Jesus in India

I watched a documentary by this name, and I was awestruck and encouraged and inspired, and I came to love Jesus more, believing that he did explore the east and their meditative and puja practices. There were 18 missing years (from age 13 to 30)! Some say he just lived with his family and learned the craft of carpentry with Joseph... but we all know deep inside that a boy who at the age of 12 was discussing cosmology and God with the elders in the temple is not going to be making furniture with his dad all those years. Even my devout catholic mother does not belive this and is open to the idea that he explored and traveled east.

What did he come here for? To spread the good news, as I learned in catholic catechism classes. So it would make sense that when be became an older teenager, and suffered the societal pressure to get married and have a family, he would go in search of other people to talk to. He would want to explore the human race, especially those people with deep spiritual lives, right? The silk road provided the route, it was well traveled at this time. He went to some hindu temples, and stayed at one for quite a while. He learned meditation, tantra, mantra, bahkti, but also practiced some of these things naturally from his own gnosis of how to be with his own inner light!

In the bible it says Abraham sent his younger children "east to the East" Perhaps they went to Kashhmir? Are these the lost tribes of Israel? It is known and accepted that St. Thomas the apostle lived, preached and died in India. A pope went to visit his shrine and church in India this century. So it makes it likely that Jesus would also have gone.

This website does a great job of tracking the evidence that Jesus spent time in India and Tibet, so read it here:

This illustration from an old Tibetan thangka shows Jesus talking to Tibetan monks (19th century).

I experienced the catholic church as a body with dogma that to have a relationship with God, you must go to church every sunday, you must repent your sins, you must confess those sins with a priest and you must participate in all the other priest-mediated sacraments of the church. There is no catholic practice that I know of that encourages a search within oneself for divinity and light. Prayer is more about asking for things, and asking forgiveness from a forgiving compassionate God that will decide if you will go to heaven or not.

But there are words that reflect the meditative aspects of hindu and buddhist practices. "Search for the divine within yourrself." "The Kingdom of God is within you." "Within a man of light, there is light."

Jesus was known in India as Issa. There is a tomb there with the name: Yosesaf (Youza Asouph) meaning the son of Joseph. The tomb is in the East-West direction, in jewish burial style. The Sarcophagus and scrolls were removed some years ago. The people of that town insist it is a prophet from Egypt who is there and are insulted by suggestions that it is Jesus of Nazareth.

The film suggests that Jesus survived the crucifixion, and went back to India with Mary to escape persecution and live in peace and to spread good news to people there. There is a tomb that is in an islamic region, that is believed to be Mary's tomb.

see also http://gnosisseeker.com/movies/jesus-in-india/

Diet and Inflammation

Women in my family before me have suffered osteoarthritis so I am looking at how to improve my habits to avoid the onset. Osteoarthritis is the breaking down of cartilage in the joints. Why would they breaking down? Age, genetics, overuse, they say. I thought inflammation was a major factor, but WebMD says that is a major factor in rheumatoid, but not osteo. I was disappointed as I can't change genetics or reduce the use of my joints but realized that degenerating joints would cause inflammation. Andrew Weil says that inflammation is the "cornerstone of the body's healing response, bringing more nourishment and more immune activity to a site of injury or infection. But when inflammation persists or serves no purpose, it damages the body and causes illness. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, and exposure to toxins (like secondhand tobacco smoke) can all contribute to chronic inflammation."

I read a book about inflammation a few years ago to learn about rheumatoid arthritis as my niece has this. I learned that many diseases in our society today are caused by inflammation. According to arthritistoday.org, heart disease, cancer and obesity are all linked to inflammation problems.

Chamomile is credited with reducing inflmmation. Caffeine, sugars and refined foods, of course, cause inflammation.
Scientists know that the enzymes cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and 2 (COX-2) are major causes of joint inflammation. According to a study, chamomile works similarly to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs due to inhibition of COX-2 enzyme activity! We are advised to take in more omega-3 fatty acids relative to omega-6 fatty acids (3:1 or 5:1).

According to The Juicing Bible, people with arthritis (rheumatoid or osteo) should maximize:

chamomile, lemon balm, and peppermint should be used to improve absorption of nutrients during digestion

oily fish which are anti-inflammatory - herring, salmon, tuna, sardines

anti-inflammatory herbs such as chamomile, ginger, licorice, meadowsweet

herbal circulatory stimulants like stinging nettle and ginger to get blood and nutrients to the joints

and a few other things...

Chamomile is listed as being
1. analgesic
2. anti-inflammatory
3. and improving digestion

The Juicing Bible also says to eliminate sugar, corn products, meat, citrus, vinegar (except cider vinegar), alcohol, processed foods, and to minimize caffeine, salt and acidic fruits and vegetables.

Today is day 1 of a juicing fast... see my other blog entry on juice fasting. I felt inspired since I have 4 days off with the house to myself, and I just came back from a visit with my family over Christmas which included a few cookies and crackers. I am juicing carrots, celery, daikon, beets, pomegranate and ginger wrapped in mustard greens, apples and zuchinni. I also am making chamomile and kleri-tea (contains senna leaf, peppermint and chamomile) to assist in some cleansing of the system.

What about turmeric? This is well-known anti-inflammatory spice used so much in Indian cooking. One herbalist recommends a teaspoon a day of turmeric honey. The recipe is
9 parts dried turmeric powder
1/2 part freshly ground black pepper (grind it finely)
1/2 part dried ginger powder
(A pound of turmeric added to runny honey will fill a 20 oz. jar.)
So I will just mix a teaspoon of turmeric to a teaspoon or so of honey, and add a dash of salt and dash of powdered ginger!

Most of us have heard that it is good to alkalinize our bodies. An acidic body has more inflammation, so I should avoid dairy products and red meats, eggs, saturated fats, refined and processed foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and foods that are high in gluten (bread, pasta and pastry). Our bodies should be between 7.36 and 7.44 pH! Meats acidify because of nitrogen by-products when digested. Alkaline sources of protein include lentils, almonds, brazil nuts and grains like quinoa and spelt.

I found charts of acid-forming and alkalininzing foods! Not sure what is right, there are some conflicting listings: http://www.alkaline-alkaline.com/ph_food_chart.html

I plan to:
1. eat turmeric honey every day (it's tasty)
2. drink chamomile tea every day
3. avoid coffee (ouch!) and have green tea instead
4. eat more herring (I love kippered snacks!) and salmon for omega 3's
5. avoid gluteny bread; maybe have sprouted grain bread sometimes
6. have more lemon in my water
7. eat almonds and brazil nuts while avoiding walnuts and peanuts
8. eat more parsley, raw spinach, asparagus, broccoli, celery
9. eat amaranth, millet, wild rice, quinoa
10. avoid oats (ouch!), rice (ack!), pasta
11. avoid dairy except goat cheese and goat milk see my blog on goat milk
12. eat more grapefruit, mangoes (yes!), papayas (yipee!)
13. plant lemon balm and papaya plants in the spring

Here is a photo taken today of my baby papaya trees that I will plant in the spring: