Mushrooms... Or 10 days before our adventure cycling in China, my random thoughts...
I wish I could remember the name of that mushroom restaurant in Beijing....
It had a tiny ad in an art magazine, that we picked in the alternative art area of Beijing...
All it said was that they serve the most exotic mushrooms in the world.
We were sitting in another part of town, so we stopped a taxi and showed him the tiny ad.
He put on his reading glasses, and nodded his head saying "Ha, ha!"
(affirming that he knows where it is)
The entrance was a bit shabby.
A big fat sculpture of the Buddha, sat on a table by the stairs that led us to a second floor.
We entered into a huge ballroom, that was filled with people and large communal tables, as if a wedding was celebrated...
For a moment, I thought that we entered the wrong place....
This place did not look or feel like a restaurant at all....
Except that in the middle of the ballroom, was the LARGEST buffet filled with the most interesting and diverse array of mushrooms, I have ever seen...
I concluded that we must be in the right place...
Not a soul spoke English.... But we were guided to a table for ten, (which was the only available one.)
A friendly and a bit pushy waitress, held my elbow, and led me to the buffet....
She shoved a tray into my hands and a set of large stainless tongs, she hand signaled me to pick what I like.
I love mushrooms, and know many varieties of them.
But there were forms that I could not even imagine them to be mushrooms...
From our numerous travels in Asia, I already tasted and know some mushrooms, which I do not like.
They taste like rubber or are hard to swallow....
But here were mushrooms I have NEVER even saw...
I decided to go by texture and smell....
I chose the ones that smelled like the woodsy forest.... And hoped for the best...
Based on the mushrooms I selected, they knew how to prepare them.
Some were traditionally used only for soups and hot pot... While others are only eaten stir fried or sautéed.
It was a feast fit for kings... With many flavors and ways of preparations....
The price of this feast, was remarkably low...
In China you pay by how upscale the place is, by the rank of the restaurant....
You basically pay for the decor..... and the name of the chef........ While great places like this one, never charge too much...
I took their card (which was anyway written all in Chinese, and I must have lost it...)
Now, guided by my memory of the best mushroom I ate ever..... I googled "A mushroom restaurant in Beijing" and many other words combinations,......... and could come up with nothing....
I wish I remembered its name....
When I was a wild, young and foolish woman, I took hallucinogenic mushrooms with disastrous consequences....
I believe that hallucinogenic mushrooms, are actually poisonous mushrooms.
When ingesting them, the body simply react as if it was poisoned, and responds in extreme fear vibrations, in the form of 'visions' and nightmares.
Extreme fear vibrations, generated by a sensation of being poisoned, are VERY different from the love based, calm, wholesome and peaceful vibrations of the Spirit...
Which is why I would advice anyone, AGAINST trying this path to experience the connection with Spirit...
It actually work in opposition to the path of healing, Truth and wholeness...
Your Spirit, can be easily contacted by sitting in meditation, and MINDFULLY listening to the silence....
Once you FELT your own Spirit, you will KNOW and never again doubt its existence...
Here a little about edible mushrooms, as healing herbs and belief:
Edible Mushrooms fascinated people throughout history.
People believed in their medicinal powers, along with their paranormal link to the spirit world.
Mushrooms and other fungi grow almost everywhere, on every natural material imaginable.
Some fungi grow only in association with certain trees.
Others grow on large logs. Mushrooms are also found in soil, on decomposing leaves, and in dung, mulch and compost.
Their fruiting bodies develop in a huge array of forms, flavors and colors.
In many cultures, mushrooms are considered to be a symbol of Immorality, peculiarity and eccentricity.
Immortality, because mushroom has no deep roots, they can grow on minimal soil and draw nutrition from the condition of the air....
Some mushrooms and fungi constantly interact with other organisms.
Some thrive on decay logs, others are the partners of living trees......
Some mushrooms form fairy rings that may be huge, and hundreds of years old....
The symbolism of peculiarity and eccentricity, started because some mushrooms and fungi have really strange shapes...... no leaves and no flowers but still some resemble a plant.
The Chinese mushroom, called "Lingzhi, (or Reishi mushroom in Japan,) is either eaten or made into a tea, and it was in use in traditional Chinese medicine, for thousands of years.
Some believe that mushrooms have amazing properties and that eating mushrooms daily, will increase life span, and improve quality of life.
It is thought that certain mushrooms can help reduce tumors, ulcers, congestive problems, combat arthritis and rheumatism, skin and scalp problems, improve immune system...and more.
