ROW Lecture Tour -Cleveland ,Ohio 2011

In this photo we see the very delightful home of my hosts, Helen and John, which is in a rural area on the banks of a river. John and Helen were just commencing to plant their vegetable garden for the year as the warmer weather approached, after the recent melting of the snows

The surrounding country was originally all used for growing corn, and much of it still is with these old corn silos being still in use. Slowly, and inexorably, though, urbanisation is creeping in. The closest townships in either direction were about seven miles away. Each day whilst there I took the opportunity to walk, and never quite made it to either of the townships. My goal is to do so next time.

The lady in the centre is the owner of a local raw food reastaurant, which is the centre for much of the activity in the alternative health field and who hosted the pot-luck group to whom I spoke.

Cleveland is situated on the shores of one of the Great Lakes dividing the US from Canada, Lake Eyrie. This how I saw it from the high rise unit of  one of the local people who kindly invited me to a delicious raw food meal, followed by a day of sight-seeing in Cleveland.

This monument was erected in commemoration of President James Garfield, considered, so I recall, as the founder of the United States.

I was just a little too early to view the interior of the building as renovations were in progress at the time. 

This is the frontal view, or as best as it could be photgraphed due to the surrounding trees.

Nearby, and almost alongside, was this monument to the Rockefeller family

ROW Lecture Tour - Montreal, Canada 2011

Here I am with my host from Crudescence in Montreal

This was another group of enthusiastic raw-fooders who had come along to my lecture in spite of it being a major religious holiday, Good Friday, and a very Catholic and primarily French speaking part

 of  Canada.

They were adamant that, if possible, I should come again next year, as many of the things which I mentioned and referred to they had not heard  before, and were entirely new to them.

  

ROW Lecture Tour - Croatia 2011

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From the UK I flew to Croatia, and of course one of my first ports of call was the farmer's markets to not only purchase a supply of fresh raw food, also to see what was available in the way of organically grown produce. And this photo shows a group, small though it may be, of dedicated organic growers. The array of food they had available was indeed quite astounding, given the time of the year, with the snows hardly melted.

My host for my visit was Marijana and her family, who most graciously welcomed me into their home, providing me with all the comforts, and more, of a five star hotel. Marijana also fulfilled the role of interpreter, and very comptently too.

One day we visited one of the family who lived in this exquisite mountain cottage in its delightful setting on the top of a mountain ridge. 

Lunch was in the family room, which was a very warm and friendly place to be. It consisted of fresh ripe fruits with a most happy time being had by all.

Growing on the nearby slopes was/is such an array of wild edible plants that I almost felt as though I could live off them alone.

In the corner of the room was to be found a spinning wheel, a family heirloom still in good working order

This plaque tells us of the history of the building and the original owners of it, portrayed in the following pictures.

Because I was unable to take a photo of the entire building, due to its imensity, surrounding trees etc., I have use a photo of an airial photo to endeavour to give some idea of what it looks like and its size.

This life-size sculptures is a portrayal of the original owner just prior to his departure to France where he was to be be-headed.

In the background can be seen the original stables and dungeons with the main building to the left.

This is the courtyard of the main building.

And in this view we are looking down the inner corridor which faces the courtyard and from which all of the room s open or are accessed.

The building today is maintained as a Museum, and is gradually being restored as the money becomes available with only a relatively small portion being as yet open to the public.

One of the enthusiastic audiences that attended the lectures.

Marijana making a few introductory remarks.

And Marijana hard at work with her raw food prepartion and demostration.

 I was very agreeably surprised to find that Kraljevic was the birthplace of Rudolf Steiner the founder of the Spiritual science Anthroposophy, the Wldorf schools, and Bio-Dynamic Farmimg and gardening.

This is the house in which he was born February 25th 1861

And this is the plaque on the attesting to such a fact. We were extremely fortunate to be able to visit on the very day, and at the very time that a group of schhol children were also visiting, and had the opportunity to see inside.

 

This a room which has been set aside in the house and decorated in the era of the time that Rudolf Steiner would have lived there.

Here we see the room which is used for the functions of the local followers of Rudolf Steiner.

 

And this is the building which is currently being renovated and re-built with donations and

lots of hard work by the local people to be a Steiner Centre.

ROW Lecture Tour - UK 2011 Part 2

Whilst in the UK, I took the opportunity to visit with Dr Jayne Donegan in London. Dr Jayne is a medical practitioner who has, through her own research, researching the currently available medical literature, along with her clinical experience, come to realise the harmfulness of vaccination. Not only on adults, particularly so though, upon the young, and as yet to be fully developed bodies, of our children.

I consider it a joy, indeed a privilege to know Dr Jayne, and very much appreciate her breaking into her very busy schedule, to spend the time with myself and Annette.

This photo shows, from L to R myself, Dr Jayne, and Dr Jayne's daughter

You may read Dr Jayne's story by visiting her website at: www.jayne-donegan.co.uk

Prostate Cancer

"It may sound crazy, but it's a fact. 98% of men with prostate cancer would live just as long without any treatment at all."


I lifted this quotation from a website quoting recent medical research on the current medical treatment available, and being advised for men and felt the need to share it with you.


John

ROW Lecture Tour - UK 2011

My next port of call was York in the UK and to attend the AGM of the Incorporated Society of Registered Naturopaths. And here we all, a small, select group  with our luncheon meal.

One of the highlights of the meal was this raw-food cake.

ROW Lecture Tour - India Part 5

This is the type of bed on which most sleep, commonly known as a charpoy. Fortunately I was not required to sleep on one without a mattress for more than one night, yet that night was not too sleepless either. Otherwise I was provided with a thin, but quite adequate mattress. Overall much better than  the bed of nails often displayed as commonly used by yogis.

If they could afford to do so, the local people loved to paint their houses in bright colours.

It is a real joy to see the pride these people take if and when they can afford to do do so. Most, of course, cannot afford to do so.

From time to time, amongst the two or three roomed dwellings of the average person, we find some quite large mansions.

No matter whether the house is large or small, it is always open to visitors, and especially some-one from a far country is made welcome even in the most modest of homes.

Whilst in Kerala I had the priviledge and joy of meeting with Dr Sukumar Azhikode, writer, scholar, author,orator, and teacher. These are some of the awards he has received in his lifetime.

Dr Azhikode and myself.

Dr Azhikode's home and him saying his farewells to another friend, the Buddhist monk, Bhanta U Dhammanda  and Dr  Viswambharan

This is a photo on Dr Azhikode's wall of a time when he addressed over 30,000 people so I was informed.

This is the first of a number of vegetarian  and Eco- shops set 

up by Dr Vadakkanchery

This was the investment of appreciation and friendship to myself on the at one of the Life Natural, Nature Cure Hospitals, on the eve of my departure to the UK.

Thank you to all of our friends, Nature Curists, Hygienists, and those who believe, and support, and continue to support the ideals and practice of Nature Cure and Natural Hygiene in India, for inviting me to visit, and share with you the vital truth's of these disciplines. 

ROW Lecture Tour - India Part 4

The local people use honey to sweeten almost everything, including the water they drink. Here are the hives for the bees from which they collect the honey. These hives, as can be seen are less than half the size of those used in the western countries.

This is the small hand operated extractor which is used to extract the honey from the comb. The use of this machine is shared amongst a number of the villagers, as for them not only is this the most cost effective way of doing things given that no one has a great deal of money, it is also the most practical.

In places that cater for both the local culture and the western culture, it is interesting to see the development of toilets which cater for both. For in the past, and of course still is for the majority of the people of India, squat toilets, or just digging a hole in the ground, or in some instances, not even that, was/is the norm. As can be seen this toilet enables both methods to be utilised.

Large retal stores similar to those we see in the West are becoming more and more common in India, although surprising at it may seem, they do not open for business until 11am. On the other hand they do not close till 10pm either. For it is not until later in the day, and night, that the people of India are most active. This security guard has headgear and sash remniscent of the days of the Raj.

Bhante U Dhammanda, a Buddhist monk from Malaysia, was also visiting the area, and somewhat the same places, and meeting with the same people. He has invited me to visit Malaysia next year to speak to their people. If I am to take up all the invitations to speak, I will have very little time for the farm. Each will need to take their turn so it appears.

This is one of the attentive groups that I addressed whilst in Kerala, India. If necessary they would sit for hours to hear something new, and/or different

At these gatherings we were often given bouquets of flowers, amongst other things, as a showing of their gratitude for the lecture. One Westerner commented on how unusual this was for flowers to be offered to to a Westerner as in the Western society they only be offered to a woman. In reality it is a delightful custom, particularly as the people are so poor, and the flowers are virtually free for them to offer as a token of their esteem and does not represent a hardship either on the giver or the recipient.

This is one of the more opulent homes we spent the night in It belonged to a retired teacher of French, and was in a very beautiful setting surrounded by mostly cocoanut palms, bananas and other tropical plants

On this property was to be found a very rare type of cocoanut tree the name of which I unfortunately did not record at the time.

This is a part of the old original dwelling which is now occupied by the oxen

The beautifully Hand carved doors and interior motifs in the home were a delight to see in this day and age where such things are not only a rarity in Western society, are rarely if ever seen.

Lounge Room

Interior staircase

A very homely and delightful place to spend the night, as well as having a most gracious person as a host. It was far superior to spending one's time in the best of hotels I can assure you