General Consciousness & Mindful Eating
The following story was on a meditation moment on Sam Harris's meditation app. It brought to mind my mentor, Bartlett, zen butcher. He once told me his customers asked him if grass fed or grain fed meat/dairy was better or about nutrition values of food. In the end, general consciousness about food is enough. Was the food locally grown? How does the body feel?
Mostly my customers feel better when they drink more water. They do like the experience of adding juice, drinking vinegar, bitters, fresh citrus. Generally I do not make health claims about the benefits of vinegar. A little is refreshing and pairs well with teas, juice, kombucha, herbs, and fruits in season.
~Parable of the Poisoned Arrow~
It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.