So, is it possible to sign up for an apprenticeship and either work in the garden or learn the un-cooking without having to do the supplement thing?

Perhaps know ahead of time what to expect in terms of people having melt-downs, would be helpful and make it more do-able.

I was there for lunch once - the food was fabulous. I walked for a while in the labyrinth and enjoyed the big, big sky! I think it sounds like a real adventure! Arizona is awesome! HOT, but awesome. I don't think I'd want to do it in July/August.

Life Is Good!

alive!

PS Bikini - if you should decide to do it - PLEASE, let us know afterward how your experience was!

You can actually worm your way in and work there for free or for food. You have to know people, I know plenty who lived there in the house or in teepees who just lived and worked for food.

Oh...they all look spectacular....got recipes? A raw uncook book with those kinds of pics with the recipes would be great.

Lots of those items looks like dessert to me...must use sweet fruits, date, etc..in making them.

Love,
Prism

My guess would be that Dr. Cousens' program is geared towards people just coming off a regular diet, hence the high fat, nuts, greens, and low fruit fare. I've read his book and the way he suggested doing the diet definitely worked for me - his suggestion is to TRANSITION to a higher fruit diet. He's not saying don't eat fruit, just that the most effective initial phase detox will be one consisting of low fruit.

I think that is a good idea, because some fruits to some people can cause too much acid and cause acidosis ( I wish I would have known that earlier.) I am limiting my fruits or combining it with something that is more alkaline.

Suvine,

Thank you for posting your experiences and great photos. Wow, you are a fabulous raw chef and photographer!

All that has been posted here has confirmed my intuition.

It is interesting to hear these various reports.

My son did the food prep apprenticship at the TOL. He enjoyed the experience very much and derived much benefit from it but also reported the drama issues. He also believes much of it has to do with people detoxing. For example, while they have the 5 day liguid fast program, the staff are not allowed to participate because they know the fasting particularly brings up lots of emotional stuff. Eating raw and especially low fruit will release many toxins and along with that old emotional stuff is released.

My experience there was mixed. Sunshine79 is correct that Dr. Cousens does make it clear that all the supplements along with the phase1 diet (very low sweet fruit) is transitional. He is not saying eat like that forever, but just initially. Most people when they arrive there are very toxic and acidic.

About the nuts, I very clearly recall being advised NOT to eat too many nuts. They told me that while the food was there (which was stupendously delicious!) I had to chose according to my own situation. All the food items were labelled "phase1", "phase2" and so on. There was lots of food that had no nuts in it. It was indeed hard for me to resist the desserts though.

As for the supplements, I know that the idea was it is TEMPORARY. People who go there are very sick. Yes, it was very expensive and I wish I had had a little warning about that ahead of time. In all fairness though, Gabriel does say that once a person's major health issues are improved (and they usually improve fast on his program) you simply need to stay on a raw food diet to maintain good health. He does not advocate a lifestyle of constant supplements. He is a doctor treating serious conditions.

His program is certanly not easy and not for everyone. I'm not sure if I would have done ok had I stuck to it. I confess I did find the sweet cravings overwhelming and ended up falling off the program with great regularity. The fact that I went back to Montreal and was distanced by both lack of $$ and miles made it very challenging to get the support I needed to stick with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2007 12:57PM by muddyclothes.

I think that the place sound dreadful, and wouldn't go there to work, or detox. Why someone thinks that putting someone on a bunch of supplements instead of fresh raw foods is beyong me..of course it's for profit and that is where his integreity goes out the door for me.

He doesn't sound any better than a Dr. putting someone on meds and more meds and never telling the person when they can expect to get off them or how to actually heal your body.

Love,
Prism

Hi Prism,

Why don't you think Gabriel Cousens uses fresh raw foods?

He is my favorite author, I don't think your description of his home as "dreadful" is very accurate.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2007 09:04PM by Michael.

Ah..I some typos in my above post..oh well..I think he does uses fresh raw foods, but just by the decription given by someone that worked there in post above, it seems like he puts people on expensive supplements which don't seem to have an ending in sight.

Mike (this is a friendly question) how come you don't respond to CoconutCream's post of:

{I have , and honestly folks, while I was there I met other people who did it before us and before us..and we all felt the same way..the food is amazing, but the energy there bad

I have theories...
the no fruit diet makes you very uneasy and everyone, always was fighting and screaming, in meetings and there was gossip and really uncomfortable situations..we all had to sleep in the same room and well, there were always problems and people broke down and cried and there was drama.. too much..

my friend came to visit and he didn't want to stay on the grounds..

plus everyone is into weird jewish/magic/ indian religious ceremonies and its too weird for me.

sorry!! I like to be and say nice things...but it was my experience..

PLUS I spent thousands of my hard earned dollars on all these pills that he made us believe we needed, he tells you your blood is dirty, even if you are raw and well, it scared us all into buying things ..}end quote.

Love,
Prism

Gabriel has been into a LOT of different things, all of which now contribute in some way to the Tree of Life experience:

In the '70s and '80s he was a very dedicated disciple of Muktananda, the Indian guru who later was later revealed to have been a sexual predator who preyed upon many very young women in his ashrams. Anyway, Muktananda gave 'shaktipat'-- a supposed transference of his enlightened energy to another individual, by touching them with a peacock feather or his hand. Now Gabriel is giving shaktipat, as well.

His early food theories were based on ayurvedic concepts and eating certain colors of foods-- including blue and purple-- to enhance chakra systems.

After moving on from Muktananda and Hinduism somewhat, he became a priest in Nazariah's Essene church for a number of years. I believe he left that group at some point and maybe had a falling out with Nazariah (probably when Nazariah got very sick and added raw milk to his diet for protein and B12). Gabriel then started his own Essene organization-- I'm not sure how enamored he is of Essene teachings at the present time; my sense if he's moved away from it somewhat.

He also incorporates some Native American rituals and teachings-- which makes a lot of sense, no doubt, since he's in Arizona.

Finally, he seems to have embraced Kaballah and mystical Judaism. This seems to be his main focus now, and I'm guessing it's something he came to in the '90s or later.

I lived for many years in Tucson, Arizona and I'd love to visit Patagonia-- I'm sure it's a gorgeous place-- but there's no way I'd spend the money one has to spend to experience the Tree of Life for even a couple of days.

Sharrhan:


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Yum. I would love to go somewhere and eat raw food like that. Not for longer than a weekend though. It all looks very decadent. thanks for sharing.