BUDDHA SAID. WHEN I AM EATING I KNOW I AM EATING...

 In memory of October 5th 2019 when a Tibetan monk walked into the area where I was having breakfast, Bristows Lighthouse Bungalow in Fort Cochin in Kerala.

We talked and one of the things we talked about was (appropriately) was about eating

Somone approaches the Buddha and asks, what are you doing?

We are sitting, we are talking and we are eating.

But the person with the query continued: Every one sits, everyone talks and every one eats.

Buddha replied, yes that is true.

But when we sit, we know we are sitting; when we are talking we know we are talking; when we are eating, we know we are eating.

I am always thankful for the food I get, mainly because of my life being spent as an itinerant, travelling and living in many countries. Last night, my Jamaican Brother, cooked Ackee and Saltfish and it was such a treat

I have been very attentive of what I am eating and eat slowly, savouring each morsel. This has come in handy as my palate has been exposed to excellent meals in Malaysia, Japan, Cochin, France, home cooked meals in Havana and lots of shared dinners with my foodie friends, especially, Dr MW in Miami, Brother Eliahu in Portland and M. Mathew in Cochin.

And always say 

Itadakimasu before beginning of a meal and thank the person who prepared it.

Mindful eating has become popular and also the so called Buddha Diet (fashioned after Monks who finish their meals for the day by early afternoon), now named Intermittent Fasting.

When you are a Foodie, you are enjoying, savouring and aware of your food. You are not thinking about loosing weight or fitting into it your lifestyle or following a fad. Whether indulging in Fish Tacos at Morgans at Wynwood in Miami or a lovely Masala Dosai in Cochin (the last memorable Dosai was in Colombo, Sri Lanka at a Muslim Resto), the memory is of the friends, good times had and also the taste of food in the palates.

I saw a phrase today, which made me think, Societies of Satiety. We talk about Dieting and Nutrition etc when you have plenty of food around. Where there is Scarcity of Food (an approximate one third of USA) then you are thinking of EATING and not concentrating on knowing whether you are eating. Unless you are a Western Wannabee, you very seldom hear about Diet and Nutrition, while travelling through Asia. 

Grilled Sting Ray at Jalan Alor , Kuala Lumpur 

I still can savour it, the last time with my UmonHon Indian friends during our trip together to South East Asia 

Being an Endocrinologist, I would be interested in some scientific correlation to all this and it was easier to find. 

Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating 

Eric Robinson, Paul Aveyard, Amanda Daley, Kate Jolly, Amanda Lewis, Deborah Lycett, Suzanne Higgs

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 97, Issue 4, April 2013, Pages 728–742,

Evidence indicates that attentive eating is likely to influence food intake, and incorporation of attentive-eating principles into interventions provides a novel approach to aid weight loss and maintenance without the need for conscious calorie counting.

I have noticed that many of the "nutrition" and Wellness Expert' would cherry pick and just mention: scientific studies have shown that Buddhist monk diet is good for weight loss. But they miss the essence. Spiritual life is not about, paying bits of attention to those elements you life in between your rock climbing and cafe Latte. These people are Gluttons from the Societies of Satiety.

Thich Nhat Hanh

I love to sit and eat quietly and enjoy each bite, aware of the presence of my community, aware of all the hard and loving work that has gone into my food. When I eat in this way, not only am I physically nourished, I am also spiritually nourished. The way I eat influences everything else that I do during the day.Mar 9, 2010

During the year I spent learning Japanese Nutrition, I learned

to be aware and be grateful for those who prepared your food.

It would be a disrespect for the people who grew this food, the

people who prepared this food, if you ate it while in a foul 

mood, quarrelling at the table or shouting, my Japanese friend

informed me. 

I lament to say that at that time I was not ready to receieve the wisdom of the Japanese, and I looked at my experience with hazy eyes of an uninitiated. But it evoked a deep interest in nutrition which now benefits my patients.

