Leave a taste of winter walking    frozen leaves piled sidewalks
    they fold softly under my feet
the rustle of pantlegs n cold air
        softer than I'd thought turning the thought backwards
softer than I'd imagined    they fold in turning frozen sunlit
    angles r angels fallen frm spring trees

n now they lay encrusted frzen spring
        (th nviroment the lectric books written last hemisphere bout was talked about
                   s n d back f my head)

unexpected, its soft a delight unexpected
        more than frozen air, diff to breathe the sun comes through
            which is softer expectations f spring

sidewalk shuffle
   I walk its good
       winter cold
the sun is out
       leaves

Today is the New Moon in Vishaka Nakshatra. Vishaka, ruled by Jupiter, is the triumphal arch ruled by Indragni - the combined deities Indra and Agni. This Nakshatra is created by the four stars that make up the scales of Libra and sits from 20^o Libra to 3^o20' Scorpio. It is in this arc that the Moon is debilitated.Scorpio.

What does it mean for the Moon to be new in its place of debilitation? And in the Nakshatra of the Triumphal Arch?

From the online <a href="http://students.washington.edu/prem/mw/n.html">Monier Williams dictionary</a>:

nakṣatra

nákṣatra n. (m. only RV. vi, 67, 6

• prob. fr. √nakṣ, cf. nakṣ dyām, i, 33, 14 &c.) a star or any heavenly body

• also applied to the sun

• n. sg. sometimes collectively 'the stars', e.g. vii. 86, 1 RV. &c. &c

• an asterism or constellation through which the moon passes, a lunar mansion AV. &c. &c. (27, later 28, viz. Śravishṭhā or Dhanishṭhā, Śata-bhishaj, Pūrva-bhādrapāda, Uttara-bhṭbhādrapāda, Revatī, Aśvinī, Bharaṇī, Kṛittikā, Rohiṇī or Brāhmī, Mṛiga-śiras or Āgrahāyaṇī, Ārdrā, Punarvasū or Yāmakau, Pushya or Sidhya, Āśleshā, Maghā, Pūrva-phalgunī, Uttara-phṭphalgunī, Hasta, Citrā, Svātī, Viśākhā or Rādhā, Anurādhā, Jyeshṭha, Mūla, Pūrvâshāḍhā, Uttarâshṭāḍhā, Abhijit, Śravaṇa

• according to VarBṛS. Revatī, Uttara-phalgunī, Uttara-bhādrapāda and Uttarâshāḍha are called dhruvāṇi, fixed

• in the Vedas the Nakshatras are considered as abodes of the gods or of pious persons after death Sāy. on RV. i, 50, 2

• later as wives of the moon and daughters of Daksha MBh. Hariv. &c

• according to Jainas the sun, moon, Grahas, Nakshatras and Tārās form the Jyotishkas)

• a pearl L.

Flurry of leafs
    n
a    flurry of leaves

go coming    go         saying hello
n collecting stopping water         flow n  rain
        the rush of traffic n
city streets       the flow of                   n the flow
            of  
    lives leading
their own
        preciousness each
        momentness

bubbling over drains over flow    into spray
    as traffic like angioplasty
n homeowners with
                 preconceived lawns
haircuts dried dreams n lists
    meals purchased
    mals n other sadness

stomach rot n stagnation
    but you go, you leave
    but you come, you enter
each n we all the centers

where d swirl f activity    mistaken fr activity
movement each moment n
        flurry s blurry furry
            sound of
breath d        pulse f blood
river        s colder now

sun s farther
    low n
bent over

n coming the going
    finally        s
ok

byehello

I laugh as the moon rises
    blood - hot with sake - is
       flowing, alive

September already,
    the months begin to fly
       as the years come on
       and I learn to
                            savor life

-----------------------------------------

Bright Moon
       White People
             Portland

-----------------------------------------

Laughter, spilled sake
    you - what a beautiful
          Harvest Moon

-----------------------------------------

Rabbit or human
    there is something
       alive - the moon

-----------------------------------------

Chatter, plastic chairs
    downtown lights
Nothing hides
    this beauty

-----------------------------------------

There is no thought
    about this or that
    just the sword of life
          slicing each moment

written at the Japanese Garden during the moon viewing this year.

