Choosing Joy over Comfort

Every midwife knows
that not until a mother’s womb
softens from the pain of labour
will a way unfold
and the infant find that opening to be born.
Oh friend!
There is treasure in your heart,
it is heavy with child.
Listen.
All the awakened ones,
like trusted midwives are saying,
'welcome this pain.
It opens the dark passage of Grace.
--- Rumi

I loved the above poem from Rumi (a 13th century Sufi saint and poet) and it struck something deep inside me when I read it recently. I could relate to what Rumi says here immediately. I shared one of my personal experiences with such a pain before (here). Today I share another one...

I was in New York from 2006 to 2008 looking for a job, preparing for the New York Bar exam, working part time as a secretary for the Art of Living center in NY and (of course) teaching Art of Living courses in a number of schools. One fine morning, as I sat in the Art of Living office, answering emails, the then co-ordinator of Art of Living's Youth Programs, Annelies, came and sat in the office with me. She started telling me about how she and another teacher, Narsciso, had started teaching a course to at-risk youth in a detention center in NY city. She was saying that the 15 or so kids there, very prone to violence and bad temper and all using all kinds of narcotic substances, were the most challenging group that she had ever taught. She and Narciso did not know exactly how to deal with the group. As I sat listening to her, a suggestion came out of my mouth (I say "it came out" because it came not from intelligent thinking, but as a flash from somewhere!) : "why don't you split up the group? Start with one group and if there is a student or a few students that start disrupting the class, send them to another room where another teacher or one of you can teach them separately. You can tell them that if they want to be re-integrated with the rest of the group, they have to listen well in this class, do the breathing and then in the next class they will be re-united."

Annelies liked the suggestion but said that she and Narciso both needed to be in the room with the other kids as it was impossible for a single teacher to teach them. She then looked at me and said, "Would you like to come with us to help?" My first thought was "no way! I have no experience teaching at-risk youth. They would all be totally out of control if I try to teach them!" But Annelies's smile somehow made me give the exact opposite response: "ok! I guess I can come along... When?"

So the details were given to me and on the designated day, I got up, got ready and left for the given address. As I came closer to the detention center however, something inside me started screaming "no no no... I cant do this! What if they hate me? What if I disrupt the whole session even more? What if this... that... blah blah blah" my mind was chattering endlessly and the extreme pain of intense resistance gripped my entire mind and being. Despite the resistance, I followed the mantra that I use all the time in life: "feelings change all the time, so follow your commitments, not your feelings!"

When I reached the detention center and met Annelies and Narciso at the entrance, as expected, my feelings had already started changing... a sudden confidence and smile had come over me. I marched in, with my heart full of joy and mind completely blank. We reached the group and Annelies asked three of the most naughty disruptive students to go to another room. They were immediately furious. "NO! We want to be with everyone else!" But Annelies didn't budge and with the help of the detention center authorities, the three kids were escorted to a different room already prepared for this purpose. Now Annelies turned to me and said "Why don't you go ahead and teach those three kids and Narciso and I will continue with the other kids." I was shocked! Why me? I was the least experienced of the three teachers there and the three kids were the most disruptive kids of the class!!!

Very half-heartedly, I went with heavy steps, prepared for the worst 1.5 hours of my life, to the other room. I sat down with the kids and looked at them. They were very angry and were yelling repeatedly that they want to be with the rest of the group. Looking at their behavior, once again, a sudden calm came over me. I said "we will for sure bring you back with the other kids but you must first do the breathing as I instruct you, giving your 100%." The kids agreed immediately. I lead them through their first ever Sudarshan Kriya and the results, as expected were amazing. When they opened their eyes after the breathing, they were visibly calmer and yet, quite happy. They no more demanded that they be taken to the other group. I had been wondering the day before whether at risk kids would even have the attention span needed to listed to the beautiful stories that are part of the YES course. Now, as they sat there, calm and happy, a story from Indian history came to me- how India had won its independence from the British without any violence. The kids were listening in rapt attention. "Winning a war without any violence! Wow! Who was this Gandhi guy? How did he do it? Was he a magician?" :D The 1.5 hrs were already over (it seemed like it had been just 10 mins since the start of the class!) I told them that I would come back a few days later and that since they had learned the breathing so well, they would be joining the rest of the group for sure the next time. They were thrilled. So was I :)

We taught these wonderful kids, all hailing from broken families, living in at risk environments full of gang violence and substance abuse, for several months. Their experiences and the transformation we observed in them during this time was incredible, no doubt. But the greatest transformation happened within me. Each time, before entering the class and often during it, my fears and their reactions caused me deep anguish and pain. But the mantra of following my commitment (rather than my feelings) and the memory of the joy I felt when I saw the smiles on their otherwise stressed and angry faces, made me keep going back, ready to face any discomfort... and experience ever greater joy!

Today's joyful (and comfortable!) recipe:

Eggless (almost vegan) Whole Grain Pancakes (I got the best, yummy, fluffy pancakes ever :) - even tastier than the normal ones and a lot healthier!)

Ingredients

1 cup whole grain spelt flour (Vollkorn Dinkel Mehl)
1/3 cup whole grain rice flour (Vollkorn Reis Mehl)
2 tablespoons white flour (weizen mehl)
1/3 tsp salt
2 level tablespoons Sucanat (or whole brown sugar - powdered well if possible)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1 tsp baking powder (Backpulver)
1/3 tsp baking soda (Natron)
1.25 cups rice milk or soy milk (I guess normal milk should also work fine!)
1 tablespoon silken tofu (Seiden tofu) - Optional (not needed if using soy or normal milk)
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons melted butter (optional)

Method

In a mixer, blend the silken tofu and the rice/soy milk - beat up really well so the tofu mixes completely in. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (spelt, rice and white flour, salt, cinnamon, sugar, baking powder and baking soda). Add the Olive oil and the rice milk-tofu mix. Mix with a gentle hand using a wooden spatula till all the ingredients are well mixed with no flour clots. Add the melted butter (while it is still warm and liquid!) and stir lightly again till well mixed. (I got the idea of adding melted butter from here - I usually make these pancakes vegan, but I guess the melted butter does something, because this time, the pancakes turned out even better, softer and fluffier than before!)

The batter should not be too liquidy - but must still be pourable.

Heat a (non-stick) pan on medium heat, pour in 1/2 tablespoon of oilive oil and spread it around the pan. Pour a ladle full of pancake batter (do not spread out too thin onto the pan - keep it a little thick so it can be fluffy, but not so thick that it remains uncooked). Once bubbles start forming (and you see the corners turning a light brown), you know that the pancakes are ready to flip. Cook till both sides are a golden brown or a not too dark brown.

Serve immediately with marmalade, maple syrup, fresh cut fruits, chocolate spread or any way that you'd like to :)

Anger Facts # 3

While I was in India earlier this year, I was traveling with my mommy, hubby and baby (hereinafter referred to as "my family") from Goa to Bangalore. My family, who had been more organised than me, were booked on an earlier flight and my flight was scheduled to depart 45 minutes later than theirs. I was rather unhappy with myself - they would have to wait for me in Bangalore for almost an hour - how dumb of me to not book my tickets on time!

Anyhow, we reached the airport well in time and first checked in my family onto their flight. Once they were safely in the security area, I left for the other terminal from where I needed to check into my flight. I had just finished checking in my bags when I got a call from my husband... "Our flight is 4 hours delayed!" I was shocked! "What? But what about Meera? She will get so restless! We don't even have enough baby food to last her 4 hours!" My husband was resigned to the inevitable - they were already in the security area and there was no way they could come out - all they could do was accept the situation and wait!

Somehow, I (who am usually the first to resign to acceptance) was not convinced that this was how it was going to be. But my mind didn't seem to have any answers - "what in the world can I possibly do in this situation? I am in a different terminal, the security guards are not going to dream of letting me out of the airport to get to the other terminal since my baggage is checked in; Even if I do get to the other terminal, what in the world can the airline ground staff do now that my family has already gone through security check? Would there even be available seats in any flight leaving sooner??" The questions were endless and there was no solution in sight.

Despite these doubts and impossibilities, I found myself walking towards the exit gate of my terminal, with my boarding card and my hand baggage in hand... I paused at the exit and looked around for the security guards... there were none in sight! As if on an evening walk, I danced out of my terminal and marched into the other terminal - once again, unnoticed and unquestioned! I proceeded to the airline ground staff member who had checked in my family's luggage and (conveniently) forgotten to mention that the flight was 4 hours delayed. I was quite calm... I went up to him and said, "you just checked my family's baggage into a flight that is 4 hours delayed! Why didn't you tell us? Now my family with my baby are in the security area with no extra food for the baby. This is not acceptable." The gentleman was totally unshaken: "The flight departure time is mentioned on your boarding card - you should have read it!" I was now completely amazed at the man's indifference. I walked away convinced that talking to him was like talking to a stone wall (or at best similar to writing a complaint that would end up in the bin without any action being attempted on it.)

Interestingly, my mind was still calm, but something inside me kept nudging me to continue "doing" something. I saw another ground staff member (this time a very busy looking lady with a huge walky-talky in her hand). Without pausing to think what I should say to her, I walked towards her. As soon as she looked at me, I said "where can I lodge a complaint against your airline?" Her eyes became big and concerned and she said "why madam, what happened?" I calmly repeated the exact words I had said to the previous ground staff member. This time, the reaction was entirely unexpected... She said "Madam, how many people are there inside?" I said "My husband, baby and my mom." What happened next, I have no idea. She started running around in all directions and after 5 minutes came back to me and said "another flight of ours is leaving for Bangalore in 5 minutes. Please ask your husband to come out with the baby and we will re-check their baggage." I immediately said, "what about my mom? She is 70 years old. I am not going to let her wait for 4 hours and travel alone!" The lady looked horrified for a second and said, "madam, we have only 2 seats." I didn't know what to say (I should have said, 'yes, that is enough because my baby will anyway not need a seat! She is only 13 months old!') But this didn't occur to me at the time. However, without waiting for me to speak, the lady disappeared again and came back in 2 minutes yelling, "madam, please ask them all to come out at once. We have seats for everyone!"

I called my husband and he, along with my mom and Meera, looking completely confused, came out of the security area and were immediately made to re-check their luggage, get new boarding passes and escorted to the boarding gate of the other flight!" My husband kept asking: "What happened? What did you do? How is this happening?" :D All I could say is, "I have no idea!" :D

In the mean time, I had only 10 minutes left to board my flight! I went running out of the terminal (once again, the security guards were apparently on an extended tea break!), running into my terminal, waltzing through security check and reaching my boarding gate just as the last few people were boarding.

And so it happened... despite my tardiness (in not booking my flight tickets on time), I reached Bangalore (only) 5 minutes after the rest of my family :)

Sri Sri says "When you are meditating, you don't need to show aggression. Things will happen without need of aggression for the one who meditates." :)

Today's aggression free (effortless) recipe: North-South Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 cups chickpeas (the recipe tastes MUCH better if you use small black chickpeas, called Kala Chana, rather than regular chickpeas, called Kabuli chana - See picture below) - soaked in 4-5 times the quantity of water for 12 to 24 hours.

1 cup coconut milk
8-10 fresh curry leaves - chopped into 2 or 3 pieces each
2/3 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 or 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (Or 1 green chili - chopped)
1/2 tsp sugar or 1 tsp grated jaggery (Gur)
1.5 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp curcuma (Turmeric) powder
1 tablespoon ghee or cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas till soft. Drain most of the water (leave about 1/2 cup of water in). Add the 1/2 the salt and grated ginger mix well and set aside in a closed container (or in the pressure cooker itself).

In a large frying pan, heat the ghee/oil. Add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds start sizzling a little, reduce the heat to minimum and add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder and jaggery and stir well (make sure the spices don't burn - you know they are burnt if a heavyish smoke starts coming out of the pan!). Add the curry leaves, stir again. Add the coconut milk and the remaining salt and grated ginger. When the coconut milk starts simmering (this will be soon!) add the chickpeas-ginger-salt mix and stir well. Place the lid on the pan and let cook on low heat for about 5-6 minutes. Pour into a serving dish, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve immediately with masala-raisin rice or fresh rotis. (Recipe coming soon!)

"How fortunate we are to perceive the infinity within us..." :)

Today is Guru Purnima. Purnima means "Full Moon" and Guru Poornima is the full moon dedicated to remembering all our teachers, especially the Satguru - one who gives us knowledge about the Self. Today, with a heart full of love and gratitude for my Guru, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, I re-post here what Sri Sri says about Guru Purnima and its significance. (Taken from here)

“The Guru principle is so vital in life. There is an element of the guru in every human being. That wisdom in each one has to be invoked and awakened. When this element is awakened, misery in life disappears....

The word guru is used today to mean expertise – like an expert in business management. Guru means enormous, the biggest. Of course, expertise is a part of it. There is perfection in everything. There is that depth.

In our consciousness, wisdom comes to life when the guru tattva comes to life. When we have no desires of our own, then the guru tattva dawns in our life. Do you ever wish to do something for someone without expecting anything from them? Then you have played the role of the guru. The mother is the first guru. Then there are the teachers – the veena (musical instrument) teacher and so on. The Satguru gives you knowledge of the truth, the ultimate reality, spiritual knowledge.

On Guru Purnima, one must reflect, “Where was I before I got this knowledge? Where am I now?” When you see the contrast of where you were without this knowledge, then gratitude wells up.

This full moon is also called Vyasa Purnima. Vyasa categorized the entire lore of wisdom into the 4 vedas, the Upanishads, the Upavedas, the 27 Smritis, 27 Upasmritis – a huge lore of knowledge pertaining to every aspect of life from Ayurveda to architecture to alchemy to medicine. This full moon is named after him.

This day we remember the contribution of all those who have been on this planet for the wellbeing of the human race. We remember what they have done. We see the contrast (brought about by spiritual knowledge) in our lives and feel grateful.

How fortunate you are to perceive the infinity within you - in this finite framework of the body-mind complex. The body and mind are finite but the expression of the spirit is infinity.

For the Seeker, the New Year is from Guru Purnima to Guru Purnima. When it is half way for the rest of the world, we celebrate one whole year on the spiritual path. One year towards the Divine manifestation in our life. One year towards feeling the oneness and seeing the world through the eyes of the guru. That is the guiding star for us. Let me do that which a guru, a wise person would have done in this situation. A wise person would never react. He would respond. You will learn by putting yourself in that position (of the guru or wise person) again and again - by attempting infinite patience, immense intelligence, complete compassion and unblemished joy.

Nobody knows when the tradition started. Billions of years before, on this earth, so many sages and rishis have been here and so many (will come) in the future too. We thank of all those in the past, present and the future for the continuation of wisdom on this dear planet. Without wisdom it is not living, only existing. Life begins with wisdom.

This Guru Purnima think about all the blessings that you have received and feel grateful."


Today's Pure and Grateful Recipe: Ghee (Clarified butter)

Ghee is of great significance in an Ayurvedic diet. Ghee is said to optimize the digestive fire and aid in proper digestion of food. A spoonfull of ghee can thus be added on top of the food that you are eating at any meal - it adds to the taste and helps the digestive process. It is also said to have a purifying effect on the food and the body.

Ingredient

As much butter (unsalted is better) as you like (at least 250 grams is needed to make a good quantity of ghee)

Method

In a heavy bottomed pan, on high heat, let the butter melt. Reduce the heat to medium and let the butter keep cooking till you can see the bottom of the pan through the butter. The butter will froth a lot - once the froth settles a little, you can remove the froth floating on top with a spoon and continue to let the butter cook. When the butter froths up a second time, turn off the heat and skim off the froth from on top. You will see a deep brown sediment at the bottom of the pan - thats the sign that the ghee is ready. :) Let it cool for 10-15 minutes (but don't let it solidify!), transfer after straining, into a completely clean and dry glass jar. Store in tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

"Stay with the Pinch, not with the Guilt!"

At the end of each yoga class that I teach, I read a knowledge sheet from one of Sri Sri's books titled Celebrating Silence. The page that came up recently was titled "mistakes." Sri Sri says "It is hard not to see your own mistake. Outwardly, you may justify yourself or try to prove your innocence to someone else, but a mistake pricks the conscience. Do not justify yourself. Instead, feel the prick of the mistake. That very pinch will take you out of the mistake. The pinch will not let the mistake happen again. Live with the pinch, not the guilt." This is one of my favorite knowledge sheets and as I read it out in my yoga class, I remembered fondly the first time this knowledge came alive in my life. I share with you all, this very personal story:

My uncle (Dad's youngest brother) is, by profession, a biotechnologist and an entrepreneur (rare combination in India!) - he has his own biotech research company (and is also a great cook!) In addition to these admirable qualities, another quality I admire in him a great deal is his willingness and readiness to help any and everyone - at any time and ALL the time! Amazingly, his feeling of belongingness with people is so strong that he also feels no hesitation in asking for help when he needs it - another admirable quality in my opinion, as my ego interferes way too often with my asking for help (until its too late!)

On one such occasion (when I was in my early 20s and had just started teaching the Art of Living's Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES)), my dear uncle asked for my help in modifying and improving the language of a project that he was writing for his company. This was, of course, a huge compliment to me, (had I had the maturity to realise it back then) because it suggested that he trusted and liked my language skills. Being a restless young adult however, I found this request rather annoying and very half-heartedly sat down next to the computer with him to edit the document in question. From the get go, I got irritated at the smallest mistake I found in the document. Rather impolitely, I also made this irritation very obvious! Uncle was patient for a long time... he kept listening to me and agreeing with all my suggestions without commenting at all on my behavior. Finally, after several rude noises and complaints had already come out of me, and the barrage of irritated expressions were becoming more frequent, my uncle suddenly exploded! He yelled "I don't need your help, you can leave! You think this work will not happen without your inputs? You talk great spiritual wisdom and constantly talk about how seva (service) and Karma Yoga are so important to you, yet you can't do this one small thing for your family without grumbling so rudely?"

I was shocked! Immediately, my mistake was clear to me! I could feel the pangs of deep guilt jolt through my entire being! For a moment, I was too shocked to speak! Finally, in a small voice, I said "sorry uncle, you are right. I will do the work now. Please let me." My uncle, the gracious soul that he is, immediate accepted the apology and sat back down in the chair. We resumed the work and completed it cheerfully!

While I was doing the work though (after the explosion that set my brains right), I was very aware of the discomfort that was inside my mind and body. I was also immediately reminded of Sri Sri's knowledge on mistakes (which I taught to my YES students all the time!) - "stay with the pinch, not with the guilt." The feeling of guilt was arising in my mind with several associated thoughts. "How could I behave so badly?" "I wish I had not done that!" At the same time, I felt an intense pinch (physical discomfort) at the level of my body - my throat, chest, head - they all felt this strong PINCH! "Applying" the knowledge, the best way I could imagine how, I kept taking my mind away from the guilty thoughts to the pinch I felt in my body. As I observed this pinch, it somehow seemed to intensify and become clearer... The thoughts associated with guilt started fading into the background somewhere and my mind focused more and more on just the physical discomfort. "Oh God!" I thought, "I never want to feel this kind of pinch EVER again!" From that day on, without any effort, I never felt irritated on receiving any work given to me by my uncle (or any other family member I think!?). Perhaps because at a very sub-conscious level, I never wanted to feel that pinch again! :)

Over the years I've noticed that when I go on a guilt trip, I learn nothing. Because one cannot blame oneself for too long - the guilt eventually turns into blame leveled at the other... and when this happens, it is the end of my learning from the mistake. Sri Sri's knowledge sheet on mistakes has several other beautiful suggestions and useful observations - and I have had the good fortune of being able to use these several times in my life so far!!! More stories coming soon... :)

Today's guilt free recipe: Dal Tadka

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings)

2 cups yellow mung beans - washed well and soaked in 5 times the quantity of water for 3-4 hours
4 tablespoons cooking oil
15-20 fresh curry leaves - chopped into 2 or 3 pieces each
2 tomatoes - chopped
1.5 inch piece of fresh ginger - grated
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 or 1/2 tsp red chili powder (or 1 or 2 green chilies - chopped)
1 tsp turmeric powder (curcuma)
1.5 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp Hing (Asafoetida) powder
7-8 Fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Salt to taste

Method

Drain the water from the pre-soaked mung beans and add fresh water upto about half inch above the level of the lentils. Cook in the pressure cooker for 3 whistles or if you have the type of pressure cookers we have in Germany, keep for 5-6 minutes on the flame and then let the pressure release at its own speed. In short, cook till the lentils are soft! (If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can soak the mung beans overnight, use twice the quantity of water, and slow cook in a closed vessel - this will take about 20-30 minutes once the water comes to a boil).

Once the lentils are cooked, add the ginger and salt to it and set aside in a closed container.

In a small frying pan or tadka pan, warm up the oil. Add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds start sizzling a bit (do not burn them!) add all the spice powders (and the green chilies). Stir on low heat for 20-30 seconds. Add the curry leaves and stir again for 15-20 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir, and let cook covered for 2-3 minutes (or till the tomatoes are soft). Transfer the entire spice mix into the lentils, stir quickly to let the aroma spread throughout the lentils. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve immediately with fresh Basmati rice, lemon rice or Rotis :)

Finding the "Switch"

My current favorite book is titled "Stumbling into Infinity" written by Michael Fischman about his experiences on the spiritual path, particularly his time with the Transcendental Meditation group and later with the Art of Living Foundation and HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. There were so many "wow" moments in the book that I cannot write them all out in this blog... But one (of the numerous) rather practical tips I came across was related to Michael's experience in India where he thought that no one in the Ashram was answering his questions because he was a foreigner. When Michael complained to Sri Sri about this, he just smiled and took Michael through a rather peculiar exercise of turning off a light bulb that was beaming directly into Sri Sri's eyes. Micheal was unable at first to turn off the light even though he thought he had tried all (four) switches. Guruji kept saying "you missed the switch!" After several attempts, finally, Micheal "found the switch." Although rather cryptic, Micheal got the message (albeit after a few hours of pondering) - in order to "make" people listen, he needed to make a "switch" in his own mind - namely, stop thinking that people were not listening to him because he was a foreigner! I could immediately relate to the story...

During my (endless) studies as a law student, I often had to conduct interviews and field studies and my approach was always laced with a conviction that no one in India would really answer my questions because (1) I am a girl and (2) I am an Indian! In accordance with this conviction, I did indeed get a lukewarm reception and response in most of my interviews in India. Reading Michael's story in the book, I thought - "Aha! I need to make a switch in my own mind!" I started talking to myself - "Maybe this conviction in my mind is baseless! Why should people not listen to me or answer my questions on these meaningless grounds?" But I was at a complete loss on how exactly to go about actually making this switch... there isn't really a switch that we can turn on and off in our own minds you know!! So how exactly does this knowledge function??

As I do when any such (spiritual) question confuses me, I mulled over it for several days... finally, I gave up and wrote a long letter to Guruji explaining my mental condition. Thereafter, I kind of forgot about it all and just went about doing all that was necessary to prepare for the field trip to India. I reached India as planned and started the seemingly endless rounds of interviewing people from one city to the next. When I was near the end of perhaps the 10th one, the senior gentleman I was interviewing said rather forthrightly... "We are helping you only because you are one of us, an Indian. We would not have entertained any foreign student if he/she were to ask for such detailed opinions!" While outwardly smiling and saying "thank you," from the inside, I was jolted and suddenly remembered my question: "How to make the switch?" I realised that without actually DOING anything, the switch had already happened! The thought that people would not answer my questions had not crossed my mind at all through out the trip! Indeed, all the interviews had been so fruitful, informative and detailed! The people were welcoming, friendly and more than helpful! How had the "switch" happened?? As I thought in amazement about this, I remembered one of the things that Sri Sri says often... Our own awareness is the first step towards overcoming any short comings and unwanted tendencies, habits and concepts. Once we become aware, most of the job is done! The key role played by spiritual practices (meditation, breathing techniques, yoga etc.) in our life, is to enhance this very awareness. In my experience, what ever the other steps are, all happen automatically, or maybe at a very subtle and unconscious level!

My husband was recently listening to a talk on the "Power of Intention" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. As the topic sounded interesting, I decided to listen for a while also... Dr. Dyer quoted several wonderful sentences from various spiritual, scientific and religious texts and paraphrased a lot of it as follows: "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!" The phrase reminded me of my above experiences in India :) The talk (at least the first 20 mins or so that I heard) as well as the book are amazing! I'll leave you to discover the other treasures therein, on your own!

In the mean time, here is today's recipe, breaking through all concepts of what should or should not go into a muffin :D

Everything Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup Buckwheat Flour
1 cup whole brown rice flour
1/2 to 2/3 cup whole wheat or other flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt (unless the lentils/chickpeas below are salted, in which case, skip the salt)
2/3 tsp cinnamon powder


Wet ingredients
1 cup brown sugar/agave syrup/maple syrup (you can also skip this and use an additional banana instead)
2 or 3 very very ripe bananas
2/3 cup silken tofu
1 cup left over lentils, chickpeas or any other dal from the previous meal (you may wash away any extra masala from the chickpeas if you like)
2/3 cup oil or butter
2/3 to 1 cup assorted nuts and raisins (crush the nuts into desired size - I chose to grind them to powder)
1/3 cup milk/soya milk/almond milk, or apple juice
1 tsp vanilla

Veges and Fruits
1 whole apple or carrot - grated
1 whole zucchini (or any other vegetable) - grated


Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180° C. Place the muffin cups into the muffin tray or grease the muffin tray and set aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients really well.
Separately, mix all the wet ingredients - you can use a blender if you like, but do not blend for more than a minute.

Pour the wet ingredient mix into the dry ingredients and mix using a wooden spatula till smooth. Add the Veges and Fruits and mix well again.


The batter should be thick and difficult to handle and not of pouring consistency. (But not like cookie dough or dough for bread or rotis - if it is this thick, add some more milk/juice/water). Scoop out by spoonfuls into the muffin tray, filling each muffin cup till the very top. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or till a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 large muffins.


Serve warm with butter or marmalade :)

PS: Although it may seem like these will be really strange tasting muffins, they are actually really tasty and of course, nutritious - with whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lots of protein. My daughter who had been fussing and refusing to eat anything solid, ate three of these muffins in one day very happily! :)

Anger Facts # 2

The story goes that when Guruji heard the phrase “million dollar smile” he asked, "why should a smile be so expensive?" He said smiles should be given away for nothing. Anger, on the other hand, should be very expensive (i.e. expressed very rarely) for only then is it valuable. If our anger is cheap (i.e. frequent), no one will take it seriously. It will at best be an annoyance and at worse, the person expressing it will be labeled “short tempered” and “to be avoided!”

As I said in one of my older posts (Anger Facts # 1), as a child, I rarely lost my temper. In those days, I remember that when once every few months or so, I got really angry and blew my lid, everyone around me sat up in attention – the anger was noticed and the reason why it surfaced was investigated closely. Most of the time, my expression of anger solved the problem that caused it to come up. Later during my teens and early 20s, when it became “fasionable” to be angry all the time, no one took my anger seriously at all. My closest friends in law school just termed me “moody” and despite my yelling at a situation over and over again, the situation didn’t change at all! It was only after a few months of regular meditation and yoga that I realized as an experience that anger when expressed constantly, loses its oomph and its power to reform (people or situations).

But anger is also an amazing thing in many ways. Guruji makes a beautiful distinction between “getting angry” and “showing” anger. In the former, our entire being is shaken by the anger – it is often also coupled with hatred or irritation at the level of the heart. Anger of the latter kind, i.e. anger that is just shown, is a more superficial anger – it is expressed in order to achieve a purpose but is not felt at the heart level. The heart is pure and untouched by the anger and instead, such anger is expressed out of love and concern for the person to whom it is shown. A classical example would be the anger expressed by a mother towards a child who is taking her hand towards fire. First the mom will say “don’t do that… you’ll get burnt.” Eventually, if the child persists in trying to touch fire, the mother will give the child a scolding (or even a slightly sharp rap on the hand as an evil lesser than a burnt hand) showing great anger, but at the level of the heart feeling only love and concern for the child. Such a showing of anger doesn’t affect the whole human system in a negative way, but is short lived and dies immediately. Showing anger, in short, is OK and even necessary in many situations. But getting angry… well… in my experience it helps no one.

My baby girl is an expert at recognizing the different types of anger :D When I am just showing anger (which I do sometimes in order to prevent her from eating all types of stuff off the floor for example), she realizes immediately that she is doing something that’s forbidden for her own good. So she stops what she’s doing, looks and me and immediately raises her arms up, asking me to pick her up – its like her way of saying sorry, I accept my mistake, lets be friends again now :D When I am really angry and annoyed at anyone or anything, on the other hand, she just gets confused and starts crying loudly. She wants me nowhere near her, she runs instead to papa :)

Blessed are those who can distinguish between the two types of anger! Accepting the love and concern shown as anger for our own good and ignoring the other type, especially if expressed too often!

Today's recipe: Baingan ka Bharta

Note: This recipe is not recommended for you if you have high pitta (example, if you are a person prone to getting angry rather often :D). Also, Aubergine (Baingan) is a highly tamasic vegetable/fruit (i.e. might make you dull and sleepy). If you are having trouble sleeping, it will therefore of course likely help you a great deal! Finally, I rarely use onions in my cooking (because it is highly rajasic). The original Baingan Ka Bharta made Punjabi style uses a whole lot of onions... Apples, as used in this recipe, are a great satvik substitute for onions and will (hopefully) help reduce the tamasic quality of this dish!

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)

4 large aubergines (Eggplants)
1 large apple
2 large tomatoes
1.5 cups green peas
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 1/4 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric (Haldi) powder
1.5 tsp Garam Masala (you can buy it in any Indian store, or can just take some from me :D)
1 green chilli (optional) - chopped (Avoid if you have high pitta)
1.5 inch piece of Ginger - grated
3 tablespoons cooking oil
8-10 Fresh Coriander leaves - chopped

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180° C
Put the aubergines in the oven and bake till the inside is soft and the outside is charred or easy to remove (will take about 30-40 mins). Those of you who have the good old stoves with real fire, just place the aubergines one at a time directly on the flame, rotating it periodically till the outside skin is totally charred and the inside is soft.

Remove the aubergines from the oven and let them cool down. Once cool, peel off the skin and throw it away.


Chop up or mash the flesh of the aubergines well. Add salt, Garam masala and grated ginger to the mashed aubergine and mix well. Keep aside in a closed dish.

Chop the apple and the tomatoes into small pieces. Heat oil in a large pan and add the chopped apples. When the apples are half cooked, add all the spices (Haldi, Coriander, green chilies) and the tomatoes and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes stirring with a light hand so that all the spices are properly mixed with the apples and the tomatoes. Add the peas and stir again. Place the lid on the pan and let cook for another 8-10 minutes (or till the peas are cooked) on low heat. Once the peas are cooked, add the mashed aubergine and mix well. Add more salt if needed as per your taste. Once again place the lid on the pan and let cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat, and put into a serving dish. Mix in the lemon juice and sprinkle the chopped Koriander leaves on top just before serving.

Goes best with fresh home made chapatis! :)

RIGHT NOW! Right, Now! :)

Given my Vata-Pitta Dosha with a frequent Vata imbalance (i.e. air and space element in one's system/nature that makes one forgetful and confused if out of balance, but creative and spiritual when in balance) I am often constantly on the run and busy doing several things at once. In any given moment, I often feel like doing three different things - cooking, playing with my little baby girl and working on my PhD! Meera usually wins the tug of war in my mind and has all my attention. UNLESS I need to cook for HER! :) After quickly distracting her with her favorite toys, I run into the kitchen to prepare her meal which I know she will demand rather loudly very soon. But now that Meera knows that she can get my attention just by being naughty or by coming running to me crying, her toys don't interest her for too long :(

A few days ago, as the above routine was repeating itself for perhaps the 100th time, I got really frustrated! I looked at Meera tugging at my trousers while I was trying to cook up her favorite dinner and said "Meera, you know that mom is busy doing stuff just for you right? Then why cant you just relax and wait a few moments? What you need is coming right your way - food AND all of mom's attention (while she feeds you)! But Meera continued crying and demanding that she be picked up RIGHT NOW. I finally gave up and tied her around me in the baby carry system. This made her happy, but slowed down my work in the kitchen considerably! As expected, soon enough, Meera started crying again! She was hungry. She wanted the half cooked dinner NOW! As I tried to pacify her that the food was almost done, a thought occurred to me - isn't this what we all do so often? Cry and cry for things that we want RIGHT NOW without realising that nature is probably preparing something better for us already... If only we would be patient!

I remember Guruji saying once that just like a mom arranges all the toys around her kids to distract them (so she can take care of the "other" things that need her attention around the house), God or nature arranges all the beautiful things around human beings to "distract" them. But just like the mom has one ear only for her baby, Nature is constantly listening - it provides us exactly what we need when we start crying... and often, well before that! :) Once when I was in a particularly low phase in my life (long story - left for another blog post) due to unexpected and shocking things happening one after the other in my life, I went crying to Guruji.

He said in his usual loving but firm style - "you have nothing to worry about. Look back and see, haven't all your wishes always come true? You will do everything you want to do (notwithstanding the circumstances)!" I did look back and realised that this was so true! All our (good) wishes do come true - All we have to do is be patient - everything we need for our growth (spiritual or material) is on its way and will reach us at the perfect time. :D

Today's patient recipe: Mung Beans in Coconut Curry Sauce

Ingredients (for 2-3 servings)

1 cup Mung beans (whole green Mung beans)
1/2 cup coconut milk
5-6 curry leaves - chopped (not fine - just chop each leaf into 2 or 3 parts)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 inch piece of ginger - grated
1 green chilli - chopped (optional)
Salt to taste
4-5 cups water
3 tablespoons Cooking Oil

1/2 lemon
10-12 Fresh coriander leaves

Method

Soak the mung beans in 5 times the amount of water (i.e. 5 cups or more) overnight. Drain the water, add four to five cups of fresh water and pressure cook till the beans are cooked. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook it the regular way on low flame - it will just take a little longer... usually around 45 mins) Add the coconut milk, ginger and salt to the cooked lentils and set aside.

In a separate pan (maybe a small frying pan or tadka pan), heat the oil. Put in the cumin seeds. Once they start making a small sizzling sound, reduce the flame to minimum and add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, and chopped green chilli. Stir gently for 10-15 seconds. Add the chopped curry leaves and stir again for 10-12 seconds. Pour this spice mix into the cooked lentils, stir quickly and immediately close the lid of the lentil containing pan (to hold in the aroma and flavour).

Serve while still hot by pouring the lentils into soup bowls, laced with a dash of lemon juice and garnished with fresh coriander leaves :)

Responsible Risks

For the first 6 months of her life, when ever I was home (and cooking), Meera (my daughter, now 17 months old) mostly played with her toys keeping herself entertained without demanding too much of my attention. I felt quite comfortable leaving her "alone" for 10-15 mins at a time to play and discover herself and her toys. Come month #7 and she started crawling - backwards! Also, dragging herself across the floor to get to things she found "interesting." As she took more risks, she got more often injured and cried more often, BUT, she also got more attention from me. Being an intelligent soul, she realised very quickly that the amount of attention she gets from me is directly proportional to the number of naughty risky things she does :D So now, she does them all the time! Interestingly, once I pick her up and am carrying her around, she is very happy and content! Almost as if she was doing those things only to get my undivided attention :D :D

A few weeks ago, as I was carrying her around (partly to prevent her from climbing on to the chairs in the balcony in an attempt to look over the balcony safety grill!), I remembered a question that someone once asked Sri Sri during a public talk - "Why do you keep some people more close to you that others?" He replied - "whether or not it is apparent, everyone is close to me. But I keep a closer watch on the trouble makers :)" I always wondered what he meant by "trouble makers." Over the years, I had come to believe that by "trouble makers" he means "the doers and risk takers" - people who are constantly up to something, doing new things, accepting new challenges, taking on more and more responsibilities! As I looked at Meera happily mumbling in my arms in the baby carry system, I knew that this was probably true! The more things we do, the more risks and responsibilities we take (especially risks aimed at increasing our own strength or benefiting others perhaps) the more "attention" nature, divinity, God and our Gurus shower on us :)

It is no wonder that Guruji says that the greater responsibility you take, more power and energy will be given to you... So here's to improving our skills and our strength and taking on more responsibilities!

Today's naughty-new recipe: Healthy Millet Cutlets with Mint Chutney

Ingredients

To cook the millets (Hirse - for my German friends :)) :
1/2 cup millets (Hirse)
1.5 cups water
1/3 tsp salt

Other things to be added to the cooked millets:
2 medium sized potatoes
3 medium sized carrots
1 cup peas (optional)
Handful of raisins
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala (Or Curry Powder)
1/3 tsp Turmeric (Curcuma) powder
1/2 inch ginger - grated
Powdered/Crushed rusk (Zwieback) or powdered very crunchy toast
Oil for light frying
(Some more) Salt to taste

Method

Wash the millets well. Put in the water and 1/3 tsp of salt and let it come to a boil, reduce the heat to minimum and cook for another 15-20 mins (or till the water is all gone). While the millets cook, wash, peel and chop the potatoes and carrots. Steam cook the peas, potatoes and carrots for 10-15 mins (Till soft/mashable).
Mix the millets, steamed vegetables, salt, ginger and all the spices and mash well. Make balls and flatten them out a bit (into desired shapes :D).

Put a thin layer of crushed Zwieback/toast on a plate. Place each side of the cutlets on the crumbs so there is an even layer of crumbs on both sides and the circumference. Put about 2 tablespoons of oil in a well heated frying pan and place 3-4 cutlets (max) at a time in it. Fry on each side for 2-3 mins (or till golden brown in colour). Serve immediately will Ketchup Or Mint Chutney (Recipe below)

Mint Chutney

1 bushel/bunch of fresh mint
1 bunch of fresh coriander
1 inch piece of ginger - grated
1 green chilli (optional)
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon (Depending on how sour you like your chutney to be)
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste (1/2 to 3/4 tsp)
1/3 cup water



To fry:
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Remove the Coriander and mint leaves from their thin branches, wash well. In a high speed blender, put half the leaves. Add all the other ingredients and blend till smooth (you may need to add more water if the whole thing gets stuck). Add the rest of the leaves and blend again till smooth.

In a small frying pan, warm the oil and add all three spices. Stir on low heat till it starts to sizzle a little - do not turn up the heat to speed up the process or the spices will burn! Add the cooked spice mix to the blended leaves in the blender and blend again till well mixed. Serve immediately!
(Will stay good in the refrigerator for 4-5 days)