Now my title may throw you and you may be thinking, Jennifer that is not how you spell holy. Well, actually it is if you are talking about Holi, the festival of colors. At the end of March each year the Utah Temple holds a gigantic festival called Holi to usher in the coming spring. Find out more about the story of this festival here.
Our journey began when one of our friends, Sri Hari asked us to go down to this festival as performers. I was really excited by this opportunity to be able to sing for so many people. Here is a taste of our performance. It is estimated that about 25,000 people came this year and over 50,000 bags of color were sold.
We had an amazing time performing and playing with all the devotees and spectators. You can see some of the best photos I took here. The file sizes are really big so I don't plan to post the photos again here. I'll let the photos speak for themselves as they are very colorful and tell a good story. I hope you enjoy and leave comments if you like. Here is a shot that one of the professional photographer's got of Ashton running through all the sage brush.
So with Spring right around the corner I got the itch to do a bit of cleaning. So here are the results of the cupboard make over. I got more glass jars and the label maker out, let me just say it was super fun if you like to organize! Ha!
Before, bye bye bags! AfterBefore, this one wasn't too bad! AfterHope it inspires you to start the decluttering and spring cleaning early!
My dear and wonderful husband decided to throw me a birthday party this year! I was so excited to say the least. He arranged it all including the decorations! He even had a color theme, orange and white! Can I just say he is amazing? HE IS AMAZING! I just had to shout it out!
So all my wonderful friends came to our home and filled it with singing, laughter, and food! Life couldn't get much better I don't think! Thank you everyone who came. It really meant a lot to me. This is the first really big gathering we've had at our home since we moved in so needless to say it was about time. We had over 20 adults and 9 children!
Check out FB to watch the video of our Kirtans. We had sooooooo much fun! What a great way to start out my 32nd year!
Oh yes Ashton and I had a blast boarding up at Bogus for my birthday. This was his second time up and I think he did a pretty awesome job. He helped get us packed up, including the all important nibble pack as he likes to call them. Here are a few shots from our adventure.
Getting ready to go Ashton on the Mountain!Ashton on the magic carpet. Break time! Ashton and his nibble pack! LOL!On the chair lift. Here is a video of Ashton coming down on our last run. He is a tough little guy!
Ok drum roll please! We have completed the floors! YAY! Now on to the base board issue. Oh well! At least there is one less battle to fight. I can't tell you how nice it is to have the floors look clean! I am just so thankful. So with out further adieu here are the pictures.
Living Room Before After Decorated Hallway Before After Altar Room Before
After Kitchen Before After So there you have it. We also had the bedrooms done but I think you get the picture. Next time we'll cover moldings! Wish us luck!
My point of sharing this with you is to give a clearer understanding of what my family believes and in doing so I think I will continue this series of Food for Thought and hope all my readers enjoy the contemplation that may come from hearing a different perspective. On that note here we go!
So today Thad told Steven and I about a conversation he had at his Church group on Wednesday where they told him God put animals on the plant for humans to eat. He had some very good counters but missed an important distinction. Now seeing as we are vegetarians I quite disagree with the belief that we have to eat meat and here is why. I must say Thad has a better understanding of this complex discussion after we shared our perspective with him.
So Steven posed this question back to Thad as if Thad were a meat eater. "What is the symptom of the soul?" So we explained what symptom meant and in case you don't know the definition here it is; Symptom: -noun
1.
any phenomenon or circumstance accompanying something and serving as evidence of it.
2.
a sign or indication of something.
The answer is the symptom of the soul is consciousness. Let's define consciousness. –noun
1.
the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.
2.
the thoughts and feelings, collectively, of an individual or of an aggregate of people: the moral consciousness of a nation.
3.
full activity of the mind and senses, as in waking life: to regain consciousness after fainting.
4.
awareness of something for what it is; internal knowledge: consciousness of wrongdoing.
5.
concern, interest, or acute awareness: class consciousness.
6.
the mental activity of which a being is aware as contrasted with unconscious mental processes.
I think everyone can agree that animals are conscious. If not see the definition above. Animals do not behave the same as rocks, water or air. So logic would dictate that they have a soul and the Bible along with every other major religion believes that "thou shall not kill". If we are a soul and your dog or the cow in that pasture has a soul then the only difference is the outer covering, which is the body. Why then should we eat that covering and commit murder?
Now you may say that God wants us to eat meat, but I beg to differ. In the garden of Eden there was no meat eating. Adam and Eve were happy to live as vegetarians. So what is so wrong with following the original plan that was set out by God in the first place? There are other Christians that feel the same way, check out this interview.
Kurma Blog Re-runs: Cereal Killer Find a link to his blog under Blogs of Note!
Yadvah from India asks:
"Many people would argue that we do not eat meat because we believe in the 'ahimsa' (non-violence) principle, i.e we should not kill any living things. Then why do we eat plants, they too are living things and we kill them when we uproot them, don't we?
I know Lord Krishna has said in the Gita that He will accept plants and fruits and water offered to him, but is there any scripturally related scientific reason as to why we may 'kill' (eat) plants? Is it something to do with the different elements they're made up of versus the five elements that animals and human beings are made up of? I would appreciate if you could kindly share your thoughts on this sir."
My answer:
"Well, I don't think the answer has got anything to do with the elements that plants and animals share in common. Rather, you answered your own question in quoting from the Gita verse. I can add that out of plants, fruits and water, of course, water and fruits are pain free. Although if you want to get picky, there are millions of microscopic creatures killed when we drink water and even breathe air.
But since you mention veggies, I would like to make a distinction: in the non-violent, pain-free category would be the eggplants, tomatoes, chilies, broccoli, cauliflowers, cabbages etc etc etc - the list is vast - where the plant is not killed by plucking the vegetables. These vegetables are botanically the fruits of these plants, and these plants continue to live after we pluck their offspring. Just like I have a kumquat tree growing in my garden, and the tree happily (well I guess it's happy) allows me to pick the fruits, then gives more next year. Same with my lemon tree, my strawberries, my chilies, and all my herbs.
That just leaves things that are killed actually, like potatoes, grains, carrots, greens that are pulled out by the roots, killing the plant and releasing the soul that resides there. And, I might add, if we wanted to get botanically correct, potato plants, and most other root vegetables, and many if not all grain- and legume- plants actually die off before we take the harvest. And of course tree nuts are a yearly gracious gift of trees that live for decades.
So my perspective is this: There is a Sanskrit aphorism which states "Jivo Jivasya Jivanam", which means that by nature's arrangement one living being is food for another.
If we wish to tread more lightly on Mother Earth, and in doing so also create as little karmic debt as possible, we should kill as little as possible, and if we have to kill, then only kill those creatures that have the least developed nervous systems, and that hence feel very little pain, like the vegetables. And to be excused even for that killing, one should offer all his food to God first, before eating and by doing so he will be relieved of even the residual offense in killing the vegetables.
Now my title may throw you and you may be thinking, Jennifer that is not how you spell holy. Well, actually it is if you are talking about Holi, the festival of colors. At the end of March each year the Utah Temple holds a gigantic festival called Holi to usher in the coming spring. Find out more about the story of this festival here.
