. Has our culture become so fractured and despondent that an idea like that is laughed off? If the whole world went Raw and Vegan would we live in a Utopian society? Probably not, for there will always be adversities to overcome. It sure would fix a lot of what's currently wrong with the planet, but not everything. There's still that pesky capitalist "free market" system to deal with.
Listen, I wasn't born yesterday. I'm pretty well-versed in the ways of the world. But the question I pose to you, dear reader, is this: When are we going to get our collective shit together? I include myself as well. This is the dawning of a new age, a Zeitgeist, if you will. What can we do right now to get ourselves and the ones within close proximity to eat a fresher, cleaner, and more compassionate diet? If you can start there, a whole new world opens up.
Can we move past our differences for the greater good? I'm doing my best to annihilate my ego. It simply doesn't fit into my new consciousness. While Buddhists may appear complacent and muted, they are true spiritual warriors. If Jesus was a liberal than Buddha was punk-rock. He was also the only spiritual teacher in history not claiming to have supernatural powers. He questioned the state of things, including himself. Just like Christianity, it's his flock that devalue the message. Ignorance is the true evil of any point in history.
Let's move to a place in the conversation where we feel our thoughts and actions are legitimate. There's nothing attractive about someone who's given up. True wisdom and love can conquer the world.
Until....

Sunday, April 17, 2011

I Wasn't Born With Enough Middle Fingers

Well, it appears I'm back. Soul searching on a times 10 frame of mind is something I've grown accustomed to being Raw. Everything's in fast forward most of the time. Fugazi has a line in a song that says "When people are catching, what farmers release; I'm on a mission, to never agree." Those are words to live by my friends.  I'm living in defiance of the status quo in a way that actually improves the quality of my life. I'm pissed off about a lot of things. How does the expression go? If your not outraged, you're not paying attention? Yeah, that's the one.
I get it out through insight meditation. As much as it helps my clinging attachment, it makes me feel a very engaged brand of compassion. I can no longer subscribe to false prophet preaching. These are not end times. Everything is pretty okay in a lot of ways. That impending sense of doom they market to us sells a lot of books but it's simply not true. I refuse to grow into a scared, bitter old man. I'm open and fearless. If I seem all over the place, it's because that's when I thrive! "Crazy" is a dismissive word used when someone's not understood. Well, if I can relate this to you, the reader, and you can relate it back, then that's not delusion, it's reality.
I feel pretty good about how my life is progressing. It's now the six month mark on my journey to give a middle finger to the establishment through lifestyle change. It actually started when I was 13 and I discovered punk rock. I'm still that 13 year old kid singing along to Bad Religion and the Dead Kennedys. Though now I'm 32, fierce and educated in the ways of the world. It starts, surprisingly enough, with a healthy diet. After you have the clear comprehension and clarity of mind associated with feeling empowered and in control of your food choices, you can truly do anything. "Bring it on" is my new mantra. We're responsible for how we feel. We're responsible for taking charge of our current predicaments. Every meal is a step towards feeling better or worse about yourself. Join me in saying "Fuck You!" to places that sell and grow GMO's while claiming to have sustainable integrity. This is our food we're talking about. Let's take the power back before it's too late.
Over and out....

