Monday, February 27, 2012

A Potent Combination

“If, based on Sampati’s words, I bring Rama here, Raghava, not seeing His wife, will burn all of the monkeys.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 13.53)

sampāti vacanāc ca api rāmam yadi ānayāmi aham ||
apaśyan rāghavo bhāryām nirdahet sarva vānarān |

Hanuman’s consideration for his friends and well-wishers is amazing. Sometimes it is annoying if someone else keeps being nice to us for no reason, not wanting to offend or upset us in any way. After a while you feel like saying, “Just be real with me. Stop treating me like I’m so special.” In Hanuman’s case, the beneficiaries of his kindness cannot be smothered with love. The dog or cat will eventually leave your side after you give them too much. They are animals after all, so their instincts dictate where they will go. The spouse similarly cannot accept too much affection because they will start to feel smothered. With every gift accepted they start incurring debts, the burden of which can be too much to bear. Only the Supreme Lord, the fountainhead of all energies, appreciates even the smallest kind gesture made towards Him. Whether they are delivered just once during a lifetime or one after another like a conveyor belt manufacturing products in a timely manner, these gestures are accepted regardless. With Hanuman, his kindness never goes in vain, as every time he thinks of his beloved Lord, his resolve strengthens, allowing him to continue on his mission, no matter how difficult the obstacles placed in front of him may be.

Who does Hanuman view as God? And who is Hanuman? Is he a monkey god of the Hindu tradition? We are introduced to Hanuman in the sacred Ramayana, which was composed by Maharishi Valmiki many thousands of years ago. The creation is divided into four time periods to make things easier to understand. Why would we need to understand the creation? Knowledge is power, so any time you can understand your position relative to others in society, and even to larger periods of time, it is to your advantage. Something is advantageous when it is used to positively affect an outcome. Knowledge of both the advantages and the right purpose to further is a wonderful combination, one of the most potent in fact. Bring these two pieces of information together and you get maturation of consciousness, which is the ultimate benediction.

It’s difficult to think beyond our current lifetime or prior to the time of our birth, but in reality our time on this mysterious land is like a small blip on a radar screen. In fact, it would take the most powerful microscope to see the point on a timeline that plotted each person’s duration of life since the beginning of creation. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, provide some details into the nature of creation and how man’s tendencies progress as further time elapses. This information is not meant to be a punishment, criticism, or a way of scaring someone into believing in a specific religious figure. Rather, the science is presented so that the inquisitive, those looking for real and lasting pleasure, can make an informed decision as to which path to take in life.

A path in Sanskrit is known as a marga. By default, the living entity takes the kama-marga, the path of sense gratification. Do whatever makes you happy. If you like to eat, eat. If you want to drink, then drink. Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy your time. Pay no attention to how you got here, what your purpose is, or where you will go in the future. Just live in the here and now. This path obviously brings short term happiness, but even a minimally developed consciousness of the human species understands that there are many perils with only following the impulses of the senses. Drug addiction, obesity, inability to cope with loss, and so many other debilitating issues arise from only looking to satisfy personal desires, or kama.

The kama-marga is automatically followed by the lower species, the animals and the like, because they don’t know any better. They don’t have the ability to recognize patterns in behavior and make alterations to further a better purpose. Maybe a dog can be trained to sit up, fetch a paper, and go to the bathroom outside, but this doesn’t put any controls on desire. Rather, the ability to think critically and to self-impose restrictions to further a higher goal belongs exclusively to the human species. This ability also exists for a reason.

The Vedas reveal that there is a science to account for the different species. Picture a laboratory where you have all sorts of raw elements. You get to pick and choose how you want to mix them up. The different combinations have different results. This sort of explains how the species are created. The higher authorities - which can be God, mother nature or just the elements depending on your angle of vision - take combinations of material substance and form a specific body type.

Yet just the material elements are not enough. We cannot grab a lump of dirt from the ground, add some blood, and create our own autonomous living being. We need the injection of spirit, a spark of life that ensures that the living being can grow, leave byproducts, and then diminish when needed. Though scientists have come a long way in their treatment of diseases, they are still baffled by how the individual comes and goes, how the bodies grow on their own and then decay once the person dies.

A living being, a spirit soul, part and parcel of Brahman, is placed into a specific body type to live out their life. As the spirit souls have different desires, not all body types are the same. The different species are influenced by past karma, or fruitive work, and desire. In this sense, birth in a lower species is only considered a punishment if you have an aim higher than sense gratification. As the pursuit of pure sense enjoyment proves to be quite harmful, leading to a neutral state in the best case and utter misery in other instances, the human being has a much higher business to fulfill.

The sad thing is that as more time elapses from the beginning of creation, knowledge of that purpose becomes more hidden to society. This should make sense because if the first piece of information is missing, that of the position relative to other species, how will the proper destination be known? If I am playing for one sports team but I identify with the opponents, how will I help my team achieve victory? Similarly, if the human being imitates the animals, thinking that sense gratification is the ultimate aim of life, how will it know the proper path to follow?

The four time periods of creation represent the four manifestations of dharma, or religiosity. Dharma is also an essential characteristic. When it applies to the soul, it refers to individual spirit’s tendency to serve. The highest pleasure is found through service, irrespective of what anyone’s opinions or experiences say. Even the most selfish person is simply serving themselves. The soul’s characteristic can never be removed, but it can be misdirected depending on the development of consciousness or lack thereof.

In the first time period, dharma stands on all four legs. This means that man is generally pious and knows of the spirit soul’s position superior to matter. Spirit is described as Brahman because it is truth. Material existence is full of dualities because what may be favorable for one person may not be for another. “One man’s food is another man’s poison”, as the famous saying goes. For Brahman, there is no such double-sidedness. Spirit is above the duality of life and death. Hence a spirit soul never takes birth or dies. The grief that comes with death is due only to temporary ignorance, which is fostered by visual evidence that doesn’t penetrate deep enough to see the presence of the spiritual spark within the bodies. Different body types are continually accepted through what is known as reincarnation. Brahman is transcendental to this cycle.

With each successive time period, dharma loses one leg. In the Treta Yuga, the second period, man was still very pious, as dharma had three legs to stand on. It was in this period of time that the sweetheart sage Valmiki composed his Ramayana poem, which describes the glorious acts of Lord Rama, an incarnation of God. While Brahman indicates that all spirit souls are equal, there is a higher entity known as Parabrahman. As more information is revealed about Parabrahman, His features are better known. With enough education and practice the knowledgeable living entity eventually receives the fruit of their existence: full God consciousness. The tendency to serve within the individual spirit has an ideal beneficiary. Not surprisingly that target is God.

Thus we have the two vital pieces of information: our position relative to nature and other living entities and our ultimate purpose in life. As we see it can be very difficult to acquire either set of information. Combine that difficulty with the fact that the Supreme Lord’s glories can never be properly enumerated and you get the vast collection of works that comprise Vedic literature. The Ramayana describes Parabrahman’s spiritual manifestation as a warrior prince. Though Rama roamed the earth like other human beings, He was not subject to the influence of material nature, karma, or kama. There is no difference between God’s body and spirit, irrespective of how that body appears to us.

Shri Hanuman is Rama’s greatest servant. Imagine someone who knows their constitutional position and the meaning of life. Now take that same person and put them in the company of their beloved, the ideal beneficiary of everyone’s service. That combination gives us Hanuman and Shri Rama. For service to take place, there must be specific tasks that need to be accomplished. God has everything, so what can any of us do for Him? Knowing that our constitutional position is to serve Him, the Lord creates opportunities for service. The opportunities are paired up with the individual’s ability and level of enthusiasm.

With Hanuman these two features were in the highest supply. No one is more eager to serve God than Hanuman. Also, no one is more capable of action, both physical and mental, than Hanuman. Therefore Rama gave him the daunting task of finding His wife, Sita Devi. She had gone missing while the Lord and His younger brother Lakshmana were roaming the forests. Hanuman belonged to a monkey race known as Vanaras, but since this was the Treta Yuga, even the monkeys were rather civilized. Rama and Lakshmana aligned with the Vanaras residing on Mount Rishyamukha in the Kishkindha forest. Their leader was Sugriva, and he had a massive army of monkeys just ready to help Rama. Hanuman was part of that army.

