Tuesday 30 December 2008

Only a tree that has lived wholly will flower

New man, homo novus. The old concept of man was of either/or; materialist or spiritualist, moral or immoral, sinner or saint. It was based on division, split. It created a schizophrenic humanity. The whole past of humanity has been sick, unhealthy, insane. In three thousand years, five thousand wars have been fought. This is just utterly mad; it is unbelievable. It is stupid, unintelligent, inhuman.

Once you divide man in two, you create misery and hell for him. He can never be healthy and can never be whole, the other half that has been denied will go on taking revenge. It will go on finding ways and means to overcome the part that you have imposed upon yourself. You will become a battle-ground, a civil war. That's what has been the case in the past.

In the past we were not able to create real human beings, but humanoids. A humanoid is one who looks like a human being but is utterly crippled, paralysed. He has not been allowed to bloom in his totality. He is half, and because he is half he is always in anguish and tension; he cannot celebrate. Only a whole man can celebrate. Celebration is the fragrance of being whole.

Only a tree that has lived wholly will flower. Man has not flowered yet.

The past has been very dark and dismal. It has been a dark night of the soul. And because it was repressive, it was bound to become aggressive. If something is repressed, man becomes aggressive, he loses all soft qualities. It was always so up to now. We have come to a point where the old has to be dropped and the new has to be heralded.

The new man will not be either/or; he will be both/and. The new man will be earthy and divine, worldly and other-worldly. The new man will accept his totality and he will live it without any inner division, he will not be split. His god will not be opposed to the devil, his morality will not be opposed to immorality; he will know no opposition. He will transcend duality, he will not be schizophrenic. With the new man there will come a new world, because the new man will perceive in a qualitatively different way and he will live a totally different life which has not been lived yet. He will be a mystic, a poet, a scientist, all together. He will not choose: he will be choicelessly himself.

That's what I teach: homo novus, a new man, not a humanoid. The humanoid is not a natural phenomenon. The humanoid is created by the society -- by the priest, the politician, the pedagogue. The humanoid is created, it is manufactured. Each child comes as a human being: total, whole, alive, without any split. Immediately the society starts suffocating him, stifling him, cutting him into fragments, telling him what to do and what not to do, what to be and what not to be. His wholeness is soon lost. He becomes guilty about his whole being. He denies much that is natural, and in that very denial he becomes uncreative. Now he will be only a fragment, and a fragment cannot dance, a fragment cannot sing, and a fragment is always suicidal because the fragment cannot know what life is. The humanoid cannot will on his own. Others have been willing for him -- his parents, the teachers, the leaders, the priests; they have taken all his willing. They will, they order; he simply follows. The humanoid is a slave.

I teach freedom. Now man has to destroy all kinds of bondages and he has to come out of all prisons -- no more slavery. Man has to become individual. He has to become rebellious. And whenever a man has become rebellious.... Once in a while a few people have escaped from the tyranny of the past, but only once in a while -- a Jesus here and there, a Buddha here and there. They are exceptions. And even these people, Buddha and Jesus, could not live totally. They tried, but the whole society was against it.

My concept of the new man is that he will be Zorba the Greek and he will also be Gautam the Buddha: the new man will be Zorba the Buddha. He will be sensuous and spiritual, physical, utterly physical, in the body, in the senses, enjoying the body and all that the body makes possible, and still a great consciousness, a great witnessing will be there. He will be Christ and Epicurus together.

The old man's ideal was renunciation; the new man's ideal will be rejoicing. And this new man is coming every day, he is arriving every day. People have not yet become aware of him. In fact he has already dawned. The old is dying, the old is on its death-bed. I don't mourn for it and I say please don't mourn for it. It is good that it dies, because out of its death the new will assert. The death of the old will be the beginning of the new. The new can come only when the old has died utterly.

Help the old to die and help the new to be born! And remember, the old has all the respectability, the whole past will be in his support; and the new will be a very strange phenomenon. The new will be so new that he will not be respected. Every effort will be made to destroy the new. The new cannot be respectable, but with the new is the future of the whole of humanity. The new has to be brought in.

My work consists in creating a Buddhafield, an energy-field, where the new can be born. I am only a midwife helping the new to come into a world which will not be accepting of it. The new will need much support from those who understand, from those who want some revolution to happen. And the time is ripe, it has never been so ripe. The time is right, it has never been so right. The new can assert itself, the break-through has become possible.

The old is so rotten that even with all support it cannot survive; it is doomed! We can delay, we can go on worshipping the old; that will be just delaying the process. The new has to come: at the most, we can help it to come sooner, or we can hinder it and delay its coming. It is good to help it. If it comes sooner, humanity can still have a future, and a great future: a future of freedom, a future of love, a future of joy.

I teach a new religion. This religion will not be Christianity and will not be Judaism and will not be Hinduism. This religion will not have any adjective to it. This religion will be purely a religious quality of being whole.

My sannyasins have to become the first rays of the sun that is going to come on the horizon. It is a tremendous task, it is an almost impossible task, but because it is impossible it is going to seduce all those who have any soul left in them. It is going to create a great longing in all those people who have some adventure hidden in their beings, who are courageous, brave, because it is really going to create a brave new world.

I talk of Buddha, I talk of Christ, I talk of Krishna, I talk of Zarathustra, so that all that is best and all that is good in the past can be preserved. But these are only a few exceptions. The whole humanity has lived in great slavery, chained, split, insane.

I say my message is simple, but it will be very hard, difficult, to make it happen. But the harder, the more impossible, it is, the greater is the challenge. And the time is right because religion has failed. science has failed. The time is right because the East has failed, the West has failed. Something of a higher synthesis is needed in which East and West can have a meeting, in which religion and science can have a meeting.

Religion failed because it was other-worldly and it neglected this world. And you cannot neglect this world; to neglect this world is to neglect your own roots. Science has failed because it neglected the other world, the inner, and you cannot neglect the flowers. Once you neglect the flowers, the innermost core of being, life loses all meaning. The tree needs roots, so man needs roots, and the roots can only be in the earth. The tree needs an open sky to grow, to come to a great foliage and to have thousands of flowers. Then only is the tree fulfilled, then only does the tree feel significance and meaning and life becomes relevant.

Man is a tree. Religion has failed because it is talking only of the flowers. Those flowers remain philosophical, abstract; they never materialise. They could not materialise because they were not supported by the earth. And science has failed because it cares only about the roots. The roots are ugly and there seems to be no flowering.

The West is suffering from too much science; the East has suffered from too much religion. Now we need a new humanity in which religion and science become two aspects of one man. And the bridge is going to be art. That's why I say that the new man will be a mystic, a poet and a scientist.

Between science and religion only art can be the bridge -- poetry, music, sculpture. Once we have brought this new man into existence, the earth can become for the first time what it is meant to become. It can become a paradise: this very body the Buddha, this very earth the paradise!

