Every experience, even simply going to the restaurant, can create new beliefs about how you live your life.
I have read in many different cultural and religious texts not to take for granted every moment of life, as all experiences can be the opportunity to know yourself and the world around you. I recently made a trip to Melbourne, Australia while I was there I had two very memorable experiences, both in restaurants. I like going out to eat anyway, but these two events were both what I believe to be extraordinary, as it had never happened in my life before. Let me tell you a little 'of what is happening in this strange place we call planet Earth.
The first restaurant I went was with my brother and was called 'as something of lentils' (www.lentilasanything.com), which is a pun on an old Australian rock band called 'Mental as anything'. All food is vegetarian, which is great for me for seven years, I fall into this classification, even though I started to eat fish just for health reasons. The thing that struck me was that the menu had no price. On the back of the menu were the words, 'Pay what you feel', then the owners went on to say the ideas underlying the concept. Just as the Hindu belief of karma, the patron is invited to give equally in monetary value what they feel the meal is worth to them. I think the main idea is that they want to create a more humane relationship with regular customers instead of a purely capitalist consumerism type of connection. Much of our society has shifted to a focus on the acquisition of money as very important and the interaction between people is relegated to being simply 'do a' sense.
Well you probably need to ask, 'How long has this restaurant? They make a profit? 'The answers are: The restaurant has been around for years, and have since opened a second store in a separate place, I' d think they are doing well. I first ate a bread and dips which was very tasty, followed by the best lentil burgers I've ever had in my life (I had many), and I drank a chai tea that unfortunately was not very good that day. When I went to pay a lot of questions came into my mind like, 'How much should I pay? I give a lot, so they are not perceived as a Scrooge? Can I pretend that I have no money? The homeless come here to get a free meal? The realization I had after I had paid in this process of negotiation secular consciousness of a person is tested. You want to walk to the happy experience, and you feel for restaurateurs who have had their fair amount for their services. A feeling of trust, respect, and unity is given to this relationship, which could also feel that your honor is being tested. This is entirely a human connection is very different than many modern ideologies that are fast-food pervades our local environment.
In my last article entitled "The Power of Food 'I stressed the importance of what we eat, how and who we eat with, as well as the relevance of the person who was cooking the food she felt emotionally. In a situation Consumer Should any of these factors become irrelevant? Eating is one of the few actions imperative that all human beings should do if they exist in our world. Why not make the experience of the sacred, like all other rituals and beliefs important we participate in?
The second amazing restaurant experience I had was at a place called, 'Moroccan Soup Bar' (Check reviews on Google). They also serve a vegetarian-only menu, and after dating from different periods is easily one of the tastiest I've ever eaten in my life. Back when I used to eat meat every day I thought that vegetables were boring, boy was I wrong! The textures, variety of flavors, and ingredients are more attractive to all tastes that I took with me to share this sacred experience''.
The evening in question and saw my girlfriend and I arrived late and then being the last people to eat. Earlier in the night the owner, a Muslim woman, was sitting at the table next to us with a few customers who were obviously normal or friends. When he mentioned the movie, 'What a bleep do we know?' I had to intervene, as I felt it was one of the few people around who saw the film and had also thought that the film is very interesting. He was saying that not many people were in the theater than the mainstream stories like 'Batman' or 'Star Wars' and wondered why they were no longer interested in real life, unlike human narratives created. At the end of the night she came and sat at our table to discuss what we did not like the movie.
The conversation flowed naturally aspects of life such as science, spirituality, religion and human relations. He said that morning she had gone on a trip with a group of Muslim women and Jewish women to a mikvah (a Jewish woman 'ritual bath), who organized her. He said that at first the Islamic group were reluctant to go, but after that they went and met with Jewish women, neither group wanted to leave. They all enjoyed the connection so that Jewish women were planning a visit to the Islamic group to one of their religious ceremonies. Of course I thought this was because the climate of political turmoil in Israel and Palestine.
I have not got the really cool part of history again. When I went to pay for the meal I gave the woman the thirty dollars (very cheap for the quality and quantity of food) and she handed me fifteen dollars. Very surprised, then continued to tell me that some nights he would give patrons half the price of the meal back if they would favor a little. I asked what it was and she told me that I should give money to someone that I felt really needed or deserved. This just blew both my girlfriend and my own mind! The woman said he believed 90% of people went through with this task generous, and she just hoped it might influence some of our beliefs about humanity and the interrelatedness of all people on planet Earth.
My girlfriend and I was contemplating child sponsorship for a while 'so we took the fifteen U.S. dollars and used it to our first monthly payment of Plan International www.plan-international.org. It shows how powerful humble, anonymous can make the difference for the world and people's perception of reality. It 'true that every moment is a chance to learn from what is around us everywhere, as well as the opportunity to share knowledge with others, integrating our new belief in our actions and behaviors.
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