Nutrition is not only what you eat but also as Thich Nhat Hanh said, about the connection to the community and being aware of what you are eating.

I have a patient who sends me photos of his blood sugars and what he eats, and we discuss why what where about the food and his lifestyle. He is happy . I am happy and his metabolism comes back to normal.

I will add when he sends me his next reading and I can assure you it would be in the normal range. This is the power of relationship and wholeness of the lifestyle.

added 1030 pm on 30.10.2020

he sent me his Blood Sugar before dinner and a picture of his dinner

2 beef patties

brown rice 

green beans

water

I texted him back:

Great Job, my friend

I am happy

Looks like Mr Alfredo left !

MICHELE GUREVICH THE QUEEN OF LOW FI POP AND THE EASTERN EUROPEAN MELANCHOLIA

If you are listening to the music from just one country or one continent, you can be lulled into thinking you are listening to the best of the music there is.

Now we have streaming services.

Since I subscribed to Spotify, I have listened to so much new/old/foreign countries/different genre.. and in love with so many of the artists.. Lo Fi Pop. I did not even know such a genre existed till I started listening to the Canadian singer Michele Gurevich (now living in Copenhagen). Incidentally I discovered Jacob Gurevitsch (no relation) who is Danish also on Spotify, I love his Lovers in Paris, reminded me of the beautiful aspects of my stay in that city of light and love.

Michele Gurevich has been an absolute pleasure to listen to. Interesting that there is a tinge of east European melancholy in her songs.

Perfect for these days of hope and melancholy. I feel all those people feeling isolated by this virus and its social restrictions.

Here is a video and I like the nostalgic look in this video, some of which may be biographical.

No one will ever know The life we shared The greatest romance of all time Our little universe, our family But now it’s only in my mind Our life may not have been unusual Like all the millions come before But to us it meant everything The greatest story ever told And here’s the part Where we are laughing And drinking champagne In a restaurant (here’s the part, here’s the part) Here’s the part Where we are dancing It’s like a postcard In my heart (here’s the part, here’s the part, here’s the part) I pass the buildings We once called home The blueprints burned into my dreams Where now new stories are written Our love just one of many Back when you looked just like a movie star And I was also not too bad I’ll keep that universe inside of me And carry on the best I can And here’s the part Where we are laughing And drinking champagne In a restaurant (here’s the part, here’s the part) Here’s the part Where we are dancing It’s like a postcard In my heart (here’s the part, here’s the part) Back when you looked just like a movie star And I was also not too bad I’ll keep that universe inside of me And carry on the best I can And here’s the part Where we are laughing And drinking champagne In a restaurant (here’s the part, here’s the part) Here’s the part Where we are dancing It’s like a postcard In my heart (here’s the part, here’s the part, here’s the part)

MAY THE COMING YEAR 5781 BE ESPECIAL FOR ALL OF US : ISRAEL ARAB COUNTRIES IRAN . INDIA AND CHINA AND ESPECIALLY THE USA AND BRASIL . as always mi ISLA RICA. CUBA

 In just a few hours, the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins. I have been feeling good thinking about my mischpochah: family scattered around the world, including USA Israel Belgium Panama and not to mention friends Cochin, Bauru, KL, Sri Racha, Xiamen,BA and not to mention the UmonHon, Ticuna, Lakota, Meskwakia, Traditional Kickapoo among others..

The fact that these people come to my memory without effort is a wonderful reminder of the relationship, the human tenderness that binds me to each and every one of them. 

Many years ago, when I first arrived in Miami to begin my studies in Endocrinology, I met DR DA who was pursuing a similar career, he was and is from Panama. ( In USA, they have a question, Where are you originally from ? How does a person's place of origin change?). 

I adore genealogy. My Siman Tov brother can trace his ancestry to Spain itself with much mixture along the way, Sarfaty, Azulay (who were advisers to the Kings of Morocco and the current minister of culture of France is an Azulay).

