Better pray to the Creator rather than the created things.

When
you believe that AIR is there without seeing it - the same way believe
in the One & Only Creator and not its innumerable created things.
Each created thing is created for its specific purpose which it is
doing like man created for his worship and he has to worship him ONLY
and not his created things.

It tones up the nervous system and
improves memory & produces health, strength, efficiency and
longevity. It promotes sleep and calms anxiety,refreshes the skin and
prevents Skin disorders as well.

It is a religious ritual,
actually scientific reason is that during morning when sun is red and
the temperature is low, due to low temperature the atmospheric gases
composition becomes in such a way that it absorbs negativity from the
rays coming from sun to earth.This more positive rays are being
received by our fore head generates more positivity in our body.

Can Sachin Tendulkar join the honoured ranks of Sir Don Bradman or Sir Gary Sobers? Well, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown certainly seems to think so. If he had his way, he would recommend the little master for a knighthood.
"I would like to see some of the great players of the modern era — like Sachin Tendulkar — proposed for honorary awards so the British nation can salute their achievements in these sports."

If Brown's remarks come true, we could be looking at the first Indian sports knight. In between courting trade and investment from India and China visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown showed where his heart really lay — at the WACA stadium in Perth.

Complimenting India on its test victory over Australia, Brown shed his normally grave countenance.

"I congratulate India on a famous victory - beating an Australian side who have won their last 16 games and doing so away from home."

England's long cricketing feud with Australia clearly fuelled Brown's enthusiasm for India's historic win. Cricket has long been one of the great binders of Indo-British ties. And until some time ago Commonwealth cricketers were honoured by the UK.

As Brown said, "I believe it was a good tradition to celebrate the achievements of the great Commonwealth cricketers. Obviously these are issues for the independent honours committee, but - hope they will consider it."
So we can hope to see a 'Sir Sachin'. 

The disconnect between promise and actual delivery has been the death of many brand campaigns, long before they attain maturity. The graveyard of departed brand campaigns is full of tombstones recalling how some of them started off by promising the sun, the moon and far beyond, but actually ended up being huge disappointments. The tourism ministry is trying its hand with a campaign that might end up with a similar outcome.
The tourism ministry is splurging a lot of cash on marketing India as a tourism destination under the “Incredible India” campaign. The ad is running on French TV channels, being printed in Spanish newspapers, pushed under the door in Sweden as direct mailers. The ad shows an elderly and well-to-do couple, with the gentleman seemingly into his initial years of retirement. He and his wife enjoy the kaleidoscopic nature of a typical Indian holiday, coloured by the multiplicity of cultures and the multitude of pleasurable opportunities.

Why chose an elderly couple? After all, it is has almost become mandatory in advertising today to show a kid or, at least, a young couple. Arguably, given the demographic profile of the country, where 50% of the population is below 35 years of age, it might make sense to go after the young and moneyed. So, why does “Incredible India” want to do it differently?

The immediate answer is obvious. It’s job is to attract tourists to India from the western world. Europe’s, as well as USA’s, demographic profile is in complete contrast to that of India. The bulk of the population there is ageing, on the verge of retirement or has already retired. The spending power, by and large, is with these guys. So, get the target audience into the ad. Simple solutions to simple problems.

Guess again guys. There’s more at play here. The campaign also tries to reconfigure the thick stream of tourists coming into India. The attempt seems to be to shift the country into a higher spending destination, compared to its historical, low-budget trap - hippie haven, spiritual shangri-la or plain backpacking bohemia. Many Goa citizens keep complaining that their state has got positioned as a “cheap” destination and that needs to change. The “Incredible India” campaign attempts to achieve some of that.

But where does it fall short? Execution. Sure, the campaign might be able to attract newer tourists and may have been able to even convince part of its target audience to buy into an Indian holiday. But, wait till you know their side of the story. There are two problems confronting the tourism strategists.

 One, of an immediate nature, is the depreciation of the dollar against the major global currencies, making world travel expensive for the average American tourists. But, given that those with money don’t care about currency fluctuations, and that Europeans do not have a similar problem, makes it not such an insurmountable problem for our target tourist.

What is, though, is the last mile connection. True, it’s all available for somebody like Madonna, but the routine tourist usually goes back feeling gypped. And, that’s because touts have been given a free hand. Walk into any major airport or railway station in the country and the first thing that hits you with gale-force is the overwhelming presence of middlemen, offering everything from currency conversion to taxis, sordid hotel rooms to “promising” holidays.