Osho, from: "Zorba The Buddha"

Friday 19 December 2008

IIJS-Signature 2009 to be Held in Goa

Mumbai, 2008: The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council will host the second edition of IIJS Signature to be held Feb. 20-23, 2009 at Kala Academy (pictured) in Goa.

Despite worldwide economic issues, GJEPC has decided to keep up with its promotional plans for the year, beginning with IIJS Signature.

This show serves as a platform to forge partnerships with India’s foremost jewelry manufacturers who will display fine jewelry collections with contemporary design and flair. The emphasis of the show is on design and innovation in products. IIJS Signature reiterates India’s growing stature as a jewelry production center.

The seaside resort city of Goa will serve as a place for attendees to mix business with pleasure. The show itself serves as a premium niche event for select attendees only, high on experiential quotient with maximum buyer-seller interface, and on-line pre-scheduled appointments.

“IIJS Signature promises to highlight India’s capabilities to manufacture jewelry in terms of design, craftsmanship and quality at par with International centers in the world,” said Vasant Mehta, GJEPC chairman. “The event is by invitation only, and will showcase products from country’s top manufacturers. The show will focus on select markets such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Gulf, and Russia, where the recession's effects are not felt at such great extent.”

http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6624287.html?desc=topstory

Thursday 18 December 2008

IS INDIA A POOR COUNTRY?

by M R Venkatesh
Revelation of Swiss bank accounts
This is so shocking.... ...If black money deposits was an Olympics event.... India would have won a gold medal hands down. The second best Russia has 4 times lesser deposit. U.S. is not even there in the counting in top five! India has more money in Swiss banks than all the other countries combined!
Recently, due to international pressure, the Swiss government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective governments formally asked for it. Indian government is not asking for the details..... ..no marks for guessing why?
We need to start a movement to pressurise the government to do so! This is perhaps the only way, and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption!
Please read on......and forward to all the honest Indians to.....like somebody is forwarding to you.......and build a ground-swell of support for action!
Is India poor, who says? Ask the Swiss banks. With personal account deposit bank of $1,500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?
DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them. Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India , the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.
Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. 'Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,' believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!
Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?
Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:
TOP FIVE

INDIA $1,456 BILLION
RUSSIA $470 BILLION
U.K. $390 BILLION
UKRAINE $100 BILLION
CHINA $96 BILLION
Now do the math's - India with $1,456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947:
Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen.
The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear. What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world's best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.
In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich. In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe.
The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens. Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism' s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970.
It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.
What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?
IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN SAVE INDIA?
Thanks

Lt Kevin Kishore Kaul (Retd) Indian Navy
Chairman
FOSAAC
www.fosaac.com

Monday 15 December 2008

Red meat, cow's milk and low-fiber diets increase risk of lymphatic cancer, says new research

New research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows that diets high in animal protein (red meat), saturated fat, eggs and dairy products (cow's milk) leads to an increased risk of lymphatic cancer (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or NHL). Simultaneously, the study concluded that diets high in plant fiber -- from broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables -- resulted in a 40% decrease in the risk of lymphatic cancer. It's an interesting study, but here's the real story:

This study brings new scientific support to some of the dietary suggestions I've been sharing with readers for quite some time. Namely, red meat is bad for you, cow's milk and dairy products are bad for you, saturated animal fat is bad for you, and vegetables and dietary fiber and good for you. I realize that's an oversimplification of the research, but it's also a valid summary of it.

Red meat and cow's milk are unhealthy for human consumption for several reasons, most notably because cows are raised in an extremely unhealthy environment by the ranching industry. They're pumped full of illegal hormones, they are actually fed chicken litter and ground up diseased animals as part of their daily meals, and they are raised on feed that's typically laced with heavy metals (cadmium and lead) as well as pesticide residues. When you eat beef, you're eating all this, second-hand style. The cow ate it first, stored it in its tissues, and then you ate it. Many of these chemicals, by the way, tend to concentrate in animal fat tissues, so the juicier your hamburger, the more toxic substances it's likely to contain.

On the dairy side, cow's milk and other dairy products and bad for humans for a much simpler reason: cow's milk is food for baby cows, not for adult human beings. The substance is simply nutritionally imbalanced for humans. It lacks gamma-linolenic acid, it doesn't have much magnesium, and it is very high in difficult-to-digest proteins, among other problems. Baby cows do very well with it, but human beings don't.

This study is simply highlighting the results of consuming these unhealthy animal products on a regular basis. And you can bet that lymphatic cancer is just the tip of the iceberg here: the same foods probably also contribute to colon cancer, nerve disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. It all adds up to yet one more reason to consider avoiding red meat entirely. Even if you don't go vegetarian, you can replace all your red meat with chicken or turkey (that's what I do when I feel the need to eat meat). Or, at the very least, greatly limit your consumption of red meat. For dairy products, I highly recommend you try the 30-day "no dairy diet," meaning that you avoid all dairy products for 30 days and see how you feel. Most people notice a tremendous difference in their energy, their digestion, and they typically see a strong improvement in sinus conditions or asthma. You see, milk tends to aggravate all these problems, and sadly, many people haven't lived a single day without consuming cow's milk. Try 30 days, dairy free, and see how you feel. If you feel better, quit milk for good. I wouldn't touch cow's milk, personally.

For those of you worried about getting calcium in a dairy-free diet, don't believe the milk industry hype. There are far better choices for dietary calcium. One cup of cooked quinoa (a supergrain) has more calcium than a cup of milk. A cup of broccoli juice does, too. You can get calcium from coral calcium supplements or from superfoods like chlorella and spirulina. If you're concerned about not getting enough protein in your diet without red meat, just look to the same foods: quinoa is very high in protein, and it's a complete protein, too (all eight amino acids). Spirulina has twelve times the digestible protein of beef, ounce per ounce, making it a far superior source of protein than cow flesh. Whey protein, even though derived from dairy, is also a good choice because it is isolated from the other problems typical of dairy products.

Reality check: I'm a strength trainer. I've put on maybe 10 pounds of solid muscle mass in the past year without touching a single piece of red meat. I get all my protein from spirulina, quinoa and soy products, with a piece of chicken or seafood from time to time. You don't need beef to get protein, and you sure don't need milk to get calcium. And, of course, if you avoid red meat and dairy products, you will also reduce your risk of lymphatic cancer.

http://www.naturalnews.com/000983.html

Saturday 13 December 2008

6 P’s in helping you to make your own personal brand alive:

1. Personal

Like any other good marketing plan, you must begin by understanding your true self. Remember you are an original – there is no one else quite like you. What do you stand for? What are your beliefs? Jot down a few phrases that describe your unique value, vision, purpose and passion. Take some time to discover your strengths, weaknesses and hidden talents. Ask yourself what impacts you the most and what drives you.