In the above referenced verse from the Ramayana Hanuman’s concluding thoughts during a particularly difficult time in his mission to find Sita are given. The monkeys divided into search parties, and the one Hanuman was in almost didn’t make it. Getting nowhere in their search, they were ready to pack it in, but at the last minute they got help from a bird named Sampati. He told them that Sita was on the island of Lanka being held captive by the king of Rakshasas, Ravana. A Rakshasa is like a human being but more prone to sinful activity. Through black magic and austerities performed for the wrong reasons, they get tremendous material powers, which are then used for nefarious purposes.

Only Hanuman was capable of reaching this distant island. Thus he left his friends behind and had to take up the search by himself. The difficulties of his journey are nicely described in the Ramayana’s Sundara-kanda. Yet whatever physical barriers there were, they couldn’t compare to the mental hurdles facing Hanuman. With love comes a strong desire to please the object of your affection. The negative side of this is that when you fail to properly offer service, you feel the worst kind of sadness. This is essentially what happened to Hanuman. He amazingly made it to Lanka and roamed around the city without being noticed. Yet he could not find Sita anywhere. He finally had to settle upon the horrible thought that maybe he wasn’t going to find her. Maybe she wasn’t there.

The strongest mental demons still can’t defeat Hanuman. Thinking the matter over, he decided that the proper course of action would be to continue searching. In the above referenced verse we see that he doesn’t want to bring Shri Rama to Lanka, for if the intelligence received by Sampati were incorrect, Rama would not be happy. Of course Rama would not slay the monkeys or be angry with Hanuman, for they had tried their best. Yet Hanuman thought along these lines because that is how angry he was at himself for having not found Sita.

Hanuman wouldn’t have minded punishment from Rama. The devotees love to be chastised by theirspiritual master for faults. This seems like an odd trait, but the stern displeasure caused by disappointment on the superior’s part shows that they really care about you. Hanuman also is not concerned about his own wellbeing. Whether he is famous and worshiped by millions of people or completely unknown is the same to him. His happiness comes from knowing that Rama is happy. In this particular thought, Hanuman’s concern is also for the wellbeing of the monkeys. They were his friends and they didn’t deserve to be punished. Thus, rather than make everyone unhappy and put them into worse off positions, Hanuman would continue his search alone.

Should there be any doubt as to what happened next? How can such a sincere divine worker ever fail? Hanuman is endowed with tremendous physical and mental strength, but where he really stands out is in his dedication and devotion to God. His mental struggles in Lanka and his eventual triumph are included in the Ramayana for a reason. They serve to glorify Hanuman eternally and to let future generations know thatbhakti-marga, or the path of devotion, is not easy, but it yields the best results. If even Hanuman has to struggle, what then to speak of us lowly mortals trying to find our way through a time where dharma stands on only one leg. In the Kali Yuga, the current age and last time period of creation, dharma is conspicuous by its absence. Despite the impediments thrown our way, the example of Hanuman is still there to give guidance. He would eventually find Sita and help Rama and the monkeys defeat Ravana and rescue the beloved princess. In the process Hanuman found his way into the hearts of many sincere listeners.

Hanuman never wastes anyone’s time, though he thought he might be doing so by bringing Rama to Lanka without having found Sita. He succeeded in his mission all by himself, and he promises to help any soul interested in following the path of devotion back to the sugati, the supreme destination. Reincarnation does not have to continue. The fully God conscious departing soul quits their body for the last time and finds God’s personal association in the afterlife. The best tool for realizing that end is the regular chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

In Closing:

Know how to form proper identification,

Along with life’s aim, potent combination.

In beginning dharma with strength stands tall,

With each time period, from it one leg falls.

In Kali Yuga for dharma only one leg left,

Thus of proper knowledge mankind bereft.

Still Hanuman there to be beacon of light,

From pages of Ramayana get divine sight.

Search for Sita a toll on him started to exact,

Would win, for Rama’s pleasure only Hanuman acts.

அன்பின் அருமை யாருக்குத் தெரியும்?!

முன்னொரு காலத்தில் ஒரு தீவில் எல்லா மனித உணர்ச்சிகளும் வாழ்ந்து வந்தன.

--மகிழ்ச்சி,வருத்தம்,அறிவு,அன்பு போன்ற அனைத்து உணர்ச்சிகளும்.