Monday, April 11, 2011

You Are Elated

As I finished my morning grapefruit, I pondered something crucial. "I'm eating to live, not the other way around." Raw and Living foods has transformed me. I feel more primitive, more whole. I realize my place in the ecosystem in a profoundly deeper sense. I've become pro-active in my life, as opposed to reactive. This blog has kind of been all over the place lately, as have I. That's all changing. A calm is beginning to wash over me. I'm not sure if balance is the right word for it, more like spiritual transcendence. Words are not as important to me. As Jeremy Safron said: The truth doesn't need to be proven.
Life is rich and abundant. Six months into a 90+ Raw Vegan lifestyle and I'm still learning so much, but in a more refined manner. The obvious subject matter is well cataloged, sometimes to a fault, within these pages. Us versus Them is actually I. I am. We are. Nothing more, nothing less that's left to discuss. The idle chatter of a suffering mind is painstakingly clear to those around me. To quiet the mind is like moving a mountain; difficult yet not impossible. I've had enough of the struggle, the grasping, and the clinging. I'm sincerely letting go. Ajahn Chah said if you hold onto a bird too tightly, you'll smother it; too loosely, and it flies away.
California is calling. I'm ready to begin the begin. Organic food, landscape, and culture abound in Santa Cruz county. For the time being I intend to enjoy my life in North Carolina. Winston-Salem is my home. I have so many dear friends and loving family here. It's bittersweet. I know it's going to be hard to leave, but it's even harder to stay. Buddhist dispassion is all about non-attachment though. Some say it's cold,  I believe it to be a tool of basic survival. Just like the food we put in our bodies everyday. Fondness and joy are all anyone needs. In an effort to balance out the quality/quantity ratio of this blog, I'm going to focus on some other things in my life for a change. I'll have more to say when I have more to say. Here's hoping we all have more to say.
Much love, much respect....

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Santa Cruz, California

It's been decided. We're moving to Santa Cruz in late July. I'm not a tourist, I'm not a nomad. All the health food stores and organic food growing there will be a constant reassurance that even if the big one comes, we'll be just fine. The elevation of the high cliffs that outline the Central Coast will provide safe haven in the event of a tsunami. When we visited the local shops and grocery store a few weeks ago, we felt strangely at home. I'm ready to get there, embrace it, and blend in. Buddhists temples are all around. The way I see it, I have nothing to lose.
My body and intuition has been very kind to me lately. I'm running like a well-oiled machine. I've been trying to tone down my rhetoric as of late. I've been known to be a loud mouth from time to time. Sometimes it works in my favor, but I think it rubs a lot of people the wrong way as well. It's no fun being a one-dimensional Raw Vegan punk. There are many sides to Eric Wheeling. I'm learning to embrace my Italian roots. I'm not full-blooded but I feel that side more and more the older I get. I'm passionate, stubborn and giving. The Scorpio side only intensifies that. I'm not blaming my wins and losses on my heritage, but it does explain a lot.
I'm ready to wipe the slate clean. Begin the begin as R.E.M. said. Today is open to so many wonderful opportunities. Liz made some amazing kale chips which I matched with stuffed peppers last night. Simple, easy food that keeps us alive. What more could I ask for? I'm doing my best to spend time with my friends before I move. I've been pretty busy and I have a lot to take care of before we leave. If you live in NC, hit me up before the end of June. I would love to see everyone at least once. I'm doing my best but I need you to meet me half way. If you have my number, I'm just a phone call away. If we're friends on Facebook, message me.
I know exactly what I'm going to do in Santa Cruz but cannot share it yet. Some things are private. The support I've already received has far exceeded anything I could've imagined. Who knew me typed so pretty?

Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Yin and Yang of Raw Veganism

Hello all. I hope this finds you well. I've been trying to balance my Raw Veganism as of late. Figuring out how Raw to be is a wonderful opportunity to re-evaluate your body, mind and spirit. I feel pretty comfortable at 90 percent. The cooked food my body personally needs is organic whole grain or brown rice and the occasional indulgence of steamed veggies. I'm learning how to not be 100 percent anything. I've been so firmly rooted in my own bullshit for so long that I didn't even know. I largely attribute transcending the mundane details of human existence to Superfoods. Mother Earth makes everything we need, we just have to find it. I think it's possible to get too far out there. If you're partaking of deer's placenta, something's up. Everything's not a product to be sold and consumed.
The one exception I'm allowing myself, in regards to 100 percent, is Veganism. Consuming animal products, while natural to some, truly repulses me. The way our culture has subjugated this planet is indefensible. We are but one species on a planet with finite resources. We have almost reached the point of no return. Only love can save us now. Love for ourselves, our fellow sentient beings and every other living thing that doesn't have a heartbeat.
Rooting myself in the present moment is a task worth pursuing. We are all creators in our own moment. As I type I realize how much I'm capable of creating. Thoughts lead to words, words to action, action to character. So take a step back from your present situation and envision your place in it all. As a friend reminded me this week, "wherever you go, there you are."