2. Perception
It is imperative that you must be aware of how you are communicating yourself to those around you. In this area, you will need to know your attributes and how others perceive you as an individual. Develop a focus group comprising of close friends, colleagues and family members to ask, collate responses and consolidate their perceptions about you. For example, are you seen as reliable, trustworthy or adventurous with a natural instinct for business?

3. Position

You must know your target audience, business or job competitors. How can you stand out unless you know whom you are standing among? When people see your name or face consistently over a period of time they assume that you have something special and that you must be successful. Having your own brand keeps you visible within your marketplace as it sends out a clear message about you that makes you worth contacting.

4. Performance

Establish yourself as an expert in your field because expertise can bring you increased recognition and therefore you can position yourself well in the hearts and minds of your target audience. Get good testimonials from your satisfied customers and for employees, create outstanding portfolios of your past accomplishments. Create a personal mission statement and tagline. Do seek out new and challenging assignments that will build your brand. Write articles to showcase your knowledge and get them published, or better, give speeches or presentations to share your expertise and your past achievements.

5. Promoting

You can have an amazing brand, but if no one knows about it, you are not going ahead. Nothing in marketing is more powerful than a promotion tool called word of mouth. What your network of friends, colleagues, clients and customers say about your brand is what the market will ultimately gauge as the value of the brand. If you do not have a personal website, now is the time to buy a domain (such as myname.com) and the let the world know. Take your personal image seriously because your appearance is the packaging of your own brand. Remember, YOU are the product and your packaging will either attract or detract from your product.

6. Planning

Make an appointment with yourself at least twice a year to re-evaluate your personal brand statement. Also, obtain honest and helpful feedback from your focus group on your brand performance, value and growth.

Source: http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/success-through-personal-branding/

Thursday 11 December 2008

Social media optimization (SMO)

Social media are distinct from industrial media, such as newspapers, television, and film. While social media are relatively cheap tools that enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, industrial media are relatively expensive tools that generally require significant financial capital to publish information (which often limits their use to commercial purposes). Examples of industrial media include a printing press or a government-granted spectrum license.

"Industrial media" are commonly referred to as "traditional", "broadcast" or "mass" media.

One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or millions of people. "Reach" describes one of four properties which help describe the differences between social media and industrial media:

1. Reach - both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience.
2. Accessibility - the means of production for industrial media are typically exclusively controlled by for-profit enterprises; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.
3. Usability industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media simplify those processes, or in some cases reinvent them, so anyone can operate the means of production.
4. Recency the time lag between communications produced by industrial media is relatively long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response).

In his 2006 book The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, Yochai Benkler analyzed many of these distinctions and their implications in terms of both economics and political liberty. However, Benkler, like many academics, uses the neologism Network Economy or "network information economy" to describe the underlying economic, social, and technological characteristics of what has come to be known as "social media."

Information outputs and human interaction

Primarily, social media depend on interactions between people as the discussion and integration of words to build shared-meaning, using technology as a conduit.

Social media utilities create opportunities for the use of both inductive and deductive logic by their users. Claims or warrants are quickly transitioned into generalizations due to the manner in which shared statements are posted and viewed by all. The speed of communication, breadth, and depth, and ability to see how the words build a case solicits the use of rhetoric. Induction is frequently used as a means to validate or authenticate different users' statements and words. Rhetoric is an important part of today’s language in social media.

Social media is not finite: there is not a set number of pages or hours. The audience can participate in social media by adding comments,instant messaging or even editing the stories themselves.

Social media marketing

"Social media" signifies a broad spectrum of topics and has several different connotations. In the context of Internet marketing, Social Media refers to a collective group of web properties whose content is primarily published by users, not direct employees of the property (e.g. the vast majority of video on YouTube is published by non-YouTube employees). Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites

Social media marketing has two important aspects. The first, SMO, refers to on-page tactics through which a webmaster can improve a website for the age of social media. Such optimization includes adding links to services such as Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us so that their pages can be easily 'saved and submitted' to and for these services.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, is about building ways that fans of a brand or company can promote it themselves in multiple online social media venues.

Some social media marketers offer to write content that is remarkable, unique, and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it or even by creating a viral video on YouTube and other video sites, including getting involved in blogs, forums, and niche communities. Others in the social media world consider this form of social media marketing Astroturfing or "fake grass roots".

According to Lloyd Salmons, first chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau social media council "Social media isn't just about big networks like Facebook and MySpace, it's about brands having conversations.In fact, most individuals who study the space believe social media is about _people_ having conversations, not brands.

What is not Social Media Marketing

It is important to highlight in social media's case of what is does not stand for. Most individuals confuse it with advertising on social networking sites. It is anything but that. Advertising that appears on these social networking sites there is more in the form of context or social action based. Networks monitor what the users are doing and place relevant ads next to them with the assumption that they will be clicked.

Social Media Marketing is not about spamming. It is not about copying certain links and spamming it in discussion groups and forums. It is important to create value for the people with whom you are dialoguing. Refer to Cluetrain Manifesto that sets up the premise for social media marketing.

Social Media Marketing is all about collaboration between people. It is about participating with everyone and sharing information. It is as much about giving as it is about receiving from the group. The premise of social media marketing is engaging with the consumer and providing value. It is important to maintain the sanctity of conversational economy

Examples

Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Avatars United (social networking), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging) and other microblogs such as Jaiku and Pownce. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo.

Social media software applications

Examples of social media applications include:

Communication

* Blogs: Blogger (service), Livejournal, TypePad, Wordpress, Vox,
* Microblogs / Presence apps: Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
* Social networking: Avatars United, Bebo, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut, Skyrock, Netlog
* Social network aggregation: FriendFeed, Youmeo
* Events: Upcoming.org, Eventful, Meetup.com

Collaboration

* Wikis: Wikipedia, PBwiki, wetpaint
* Social bookmarking: Delicious, StumbleUpon
* Social News Sites: Digg, Mixx, Reddit
* Opinion sites: epinions, Yelp

Multimedia

* Photo sharing: Flickr, Zooomr, Photobucket, SmugMug
* Video sharing: YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, Revver
* Livecasting: Ustream, Justin.tv, Mogulus
* Audio and Music Sharing: imeem, The Hype Machine, Last.fm, ccMixter

Entertainment

* Virtual worlds: Second Life, The Sims Online
* Online gaming: World of Warcraft, Everquest, Age of Conan
* Game sharing: Miniclip.com

Social Media Monitoring

* BuzzMetrics by AC Nielsen
* SocialRadar by Infegy

Tuesday 18 November 2008

5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

One of the problems in our daily lives is that many of us rush through the day, with no time for anything … and when we have time to get a bite to eat, we gobble it down.