ஒரு நாள் அவைகளுக்குத் தெரிய வந்தது அந்தத் தீவு கடலில் மூழ்கப் போகிறதென்று.

உடனே எல்லாம் படகு கட்டித் தீவை விட்டுப் புறப்பட்டன-அன்பைத்தவிர.

கடைசி நொடி வரை அன்பு அங்கேயே இருக்கத் தீர்மானித்தது.

அந்தத் தீவு கிட்டத்தட்ட மூழ்கி விட்ட நிலையில்,அன்பும் வெளியேறத் தீர்மானித்தது.

அப்போது பணம் ஒரு அழகிய படகில் சென்று கொண்டிருந்தது. அன்பு அதனிடம் உதவி கேட்டது.

“என் படகில் தங்கம்,வெள்ளி,வைரம் எல்லாம் இருக்கிறது.உனக்கு இடமில்லை” என்று சொல்லிச் சென்று விட்டது.

அந்தப்பக்கம் சென்று கொண்டிருந்த வீண் பெருமையை உதவி கேட்டது அன்பு.அது சொன்னது”நீ முழுவதும் நனைந்து போயிருக்கிறாய்.என் படகை நாசப்படுத்தி விடுவாய்”

வருத்தத்தைக் கேட்க அது சொன்னது”எனக்கு அமைதி வேண்டும் .நான் தனியாக இருக்க விரும்புகிறேன்”

மகிழ்ச்சி அவ்வளவு மகிழ்ச்சியாக இருந்தது,அன்பு கேட்டதே அதன் காதில் விழவில்லை.

அப்போது ஒரு குரல் கேட்டது “வந்து என் படகில் ஏறிக்கொள்”

ஒரு வயதானவரும் உடன் வேறு சில வயதானவர்களும் படகில் இருந்தனர்.

அன்பு படகில் ஏறிக்கொண்டது.

படகு நல்ல தரையில் நின்றது.

அன்பை அழைத்த அந்த உணர்வு நிற்காமல் போய்விட்டது.

அன்பு அருகில் இருந்த அறிவு என்னும்முதியவரைக் கேட்டது “அது யார்?”

“காலம்” பதில் வந்தது.

“காலம் ஏன் எனக்கு உதவி செய்தது?”

அறிவு ஒரு அறிவார்ந்த பார்வையுடன் சொன்னது ”ஏனென்றால், காலத்துக்குத்தான் தெரியும்,அன்பு எவ்வளவு மதிப்பு வாய்ந்தது என்று”

இணையத்தில் படித்தது

பிரியமுடன்
மீரா.J

Could rosemary scent boost brain performance?

Hailed since ancient times for its medicinal properties, we still have a lot to learn about the effects of rosemary. Now researchers writing in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE, have shown for the first time that blood levels of a rosemary oil component correlate with improved cognitive performance.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is one of many traditional medicinal plants that yield essential oils. But exactly how such plants affect human behaviour is still unclear. Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver, working at the Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre at Northumbria University, UK designed an experiment to investigate the pharmacology of 1,8-cineole (1,3,3-trimethyl-2-oxabicyclo[2,2,2]octane), one of rosemary's main chemical components.

The investigators tested cognitive performance and mood in a cohort of 20 subjects, who were exposed to varying levels of the rosemary aroma. Using blood samples to detect the amount of 1,8-cineole participants had absorbed, the researchers applied speed and accuracy tests, and mood assessments, to judge the rosemary oil's affects.

Results indicate for the first time in human subjects that concentration of 1,8-cineole in the blood is related to an individual's cognitive performance – with higher concentrations resulting in improved performance. Both speed and accuracy were improved, suggesting that the relationship is not describing a speed–accuracy trade off.

Meanwhile, although less pronounced, the chemical also had an effect on mood. However, this was a negative correlation between changes in contentment levels and blood levels of 1,8-cineole, which is particularly interesting because it suggests that compounds given off by the rosemary essential oil affect subjective state and cognitive performance through different neurochemical pathways. The oil did not appear to improve attention or alertness, however.

Terpenes like 1,8-cineole can enter the blood stream via the nasal or lung mucosa. As small, fat-soluble organic molecules, terpenes can easily cross the blood–brain barrier. Volatile 1,8-cineole is found in many aromatic plants, including eucalyptus, bay, wormwood and sage in addition to rosemary, and has already been the subject of a number of studies, including research that suggests it inhibits acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase enzymes, important in brain and central nervous system neurochemistry: rosemary components may prevent the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

"Only contentedness possessed a significant relationship with 1,8-cineole levels, and interestingly to some of the cognitive performance outcomes, leading to the intriguing proposal that positive mood can improve performance whereas aroused mood cannot," said Moss.

Typically comprising 35-45% by volume of rosemary essential oil, 1,8-cineole may possess direct pharmacological properties. However, it is also possible that detected blood levels simply serve as a marker for relative levels of other active compounds present in rosemary oil, such as rosmarinic acid and ursolic acid, which are present at much lower concentrations.

More information: Plasma 1,8-cineole correlates with cognitive performance following exposure to rosemary essential oil aroma by Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver is published today, 24th February in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology.

Provided by SAGE Publications

"Could rosemary scent boost brain performance?." February 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-rosemary-scent-boost-brain.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Win Win Win

“’Unless I agree,’ Krishna desired to show, ‘you cannot bind Me.’ Thus although mother Yashoda, in her attempt to bind Krishna, added one rope after another, ultimately she was a failure. When Krishna agreed, however, she was successful.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.9.15 Purport)

What to do now that your young child has been caught red-handed? Butter smeared over His hands and feet, having just tried to flee like a criminal attempting to outrun the police on the highway, Krishna was in a vulnerable position. The dear mother was left with a few options. Should she just let the incident slide, pretend as if nothing happened? Or should she punish Him for doing something that was wrong? Thankfully for countless future generations she chose an option that would bring delight to all the parties involved.

How can everyone win? Isn’t that contradictory? In an episode from the American television sitcom The Office, there is a situation where the human resources manager has to resolve a dispute, mediate between people who have a disagreement with one another. One solution is to just let both sides vent until they forget about what the problem was. The manager, seeing the indecision, decides to step in and read the guidebook on how to handle situations like these. He decides on an option called win/win/win.

Obviously such an outcome is considered next to impossible, for how can all the parties be satisfied? In Krishna’s case the favorable outcome would be to get let off the hook. Mother Yashoda’s preference would be for her son to feel bad and never break another pot of butter again. For the third party, the reader of the story, the best option is for the mother’s love for her son to increase and vice versa.

This is precisely what would occur. The good mother threatened punishment with a whipping stick, but there was never any intent to use it. Why should such a young child be struck just for taking some butter from a pot that He broke? Rather than strike her boy, the dear mother decided to tie Him to a mortar. This way He would think He was being punished, but in reality He would just remain in the mother’s vision. He had no reason to run off either. Why should He be scared when the mother was so happy just to have Him in her life?

So the solution was simple enough, but Yashoda's son was no ordinary human being. To add to the fun, He made sure that the rope used by the mother was always just too short. Every time she added another rope the final rope came up short by the width of two fingers. The mother couldn’t understand the mystery, but because of her sincerity of purpose, eventually young Krishna relented. He allowed her to bind Him in ropes of affection.

With this option the mother felt like she was doing her job. She did not shirk her responsibility out of attachment to her boy. That would have been a rather selfish thing to do. If a parent doesn’t provide tough love from time to time, how will the child ever learn that their errant behavior is wrong? We know not to touch fire because of the intense pain that results from contact. If that pain were not there, our hand would burn rather quickly in the fire. In this way the pain exists for our benefit.

Mother Yashoda was used to dealing with trouble from her son. He was known for going into the neighbors’ homes and stealing their stocks of butter. He had also been involved in several strange situations with ghoulish creatures. There was the witch named Putana who tried to kill Him while He was still an infant. Dressed as a beautiful woman, the witch smeared poison on her breasts and then tried to nurse the young child. She got her wish, as Krishna placed His lips on the poison, but in the process sucked the very life out of her. In the end, all that was left was this gigantic hideous corpse fallen on the ground, with young Krishna crawling on top of her. Then there was a wicked character in the shape of a whirlwind who had taken young Krishna high into the sky. Again, the plot was thwarted, but Yashoda knew that her son was always finding His way into such dangerous situations.

