A New Year, A New Direction

Dear Readers,

While it has always been my fervent wish to help other people find their center and uplift their spirituality -- with the goal of building a better world for all of us -- I feel that simply writing about my observations and passively sharing about my insights fall short of meeting these aims. As such, I have decided to steer this blog in a new direction; A path that I feel will better help those who need our guidance the most (Yes, we will be inviting sages and gurus to share their wisdom from time-to-time, and they will be introduced in due time). Starting now, this will not just be a common, run-of-the-mill blog, I will now accept questions, and I will endeavor to answer them to the best of my abilities.


The questions you may send should fall within my/our competency, namely: Vegetarian food/cooking, Farming, Gardening, Education, Natural Healing, Music/Drumming, Art, Sustainable Lifestyle, Spirituality, Parenting & Homeschooling. Topics of general interest are welcome. Feel free to send in your most nagging dilemmas.


Please email all questions to: angkuwago[at]gmail[dot]com


There are some rules which I need to lay down, and I do ask that everyone be guided by these simple guidelines:

1. We will treat all communication with utmost confidence. Please use a pseudonym, otherwise we will supply one if and when we post your question publicly.


2. Please limit your questions to those within the competencies indicated above. We may also entertain questions related to marketing, business, systems troubleshooting and ISO-related topics, but these will be posted in the proper venue at quago[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If the questions are personal in nature, please indicate whether you prefer a private reply instead. Otherwise, they may be posted publicly;


3. We reserve the right to answer certain questions only, particularly those of specific interest. Although we will try to answer all relevant questions, there may be those that are just "out of sync". Sorry;


4. We reserve the right to moderate comments in the spirit of maintaining harmony. Sorry again. But feel free to post your comments, especially if they add a new complementary flavor to the topic-at-hand. Although we respect all religions and points-of-view, I cannot possibly allow the thread to progress to the point of chaos, as we see so often;


5. No questions lewd, violent or pornographic in nature;

I have decided to employ this new method for this blog since it will help keep me on my toes, considering that I constantly wrestle to find time to blog in between handling the dozens of clients that rely on my services for their businesses.

And also, a disclaimer. We take no responsibility for any outcomes that may result from any recommendations we will make in this blog. Every individual possesses their own free will, and what they make or do out of our posts is entirely their decision. This blog represents the unique point of view of this blogger and his friends, and nothing more.

Please take note that these rules may change. We will edit as deemed fit.

Do expect some "normal' blog entries from time to time, but this Q&A format will be the general direction we will be moving towards.

More Light in the New Year for us all.

Ang Kuwago

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And now for the first question of this blog, as asked personally by a relative during a recent family outing. We were taking a stroll out at this huge garden in Tagaytay, when he started asking me about the natural healing properties of the various trees and plants we saw. I thought I would share my reply to his question on the healing properties of one of the most common trees around us, and think you may likewise find this interesting:

Ang Kuwago,

What about this tree (Mahogany), what does it cure?

Bembol

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Dear Bembol,

Although the Mahogany tree is more commonly used as timber material for furniture-making, owing to the beautiful yellowish hue of its wood, I recently learned of an ailment that is treated by ingesting its fruit: Diabetes.

I learned of this during a trip to Malaysia, where a friend ordered a bag-full of Mahogany fruits. There, they are known as "Sky Fruit". The fruit of the Mahogany typically splits into many seeds when mature, and these commonly fall to the ground.

In my haste to see how it tasted, as I was excited for these abound in the Philippines, I immediately skinned the rind off and popped a single seed into my mouth, just as my friend quickly barked off the instruction NOT to bite into it. Too late.

It was the nastiest, most bitter thing I have ever tasted in my life. Ever. No wonder I was asked to swallow immediately. One seed a day, so they say, to treat diabetes.

In fact, it is somewhat of a cure-all in Malaysia, used to treat impotence, heart disease, alzheimers, skin disease, high cholesterol, stomach problems, poor blood circulation, etc. Containing flavonoids, saponins, essentially fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and anzymes, it is now being processed into tonics & juices which promise cures for many ailments.

In the Philippines, it grows in abundance. We even have a few at home.

An opportunity, maybe?

In the Light,

Ang Kuwago

[photo courtesy of http://fusion.sas.upenn.edu/caterpillar]