Day 3: Good morning Mr. President (by Spencer)

Nov. 7 2009
The ARMS DOWN Conference opened with an address from the President of Costa Rica, Mr. Arias. A former Nobel Peace Laureate, and one of the creators of Disarmament for Development, President Arias’ words were touching as he told a story of Buddha and his experience of a world of suffering and poverty outside of his palace. President Arias related Buddha’s experience to our responsibility to take action to improve our world. Later we spoke with his secretary, and arranged a short meeting with President Arias before his motorcade’s departure. During our meeting, President Arias was encouraging and interested in what we shared with him regarding The Art of Living and the opportunities for a partnership in his country to work on social projects. He advised us to set up a meeting with the Director of his Foundation to discuss the details. The president complimented us many times on how much he loved Montreal, in particular its cuisine. We are definitely men cut from the same cloth! After a quick presidential photo op we were back in the conference, focusing on the topic of the day, Nuclear weapons. What is their status in the world? What are the repercussions of their use? Most importantly, what can we do? As we broke into our afternoon sessions, ready to learn more, my body let me know that there was a less important but much more urgent priority. The water in Costa Rica was not as friendly as I had hoped.

Day 2: Exploring the Rich Coast (by Ralph)

Nov. 6 2009
Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast”, constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index. The country is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index. In 2007 the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the greenest country in the world. [sources from wikipedia].

How should we spend our first day before the conference begins Spencer and I wondered at the 1^st hour of Friday morning? After careful research and detailed planning in the hotel lobby, juggling between Spanish and English with the front desk clerks, we decided that the best way for us to explore this rich coast was by renting a car and driving to the Pacific Ocean. And that's how we were on our way to Jaco Beach 10 am Friday morning.

The seasons in Costa Rica are quite interesting. Winter is the green season where it usually rains every day in the evening or night and is very sunny and hot during the day. The temperatures vary between 13 and 27 deg C.

We got ourselves a Diesel Toyota Corolla, apparently all cars in Costa Rica run on Diesel. The drive was magical. Never had I expected to see such beautiful, vibrant, lush and diverse exposition of mother nature. Spencer practiced his Spanish by asking Costa Ricans on the side of the roads how to get to “Plaja Jaco”, or “Placo Jaco”, or “placa Cajo”. To his surprise people could not always interpret this mysterious lingo. To our luck there was no high way to take us from San Jose to Jaco Beach, so we had to drive through the mountains and the narrow roads through farm villages and numerous waterfalls. Up to the top of a misty mountain then again down the valley, then again up to the top of another. We were awe stuck and the only 3 words coming out were WOOW, AMAZING and I’M HUNGRY. So we stopped many many times to the side of the road to buy fresh tropical fruits and ate along the way, or should I say Spencer ate along the way while I was rally driving this stick shift Toyota across the Costa Rican Mountains.

Although the ride to the beach was a phenomenal adventure, our final destination was even better. Jaco beach is the most popular surf town in Costa Rica. Since San Jose is quite far from the beach, time had only allowed us to stay at the beach for 1 hour. Spencer went and got his Surf Board! And there he goes to ride the waves! As for me I enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear ocean watching surfers riding the waves. I even got my first surfing lesson that day!

Global Youth Initiative for Disarmament and Shared Security Conference in Costa Rica (PART 1)

Nov. 5 2009
Spencer and I were both very fortunate to have been chosen by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to attend The Global Youth Initiative for Disarmament and Shared Security Conference in Costa Rica between Nov. 6 to 9 2009. The Conference brought together youth representing the world religions to work together for an arms free world and a shared future. Here are some of our experiences.


Day 1: Depart Montreal for Costa Rica! (by Spencer)
Nov. 6 2009
We were off to Costa Rica and the excitement was building. What adventures awaited us? Who would we meet? What would we learn? It all awaited us at the equator. Ralph was stuck in a meeting and ended up running late. After hoping in a taxi and arriving at the airport, he realized he had forgotten his wallet at home. After some swift taxi driving and a hefty fare, he made the departure with enough time for us to speak with his brother, Chris, a full time teacher in Jordan. After a live tour of the newly established Jordan Center, courtesy of Chris's Mac book, it was time to board the plane.

Ralph used his ingenuity on the plane and found innovative way of making new friends by exploding ceaser salad dressing not all over himself or the passenger next to him but by sending a Tsunami of sauce on a Mexican gentleman sitting directly behind him. I still have no idea how the physics of that work but something told me the gentleman had other things on his mind. After the laughter stopped Ralph smoothed things over. He gave him his salad. Ha, kidding. That being said, the food was good, and the decent was impressive. Mexico city seems to never end at night. White and yellow lights cover the landscape straight to the mountains. Even some mountains have not been able to escape this overflowing city, as the city creeps over their peaks.

Upon our arrival in Costa Rica we were treated like kings. Ricardo from the Arias Foundation greeted us, sped us past the line through customs, and chauffeured us to the hotel, it was time to end the day and get some rest.

SPEAKING TREE | Celebrating Devi, The Divine Mother

By Bhanumati Narasimhan

The Divine Mother Devi is the womb of all Creation. She is the seed of all dynamism, radiance, beauty, equanimity, peace and nourishment. She isthe life force energy.

The Divine Mother has unconditional and infinite love for Her children, that is, every being in entire Creation. During the nine nights of Navaratri, Devi is worshipped in all Her names and forms each of which has a special significance. We remember a sandalwood tree by the memory of its perfume. Each name and form of
the Devi refers to a specific quality or attribute of the Divine. By remembering the form or by chanting the many names of Devi, we enliven those qualities in our consciousness and they manifest in us according
to the need.

Navaratri is a journey from the outer world of names and forms to the subtle world of energies, invoked through the various yagnas. The first three days celebrate the Devi in the form of Durga. Durga also means hill. A very difficult task is often described as an uphill task. The goddess is depicted as riding a lion or tiger,   alluding to the aspect of courage and valour, the essence of Devi Durga.

The Nava Durga symbolises the nine aspects of Durga-energy that act like a shield to ward off all negativities. When you have obstacles and mental blocks, just remembering these qualities of the Devi can help you overcome the mental blocks.

As Mahishasuramardini, Durga is the destroyer of Mahisha. The word mahisha means buffalo, a symbol of lethargy and inertia. These are the qualities that impede the spiritual and material progress of an individual. The Devi is a storehouse of positive energy and any trace of laziness or inertia dissolves in Her very presence.

The second set of three days honour the Devi as Lakshmi. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Wealth is a vital ingredient bestowed upon us for maintenance and for progress in our life. It is much more than just having money. It means abundance in knowledge, skills and talents. Lakshmi is the energy that   manifests as the complete spiritual and material well-being of a person.

The final three days are dedicated to Saraswati. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge. She gives the essence, the Sara of the Self, Sva. She is often depicted as being seated on a rock. Knowledge, like
a rock, is a steadfast support. It stays with us at all times. She plays the veena, a musical instrument whose mellifluous notes bring harmony and peace to the mind. Similarly, spiritual knowledge brings relaxation and celebration into life.

Saraswati is the ocean of understanding and the consciousness that vibrates with different types of learning. She is the source of  spiritual light, remover of all ignorance and the source of knowledge.

The Devi is offered flowers in a multitude of hues and fragrances like jasmine, hibiscus, lotus, lilies and roses. From outer beauty, as we turn our focus inward and are soaked in the divine attributes, our consciousness flowers.

Navaratri is a time of celebration of both inner and outer beauty, a time to give thanks to the Divine Mother Devi for her love and protection, guidance and understanding.
Navaratri begins today.

(The writer is director, Women and Child Welfare programme, The Art of
Living Foundation.)

Hundreds of youth gathering to take an oath for change!

Featuring

Papa Groove

Montreal, May 14^th2009 — Hundreds of youth (18 to 30) will gather at Kola Note on June 9^th 2009 for a momentous event of mega proportions! These youth will take an oath for change… a change for a violence-free, stress-free and corruption-free society.

The featured artist is Papa Groove and two other supporting bands, Élie Haroun and Mathieu Lippé. The YES!⁺ Fest’09 will be held at Kola Note, 5240 Parc avenue (corner Fairmount), from 7:00pm – 1:00am June 9^th, 2009.

An event hosted by YES!⁺ Canada, YES!⁺ FEST ’09 is a celebration of a global movement of youth. Uniting Canada’s premier charitable organizations, environmentalists, and leaders with emerging musicians, YES!⁺ FEST ’09 will be an extravaganza of youthful energy, optimism and commitment to individual and global transformation. This occasion will bring together hundreds of youth and raise awareness to the YES!⁺ movement that has been growing exponentially in the international community.

Our Mission:

With a world in crisis, economies in turmoil, and dreams of peace ravaged by poverty and war, a new generation awaits to inherit many challenges. It is time for us all to uplift ourselves and experience the boundless creativity, knowledge, and festivity that we know is possible in our daily lives. YES!⁺ FEST will be the springboard that will mobilize Canada-wide participation for this cause.

All youth leaders or youth aspiring to be leaders in their lives are cordially invited! Bring your friends too!

Recap of the event:

Where: Kola Note

When: June 9, 2009 7:00pm – 1:00am

Why: For an oath to change society!

Who: YOUth!

Tickets: http://yesplusfest.ca/ ($20) / [514-554-6797]

Tony Tinawi's Famous Oatmeal Recipe

By Tony Tinawi...

This month I received 3 fan-mails and none of them were about how handsome I am, how smart I am, how nice I am, how funny I am, how great of a YES!+ teacher I am, nope, looks like people these days are not so impressed with any of that stuff. All 3 fan mails were about how much they love my oatmeal!


The emails go something like this:
"Hi Tony, I really miss your oatmeal, I love your oatmeal, I have dreams about your oatmeal!!! Oh by the way, how are you?"

Now in their defense, I do make the best oatmeal on planet earth. <--period I even got Swami Sukhchaitanya hooked on oatmeal. No joke, he's been having it every day for breakfast for at least 6 months now. If you know Swamiji like I do, you probably realize how impressive that is! So, to my current and future oatmeal fans, here it is at last:

Tony's Famous Oatmeal Recipe:

1) ADD OATS
Natural oats, not the kind from a packet that's pre-flavoured, pre-cooked, and loaded with sugar. That later kind should be saved preciously in your gun cabinet and used on anyone you want to kill on the spot.

Get organic oats. You may think I'm being a little paranoid but my friends at Monsanto, have confirmed that their plans to completely destroy the planet are well underway and I figure we should at least give them a good run for their money!

Finally, don't get the quick 1-minute oats. Those things are pre-cooked. You want the joy of cooking them yourself so they can cook with all the right spices and get all the right flavours. Don't go to the other extreme and get those huge rolled oats kind that take weeks to cook and months to digest! Remember, middle path....always.

Finally the oatmeal boxes generally suggests 1/3 cup of oats per person. 1/3 cup is sufficient to feed a Smurf! Since most people make oatmeal that tastes like cardboard 1/3 of a cup is probably all you would want anyway. But with this recipe, you will actually enjoy and you WILL go for seconds. I would recommend 3/4 to 1 cup per person.


2) ADD MILK

To my vegan friends who get offended by dairy, notice I didn't say you had to add Cow's milk. I simply said milk! So it can just as well be soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc. When I was in Halifax recently we mixed goat's milk, almond milk and rice milk and it was delicious. So be creative. And yes, if you get cow's milk, it will be nice if your milk is organic and your cows are relatively happy.

READ CAREFULLY: This is the step where most people go terribly wrong!
Most people cook their oatmeal with water! Tsk Tsk Tsk. If I catch you doing that, I will come and smack you with that wooden spoon you were going to use to stir the oats. You can put 2/3 milk 1/3 water but that's the max as far as water goes.


3) ADD STUFF

Start with my secret ingredient that makes any oatmeal taste delicious: fennel seeds. They go in first because the longer they cook, the tastier the oatmeal.
Then add a dash of salt. Just a dash hein, it's not dahl!!
Add chopped almonds. If you don't have chopped almonds, here's an awesome tip: take almonds and chop them....you lazy North-American!!
You can add other quality nuts too like walnuts, pecan or cashews but please do me a favor, leave the bird-food out: no sunflower seeds, no pumpkin seeds!

Add raisins to make it sweet. Some people like to use dates instead. That's great if you're legally blind. Otherwise you will find that dates disintegrate into a mushy paste that reminds you of less pleasant things you don't want to see in your morning breakfast bowl. So stick to raisins, they don't disintegrate and will make your experience a lot more pleasant. Color and presentation is important!


4) ADD SWEETNESS

If you want to be true to Tony's famous recipe: Maple Syrup! Don't compromise on that!
Alternatives: Brown Sugar, Honey, Stevia, Succanat....all these are ok but I guarantee you, they won't give you the same "AHA!" moment when you taste the oatmeal for the first time.
Absolutely no white sugar, and if you add honey you should add it afterward. My Ayurveda friends say you should never boil honey. Besides, there are much better things you can do with your honey. Look at me, I married mine!


5) TUTTI FRUTTI!

Add fresh chopped peaches, pears, apples, bananas, grapes, pineapple, the more fruits your throw in, the less sugar you need to add and the tastier and more colourful your oatmeal becomes.


Heat stove at 2/3 of max and stir. Continue until oats are cooked. Serve it hot, not too hard, not too liquidy....remember middle path! Eat right away, while still hot.


Enjoy and let me know how it goes!
Big hug,

Cancer Update from John Hopkins

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from John Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9 When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supple ments like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a20survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply t o the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk cause s the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains,seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels wit hin 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.

Dioxinchemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.

This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.