Can Lifestyle Changes Bring Out the Best in Genes?: Scientific A A new pilot study shows that eating right, exercising and reducing stress may help keep chronic diseases at bay by switching on beneficial genes, including tumor-fighters, and silencing those that trigger malignancies and other ills. "We found that simple changes have a powerful impact on gene expression," Dean Ornish, founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco (U.C.S.F.), said during a news conference. "People say, 'Oh, it's all in my genes, what can I do?' In addition to downing healthier fare, the men also walked or worked out at least 30 minutes six days a week; did an hour of daily stress-reducing yoga-type stretching, breathing and meditation; and participated in one-hour weekly group support sessions. The subjects had all opted to skip conventional surgical or radiation treatment in favor of a "watchful waiting" approach. "People say, 'Why bother?'
More Than Human: Bladerunner's Human/Replicant Debate: PopSubCul Blade Runner addresses issues arising from the differences between man and machine more than any other film. The root conflict in Blade Runner, as I see it is: What happens when machines created by man become superior to mankind? First, what does "superior" imply? today that can physically outperform human beings in particular tasks. Replicants are treated as beings without souls, inanimate, emphasis on anima translated from Latin as "the soul". Philip K. Much like a young child who throws a tantrum rather than face the reality of an unpleasant situation, Leon murders his tormentor, rather than confront the imagery that the scenario has evoked. Rachael, on the other hand, has had human memories artificially implanted. Deckard: "A wasp crawls on your leg..." Rachael: "I'd kill it." Rachael does not even require a moment's hesitation to respond. The question is, who exactly are the Replicants and who are the humans. Deckard: "A friend gives you a calf skin wallet for your birthday..."
Mindlift karma Karma is a word everyone knows, yet few in the West understand what it means. Westerners too often think it means "fate" or is some kind of cosmic justice system. This is not a Buddhist understanding of karma, however. Karma is a Sanskrit word that means "action." Sometimes Westerners use the word karma to mean the result of karma. Teachings on the laws of karma originated in Hinduism, but Buddhists understand karma somewhat differently from Hindus. The Liberating Potential of Karma Theravada Buddhist teacher Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains some of these differences in this illuminating essay on karma. Thus, in Buddhism, although the past has some influence on the present, the present also is shaped by the actions of the present. "...instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. What You Do Is What Happens to You No Judge, No Justice The Good, the Bad, and the Karma
Vipassana Meditation Website Row Three » Blog Archive » Brave New Worldview – 30 Science Fict A decade into the 21st Century and we have arrived at the future. The promise of Tomorrow. But instead we have looming energy crises, endless middle east conflict and more disappointing, we have no flying cars, Heck, for all the bright and clean future promised in 2001: A Space Odyssey, none of the real companies used as brands in the film even exist anymore. Even moving from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s, nobody makes DeLoreans (although they occasionally sell on Ebay), but cloning and tablet computing (as promised by Star Trek: The Next Generation) have more or less come to pass in this century. It is not the gizmos or the distopian aesthetics, that have brought Science Fiction into the new millennium, but the questions it asks of people or society in a future time or place and how they reflect on our own times. Below are over two dozen science fiction pictures that are worth your time. Code 46 Welcome to a world with borders, very difficult to permeate borders. The Fountain Mr.
Letting Go of Attachment, from A to Zen | zen habits “Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Lori Deschene of Tiny Buddha. If there’s one thing we all have in common it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid hurting. We pin our happiness to people, circumstances, and things and hold onto them for dear life. We attach to feelings as if they define us, and ironically, not just positive ones. In trying to hold on to what’s familiar, we limit our ability to experience joy in the present. When you stop trying to grasp, own, and control the world around you, you give it the freedom to fulfill you without the power to destroy you. It’s no simple undertaking to let go of attachment—not a one-time decision, like pulling off a band-aid. The best approach is to start simple, at the beginning, and work your way to Zen. Experiencing Without Attachment Call yourself out.
intro to buddhism An Introduction to Buddhism To do no evil; To cultivate good; To purify one's mind: This is the teaching of the Buddhas. --The Dhammapada The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC. On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one. The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Impermanent are all created things; Strive on with awareness.
George Orwell: Why I Write From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer. Between the ages of about seventeen and twenty-four I tried to abandon this idea, but I did so with the consciousness that I was outraging my true nature and that sooner or later I should have to settle down and write books. I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I barely saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely, and I soon developed disagreeable mannerisms which made me unpopular throughout my schooldays. I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued. However, throughout this time I did in a sense engage in literary activities. So hee with difficulty and labour hard Moved on: with difficulty and labour hee. It is not easy.
Essentials of Buddhism - core concepts lojong Lojong (Tib. བློ་སྦྱོང་,Wylie: blo sbyong) is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of aphorisms formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. The practice involves refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. The fifty-nine or so slogans that form the root text of the mind training practice are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering. They contain both methods to expand one's viewpoint towards absolute bodhicitta, such as "Find the consciousness you had before you were born" and "Treat everything you perceive as a dream", and methods for relating to the world in a more constructive way with relative bodhicitta, such as "Be grateful to everyone" and "When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up." History of the practice[edit] Atiśa journeyed to Sumatra and studied with Dharmarakṣita for twelve years. Geshe Chekhawa is claimed to have cured leprosy with mind training. 1. 2.
Shane Claiborne - Letter to Non-Believers by Shane Claibourne - To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. The other night I headed into downtown Philly for a stroll with some friends from out of town. Some folks snickered. The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, "I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ." Now for the good news. I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong — and that God really is love. Your brother, Shane
free buddhist audio Table of Contents This table of contents contains most of the documents on Fire and Ice. There are separate listings for historical and biographical materials, and for poetry. This icon indicates a thumbnail biographical sketch. "Reader, remember this: if thy knowledge do not now affect thy heart, it will at last, with a witness, afflict thy heart; if it do not now endear Christ to thee, it will at last provoke Christ the more against thee; if it do not make all the things of Christ to be very precious in thy eyes, it will at last make thee the more vile in Christ's eyes." Alphabetical Listing by Author Anonymous A Pastor's Secret Heart An article from the Banner of Truth, about the reality of the Reformed pastorate. Thomas Adams Semper Idem: or, The Immutable Mercy of Jesus Christ by Thomas Adams. Richard Baxter Directions for a Peaceful Death Some observers of our modern culture say that we are loosing our vocabulary for speaking about death and grief. Directions for Hating Sin by Richard Baxter. John Calvin