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EXTRACTS OF BHAGAVAN'S PROSA TEXT OF 'WHO AM I?'
Every living being longs to be perpetually happy, without any misery. Since in everyone the highest love is alone felt for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause of love, in order to attain that happiness, which is one's real nature and which is experienced daily in the mindless state of deep sleep, it is necessary to know oneself. To achieve that, enquiry in the form 'Who am I?' is the foremost means.
Question: Who am I?
'Who am I?' The physical body, composed of the seven dhatus, is not 'I'. The five sense organs… and the five types of perception known through the senses… are not 'I'. The five parts of the body which act… and their functions… are not 'I'. The five vital airs such as prana, which perform the five vital functions such as respiration, are not 'I'. Even the mind that thinks is not 'I'. In the state of deep sleep vishaya vasanas remain. Devoid of sensory knowledge and activity, even this [state] is not 'I'. After negating all of the above as 'not I, not I', the knowledge that alone remains is itself 'I'. The nature of knowledge is sat-chit-ananda [being-consciousness-bliss].
If the mind, which is the cause of all knowledge and all actions, subsides, the perception of the world will cease. [If one perceives a rope, imagining it to be a snake] perception of the rope, which is the substratum, will not occur unless the perception of the snake, which has been superimposed on it, goes. Similarly, the perception of one's real nature, the substratum, will not be obtained unless the perception of the world, which is a superimposition, ceases.
That which arises in the physical body as 'I' is the mind. If one enquires, 'In what place in the body does this ''I'' first arise?' it will be known to be in the hridayam. That is the birthplace of the mind. Even if one incessantly thinks 'I, I', it will lead to that place. Of all thoughts that arise in the mind, the thought 'I' is the first one. It is only after the rise of this [thought] that other thoughts arise. It is only after the first personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons cannot exist.
( Hridayam is usually translated as 'Heart', but it has no connection with the physical heart. Bhagavan used it as a synonym for the Self, pointing out on several occasions that it could be split up into two parts, hrit and ayam, which together mean, 'this is the centre'. )
Question: How will the mind become quiescent?
The mind will only subside by means of the enquiry 'Who am I?' The thought 'Who am I?', destroying all other thoughts, will itself be finally destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre.
Question: What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought 'Who am I?' And what is jnana drishti?
If other thoughts arise, one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire, 'To whom did they occur?' What does it matter if ever so many thoughts arise? At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires 'To whom did this appear?' it will be known 'To me'. If one then enquires 'Who am I?' the mind will turn back to its source and the thought that had arisen will also subside. By repeatedly practising in this way, the mind will increasingly acquire the power to abide at its source. When the mind, which is subtle, is externalised via the brain and the sense organs, names and forms, which are material, appear. When it abides in the Heart, names and forms disappear. Keeping the mind in the Heart, not allowing it to go out, is called 'facing the Self' or 'facing inwards'. Allowing it to go out from the Heart is termed 'facing outwards' When the mind abides in the Heart in this way, the 'I', the root of all thoughts, [vanishes]. Having vanished, the ever-existing Self alone will shine. The state where not even the slightest trace of the thought 'I' remains is alone swarupa [one's real nature]. This alone is called mauna [silence]. Being still in this way can alone be called jnana drishti [seeing through true knowledge]. Making the mind subside into the Self is 'being still'. On the other hand, knowing the thoughts of others, knowing the three times [past present and future] and knowing events in distant places - these can never be jnana drishti.
IS A MASTER NECESSARY FOR REALISATION
"Is a Master necessary for realisation?" Mrs. Piggot asked first.
M.: The realisation is the result of the Master's grace more than teachings, lectures, meditation, etc. They are only secondary aids, whereas the former is the primary and the essential cause.
Devotee: What are the obstacles which hinder realisation of the Self?
M.: They are habits of mind (vasanas).
D.: How to overcome the mental habits (vasanas)?
M.: By realising the Self.
D.: That is a vicious circle.
M.: It is the ego which raises such difficulties, creating obstacles and then suffers from the perplexity of apparent paradoxes. Find out who makes the enquiries and the Self will be found.
D.: What are the aids for realisation?
M.: The teachings of the Scriptures and of realised souls
Talks 13 6 Jan 1935
Vladimir Putin: Russia Must Protect Its Citizens from GMOs
Russia must protect its citizens from the use of foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and this can be done in compliance with the country’s obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Thursday.