That leads to stressful, unhealthy living.

And with the simple but powerful act of eating slower, we can begin to reverse that lifestyle immediately. How hard is it? You take smaller bites, you chew each bite slower and longer, and you enjoy your meal longer.

It takes a few minutes extra each meal, and yet it can have profound effects.

You may have already heard of the Slow Food Movement, started in Italy almost two decades ago to counter the fast food movement. Everything that fast food is, Slow Food isn’t.

If you read the Slow Food Manifesto, you’ll see that it’s not just about health — it’s about a lifestyle. And whether you want to adopt that lifestyle or not, there are some reasons you should consider the simple act of eating slower:

  1. Lose weight. A growing number of studies confirm that just by eating slower, you’ll consume fewer calories — in fact, enough to lose 20 pounds a year without doing anything different or eating anything different. The reason is that it takes about 20 minutes for our brains to register that we’re full. If we eat fast, we can continue eating past the point where we’re full. If we eat slowly, we have time to realize we’re full, and stop on time. Now, I would still recommend that you eat healthier foods, but if you’re looking to lose weight, eating slowly should be a part of your new lifestyle.
  2. Enjoy your food. This reason is just as powerful, in my opinion. It’s hard to enjoy your food if it goes by too quickly. In fact, I think it’s fine to eat sinful foods, if you eat a small amount slowly. Think about it: you want to eat sinful foods (desserts, fried foods, pizza, etc.) because they taste good. But if you eat them fast, what’s the point? If you eat them slowly, you can get the same amount of great taste, but with less going into your stomach. That’s math that works for me. And that argument aside, I think you are just happier by tasting great food and enjoying it fully, by eating slowly. Make your meals a gastronomic pleasure, not a thing you do rushed, between stressful events.
  3. Better digestion. If you eat slower, you’ll chew your food better, which leads to better digestion. Digestion actually starts in the mouth, so the more work you do up there, the less you’ll have to do in your stomach. This can help lead to fewer digestive problems.
  4. Less stress. Eating slowly, and paying attention to our eating, can be a great form of mindfulness exercise. Be in the moment, rather than rushing through a meal thinking about what you need to do next. When you eat, you should eat. This kind of mindfulness, I believe, will lead to a less stressful life, and long-term happiness. Give it a try.
  5. Rebel against fast food and fast life. Our hectic, fast-paced, stressful, chaotic lives — the Fast Life — leads to eating Fast Food, and eating it quickly. This is a lifestyle that is dehumanizing us, making us unhealthy, stressed out, and unhappy. We rush through our day, doing one mindless task after another, without taking the time to live life, to enjoy life, to relate to each other, to be human. That’s not a good thing in my book. Instead, rebel against that entire lifestyle and philosophy … with the small act of eating slower. Don’t eat Fast Food. Eat at a good restaurant, or better yet, cook your own food and enjoy it fully. Taste life itself.

Tuesday 26 August 2008

White Poison: The Horrors of Milk

Got milk? If not, then thank your lucky stars. Because if you do, medical research shows that you are likely to be plagued by anemia, migraine, bloating, gas, indigestion, asthma, prostate cancer, and a host of potentially fatal allergies -- especially if you are a person of color.

Ignoring this, the government declares that milk is essential to good health, subsidizes the milk industry to the tune of billions of dollars, and requires milk in its public school lunch programs. And celebrity shills sporting milk mustaches tell us that milk is rich in proteins, calcium, and vitamins -- and very cool to boot.

They forget to tell you about the dangers lurking in that innocuous-looking glass of white. Once criticized only by naturopaths and vegans, now the health effects of milk are being decried by many mainstream doctors. The supposedly hip milk mustache is actually a creamy layer of mucus, live bacteria, and pus.

Former Chairman of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, Frank Oski, M.D. even has a book called Don't Drink Your Milk which blames every second health problem kids suffer on hormone-ridden commercial milk. Sixty percent of ear infections in kids under six years of age are milk-induced, and milk consumption is the number one cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants today according to the American Association of Pediatrics.

But milk is also a racial issue. Almost 90 percent of African Americans and most Latinos, Asians, and Southern Europeans lack the genes necessary to digest lactose, the primary sugar in milk. The milk industry's response is classic: they have launched new campaigns arguing that non-whites can digest milk if they take in small sips during the day. There is a burgeoning industry worth $450 million a year churning out products designed to minimize lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance is the most common "food allergy," but to call it an allergy is to take a white-centric view that trivializes the fact that most of the world's people are not biologically designed to digest milk.

Milk does no body good, but for the vast majority of the world's people -- people of color -- it is a public health disaster.

No other animal drinks cow's milk, not even calves once they are weaned. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the U.S.'s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding "cow's glue" to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies, and diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, the number one cause of death in this country.

Most of milk's much-vaunted protein is contained in casein -- which is also a raw material for commercial glue. Undigested, it simply sticks to the intestinal walls and blocks nutrient absorption.

The mainstream media and the government ignore the medical studies showing that milk is a serious health threat, in part because people of color are the main victims. The institutionalization of racism is highlighted by U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson Eilene Kennedy's statement on milk, that the government's recommended food pyramid is intended for "the majority of Americans. It doesn't communicate to all Americans."

The USDA continues to require that school lunch programs include milk with every meal, and recommends that we glug milk for calcium, even though Harvard studies show an increase in osteoporosis and bone-breakage in people who consume milk. It says we should drink milk to prevent heart disease (and is echoed by Larry King) even though saturated fat constitutes 55 percent of milk solids.

The dairy lobby perpetrates lies to ensure its profits. It benefits directly from the exaggerated support prices the government shells out for this "health food." The government pays over a billion dollars a year for surplus butter. A General Accounting Office (GAO) study concluded that a reduction in the government price support system would have netted consumers savings of $10.4 billion from 1986 to 2001. And the USDA pays inflated prices to purchase dairy products for both the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and federal school lunch programs -- milking the taxpayers and actually getting them to pay for poisoning 26 million school kids.

The milk lobby has whipsawed its way into the highest echelons of power. Staffers under Richard Nixon were indicted for accepting $300,000 from the dairy lobby for making milk part of the school lunch program.

Dr. Robert Cohen of the Dairy Education Board, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exposing the milk lobby, contends that the dramatic 52 percent rise in asthma deaths among minority kids in New York coincided with the surplus milk, cheese, and butter pumped into them under the USDA's free school lunch and breakfast giveaway programs. The incidence of asthma deaths may be even higher since asthma is not a reportable disease, and asthma deaths are sometimes certified as cardiovascular disease.

There is also a direct link between milk consumption and prostate cancer among African Americans, who have the highest incidence of this disease in the world. A study in Cancer has shown that men who reported drinking three or more glasses of whole milk daily had a higher risk for prostate cancer than men who reported never drinking whole milk.