My friend from Panama wrote to wish a safe fast over Yom Kippur and we somehow got to talk about his ancestry.

he wrote: As soon as my grandfather Daniel Morhaim arrives in  Cuba from Sivri, Turkey, he went to Cienfuegos. They mové to a place called La Sierrita, close to Cienfuegos, where they establshed themselves.

In the early 40s they movéd to Havana. In 1947 my mother, who was born in Cienfuegos,  married with my father who traveled from Colón, Panamá.

The young couple established themselves in Colón. My father was the oldest boy of the Rabbi Yosef Abouganem.  My grandfather was born in Mogador, today Essaouira,  Morocco. At young age he moved to Tiberias, and was trained to become a rabbi at Rabbi Meir Bal Hanes yeshiva.

He was a mohel and shohet

 So I have genes from Morocco and from Turkey, Cuba and Panama

My grandmother, from my father side was from Algeria

American Indians say: Mitakuye Oyasin, we are all related . and once you start delving into jewish connections.. it is intriguing as well as interesting . A child of German Jewish refugees posted to Japan during the second world war, meets an Egyptian Jew made homeless by his compatriots, their children meet years later in Portland Oregon. I have stories of two friends of mine who did not know each other, were sitting next to each other at a dinner in Jerusalem ! on and on and on .  Am Israel Chai..

I did not know that my good friend and Endocrinology colleague is descended from a Rabbi born in Mogador. That brought me back such pleasant memories of a visit to Essaouira...

https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2012/03/bookseller-of-mogador.html

Let us wish every one in this planet, Jews and Non Jews the best for the coming year..

 

 As we prepare to participate, celebration may not be the right word, on this Yom Kippur, we have to keep in mind, the turbulent times some of us are living through. Nice to remember that No fascist regime has been kind to the Jews and in the USA we are on the cusp of the American Brand and we have to pray for the American people 6 million out of 330 million being Jews. we pray for all, not just the Jews.  No one can say this has not been a difficult year and let us hope that when the next Rosh Hashonnah rolls in, we will be in a happier world . I am looking forward to flying to Tel Aviv via Doha! The rapprochement with our Ishmaelite brothers is welcome. The Israeli series Tehran would be opening in USA this week and I am told that it depicts Iranian people as they deserve to be portrayed, as human being with dreams of love and affection like all of us . I also attach a saying by Mawlana Rumi who is revered not only in Iran but in much of the Islamic world.

 I especially pray for the next generation of our Mischpochah.  In Oregon USA Charlotte NC Haifa Israel Bruxelles Belgium. and Panama   Stay well over the fast

saying Kaddish at the tomb of Prophet Job outside of Salalah in Oman.   Safe through the fast and the best for the coming year for all of us Israel. am israel chai

There are people in Cochin who have come into my life and have stayed; Mathew, Rocky , Biju just to mention a few. MC in KL, PT in Sri Racha, H in Xiamen, AAT in Doha

In Iran I have so many people to thank, but all gratitude would mean nothing if I do not mention NMH from Karaj. 

SD Teheran, also M..oh so many people who enlarged my love for Iran.

TODAY IS 5 TISHREI 5781. REMEMBERING SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG WHO DIED ON 1 TISHREI 5781

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Brooklyn born Jew that all young women, jews and non jews, could look up to . She was a staunch openminded Justice not swayed by politics and conservatism. As Harari states in his book about Secularism, you do not do just things and moral things because God asks you to do that, it comes from your heart and your understanding of the human condition of not wanting to harm people.

She died at the age of 87, fighting valiantly multiple cancers and on Friday night (erev Rosh Hashanah) 18/09/2020 or 1 Tishrei 5781.

There is a belief among the sages of the Jewish people that those people who die on Rosh Hashanah can be considered a Tzadik

No one fits the description of a Tzadik better than Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

tzadikim [tsadiˈkim] צדיקים‎ ṣadiqim) is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q ( צדק‎ tsedek), which means "justice" or "righteousness".