But, the one thing you find missing is a proper tourism office. Even if you do find one, there’s usually no one manning it. And if, by some weird stroke of luck, you do find some hapless soul sitting there, he will turn out to be of no help.

Most places don’t have an organised car hire infrastructure. Again, in many places you will find that private operators virtually rule the system. For instance, if you’re travelling to Sikkim and are looking to hire a car from the tourism office in Siliguri, the mafia hanging outside will make sure - without exerting too much effort, of course - that you hire cars only from them, at their prices.

The staff at the tourism office can only shrug and look away. This is a story repeated in most tourism offices across the country. Another issue: all historical monuments charge differential pricing to foreign tourists. Do Indians travelling overseas have to pay different rates to visit the Louvre or to the climb the Eiffel? Non, nyet, nein. Discrimination seems to begins at home.

The mass of tourism operators and administrators likes to call itself an industry. The problem lies there. Unlike an industry, which has systems, processes and regulators, the tourism industry in India depends mostly on some formal and lots of informal connections. There are no standards.

Any hole-in-the-wall can begin a tourism shop tomorrow. No minimum benchmarks, no minimum capital. One is not suggesting that the government reinstate a licence regime. But, without all the trappings of a proper industry gold standard, “Incredible India” is probably letting some of the potential earnings slip through its fingers.

What is beauty, and how do we find it?
We live in a culture where feeling beautiful has a profound impact on one’s self-esteem and self-confidence, particularly for women. This culture would have us believe that there is a particular “look” that is beautiful, namely thin, young, and blemish-free.

The Dove advertising campaign has helped to shed light on the many ways that the advertising industry promotes this unrealistic view of beauty. There is a constant message that if you are not perfect, you are not quite good enough; you are not really beautiful.

Statistics reflect the impact of these messages: 80-90% of adult women dislike their bodies. 15% of women say they would sacrifice more than five years of their lives to be thinner, while 24% say they would sacrifice up to three years of their life. 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat, 78% of 18-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies, and the number one wish of girls 11-17 years old is to lose weight. 51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves when dieting, and 9% of 9-year-olds have vomited to lose weight.

The natural process of life seems to be a problem. Anti-wrinkle creams and botox treatments abound. There are millions of diet products, shakes, and nutrition plans designed to help you shed unwanted pounds. It is as if we constantly need to fight against our bodies and their natural processes in order to achieve the desired beauty, the desired “perfection.” This constant focus on what we are not or what we should be eclipses the beauty of who we are.

When we struggle in this way against our bodies and ourselves we are setting ourselves up for pain and misery. When we focus on what we should be or how we should look, we live with a constant state of fear and dissatisfaction.

What if beauty was more expansive then we think? What if everyone was beautiful simply because they exist?

We can learn to see beauty in everyone and everything, regardless of how closely they fit culturally-dictated standards of desirability. When we learn to see beauty in ourselves and the world around us, we discover that we are more than enough. We no longer have to live with a sense of inadequacy or shame; we no longer have to live wishing that our nose was smaller, our stomach flatter, or our hair fuller. We can begin to live from a place of peace, knowing we are beautiful simply because we exist.

Sometimes, however, finding the beauty in ourselves can seem like a herculean task. We are constantly being exposed to messages that we should be taller, shorter, thinner, fitter, wealthier, etc. It is a constant practice of returning to ourselves and affirming with compassion “I am beautiful; I am radiant; I am divine.”

We can soar on the wings of eagles, but we must learn to love ourselves first.

Each of us has had this experience: we knew something was going to turn out a certain way, but we didn’t listen to that gut instinct and it cost us. Maybe we missed out on an opportunity, or we had to dig ourselves out of some kind of mess. But we’ve all done it.
The other day I caught myself ignoring my inner guidance. I didn’t quite catch it as early as I’d have liked, however. I spent an entire weekend working on a series of articles for a website. Somewhere inside I just knew it wasn’t the right kind of content. But I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was wasting my own time, so I kept trying to tweak the wording to force what I was writing into a better fit. I probably got a third of the way through what I was trying to accomplish when I couldn’t take it any more. I stopped myself (not easy!) and sent in what I had already written to the editor to check that I was going in the right direction. When I got his reply I “hid” from it for a little while, not wanting to even open it, because I already knew what it was going to say.

