Miracle - Bhagavan Sri Shirdi Sai Baba appearance in Bhagavan Sri Ramadu...

Miracle ! Miracle of God ! Look at the Supremacy Of Indian Spirituality- Bhagavan Sri Shirdi Sai Baba appeared in homams performed by Bhagavan Sri Ramadutha Swamy Asramam

Sparrow

1. Sparrow deftly catches the winged intruder trying to steal his lunch.

 2. 3. Urs Shmidli – a real “sparrow chronicler.”

 4.5. His photographs are devoted to the wheel, our constant companions of life, affecting his skill and observation.

 6. 7. Many of his works were published in The Sun, The Telegraph, Dailymail, Morrisonworld and other prominent publications.

 8. 9. Before start taking pictures, he spent much time in his garden, which was chosen by birds.

 10. 11. When the photographer become acquainted with the habits of sparrows, the process of photography become more predictable.

12.

 13. The secret of successful photos is high quality, wide aperture lens, natural light, shutter speed and a good knowledge of the habits of subjects.

 14. 15. After framing sparrow fights and other explanation of the relationship, here is a very touching scene of feeding.

 16. 17. 

-- 

Let’s get a look at some of the most dazzling but poisonous ‘meat-eater’ plant species.

1. Venus Flytrap

Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant’s leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces.

When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value.

Dionaea is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant and sundews, all of which belong to the family Droseraceae.

The Venus Flytrap is a small plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year;longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering.

Flytraps that have more than 7 leaves are colonies formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground.The trapping mechanism is so specialized that it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli such as falling raindrops; two trigger hairs must be touched in succession within 20 seconds of each other or one hair touched twice in rapid succession, whereupon the lobes of the trap will snap shut in about 0.1 seconds.

2. Drosera

Drosera

Drosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprises one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which they grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, can be found growing natively on every continent except Antarctica.

3. Aldrovanda

Aldrovanda

Aldrovanda is a free-floating and rootless aquatic plant. This plant is closely related to the Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula, and shares many of its attributes–it functions as a snap-trap carnivore, just under water! A common name for it is the waterwheel plant because a single whorl of leaves, cut from a stem, is wheel-like, as you can see to the right! The genus name commemorates the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605). In fact, the name for the genus was originally “Aldrovandia”, but Linnaeus misspelled this, and we use the incorrect spelling even today.

Each leaf in a whorl terminates in a little clam-like trap. Exactly how the trap captures prey is a little complicated. Just like the traps of a Venus flytrap, the trap lobes of Aldrovanda contain trigger hairs. When stimulated, these cause the traps to close. SNAP! The closure takes about 1/4 to 1/2 second, which is impressive when you reflect upon the fact that the trap lobes must push water as they close. If no prey is captured, the trap reopens in ten to twenty hours.

The strange snapping behavior of the plant was observed by De Sassus as early as 1861, but it was not until Darwin’s careful work was there proof it was probably carnivorous. We now know that indeed, the traps produce phosphate-digesting enzymes, and that traps fed with radioisotope-labeled Daphnia absorb the prey.

4. Pinguicula

Pinguicula

Pinguicula, commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants that use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environments. Of the roughly 80 currently known species, 12 are native to Europe, 9 to North America, and some in northern Asia.

The largest number of species is in South and Central America. Butterworts can be divided roughly into two main groups based on the climate in which they grow; each group is the further subdivided based on morphological characteristics. Although these groups are not cladistically supported by genetic studies, these groupings are nonetheless convenient for horticultural purposes.

Tropical butterworts either from somewhat compact winter rosettes composed of fleshy leaves or retain carnivorous leaves year-round. Temperate species often form tight buds composed of scale-like leaves during a winter dormancy period. During this time the roots and carnivorous leaves wither.Temperate species flower when they form their summer rosettes while tropical species flower at each rosette change.

5. Sarracenia

Sarracenia

Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.

Sarracenia is a genus of carnivorous plants indigenous to the eastern seaboard, Texas, the Great Lakes area and southeastern Canada, with most species occurring only in the south-east United States. The plant’s leaves have evolved into a funnel in order to trap insects, digesting their prey with protease and other enzymes.

The insects are attracted by a nectar-like secretion on the lip of pitchers, as well as a combination of color and scent. Slippery footing at the pitchers’ rim, aided in at least one species by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside, where they die and are digested by the plant as a nutrient source.

All Sarracenia trap insects and other prey without the use of moving parts. Their traps are static and are based on a combination of lures and inescapability – typically the entrances to the traps are one-way by virtue of the highly adapted features listed above.

Most species use a combination of scent, drugged nectar, waxy deposits and gravity to topple insect prey into their pitcher. Coniine, an alkaloid drug narcotic to insects, has been discovered in the nectar-like secretions of at least S. flava. Once inside, the insect finds the footing very slippery with a waxy surface covering the walls of the pitcher.

Further down the tube, downward-pointing hairs make retreat impossible, and in the lowest region of the tube, a pool of liquid containing digestive enzymes and wetting agents quickly drowns the prey and begins digestion. The exoskeletons are usually not digested, and over the course of the summer fill up the pitcher tube.

6. Utricularia

Urticularia

Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species. They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica. Utricularia are cultivated for their flowers, which are often compared with those of snapdragons and orchids, and among carnivorous plant enthusiasts.

The main part of a bladderwort plant always lies beneath the surface of its substrate. Terrestrial species sometimes produce a few photosynthetic leaf-shoots which lie unobtrusively flat against the surface of their soil, but in all species only the flowering stems rise above and are prominent. This means that the terrestrial species are generally visible only while they are in flower, although aquatic species can be observed below the surfaces of ponds and streams.

All Utricularia are carnivorous and capture small organisms by means of bladder-like traps. Terrestrial species tend to have tiny traps that feed on minute prey such as protozoa and rotifers swimming in water-saturated soil. The traps can range in size from 0.2 mm to 1.2 cm. Aquatic species, such as U. vulgaris , possess bladders that are usually larger and can feed on more substantial prey such as water fleas (Daphnia), nematodes and even fish fry, mosquito larvae and young tadpoles.

Despite their small size, the traps are extremely sophisticated. In the active traps of the aquatic species, prey brush against trigger hairs connected to the trapdoor. The bladder, when “set”, is under negative pressure in relation to its environment so that when the trapdoor is mechanically triggered, the prey, along with the water surrounding it, is swept into the bladder.

Once the bladder is full of water, the door closes again, the whole process taking only ten to fifteen thousandths of a second.Bladderworts are unusual and highly specialized plants, and the vegetative organs are not clearly separated into roots, leaves, and stems as in most other angiosperms. The bladder traps, conversely, are recognized as one of the most sophisticated structures in the plant kingdom.

7. Byblis

Byblis

The members of this genus look very much like lanky species of Drosera. However, their flowers are zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetric), which is a little different from the actinomorphic (radially symmetric) flowers of Drosera. This is not very obvious on some species, but look at the flower photograph on this page. Do you see how the anthers are bunched together a bit below the middle of the flower?

A name purportedly used for it is rainbow plant, although I have only ever heard one person use this name in conversation. It is completely goofy in my opinion, as it is supposed to note the way the gland droplets, if viewed at the correct angle with respect to the illumination source, refract light into spectral colors. This simple optical effect can be seen in Drosera, Drosophyllum, Pinguicula, grassy lawns, and freshly moistened pavement. I do not refer to such observations as “rainbow pavement”, nor will I refer to these plants by such a name.

As names go, I much prefer the simpler Byblis. It brings forth the memory of the spicy hot granddaughter (or niece, depending on the telling) of the Roman god Apollo. Byblis was most-bodacious, and made Carmen Electra look positively dull. But she made the nasty mistake of developing amorous feelings for her twin brother, Caunus. Even though this kind of thing was not completely forbidden for gods and their kin, her brother (presumably studly, although perhaps only in a quasi-effete, Justin Timberlake kind of way) spurned her. So she cried and cried and cried. And then, She was turned into a fountain.

Byblis plants are covered with sticky hairs. Prey that land on Byblis get snagged in the slime and die in the plant’s embrace. The plant does not exhibit any kind of prey-related motion; bugs just land on the plant and become stuck. Some, but not all, of the species in Byblis have been tested for digestive enzymes, and the results are in a state of mild discord.

Byblis gigantea and B. filifolia have enzymes, but Byblis liniflora does not demonstrate enzymatic activity, at least not when examined by the classic film-emulsion test. However, sensitive fluorescence tests have detected phosphatase in Byblis liniflora. In all cases so far, the enzymes are exuded by inconspicuous sessile glands.

8. Heliamphora

Heliamphora

Heliamphora is a beautiful genus of pitcher plants from the Guiana Highlands of South America. There, the Heliamphora grow on (or near) mountains, many of which are called tepuis. Temperatures on the tepui summits range between 8-20°C (46-68°F), with cold but generally frostless nights. Rain is nearly constant, with 200-400 cm (80-160 inches) annually.