To all the little or not so little girls in our mischpochah, hope they are reminded to lead a life of Justice and Righteousness and look up to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a New Yorker, a Jew, A Judge, a righteous person who served her country so well and also all the very many just causes over the course of her long career in Law.

MY DREAM OF FLYING TO TEL AVIV VIA DOHA ON QATAR AIRWAYS MAY BE A REALITY IN THE JEWISH YEAR 5781

 Today is the third day of the New Year 5781..

A bit of good news from Qatar, a country that I am fond of. Home of my favourite airlines, Qatar Airways..

Lets hope soon, I would be able to fly to Tel Aviv via Doha..

No one would have believed that I would say that as this special covid year has dragged on, I would miss not being at the Al Mourjan Lounge saying hello to my dear friends, especially AAT and also the executive Lounge at Marriott Marquis with Harlene and her crew..

It would be just a matter of months now, once again I would be seated in my faourite seat 1 K bound for Doha..

I would make sure that i would look for all my friends, including the Cubans who work in the Cuban Hospital..

and drop in to say Hello to the Cuban Ambassador to Qatar, who speaks both Arabic and Hebrew in addition to French.

HAPPY JEWISH NEW YEAR. SHANAH TOVAH 5781

Since we all are concerned about the havocs to the bodies of humans caused by this virus, I wanted to start the new year healthy enough,, as you can see I am not doing too badly ..

I have a little instrument that measures the cardiac electrical activity which is very helpful for me when i am in remote areas. My rhythm is mostly good and there is no evidence of any acute heart problems.

Since the covid brings down the diffusion of oxygen, people have become aware of the number 94 below which it might be dangerous. I am okay at 98%

 

IF MAPS CAN TELL A STORY, HERE IT IS. POVERTY. OBESITY PUBLIC HEALTH AND CONSERVATIVE POLITICS

 

OBESITY RATE 2018

Obese states tend to be less educated, poorer, less healthy and governed by conservative politicians.. IN GENERAL..

If there is a correlation between all these .. it is in the eyes of the beholder ..

WHO REALLY ARE YOU ? FORGET WHAT YOU ARE, NOT IMPRESSED WITH THIS..

This prolonged social isolation has given time to ponder about social aspects of many of the cultures and also relativeness of our nationalities and religion and our identities.

Some of us are multinational and multicultural and this tendency is on the rise. While visiting an elementary school in a European capital, I was astounded to be presented to polyglot pod of children, with almost all of them claiming to be multicultural and multinational.

 

Home is where your heart is and it is high time the people begin to view and give importance to what the person perceives to be their home, their language, their preferences, rather than assuming a cultural and religious and national for the individual based on their colour (white or black or brown) or an accent or the silkiness of their hair .

 

This new generation would serve as a role models if they would accept their diversity. I was a little sad to note that a young black Japanese American athlete, felt neither Haitian nor Japanese nor American. The concept of the citizen of the world is much applicable to an intellectual like the Iranian writers (sheyagan) , rather than to an Indonesian passport holder who lives in Istanbul. I always politely enquire, where are you from, and accept the answer, having met Vietnamese born in Belgium, Malians born in France, Indians born in Israel .. this is becoming more common these days.

Because of my looks, my manner of speaking and dressing, I am mistaken for multiple nationalities in context. Also I have learned how to confuse the other: a nice Rakhine Longyi makes me Burmese; A long Kurta while giving a lecture in Phnom Penh confuses the locals and of course, I can affect a Brasilian accent when speaking Spanish… all examples of how fragile peoples notions of who you are … what is important to know is you know who you are …

 

American Indians were the first people to drill the differences between WHAT you are and WHO you are. In the West, WHAT are you, is highly stressed, and Asians are becoming more and more quantitative as well. Many people in American identity themselves as I am a doctor or some other profession or a religion, I am a Methodist  or sometimes even with their ancestral origin, as such in Minnesota and the Dakotas, you would often hear the white persons say, I am a Norwegian (but don’t speak in Norwegian to him or her, they would not have any rudimentary idea).