Srivatsa Ramaswami:

"During the early years, Sri Krisnamacarya used to quote often from the Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni, many of which quotes I noted down. For instance, he quoted the following passage to emphasize the importance of finding means for contraception and family planning (mita santana). This sloka, Pasasanam yoganidra garbhapindanca bhadrakam | Matsyendrasanakhyete, sarva garbha nirodhakah, mentions the asanas (noose posture, yogic reclining posture, fetus posture, auspicious posture, kingfish posture) that prevent conception."

by way of Alan Little's blog. The original text is from Ramaswami's "Yoga for the Three Stages of Life".

I've been thinking of rice quite a bit lately and while reflecting on the yamas and niyamas today, I came across this article on the announcement last week by the US Department of Agriculture that US commercial long-grain rice supplies are contaminated with a genetically altered rice that is not approved for human consumption. I couldn't find mention of this contamination at the agency's food recall list but did find this press release. Several countries have banned US rice because of this, including Japan and the EU. You might note that the recall list is almost entirely consists of meat items.

Currently, the USDA depends on countries to self-regulate the testing/use of genetically altered foodstuffs. The agency was not aware of the contamination until Bayer alerted them. There is a short press release on the Bayer CropScience website here. The agency is not aware of the extent of the contamination in US supplies which makes up 12% of the world's rice trade. The GE rice is known as Liberty Link 601and is desigend to resist herbicides. Sigh.

There is a lot of crap that US agribusiness is doing around the world and in India. Vandana Shiva is one activist who has been tirelessly working on self-sufficiency there and currently heads Navdanya. I didn't mean to get into the politics of rice... but I will mention what a friend of mine once told me about GMO. Her thoughts were that altering the genetic history of the plant destroys the connection the plant has to the elders - this lineage that stretches way back to the beginning. I'll leave it at that.

The reaction to this reminded me of sutra I.33 of Patanjali:

The mind becomes purified by the cultivation of feelings of amity, compassion, goodwill and indifference respectively towards happy, miserable, virtuous and sinful creatures.

The use of the word "sinful" is problematic in this translation but in this instance if I view the actions of Bayer/USDA as sinful, it is important to keep in mind that, indifference does not mean apathy or non-action.

I meant to write more on Indian rice varieties but I'll save that for next time. In the meanwhile, you might want to check out The Center for Food Safety and The Organic Consumers Association.

The end of the light foods listed in chapter 5 of Caraka Samhita are the following meats:

Kapinjala = partridge
Ena = deer/stag
Sasa = hare
Sarabha = a kind of deer
Sambara = a large Asian deer (Cervus unicolor) with the male having strong 3-pointed antlers and long coarse hair on the throat

I think there is an assumption here in the west that meat eating along with intake of other "unsavory" goodies is frowned upon in Ayurvedic thought but just a little investigation finds that meat and liquor are considered healing foods.

From an article on the medieval social life of Kannadians from kamat.com:

Though a sizable population was vegetarian due to Jaina or later Virasaiva influence, a number of meat dishes described by Somesvara indicates that the nobles and the royalty were predominantly non-vegetarian. Contemporary commentaries of Vijnanesvara and Apararka on the Dharmasastras allow the use of meat under special circumstances [31]. The Agni Purana says, 'A man suffering from any sort of wasting disease should take special care to improve his appetite, and take essence of meat every day whereby he could get rid of his malady.'

Regarding meat-eating, A.L. Basham writes: 'Medical texts, even of a late period, go so far as to recommend the use of both meat and alcohol in moderation and do not forbid the eating of beef. It is doubtful if complete vegetarianism has ever been universal in any part of India, though in many regions, it was and still is practiced by most high caste Hindus [34].

The Agni Purana advises a brahmacharin (celibate) to refrain from eating unwittingly beet-root or garlic or from drinking wine. He was to avoid cakes, sushkala (dried fish), krisara (khichadi or milk with rice and pulse), partridge flesh and thickened milk... Flesh of five-digited animals such as porcupine (sallaka), iguana (godha), rhinoceros and tortoise was permitted; that of other animals was prohibited [83].

Intoxicants were considered the luxury of the nobility and the fighting castes. The Kashmiri port Kalhana mentions that king Lalitaditya's legionaries, while marching in the South, got rid of their fatigue by sipping coconut wine in the cool breeze of palm trees on the banks of the Kaveri river [90]. The Agni Purana classified wines of grape, sugarcane, palm and coconut sap, besides madhavika, tanka madhavika and maireya. Lavam sura, krishna sura and paishthi were liquors, the last being highly intoxicating [91]. The Manasollasa adds wines of palm (talimadya), coconut (narikelasava) and date (kharjurasava) to the list. The methods of brewing, these are also described [92]. Marco Polo found palm-wine delicious and says it inebriated faster than grape wine [93].

There is excellent ayurvedic information on rice at: http://www.agri-history.org/pdf/R-r.pdf, from which all the information below is taken.

Charaka writes:
Sali (or Shali) rices mature in winter ahve the following effects: cooling, tasty, causing slight flatulence, somewhat sticky, nourishing, semen augmenting, and diuretic.

Sali varieties: Raktashali (red), Mahashali (large and fragrant), Kalama (thick stem), Shakunarhita (curved), Turnaka (quick maturity), Deerghashuka (long awned), Panduka (yellowish), Langula (tall ?), Sugandhika (fragrant), Lohawal (red), Shariva (pointed ?), Pramodaka (fragrant), Patanga (resembling grasshopper/locust ?), and Tapaniya (golden or maturing in hot weather) are all excellent shali (rices maturing in winter) rices.

Raktashali (red) was claimed to be the best. It quenched thirst and corrected humoral (three body humors: vata, kafa, and pitta) imbalance. The next best were Mahashali and Kalama; the rest
were rated lower.

Shavak (barley-like), Hayana (golden), Panshu (dusty), Vapya (oblong), and Naishadaka (from Nishadha country, i.e., modern Kumaon hills) were also considered shali rices having similar but inferior properties to the above.

Shastika (60-day) rices were considered cool, tasty, and rectifiers of humoral imbalance. White rices of this group were the best. The next best was a dusky one.

Vrihi rices matured in four months [maturity in the Sharad (October–November) season].These were either white or red (Patala) grained. Vrihi rices, though tasty, were claimed to increase hyperacidity as well as frequency of excretion.

Susruta, who pioneered plastic surgery, also wrote a treatise and mentioned several varieties of rice. Some names were common.

Shali varieties: Lohitaka (red husk), Kardamaka (growing in slimy soil), Panduka (yellowish), Sugandhaka (fragrant), Shakunarhita (curved), Pushpandaka (resembling ovary of flower), Pundarika (white), Mahashali (large and fragrant), Shitabhiruka (cold
sensitive), Rodhrapushpaka (red), Dirghashuka (long awned), Kanchanaka (golden husk), Mahishamastaka (resembling buffalo head), Hayanaka (golden), Dushika (rice resembling pencil), and Mahadushika (?).

Shastika varieties: Shastika (60-day), Pramodaka (fragrant), Mahashastika (large seed, 60-day ?), Kedaraka (from mountains), Pitaka (yellow grain), and seven others, which were probably not rice but some other short-duration crops.

Vrihi varieties: Krishnavrihi (black), Jatumukha (freckled), Nandimukha (shape like bullock face), Lavakshaka (curved grain ?), Twaritaka (early rice), Kukkutandaka (oval), Paravataka (small, oval), and Patal (red).

All shali varieties were considered “strength-giving”, shastika varieties astringent in taste, and vrihi varieties were considered astringent and sweet.

First rule is- Follow the Government
Second rule is- Be nice to mommy
Third rule is- Don't talk to commies
Fourth rule is- Eat kosher salamis
From Commando by The Ramones