It was a frustrating little tug-o-war with my ego, but it was progress. At least I stopped, right? And it helped me to get more clarity on where I should have been going in the first place. After the fact, I do feel good about the experience. But, boy! It was excruciating witnessing myself struggle through it.

So who else is making progress out there? Are you someone who enjoys the learning process of self-help concepts and techniques, but who then looses steam when it comes to practicing what you’ve learned? It’s always fun to get a new book or DVD, or to attend a seminar and spend time thinking and talking about all of this stuff. But putting it into practice is a whole different ball game.

All of us appear to measure success differently. I asked family and friends and they wondered if success is linked to:
. Our level of satisfaction

. Our level of happiness and consciousness of what we are and what we have

. Having security in regard to lifestyle -- shelter, food, clothing and leisure -- both now and in the future

. Fulfilling our creative energy and deeper purpose

. Our optimistic attitude and positive energy, which attracts more of the same, which we call "good luck"

. Remembering where we have come from, what we feel we are, and where we are headed

. Capability to listen, to learn and to love

. Capability to influence and motivate others around us

. The sharing of inner feelings with family and/or friends

. Having trusted companions

. Knowing what we have achieved and what we are likely to achieve on the basis of our present trajectory

. Our perception of our relative position

. Being renowned amongst our peers for our domain specific expertise

. Role(s) and responsibilities

. Societal standing and display of status symbols

. Feeling liberated

Also, we may prioritise the different threads which make up success in our own way. What are your measures of success? Do they make you happy?

If success, satisfaction and happiness are linked, why does our modern society make success reductive and measure it often in terms of excessive accumulation of money, power and glory, which may not deliver satisfaction or happiness?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday was to outline his views on institutional reform in world bodies like the United Nations as he wraps up a two-day visit to India.
The speech to business leaders in New Delhi has been billed by his office as an outline of one of Brown's main foreign policy priorities, and an attempt to secure Indian backing for his plan due to its growing clout on the world stage.

Britain already supports moves to make India a permanent member of the UN Security Council -- a reflection of its status as an emerging economic powerhouse increasingly courted by world leaders.

Excerpts of Brown's keynote speech released in advance by his office showed that he believes institutions set up after World War II like the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund no longer reflect the status quo.

Reform could help boost both "the new world order" and "the new global society", he was to say.

"The task ahead is to agree for our time the rules that can make globalisation a force for hope and progress for people.

"I believe that only in this way can globalisation become what it should be: a force for justice on a global scale."

Brown arrived in India from China on Sunday. Both countries are among the world's fastest growing economies and like many European countries, Britain is keen to court them in order to boost lucrative trade ties and other links.

According to Britain's Foreign Office, relations between the two countries are at their healthiest ever. Brown indicated Sunday that Britain -- the former colonial power here until 1947 -- was no longer the dominant partner.

Instead he said the relationship was now "a partnership of equals" striving for common goals.

Details of Brown's dinner talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday were kept under wraps, but Brown has said he wanted to raise a number of issues including climate change and the need to boost counter-terrorism links.

On climate change, Brown has said he would look to secure both India and China's backing for a new global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

India -- which with China classes itself as a developing nation -- is opposed to binding targets. Brown said he was not dismayed by India's stance and said New Delhi could play a positive role in securing a new agreement.

On counter-terrorism he said earlier there was a need for all countries to work more closely to help win "the battle of hearts and minds" and isolate "the extremist ideologues who try to poison young people and the views they have".

The situation in military-ruled Myanmar was also to be raised. Brown -- who wrote about the imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in his 2007 book "Courage" -- urged India to use its influence to help moves to democracy.

Brown and Singh were to hold further talks on Monday. The British prime minister was also to launch closer sporting and educational ties between the two countries and pay his respects to Mohatma Gandhi, revered here as the father of the Indian nation.

Talks with senior government officials and a drop-in with Indian President Prathiba Patil were also planned before Brown heads home late Monday. 

Beyond the high speeds of those imaginary particles we describeand much further than the field of infinite potentiality of the new verse,
there lies a most shy, omnipotent, innocent and inexplicable joy.
Let’s make believe, like little girls playing at serving invisible tea
that we are hearing this music unheard, and dance, just dance

Bring along the so-called sins and other deviations that spice up the rhythm
yes why not, also the sac of virtues and credits you can spare.