Brian May is born to be wild
By Tim Hughes, Music Editor. Please contact me on 01865 425494 and follow me on Twitter: @OxMailTimHughes
Sweet music: Kerry Ellis and Brian May
Source: ria.ru/economy/20140327/1001323024.html
“We need to properly construct our work so that it is not contrary to our obligations under the WTO. But even with this in mind, we nevertheless have legitimate methods and instruments to protect our own market, and above all citizens,” said Putin at a meeting with members of the Board of the Russian Federation Council.
He stressed that the market and citizens should be protected from substandard products, the use of which are eaten until people calculate the consequences.
“We can do it, should do it and will do it. It is not so long ago that this was discussed at the meeting of the Security Council. We must act carefully to avoid prejudice to our obligations under the WTO, but it can be done,” echoed the President , noting that scientific and laboratory research should not be forgotten. Meanwhile, Putin went on, that control is needed of the use of GMOs and ”we can’t even 100% say how much goes into our market currently .”
“This is what we will do with the public, with experts , with senators , we will move in the direction of protecting our citizens,” the President of the Russian Federation said.
During the meeting, one of the senators noted that to date sales of GM seeds worldwide has totalled about $ 50 billion. “And the main owner of the rights to GMOs – the United States,” – he said. The Senator asked the president to take control of this problem, recalling that there was a bill to ban the import of GMOs.
Russia Warns Obama: Monsanto
Posted: May 28th, 2013 ˑ Filled under: Opinion ˑ 129 Comments and 0 Reactions
Tim Hughes talks to Queen’s Brian May about his passion for protecting animals and his upcoming Oxford show rian May is having a busy morning. As if he was not occupied enough putting the finishing touches to what is surely his most intimate tour, he has found himself back in the headlines over an issue close to his heart: badgers.
A passionate advocate of animal welfare, the Queen guitarist has become the figurehead for a national campaign to overturn a Government-backed cull which would see thousands of the animals slaughtered in an attempt to control bovine tuberculosis.
“I’m talking myself to death,” he says, gently. “But it’s good to make contact with people. And this long hard battle’s not over.”
The star led a procession through London earlier this month, to oppose the culls and the setting up of pilot killing zones, one of which is in Gloucestershire. He also presented a petition to Downing Street, calling on the Prime Minister to halt the cull.
“There’s no science involved whatsoever,” he says, with feeling. “The only thing they will find out is how loudly badgers scream when killed. This is all about ways humans can cull thousands of badgers. It’s awful. We have a Government which is not listening and they have to listen to us. “They and the NFU want to do their dirty work and hope that we all look away. But there will still be bovine TB.”
We are supposed to be talking music; specifically his low-key tour in support of another threatened animal – the lion. The concerts, which see Brian team up with West End star Kerry Ellis, are in aid of the Born Free Foundation and follow a similar outing last year and a bigger Anthems tour with Ellis in 2010.
But while the Anthems tour was a spectacle, culminating in two sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall, this one is low-key, starting, in suitably cosy style, with a warm-up show at St John the Evangelist Church, Oxford, on Monday.
“I love these concerts,” he says. “They are full of smiles and make me happy. It is acoustic and by candle-light.
“We sing songs, tell stories and get through a lot of candles.”
Kerry, 33, is best-known for playing the lead of Fantine in Les Misérables, and for roles in Oliver!, Wicked and My Fair Lady. She met Brian when he invited her to audition for a part in his Queen musical We Will Rock You. They have performed together ever since.
The shows will see the pair perform stripped-down Queen classics and other favourites. Brian admits he can’t wait to start. “Come and see a concert the way it used to be,” he says. ”It’s truly live, which most things today aren’t.”
So where did the idea come from? “Out of Africa!” he laughs.
The pair were invited to the Born Free Foundation in South Africa, by its founder, the actress Virginia McKenna who made her name playing naturalist Joy Adamson in the Born Free film. Both were captivated by the big cats they saw roaming the Shamwari game reserve. Moved to help, they hit upon the idea of an acoustic tour.
“We ended up doing sporadic songs in the jungle — it was amazing!” he says. “We thought ‘wouldn’t it be great to bring this to the UK to build awareness of these wonderful animals on the verge of extinction?
“We are there to have a good time, but if it jogs thoughts, that’s a good thing.”
It’s certainly a step down after the enormous shows he played with Queen, not to mention his famous National Anthem guitar solo on the roof of Buckingham Palace, for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and last year’s Olympic closing ceremony. “The Olympics were huge and challenging and I had to face my fear doing that,” he says. “But I can do big any time.”
And he says he still gets a thrill playing his favourite Queen tunes. So what can we look forward to? “I can’t tell you that!” he laughs. “It changes, but there are a few favourites like A Crazy Little Thing called Love, which people like to sing along to; We Will Rock You; and We are the Champions. They are lovely songs and lend themselves to just guitar and vocals, with no clutter.”
The shows also give Brian and Kerry the chance to play their Kissing Me song — Brian’s first new single for over a decade. He says: “I wrote Kissing Me for the last leg of the tour and it went down well. It’s nice to have a hook to hang your hat on.”
Though, he says, releasing a single after such a gap revealed some dramatic changes in the music industry. He says: “I don’t understand it any more. In the old days you made a record you could hold, smell and look at. Now it’s all about downloads and everyone wants it for free. How any artists make money I don’t know. “I don’t need to make money. I just want to make great music and see things happen. But for Kerry it’s a shame.”
It is 22 years since Freddie Mercury died aged just 45, but Brian says the charismatic frontman is rarely out of his thoughts.
“He’s a big part of my life,” he says. “Hardly a day goes by without me thinking about him. I went through grief and not wanting to talk about him or Queen. Now I’ve got over it and am full of joy at what we created and proud of what Queen is. I don’t know what that is... but I’m proud!
“We had a great time and I’m happy he was part of my life; I am really grateful.”
And if he could tell him anything, what would it be? “That’s a good question,” he says pausing deeply. “I’d talk about how life has changed since he was here.
“I don’t mean to sound mystical, but he’s very often in my dreams. We almost have a dialogue. I don’t feel he has really gone as he’s still so much a part of what we do — the same as he always was.
“Roger [Taylor] and I are always thinking ‘what would Freddie say now?
And what is he most proud of? “I hope that when I die I’ll be remembered for the way I used my life,” he says. “I hope my music, science and animal welfare work have helped to make the world a decent and more compassionate place.”
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/music/10483756.Brian_May_is_born_to_be_wild/
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Gigwise readers have named Queen starFreddie Mercury the best frontman of all time, as we put together the greatest band ever, as chosen by readers.
Mercury topped our poll with a clear lead over nearest rival, Brandon Flowers of The Killers. David Bowie placed third, while Morrissey and Bruce Springsteen placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercury died in 1991, and in the years since, a number of stars have stepped into Mercury's shoes to front Queen, including Paul Rodgers and American Idol star, Adam Lambert.
In the coming weeks, Gigwise readers will be selecting the rest of the ultimate band, picking guitarist, bassist and drummer to complete the fantasy line-up.
Radiohead's Thom Yorke proved unpopular with Gigwise readers, being voted the least popular by readers, with Ian Brown of The Stone Roses, Beady Eye's Liam Gallagher, Queens Of The Stone Age star Josh Homme and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker.
http://www.gigwise.com/news/82101/gigwise-readers-name-freddie-mercury-the-best-frontman-ever
The shocking minutes relating to President Putin’s meeting this past week with US Secretary of State John Kerry reveal the Russian leaders “extreme outrage” over the Obama regimes continued protection of global seed and plant bio-genetic giants Syngenta and Monsanto in the face of a growing “bee apocalypse” that the Kremlin warns “will most certainly” lead to world war.
According to these minutes, released in the Kremlin today by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (MNRE), Putin was so incensed over the Obama regimes refusal to discuss this grave matter that he refused for three hours to even meet with Kerry, who had traveled to Moscow on a scheduled diplomatic mission, but then relented so as to not cause an even greater rift between these two nations.
At the center of this dispute between Russia and the US, this MNRE report says, is the “undisputed evidence” that a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine, known as neonicotinoids, are destroying our planets bee population, and which if left unchecked could destroy our world’s ability to grow enough food to feed its population.
So grave has this situation become, the MNRE reports, the full European Commission (EC) this past week instituted a two-year precautionary ban (set to begin on 1 December 2013) on these“bee killing” pesticides following the lead of Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine, all of whom had previously banned these most dangerous of genetically altered organisms from being used on the continent.
Two of the most feared neonicotinoids being banned are Actara and Cruiser made by the Swiss global bio-tech seed and pesticide giant Syngenta AG which employs over 26,000 people in over 90 countries and ranks third in total global sales in the commercial agricultural seeds market.
Important to note, this report says, is that Syngenta, along with bio-tech giants Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and DuPont, now control nearly 100% of the global market for genetically modified pesticides, plants and seeds.
Also to note about Syngenta, this report continues, is that in 2012 it was criminally charged in Germany for concealing the fact that its genetically modified corn killed cattle, and settled a class-action lawsuit in the US for $105 million after it was discovered they had contaminated the drinking supply of some 52 million Americans in more than 2,000 water districts with its “gender-bending” herbicide Atrazine.
To how staggeringly frightful this situation is, the MNRE says, can be seen in the report issued this past March by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) wherein they warned our whole planet is in danger, and as we can, in part, read:
“As part of a study on impacts from the world’s most widely used class of insecticides, nicotine-like chemicals called neonicotinoids, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has called for a ban on their use as seed treatments and for the suspension of all applications pending an independent review of the products’ effects on birds, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.
“It is clear that these chemicals have the potential to affect entire food chains. The environmental persistence of the neonicotinoids, their propensity for runoff and for groundwater infiltration, and their cumulative and largely irreversible mode of action in invertebrates raise significant environmental concerns,” said Cynthia Palmer, co-author of the report and Pesticides Program Manager for ABC, one of the nation’s leading bird conservation organizations.
ABC commissioned world renowned environmental toxicologist Dr. Pierre Mineau to conduct the research. The 100-page report, “The Impact of the Nation’s Most Widely Used Insecticides on Birds,” reviews 200 studies on neonicotinoids including industry research obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act. The report evaluates the toxicological risk to birds and aquatic systems and includes extensive comparisons with the older pesticides that the neonicotinoids have replaced. The assessment concludes that the neonicotinoids are lethal to birds and to the aquatic systems on which they depend.
“A single corn kernel coated with a neonicotinoid can kill a songbird,” Palmer said. “Even a tiny grain of wheat or canola treated with the oldest neonicotinoid — called imidacloprid — can fatally poison a bird. And as little as 1/10th of a neonicotinoid-coated corn seed per day during egg-laying season is all that is needed to affect reproduction.”
The new report concludes that neonicotinoid contamination levels in both surface- and ground water in the United States and around the world are already beyond the threshold found to kill many aquatic invertebrates.”
Quickly following this damning report, the MRNE says, a large group of group of American beekeepers and environmentalists sued the Obama regime over the continued use of these neonicotinoids stating: “We are taking the EPA to court for its failure to protect bees from pesticides. Despite our best efforts to warn the agency about the problems posed by neonicotinoids, the EPA continued to ignore the clear warning signs of an agricultural system in trouble.”
And to how bad the world’s agricultural system has really become due to these genetically modified plants, pesticides and seeds, this report continues, can be seen by the EC’s proposal this past week, following their ban on neonicotinoids, in which they plan to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with the European Union, and as we can, in part, read:
“Europe is rushing towards the good ol days circa 1939, 40… A new law proposed by the European Commission would make it illegal to “grow, reproduce or trade” any vegetable seeds that have not been “tested, approved and accepted” by a new EU bureaucracy named the “EU Plant Variety Agency.”
It’s called the Plant Reproductive Material Law, and it attempts to put the government in charge of virtually all plants and seeds. Home gardeners who grow their own plants from non-regulated seeds would be considered criminals under this law.”
This MRNE report points out that even though this EC action may appear draconian, it is nevertheless necessary in order to purge the continent from continued contamination of these genetically bred “seed monstrosities.”
Most perplexing in all of this, the MRNE says, and which led to Putin’s anger at the US, has been the Obama regimes efforts to protect pesticide-producer profits over the catastrophic damaging being done to the environment, and as the Guardian News Service detailed in their 2 May article titled “US rejects EU claim of insecticide as prime reason for bee colony collapse” and which, in part, says:
To the “truer” reason for the Obama regimes protection of these bio-tech giants destroying our world, the MRNE says, can be viewed in the report titled “How did Barack Obama become Monsanto’s man in Washington?” and which, in part, says:
“After his victory in the 2008 election, Obama filled key posts with Monsanto people, in federal agencies that wield tremendous force in food issues, the USDA and the FDA: At the USDA, as the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, former director of the Monsanto Danforth Center. As deputy commissioner of the FDA, the new food-safety-issues czar, the infamous Michael Taylor, former vice-president for public policy for Monsanto. Taylor had been instrumental in getting approval for Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone.”
Even worse, after Russia suspended the import and use of an Monsanto genetically modified cornfollowing a study suggesting a link to breast cancer and organ damage this past September, theRussia Today News Service reported on the Obama regimes response:
“The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week – including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks.
The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the “Monsanto Protection Act,” as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns.
The provision, also decried as a “biotech rider,” should have gone through the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees for review. Instead, no hearings were held, and the piece was evidently unknown to most Democrats (who hold the majority in the Senate) prior to its approval as part of HR 993, the short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown.”
On 26 March, Obama quietly signed this “Monsanto Protection Act” into law thus ensuring the American people have no recourse against this bio-tech giant as they fall ill by the tens of millions, and many millions will surely end up dying in what this MRNE report calls the greatest agricultural apocalypse in human history as over 90% of feral (wild) bee population in the US has already died out, and up to 80% of domestic bees have died out too.