The controversial Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) -- banned in most countries -- is pumped into U.S. milch cows to increase annual yield (50,000 pounds of milk per cow today compared to 2,000 pounds in 1959). Milk from cows treated with BGH is likely to contain pus from their udders since the hormone leads to mastitis, or udder infection. BGH use results in a tumor-promoting chemical (IGF-I) that has been implicated in an explosive increase of cancer of the colon, smooth muscle, and breast.

The antibiotics dairy farmers use to treat BGH-caused infections in cows appear in their milk and greatly hasten human tolerance to most antibiotics, a potentially life-threatening state of affairs. The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports that 38 percent of milk samples in 10 cities were contaminated with sulfa drugs and other antibiotics.

A fightback is beginning. Protesters picketed New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's planned milk promotion campaign with a photo of the mayor wearing a milk mustache over the caption, "Got Prostate Cancer?" Giuliani (who, like his father, has prostate cancer) dropped the campaign. And doctors from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) persuaded Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams not to declare May 11 as "Drink Chocolate Milk Day" by presenting evidence that milk is harmful, especially to people of color.

The PCRM -- composed of some of the leading doctors in the U.S. -- has campaigned extensively in the health and consumer press and led a successful legal effort in 1999 to make dairy products optional in the federal food guidelines. The campaign was supported by a number of prominent civil rights organizations and leaders, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, Martin Luther King, III, Jesse Jackson, Jr., the National Hispanic Medical Association, and former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

The dairy lobby remains cozy with most medical practitioners to perpetrate its "drink milk" propaganda. However, not one of the 1,500 papers listed in Medicine that deal with milk points to its goodness -- only to the pus, blood, antibiotics, and carcinogens in milk, and the chronic fatigue, anemia, asthma, and autoimmune disorders milk consumption causes.

The time has come for the milk industry to face the kind of scrutiny that the tobacco companies face today. Meanwhile, discard the moo juice.

This article appeared originally in ColorLines

Shanti Rangwani is an allopathic doctor and a columnist for the Times of India.

http://www.purewatergazette.net/whitepoison.htm

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Only a loving person — one who is already loving — can find the right partner.

Only happy people are attracted towards happy people.

The same attracts the same. Intelligent people are attracted towards intelligent people; stupid people are attracted towards stupid people.

You meet people of the same plane. So the first thing to remember is: a relationship is bound to be bitter if it has grown out of unhappiness. First be happy, be joyful, be celebrating, and then you will find some other soul celebrating and there will be a meeting of two dancing souls and a great dance will arise out of it.

Don’t ask for a relationship out of loneliness, no. Then you are moving in a wrong direction. Then the other will be used as a means and the other will use you as a means. And nobody wants to be used as a means! Every single individual is an end unto himself. It is immoral to use anybody as a means.

First learn how to be alone. Meditation is a way of being alone.

If you can be happy when you are alone, you have learned the secret of being happy. Now you can be happy together. If you are happy, then you have something to share, to give. And when you give you get; it is not the other way. Then a need arises to love somebody.

Ordinarily the need is to be loved by somebody. It is a wrong need. It is a childish need; you are not mature. It is a child’s attitude.

A child is born. Of course, the child cannot love the mother; he does not know what love is and he does not know who is the mother and who is the father. He is totally helpless. His being is still to be integrated; he is not one piece; he is not together yet. He is just a possibility. The mother has to love, the father has to love, the family has to shower love on the child. Now he learns one thing: that everybody has to love him. He never learns that he has to love. Now the child will grow, and if he remains stuck with this attitude that everybody has to love him, he will suffer his whole life. His body has grown, but his mind has remained immature.

A mature person is one who comes to know the other need: that now I have to love somebody.

The need to be loved is childish, immature. The need to love is mature.

And when you are ready to love somebody, a beautiful relationship will arise; otherwise not.

“Is it possible for two people in a relationship to be bad for each other?” Yes, that’s what is happening all over the world. To be good is very difficult. You are not good even to yourself. How can you be good to somebody else?

You don’t even love yourself! How can you love somebody else? Love yourself, be good to yourself.

Your so-called religious saints have been teaching you never to love yourself, never to be good to yourself. Be hard on yourself! They have been teaching you be soft towards others and hard towards yourself. This is absurd.

I teach you that the first and foremost thing is to be loving towards yourself. Don’t be hard; be soft. Care about yourself. Learn how to forgive yourself — again and again and again — seven times, seventy-seven times, seven hundred seventy-seven times. Learn how to forgive yourself. Don’t be hard; don’t be antagonistic towards yourself. Then you will flower.

In that flowering you will attract some other flower. It is natural. Stones attract stones; flowers attract flowers. Then there is a relationship which has grace, which has beauty, which has a benediction in it. If you can find such a relationship, your relationship will grow into prayer;your love will become an ecstasy and through love you will know what the divine is.

Ecstasy: The Forgotten Language

Source: Osho Times



Friday 25 July 2008

MILK: A DEADLY POISON

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 1994 the average American ate 586 pounds of milk and dairy products, 394 pounds of vegetables, 121 pounds of fresh fruit, 199 pounds of meat and 193 pounds of products containing flour and cereal. That totals to over four pounds of food per day per person and nearly forty percent of that is milk and dairy, one very lopsided food pyramid!

Each sip of milk provides you with:

Pituitary hormones (PRL, GH, TSH, FSH, LH ACTH Oxytocin)

Steroid hormones (Estradiol, Estriol, Progesterone, Testosterone,

17-Ketosteroids, Corticosterone, Vitamine D)

Hypothalamic hormones (TRH, LHRH, Somatostatin, PRL-inhibiting

factor, PRL-releasing factor, GnRH, GRH)

Thyroid and Parathyroid hormones (T3, T4, rT3, Calcitonin,

Parathormone, PTH peptide)

gastrointestinal peptides (Vasoactive intestinal peptide, Bombesin,

Cholecystokinin, Gastrin, Gastrin inhibitory peptide, Pancreatic

peptide, Y peptide, Substance P and Neurotensin)

Growth Factors (IGF's (I and II), IGF binding proteins, Nerve growth

factor, Epidermal growth factor and TGF alpha, TGF beta, Growth

Inhibitors MDGI and MAF, and Platelet derived growth factor

Others... (PGE, PGF2 alpha, cAMP, cGMP, Delta sleep inducing

peptide, Transferrin, Lactoferrin, Casomorphin and Erythropoietin

In Short...

Growth hormones, fat, cholesterol, allergenic proteins, blood, pus, antibiotics, bacteria, virus and more as it is sponsored, in part, by Monsanto, WestAgro, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc..

Did you know that...

* Milk is the foundation of heart disease and the explanation for America's number one killer.

