Just Tell Them All To Go To Hell

I went sober for almost 24 hours, and so I decided to splurge with a good bottle of Shiraz/Cabernet, to celebrate. I felt like I had earned it.

Other than that, there was a lot going on after I had reached the state of detox where I was starting to feel the physical hunger which is commensurate with the spiritual strengthening that comes from fasting... It had been a very interesting path to my making that decision. I flipped open a yoga book that I had had for a long time. I had started to do yoga, but what happened was that when I did the exercises designed to strengthen the lungs or whatever, I was noticing a soreness in the upper chest, probably from having smoked for 35 years...and so I quit yoga because it hurt... 

I pulled that book out of my mess of them, and flipped right to the chapter on fasting. 

I read that, and then randomly flipped to one on quitting smoking.

And then I saw a documentary on Ghandi on the "push push" PBS station; I couldn't see a direct link to their "push" for social equity in it; but I did take note of how the guy fasted; and just how screwed up India was and how anyone who complains about anything in this country can go to India, type of thing. 

And so now I have eaten my buffalo and washed it down with red wine with asparagus tips on the side, and now I tackle the next project which I was turned on to by opening a book called "Buddha Is As Buddha Does" or something. There was some interesting stuff that I, again, randomly flipped to; and one thing that stands out is The Eight Qualities That Limit One's Potential 

 1. Being confused and lacking in discernment and understanding

whatever

2. Being distracted by emotional conflicts, or having a fondness for unproductive, unwholesome, negative, or crude ways.

3, BEING OVERLY INFLUENCED BY OTHERS, OR UNDER THE POWER OF OTHERS.

I will stop here. This is a big one for me; that I have only recently become aware of it.