These chilly rains wash loose material off the tepui-tops, so soil accumulation is rare. Because these tepuis are so geographically fragmented, evolution travels different trajectories on each mountain, and each tepui may have its own composition of unique species–33% of the tepui species occur nowhere else in the world!

It is common for people to think of Heliamphora as a genus of “primitive” pitcher plants, but I think this is an unfair characterization based on four unfair tenets. First, Heliamphora pitchers do not have the large lids typical in other pitcher plants. This doesn’t impress me, because the pitchers of Heliamphora instead have a complicated little structure called a nectar roll (or nectar spoon) that varies from species to species.

Second, Heliamphora pitchers apparently do not produce digestive enzymes. Well, neither does Darlingtonia californica but no one calls that plant primitive! Also, there is some evidence that Heliamphora tatei does produce its own enzymes. Third, for a long time photographs of Heliamphora plants in the wild and in cultivation tended to show specimens that were all green, and not very attractively pigmented.

This made them look boring. Newer photography of plants in the wild show plants of spectacular pigmentation patterns. Finally, and very silly, people have long associated tepuis with stories of “lost worlds”, frozen in time and populated with dinosaurs. Heliamphora must therefore be a primitive genus.

Heliamphora species forage using the basic pitfall strategy. Insects are attracted to the pitchers by their colorful pigmentation and, in some cases, honeylike scent. In particular, flying meals approach the nectar spoon at the top of the pitcher tube, attracted by the generously productive nectar glands there. As they feed, they court death on the treacherous surface.

Some lose the game. The inside of the pitcher is adorned with downward pointing hairs (the exact nature and distribution of these hairs varies with the species), and these hairs increase the efficiency of the pitcher’s hunting skills. The bottom of the pitcher is filled with fluid, where the prey drowns.

Digestion occurs by bacterial action, although digestive enzymes may be produced by at least Heliamphora tatei.Heliamphora pitchers have marvelous adaptations to avoid being overfilled by the excessive rainfall on the tepui-tops. The pitchers have a small pore or slit (depending upon the species) which acts as an overflow spout. No other pitcher plant genus has this feature. Heliamphora species are primitive?

There is some conflict in the reports of the frequency of prey capture. Some field researchers report almost no prey in the pitchers, while others observe plenty of captured prey. I can offer no reconciliation of these diverging reports!
The flowers of Heliamphora are surprisingly monocot-like in appearance, and have four to six tepals.

There is a lot of controversy regarding the number of species in the genus, and the ranks for the various species. Should such-and-such be a separate species, or only a variety, etc? There are, I think, three issues here which are causing problems. First, the tepuis have simply not been sufficiently explored.

They are hard to get to, hard to traverse, and permits to conduct research are practically impossible to obtain. So we have a hugely inadequate understanding of the plants that occur on the tepuis. Second, simultaneously occurring processes of hybridization and speciation on fragmented tepuis have greated an ensemble of Heliamphora populations that confound classification into distinct botanical taxa. Third, different scientists have different definitions and perspectives as to what constitutes separate species.

9. Cephalotus

Cephalotus

Cephalotus follicularis is an absolutely fabulous looking plant from southwest Australia. A pot of these bizarre little things look so grotesquely bizarre, you expect their lids to start flapping at you any second as they start singing a happy little puppet song or demand a blood sacrifice immediately (depending upon which kind of movie your life is).

Really, this rosetted plant is remarkable. Not very large—the biggest, grandest clumps of pitchers are only about 60 cm in diameter), the rosettes consist of two types of leaves. One kind is flat, a few to several cm long, and somewhat tonguelike. The other kind is dramatically transmogrified into a complex pitcher shape of similar size to the foliage leaves. (Very occasionally, mutant intermediate leaves are produced.)
The pitchers are marvels of adaptation. Flanged wings on the pitchers might function as insect highways, drawing prey up to the pitcher mouth. A lid with windows allows in light, but prevents the pitcher from overfilling with rain. It probably also helps retain prey (although, like all other lidded pitcher plants, there is no opening or closing activity associated with trapping). A peristome around the mouth is festooned with glands. Prey that fall into the pitcher find escape impossible because of the microscopic downward-pointing projections on the slippery pitcher walls, and a nasty overhanging ceiling they cannot navigate around. Each pitcher is filled with fluid, exuded by comparatively large (0.2 mm diameter) domelike glands. There is some opinion that this plant specializes in trapping ants, although field researchers often report a variety of captured prey.

Once inside, insects must contend with the dread gland patch. Ahh, the gland patch. This elongated patch near the bottom of each Picher is covered with tiny (0.02 mm diameter) glands that secrete digestive enzymes.

The common name, Albany pitcher plant, merely indicates that this plant is found near the Australian town of Albany. The Latin name translates, strangely enough, to “the sack-bearing, headed one”. Although this sounds like some horrible kind of schoolyard insult that got messed up on the delivery, it actually is a convoluted set of botanical references. The “sack” refers to the pitchers, while the “headed” refers to the shape of the flower’s anthers. Hmmm, a pretty damn strange of a strange choice of epithets, in my opinion.

The entire plant is covered with so many little bristles it has been called a “vegetable hedgehog.” This is the kind of historical oddity in which I delight.

10. Nepenthes

Nepenthes

The Nepenthes , popularly known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises roughly 140 species, numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly Liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (2 species) and the Seychelles (1); southward to Australia (3) and New Caledonia (1); and northward to India (1) and Sri Lanka (1).

The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo and Sumatra with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot humid lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine with cool days and nights near freezing. The name monkey cups refer to the fact those monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from these plants.

Nepenthes species usually consist of a shallow root system and a prostrate or climbing stem, often several meters long and up to 15 m (49 ft) or more, and usually 1 cm (0.4 in) or less in diameter, although this may be thicker in a few species which in some species aid in climbing, protrudes from the tip of the leaf; at the end of the tendril the pitcher forms. The pitcher starts as a small bud and gradually expands to form a globe- or tube-shaped trap.

The trap contains a fluid of the plant’s own production, which may be watery or syrupy and is used to drown the prey. Research has shown that this fluid contains viscoelastic bio-polymers that may be crucial to the retention of insects within the traps of many species. The trapping efficiency of this fluid remains high, even when significantly diluted by water, as inevitably happens in wet conditions.

The lower part of the trap contains glands which absorb nutrients from captured prey. Along the upper inside part of the trap is a slick waxy coating which makes the escape of its prey nearly impossible. Surrounding the entrance to the trap is a structure called the peristome which is slippery and often quite colorful, attracting prey but offering an unsure footing. Above the peristome is a lid in many species this keeps rain from diluting the fluid within the pitcher, the underside of which may contain nectar glands which attract prey.

Nepenthe usually produce two types of pitchers, known as leaf dimorphism. Appearing near the base of the plant are the large lower traps, which typically sit on the ground. The upper or aerial pitchers are usually smaller, differently-coloured, and possess different features from the lower pitchers. These upper pitchers usually form as the plant reaches maturity and the plant grows taller.

To keep the plant steady, the upper pitchers often form a loop in the tendril, allowing it to wrap around nearby support. In some species different prey may be attracted by the two types of pitchers. This varied morphology also often makes identification of species difficult.

Prey usually consists of insects, but the largest species may occasionally catch small vertebrates, such as rats and lizards. There are even records of cultivated plants trapping small birds. Flowers occur in racemes or more rarely in panicles with male and female flowers on separate plants.

They are insect pollinated, the primary agents being flies (including blow flies, midges, and mosquitoes), moths, wasps, and butterflies. Their smell can range from sweet to musty or fungus-like. Seed is produced in a four-sided capsule which may contain 50–500 wind-distributed seeds, consisting of a central embryo and two wings, one on either side.

The Proverbial White Flag

“When mother Yashoda and the other ladies finally saw that Krishna, although decorated with many bangles and other jeweled ornaments, could not be bound with all the ropes available in the house, they decided that Krishna was so fortunate that He could not be bound by any material condition. Thus they gave up the idea of binding Him. But in competition between Krishna and His devotee, Krishna sometimes agrees to be defeated.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.18 Purport) “Alright, I’ve had my fun. My dear mother is trying so hard, but everyone should know that I cannot be bound by any material condition. But my affection for her is so strong that I will allow her to carry out her motherly duties. Her sincerity is spotless; not a hint of sin in her. What a shame it would be if she could not succeed in this act?” Thus Lord Krishna, the origin of the creation, the person who is without a material form and full of spiritual attributes, allowed His beloved mother to complete her task, only after she had given up in frustration. Theishvara that is the living being can choose to act, but the results to action are never in their hands, even if they may think otherwise. “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.47) How does this work exactly? If I decide to get up in the morning, am I not responsible for the outcome of standing up? Is it not my effort that is responsible for the change in condition? Obviously one would think that the living being is the controller in these situations, but we know that the controller does not have absolute authority. For instance, what if we have some injury to our hands or legs? Will our decision to get up bear fruit? What if there is a heavy weight on top of us or other shackles placed on the body that prevent us from moving? The opposing argument is that the impediments are extenuating circumstances and not the norm, but for an authority to be absolute it must be able to do whatever it wants at any time. No excuses. As soon as there is an excuse, the authority is diminished. If you take the same principle and apply it to every single behavior of every single living being, you’ll see that no one person is the absolute controller. They have some say so in what the body does, but the end result is not in their hands. The material nature controls every living being, causing them to take shelter of the heat in the winter months and desperately look for cool conditions in the summer. The material elements are controlled by elevated living beings put in charge of them; sort of like how the stop lights that guide traffic are operated by the administrators of the highways and streets. Though the lights may operate off of a computer program, someone must initially write the routines and then monitor the execution of those programs. In the case of nature, elevated beings known as devas, or demigods, each have a responsibility with respect to a specific section of the gross collection of material elements. “O Arjuna, I control heat, the rain and the drought. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both being and nonbeing are in Me.”  (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.19) In the Bhagavad-gita, it is revealed that God, whose original form is the personality known as Krishna, controls the heat and the rain. His influence is not always direct, but nevertheless He is the origin. The owner of the company may direct a subordinate to make a statement to the workers. The messenger reveals the statement, but the owner is the controller. He is the origin of the message distributed to others. In a similar manner, Krishna’s deputies act on His behalf to maintain the system of fairness known as karma. There is little control over outcomes at the individual level; a fact very difficult to realize and remember. If one studies the Vedas from a bona fide spiritual master, especially one who takes the Bhagavad-gita as their life and soul, they will be daily reminded that the living being is not the doer, that they are seated as on a machine that is controlled by higher forces. “The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.”  (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.61) At the same time, it is said that anyone who thinks of Krishna at the time of death no longer has to suffer through birth and death. If we’re just seated on a machine, how can any single action we take bring a specific result? The results do follow action, but the responsibility for those results is not in the worker’s hands. For instance, dropping an object from the hand will cause it to fall, but the higher authorities instituted this law. Therefore they are responsible for distributing the result, not the person who dropped the object. In the case of thinking of Krishna at the time of death, the result of the pardon from the cycle of birth and death is granted by the Lord, the object of service. The purpose to action thus becomes quite evident. You have obligations to fulfill, but do them for the satisfaction of the origin of action and reaction. Follow behavior that will please Him, and He will reciprocate by making sure that the results of your actions are what they should be. How do we find out what Krishna would like us to do? One person is praying for a field goal kicker to miss a game winning kick in a football game, while another person is praying for the same kicker to make it. How do we know which side God favors? Fruitive activity is not within the realm of bhakti, or divine love. The Supreme Lord Krishna has many times stated that He particularly favors those who wish to connect with Him. Not that He’s mean or unfavorable to others, He just knows that His personal intervention will be meaningless to someone who is suffering from the fever of material existence, which is fed by the desire to imitate God and surpass His abilities. More than just saying what pleases Him, Krishna sometimes descends to earth to show what gives Him happiness. Such was the case during a famous incident in Yashoda’s courtyard. Krishna will not descend to earth and announce His divinity to everyone. This would serve no purpose, and it would break the laws of the material nature for no reason. Material nature exists to facilitate the desire to imitate God. If the Lord came down and told everyone that they’re stupid for doing this, who would actually listen? It’d be like going into a playground sandbox and telling all the young kids that they’re wasting their time making pretend sand castles. What will the children know about meeting mortgage payments, building skyscrapers, or getting an education to earn a high salary? “In the course of traversing the universal creation of Brahma, some fortunate soul may receive the seed of bhakti-lata, the creeper of devotional service. This is all by the grace of guru and Krishna.”  (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 19.151) This doesn’t mean that the world is bereft of people desirous for divine association. Those select few individuals who are sincere in their interest in connecting with God are granted the good fortune of meeting a bona fide spiritual master, an arrangement made by Krishna Himself. The guru then leads the disciple towards Krishna, completing the circle. In more special circumstances, Krishna Himself descends, but not everyone is granted entry into this magical kingdom of pastimes. At the same time, however, they don’t need to. Even if you weren’t roaming the earth in a human form during the time of Krishna’s descents, you can still connect with those pastimes by hearing about them. In a lot of ways, this sort of connection is superior to the personal association. If I miss a big music concert because I couldn’t get tickets, I won’t be able to experience the live show, the interaction between the band and the fans. But if I can get a recording of that concert, I will be able to listen to the same show over and over again, relishing the interaction with the music longer than by being at an event and just feeling a one-time thrill. With the Shrimad Bhagavatam, those who weren’t in Yashoda’s courtyard can delight in what happened there one day. Shri Krishna as a young child had broken a pot of butter out of anger. The dear mother had churned yogurt into butter through difficult effort, but she needed to quickly step away to deal with a pot of boiling milk in the kitchen. Krishna did not like this diversion, so He broke the pot of butter in anger and ran away, taking some of the goods with Him. The mother finally caught Him and decided to tie Him to a rope as punishment. For the adults this wasn’t that severe a punishment, for it would keep the darling Shyamasundara within their sights. This wasn’t a punishment for Krishna either, as there was no physical harm done through the ropes. There was one slight problem, though. Yashoda couldn’t find a rope long enough to bind Krishna. The first rope ended up two finger widths short. No problem, right? Just tie another rope to the culprit? Ah, but even that ended up being two finger widths short. Rope after rope was added, with the result unchanged. Finally, Yashoda relented. She had worked so hard that the flowers nicely placed in her hair were falling off, and she was perspiring. The effort was so sincere that Krishna finally decided to let her bind Him, ending the display of transcendental magic. No material condition can bind the person who is above the influence of matter, but through divine love, any outcome is made possible by Krishna’s direct influence. In a helpless condition, through finally surrendering, Krishna came to the rescue and gave the devotee Yashoda the delight she deserved. Therefore anyone who regularly tries to connect with Krishna, such as through chanting His holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, will not have to worry about the outcome to their actions, for the beneficial end will be delivered by the object of that attention. In Closing: As ishvara over body you have control, Fate of outcomes in your hands hold. Through illusion this is the mistaken thought, But from material nature lessons always taught. Krishna is the hand that controls all, Determines when fire and where rainfall. Yashoda and friends finally white flag waived, Krishna couldn’t be bound, though naughty He behaved. Rope long enough only when Krishna agreed, Gives outcomes to devotees when He’s pleased.

சிந்தனை செய் மனமே

சிந்தனை ஒரு வரம். அடிக்க அடிக்க அம்மி நகரும், தட்டத் தட்டச் சிலை வடிவம் பெறும். அதே போல் சிந்தனையால் உங்கள் மூளையைக் குடையக் குடைய அறிவு வளரும், ஞானம் பிறக்கும். தினம் 15 முதல் 30 நிமிடம் நாம் சிந்திப்பதற்காக ஒதுக்கினால், நம் ஞானம் விருத்தியாகும். மூளையை உபயோகிக்காமல் விடும் பொழுதுதான், மறதி பெருகுகிறது. ஆய்வுகள் சொல்கின்றன, நாம் நம் மூளையின் திறனில் வெறும் 10 விழுக்காடு தான் பயன்படுத்துகிறோமாம். மிச்சம்.... சிந்தியுங்கள் மக்களே சிந்தியுங்கள்.

வேலைகளுக்கு நடுவே நாம் ஏதாவது எண்ணிக்கொண்டேதான் இருப்போம். அவை எண்ணங்கள். நான் சொல்வது, ஓய்வாக அமர்ந்து நமக்கு நாமே மனதுக்குள் விவாதம் நடத்துவது; 'சிந்தனை'. எதைப் பற்றியாவது கேள்வி கேட்டு, உங்கள் மூளையைக் குடையுங்கள்.  நீங்களே வியக்கும் வண்ணம், பல புதிய விஷயங்கள், சிந்தனைகள் உங்கள் கபாலத்தை நிரப்பும். ஏதோ ஓர் அலைவரிசை உங்களுக்குள் புதிதாய் பிறக்கும்.

சிந்தித்ததால் அசோகன் மனிதம் காத்தான், சித்தார்த்தன் புத்தன் ஆனான். சிந்தித்ததால் யானைமுகன் ஞானப் பழம் வென்றான். சிந்தனை ஞானம் கொடுக்கும் சரி... அதை வைத்துக்கொண்டு 'புளியங்காய்' கூட வாங்க இயலாது... ஆமாம்! ஆமாம்.... வாங்க முடியாது.... உற்பத்தி செய்யலாம்...! சிந்தனை வேறு என்ன தரும்? அது உங்களை வித்தியாசப்படுத்திக் காட்டும். வழக்கமான முறையில் அல்லாமல், புதிய வழியில் செயலாற்றி, மற்றவரை வியப்பில் ஆழ்த்துவீர்.

ஒரு துணுக்கு:

ஒரு அலுவலகத்தில் வேலைக்கான ஒரு நேர்காணலில், மேலாளர் கேட்கிறார் - "what is before you?"

ஒருவன் சொன்னான் - காபி

மற்றொருவன் சொன்னான் - காபி

மூன்றாமவன் சொன்னான் - டீ

எல்லோரும் சிரித்தார்கள். ஏனென்றால் காபி தானே பரிமாறப்பட்டது. வியப்பாக, 'டீ' என்று சொன்னவன் தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டான். எப்படி?

ஆங்கில எழுத்து வரிசையான 'a,b,c,d' யில் 'U' விற்கு முன் 'T' தானே!!!!

இந்தச் சாதுர்யம், பக்குவம், யோசனையெல்லாம், நீங்கள் அன்றாடம் சிறந்த புத்தகங்களை, கருத்துகளை, நிகழ்வுகளை படித்துத் தெரிந்து, கேட்டு, பின்பு நன்கு ஆய்ந்து உங்கள் கபாலத்தில் போட்டு வைத்துக்கொள்ளுங்கள். தேவைப்படும் பொழுது தட்டித் திறந்துகொள்ளலாம்.

சிந்தனை நம்மை மனிதன் ஆக்குகிறது. செய்யும் பணியில் கவனம் செலுத்த உதவுகிறது, வெற்றிக்கு வழிவகுக்கிறது. நேரம் கிடைக்கும் போதெல்லாம் சிந்தித்துக்கொண்டே இருங்கள்.

Epigenetic changes in blood samples may point to schizophrenia

In a new study, researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have identified epigenetic changes – known as DNA methylation – in the blood of patients with schizophrenia. The researchers were also able to detect differences depending on how old the patients were when they developed the disease and whether they had been treated with various drugs. In the future this new knowledge may be used to develop a simple test to diagnose patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is one of our most common chronic psychiatric diseases and affects 1% of the population. It is already known that the risk of developing schizophrenia increases if one has close family members who have had the disease. At the same time, studies on identical twins, who therefore have the same genetic make-up, show that 50% of the disease risk can be explained by genetic factors. This in turn suggests that environmental factors, which include epigenetic changes to the genome, account for the remaining 50% of the cause of the disease.

"Epigenetics involves small reversible chemical changes, for instance in the form of methyl groups that bind to certain DNA sequences in the genome, that can consequently modifythe function of the DNA. The research results we are now presenting suggest that epigenetic mechanisms are of great importance in mental illness. It is particularly interesting that these changes can also be linked to age at disease onset," says Professor Tomas Ekström, who has directed the study at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM).

The current study, which is published in the scientific journal FASEB Journal, shows that the methylation levels in DNA in the white blood cells from individuals who suffer from schizophrenia are substantially lower than normal and that the degree of methylation is related to age of disease onset and the severity of the disease. The researchers also compared the degree of methylation in samples from patients who had been treated with various types of drugs. It emerged that treatment with one type of antipsychotic drug could influence the levels of DNA methylation in the blood cells towards more normal levels. In their article in FASEB Journal, the researchers at CMM note that at present there is no 'biomarker' for schizophrenia that is suitable for clinical sampling. An interesting area of application for the new knowledge may therefore be to develop a simple test of this kind to diagnose schizophrenia, and to monitor how patients respond to the treatment they receive.

"The fact that DNA methylation in an ordinary blood sample can be used as a marker of the severity of schizophrenia opens up completely new opportunities. But follow-up studies are needed to clarify, for example, whether choice of treatment can be linked to this type of test," says Professor Martin Schalling, one of the researchers behind the study.

More information: "Epigenetic aberrations in leukocytes of patients with schizophrenia: association of global DNA methylation with antipsychotic drug treatment and disease onset ", Philippe A. Melas, Maria Rogdaki, Urban Ösby, Martin Schalling, Catharina Lavebratt & Tomas J. Ekström, FASEB Journal, published ahead of print 16 March 2012, doi:10.1096/fj.11-202069

Provided by Karolinska Institutet

"Epigenetic changes in blood samples may point to schizophrenia." March 27th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-epigenetic-blood-samples-schizophrenia.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

In immersion foreign language learning, adults attain, retain native speaker brain pattern

A first-of-its kind series of brain studies shows how an adult learning a foreign language can come to use the same brain mechanisms as a native speaker. The research also demonstrates that the kind of exposure you have to the language can determine whether you achieve native-language brain processing, and that learning under immersion conditions may be more effective in reaching this goal than typical classroom training. The research also suggests that the brain consolidates knowledge of the foreign language as time goes on, much like it does when a person learns to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.

The latest in this series of studies was published online in today's PLoS ONE by researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"In the last few years, research has begun to suggest that adults learning a foreign language can come to rely on the same brain mechanisms as native speakers of a language, and that this might be true even for those parts of a foreign language that are particularly difficult to learn, such as its grammar," explains Michael Ullman, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience at GUMC and senior investigator of the studies. "We confirmed this in our studies."

However, even if it's true that foreign language learners might be able to achieve native-like processing of grammar, Ullman says it has not at all been clear just how they can get there that is, what exactly allows a learner to attain native-like processing.

Ullman and lead author Kara Morgan-Short, Ph.D., from the University of Illinois at Chicago, first tested whether the conditions under which a person learns a foreign language matter. Specifically, is the type of foreign language exposure typically found in classrooms, with a lot of explanations about the grammar, more or less beneficial than the type of exposure in an immersion situation, in which there are no such explanations, but simply many language examples?

"Surprisingly, previous studies have found that the type of exposure typically found in classrooms leads to better learning than that typically found in immersion. However, no studies have looked at the actual brain mechanisms after different types of exposure," Morgan-Short says. Also, because a foreign language is so slow to learn, previous studies have not examined the outcomes of different types of exposure beyond the early stages of learning, since it would take far too long to wait until participants reached high proficiency, she says.

To get around this problem, the scientists came up with a clever solution. Rather than teach people a full foreign language, they taught them a very small one, with only 13 words, which referred to the pieces and moves of a computer game. The language itself was made-up, and its grammar was constructed so that it was like that of other natural languages, but differed from the participants' native language English in important respects, such as its grammatical structure.

The scientists found that after a few days, adults had indeed reached high proficiency in the language, whether they had undergone classroom- or immersion-like training. However, measures of brain processing showed that different types of training led to different brain mechanisms.

"Only the immersion training led to full native-like brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "So if you learn a language you can come to use native language brain processes, but you may need immersion rather than classroom exposure." (These results were published online Aug. 23, 2011 in theJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience.)

For the study published in PLoS ONE, the researchers asked another very interesting question: What happens after you've reached high proficiency in a foreign language, if you're not regularly exposed to it? Do you lose the use of any native-language brain mechanisms that you've attained? Many learners do not always have ongoing exposure, which makes this is a critical question, Ullman says.

So, without having warned their research participants beforehand, the researchers called them an average of five months later, and asked them to come back for another round of brain scanning. Because the language was made-up, the scientists were sure that the participants hadn't had any exposure to it during this entire time.

The researchers weren't sure what they would find, since this was the first study examining the brain after such a period of no exposure. However, previous studies testing only proficiency changes found, not surprisingly, that foreign language learners generally did worse after such periods, so the scientists assumed that the brain would also become less native-like.

"To our surprise, the participants actually became more native like in their brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "And this was true for both the classroom and immersion training groups, though it was still the case that only the immersion group showed full native-like processing."

Ullman believes that, over time, memory of the language was "consolidated" in the brain, probably by the same mechanisms that also underlie native language. He says this process is probably similar to the consolidation of many other skills that a person might learn, such as learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.

Interestingly, the participants showed neither improvements nor loss of proficiency during the same five month period, even as their brains became more native like, Ullman says. The scientists are uncertain why this might be, though it is possible that proficiency changes might in fact have been observed with more precise measures, or that improvements had occurred some time after training but then were gradually lost in the absence of practice during the five months.

Ullman says that even without any observed changes in proficiency, the brain changes are important. "Native language brain mechanisms are clearly well suited to language, so attaining their use is a critical achievement for foreign language learners. We suspect that this should lead to improved retention of the language as well as higher proficiency over time."

Provided by Georgetown University Medical Center

"In immersion foreign language learning, adults attain, retain native speaker brain pattern." March 28th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-immersion-foreign-language-adults-retain.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek