The Only Really Good Stuff is at the Store

"Like most people visiting Asia, I have experienced the constant dripping of a rain of epiphanies during my stays.  One of these occurred on a trip to Northern Thailand, as I was standing on the edge of a new friend’s yard.  I admired the grove of towering bamboo that edged her garden boundary, in a row so straight I could have marked it off with a piece of thread, with not a single trace of bamboo growing out into the road. 

‘How do you do that?’ I asked her.  ‘How do you keep the bamboo from growing all over the place, outside of your yard?’

‘Well, that’s easy,’ she replied.  ‘Everyone knows how good bamboo shoots are in their dinner.  The minute one shows its head outside of my garden, someone takes it home.’

‘Oh,’ I said, ‘In Canada we hack down the bamboo and throw it in the bushes and buy bamboo shoots in a can at the store.’

But that is what North America is all about.  We have been trained that if it is right in front of our face (e.g. free, accessible) it is somehow inferior, and that the only really good stuff is at the store." (Food Security for the Faint of Heart: Keeping Your Larder Full in Lean Times, by Robin Wheeler, pg. 95)

In North America, the lives are many people are those of abundance. Most North Americans living now have only known good times. Sure there have been some difficult times, but they didn't touch everyone and were soon forgotten. And so we believe the past is forever behind us and the future will be an ever-increasing expansion of technology and scientific developments. 

Our distant ancestors were hunter-gatherers. Our more recent ancestors were farmers. What are we? Consumers. We do not grow food. Nor do we know the wealth of food in the wild that surrounds us.  What we do know is "charge it."  And freezers and microwaves so we can eat the artificial convenience food we charged at the supermarket.

We pride ourselves on being educated and not needing to get our hands dirty as our ancestors did. We believe the good times will go on forever. And we push the past even further away.

We do not live in a sustainable manner because we believe dominion over the earth gave us the right to plunder it. We do not do without so there will be something left for future generations. We are living in a tiny bubble of unprecedented prosperity that cannot be sustained, because we are using up the world's resources.

We are hacking down the bamboo, throwing it in the bushes, and buying bamboo shoots in a can at the store.

Timing is Everything

One day I was doing prostrations in my dorm room. The session was fairly long for me and I felt wonderful. As I left the building to go to the main building, I saw another nun. She approached me, looked at me for a second and announced that she had something to tell me. She admitted that, actually, she had had something for a few days but was afraid it would make me angry. (I know nuns are not supposed to become angry but this is still samsara.) She proceeded to tell me her news, and I smiled and said no problem. She was very relieved and we happily walked together to the other building.

To say something to others, we need to find the right words AND the right time.  

Confessions of a Budding Locavore

 

For the past several months I have been going to the farmer's market in Goshen, the town just south of here. This past Saturday I went for my bi-weekly shopping. I live in an area that is next to one of the largest Amish areas in the US. There are also small farms scattered around the area so there is enough food grown even in winter to enable the market to stay open year round.

I could buy the food cheaper at a supermarket, but it wouldn't be the same food. The salad mix I bought from Kate who runs Sustainable Greens, which is just over the state line in Michigan, was picked the day before. Her micro mix is an assortment of spicy greens that adds a wonderful bite to my salads. I also got fresh asparagus from the Amish woman who I have been buying sweet potatoes from. A few months ago, I bought some hulled black walnuts from her. She cautioned me to be careful as they had been hulled by her elderly mother. (The walnuts were perfectly hulled without a trace of a shells.) She doesn't have any more sweet potatoes now, but I got some beautiful locally grown ones at the Maple City Market, the food co-op in Goshen.

Before leaving the farmer's market, I also bought some locally made cheese and fresh radishes. The tiny baby carrots (natural ones not the machine-produced ones sold at supermarkets) were not available this time but I had bought two batches last time and delighted in their colors and sweetness. I still had some eggs from the farmer who assured me he had no roosters so his free-range, naturally raised chickens only gave infertile eggs.

At the co-op I also bought Trader's Point Creamery raspberry yogurt. Located in central Indiana, Trader's Point's cows are pasture raised and are not given artificial hormones or antibiotics. Nor does the creamery use pesticides or artificial fertilizers on their land. The yogurt is wonderful and comes in glass bottles that are ideal for storing other foods when empty or for recycling.

I can't get greens like this at the supermarket. Or asparagus. Or raspberry yogurt.

At the supermarket, I can't talk to the farmers and ask how their food was raised. I can't buy dairy products secure in the knowledge the cows and chickens were raised humanely, and the land was treated with respect and in a sustainable manner. I can't buy food that was picked the day before at the height of its taste and food value, and which traveled not 1500 or even a few thousand miles, but merely ten or thirty or a hundred miles. I can't experience the joy of seeing that a favorite food is now in season and relish the taste made all the more enjoyable by its rarity.

But at the farmer's market and co-op, I can.

I can talk to the farmers. I can buy food raised for taste, not for its ability to travel great distances. I can eat dairy products knowing the animals were raised with care and respect. I can enjoy local foods knowing the land they grew on was carefully stewarded, not plundered until it was worthless. I can chat with the people standing next to me as we wait our turn to make our purchases. I can drive home, relaxed and happy in the knowledge that I did my very best to  "do no harm."

Hatred is a Poison

"To take revenge on trouble-makers is only to create more problems and disturbances. You must realise that negative feelings and hostile actions could only bring harm and suffering to both you and the trouble-maker. In order to take retaliatory action, you have to harbour intense hatred in your heart. This hatred is like a poison. Since the poison is initially in you, surely it will harm you before it can harm anyone else. Before you throw a blazing iron at another, you get burned first. Your action merely goes to show that there is no difference between you and your opponent.

By hating others, you only give them power over you. You do not solve your problem. If you become angry with a person who simply smiles back at you, then you will feel defeated and miserable. Since he did not cooperate with you to fulfill your wish, it is he who is victorious."

"We can live happily without fanning the fires of hatred. Perhaps you may not be strong enough to extend compassionate love to your enemies; but for the sake of your own health and happiness and that of everybody else, you must at least learn to forgive and forget."

~ Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda

Forgive and Forget

Think you can’t do it? Or that the person doesn’t deserve it?

Recently, I was talking to a woman who owns a small company. A successful businesswoman, she is also an accomplished Buddhist. How so?

She told me that an employee embezzled some funds, a considerable amount of funds. When a third-party discovered what had happened, they contacted the police and the employee was arrested. The police asked the business owner if she wanted to also press charges. Asking if it was necessary, the police said no because the third-party had already done so. The case was clear-cut and the evidence complete.

The businesswomen said she’d prefer not to press charges and then asked after the welfare of the embezzler. As you can imagine, the police were taken aback by the business owner’s unruffled demeanor and concern about someone who had stolen from her.

Why did the business owner react this way?

She told me she must have owned the employee from a past life, so hopefully the debt was now re-paid.

If you think this is a Pollyanna reply, please reconsider.

What good would getting angry have done? Would it have gotten the money back? Would raising her blood pressure have made her feel better? Would testifying against the former trusted employee have made her happy? Made the situation disappear?

Getting angry would have caused the business owner to suffer physically and karmically. She knew this because she understood cause and effect. She understood the situation. The embezzler had been stopped. Seeking revenge through testifying would have prolonged any upset the owner had felt. Letting go of the desire for revenge through understanding and compassion, she was not suffering from this betrayal of her trust and friendship. She was able to quickly move on. She was again busy helping others through her Buddhist activities and looking after the interests of her clients who depended on her.

I have spoken with many people who cannot let go of their anger and wish to get even. I have also spoken with people who understand causality and have been able to let go. I have seen the results of both approaches to adversity. And I admire and respect those who can let go and move on for they are truly happy.