Religion

In Which I Say Aloha: Metaphysical Motivation + Mango Madness

/ Ally Bean / 254 Comments

Photo by Shutterbug75 on Pixabay

Talking About Metaphysical Motivation Here

Years ago I had a yoga teacher who based each week of her class on one of the Seven Huna Principles. Are you familiar with them?

I’d forgotten about them but I found them lurking in a folder in my desk drawer where I’d tossed the folder in one of my many scattered moments. The folder contained a formal list of the principles attributed to Serge Kahili King and some of my hand-written notes about them.

Allow me to explain.

According to an article HERE at LearnReligions.com*, in the Hawaiian language ‘huna’ means ‘secret’ as in connecting to your highest self. By using the Huna Principles as guides to better personal understanding, you can “bring about healing and harmony through the power of the mind.”

I’ve listed the principles first with the Hawaiian word, then King’s definition of the word. In the brackets that follow I include information from my hand-written notes, the source of which was that yoga teacher years ago.

THE SEVEN HUNA PRINCIPLES

IKE – The world is what you think it is [This is awareness as in SEEING]

KALA – There are no limits, everything is possible [This is freedom as in CLEARING]

MAKIA – Energy flows where attention goes [This is concentration as in FOCUSING]

MANAWA – Now is the moment of power [This is persistence as in PRESENCE]

ALOHA – To love is to be happy with [This is joy as in BLESSING]

MANA – All power comes from within [This is confidence as in EMPOWERING]

PONO – Effectiveness is the measure of truth [This is wisdom as in DREAM-WEAVING]

Bingo Bango That’s Our Mango

For me this year March Madness has been Mango-centric.

My infatuation with mangoes started years ago when we visited Hawaii. Sure, when you think of that state pineapple gets top billing, but Hawaii also grows the yummiest mangoes that ever were.

I’m always on the lookout for recipes that involve fruit mangoes**.

Thus when I saw a recipe in The Washington Post’s Voraciously food section, I was intrigued. The recipe was for Mango Pudding [available HERE on the other side of a paywall that just goes to prove that Mr. Bezos is mean & greedy]. I tried it and it’s easy to make because you use a blender. I’ve made it a few times now, tweaking it each time to add a bit more flavor.

Then while researching something else I stumbled over a recipe for Mango Pie not hidden behind a paywall, available HERE on THE WOKS OF LIFE.  It’s like a peach pie with similar spices and a top crust. It looks and tastes yummy with whipped cream on it, of course.

And finally last week I found a food network recipe, available HERE sans paywall, for a Mango Bellini. This seemed like a no-brainer. I can’t figure why it never occurred to me to make one before, so I rectified that situation and made one. Then another one. Quite tasty, say the residents of Casa Bean.

* This article has what it calls a Reference Library section at the end so if you want to learn more about Huna go there.

** Should you want to know a little more about why I refer to them as “fruit mangoes” read my answer to Cee’s 2017 Share Your World question: What quirky things do people do where you are from?

Questions of the Day

What do you think of the Huna Principles? Does the wisdom contained within them ring true with you? If so, which one or ones resonate with you?

Referring back to the question I shared in the footnote above, I’ll ask you: What quirky things do people do where you are from?

Do you like mangoes? If you don’t, what’s wrong with you?

~ • 🥭 • ~

Because You Asked I Answer YOUR 4 Questions. Got Anymore?

/ Ally Bean / 182 Comments

I’d hoped to have beautiful fall photos to share this week, but we’ve had an unusually warm fall and the trees have barely begun to turn colors. It’s not so pretty yet.   

Instead I’ll toss this out here. I was working on this before I took my break, intending on joining with other bloggers who were doing this. That is, asking for then answering, your questions.

• • •

• • •

1: DID YOU EVER GET YOUR HAIR CUT?

I finally got my hair cut with Janelle. That’s the good news. The bad news is that she’s retiring, so it was a bittersweet appointment. We finally saw each other after all these pandemic months to laugh together one last time, then say good-bye probably forever.

2: WHY HAVE YOU BEGUN TO OCCASIONALLY USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR WRITING?

Earlier this year a friend with lousy eyesight suggested that I needed to use more capital letters in my writing, spelling entire words with them. She knew they’re considered shouting, but she also likes to be able to read text easily.

I thought about her suggestion and realized she made a good point about visual clarity on little screens. Thus I  determined that quiet little me could, and should, shout more, but not all the time in an exhausting way, just sometimes for emphasis.

And you know what? I’ve learned IT’S FUN TO SHOUT.

3: IS ZEN-DEN A BUDDHIST?

No, Z-D isn’t a Buddhist. Like me he’s a lapsed Presbyterian. His nickname comes from my college roommate who used to call him Den-Den. Once he and I married I began to call him Zen-Den because of his ability to listen to my overwrought angst-ridden woes, then summarize my problem in one short sentence, like a Zen koan.

4: DOES THE DRAGON HAVE A NAME?

Kind of, maybe, probably yes. [Photos of him here and here]

You see, at first I tried to name him using this how to create a dragon name formula, but that name didn’t roll off the tongue. So in a post introducing my video directorial debut I asked you, my gentle readers, to name him. There were many great ideas, however none of them stuck.

In the meantime, whilst I was on my quixotic quest for a profoundly meaningful dragon name, Z-D began to refer to him, quite simply, as Drags. While not the most highbrow name, I’ll admit it suits this goofy dragon.

Thus he’s now known as Drags.

• • •

Do you have more questions for me? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them to your satisfaction.

COMMENTS CLOSED: No longer taking questions but many thanks to those gentle readers who played along here. It’s been fun.

 

In Which A Good Friend Suggests I Am A Bad Influence, As If

/ Ally Bean / 201 Comments

Catching up with a friend. Talking about what’s new with her…

FRIEND: I got thrown out of Bible Study.

ME: Wait what? YOU were in a Bible Study group? You? WHY?!!

FRIEND: I know, it’s hard to believe. It’s not really my thing, but my older sister’s high school best friend made me join.

ME: Wait what? HOW did she make you do this?

FRIEND: Oh, she asked me to join so I did. She got credit for bringing in new members. She got thrown out of Bible Study, too. Because of me… AND YOU, really.

ME: Wait, hold the horses. How did I get you two thrown out of Bible Study? I didn’t even know you were doing it, let alone in the group.

FRIEND: You told me about Cosmopolitans.

ME: Huh? Like back when Sex and the City was on TV? Those drinks?

FRIEND: Yep… and I think you were to one who suggested seeing the movie Sideways. The one about drinking wine.

ME: How does any of this have anything to do with you getting thrown out of Bible Study?

FRIEND: My older sister’s high school best friend and I were to arrange a Saturday night Bible Study get together. It was at her house. She provided the location and I provided refreshments and a movie. It was so we all could bond, or something.

ME: Uh huh.

FRIEND: So we’d just been talking in Bible Study class about Jesus turning water into wine and I remembered the movie about the vineyards. It seemed relevant to me. Then I remembered how Carrie and her girlfriends loved their Cosmopolitans so I made those the drink of the night.

ME: Ok.

FRIEND: But the thing is that I didn’t know this get together was supposed to be alcohol-free so almost no one wanted my drinks. It was Saturday night for goodness sake. Who doesn’t drink then?

ME: This group of women apparently.

FRIEND: I think they would’ve overlooked the booze except for the movie. Well, one part of the movie. I’d forgotten there was nudity in it.

ME: There is?

FRIEND: Yep a full frontal shot of a naked man running down a street. You can see his junk and this shocked most of the girls. They left immediately.

ME: No kidding? They just left?!!

FRIEND: Yep, but those who stayed drank the Cosmopolitans and we had a good time watching the movie. They understood how it was about wine, something Jesus made. It was fine with them.

ME: So how did you find out you’d been thrown out of Bible Study?

FRIEND: An email on Monday morning told us. My older sister’s high school best friend isn’t upset. She says she’s relieved to be free from it… and them.

ME: And you? How do you feel about this?

FRIEND: Oh I’m fine with it. It was something to do for a while, but now it isn’t something to do.

ME: There’s that.

FRIEND: So tried any new drinks lately? Seen any good movies? You always know the most fun things!

ME: Uh huh.

~ The End ~

More Than Ever, Cleanliness & Curiosity Are The Keys To Healthy Living

/ Ally Bean / 145 Comments

Childhood saying as timely as today’s news

I’m checking in here to see how everyone is doing.  

I don’t have anything in particular that I need to tell you, my gentle readers.

Sure, I could go on about my understanding of the novel coronavirus and how much of this mayhem could have been avoided if sensible preventive measures had been taken earlier, but to what end?  It has been discussed ad nauseam, so why be redundant?

Nope, all I have to add to the blogosphere today is two pithy little images that summarize my current approach to living healthy in these difficult times.  

Historical perspective as timely as today’s news

The first image, that I created all by myself, is something that floated into my mind over the weekend;  I’ve no specific source for the saying.  My guess is that when I was a wee little bean I learned it in Presbyterian Sunday School wherein the emphasis on cleanliness was up there on a par with all things Biblical.

The second image is one that I found recently in one of the more enlightened corners of social media.  I’d suggest that Newton’s example puts a bit of perspective on the realities of our daily lives now.  Given all this free time it’s the perfect opportunity to follow your curiosity about something that you’ve always been meaning to learn about.

And with that I shall hit publish on this post, wishing y’all germ-free days and thought-filled nights. Stay safe.