This particular pastime with the broken pot started with Yashoda’s desire to churn tasty butter for her son. She thought that maybe the reason He was stealing butter from others was that what He was being fed at home wasn’t to His satisfaction. Therefore she went to churn yogurt into butter from the products of her husband’s best cows, which were fed the sweetest grass.

To her dismay, Krishna angrily broke that pot that she worked so hard to fill. Krishna’s past transgressions were forgiven because the other cowherd mothers did not want Krishna to be punished. Though they protested to Yashoda, they were so charmed by her son that they did not want Him to stop His activities. This time, however, Yashoda was directly affected, and she had to keep her son sitting still and make Him aware that He couldn’t foil her hard work that was intended for His benefit to begin with.

Being tied to the rope was pleasurable for Krishna because He got to see His mother’s sincere effort. He had broken the pot for want of affection, and now He was getting it. The pure-hearted listeners of this real-life incident documented in the Shrimad Bhagavatam end up winners by getting to see the sweet pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The entire Vedic literature is directed towards this purpose. The human mind likes to be entertained by external events. If this weren’t the case then the news would never be put on television. Nobody would ever go on the internet to see what is going on in the world. The Vedas take the natural penchant within human beings for hearing stories and purify it by providing countless stories relating to the real-life pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A simple incident like breaking a pot of butter may not be noteworthy in a movie or book, but when it relates to Lord Krishna, it can be remembered over and over again, for years to come.

Proof of the claim is that Krishna’s activities are still talked about today. If He were just a folk hero or mythological creation this wouldn’t be possible. If a tangible benefit, that of supreme happiness and comfort, wasn’t received from tapping into the voluminous Vedic literature, Krishna’s popularity would have died down a long time ago. Because of His absolute nature, hearing about the Lord’s activities has an effectiveness that stands the test of time.

Hearing is as good as seeing when it comes to Krishna. Hearing is more effective in the sense that it requires more attention. There is an active response elicited within the mind through the process. The same attention is absent with seeing, for visuals can bring distractions, with the eyes focusing on certain aspects while ignoring other things that are going on.

In various public opinion surveys, it has been shown that people who listen to the news, either through a news radio station or talk radio, have more knowledge of current events than people who only watch the news. This should make sense, as it is easier to remember something heard as opposed to something seen. Increased memory equates to increased contemplation, which keeps the brain working to formulate arguments and opinions. Moreover, the opinions formed are better supported by the logic and reasoning applied during the initial hearing.

Though young Krishna could not go anywhere, He eventually managed to move the mortar in between two trees, causing them to fall down. Thus began another pastime, which was instigated by Krishna’s crime of stealing butter and then mother Yashoda’s subsequent punishment. The dear mother took all the effort in the world to love her son, and the child reciprocated by interacting with her in the way that an affectionate child does.

Mother Yashoda is as glorious as her beloved son. She was loved in Vrindavana some five thousand years ago, and she continues to be honored to this day. She took the effort to provide motherly affection to her son, and because of this the transcendental pleasure seekers were able to get a steady supply of life-giving nectar. Just as the lotus flower automatically opens at the rise of the sun, the devotee cherishing the sweet nectar of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord comes to life upon hearing Krishna’s interactions with His mother in Vrindavana.

That same darling of Vrajabhumi is our constant well-wisher, as He is just waiting for us to recite His holy names, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare". From that chanting comes remembrance of His pastimes, the sweetest of which took place in Vrindavana when Krishna roamed this earth as a young child.

In Closing:

To mother Yashoda a heartfelt thank you,

For to motherly duties being always true.

Angry at mother, Krishna’s stubbornness strong,

Broke pot of butter, knew what He did was wrong.

With a whipping stick the good mother chased,

Tied with ropes to a mortar young Krishna placed.

Krishna happy, mother able clearly to see Him,

Devoted listener pleased too, win win win.

Both mother and her son cherished to this day,

With us may their sweet vision always stay.

சுற்றுப்புறத் தூய்மை

சுற்றுச் சூழல் தூய்மை! உலகத்தின் கவலையே இது தான். சுற்றுச் சூழல் தூய்மை நாம் கற்றுக் கொள்ள வேண்டிய பாடம் ! இது, மனித வாழ்வுக்கு மட்டுமல்ல, புவியின் வாழ்வுக்கும் பொருந்தும். மனிதன் இயற்கையோடு இணைந்து வாழும்போது எந்தப் பிரச்சனையும் இல்லை. மனிதன் இயற்கையை மீறுகிறபோதுதான் அவஸ்தை, ஆபத்தெல்லாம்.

இயற்கைச் சீற்றம், இயற்கைச் சீற்றம் என்கிறோமே அதைச் சீண்டுவது யார்? நாம் தானே... அண்டங்களையெல்லாம் மாசுபடுத்திவிட்டு, ஐயோ அம்மா என்று அலறினால்… எப்படி?
விஞ்ஞான வெளிச்சத்தில் இருக்கும் நாம் சுற்றுச் சூழல் விஷயத்தில் கொஞ்சம் சரிந்து தான் இருக்கிறோம். ஆம் காடுகளை அழித்தோம் கேடு வந்தது. மரங்களை வெட்டிச் சாய்த்தோம் மழை நின்றது. இன்று கிணற்றுக்குள் வாளியை விட்டால் தண்ணீர் வருவதில்லை. கண்ணீர் தான் வருகிறது.

நிலத்தடி நீர்மட்டம் குறைந்து கொண்டே வந்து நம் எதிர்காலத்தை கேள்விக் குறியாக்குகிறது. மழை நீர் சேகரிப்பே இதற்கு மாற்றுவழி. அணுமின் கழிவு தொழிற்சாலைக் கழிவு
மனிதக் கழிவு. இவைகளெல்லாம் நல்ல சுற்றுச் சூழலுக்கு எதிரானவைகள், எதிரணிகள்.

வறண்ட பாலைவனங்களில் அணுகுண்டை வெடிக்கிறோம் அது பூமியையும் வானத்தையும் மாசுபடுத்துகிறது, இதற்கு என்னதான்… தீர்வு? பிளாஸ்டிக் பயன்பாட்டைத் தவிர்க்கலாம். சுற்றுச் சூழலைத் தூய்மையாக வைத்திருக்கும் வீடுகளுக்கு, வீதிகளுக்கு உள்ளாட்சித் துறை ஊக்கப்பரிசு வழங்கி உற்சாகப்படுத்தலாம்.

ஆகவே தூய்மை காப்போம் அதற்காகத் தொண்டு செய்வோம் ! வாரீர் !

தூக்கத்தில் என்ன நடக்கிறது?

Sai Baba Dharshan

Friday, February 24, 2012

H5N1 flu is just as dangerous as feared, requires action

by Biomechanism

The debate about the potential severity of an outbreak of airborne H5N1 influenza in humansneeds to move on from speculation and focus instead on how we can safely continue H5N1 research and share the results among researchers, according to a commentary to be published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on Friday, February 24.

H5N1 influenza has been at the center of heated discussions in science and policy circles since the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) asked the authors of two recent H5N1 investigations and the scientific journals that planned to publish the studies to withhold crucial details of the research in the interest of biosecurity.

In the mBio® commentary, Michael Osterholm* and Nicholas Kelley, of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, present their case that H5N1 is a very dangerous virus, based on their analysis of published studies of the seroepidemiology of H5N1 in humans. H5N1 flu infections have exceedingly high mortality, they say, and current vaccines and antiviral drugs will not pull us out of a global H5N1 pandemic. “We believe that the assertion that the case-fatality rate of H5N1 influenza in humans may be overestimated is based on a flawed data analysis,” Osterholm said.

Analysis of reports of H1N1 seroprevalence that include data from the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak as well as data from 2004 to date will give a misleading impression because the 1997 outbreak was a very different “biologic event” that is recognized as such by the WHO, because the 1997 H1N1 virus has a significantly different genotype from that of later H5N1 viruses. This is why the WHO does not include the Hong Kong H1N1 virus data in any analysis of H5N1 transmission, and the 1997 Hong Kong virus is not recommended for inclusion in H5N1 vaccines, Osterholm explained.

Seroepidemiologic studies that have examined the exposure of various groups of people to H5N1 viruses only from 2004 onward indicate that only a small segment of the population has ever been exposed to H5N1, and that among those that have been exposed, many become seriously ill or die.

“The available seroepidemiologic data for human H5N1 infection support the current WHO reported case-fatality rates of 30% to 80%,” Osterholm says. In the event of an H5N1 pandemic, they point out, if the virus is even one tenth or one twentieth as virulent as has been documented in these smaller outbreaks, the resulting fatality rate would be worse than in the 1918 pandemic, in which 2% of infected individuals died.

Vaccines will not head off an H5N1 pandemic either, the authors say, since the time required to develop and manufacture an influenza vaccine specific to new outbreak strain has resulted in “too little, too late” vaccine responses for the 1957, 1968, and 2009 influenza pandemics, and not much in the process has changed since 2009.

“The technology behind our current influenza vaccines is simply not sufficient to address the complex challenges associated with an influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” Osterholm and Kelley say.

This is the heart of the matter, they say: there has been enough discussion about how severe an H5N1 pandemic might be. Moving forward, the current controversy has provided a valuable opportunity for scientists and public policy experts to discuss influenza research and preparedness and create “a roadmap for the future.” The discussion among scientists and policy makers needs to move on from whether H5N1 poses a serious international threat – as it clearly does – and begin discussing how we can prevent these viruses from escaping labs and how scientists can share their flu-related results with those who have a need to know.

There are critical questions that need to be answered, the authors say. For instance, how can scientists conduct virus-transmission studies in mammals safely and how can scientists share research methods and results with those who have a need to know? We also need to come to agreement on how to ensure that strains of H5N1 viruses created in the lab don’t escape those controlled environments, the authors say. And new, more effective vaccine technologies are needed that can enable substantially faster production. Resolving these issues could allow H5N1 research and preparedness to serve as a springboard for solving similar problems with existing or emerging pathogens.

___________

*Michael Osterholm is a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity.

How cells brace themselves for starvation

by Biomechanism

Sugar, cholesterol, phosphates, zinc – a healthy body is amazingly good at keeping such vital nutrients at appropriate levels within its cells.

From an engineering point of view, one all-purpose model of the pump on the surface of a cell should suffice to keep these levels constant: When the concentration of a nutrient, say, sugar, drops inside the cell, the pump mechanism could simply go into higher gear until the sugar levels are back to normal. Yet strangely enough, such cells let in their nutrients using two types of pump: One is active in “good times,” when a particular nutrient is abundant in the cell’s environment; the other is a “bad-times” pump that springs into action only when the nutrient becomes scarce. Why does the cell need this dual mechanism?

A new Weizmann Institute study, reported in Science, might provide the answer. The research was conducted in the lab of Prof. Naama Barkai of the Molecular Genetics Department by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sagi Levy and graduate student Moshe Kafri with lab technician Miri Carmi.

It had been known for a while that when the levels of phosphate or zinc drop in the surroundings of a yeast cell, the number of “bad-times” pumps on the cell surface soars up to a hundred-fold. When phosphate or zinc becomes abundant again, the “bad-times” pumps withdraw while the “good-times” pumps return to the cell surface in large numbers.

In their new study, the scientists discovered that cells that repress their “bad-times” pumps when a nutrient is abundant were much more efficient at preparing for starvation and recovering afterwards than the cells genetically engineered to avoid this repression. The conclusion: The “good-times” pumps apparently serve as a signalling mechanism that warns the yeast cell of approaching starvation. Such advance warning gives the cell more time to store up on the scarce nutrient; the thorough preparation also helps the cell grow faster once starvation is over.

Thus, the dual-pump system is part of a regulatory mechanism that allows the cell to deal effectively with fluctuations in nutrient supply. This clever mechanism offers cell survival advantages that only one type of pump could not provide.

If these findings apply to human cells, they could explain how our bodies maintain adequate levels of various nutrients in tissues and organs. Understanding the dual-pump regulation could be crucial because it might be defective in various metabolic disorders.

__________

Prof. Naama Barkai’s research is supported by the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation; the Jeanne and Joseph Nissim Foundation for Life Sciences Research; the Carolito Stiftung; Lorna Greenberg Scherzer, Canada; the estate of John Hunter; the Minna James Heineman Stiftung; the European Research Council; and the estate of Hilda Jacoby-Schaerf. Prof. Barkai is the incumbent of the Lorna Greenberg Scherzer Professorial Chair.

Courtesy Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel