SEEING YOURSELF IN EVERYONE

Being unhappy with an aspect of yourself or your life is a very isolating experience. When we are dissatisfied with the way we look or feel, we disconnect from the deeper adventures that life offers. We tend to become absorbed in our own thoughts, lives and struggles. As a result we lose sight of the connection that we share with all living beings. Think about this. The same life giving energy that flows through your veins, also flows through the veins of nearly everyone else on this planet. When you are able to see yourself in every aspect of nature, you have attained true inner peace. All human beings have feelings. We feel joy, ecstasy, grief and sadness. When we cut ourselves we bleed and feel pain. Although the mechanisms of our injuries are diverse, our emotional and physical pain is the same.

This week, view everyone you meet as your own daughter or son. Instead of judging the surly cashier or belligerent client, try to see the small child that exists within them. Recognize that angry or contemptuous behavior is often a defense mechanism used to hide feelings of shame and disconnection. Instead of being alienated by a person’s rude behavior, attempt to connect with force within them that you both share. Rather than arguing or attempting to convince others that you are right or know best, strive to be compassionate. Make every effort to distract yourself and others from pain, by focusing on the positive aspects of a situation. For example, if your neighbor launches into a negative monologue about the tanking economy, instead of joining in the misery you could say “Aren’t we are so lucky to have steady employment and a fixed rate mortgage during time like these!” Write about your experiences in your journal.

Spend one entire day this week viewing all people and things in nature as if they were a part of you. When you look into the eyes of your neighbor, boss, and mother in law, see your own inner reflection staring back at you. See yourself in the homeless person on the street and the billionaire in the executive suite. Search for common ground that unites you with others instead of focusing on differences that separate you from the rest of the world. Try to remove all labels that you place on yourself. Our tendency to put ourselves in categories limits our potential and disengages us from the rest of the world. Often times the label we place on ourselves locks us in a role that no longer suits us. For example, if you typically refer to yourself as a “co-dependent” or a “a stubborn person”, refrain from doing so his week. Envision yourself as a human being, instead of a human doing. In your journal, write about what you have in common with the following individuals, a heroin addict, a millionaire, a supermodel, an autistic child and a monk. How is everyone you meet a part of you?

SPICE UP YOUR WEEKLY PASTA NIGHT

Are you looking for a fresh new pasta dish to spice up your weekend? Here's a delicious new pasta recipe for your to enjoy this weekend.


BODACIOUS SOUTHWESTERN BLACK BEAN MANICOTTI

8 large whole wheat manicotti, cooked and drained
1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup whole kernel sweet corn
4 1/2 ounces chopped green chilies, drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
15 ounces salsa
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Cook the manicotti according to package directions.
3. In a large bowl, combine cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese, corn, green chilies, chili powder and salt. Mix well. Gently fold in black beans and combine.
4. Spoon the black bean mixture into the cooked manicotti.
5. Place the manicotti in an 11 X 7in baking dish generously coated with cooking spray.
6. Cover and bake for 25 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.
7. Remove from oven. Spoon salsa evenly over the manicotti. Garnish with minced cilantro. Serve.
Yield: Eight servings

NEW BOOK

The past few months have been a very busy and exciting time. I completed and published a new book entitled Find Your Life Purpose Now: Recipes for Making Your Dreams Come True. By implementing the exercises that I created, you will increase your sense of possibilities and find the concrete strategies you need to live the life you have always dreamed about. You deserve a happy and fulfilling life, surrounded by the people and things you love most. Are you ready to uncover your life's destiny and enjoy a more satisfying, fulfilling life? Intention is a powerful tool that can create miracles in your life. For reasons that defy explanation, simply intending to change often brings about significant, tangible results. Even if you do not feel 100 percent ready to commit to your heart's desire, simply read this book and be open to the ideas it contains. Merely attempting to make positive life changes will create an energy that will cause your deepest intentions to manifest into the life you have always dreamed of living.

Here is a link to my new book on amazon.com (You can download a free sample here)

Here's a bonus!The first 25 people to email me today at Innerpeacediet@gmail.com will receive a free PDF copy of Find Your Life Purpose Now: Recipes for Making Your Dreams Come True. Good luck and thank you for your interest. Wishing you a peaceful day!

Krishna's new book is a must read

Make room on your nightstand for Krisha’s Das new release Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold. It’s an invaluable roadmap for inner peace that will remain next to my bed for many years to come. Krishna’s work offers concrete ways to bring a sense of peace and love into your everyday life and the lives of others. Although the book reads like a novel, it offers tangible advice on how experience true happiness and unconditional love in the present moment. The book also features a companion CD filled with beautiful, soulful chants that bring a sense of serenity to even the most unquiet mind. The author possesses a rare gift and his hard -earned spiritual wisdom emanates from every page. Through Krishna’s honesty, humility and life experience the reader is able to access their own divine vision and unlimited potential.

How great would your life be if you realized that everything you ever wanted to have and thought was missing you actually already possessed? If you are ready to experience bliss, this book will teach how to open your heart and live a life of meaning through the simple yet profound practice of using your vocal chords. Simply put, this book is a gift that will inspire you to keeping moving along gracefully on this journey called life.

In Memory of My Daddy

My beloved father died on July 12, 2009, after a long and courageous bout with brain cancer. This blog post is dedicated to his memory that will always live on in my heart and the countless other hearts he touched while he was on this Earth. This blog post also features a healthy omelet recipe, which my Dad would never eat, as he preferred his eggs plain and full of cholesterol.



A Hero's Journey


He sits in a blue reclining chair, his eyes shining with mischief and exhaustion. His day began promptly at five thirty this morning, just as it has every other morning for the past fifty eight years. From the moment his feet hit the floor they are in perpetual motion, each step dedicated to helping others. Selflessly, he devotes the majority of his day to assisting other people with their activities of daily living. No small feat for a survivor of a tragic childhood, four brain tumors, and a tour in Vietnam. Although he conceals it well, some days it is difficult for him to get out of bed. The tumor in his brain wreaks havoc with his balance and hearing. He is completely deaf in his left ear. Frequently, he stumbles into walls and is plagued with seizures and nausea. His head bears faded torturous scars from the three brain surgeries he has endured. There are tiny blue tattoos sprinkled across his forehead which are souvenirs from two bouts of radiation therapy. Rarely does he speak of his illness, only if he feels by sharing his story it will benefit another. The tasks he undertakes may seem mundane to the average person. However, these important gifts he freely bestows upon others are priceless. His list of good deeds is endless and clandestine. He does not believe in tooting his own horn, but rather quietly performs these tasks with no expectation of gratitude or appreciation. His list of daily contributions to others is infinite. It includes fixing toilets for widows, mowing the lawn for the wife of an imprisoned man, teaching new immigrants the idiosyncrasies of American culture, repairing the broken bicycle of a fatherless child, fixing a strangers flat tire, helping a lost, drunken man find his way home, and tutoring a failing student in chemistry. On the days when he is too ill to move about, he contributes by lending a listening ear and compassionate words to those in need. He completes all of these activities with an altruistic joy that permeates his whole being. He takes pride in making someone else’s day and is constantly on the look out of a person in need.

This joyous saint of a man in this chair is my father. Ironically, sixteen years ago my father was convinced his life was without meaning or purpose. As a well-educated and accomplished genius in the pharmaceutical industry, my father once derived his identity from his career. Much of his time was spent on business trips and tending to the needs of our family. After his second brain surgery, my father became too ill to work. The surgery and subsequent radiation had impaired his short term memory and ability to concentrate and focus. With a heavy heart, he reluctantly resigned his position after being deemed permanently and totally disabled by a panel of medical experts. The first few weeks after he stopped working were extremely difficult for him. He sat listlessly in that big blue chair, wondering what the next day would bring. He had loved being productive but sadly his body and mind were no longer what they used to be. His liquid brown eyes were full of pain and anguish. I think some days he was just waiting to die. Well-meaning friends and family, including myself, would ask him what he was planning to do with his time, as if he were on some sort of extended vacation. These questions served only to increase his anxiety. Limited by his medical condition and disability, he lamented why he was on his earth.

I do not recall any single incident that arouse my father from the slumber of his hopelessness. Rather, it was an insidious series of events that made him clearly see the path of his life’s journey. Perhaps it began when my father received a teary late night telephone call from a former colleague whose seventeen year old daughter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Without a moment’s hesitation, my father went to this young girl’s bedside to offer her words of comfort and inspiration but most importantly, truth. My father became like a man on a beach with a metal detector in pursuit of buried treasures. Everywhere he went, he sought out to identify a human need and fulfill it. It seemed as if disadvantaged people were placed directly in front of him by a force of divine intervention. An elderly man standing in the middle of the road bleeding. A single mother with a dead battery in the parking lot of a convenience store. My father’s eye once gain became bright pools of light and inspiration. He discovered something that is available to us all if only we can silence our minds to hear the divine calling.

As his sits in the recliner the pearls of wisdom roll of his tongue. “I spent a long time wondering why I was here and why I have survived.” He murmurs deliberately “Now I know that I am here to help others on their journey.” And from his a small offering of words I learn a vast lesson. Do not spend the majority of your time and energy contemplating your life’s mission and purpose. Your purpose on earth is more readily discovered when you increase your awareness about what is going on around you and seek to help others. Put simply, just be, do what it placed in front of you and turn the rest over to God.


Italian Egg White Omelet

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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

4 egg whites

1 tablespoon green peppers -- diced fine

1 tablespoon red peppers -- diced fine

1 tablespoon black olives -- pitted and chopped

2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese, part skim -- shredded

1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced


Combine peppers, basil, and black olives in a small bowl.

Separate egg whites from yolk. Discard yolks and whisk egg whites.

Spray skillet with vegetable oil spray and heat on stove on medium high heat.

When pan is hot place veggie mixture in and cook for 1-2 minutes

Pour egg whites into skillet. Cook for approximately four minutes stirring

constantly. Sprinkle with cheese. Cook for additional minute or until cheese is melted. Fold onto plate and serve.

CONNECTING WITH EVERYTHING THAT SURROUNDS YOU

Being unhappy with your life's circumstances is a very isolating experience. When we are dissatisfied with the way we look or feel, we disconnect from the deeper adventures life offers. We tend to become absorbed in our own thoughts, lives, and struggles. As a result, we lose sight of the vital connection that we share with all living beings.

Learn to see yourself in everyone by responding to the following questions in your journal or out loud.

1. All human beings have feelings. We feel joy, ecstasy, grief, and sadness. When we cut ourselves, we bleed and feel pain. Although the mechanisms of our injuries are diverse, our emotional and physical pain is the same. How is your personal pain similar to the pain of a billionaire or a homeless person?

2 This week, view everyone you meet as your own daughter or son. Instead of judging the surly cashier or belligerent client, try to see the small child that exists within her. Recognize that angry or contemptuous behavior is often a defense mechanism used to hide feelings of shame and disconnection. What do you notice when you observe other’s behavior in this way?

3. Rather than arguing or attempting to convince others that you are right, strive to be compassionate. Make every effort to distract yourself and others from pain by focusing on the positive aspects of a situation. How does it feel when your let go of your need to be right or be in control of every situation?

4. Spend one entire day this week viewing all people and things in nature as if they were a part of you. When you look into the eyes of your neighbor, boss, and mother-in-law, see your own inner reflection staring back at you. What is the common ground that unites you with others?

5. Try to remove all labels that you place on yourself. Our tendency to put ourselves in categories limits our potential and disengages us from the rest of the world. What labels do you place upon yourself and how do these roles lock you in a position that inhibits your personal growth?

6. Write about what you have in common with the following individuals: a heroin addict, a millionaire, a supermodel, an autistic child, and a monk. How is everyone you meet a part of you?

YUMMY VEGGIE NOLA NACHOS

Here is a delicious, easy to prepare recipe that is a definite crowd pleaser. If you like this recipe , you will love our book The Inner Peace Diet, just published by Penguin. Wishing you a peaceful and happy weekend!

YUMMY VEGGIE NOLA NACHOS

1 package Boca meatless Vegan Sausage
Cajun seasoning to taste
1 (10 ounce) bag all natural tortilla chips
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup low fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small red onion, diced
1/3 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 TBS jalapeños, minced
1.5 cups canned organic red beans, rinsed and drained


1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Prepare Boca Italian sausage according to package directions. Season with Cajun seasoning. Arrange the tortilla chips on a large, oven-safe platter. Scatter the cheese, red, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and beans. over the chips in layers. Take care to divide evenly.

3. Bake in oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve and enjoy with friends!