Let’s dare to be absolutely naked in this purity so insane
that it can only be seen in moments of silence and then forgotten,
like sacred oaths unspoken

Pour the cups of non existing tea and share with each other this instant
our little girl hands so poised and elegant as they pour and serve,
the inebriating nothing tea that lies hidden, in the shyness of the explosion

Beyond the accelerated particles of our imagination, way in there,
impossibly near , hiding behind what has never been lost.
Collapsing in intervals so fine you can call them divine
and yet it is all beyond words and languages.

These references are emphatically worth noting and initiating Socratic dialogue upon, as opposed to an unfruitful focus on apocalyptic scenarios. We begin by initiating the next Holisitic Quantum Relativity -- HQR* -- Socratic dialogue on Buddhism, the Baha'i faith and The Golden Age of the Unity of Humankind and Peace with the overarching Grace of The Great Spiritual Masters!
HH Master Kirpal has said, "Truth is eternal, and all Masters taught the same old Truth with one opinion, but their commandments differed according to the prevalent conditions of their time." Many people could not understand the deep meaning when His Holiness said, ‘Mind, that the Golden Age is approaching!’

Reflections on Buddhism and the Bahá’í faith

The Spiritual Master, Gautama Buddha, was born a prince in Northern India around the year 563 BC. Buddha means "Enlightened" and he claimed to be one of a series of Buddhas -- Enlightened Ones -- revealing teachings to humanity over many thousands of years.

The Bahá’í Faith was founded by the Great Bahá’u’lláh, Who was born into a noble family in Persia in 1817. Bahá’ís recognise Him as one of the successive Buddhas, the “Buddha of Universal Fellowship”, for whom humankind had been waiting at the time.

Gautama Buddha promised repeatedly that after a long period of time, another Buddha would arise:

“I am not the first Buddha Who came upon this earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One… knowing the universe, an Incomparable Leader of men… He will reveal to you the same eternal truths which I have taught you. He will preach to you His faith, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax and glorious at the goal… He will proclaim a spiritual life, wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands, while mine number many hundreds.” (Digha-nikaya, IV.26)

When asked how Buddhists would recognize this new Teacher, the Buddha replied, “He will be known as Maitreya, which means He Whose name is kindness.” The other title for the Buddha-to-come was Amitabha (or Amida), which means “The Glory of the Infinite”. The blessed child born in Persia in 1817 was given the name Husayn, which means “kindness”, but later adopted the spiritual title of Bahá’u’lláh, (“The Glory of God” or “The Glory of the Infinite.”)

The Unknowable Essence

Speaking of the Creator, the “First Cause”, the Buddhist Scriptures say, “O disciples, there is a non-born, a non-produced, non-created and a non-formed. If there were not, O disciples, a non-born, a non-produced, a non-created and a non-formed, there would be no issue for the born, the produced, the created, the formed.” (Udana, v.81)

Bahá'u'lláh described the Supra Universal Consciousness in this way, “The birds of men's hearts, however high they soar, can never hope to attain the heights of His unknowable Essence. It is He Who hath called into being the whole of creation, Who hath caused every created thing to spring forth at His behest… Far be it from His glory that human pen or tongue should hint at His mystery, or that human heart conceive His Essence. ” In one of His books, ‘The Seven Valleys’, Bahá'u'lláh described the seventh valley as “true poverty and absolute nothingness”. This, the ultimate goal of life, is explained as “ the dying from self and the living in God.”

The Basic Truths

Although the basic truths taught by Gautama Buddha remain the same, they are expanded and made more explicit, in accordance with the needs of this age. The Buddha taught The Middle Way, between materialism and extreme asceticism. This approached is reaffirmed by Bahá’u’lláh: “In all matters moderation is desirable. If a thing is carried to excess, it will prove a source of evil.”

The Buddha presented the Noble Eightfold Path as a guide to living. As projected by the Buddha, Bahá’u’lláh taught similar noble ideals. Below are some examples of Bahá'u'lláh’s teachings under the individual headings of the Buddha's Eightfold Path:

Right Understanding

“Man should know his own self, and know those things which lead to loftiness or baseness, to shame or to honour…”

Right Resolve

“He is my true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause.”

Right Speech

"Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk.”

Right Conduct

“They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations have erred and dissipated their efforts. They indeed are of the lost.”

Right Livelihood

“It is made incumbent on every one of you to engage in some one occupation, such as arts, trades, and the like. We have made this – your occupation – identical with the worship of God, the True One.”

Right Effort

“All efforts and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity.”

Right Mindfulness

“The station of absolute self-surrender transcendeth, and will ever remain exalted above every other station.”

Right Contemplation

“The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will reflect them… But if you turn the mirror of your spirits heavenwards… the virtues of the Kingdom will be obtained.”

Progressive Revelation

Bahá’u’lláh taught the idea of progressive revelation. The Founders of the faiths of the world, in every age, reaffirm the universal spiritual truths, but also reveal new teachings appropriate to the conditions of the time:

"Every Prophet Whom the almighty and peerless Creator hath purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been entrusted with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared." Bahá’ís believe that the new Teaching (Dharma) specifically for this age is the recognition of the oneness of religion and the oneness of humankind.

Bahá’u’lláh introduced teachings designed to bring about this universal fellowship. These teachings include:

· Equality of women with men
. Independent investigation of truth
. Elimination of poverty
. Relinquishing prejudice of all kinds
. A world federation
. A society based on spiritual values

These teachings will bring about the Golden Age of humankind, prophesied by the Buddha as “the world system of the Lord Amitabha”, the ‘Pure Land’.

The Bahá'í writings describe it like this:

“The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of humankind and of the fundamental oneness of faith. War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.”

You are a father. It looks like such a simple sentence. But your new role is actually profound; one you are a father, you can never be “not-a-father” anymore. By becoming a father, you’ve embarked on an amazing and fulfilling journey, powerful from the moment of birth.
The day you bring your newborn or your adopted back home with you is exciting and overwhelming. It’s a cliché, but your life will never be the same. Even if this is not your first child, he is different from your others and you are different than you were before. Heck, my identical twins were born 14 minutes apart; they are markedly different from one other, as is my relationship with each of them. Each father-child bond is unique and continually evolving.

The child is not the only one being influenced here. As James Joyce once said, “People talk of my influence on my daughter, but what about her influence on me?”

No one has ever been so completely dependent on you as this baby. It feels wonderful to be so needed, but also a bit scary. Fortunately, you have more resources at your disposal than you may think (for example, Dsds & Daughters).

That said, I think every prospective parent should watch the movie Parenthood before getting pregnant. The film could easily be called Fatherhood, since the main character is a dad. That movie makes clear some central truths about fathering:

- It is like a roller coaster.
- You can’t know for sure how your actions will affect your children.
- You can guarantee that your actions do affect your children.

My favorite line from Parenthood is when Keanu Reeves’ character Tod says, “You need a license to buy a dog or drive a car. Hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they’ll let any [expletive deleted] a**hole be a father.”

With a bit of earthy humor (the kind guys like, right?), Tod explains the biggest dilemma a new father faces: No one trained me for this job. The child doesn’t come with an operator’s manual, plug-and-play attachments, or downloadable upgrades.

Despite this, dads today have more freedom than ever to take “nontraditional” approaches to fathering. Many men take time away from their careers to stay home with the baby while their partners return to the workplace. Other men work part-time or telecommute so they can commune with baby every possible moment. Some men even teach Head Start and early childhood parent education classes!

In other words, you don’t have to father the same way your father or grandfather did. You can be your own kind of Dad. That opportunity is liberating and exciting, but can also be disconcerting. After all, it’s harder to find examples to follow when you’re doing things in a new way.

But did you know that nature provides tools that you may not yet be conscious of? For example, from the moment of birth, you and your baby can instinctively communicate with each other, even though it’ll be a year or more before she uses words.

A pioneering pediatric psychologist, the late Dr. Lee Salk (brother of Jonas, creator of the polio vaccine) urged parents to trust this kind of natural connection. As a new dad, I took comfort and confidence from Salk’s What Every Child Would Like His Parents to Know (Warner, 1973-now out-of-print).

In a refreshing departure for a parenting author, Salk argued that we shouldn’t worry so much about what the latest parenting book says. His book wisely encouraged me to trust my heart along with my baby’s sounds and body. If I “tuned in” to my deep fathering instincts, and the signals my infants “broadcast,” I’d have most of what I’d need to be a good father. As fathering expert Will Glennon says, “The key is to father from the heart.”