Should You Upgrade to the iPhone 5?

The iPhone 5 is coming, is your business ready? Here's a look at some of the expected features, and how they can impact your business.

By John Brandon | 

In the world of tech, Internet rumors often turn into cold hard facts—sometimes overnight. With Apple, a company that never pre-announces products, gossip about the iPhone 5 coming this month (or next) have persisted for some time.

Most experts agree: all signs point to an imminent release. The companies that make iPhone accessories have hinted at a new device, and the timing makes sense for a pre-holiday release of the next wonderphone that will surely astound.

So what is a business to do? According to Gartner analystKen Dulaney, the answer is the same as always: Be prepared. Your business should be nimble enough to handle the upgrade smoothly, and that usually means assessing the need of employees (e.g., do they need a touchscreen phone or one intended for messaging?), and re-visiting contract arrangements with wireless providers.

Another important step: IT should be ready to handle any new security and management challenges with the device, which often means using a tool like Mobile Iron that can track new devices deployed in your organization.

Dulaney also had one more piece of advice: don’t buy aniPhone 4. The current version will be discounted or discontinued when the new model comes out.

iPhone 5 Features
Of course, deciding whether to upgrade is the hardest step of all. That’s where rumors can help you evaluate the forthcoming device, instead of making an impulse decision for employees once the iPhone does start shipping.

Rob Walch hosts a popular podcast called Today in iOS, so he has heard most of the rumors. He explained some of the new advancements.

The first one has to do with the camera. The iPhone 4 has a 5-megapixel camera, and it’s not bad. There aren’t as many features for adjusting white balance and other settings like you’ll find on an Android phone. Walch says the iPhone 5 will likely sport an 8-megapixel camera. He says iOS 5, the operating system that will run on the iPhone 5, has new features for a camera, including quick access buttons.

Another important spec: The iPhone 5 will likely use the same A5 processor in the iPad 2. That means it will run faster for just about every function, and it’s even possible that Apple will include some of the ground-breaking apps that now work on the iPad 2, including GarageBand and a movie-editing tool. Walch says the iPhone 5 will probably have 1GB of RAM instead of the 512MB on the iPhone 4. With more RAM, the iPhone 5 will handle more robust apps and run faster.

Walch says other features will include support for both GSM and CDMA networks, which means U.S. users could bring the iPhone overseas and still expect it to work. And, there might be an HDMI port that lets you connect up to an HDTV.

Small Business Prep
Crystal Kendrick, the president of the marketing firm, The Voice of Your Customer, says her company is considering an iPhone 5 upgrade. They are slowly transitioning to an Apple platform anyway, moving to Mac laptops and desktops and purchasing the iPad 2 for employees.

“The most compelling iPhone 5 features are the upgraded camera, faster processing system, and hot spot options [for sharing a 3G connection], and compatibility with our office products,” she says. “Having a single manufacturer reduces the cost of training, repairs, upgrades, accessories and communications plans.”

One way that Kendrick is preparing her company for the iPhone 5 is to eliminate existing Wi-Fi networks as a cost saving measure and because they will be superfluous when they start using the built-in iPhone hotspot features.

She says another important business strategy for her company is relying on “grandfather” clauses where she can keep using existing contracts for voice and data on phones, even after they upgrade to a new model.

Philip Chang, a partner at the PR firm Carbon in Chicago, had an interesting point to make about why his company plans to jump on the iPhone 5 bandwagon. The main draw has to do with the apps. Businesses are constantly evolving in how they communicate with new apps like LiquidSpace and GroupMe, which often appear first on the iPhone. Chang says, the iPhone 5 will just encourage new app development, and not being able to use these apps will cause problems in communicate between his team and with their customers.

“Nothing else on the market enables its users to share and create content as effectively or easily as the iPhone,” he says. “It gets the most attention from developers when it comes to rolling out a new communications tool.”

Chang is also interested in the faster processing, and the better camera capability (especially for recording high-def video clips).

Upgrade Plan
As Dulaney noted, businesses of any size need to have a plan in place for phone upgrades—the strategy of random upgrades for select employees usually does not work. It’s better to decide now who will get the upgrade, how much that will cost, how the company will support the devices, and to be ready for security issues.

