The Next Generation of Silent Submarines Could Defeat Radar and Sonar Sensing

By David Hambling

Silent Subs Peter Bollinger

Defense systems can detect stealth submarines using two methods: sonar, which bounces sound waves off a craft, and radar, which can identify subtle disturbances on or below the ocean’s surface that can indicate a sub at depth. Now scientists are developing acoustic and fluid cloaking methods that could defeat both tactics.

The acoustic cloak would use metamaterials—engineered composites designed to display certain natural properties, such as magnetism or refraction—to bend sound waves around the craft, making it undetectable to sonar. A fluid cloak would alter the flow of water over a craft, concealing any wake or turbulence and eliminating the threat from radar. Both kinds of material could, in theory, be fashioned into a sheath that would slip over an existing attack submarine. The Office of Naval Research declined to comment on any new cloaking programs, but it is clearly aware that other militaries may be working on them—the Navy began a Metamaterial Countermeasure and Defeat Program in 2009.

COMPLETE CLOAKING

A material that combines acoustic and fluid cloaking systems is possible, says Yaroslav Urzhumov, an assistant research professor at the Center for Metamaterials at Duke University, but won’t happen for a while. If and when it does, Urzhumov speculates that the final product would appear as a housing of fine, water-permeable mesh.

ZERO WAKE

A fluid cloak would consist of hundreds of small water jets, similar to those found on Jet Skis, housed within a mesh sheath. The jets would accelerate water as it entered the sheath [red and orange] and slow it as it left [green and blue]. With no net change in speed, the water would close around the sub seamlessly, generating no disturbance.

Subtle Giveaways:  Peter Bollinger

SUBTLE GIVEAWAYS

A sub traveling at depth can still broadcast its location. The bulges on the ocean surface made by an object moving underwater, called the Bernoulli hump [red, in the image above], may be detectable from a craft as deep as 1,000 feet. Like any vessel, subs leave a V-shaped trail [green], known as a Kelvin wake, which can also be detected on the surface. Fluid cloaking would eliminate both the Bernoulli hump and Kelvin wake.

BETTER SOUNDPROOFING

Scientists can engineer metamaterials that bend sound waves around an object by combining materials of different densities. Waves speed up when they hit the cloak and slow on departure, creating no net distortion. So far, scientists have cloaked simple shapes such as cones and cylinders. But, Urzhumov says, more complex shapes could be cloaked as well.

Read more about the invisible warriors of the future: The engineering breakthroughs that will make everything from planes to subs to soldiers...disappear.

THREE CRITICAL STEPS FOR STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

The New Year is a great time to start a new business, but be sure to be aware of what you are getting into. Before you ditch a secure income make sure you have taken these 3 critical steps in starting your new career!

Fox Business explains…

Is your New Year’s resolution to start a business? If so, don’t wave goodbye to the security of a steady paycheck so fast.

In workshops with prospective entrepreneurs, I preach the “slow go” approach to start up a business organization. My preference for first-time entrepreneurs is to wait to quit a salaried job as long as possible to preserve personal savings.

No. 1: Get organized. I wince each time I hear startup entrepreneurs say they can’t call on customers until they get their business and domain names, logos, Websites and marketing materials in place. Most of this work can be completed prior to leaving a day job.

Also, to prevent having to redo all startup business organization and marketing materials, make sure your selected business and brand names are free of trademark conflicts. Start by visiting the U.S. Trademark Electronic Search System (“TESS”), where all searches are free.

No. 2: Get your financial house in order. It is said that the best time to apply for credit is when you don’t need it. Entrepreneurs tend to get a better deal if they tap the equity in their home or apply to increase credit card spending limits before they leave a salaried job. Also, pre-startup is the right time to improve poor personal credit scores that can increase the costs of small business loans, equipment leases, credit card processing services for e-commerce operations, and more.

No. 3: Organize your company structure. Will your startup be set up as a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company, a partnership, an S-corporation or a C-corporation? This is a fundamental question that, among other considerations, determines the taxes entrepreneurs will pay on business profits and personal income.

Get more information from Fox Business!

 

How the brain routes traffic for maximum alertness

A new UC Davis study shows how the brain reconfigures its connections to minimize distractions and take best advantage of our knowledge of situations.

"In order to behave efficiently, you want to process relevant sensory information as fast as possible, but relevance is determined by your current situation," said Joy Geng, assistant professor of psychology at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain.

For example, a flashing road sign alerts us to traffic merging ahead; or a startled animal might cue you to look out for a hidden predator.

When concentrating on a specific task, it's helpful to reconfigure brain networks so that task-relevant information is processed most efficiently and external distractions are reduced, Geng found.

Geng and co-author Nicholas DiQuattro, a graduate student in psychology, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activity in volunteers carrying out a simple test. They compared their results to mathematical models to infer connectivity between different areas of the brain. The study appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

The subjects had to look for a letter "T" in a box and indicate which way it faced by pressing a button. They were also presented with a "distractor": another letter T in a box, but rotated 90 degrees.

The distractor was either similar in appearance to the target, or brightened to be more attention-getting.

Subjects did better in trials with an "attention-getting" distractor than a less obvious one, and lit up specific areas of the brain accordingly.

The new work shows that the brain doesn't always "ramp up" to deal with the situation at hand, Geng said. Instead, it changes how traffic moves through the existing hard-wired network -- rather like changing water flow through a network of pipes or information flow over a computer network -- in order to maximize efficiency.

Provided by University of California - Davis

"How the brain routes traffic for maximum alertness." January 12th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-brain-routes-traffic-maximum.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Scientists identify gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain

The Salk researchers discovered the master gene that tells cells to develop multiple hair-like cilia, such as those seen in pink in this false-colored electron microscope image of the surface of a frog embryo. Credit: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Chris Kintner, Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, and Matthew Joens and James Fitzpatrick, Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding may help scientists generate new therapies that use stem cells to replace damaged tissues in the lung and other organs.

"Cells with multiple cilia play a number of important roles, including moving fluids through the respiratory tract, brain and spinal cord," says Christopher R. Kintner, a professor in Salk's Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, who led the research. "Knowing the gene that instructs cells to develop multiple cilia helps us understand how we might coax stem cells into developing into this type of cell, which we could then use to repair damaged tissue."

The findings of the research, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Salk's Innovation Grants Program, were published in the January 8 online issue of Nature Cell Biology.

Kintner and his collaborator, Jennifer Stubbs, a scientist now at Pathway Genomics, a San Diego biotech company, along with Eszter Vladar, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Jeffery Axelrod, at the Stanford University School of Medicine, made their discovery by initially studying the embryos of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis).

Multiciliate cells form on the outside of the embryos, making them easy to study, and the genetic mechanisms that direct the frog cells to develop multiple cilia are likely similar to those of humans.

Humans and other organisms inherited cilia from our single-celled primordial ancestors that used these beating structures as a form of propulsion. Most cells in our body project a single, non-moving cilium used as a tiny antenna for detecting chemical and physical stimuli. But certain specialized tissues require cells with 100 to 200 moving cilia that beat in concert to move fluids through the body.

These cells aid in pushing cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and spinal cord, helping to circulate and replenish this fluid. In the respiratory system, the cilia push mucus that traps dust, pathogens and other foreign matter from the lung up into the trachea, helping prevent infections.

In a previous study, published in Nature Genetics, Kintner and Stubbs identified a protein, FoxJ1, that promoted the formation of a single moving cilium. What remained unclear is how certain cells activate FoxJ1 in a way that leads to the formation of hundreds of motile cilia per cell.

In their new study, Kintner and his collaborators identified a gene that produces a second protein, which they dubbed "multicilin," that tells cells to develop multiple cilia. When cells are exposed to multicilin, their genetic mechanisms for developing multiple cilia are activated. In a developing embryo, the protein instructs certain stem cells that will line the lungs, kidney and skin to develop into multiciliate cells.

When the researchers inhibited multicilin's action, the frogs' skin and kidney failed to form multiciliate cells. The scientists also found that multicilin is both necessary and sufficient to instruct the development of multiple cilia in cells that line the airways of mice.

"This means that multicilin directs the development of these cells in a number of different organs," Kintner says. "How multiciliate cells develop had been a mystery, but this fills in a big piece of the puzzle."

Kintner notes that patients with respiratory diseases such as chronic asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis often suffer from lung infections, which may result from damage to the ciliated cells that move protective mucus out of the airways. In the future, stem cell therapies might replace those damage cells with new ciliated cells, but first scientists need to know how to guide stem cells along a pathway into multiciliate cells.

"Our findings suggest that multicilin could be central to differentiating stem cells into replacement cells," Kintner says. "It's a necessary step in developing such therapies."

Provided by Salk Institute

"Scientists identify gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain." January 12th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-scientists-gene-crucial-lungs-brain.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans (w/ Audio)

Scientists already knew the tongue could sense five distinct tastes but disagreed about over whether taste buds could detect fat. New research finds the tongue recognizes fat and that variations in a gene make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat in foods.
Credit: Washington University School of Medicine

Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds.

Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat.

The study is the first to identify a human receptor that can taste fat and suggests that some people may be more sensitive to the presence of fat in foods. The study is available online in the Journal of Lipid Research.

Investigators found that people with a particular variant of the CD36 gene are far more sensitive to the presence of fat than others.

"The ultimate goal is to understand how our perception of fat in food might influence what foods we eat and the quantities of fat that we consume," says senior investigator Nada A. Abumrad, PhD, the Dr. Robert A. Atkins Professor of Medicine and Obesity Research. "In this study, we've found one potential reason for individual variability in how people sense fat. It may be, as was shown recently, that as people consume more fat, they become less sensitive to it, requiring more intake for the same satisfaction. What we will need to determine in the future is whether our ability to detect fat in foods influences our fat intake, which clearly would have an impact on obesity."

People who made more CD36 protein could easily detect the presence of fat. In fact, study subjects who made the most CD36 were eight times more sensitive to the presence of fat than those who made about 50 percent less of the protein.

The researchers studied 21 people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, which is considered to be obese. Some participants had a genetic variant that led to the production of more CD36. Others made much less. And some were in between.

Participants were asked to taste solutions from three different cups. One contained small amounts of a fatty oil. The other two contained solutions that were similar in texture to the oil but were fat-free. Subjects were asked to choose the cup that was different.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

Washington University researchers are the first to identify a potential human receptor for tasting fat. In a series of taste tests, they've found that people can identify fat in a liquid solution and that their ability to identify fat changes according to how much of a particular receptor protein they manufacture. Jim Dryden reports. Credit: Washington University BioMed Radio

"We did the same three-cup test several times with each subject to learn the thresholds at which individuals could identify fat in the solution," explains first author M. Yanina Pepino, PhD, research assistant professor of medicine. "If we had asked, 'does it taste like fat to you?' that could be very subjective. So we tried to objectively measure the lowest concentration of fat at which someone could detect a difference."

Her team masked input that might help participants identify fat by sight or smell. To eliminate visual cues, they lit the testing area with a red lamp. Study subjects also wore nose clips so that they could not smell the solutions.

Fat is an important component of the diet, and both humans and animals usually prefer high-fat, energy-dense foods. Scientists have believed that people identify those high-fat foods mainly by texture, but this study suggests that the presence of fat can change the way our tongues perceive the food, just as it does for the tastes sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savory (umami).

The CD36 discovery follows research that had identified a role for the gene in rats and mice. Scientists had learned that when animals are genetically engineered without a working CD36 gene, they no longer display a preference for fatty foods. In addition, animals that can't make the CD36 protein have difficulty digesting fat.

Up to 20 percent of people are believed to have the variant in the CD36 gene that is associated with making significantly less CD36 protein. That, in turn, could mean they are less sensitive to the presence of fat in food.

Abumrad was the first to identify CD36 as the protein that facilitates the uptake of fatty acids. She says better understanding of how the protein works in people could be important in the fight against obesity.

People with obesity are at an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, arthritis and other problems. Obesity rates have risen dramatically over the past 30 years as more people have become sedentary, and diets incorporate more hamburgers, French fries, fried chicken and other high-fat foods.

"Diet can affect sensitivity to fat, and in animals, diet also influences the amount of CD36 that's made," Pepino says. "If we follow the results in animals, a high-fat diet would lead to less production of CD36, and that, in turn, could make a person less sensitive to fat. From our results in this study, we would hypothesize that people with obesity may make less of the CD36 protein. So it would seem logical that the amounts of the protein we make can be modified, both by a person's genetics and by the diet they eat."

Our diet contains fat, mainly in the form of triglycerides, which are made of fatty acids linked to glyerol. In the tast test, the researchers presented subjects with two types of fat. Some cups contained a free fatty acid. Others contained triglyerides.

Pepino and Abumrad knew from animal studies that CD36 is activated by fatty acids but not triglycerides. Human subjects, however, were able to taste both. Pepino believes that's probably due to the activity of an enzyme called lipase in the saliva that breaks the triglycerides, releasing the fatty acids while the fat is still in the mouth.

"Rats, for example, can produce salivary lipase, and the lipase quickly will begin to digest the triglyceride and convert it into a fatty acid," she explains. "In humans, the role of lipase hasn't been as clear. In our experiments, people could detect fat whether it was a triglyceride or a fatty acid."

But when the researchers added the diet drug orlistat, subjects could still taste the fatty acids but were less able to detect the triglycerides. Orlistat inhibits lipase in the mouth, stomach and intestine and is often prescribed to people who are obese to prevent them from absorbing fat in foods.

"Orlistat made it more difficult for people to taste fat," Pepino says. "The solution had to contain higher amounts of triglyceride before they could detect fat. With free fatty acid, however, there was no difference."

Provided by Washington University School of Medicine

"Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans (w/ Audio)." January 12th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-receptor-fat-humans-audio.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Brain region can signal early-stage Alzheimer's and other dementias

A and B show the correlation of cognitive impairment in early dementia with sugar metabolism in the inferior frontal junction (IFJ; red). In healthy subjects, the control functions are located in the same region (C). Personality changes such as those that may occur in dementia are associated with other regions of the brain (D). Credit: MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

(Medical Xpress) -- A key misplaced yet again? Unable to recall a name? Forgetfulness frequently leads to anxiety: is it just a sign of age, or are these the first symptoms of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease? It has never been easy to answer this question in the early stages - however, that might be about to change. Using modern imaging techniques, scientists from Leipzig’s Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Leipzig University have identified a brain hub that is associated with thought functions often affected by dementias. This could facilitate improved predictions of the progress of dementia.

Dementia disorders are one of the major problems faced by societies with aging populations. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which generally makes its appearance after the age of 60. As a rule, it is preceded by a phase of mild cognitive impairment that does not diminish quality of life. Forgetting the keys or checking twice for the post – these slight impairments of memory are easy enough to live with. Experience shows that only about half of those affected by such forgetfulness go on to develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia in the following years.

“In dementias, other thought processes are often affected as well as memory, such as those known as the executive or control functions”, explains Matthias Schroeter of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Using brain scans and modern imaging techniques, his team in Leipzig are working to make early diagnosis possible. “These control functions come into play when we face new and unexpected situations, for example, enabling us to react in flexible and appropriate ways. If they are affected in addition to memory, patients can no longer compensate for their handicap by, say, writing reminders for themselves.” Deficiencies in these control functions actually indicate that dementia is imminent.

In a current study, the researchers use measurements of brain metabolism to show that impairments to the control functions are reflected in a specific part of the frontal lobe of the brain, the inferior frontal junction. The data suggests that this junction, where two depressions or sulci meet, is of major importance in the development of dementia and its symptoms.

For the purposes of this study, the scientists examined 54 patients with different early-stage dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease. The patients completed typical dementia tests used to evaluate cognitive impairment. One example is the classic Stroop test, in which the subject must read words that represent specific colours (yellow, red, blue, etc.) but that are printed in different colours. The idea is to name the colour in which the word is printed as fast as possible: a task that requires quick rethinking in the brain. Another test, this time used to assess language competence, is the supermarket test. Within a given time, patients have to name as many items as possible that can be bought in a supermarket. A third test is used to test problem-solving ability. Together, these and other tests give a good overall picture of the cognitive deficiencies that may occur in dementia and that affect the functions most likely to impinge on daily activities. Over and above the dementia tests, all patients were subjected to a PET scan (positron emission tomography) to assess their cerebral metabolism. The resulting images showed that problems detected by the dementia tests were associated with reduced sugar metabolism in the neurons of the inferior frontal junction.

If this correlation is confirmed in further studies, it could be that scans of the frontal lobe of the brain will provide the answer to that pressing, fearful question: just forgetfulness or the onset of dementia?

More information: Matthias L. Schroeter, et al. Executive deficits are related to the inferior frontal junction – An FDG-PET study in early dementia.Brain (2011) doi: 10.1093/brain/awr311 First published online: December 19, 2011

Provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

"Brain region can signal early-stage Alzheimer's and other dementias." January 12th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-brain-region-early-stage-alzheimer-dementias.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

***30-story building built in 15 days*** Construction time lapse *View ...

                       What can you accomplish in 360 hours? 
The Chinese sustainable building company, Broad Group, has yet attempted another impossible feat, building a 30-story tall hotel prototype in 360 hours, after building a 15-story building in a week earlier in 2011.

You may ask why in a hurry, and is it safe? The statistics in the video can put you in good faith. Prefabricated modular buildings has many advantages over conventional buildings. 

Higher precision in fabrication (+/- 0.2mm).
More coordinated on-site construction management.
Shorter construction time span.
Lower construction waste.
Also many other health and energy features are included in Broad Sustainable Buildings (BSB)

The building was built over last Christmas time and finished before New Years Eve of 2012.

/////////

An Introduction to BROAD SUSTAINABLE BUILDING CO., LTD Jan.11, 2012
Established in March, 2009, BROAD SUSTAINABLE BUILDING CO., LTD is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BROAD Group, solely operates the magnitude-9 earthquake resistant, 5x more energy efficient, 20x purer air, 90% factory-built, and 1% construction waste Broad Sustainable Buildings (BSB).
BSB headquarter and its R&D Center are situated in the Xiangyin County of Hunan Province in Southern China, with 80,000sqm workshops, 900 employees in 2011. In 2012 with 220,000sqm workshops, 12,000 employees, and in 2013 with 360,000sqm workshops and 19,000 employees, reaching an annual production and installation capacity of 10 million sqms. BSB's central goal is:
1. Improving R&D of BSB technologies, setting up supply chains
2. Sell BSBs in compliance with local regulations in the Hunan building market.
3. Transfer BSB technology to 100 partnership enterprise, every Chinese province and distributed evenly in each nation worldwide. 
By December, 2011, BSB technology reached finalization, altogether with 12 BSBs built in Changsha, Xiangyin, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Mexico and developed 2 franchise partners in Ningxia and Fujian with identical factory sizes to the Xiangyin BSB Factory. Another 10 Chinese & international potential partners are in negotiation.
BROAD envisions in the near future, there will be one BSB among three buildings worldwide, allowing all men and women to share BSB's solace. Proving that by responsible use of technology, earth's environment and human living can be elevated simultaneously

I Love You Man

“I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15) Though the issue of freedom has long since revolved around government’s restriction of it, the real yearning for liberty comes from within the spirit soul, who cannot even act out its natural propensity when residing within a large body and having a giant field to run on. Only through the proper outlets is the natural love found within the heart allowed to be set free, to run in every which direction without exhaustion. For a soul constantly in touch with the divine consciousness, a liberated individual who showers forth heaps of praise on its beloved master - whose transcendental glories are inexhaustible - there is no figurative lactic acid buildup. The perfect match can only be reunited by following the principles of bhakti. Picture the inebriated person who gets happy when they are in their coveted state. It does seem odd to try to find anything praiseworthy about the behavior of someone who is obviously not trying to follow the rules of propriety. Inebriation, though enjoyed by many, isn’t something that one would consider a good state to be in. We don’t want people driving their cars while drunk. We don’t want them making phone calls in the middle of the night to people they shouldn’t be talking to. We don’t allow drunkards to come over our home and perform handiwork. Thus what can we actually learn from a drunk person? Depending on the type of person involved, drinking can lessen inhibitions with respect to the outpouring of emotion. The drunkard who tells everyone else how much they love them reveals that within the heart there is only affection for others. In the state of sobriety that affection is covered up. There are also the social conventions restricting the outpouring of emotion. If a sober person were to come up to us and say, “Hey, I love you man. You are great”, we’d wonder if they were on some type of drug or if they had gotten enough sleep the night before. Yet if the same person acts that way when intoxicated the behavior is not only allowed, but somewhat appreciated. “Oh, isn’t that nice? They must really mean what they are saying because now they are not inhibited in their speech.” In every relationship in life the release of emotion is checked. The spirit soul is actually full of potential for action of the loving variety. From love comes pleasure, and pleasure is what every individual seeks. Even amongst the monists who abstract every type of behavior and thus consider God to be one gigantic collection of everything, there is still the desire for pleasure. The psychiatrist who shrinks the heads of their patients by abstracting behavior and considering every action of the human being to be part of some genetically predisposed tendency also must seek pleasure despite their high knowledge. Both within and without the realm of spirituality the search for pleasure is present, but only with one beneficiary can the release of action aimed at attaining that pleasure continue on and on without exhaustion. Unmotivated and uninterrupted are the properties that describe bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, when executed at the highest level. This combination seems paradoxical, as in most cases interruption is the initial motivation for action. We work hard in school so that we’ll see the interruption of graduation. We put in the long hours at the office during the day so that we can go home at night and relax. In every area of endeavor except love there is this combination of motivation and interruption. Yet even with love there is forced interruption. The mother who loves her child without motive and throughout the child’s entire life must eventually part ways. Outside the company of your beloved, there is no way to love them directly. You may think of them in your mind, but the thoughts do not reach the person being remembered. The spirit soul is limited in its residence. One soul can only occupy one established dwelling at a particular time. Through mystic yoga one may temporarily perform some magic by traveling outside of their body or even dividing their soul, but even through this difficult effort there is no way for one soul to simultaneously reside within every single creature. “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, or He Himself, Krishna, the localized Supersoul, sits in the heart directing the living being. After changing bodies, the living entity forgets his past deeds, but the Supersoul, as the knower of the past, present and future, remains the witness of all his activities.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.61 Purport) The Supersoul is different. He resides within every single life form, right next to the individual soul. This means that wherever we are, we can offer our obeisances to Him. And why should we? The release of loving emotions is triggered by the qualities of the party being loved, or more specifically the relationship we have to them. A celebrity is honored for their extraordinary abilities in acting, playing sports, writing, governing, etc. Parents, children, siblings, relatives and friends are honored because of the relationship we have to them, one that was established via some physical link, either through family lines or through close proximity in an environment where fruitive work was conducted. The Supersoul is but an expansion of the original Personality of Godhead, who is known as Bhagavan because of His unmatched transcendental features. Right away, we see that just based on His position He is worthy of our praise. Since He already resides within us as the Supersoul, there is a relationship to Him established. It is one based on both proximity and heredity, as everyone comes from God. There is a simultaneous oneness and difference between the living beings and the Supreme Lord. God is the great soul, while we are tiny fragments expanded from Him. The fragments have the same qualitative makeup, but they are limited in their pervasiveness. The individual soul is the localized witness that can hardly remember what happened a few hours ago, while the Supersoul is the all-pervading witness who knows everything past, present and future about every single living entity. “The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bg. 4.5) The link to the Supersoul is ideal because the relationship is already established and also because of the pleasure that comes from connecting with Him. Just as the happy drunkard shows that they love everyone when their guard is down, the spirit soul, when immersed in bhakti, reveals that it has unbounded love for the Supreme Lord. With this immeasurable love comes an uninterrupted and unmotivated flow of work to stay in the good graces of the beloved, to remain fixed in divine trance. From this connection, love for all creatures of the world, who are related to God in the same way, is automatically established. Loving God, who is known as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness, is never inappropriate. Even the mother must check her affection at some point in the child’s life. If the child is mature and married, what can the mother do by buying clothes and telling them how to live and where to go? The paramour must be mindful of not smothering their partner, lest they run the risk of alienating their beloved and causing a rift in the relationship. The drunkard can express their love for others when they are “hammered”, but under sober conditions the same behavior would be considered strange. In bhakti, one can spend the entire day chanting the Lord’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and not run the risk of getting out of favor with Him. Indeed, just the opposite happens. With each successive utterance of the holy name, the mind gets further purified to the point that eventually there is no other desire except to love Krishna. What other beneficiary would allow us to continue to love, while giving us increased pleasure as the bond strengthens? You can stay with Krishna for millions of years and each new day will feel like it is better than the one that just passed. Aside from chanting, there are other outlets for service such as reading books, gazing at the deity, visiting temples, talking to others about Krishna, and writing poems and books glorifying the Supreme Lord and those who distribute His message to others. Some people even talk to Krishna. While this may seem crazy, why wouldn’t the Lord hear such heartfelt words? He proved many times during His past descents to earth that even through separation one can worship Him perfectly. AsLord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna accepted the foodstuff offered to Him by devotees residing hundreds of miles away. Lord Krishna heard every one of the prayers of the gopis and reciprocated by remaining within their consciousness. Following bhakti-yoga is the true path towards liberation, towards being freed of the shackles borne of material contact. This freedom is every soul’s birthright, irrespective of present conditions. Whether one is practicing religion or wholly against it, the search for pleasure will continue nonetheless. In the absence of divine love, service will be directed to so many other entities, but the outpouring of affection will always be checked. With Krishna, the invitation is an open one, as He remains within the heart for each go around in a material body. If it takes us one lifetime or many to attain perfection, there are no hard feelings on the Lord’s part, for He is kindly awaiting our return to His spiritual land. Question: If getting drunk helps a person loosen their inhibitions when dealing with others, will it not also help in bhakti? Though intoxication may help slacken inhibitions to the point that one feels freer to express their loving sentiments towards others, it doesn’t have any beneficial effect in spiritual life. The soul is naturally blissful and knowledgeable, which means that it has nothing to do with the body. Yoga practice starts with identifying oneself properly, aham brahmasmi. From the proper identification comes the sober realization that one must do whatever they can to limit the influence of the senses that is concomitant with residence in a temporary form. Both the drunkard and the transcendentalist are looking for a way out of the perpetual ups and downs that result from the swinging pendulum of acceptance and rejection in material affairs, but only the transcendentalist following bhakti can find real liberation, where the influence of the senses is naturally removed. With intoxication, there is a temporary escape from the senses, but the release is an illusion, for the fall back into material affairs is very painful. In the process, much damage is done both physically and mentally to the individual. With yoga, the effect is the opposite. There may be some temporary pains resulting from refraining from meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, gambling and a host of other sinful behaviors the living being was conditioned to, but in the end this abstention turns out to be beneficial. Think of the sick patient who is told to avoid certain foods in order to get better. If those foods are ingested, there is a risk of remaining ill or even getting more sick. On the other hand, if a little nuisance in the form of renunciation is tolerated, a better position of a healthy condition can be reached. By practicing the principles of bhakti the mind becomes fully sober, and the soul is set free to act upon its loving desires without requiring external aid. The natural highs of seeing Krishna’s smiling face, hearing the sounds of His holy names, and motivating oneself to be dedicated in His service far surpass those felt with intoxication, be it caused by material success, the consumption of adult beverages, or the association of women. Shri Krishna is the reservoir of pleasure, so one who can connect with Him gets to bask in that pleasure all the time. In Closing: After drunkard consumed beer of many cans, Goes up to friends and says, “Hey, I love you man.” To that with a smile others might greet, For the kind sentiment is rather sweet. The same love exists inside all of us, But difficult to release for lack of trust. Loving Shri Krishna is the most ideal, High affection for Him we already feel. To find better place accept some austerity, So that in Krishna’s company you’ll spend eternity.

Two Advice....

Shirdi Sai Baba Aarti Devuni pancha Aarti Karo (baba evening aarthi).wmv