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take it to another thread...it's tolerable to pick each other apart in a reasonable debate that stays pretty much on topic but this sort of crap clogs up threads that might have some value in the future. no wonder people are reluctant to use the search function when they have to trawl through this sort of stuff. if you really have some concern about how someone is negatively affecting the board, then contact a moderator. you need to move this over to the "Bitches, gripes and degenerated threads" sub-forum if you want to continue.

did i miss if he even said dry or fresh? isn't 20g fresh about 2g dried? it's been a long time, so i forget but when friends used to pick subs...there seemed to be two slightly different kinds...one was way more potent than the other. with the more potent ones 4-5g dried (hot water infusion taken over about 20 mins) would really hit the roof and beyond for almost everyone, with a heap of memory loss/black outs, and often a lot of the negative side effects of subs (compared to cubes) also, even from the same picking area, one shroom may be way more potent than another, by weight, and unless you dried the lot & homogenised it, you wouldn't 'reliably' know what you were in for (just in terms of blatant intensity), from trip to trip.

apo, of course many ethical vego's have considered such a point...so they're hypocritical ? so they shouldnt eat?? or they should just shut up and eat their nuggets... jeez. also i don't think that anyone would argue that "less net suffering" invalidates your point. but i'm still not exactly sure what your point was...i think it was that ethical vegos are hypocrits and if they wish to maintain their self-righteous label, they should die the damage done to those insects/species is not a calculated and direct exploitation of the particular species people choose as sources of food. obviously, ideally, this sort of damage should not be a result of reckless or unethical (in terms of environment) farming practices. but for a lot of people "ethical veg*nism" comes from a place of having a deep respect for life that precludes them from being able to view and treat an animal as merely a bio-machine created solely for our direct purpose of excising their flesh and gathering their secretions, whether it is done "humanely" or otherwise. when the animal stops "giving" (i.e. it dries up, or its 'output' diminishes), and let's face it - they don't give themselves, their part of the [enforced] bargain is breached, so they're deemed no longer fit to live and waste space. i don't kill mozzies or flies and try not to step on ants, but i do have other things to get on with. personally i do find there is a massive disconnect with "ethical" vegetarians who still consume dairy & eggs, wear leather, wool, etc...because these industries cause immense amounts of suffering, and also make the meat industries viable. i'm surprised you didn't just go with that point. i.e. ethical vego's are hypocrits if they're not vegan...that would've been a good place to start but it's the "don't not do anything because you can't do everything" deal (ignore the grammar on that one if you can)...you just do what you can one step at a time. this is why so many vego's eventually refuse to get entangled in debates around these issues because you just end up thinking "are you serious??!" like you really don't know if someone is joking when they start asking questions about why you don't care about killing a living organism such as a cauliflower, or other stupid shit like that. sometimes they're actually serious, and then i wouldn't mind explaining my beliefs, but mostly they're trying to take a dig at you (which i mean differently from when a friend just makes a wise-crack), and fire you up, and they really don't care to hear an answer anyway. this usually comes up when you're at a family barbeque (yes i can be around steaming, smoking meat & gorging..i stopped eating it not because I dislike it, I just choose not to) and suddenly there's "that guy" who starts firing off the questions (bewteen mouthfuls of steak and sausage) and thankfully for you, he also in that moment became a qualified nutritionist! thanks, yeah - i never even thought about where i would get my protein. (sarcasm) most common is self-defense because they're scared of looking at themselves & and their own beliefs. the most basic level of this is "i really don't want to know or see how a slaughter house operates, because it would probably make me really sad & depressed, and then i wouldn't want to eat meat, which I really enjoy." the logic behind that, i find quite bizarre. some people actually know that and can verbalise it, but i get the impression from some people that they know that's there somewhere under the surface and they'd rather not stir it up. but they're just manifestations of particular stages of personal evolution. try asking a few people randomly at a bbq "do you eat chickens?" ..just making a plural out of "chicken," for some people, almost turns the food back into the animal, and subtly, the disconnect is unveiled as they pause for a second before they can answer. anyone for coco-pops and bovine mammary secretions? sorry... but there are some instances where I think, if people were better informed, that they *would* choose differently...some people still believe that leather is an industry by-product - that choosing leather is not directly inciting the slaughter, and also that if no one bought these skins, they'd just be wasted..and we shouldn't waste anything right? all crap. some people *would* choose not to buy down-filled bedding if they knew the feathers don't just "fall out" of the bird..many people actually believe that the birds just naturally shed these feathers. some vego's would choose not to drink milk if they knew the dairy industry directly provides calves to the veal industry. but any veg*n who wishes more people would understand these industries, simply so people could make a more informed choice, will try their best to accept other people's decisions, to be compassionate enough to understand that when you know better, you (hopefully) do better, and avoid alienating people with their beliefs as much a possible. humour helps a lot. this is one of the reasons why so many vegans who try to live by those beliefs, absolutely despise PETA. but please do excuse us if we get a bit carried away and passionate at times edit: i feel i should confess that i spray garlic, pyrethrin and neem oil on my vegetables...so many lives lost.

kilo for kilo there's far more harvested crops being pumped into livestock, no?...it's just minimising the harm of course life feeds on life. it's not just karma, it's cultivating an attitude of non-violence..whether that's addressing your own direct tendencies or your incitement of those tendencies in others. it's about looking at your life and seeing what improvements you can make also some will argue that insects have a totally difference type of nervous system and don't feel such intense suffering? chicken nuggets eh? ;) most abused/exploited animal on the earth ?...the poor ol chicken

hunab this is this most interesting and poignant thread here in many months

that's what i was trying to say - is that if it's for health reasons ... go "whole-food, plant-based" as at least 70% of your diet... it's when you deviate from this rule that things go wrong because these other foods cause nutrient displacement / have low nutrient densities. (i.e. you eat a lot of it to feel satisfied, but the ratio of calories to nutrient is way off, and they have very little fiber). When I say nutrient here, I'm meaning vitamins, minerals & important phytochemicals. my diet is very "indian" i guess you could say...but my style of cooking blends african, mediterranean & asian traditional (vegetarian) whole-foods from times when people ground their own spices and grains on a stone slab...definitely not restaurant-style indian food. it's pretty much what some people call peasant food...massive amount of non-starchy vegetables, lentils legumes beans (some are split/hulled, which i use when i want to cook them quickly, which i suppose you could say is not a whole-food technically, but they're still loaded with fiber and I prefer these to canned products, only based on texture) i have to say that i find a pressure cooker is my most treasured kitchen appliance. even if it's just to make my own hummus...but there are dishes I crave at least once a week that would take 3-4 hours to cook in a pot, wherease with the pressure cooker it's closer to 1 hr (you can do other things while they're cooking). i've also been using a slow cooker a lot lately. also, i thought i might add - (as a vego myself) that the studies showing that vegetarians are healthier / live longer, etc, as far as I know, are pretty insubstantial or inconclusive, and some studies show the opposite. the studies funded by various animal-based industries and the billions of dollars they spend on advertising to convince the general public that they cannot be healthy without consuming these products are far more spurious though. i definitely avoid getting too involved in any debate about these issues these days...for me it comes down to an ethical decision, and i'm still transitioning to a diet that is somewhat closer to vegan. but man it still irks me when i hear someone say they've been vegetarian for 10 years - they just eat fish for their protein....please!! lol .. if you are eating something that has eyes ...... as far as i see it: health? ethics? environment? you assess your priorities and you do what you can i can respect that, but i still don't like it when some guy on the train right next to me is eating a stinking 2 day old kransky out of a greased up brown paper bag that he bought at flinders st station kiosk....shudder

i know of a lot of resources and i'm sure a lot of others here will have good ideas will come back to this tomorrow evening it's conscious eating that makes a major difference...you don't have to worry that during some transition that you eat some meat/seafood now and then...every change is significant. some people are fine with being "flexitarian" : ) a plant-based whole-food diet is the way to go, but you shouldn't feel uncomfortable with this being your primary "dietary philosophy" that may include some meat as you see fit "all or nothing" can be way too extreme and is often self-defeating maybe you can elaborate on your reasons for wanting to adopt a vegetarian diet? from what you've said, it sounds like a health thing mostly?

the site mac mentioned, www.yerbamateaustralia.com.au refers to a patent "[...] a recently filed US Patent (2002) cites yerba maté for inhibiting monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity by 40-50% in vitro." that's pretty interesting yes, a strong cup of coffee is an overdose for me...i would end up having to lie down hmm also from that website: “One of the remarkable aspects of maté is that it does not interfere with sleep cycles; in fact, it has a tendency to balance the cycles, inducing more REM sleep when necessary, or increasing the amount of time spent in delta states. Many people report that they require less sleep when using maté; usually such an experience is accompanied by a deeper, more relaxing sleep.”

a lot of deli's still sell large quantities of preground seed paste

lol uhh is this spam? thanks apoth again

Anyone have any stories they'd like to share? Am looking at a few programs in Himachal, Rajasthan (India) & Nepal aside from some Dhrupad tutelage in Madhya Pradesh...so much to look in to.

don't have an indian store somewhere not too far away? i would call first though...i only see it in stores that sell herbal stuff you could order long pepper online, or trikatu powder. it's hard to explain the flavor of long pepper. it's definitely numbing and is not as dry/rough as black pepper. rounder and earthier, and slightly sweet. but i can't think how to explain the aroma btw, i get that permeated feeling from fenugreek leaves...

have you tried long pepper?

interesting ... what prompted you to share this now?

thanks very much apoth...very interesting...had not come across that program i did find another program which is also teaching english to young monks. would love to do that it's so hard to choose though...i'm not exactly sure how to weigh things up & decide... (good thing i like dhal bhat ) ... always had wanted to so something like this in India, but for some reason am dreaming of Nepal. maybe will do the volunteer work in Nepal, then the gurukul stay in Bhopal. Just to see both. looks like i should get my shots asap. am getting very excited .. have never been further than NZ tho, so it's all very new to me

i think there are plenty of people who would agree that kava in general, or specific cultivars, will cause a hangover of sorts.

traditionally it's mother's day that you start making the effort to drive around to your various known patches and you can be pretty sure you'll haul a decent load or two. depends how far you gotta drive. we never bothered to head to red hill, for example, until mother's day after some decent rain

thanks everyone for looking into it...and for the invite offers thanks apothecary...i thought there was something odd & clunky about those programs...they almost look like windows 3.x apps. thanks very much for the offer also i found a review of a few programs so i'm having a look at those...there's got to be something that is decent and easy to use & looks modern. will take me a couple of days to check them out

Anyone have experience with software that can count calories, store recipes/menus & track weight loss, exercise, etc? Have looked at a few, and have found they're not so user friendly and they seem pretty clunky. One I used, it seems like you can't even change from pounds to kg's Thanks

ah..i forgot to mention timers...i use a cd that is silent but after the chosen period of time there is a gentle bell sound. you can buy meditation timers too. it's important to commit to a specific time that you'll sit out even if you're having a rough day...know your commitment before you sit....because the mind may suddenly say "oh you really should defrost the freezer" -- and you can say "15 minutes is the deal, the freezer can wait"

aromatics have always been highly valued...not really necessary but it definitely has an effect via the limbic system...can't go wrong with mysore sandalwood or whatever you like. do what feels right for you...don't worry too much about distractions...at home obviously you shouldn't be disturbed by other people, mostly because it can be a bit startling if someone suddenly talks to you, moves near you or knocks on the door, etc, and they should know that it's your meditation time. if you have a routine about it, same place/same time deal, your mind and body will settle down much more quickly when you sit. a ritual can be as simple as becoming quiet/slowing down a bit, turning off you phone, adjusting the lighting & lighting a candle..sit, get comfortable, just relax for a minute or two and let the breath slow down and deepen naturally, then start the practice. the distracting noises etc, might be annoying at first, but you'll soon notice they don't bother you so much..it's just another thing to work with hopefully family would be respectful if they know what you're doing but at the same time obviously they shouldn't have to creep around in silence for that time i have to admit that if i'm meditating and any tv is on anywhere in the house...that is something i find very difficult i should shut up so someone else can get a word in

thanks : ) i kind of am a dietician of sorts...i need something that some of my clients who are willing & able to get a bit geeky can use at home to help them log their meals & track their results. it's involving & it's good motivation for some people.... yet the software has too much of a learning curve and is not so user friendly. also i use this sort of software to create meal plans for people that are happy with that sort of thing or request it....but man, it takes freakin ages to create recipes with the apps i've used so far.

yeah, like some particular meditation practices, with some substances you can get seduced by phenomena...but every now and then you can get a glimpse of something that can be quite motivating....you get that from regular sober practice also

hey, i just looked at your profile Hunab (you have me thinking about things) -- "And I think my mind has a brain of its own"..! haha! beautiful

i was talking to my sister earlier and she says "you know how you predicted 20 GHB overdoses? Well it was actually 26" very much expected