  • Milk is the reason that one out of six American women will develop cancer of the breast.
  • Twenty-five million American women over the age of forty have been diagnosed with bone crippling arthritis and osteoporosis. These females have been drinking in excess of two pounds of milk per day for their entire adult lives. Why are their doctors blind to the fact that drinking milk does not prevent osteoporosis?
  • Calcium in milk is not adequately absorbed and milk consumption is the probable cause of osteoporosis.
  • Milk is responsible for allergies, colic, colitis, earaches, colds and congestion in young children. Research indicates that one bovine protein in milk destroys theinsulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, causing diabetes.
  • Sixty Percent of America's dairy cows have leukemia virus. Is it wise to eat the flesh or drink body fluids from diseased animals?
  • The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to allow a small amount of antibiotics in milk. FDA scientists recognized that consumers should not be drinking a fluid containing antibiotics. In 1990, the one part per hundred-million antibiotic residue in milk standardwas increased by one-hundred times to one part per million. As a result, new strains of bacteria developed, immune to the 52 different antibiotics found in milk. Antibiotics no longer work because Americans have been drinking milk and eating dairy productscontaining increased amounts of these powerful drugs and, in addition, new strains of emerging diseases.

Beer bellies are indeed making a comeback in America. According to the Food Consumption, Prices and Expenditures, 1996, Statistical Bulletin Number 928, published by the USDA, the average American consumed 24 gallons of beer in 1994. That works out to less than 8 1/2 ounces of beer per day. Total milk and dairy products consumed per capita in 1994 equaled 26 ounces per day, more than triple the amount of beer. One 12 ounce glass of beer contains 144 calories and no fat. On the other hand, a 12 ounce glass of milk contains 300 calories and 16 grams of fat. It seems that beer is taking a bad rap. Protruding stomachs on overweight people should be called milk bellies, not beer bellies.

When we drink milk we are taking in the most powerful growth hormone naturally produced in our own bodies. However, this growth hormone in milk is safeguarded by naturally occurring mechanisms unique to milk. That hormone is called Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and it is identical (70 amino acids, same gene sequence) in cows and humans

(Milk: The Deadly Poison by Robert Cohen 317 pages containing 336 references

ISBN 0-9659-196-0-9)

.NATURE'S PERFECT FOOD? A SECOND OPINION!

Julian Whitaker, MD, is the founder and editor of the largest read health newsletter in the world, Health & Healing. This month his lead topic is MILK and the ANTIDAIRY Coalition. Here are pages 1-4 of Dr. Whitaker's 8-page newsletter. I heartily recommend that you consider subscribing. Whitaker's alternative medicine advice is right on the money and 532,000+ monthly readers have benefited from his brilliant recommendations. Call 1-800-539-8219 to subscribe! (12 issues - $39.95 per year)

(REPRINTED: PERMISSION OF JULIAN WHITAKER, MD)

******************************************************

Dr. Julian Whitaker's

Health & Healing

TOMORROW'S MEDICINE TODAY October 1998 Vol. 8, No. 10

Dear Reader,

In the movie Men in Black, the character played by Tommy Lee Jones draws the distinction between a "person" and the mass of "people." He states, "A person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." In other words, we do a whole lot of things as "people" we would never do as "persons. "Health & Healing readers are "persons." You are making the effort to educate youself, refusing to buy the prepackaged party line dished out by the conventional medical establishment and media. You think for yourself and take control of your own health. Yet there are some area that are so ingrained that we all revert to "people" thinking. Let's discuss one of them in this first story.

FOOD SAFETY

MILK IS "UDDER" NONSENSE

Is cow's milk an appropriate food for humans? The "people" answer is "of course," but the "person" answer is "no, it is not good for humans." Cow's milk is species-specific food for calves. It is no more appropriate to drink the milk of cows than it is to drink the milk of other mammals. We do it because we've always done it. It's a "people" thing, and on close inspection, you'll see that all our beliefs about milk are "udder" nonsense.

Milk Myth #1: Milk Helps Build Strong Bones

American parents pass this myth on to their children, and misguided nutritionists reinforce it. Actually, milk and other dairy products weaken the bones and accelerate osteoporosis. That's right, consumption of milk causes the very condition it's advertised to prevent.

As I'll explain in the next story, osteoporosis results from calcium loss, not insufficient calcium intake. And dairy products, because of their high protein content, promote calcium loss. Studies examining the incidence of osteoporosis have found that high consumption of dairy products is associated with high rates of osteoporosis. If you want strong bones, don't drink milk.

Milk Myth #2: Milk is the Ultimate Health Drink

The notion that milk is healthy for you is, again, "udder" nonsense. While eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains has been documented to lower the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and cancer, the widely touted health benefits of dairy products are questionable at best. In fact, dairy products are clearly liked as a cause of osteoporosis, heart disease, obesity, cancer, allergies and diabetes. Dairy products are anything but "health" foods. The association with heart disease is particularly strong. While we've always known that high-fat dairy products, such as whole milk and cheese, are significant contributors to high cholesterol levels and heart disease, William B. Grant, Ph.D., summarizes the mounting evidence that nonfat milk is also a major player in bringing on heart disease.

Writing in Alternative Medicine Review, Dr. Grant points out that nonfat milk, which contains substantial amounts of dairy protein, is very low in B vitamins. The metabolism of all this protein in the absence of B vitamins contributes to the buildup of homocysteine, a marker for heart disease.

Milk Myth #3: Milk is Necessary for Growing Children

Oh really? Here are three reasons kids and milk don't mix. First, milk is the leading cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants, and, in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics now discourages giving children milk before their first birthday. Second, it has been shown that milk consumption in childhood contributes to the development of Type-I diabetes. Certain proteins in milk resemble molecules on the beta cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin. In some cases, the immune system makes antibodies to the milk protein that mistakenly attack and destroy the beta cells.

Third, milk allergies are very common in children and cause sinus problems, diarrhea, constipation and fatigue. They are a leading cause of the chronic ear infections that plague up to 40% of all children under the age of six. Milk allergies are also linked to behavior problems in children and to the disturbing rise of childhood asthma.

(Milk allergies are equally common in adults and produce similar symptoms.) Even so august an authority on children as the late Dr. Benjamin Spock changed his recommendations in his later years and discouraged giving children milk.

MILK MYTH #4: Milk is Pure and Wholesome

As if milk weren't bad enough already, the chemical giant, Monsanto Company, and the FDA have made it far worse. In 1994 the FDA approved the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST), a genetically engineered hormone from Monsanto that increases milk production in cows by 10-25%. Milk from cows treated with rbST contains elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), one of the most powerful growth factors ever identified.

IGF-I occurs naturally in both cows and humans and, in a fluke of nature, is identical between these two species. While IGF-I doesn't cause cancer, it definitely stimulates its growth. Recent studies have found a seven-fold increase in the risk of breast cancer in women with the highest IGF-I levels, and a four-fold increase in prostate cancer in men with the highest levels. Not only does rbST elevate your exposure to these growth factors, it also increases infections of the cow's udders. Therefore, cows treated with rbST are given more antibiotics, so higher traces of these drugs, as well as pus and bacteria from infected udders, are found in their milk.

In his recent book, MILK - The Deadly Poison (Argus Publishing, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1998), Robert Cohen, a tenacious investigative reporter, describes a level of corruption between Monsanto, the FDA and the Department of Agriculture that, in my opinion, warrants formal investigation and action against several individuals involved. This book documents how data were falsified and studies fabricated, and tells how the scientific community and public have been misled regarding rbST, its effects on our health, and the amounts of this hormone present in milk. Folks, you won't believe this book.

Robert Cohen gives names, dates and document numbers that are irrefutable.

As you would expect, Monsanto is playing rough. In Florida, they put pressure on a FOX television station, which then fired two award- winning journalists with over 20 years experience for attempting to report on the dark side of bovine growth hormone. These two reporters are now suing the network. Monsanto has vigorously attacked those who simply want to label their dairy product as "hormone free." This whole mess is disgusting. It shouldn't surprise you that all of Europe and Canada have banned this hormone and we are the only major industrial country espousing and using it. To get a copy of the June/July 1998 issue of SunCoast Eco report, in which this story is reported, send a check for $3 to Editor-SunCoast Eco Report, P.O. Box 35500, Sarasota, FL, 34278. If you have access to the Internet, for more information on the suit, go to www.foxBGHsuit.com.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LIMITING YOUR DAIRY INTAKE

* To start with, knock off drinking milk altogether. Fluid milk is likely to be the most highly concentrated, easily absorbed source of growth hormones. Instead use soy milk or rice milk in your coffee, cereal and cooking. You'll find dairy-free cheeses, ice cream and drinks in your health food store.

  • Use all dairy products sparingly, and be sure to avoid products from hormone-treated cows. A growing number of dairies offer organic or hormone-free dairy products.
  • For a list of those studies discussed in this article, send a self- addressed stamped article to: CF/Phillips Publishing, 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD 20854.
  • A few months ago I joined Robert Cohen as a board member of his newly formed AntiDairy Coalition. I strongly recommend that you get more information on the dangers of dairy products by reading Cohen's book, available from the AntiDairy Coalition, 1-888-NOTMILK (888-668-6455).
  • ************************************************************

That, my friends, represents half of the October Health & Healing digest. Dr. Whitaker dedicates the remainder of this issue of his newsletter to osteoporosis and heart disease. I would like to quote just a portion of Whitaker's comments about bone disease:

"In only two generations, the rate of hip fractures in the U.S. has quadrupled, and it is currently one of the highest rates in the world. Americans are also near the top of the chart for dairy consumption. Would someone out there please tell me why we keep telling our children that dairy foods strengthen their bones? Excess protein intake-not only from milk but all animal protein sources-increases the need for calcium to neutralize acidic protein breakdown products, destroying bone in the process. A lifetime of a high-protein diet usually eats away at your bones. Lower protein vegetarian diets are associated with significantly higher bone mineral density. So the first and most important dietary step is to eat less protein. This generally means cutting down on milk Although dairy products contain calcium, little of it is deposited in the bones-instead the calcium is used to neutralize the acidity brought on by milk protein."

I conclude today's column by echoing the advertising slogan of the national fluid processors, the marketing arm of America's dairy industry:

MILK? WHAT A SURPRISE!

Robert Cohen

Executive Director

ANTIDAIRY Coalition

http://www.notmilk.com

http://www.antidairycoalition.com

For you, good to know!

Calcium content in various foods.

* Dairy products are promoted as a source of calcium, but many vegetable-quality foods are rich in this element. Calcium needs vary with age and other factors. The U.S. RDA. varies from 800-1200 mg/day. (Figures per 100 grams, unit mg. 1009=3.5 ounces, an average serving unless otherwise noted.)

Examples Vegetables: Broccoli 246, Dandelion greens 74, Mustard greens 97,

Parsley 61, Kale 74, Spinach 83, Watercress 90 .

Beans/products: Chickpeas 75 , Soybeans 131 , Kidney beans 70, Tofu 128 ,Tempeh 142 .

Sea Vegetables: Agar Agar 400 , Hijiki 1400, Kombu 800, Nori 400 , Wakame 1300.

Seeds/nuts: Sesame seeds 331, Sun flower seeds 40 , Hazel nuts 60.

Dairy food: Cow milk 28, Eggs 27, Cheese 100/350 .

Grains: Buckwheat 57.

(Source: U.S. Dep. of Agriculture and Japan Nutritionist Association)

Sourec: http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/health/messages/milk/milk.html

Tuesday 15 July 2008

The Fear of Commitment

Only through decisions do you become more and more conscious, only through decisions do you become more and more crystallized, only through decisions do you become sharp. Otherwise one becomes dull.

People go on from one guru to another, from one master to another, from one temple to another — not because they are great seekers but because they are incapable of decision. So they go from one to another. This is their way to avoid commitment.

The same happens in other human relationships: a man goes from one woman to another, goes on changing. People think he is a great lover; he is not a lover at all. He is avoiding, he is trying to avoid any deep involvement because with deep involvement problems have to be faced, and much pain has to be gone through. So one simply plays safe; one makes it a point never to go too deeply into somebody. If you go too deep you may not be able to come back easily. And if you go deeply into somebody, somebody else will go deeply into you also; it is always proportionate. If I go very deep in you the only way is to allow you also to go that deep in me. It is a give and take, it is a sharing. Then one may get entangled too much, and it will be difficult to escape and the pain may be much. So people learn how to play safe: just let surfaces meet — hit-and-run love affairs. Before you are caught, run.

This is what is happening in the modern world. People have become so juvenile, so childish; they are losing all maturity.

Maturity comes only when you are ready to face the pain of your being; maturity comes only when you are ready to take the challenge. And there is no greater challenge than love.

To live happily with another person is the greatest challenge in the world. It is very easy to live peacefully alone, it is very difficult to live peacefully with somebody else, because two worlds collide, two worlds meet...totally different worlds. How are they attracted to each other? Because they are totally different, almost opposite, polar opposites.

It is very difficult to be peaceful in a relationship, but that is the challenge. If you escape from that, you escape from maturity. If you go into it with all the pain, and still continue going into it, then by and by the pain becomes a blessing, the curse becomes a blessing.

By and by, through the conflict, the friction, crystallization arises. Through the struggle you become more alert, more aware.

The other becomes like a mirror to you. You can see your ugliness in the other. The other provokes your unconscious, brings it to the surface.

You will have to know all hidden parts of your being and the easiest way is to be mirrored, reflected, in a relationship.

Easier, I call it, because there is no other way — but it is hard. It is hard, arduous, because you will have to change through it.

When you come to a Master an even greater challenge exists before you: you have to decide, and the decision is for the unknown, and the decision has to be total and absolute, irreversible. It is not a child’s game; it is a point of no return. So much conflict arises. But don’t go on continuously changing, because this is the way to avoid yourself. And you will remain soft, you will remain babyish. Maturity will not happen to you.

Only the unknown should have a call for you because that you have not yet lived; you have not moved in that territory. Move! Something new may happen there.

Always decide for the unknown, whatsoever the risk, and you will grow continuously.

But go on deciding for the known and you move in a circle with the past again and again. You go on repeating it; you have become a gramophone record.

And decide. The sooner you can do so, the better. Postponement is simply stupid. Tomorrow you will also have to decide, so why not today? And do you think that tomorrow you will be wiser than today? Do you think that tomorrow you will be livelier than today? Do you think that tomorrow you will be younger than today, fresher than today?

Tomorrow you will be older, your courage will be less; tomorrow you will be more experienced, your cunningness will be more; tomorrow death will come closer; you will start wavering and being more afraid. Never postpone for the tomorrow. And who knows? Tomorrow may come or may not come. If you have to decide you have to decide right now.


SOURCE: OSHOTIMES

Monday 14 July 2008

Only through decisions do you become more and more conscious

The Fear of Commitment ...

Only through decisions do you become more and more conscious, only through decisions do you become more and more crystallized, only through decisions do you become sharp. Otherwise one becomes dull.

People go on from one guru to another, from one master to another, from one temple to another — not because they are great seekers but because they are incapable of decision. So they go from one to another. This is their way to avoid commitment.


The same happens in other human relationships: a man goes from one woman to another, goes on changing. People think he is a great lover; he is not a lover at all. He is avoiding, he is trying to avoid any deep involvement because with deep involvement problems have to be faced, and much pain has to be gone through. So one simply plays safe; one makes it a point never to go too deeply into somebody. If you go too deep you may not be able to come back easily. And if you go deeply into somebody, somebody else will go deeply into you also; it is always proportionate. If I go very deep in you the only way is to allow you also to go that deep in me. It is a give and take, it is a sharing. Then one may get entangled too much, and it will be difficult to escape and the pain may be much. So people learn how to play safe: just let surfaces meet — hit-and-run love affairs. Before you are caught, run.

This is what is happening in the modern world. People have become so juvenile, so childish; they are losing all maturity.

Maturity comes only when you are ready to face the pain of your being; maturity comes only when you are ready to take the challenge. And there is no greater challenge than love.

To live happily with another person is the greatest challenge in the world. It is very easy to live peacefully alone, it is very difficult to live peacefully with somebody else, because two worlds collide, two worlds meet...totally different worlds. How are they attracted to each other? Because they are totally different, almost opposite, polar opposites.

It is very difficult to be peaceful in a relationship, but that is the challenge. If you escape from that, you escape from maturity. If you go into it with all the pain, and still continue going into it, then by and by the pain becomes a blessing, the curse becomes a blessing.

Source: osho.com

Friday 27 June 2008

The Constant Struggle

Each fragment of your mind wants to become the most powerful one. There is constant inner politics. You cannot find bliss in this constant inner war.

The mind is a chooser – it always chooses something against something else. It creates opposition, it creates contradiction in life. It creates extremes, and through extremes there is a constant inner war, a civil war. Don't choose, remain choiceless.

If you repress sex you will be in a constant war, and you can never win. Failure is absolutely certain because the more you fight with sex, the more you give energy to it. The same is the case with anger, jealousy, greed. Fighting is not the way of wisdom; it is the fool's path. The stupid and the mediocre fight. The intelligent ones transform; they absorb.

It is man's freedom to choose. We can live an integrated life, we can become an organic unity – that's the whole purpose of meditation. Or we can remain a crowd – many minds, many fragments, no unity. When there are many minds there is conflict, discord, a constant civil war. When you are at war within yourself you are at war with existence too; as within, so without.

Deep down you are one person, pretending on the surface to be somebody else. There is a constant conflict between the real and the false. The false is appreciated by society, valued, respected, and the real is condemned. You have to learn ways to be two persons; you have to be constantly on guard. That creates hypocrisy, and you cannot forgive yourself; you feel guilty.

I don't want the peace of the cemetery. All the graves are silent – no fight, no struggle, no quarrel. I want the peace of a garden in the early morning when birds are singing, flowers are opening, the sun is rising. There is music in it; it is not without sound. There are sounds, but the sounds and the silences together create peace.

Rejection is suppressive; it is cutting your intrinsic parts. It leaves you bleeding; it leaves you half-alive; it leaves you lukewarm. It takes all your energy away from you, and it creates a conflict and inner war.

My understanding about peacefulness is that it is not a question of being peaceful with anybody. The basic question is being at peace with yourself. Out of that, peace arises for everybody.

Where is the devil? It is some condemned part of you. You cannot cut it out because it is so deeply a part of you that there is no possibility of separating it from your self. You can go on fighting, but you will never win. You cannot fight against the devil, you can only play with him. That's what I am teaching you here: be playful, non-serious.

Man has been conditioned always to be in conflict: the body is fighting with the mind, the mind is fighting with the body. The whole past of humanity has been a constant conditioning to make man a split personality; and it has succeeded.

Peace is not a political strategy. Two parties peaceful in themselves cannot create any hostility. There is no question of being peaceful with somebody. The basic question is being peaceful.

Society is violent, politics is violent, nations are violent. The state is violent, the church is violent, because they are political games. Even religion is political. Every religion is trying to defeat other religions. There is a constant struggle going on, a cold war. How long can you go on fighting a cold war? Sooner or later it becomes heated, then a hot war erupts.

Society needs soldiers, violent people, murderous people; and a blissful person cannot be that. He would rather die himself than kill anybody. He would be ready to die willingly because he has tasted something of immortality, so he does not care about death. But he will not destroy anything.

Man has been going through three kinds of wars. One is with nature, another is with other people, and the third is with himself. The first war has become science: the war with nature. The second war has become politics: the war with other people. And the third war, unfortunately, has become religion: the war with yourself.

Source: Osho.com

Monday 2 June 2008

Petrol Prices in India

Petrol in China: Rs 31.30 per litre
Petrol in Pakistan is Rs 44.80 per litr
Malaysia Rs
25.40 per litre
In India it's Rs 56.00 per litre

Why this difference in Asia itself ? World Market CRUDE Oil is not the reason for this. It's all Gain for private owners? As we are the general public, or Common Man as R.K.Laxman wud hv said, we have to raise our voice, let's raise thru Emails.

Forward this to all Indians who care.

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF PETROL FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.