It had a tiny ad in an art magazine, that we picked in the alternative art area of Beijing...
All it said was that they serve the most exotic mushrooms in the world.
We were sitting in another part of town, so we stopped a taxi and showed him the tiny ad.
He put on his reading glasses, and nodded his head saying "Ha, ha!"
(affirming that he knows where it is)
The entrance was a bit shabby.
A big fat sculpture of the Buddha, sat on a table by the stairs that led us to a second floor.
We entered into a huge ballroom, that was filled with people and large communal tables, as if a wedding was celebrated...
For a moment, I thought that we entered the wrong place....
This place did not look or feel like a restaurant at all....
Except that in the middle of the ballroom, was the LARGEST buffet filled with the most interesting and diverse array of mushrooms, I have ever seen...
I concluded that we must be in the right place...
Not a soul spoke English.... But we were guided to a table for ten, (which was the only available one.)
A friendly and a bit pushy waitress, held my elbow, and led me to the buffet....
She shoved a tray into my hands and a set of large stainless tongs, she hand signaled me to pick what I like.
I love mushrooms, and know many varieties of them.
But there were forms that I could not even imagine them to be mushrooms...
From our numerous travels in Asia, I already tasted and know some mushrooms, which I do not like.
They taste like rubber or are hard to swallow....
But here were mushrooms I have NEVER even saw...
I decided to go by texture and smell....
I chose the ones that smelled like the woodsy forest.... And hoped for the best...
Based on the mushrooms I selected, they knew how to prepare them.
Some were traditionally used only for soups and hot pot... While others are only eaten stir fried or sautéed.
It was a feast fit for kings... With many flavors and ways of preparations....
The price of this feast, was remarkably low...
In China you pay by how upscale the place is, by the rank of the restaurant....
You basically pay for the decor..... and the name of the chef........ While great places like this one, never charge too much...
I took their card (which was anyway written all in Chinese, and I must have lost it...)
Now, guided by my memory of the best mushroom I ate ever..... I googled "A mushroom restaurant in Beijing" and many other words combinations,......... and could come up with nothing....
I wish I remembered its name....
When I was a wild, young and foolish woman, I took hallucinogenic mushrooms with disastrous consequences....
I believe that hallucinogenic mushrooms, are actually poisonous mushrooms.
When ingesting them, the body simply react as if it was poisoned, and responds in extreme fear vibrations, in the form of 'visions' and nightmares.
Extreme fear vibrations, generated by a sensation of being poisoned, are VERY different from the love based, calm, wholesome and peaceful vibrations of the Spirit...
Which is why I would advice anyone, AGAINST trying this path to experience the connection with Spirit...
It actually work in opposition to the path of healing, Truth and wholeness...
Your Spirit, can be easily contacted by sitting in meditation, and MINDFULLY listening to the silence....
Once you FELT your own Spirit, you will KNOW and never again doubt its existence...
Here a little about edible mushrooms, as healing herbs and belief:
Edible Mushrooms fascinated people throughout history.
People believed in their medicinal powers, along with their paranormal link to the spirit world.
Mushrooms and other fungi grow almost everywhere, on every natural material imaginable.
Some fungi grow only in association with certain trees.
Others grow on large logs. Mushrooms are also found in soil, on decomposing leaves, and in dung, mulch and compost.
Their fruiting bodies develop in a huge array of forms, flavors and colors.
In many cultures, mushrooms are considered to be a symbol of Immorality, peculiarity and eccentricity.
Immortality, because mushroom has no deep roots, they can grow on minimal soil and draw nutrition from the condition of the air....
Some mushrooms and fungi constantly interact with other organisms.
Some thrive on decay logs, others are the partners of living trees......
Some mushrooms form fairy rings that may be huge, and hundreds of years old....
The symbolism of peculiarity and eccentricity, started because some mushrooms and fungi have really strange shapes...... no leaves and no flowers but still some resemble a plant.
The Chinese mushroom, called "Lingzhi, (or Reishi mushroom in Japan,) is either eaten or made into a tea, and it was in use in traditional Chinese medicine, for thousands of years.
Some believe that mushrooms have amazing properties and that eating mushrooms daily, will increase life span, and improve quality of life.
It is thought that certain mushrooms can help reduce tumors, ulcers, congestive problems, combat arthritis and rheumatism, skin and scalp problems, improve immune system...and more.