Walch even goes a step further. Even though Apple has not released any details, the rumor mill is churning at full speed. He says it is best to work out the actual approvals for the new device, using iPhone 4 pricing of about $300 per phone. That way, your company can be ready to make the purchase at launch instead of waiting for the approvals—and possibly not being able to get one until 2012.

There’s always a sense of excitement with a new product launch. With Steve Jobsstepping down as CEO, all eyes will be on the new device to see if it lives up to expectations. The experts suggest being ready for something special.

Miracle man walks again

He survived against all the odds; now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again.

When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived.

Peng Shulin, wearing new trainers, works on learning to walk again

It took a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life.

Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso – but the legless Mr Peng was left only 78cm (2ft 6in) tall.

Bedridden for years, doctors in China had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life agan.

The bionic legs mimic the way Peng's limbs would have worked

But recently, he began exercising his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth.

Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Mr Peng's plight late last year and devised a plan to get him up walking again.

They came up with an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it.

He has been taking his first steps around the centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame.

Mr Peng, who has to learn how to walk again, is said to be delighted with the device.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/56500-miracle-man-walks-again#ixzz1Xv1pP8iZ

Most viewed kiss

Most viewed kiss

 arriaperreault

We have published all the paintings presented in the exhibition “The Kiss” in the Flickr group of the Monastery and we have linked every painting to the corresponding picture. This allows us to know the most viewed paintings of the exhibition. Here is the top 3:

The last kiss from Romeo to Juliet, Francesco Hayez

Francesco Hayez (1791 – 1882) was an Italian painter (Romanticism), renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits. His other painting named “The Kiss” is also very well-kown.

The Triumph of venus, Angelo Bronzino

Agnolo di Cosimo (1503 – 1572), usually known as Il Bronzino, or Agnolo Bronzino was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. Around 1546, Bronzino was commissioned to create a painting which has come to be known as “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time” or “An Allegory of Venus and Cupid”.
This painting is an allegory. It doesn’t represent a scenery from the mythology, but different characters and their relations.

The first kiss, William Bouguereau

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 – 1905) was a French academic painter. He was very famous in his time but today his subject matter and technique receive relatively little attention compared to the popularity of the Impressionists.

Wisdom Grows with Age !

An elderly man in Louisiana had owned a large farm for several years.  He had a large pond in the back. It was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees. One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee.  As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end. One of the women shouted to him, 'we're not coming out until you leave!' The old man frowned, 'I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked.' Holding the bucket up he said, 'I'm here to feed the alligator...'    Some old men can still think fast !

How to Assess the Market Potential of Your Idea

Not sure if your new business idea is good enough to succeed? Here are six ways to test it.

INC

By Darren Dahl | 

The facts are sobering: the majority of small businesses fail within five years of starting up. While there are many reasons that businesses fail, including some that have nothing to do with an owner's skills, it’s also possible that many of those same businesses collapsed simply because they couldn’t get enough customers to buy their product or service. In other words, the owners founded their business on a strategy of “build it and they will come” where, unfortunately, the customers never came. In fact, a recent study undertaken by the Blackbox seed accelerator found that many tech start-ups failed because they focused more on their product than on their potential customers.

The good news is that there are a variety of ways you, as an entrepreneur, can conduct some market research to assess the potential demand for your product or service without spending a lot of money or hiring an expensive market research team.

Ask the Right Questions

As a first step to determining the potential market for your new product or service, you want to focus on asking a couple of questions of yourself first, says Victor Kwegyir, a business consultant, business motivational speaker, and author of The Business You Can Start: Spotting the Greatest Opportunities in the Economic Downturn. Some of the questions you may want to begin with, Kwegyir says, include:

• Is this product or service I have in mind going to satisfy a market need?
• Who are my potential customers, and where can they be found?
• What competition is out there? Is it direct or indirect, local, national, or international?
• How distinct is my product from what is being offered by the competition?
• Can the product stand the test of changing trends or take advantage of it before it dies out?
• Does the law of the land allow for such a business to be established?
• At what prices are consumers prepared to buy my product, and can I make any profit at any stage?