American Indians also do not ask quantitative questions such as how old are you? I have been asked, are you a father or are you a brother or are you a son .. Of course no native person is interested in where you went to medical school.

Here I digress a little bit to talk about Lame Deer of the Lakota. To help this earth we have to overcome our peculiarities and narrow-mindedness and intolerance , As Little Prince would say: It is with the heart that one sees.

"We Sioux spend a lot of time thinking about everyday things which in our minds are mixed up with the spiritual. We see in the world around us many symbols that teach us the meaning of life. We have a saying that the white man sees so little, he must see with only one eye. We see a lot that you no longer notice. You could notice if you wanted to, but you are usually too busy. We Indians live in a world of symbols and images where the spiritual and commonplace are one...We try to understand them not with the head but with the heart"

Lame Deer

He also had this to say about Sacrifice and Suffering:

The difference between the white man and us is this: You believe in the redeeming powers of suffering, if this suffering was done by somebody else, far away, two thousand years ago. We believe that it is up to every one of us to help each other, even though the pain of our bodies. ...We do not lay this burden onto our God, nor do we want to miss being face to face with the Spirit Power. ...We want no angel or saint to gain it for us and give it to us second-hand."

Lame Deer, Lakota 

Thinking about my constantly wandering life for the past twenty odd years, I noticed that I had attached myself to some countries, only later to shed them (Jamaica) and taken on new affections. Currently I can say that the following places feel very congruous to my character (subject to change of course): 

Australia

Cuba

In other places, the attachment is to a particular place and not to a country or culture or language

Miami (but I have no special fondness for Florida or USA)

Cochin (I am fond of Kerala but not the rest of Kerala with the exception of Tamoul Nadoo and the Northeastern States)

Malaysia (definitely not to their politics, religion, Intolerance of the Other)

Quiberon (but not France)

And of course, Israel

I am comfortable being in any of these places.

 

The glossy magazines always have “lists” of the best of this or that. Yesterday’s list was : where to live if you are to leave USA ..( a distinct possibility for people who do not wish to live under Fascism in the future)

I was surprised how many of the countries would be suitable for me, that I would not mind living there, while carrying on my lifestyle.

Lifestyle is far more important than a geography of a place.

Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina  all are welcome in this continent.

 

With the advent of high-speed internet and good telephone connections, the life of a Doctor without Borders has become easier..

 

This social isolation has made me realize that I should volunteer the little talent I have in Health Care to two distinct places

Indigenous people along the Amazon

Give a hand to my friend, Maurits van Pelt of MoPoTsyo.org of Cambodia

Iquitos , Amazonas

Maurits van Pelt of MoPostsyo.org at a Peer Education Site in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

 

Once I was in the company of my good friend M Mathew PP at a place in Cochin. Some suspicious fellow asked me: why do you come here so often, especially since you do not have any family here. Even before I could answer, Mathew interrupted: I am his family.

 

When I wrote, I am homeless, my younger brother Shimon from Haifa wrote: But you have rooms in the hearts of many people in many countries.

You eat very healthy in Haifa and the rest of Israel. Mediterranean food with love and pride!

 

In Cuba, if someone asks where are you from, my dearest friend Castro would intervene: Many countries claim him but he is really one of ours.

photo from CubaJunky..

 

Thank you dear friends and lovers ..

DEMAGOGUES DICTATORS AND DEMOCRACY. CULTURE IN THE TIME OF COVID 19

Demagogues and Dictators

Culture in the time of Covid 19

 

Currently in the race of Covid 19 prevalence, USA BRASIL INDIA take the top spots.

The best controlled seem to be CHINA VIETNAM RUSSIA THAILAND SOUTH KOREA TAIWAN HONG KONG JAPAN

In the USA, Miami-Dade county, run by Banana Republic demagogues is number 2 in the nation as of today, with a 14 day positivity of over six percent. The city and the state are run by demagogues aligned to Trump. As the positivity rate is going up the governor and the mayor wants to open the city for businesses known to seed the virus such as Bars.

MIAMI-DADE

Cases: 163,790 (+415)

Deaths: 2,882 (+46)

Yesterday’s positivity: 4.72%

14-day positivity: 6.13%

7-day positivity: 5.65%

BROWARD

Cases: 74,189 (+189)

Deaths: 1,279 (+3)

Yesterday’s positivity: 2.69%

14-day positivity: 3.9%

7-day positivity: 3.5%

It is incredible that Broward county is next door (virtually) but run by Banana Republic models, every indice is down .. what explains the positivity NEXT DOOR is only half as much ? 

Money before People 

Lack of care for Humanity

lack of Morality

How can we trust these people when it comes to issues that concern the entire humanity such as 

Cyberattacks, Climate Change?

May the Spirits protect us ! 

Yesterday I received an email from a friend in China. She flew from Yunnan to Beijing and with her friends went to the National Museum and then on to a dinner. We in the western world do not have that luxury yet!

( look at this artefact from the National Museum of Beijing. It is from 16th to11th Century BCE ?  can you imagine how old the chinese culture is ? and the inherited wisdom? Learn from them rather than fighting them)

NYT reported

President Xi Jinping boasted last week that the country’s return to business and school “fully demonstrated the clear superiority of Communist Party leadership and our socialist system.”

(I will put a photo or a street in Kobe, Japan, only because my brother Eliyahu grew up there)

Japan is a country that I admire and nowhere in the world, the concern for others, your fellow citizens more apparent there. China does not have that but have a regime who imposes discipline on people whereas in Japan that discipline comes naturally. The successes of Taiwan as in New Zealand/Aotearoa and HK are attributed to the self discipline of the population. This characteristic is not strictly an Asian phenomenon in that New Zealanders are predominantly of European origin, their character shaped by their distance from the motherland and also the plasticity of a settler population.

 

On top of Culture, in the western world, Poverty has also thrown in a bolt into this quagmire. The prevalence and death among poor people and minority people in the USA has been twice as higher. Then again in Immigrant cultures (such as USA Canada or Australia or NZ) doesn’t poverty define the culture as well.. while we are on the subject. The other three immigrant countries mentioned above: Canada NZ Australia all have done very well to combat the virus even though Australia had a slight setback which they have now overcome. So there is something unique about USA that has permitted this virus to take foothold in this land of opportunities.

Not only is this virus opportunistic, many people in charge of the government are also raking it in, many of them children of immigrants. One case in point:

Seema Verma, an Indian who is in charge of Medicare/Medicaid disbursement:

“Verma is worried about wasting government money on ‘unnecessary’ medical care for poor people, but she wants the government to reimburse her for $47,000 worth of jewels and clothes she took on a government trip,” Shaub tweeted on Dec. 8.

In March, Verma was under fire, after a Politico investigative report found that she had hired GOP-connected private consultants costing millions of taxpayer dollars to burnish her image, polish her brand, write her speeches, in addition to traveling with her around the country.

So has other people who are in the inner circle or cabinet or other hangers on, such as the person in charge of developing the vaccine who has a financial interest in the company that sells vaccines etc., the list is long .  Perhaps that is why USA is suffering so much more as the people given the task of protecting the citizens are padding their pockets and have serious conflicts of interest.  But one could say this is also part of the USA Culture.

 

 

 

WHY IS CANADA DOING SO WELL, FOR THE SAME REASON NEW ZEALAND DOING WELL, THEY. HAVE VERY CIVILIZED GOVERNMENTS THAT PUT ITS CITIZENS FIRST.

USA having only 4.3% of the world's population has 25 % of the cases of Covid 19 and also 25 % of the total deaths in the world due to Covid 19.   

Worse still, look who is dying proportionately more ?

 So choose your own Demagogue or Dictator or Democracy..

I am Australian I am Cuban  so it seems I will be fine.......