La montaña y el árbol.

Debemos aprender de la montaña a dedicar todo esfuerzo al servicio de otros, y hacer del bienestar de otros la sola razón de la existencia. De igual modo, como discípulo del árbol, ha de aprender a entregarse al servicio de  los demás. 

Las grandes montañas soportan ilimitadas cantidades de tierra, las cuales, a su vez mantienen innumerables formas de vida, tales como los arboles,  el pasto, los pájaros, los animales y muchas otras. Las montañas, además, derraman copiosamente ilimitadas cantidades de agua cristalina en la forma de cascadas y ríos, y esta agua le da vida a todos. Hemos de aprender el arte de sustentar la felicidad de todas las entidades vivientes estudiando el ejemplo de las montañas.

De modo similar, uno puede aprender excelentes lecciones de los arboles piadosos, los cuales ofrecen innumerables beneficios, tales como sus frutos, sus flores, su sombra refrescante y sus extractos medicinales. Incluso cuando se derriba un árbol, éste no protesta sino que continúa prestando servicio a los demás en la forma de leña, casa, o muebles.

Así pues, uno ha de volverse discípulo de tales arboles magnánimos y de las entregadas montañas. Aprender de ellos y de sus cualidades.

Un Poema de Juan de Dios Peza.

Quien no recuerda ese momento en el que te dan la noticia de que es el momento de recitar un poema. A mí me sorprendieron en la secundaria y aun recuerdo que fue un tedioso proceso. Y no dejo de serlo hasta que llego a mis manos el poema “Reír Llorando de Juan de Dios Peza”. 

Hoy comparto ese poema con ustedes.



Reír Llorando!

Viendo a Garrick, actor de la Inglaterra,
el pueblo al aplaudirlo le decía:
Eres el más gracioso de la tierra y el más feliz.
Y el cómico reía.

Víctimas del spleen los altos lores,
en sus noches más negras y pesadas,
iban a ver al rey de los actores
y cambiaban su spleen en carcajadas.

Una vez ante un médico famoso,
llegose un hombre de mirar sombrío:
-Sufro -le dijo- un mal tan espantoso
como esta palidez del rostro mío.
Nada me causa encanto ni atractivo;
no me importan mi nombre ni mi suerte;
en un eterno spleen muriendo vivo,
y es mi única pasión la de la muerte.

-Viajad y os distaeréis. -Tanto he viajado
-Las lecturas buscad -Tanto he leido-
Que os ame una mujer - ¡Si soy amado!
-Un título adquirid -Noble he nacido.
¿Pobre seréis quizá? -Tengo riquezas
- ¿De lisonjas gustáis ? - ¡Tantas escucho!
-¿Que tenéis de familia?...-Mis tristezas
-¿Vais a los cementerios?... -Mucho, mucho.
¿De vuestra vida actual tenéis testigos?
- Sí, mas no dejo que me impongan yugos;
yo les llamo a los muertos mis amigos;
y les llamo a los vivos mis verdugos.

-Me deja- agrega el médico -perplejo
vuestro mal, y no debo acobardaros;
Tomad hoy por receta este consejo:
sólo viendo a Garrick podéis curaros.
-¿A Garrick ? -Sí, a Garrick...La más remisa
y austera sociedad lo busca ansiosa;
todo aquel que lo ve muere de risa;
¡tiene una gracia artística asombrosa !
-Y a mí me hará reir?-Ah, sí, os lo juro !;
él, sí, nada más él...Mas qué os inquieta?...

-Así -dijo el enfermo -no me curo:
¡Yo soy Garrick ! Cambiádme la receta.

¡Cúantos hay que, cansados de la vida,
enfermos de pesar, muertos de tedio,
hacen reir como el autor suicida
sin encontrar para su mal remedio!
¡Ay ! ¡ Cuántas veces al reír se llora!..
¡Nadie en lo alegre de la risa fíe,
porque en los seres que el dolor devora
el alma llora cuando el rostro rie!

Si se muere la fe, si huye la calma,
si sólo abrojos nuestras plantas pisa
lanza a la faz la tempestad del alma
un relámpago triste: la sonrisa.

El carnaval del mundo engaña tanto;
que las vidas son breves mascaradas;
aquí aprendemos a reír con llanto
y también a llorar con carcajadas.

La Tierra

“Toda persona sensata, aun cuando sea hostigada por otros seres vivientes, debe de comprender que sus agresores están actuando en vano, pues se hallan bajo el control de Dios. Y así no se verá nunca distraída del progreso a lo largo de su propia senda. Esta es la regla aprendida de la Tierra”.

La Tierra es el símbolo de la TOLERANCIA. Por medio de profundas perforaciones, explosiones, contaminación ambiental  y destrucción, la Tierra se ve constantemente hostigada por entidades vivientes. A veces, la superficie de la Tierra queda inundada por la sangre de soldados que luchan en ella. No obstante, a pesar de todas esas perturbaciones, la Tierra continua proveyendo las necesidades de los seres vivos. De este modo, uno puede aprende el arte de la TOLERANCIA estudiando el carácter de la Tierra.

Medita sobre la tierra y lo que ella vive día a día desde sus inicios, y aprende de ella a tolerar, no solo tu situación, pero también la de los demás. Comprende y respeta. 

Tolerar:Resistir sin daño. Soportar, admitir o permitir una cosa que no gusta o no se aprueba del todo. Respetar las opiniones, ideas o actitudes de los demás, aunque no coincidan con las propias. Resistir y aceptar.

The Five S's to Wine Tasting

See:
Pour about an ounce of wine in a clear, stemmed glass; hold the glass by the stem. Raise your glass in front of a white background and tip it slightly away from you. Check for clarity and brilliance. If the wine is dull and cloudy, something is wrong. Next, note the color and intensity of its hue. These two factors change as wine ages and are often clues to its condition and quality. As white wines age, shades of light straw with hues of yellow change to tones of full straw and gold. As red wines mature, their purple or violet tones first become ruby, then brownish-orange.

Swirl:
Grasp the glass firmly by the stem with one hand. Gently swirl the glass so the wine laps up the sides of the glass. Observe how the wine trickles back down. The clear tear-like streams on the side of the glass are called "legs". The thickness of the legs will give you a clue as to how full-bodied the wine is. For the next step, swirl the wine again to get the most concentrated smell of the wine.

Sniff:
Now raise the glass to your nose and sniff deeply. Your nose will tell you about 75 per cent of what you want to know about a wine. An experienced taster can detect and distinguish hundreds of smells - and so can you. The majority of these smells are everyday scents. All it takes is practice.

Sip:
Take a good sip. The taste of the wine in your mouth should confirm what your nose already told you.

Savor:
As you swish the wine through your mouth, your taste buds will note the presence of fruit, acidity, and alcohol. If tannins are present, your cheeks will feel an astringent puckering sensation, as is often the case with red wine. (This is the same way your cheeks feel when you drink a strong cup of tea.) The tip of your tongue will detect the wine's degree of sweetness, something your nose cannot do. Check for a balance of all the tastes you sense. Now swallow and savor the taste. The longer the taste stays in your mouth after swallowing, the higher the quality of the wine.

Enjoy!

Everything's Not Lost

The last day of September of 2010 for me "the day of all disasters"

A rainy-dark day, full of stress, adversity and affliction. The day I simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally a blue day. By noon I was already begging for the day to end. I ate fast food for lunch at my car followed by a stomachache ache, plus a ruined schedule and a lot of disappointment. 

And when I thought nothing else could happen and nobody would ever change my day and all those hours of misery. I saw something wonderful and in a second everything changed to an extraordinary beautiful day.  

This...

Greek eggplant and spinach quiche

A few weekends ago I had a dinner party and one of the favorite dishes of the night was the "quiche". Here is the recipe so you can enjoy such a delectable meal.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 13 ounces shortcrust pastry, thawed if frozen
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 eggplant, sliced into rounds
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 6 ounce spinach
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups brown long rice or wild rice
• Salt and black ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line 10 inch tart pan. Prick the bottom all over and bake for 10-12 min, until the pastry is pale golden. 

2. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant slices for 6-8 min each side until golden. You may need to add more oil. Lift out and drain well on paper towels.

3. Add onion and garlic to the oil remaining in the pan then fry over low heat for 4-5 min, until soft, adding extra oil of necessary.

4. Chop spinach finely, by hand or in a food processor. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl, then add the spinach, feta cheese, Parmesan, yogurt, milk and the onion mixture. Season well with salt and pepper and stir thoroughly to mix.

5. Spread the rice in a even layer on the bottom of the part-baked pastry shell. Reserve a few eggplant slices for the top, and the arrange the rest in a even layer on the rice.

6. Spoon the spinach and feta mix onto the eggplant and place the remaining slices on top. Bake for 30-40 min, until lightly browned. Serve the pie while warm or let it cool completely before transferring to a serving plate. 

Note: Zucchini could be used in place of the eggplant.

VOILÀ

The Blessing of Food

Asking God to bless the food before a meal has been an accepted ritual handed down from generation to generation. It has been thought by some to promote better nutrition and healing by raising the vibration of the food.

Better that we ask God to bless our proper selection of more complete foods as we go shopping for that which will advance our physical and our spiritual needs.

Ask Him to bless the preparation of the food, and for temperance in eating, so as to enable our bodies to receive the utmost of value from what God has so abundantly supplied for our daily use.

Ask Him to bless the animal, fish, or fowl we did NOT kill that we may better sustain our lives with the finer qualities of live fresh fruit, vegetables, and seeds.

Better to ask God to give us KNOWLEDGE to keep our bodies strong and healthy so we have no need to ask Him to heal a sick and ailing body that we produced ourselves by not originally obeying His simple laws.
Blame not God for the many illnesses and diseases you have created (they are not “Acts of God”!). Better that you ask God for His blessings and forgiveness— and to give strength and wisdom to properly apply the knowledge of His simple laws.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

• No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

• Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

• Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

• (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
• (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

• (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
• (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

• (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
• (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
• (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

• (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
• (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

• (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
• (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
• (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

• Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
• (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

• (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
• (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

• Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

• (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
• (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
• (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.