Google It

While it may seem obvious, using Google and other search engines can be an effective way to gauge the potential market for your idea and whether or not you’ll be facing competition. “Believe it or not, you can do a simple keyword search using either Google keywords or any reputable marketing software such as Market Samurai or Magic Bullet to see if your idea already has a demand,” says Jesue Walker, a serial entrepreneur and president of The Ultimate Emergence Company.  Once you have the keyword results in front of you, click on them and pay attention to the right column of the search, which lists the paid advertising. “Click on each of these and see what they are offering,” says Walker. “This is your competition, if any at all. Going back to the search page or keyword results and [seeing] how many times a day and week this keyword is searched for...is the beginning of finding out if you can gain at least one percent to two percent of this market.”

Collect Feedback

Getting direct feedback via surveys or interviews can be another very effective way to gauge interest in your product or service. The easiest way to test a new business idea is by crowdsourcing your idea first,” says Ian Aronovich, CEO and president ofGovernmentAuctions.org, a site that compiles and provides information about government auctions of seized and surplus merchandise from all over the country. “Get the perspective of a large group that you already know is capable of giving you truthful and helpful advice. Crowdsourcing is quick, easy, and you will get an array of positive and negative criticism.”

To do this, you may want to draw on an increasing number of online tools that will allow you to tap into the wisdom of the virtual crowd for modest prices. Examples include: uSamp, UserTesting.com, UsabilityHub.com, CrazyEgg.com,GutCheckit.com, and Ask Your Target Market.

You can also consider creating a video, says David Ciccarelli, CEO of Voices.com, where you hire a professional to narrate the features and benefits of your product or service. “Then upload it to YouTube and see the response in the comments,” he says.

If your big idea is a new product, you might also consider pitching it to a product development company like Edison Nation, which, for a modest application fee, evaluates your idea based on the potential market for it.

What you don’t want to do, however, is base your decision on the opinions of your friends and family, says Lolo Siderman, the founder of Gypsywing Media, a virtual ad agency based in Los Angeles. It’s a mistake to ask people you already know, she says, because they cannot be objective. “Of course they’re going to tell you it’s a good idea,” she says.

Sell Something, Anything

While spending time in front of your computer conducting research and gathering information can be helpful in ascertaining the potential of your product or service, the truth is that the most valuable feedback you can get is whether someone, regardless of what they tell you, will actually hand over money for it. “It is amazing how many people will spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on concepts that people ‘really like’ without ever asking them if they would buy it,” says Matt Ferguson, president and CEO of Progressive Health Innovations. “Even better, also ask the people selling in the space if they could sell it for a certain price.”

The best way to get this kind of feedback, then, is to actually create a prototype of your product or service, even in its most basic form that you can shop around to retailers, distribution partners, or even attendees at an industry trade show.

“I have found there is no sure way to gauge the success of a service type concept except for biting the bullet and start doing it.”

There is actually a name for this kind of company-building approach, Minimum Viable Product or MVP, which was coined by entrepreneur and influential blogger Eric Ries. An MVP approach would be, for example, launching a minimalist website where customers are actually prompted to pay for your product or service before it even exists as a way to guarantee the market potential. That's how Scott Yates tested the idea behind his new company,BlogMutt.com, a site that offers to supply content for company blogs. “It was only when we had real businesses pull out their credit card and sign up for $79—before we even had a site working—that we knew we were on to something,” he says.

Similarly, you could post your product or service on a site like Kickstarter.com, where you ask people to pledge money to support you. A great example of this was the inventor of the TikTok watchband mount for the iPod Nano; he raised $942,978 from customers who pre-ordered his product idea.

Just Do It

The truth is, in the end, research can only take you so far, says John Schulte, president and chairman of the National Mail Order Association. “You might not get anyone to agree with me, but I have found there is no sure way to gauge the success of a service type concept except for biting the bullet and start doing it,” says Schulte. “Many times you can spend just as much trying to research something (and still not know for sure) as it would cost you to just start doing it.”

7 Ways to Work From Anywhere

Author John Warrillow shares the tech tools he uses to run his start-up remotely while traveling through Europe.

My last company was old school when it came to technology. We had an e-newsletter instead of a blog; we had accounting software that we bought in a box; and we used an old voice mail system that hung on the wall in our server room.

That business was acquired in 2008, after which a friend of mine suggested I read Timothy Ferriss' book, The Four Hour Work Week, to figure out what to do next. Tim's book inspired me to build my next business into something that I could operate while travelling. If you haven't read it, the main premise of the book is to use automation and technology to set up a business that allows you the time and mobility to see the world. It's a thought-provoking read.

To field test Ferriss' idea, we've been travelling as a family for the last 12 months in France, Spain, England, Wales, and the west coast of the United States–and all the while I've been running my start-up remotely.

I've been experimenting with a variety of business applications that reside "in the cloud"–geek talk for software you access from the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. Here are a few of the applications I've found handy so far:

1. Vonage

I set up a North American phone number but I do a lot of my business while living in Europe. The beauty of Vonageis that you simply plug the little box they give you into your Internet connection and your customers never know where you are because they dial the same number as you move around.

2. Google Docs

My marketing manager lives in another city, so whenever we need to work on a joint project, we upload files to Google Docs. I love not having to e-mail big files back and forth, and since the files are located online, you never have the problem of simultaneously editing the same document and losing track of which version is the latest.

3. Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey makes it easy to get feedback from customers. You simply create a questionnaire using their templates, and then send out the request to complete the survey via e-mail or a social media platform like Facebook.

4. Salesforce.com

I keep all of our customer records in salesforce.com. I work a lot in Europe, but my staff are in North America, so salesforce.com allows us to share one customer database across the Atlantic.

5. JP Morgan Chase Orbital Virtual Terminal

We bill our customers for our software on a monthly basis. It's the same amount each month and, instead of manually inputting the customer's credit card number, our finance person inputs the customer's payment into the Chase Orbital Virtual Terminal online. Chase then bills their card each month without us having to initiate.

6. WebEx

WebEx is a meeting platform where you can share what you see on your desktop with someone else who has a computer connected to the Internet. It allows me to demo our software without getting on a plane.

7. aWeber 

I use aWeber to send marketing messages to my list of subscribers. I like it because it is simple. I have figured out how to send an e-mail to a portion of my database and how to automatically send blog updates to my readers. Easy peasy.

How to Assess Your Leadership Skills

Courtesy Subject

“Practicing leadership in a variety of settings and observing leaders in a variety of settings will enhance leadership skills.” - Ebner

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Are you persuasively steering your team, and the company you founded? How do you know?

“Often without meaning to, we create complexity for people who work with us,” says Katherine Ebner, executive leadership coach at Nebo Leadership inWashington.

The first step is to recognize you can always do better. The next one? Follow Ebner’s seven leadership tenets.   

1. Clarify what your job is. Before anything else, says Ebner, you must understand your roles and responsibilities as a leader. “Often people will do their old job; they will do what is familiar versus what’s needed.” Ebner says it is an adjustment to step up to a leadership role, often one that people are not prepared for.

She recommends you define your work by researching your job description, making a list of your roles and responsibilities (according to you), defining outcomes expected of you and, invaluably, asking direct reports, directors, and other senior level staff what they expect from you.

2. Invite feedback. Just as you offer colleagues and subordinates constructive critiques to improve performance, those people can also help you evaluate how you’re doing. To get the deepest and most actionable commentary, Ebner recommends you make the feedback loop simple. It can be formal or informal, as long as it is confidential, respectful, and efficient.

Ebner recommends conducting such leaderships reviews annually, or twice a year, because your staff may turnover and market conditions change. She advises asking key staffers open-ended, low risk questions such as: ‘What could I be doing better to support your success?’ ‘What do you need from me?’ ‘Is there anything I do that make things difficult?’

She also points out the importance of observing nonverbal cues. She stresses you should always be aware of the impact your make others. You can observe it from body language. Does the staff fall silent when you walk in the room, say? Do key executives meet your gaze or look away when you are speaking? “The key is to understand that you are collecting observable data,” says Ebner. “Don’t project, or be overly sensitive about what you may be seeing.”

There are also a lot of resources to help you do peer reviews:

• 360-degree evaluation tools. Ebner says there are several excellent online 360-degree survey tools that protect privacy while also providing thorough assessments, including Leadership Circle, the Booth Company, and the Center for Creative Leadership.

• Leadership coaches. “A coach can interview stakeholders and produce a narrative from confidential conversations,” says Ebner. This is often valuable when you want to go one layer deeper than online assessments.

3. Define goals. Establishing goals and milestones for performance over time is important not only in the financial arena but also in the organizational one. “The number of people you can impact everyday does not change in a big or small company. People who work most closely with you will pick up on your tone and mood,” says Ebner. This is then reflected throughout the company.

You can track “people performance”: turnover of key positions, length of tenure in position, ability to attract top talent.

4. Refine your storytelling skills. Once you define your goals, you must be able to articulate them. Ebner says that an effective leader is the company’s chief storyteller, not just someone who keeps his or her nose to the grindstone. You have to be able to say where you have been as a company, where you are now, and where you ’re going.

Ebner recommends using a three-year time horizon. “When you can answer where you want to be in three years in detail, you can identify what it will take to get there, and start filling the gaps.” Remember it’s not just financial or market positioning, it’s also organizational goals—everything from staffing to technology choices to office locations.

5. Check in on employees. Ebner says it is important to find out if the message you are relaying is trickling down to employees. You can do so by asking around, or by setting up a more formal process. Take annual employee satisfaction surveys, or conduct a culture survey. There’s also a slew of online vendors that can help assess your company culture and its impact on performance.

6. Look into leadership training. Many universities and institutes offer leadership-training courses. You can also engage a leadership coach, or even go on one of numerous CEO retreats. Among the subject matter you might expect: how to use conversation to inspire action and results, how to garner respect and credibility through your presence, and how you can use social networks for career development.

7. Expand your circle. Networking is critical to being an effective leader. It can come in the form of professional peer groups like industry associations or community involvement at, say, your local Parent Teacher Association. “Practicing leadership in a variety of settings and observing leaders in a variety of settings will enhance leadership skills,” says Ebner.

Don’t overlook peers as an important group with whom to network, either. “As you progress professionally, so do your peers,” points out Ebner. “By investing in these relationships and getting to know others at a similar level of responsibility and authority, you are building a community of colleagues who care about you and your success.”

Another networking tip: The aspirational—or “stretch” lunch. One of Ebner’s coaching clients regularly invites leaders she admires for a bite, and focuses on talking with them about their lives, careers, and goals. She even follows up with ideas, articles, or an intro to someone relevant she knows. But she holds off on asking for anything. Says Ebner: “Over time, the good will and relationships from these lunches has led to a powerful network of people who are more than happy to support, advise, and assist her when the time comes.”

Interview with Neelambari Perumal (Bombay Mittayi fame)

Handle With Care

“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.54) You enter a museum, a gathering place filled with ancient artifacts, sculptures and paintings from centuries gone by on display. The source for the appreciation is obvious, for who can imagine such pieces being preserved for so long? Just being able to be in such close proximity is enough to cause awe, inspiration and wonder. Yet accompanying the exhibits are warning signs, which indicate that certain behavior should be checked. These warnings apply to the eager observers who may have the desire to touch the different pieces. The fingertips carry oils with them that can damage the surface of valuables with regular contact. Just imagine placing your fingers on the car window over and over again. After a while, marks start to remain which blur the transparency of the glass. Valuable pieces of artwork can similarly have their surfaces damaged by human contact. But more than any other group, the warnings apply to children, for they do not know any better. Without knowing what something is, how can someone appreciate its value and the need for handling it with care? This principle extends to the ancient scriptural works descending from the Supreme Person Himself. Children are immature in thought, so they don’t know what it means to be really old, especially when talking about an artifact, painting or sculpture. If children were allowed to touch such items and play with them, they would not handle them with the proper care. The wife who is protective of her expensive and beautiful set of china has justifiable reasons for her concern. For the average meal eaten in the home, normal plates and glasses will suffice. China can be expensive, however, so its use is reserved for special occasions. The fiscally conscious wife will protect her china from even her husband, for he could never possibly understand what its value is and how fragile just one piece can be. If children are given possession of ancient artifacts, they would likely use them for their own play. Children enjoy games such as baseball and cricket that allow for running around. A key component of both of these games is the base, or wicket, the destination for the runners. Let’s say that a child sees in the living room a nice vase, one that is very old and expensive, and decides to use it as a base. “Oh, this vase is perfect in size. I’ll place it right here so that we can start our game.” Since runners are heading to the destination bases at high speeds, there is every chance for collision. Hence the chances of the expensive vase shattering are very high. To the child, the vase breaking is not that big a deal, for it was used as a base after all. How expensive or valuable can a piece of porcelain be anyway? The mature human being can understand the value of such items. Considering the rareness of a particular piece and its historical significance, care and consideration will be taken in preserving the gem. The museum exists for this very purpose, for without a formal setting dedicated to preservation, the various items could be lying around someone’s closet gathering dust. Through special care, the items can remain on display for others to observe, study and derive pleasure from. In the realm of spirituality, the ancient scriptures of India, the Vedas, contain the most valuable set of information known the world over. Their value ultimately comes from their source: the Supreme Lord. He imparted Vedic wisdom to the first created living entity, Lord Brahma, at the beginning of creation. Subsequently, the same knowledgebase was passed down through a tradition of dedicated followers and sincere students. “This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2) What kind of information is contained within the Vedas? In the Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna repeats the same information He originally taught at the beginning of creation. In this discourse between God and His dear friend and disciple, the eternal nature of the spirit soul, its travels through different bodies in the what is known as reincarnation, the material energy, the spiritual energy, the meaning of life, and how to remain free from all unwanted sentiments, including anger, lust and greed, are discussed. In this carefully presented analysis, Lord Krishna reviews the basics known to the Vedic seers since the beginning of time, yet He also makes sure to mention things which are considered confidential. Arjuna, the recipient of Krishna’s instruction, was a warrior by trade, so he had no special academic qualification. Krishna did not reveal the Gita to Arjuna because of a degree he possessed or his ability to study Sanskrit. Rather, Arjuna’s lone qualification, the only thing he needed to be able to hear such confidential topics from Krishna, was his devotion to the Lord. In light of this, Krishna saw it fit to teach Arjuna every piece of information necessary for purifying his consciousness. This begs the question as to why Krishna would choose to conceal any information. Why wouldn’t the Lord reveal the most confidential subjects to every single person? Similar to how the museum artifacts are kept away from the hands of children, the sublime wisdom of the Vedas is not intended for just any audience. If the confidential subject matter discussed in the Bhagavad-gita or any other primary Vedic text should land in the hands of the non-devotees, the results can be disastrous. How does this work exactly? Just as the child will be prone to breaking the porcelain vase that was so expensive, the non-devotee will not have any appreciation for Krishna or His words. Therefore they will study the Bhagavad-gita,Ramayana and Shrimad Bhagavatam from their worldly point of view, which by default is driven by sense desires. The human being lacking adherence to bona fide religious principles is no different from the animal. The animal is known for its inability to handle sense urges. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending are what the animal thinks about, and in these pursuits there is no attention paid to the need for austerity or self-control. If a human being is not devoted to God, they will view sense gratification or its polar opposite of full renunciation as the ultimate aim in life. Applying this vision to the sacred teachings coming from Krishna Himself, the conditioned soul will have no way of understanding what the Lord is trying to say. What’s worse is that when such people write commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita and present them to others, their readers will be led astray as well. This is similar to the young child presenting the vase to their friends as being a base to be used in a game. “Here you go. I’ve found this wonderful piece in my parents’ living room. We can use it to play our game.” The unscrupulous commentator who has no devotion to Krishna will use the Gita to further their own agenda, not respecting the work for what it is. How can they even understand the purpose of the work, for the Gita is kept safely within a very long Vedic text called the Mahabharata? During ancient times these works were recited in public assemblies by brahmanas, or qualified priests. This means that there was no jumping from chapter to chapter, flipping open a certain page and reading the contents without knowing the context. Rather, the audience had to listen to everything in order, from the beginning of the discourse to the end, or at least they were already familiar with the subject matter from having attended previous gatherings. Vyasadeva, the compiler of the Mahabharata and many other important Vedic texts, sequenced his words in a specific order so that the audience could understand the meanings. One who has not read the entire Mahabharata can never understand the Bhagavad-gita by just picking up the work. What’s more astounding is that the Mahabharata, though very lengthy, has so much context already built into it. Therefore one can’t even pick up the Mahabharata, read it from cover to cover, and then expect to understand anything that is discussed. When such impediments are placed on the conditioned soul, where does any person unfamiliar with the message of the Vedas get the gumption to even begin to comment on the Bhagavad-gita, let alone quote from it? Just as Krishna imparted the original Veda to Lord Brahma, the same information was passed down through a chain of disciplic succession. Therefore without tapping into this link, without seeking the shelter of aspiritual master, a brahmana following in Vyasadeva’s mood, works like the Bhagavad-gita can never be understood. On the other hand, by reading commentaries and translations of such works written by devotees, people who love Krishna in the same way that Arjuna did, there is every opportunity of appreciating the wonderful work and learning from it. And what can we learn from the Gita? By visiting the museum we get a glimpse of the thought processes and practices of ancient civilizations. We learn how they used to live and what they considered important in life. Similarly, by reading the Bhagavad-gita and studying it under the direction of someone who knows what they are talking about, the names, forms, pastimes and attributes of the Supreme Lord take rest within the mind. What is the benefit to having this information? The soul is meant to be devoted to Krishna in the same way that Arjuna was. Therefore the Gita is intended to elicit the loving emotions harbored for God already lying within the heart. There needn’t be any forceful cajoling or instigating in this regard. The soul already knows how to love. In the conditioned state, however, where to direct that love is a mystery. Thus a lifetime is spent directing the love to different areas, like throwing objects against a wall until one of them sticks. Sadly, the offering of love to all the wrong places will continue life after life until the worthy target, Shri Krishna, is found. Rather than wait for people to come to Krishna, the Vaishnavas, the devotees of the Lord who believe that every single person should become familiar with their spiritual counterpart, take up the humbling task of preaching openly. In days past the brahmanas were automatically afforded high status in society. Householders would regularly invite brahmanas to come to their homes and discuss transcendental topics. In the current age of Kali, which is marked by the widespread presence of hypocrisy and quarrel, there is very little attention paid to spiritual subject matters. If there are any popular spiritual leaders, they are usually seen on television promising all sorts of material rewards from the Lord. “This will be your year. God will give you whatever you want because you surrender to him.” While this attitude is nice, what the soul actually needs is never addressed. Arjuna was a warrior, but his foremost desire was not to fight or to earn a military victory. He only wanted to be in Krishna’s company, abiding by whatever orders the Lord gave him. Whatever would please Krishna, Arjuna would do. This is every other soul’s occupational duty as well. This is why the Vedas refer to religion as sanatana-dharma, or the eternal engagement of the soul. The spirit souls are always meant to love Krishna. Sanatana-dharma is better described as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Yoga is growing in popularity today because it stands in stark contrast to other exercise disciplines. Yoga is meant to address the needs of the spirit soul, so when activities are taken up in this line, the benefits are far greater than those coming from running, biking, or competition in various sports. Real yoga, however, means linking the soul with the Supreme Soul. Therefore bhakti-yoga is the culmination of all yoga practice, as it aims to keep the individual soul connected with God through acts of love and devotion. The quintessential activity in bhakti is the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The Vaishnava preachers teach the science of self-realization by chanting this mantra in public, so that as many people as possible can hear the sound vibrations representing the Absolute Truth. At the same time, they distribute transcendental literature aimed at catching the eyes of those sincerely interested in learning about a real religion, a system of spirituality that applies to every single person and that can arouse the most intense loving emotions capable of being expressed. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a Vaishnava preacher in a line of disciplic succession descending from Vyasadeva, did the greatest favor for humanity by translating and commenting on the Bhagavad-gita in English, with translations in many other languages soon following. His Bhagavad-gita As It Is can be likened to a travelling museum, a compact collection of the most valuable gems. Since Shrila Prabhupada understood the gravity of the Gita and its contents, he employed the correct attitude when translating and writing commentaries for the different verses. Therefore even someone who has never heard a single verse of Vedic literature can pick up this wonderful work and gradually learn to appreciate and honor the speaker in the same way that Arjuna did. Through his benevolence, Shrila Prabhupada’s glories continue to increase day by day. He made the complex understandable and revealed Krishna to the world. Those who accept this mercy are the most fortunate. In Closing: Museum has many an ancient artifact, Yet don’t dare touch them, make sure to stand back. Especially to children does this rule apply, Laws imposed by adults are they given to defy. Expensive vase in the house could be used for a game, Whether or not the item breaks, to child all the same. In child’s play items can be used for impersonation, Therefore parents set up rules for protection. With ancient scriptures of India, the same principle, Bogus commentators value of texts do cripple. Learn Bhagavad-gita from someone who loves Krishna, Who follows same mood of devotion as Arjuna. Saints like Prabhupada understand Vedas and their value, Learn art of bhakti by reading their works through and through.