Denying mental qualities to animals in order to eat them

(Medical Xpress) -- New research by Dr Brock Bastian from UQ's School of Psychology highlights the psychological processes that people engage in to reduce their discomfort over eating meat.

This paper will be published in an upcoming edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, where Dr Bastian and his co-authors show that people deny mental qualities to animals they eat.

"Many people like eating meat, but most are reluctant to harm things that have minds. Our studies show that this motivates people to deny minds to animals," Dr Bastian said.

The research demonstrates when people are confronted with the harm that their meat-eating brings to food animals they view those animals as possessing fewer mental capacities compared to when they are not reminded.

The findings also reveal that this denial of mind to food animals is especially evident when people expect to eat meat in the near future.

Dr Bastian said it shows that denying mind to animals that are used for food makes it less troublesome for people to eat them.

"Meat is central to most people's diets and a focus of culinary enjoyment, yet most people also like animals and are disturbed by harm done to them; therefore creating a 'meat paradox' - people's concern for animal welfare conflicts with their culinary behavior.

"For this reason, people rarely enjoy thinking about where meat comes from, the processes it goes through to get to their tables, or the living qualities of the animals from which it is extracted," he said.

Dr Bastian's research argues that meat eaters go to great lengths to overcome these inconsistencies between their beliefs and behaviours.

"In our current research we focus on the processes by which people facilitate their practice of eating meat. People often mentally separate meat from animals so they can eat pork or beef without thinking about pigs or cows.

"Denying minds to animals reduces concern for their welfare, justifying the harm caused to them in the process of meat production," he added.

Meat is pleasing to the palate for many, and although the vegetarian lifestyle is increasingly popular, most people continue to make meat a central component of their diet.

"In short, our work highlights the fact that although most people do not mind eating meat, they do not like thinking of animals they eat as having possessed minds," Dr Bastian said.

Provided by University of Queensland

"Denying mental qualities to animals in order to eat them." November 25th, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-denying-mental-qualities-animals.html

 

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Genetic Alarm Clock

Researchers identify a gene that wakes people up from sleep each day.

By Jef Akst | 

Wikimedia Commons, Jorge Barrios

Among the many biological functions regulated by the circadian clock is metabolism, which accelerates each morning and slows down each night. Now, researchers have pinpointed a gene that helps initiate the morning metabolism ramp up—a discovery that could provide clues for disorders such as insomnia, aging, even cancer and diabetes, according to a paper published last week in Science.

“The body is essentially a collection of clocks,” co-lead researcher Satchidananda Panda of at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, said in a press release. “We roughly knew what mechanism told the clock to wind down at night, but we didn’t know what activated us again in the morning. Now that we’ve found it, we can explore more deeply how our biological clocks malfunction as we get older and develop chronic illness.”

Researchers found that a protein JARID1 turns on the circadian circuit by forming a complex with known clock genes, CLOCK and BMAL1. The complex in turn spurs the production of PER—a protein whose expression follows a 24-hour cycle—every morning when PER levels are low. Working in human and mouse cells and in fruit flies, the researchers detailed JARID1a’s role in normal cellular and behavior cycling: cells that had abnormally low JARID1a expression failed to reach the peak PER protein production during the day—an indicator of normal circadian activity. Indeed, flies with low PER levels seemed to lose track of time, frequently napping throughout the day and night.

Researchers can now look to see if JARID1a plays a role in sleep disorders or chronic diseases, and thus serve as a possible target for novel drugs.

“So much of what it means to be healthy and youthful comes down to a good night’s sleep,” Panda says. “Now that we have identified JARID1a in activating our daytime cycle, we have a whole new avenue to explore why some people’s circadian rhythms are off and to perhaps find new ways to help them.”

Source: The Scientist
http://the-scientist.com/2011/10/04/genetic-alarm-clock/

 

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

The World's Most Powerful Mobile Crane

The Strongest Telescopic Crane in the World... and simply a monster of a truck Meet Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 - Built by the German company Liebherr Group, this colossal mobile crane has the longest telescopic boom in the world - 100 meters (328 ft)!  This apotheosis of all monster cranes was first seen in 2007, and in full deployment consists of a mobile crane unit, a huge telescopic boom with it's own transport, a mobile electric generator and various boom extensions - oh, and it can lift up to 1200 tonnes! (though this figure diminishes with height).

Hi handsome. My name is Rose. (Great Message)

 The first day of  university our professor introduced himself and  challenged us to get to know someone we didn't  already know. I stood up to look around when a  gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I  turned around to find a wrinkled, little old  lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up  her entire being..

She said, 'Hi  handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven  years old. Can I give you a hug?'

I  laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of  course you may!' and she gave me a giant  squeeze..

'Why are you in college at  such a young, innocent age?' I asked. 

She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet  a rich husband, get married, and have a couple  of kids....'

'No seriously,' I asked. I  was curious what may have motivated her to be  taking on this challenge at her age.

'I  always dreamed of having a college education and  now I'm getting one!' she told me.

After  class we walked to the student union building  and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We  became instant friends. Every day for the next  three months we would leave class together and  talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening  to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom  and experience with me..

Over the course  of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she  easily made friends wherever she went. She loved  to dress up and she reveled in the attention  bestowed upon her from the other students. She  was living it up.

At the end of the  semester we invited Rose to speak at our  football banquet. I'll never forget what she  taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to  the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared  speech, she dropped her three by five cards on  the floor.
Frustrated and a little  embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and  simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave  up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me!  I'll never get my speech back in order so let me  just tell you what I know.'

As we  laughed she cleared her throat and began, ' We  do not stop playing because we are old; we grow  old because we stop playing..

There are  only four secrets to staying young, being happy,  and achieving success. You have to laugh and  find humour every day. You've got to have a  dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. 

We have so many people walking around  who are dead and don't even know it! 

There is a huge difference between  growing older and growing up.

If you are  nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full  year and don't do one productive thing, you will  turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven  years old and stay in bed for a year and never  do anything I will turn eighty-eight. 

Anybody! Can grow older. That doesn't  take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow  up by always finding opportunity in change. Have  no regrets.

The elderly usually don't  have regrets for what we did, but rather for  things we did not do. The only people who fear  death are those with regrets..'

She  concluded her speech by courageously singing  'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to  study the lyrics and live them out in our daily  lives. At the year's end Rose finished the  college degree she had begun all those months  ago.

One week after graduation Rose died  peacefully in her sleep.

Over two  thousand college students attended her funeral  in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by  example that it's never too late to be all you  can possibly be.

When you finish reading  this, please send this peaceful word of advice  to your friends and family, they'll really enjoy  it!

These words have been passed along  in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER,  GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS  OPTIONAL. We make a Living by what we get. We  make a Life by what we give.
 
'Good friends are like stars.....  .....You don't always see them, but you know  they are always there.' 

Top Ten Myths About the Brain

When it comes to this complex, mysterious, fascinating organ, what do—and don’t—we know?

By Laura Helmuth

 

The notion that humans only use 10 percent of their brains, repeated in pop culture for a century, is false. Scans have shown that much of the brain is engaged even during simple tasks.

 

1. We use only 10 percent of our brains. 
This one sounds so compelling—a precise number, repeated in pop culture for a century

 

, implying that we have huge reserves of untapped mental powers. But the supposedly unused 90 per cent of the brain is not some vestigial appendix. Brains are expensive—it takes a lot of energy to build brains during fetal and childhood development and maintain them in adults. Evolutionarily, it would make no sense to carry around surplus brain tissue. Experiments using PET or fMRI scans show that much of the brain is engaged even during simple tasks, and injury to even a small bit of brain can have profound consequences for language, sensory perception, movement or emotion.

True, we have some brain reserves. Autopsy studies show that many people have physical signs of Alzheimer’s disease (such as amyloid plaques among neurons) in their brains even though they were not impaired. Apparently, we can lose some brain tissue and still function pretty well. And people score higher on IQ tests if they’re highly motivated, suggesting that we don’t always exercise our minds at 100 percent capacity.

2. “Flashbulb memories” are precise, detailed and persistent. 
We all have memories that feel as vivid and accurate as a snapshot, usually of some shocking, dramatic event—the assassination of President Kennedy, the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the attacks of September 11, 2001. People remember exactly where they were, what they were doing, who they were with, what they saw or heard. But several clever experiments have tested people’s memory immediately after a tragedy and again several months or years later. The test subjects tend to be confident that their memories are accurate and say the flashbulb memories are more vivid than other memories. Vivid they may be, but the memories decay over time just as other memories do. People forget important details and add incorrect ones, with no awareness that they’re recreating a muddled scene in their minds

 

 rather than calling up a perfect, photographic reproduction.

3. It’s all downhill after 40 (or 50 or 60 or 70). 
It’s true, some cognitive skills do decline as you get older. Children are better at learning new languages than adults—and never play a game of concentration against a 10-year-old unless you’re prepared to be humiliated. Young adults are faster than older adults to judge whether two objects are the same or different; they can more easily memorize a list of random words, and they are faster to count backward by sevens.

But plenty of mental skills improve with age

 

. Vocabulary, for instance—older people know more words and understand subtle linguistic distinctions. Given a biographical sketch of a stranger, they’re better judges of character. They score higher on tests of social wisdom, such as how to settle a conflict. And people get better and better over time at regulating their own emotions and finding meaning in their lives.

4. We have five senses. 
Sure, sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch are the big ones. But we have many other ways of sensing the world and our place in it. Proprioception is a sense of how our bodies are positioned. Nociception is a sense of pain. We also have a sense of balance—the inner ear is to this sense as the eye is to vision—as well as a sense of body temperature, acceleration and the passage of time.

Compared with other species, though, humans are missing out. Bats and dolphins use sonar to find prey; some birds and insects see ultraviolet light; snakes detect the heat of warmblooded prey; rats, cats, seals and other whiskered creatures use their “vibrissae” to judge spatial relations or detect movements; sharks sense electrical fields in the water; birds, turtles and even bacteria orient to the earth’s magnetic field lines.

By the way, have you seen the taste map of the tongue, the diagram showing that different regions are sensitive to salty, sweet, sour or bitter flavors?Also a myth

 

.

5. Brains are like computers. 
We speak of the brain’s processing speed, its storage capacity, its parallel circuits, inputs and outputs. The metaphor fails at pretty much every level: the brain doesn’t have a set memory capacity that is waiting to be filled up; it doesn’t perform computations in the way a computer does; and even basic visual perception isn’t a passive receiving of inputs because we actively interpret, anticipate and pay attention to different elements of the visual world.

There’s a long history of likening the brain to whatever technology is the most advanced, impressive and vaguely mysterious. Descartes compared the brain to a hydraulic machine. Freud likened emotions to pressure building up in a steam engine. The brain later resembled a telephone switchboard and then an electrical circuit before evolving into a computer; lately it’s turning into a Web browser or the Internet. These metaphors linger in clichés: emotions put the brain “under pressure” and some behaviors are thought to be “hard-wired.” Speaking of which...

6. The brain is hard-wired. 
This is one of the most enduring legacies of the old “brains are electrical circuits” metaphor. There’s some truth to it, as with many metaphors: the brain is organized in a standard way, with certain bits specialized to take on certain tasks, and those bits are connected along predictable neural pathways (sort of like wires) and communicate in part by releasing ions (pulses of electricity).

But one of the biggest discoveries in neuroscience in the past few decades is that the brain is remarkably plastic

 

. In blind people, parts of the brain that normally process sight are instead devoted to hearing. Someone practicing a new skill, like learning to play the violin, “rewires” parts of the brain that are responsible for fine motor control. People with brain injuries can recruit other parts of the brain to compensate for the lost tissue.

7. A conk on the head can cause amnesia. 
Next to babies switched at birth, this is a favorite trope of soap operas: Someone is in a tragic accident and wakes up in the hospital unable to recognize loved ones or remember his or her own name or history. (The only cure for this form of amnesia, of course, is another conk on the head.)

In the real world, there are two main forms of amnesia: anterograde (the inability to form new memories) and retrograde (the inability to recall past events). Science’s most famous amnesia patient, H.M., was unable to remember anything that happened after a 1953 surgery that removed most of his hippocampus. He remembered earlier events, however, and was able to learn new skills and vocabulary, showing that encoding “episodic” memories of new experiences relies on different brain regions than other types of learning and memory do. Retrograde amnesia can be caused by Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury (ask an NFL player

 

), thiamine deficiency or other insults. But a brain injury doesn’t selectively impair autobiographical memory—much less bring it back.

8. We know what will make us happy. 
In some cases we haven’t a clue

 

. We routinely overestimate how happy something will make us, whether it’s a birthday, free pizza, a new car, a victory for our favorite sports team or political candidate, winning the lottery or raising children. Money does make people happier, but only to a point—poor people are less happy than the middle class, but the middle class are just as happy as the rich. We overestimate the pleasures of solitude and leisure and underestimate how much happiness we get from social relationships.

On the flip side, the things we dread don’t make us as unhappy as expected. Monday mornings aren’t as unpleasant as people predict. Seemingly unendurable tragedies—paralysis, the death of a loved one—cause grief and despair, but the unhappiness doesn’t last as long as people think it will. People are remarkably resilient.

9. We see the world as it is. 
We are not passive recipients of external information that enters our brain through our sensory organs. Instead, we actively search for patterns (like a Dalmatian dog that suddenly appears in a field of black and white dots), turn ambiguous scenes into ones that fit our expectations (it’s a vase; it’s a face) and completely miss details we aren’t expecting. In one famous psychology experiment, about half of all viewers told to count the number of times a group of people pass a basketball do not notice that a guy in a gorilla suit

 

 is hulking around among the ball-throwers.

We have a limited ability to pay attention (which is why talking on a cellphone while driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving), and plenty of biases about what we expect or want to see. Our perception of the world isn’t just “bottom-up”—built of objective observations layered together in a logical way. It’s “top-down,” driven by expectations and interpretations.

10. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. 
Some of the sloppiest, shoddiest, most biased, least reproducible, worst designed and most overinterpreted research in the history of sciencepurports to provide biological explanations for differences between men and women

 

. Eminent neuroscientists once claimed that head size, spinal ganglia or brain stem structures were responsible for women’s inability to think creatively, vote logically or practice medicine. Today the theories are a bit more sophisticated: men supposedly have more specialized brain hemispheres, women more elaborate emotion circuits. Though there are some differences (minor and uncorrelated with any particular ability) between male and female brains, the main problem with looking for correlations with behavior is that sex differences in cognition are massively exaggerated.

Women are thought to outperform men on tests of empathy. They do—unless test subjects are told that men are particularly good at the test, in which case men perform as well as or better than women. The same pattern holds in reverse for tests of spatial reasoning. Whenever stereotypes are brought to mind, even by something as simple as asking test subjects to check a box next to their gender, sex differences are exaggerated. Women college students told that a test is something women usually do poorly on, do poorly. Women college students told that a test is something college students usually do well on, do well. Across countries—and across time—the more prevalent the belief is that men are better than women in math, the greater the difference in girls’ and boys’ math scores. And that’s not because girls in Iceland have more specialized brain hemispheres than do girls in Italy.

Certain sex differences are enormously important to us when we’re looking for a mate, but when it comes to most of what our brains do most of the time—perceive the world, direct attention, learn new skills, encode memories, communicate (no, women don’t speak more than men do), judge other people’s emotions (no, men aren’t inept at this)—men and women have almost entirely overlapping and fully Earth-bound abilities.

Source: Smithsonian
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Top-Ten-Myths-About-the-Brain.html

 

 

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

One In A Billion Photo

The photo was taken at the entrance to Katlian Bay at the end of the road in Sitka , Alaska ... 

The whale is coming up to scoop up a mouthful of herring......... (the small fish seen  at the surface around the kayak). The kayaker is a local Sitka Dentist. He apparently didn’t sustain any injuries from the terrifying experience. The whale was just around the corner from the ferry terminal, and all the kayaker could think at that moment in time was: "Paddle Man - really fast!"

The whale's mouth is fully open with the bottom half under the boat. If the whale had closed his mouth before he furiously paddled away - He might have been LUNCH!!! Look at the picture again - He is in the whale’s MOUTH!

 

Bill Cosby "I'm 83 and Tired"

"I'm 83 and Tired" Worth reading

 This should be required reading for every man, woman and child inJamaica,

The UK , United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealandand

To all the world... 

 

"I'm 83 and I'm Tired"

I'm 83. Except for brief period in the 50's when I was doing my National

Service, I've worked hard since I was 17. Except for some some serious

Health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn't call in sick in nearly

40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my

Income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as

Though retirement was a bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired.  

  I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who

Don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take

The money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy

To earn it.     

    I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I

Can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and

Daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight

Offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't

"believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning

Teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the

Genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and

Shari'a law tells them to.  

    I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let

Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques

And madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia, New Zealand,

UK, America and Canada, while no one from these countries are allowed to

Fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other

Arab country to teach love and tolerance..   

  I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global

Warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help

Support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ

Rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses

Or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

  I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all

Parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful

Mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting

Caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.  

  I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and

Actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination

Or big-whatever for their problems. 

I'm also tired and fed up with seeing young men and women in their teens and

Early 20's be-deck them selves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making

Themselves un-employable and claiming money from the Government.  Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 83.. Because, mostly, I'm not

Going to have to see the world these people are making.I'm just sorry for

My granddaughter and her children.   Thank God I'm on the way out and not

On the way in. 

 

There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us

Sends it on!

This is your chance to make a difference.

" I'm 83 and I'm tired.    If you don't forward this you

Are part of  the problem".

Hitting The Road

“Thereafter, in country after country the message of the king was sent, upon hearing which everyone became happy. Together with their caravans stocked with provisions, every community then came to King Janaka’s city.” (Janaki Mangala, Chand 1.2) puni desa desa sandesa paṭhayau bhūpa suni sukha pāvahīṃ | saba sāji sāji samāja rājā janaka nagarahiṃ āvahīṃ || “Did you hear the news? The famed King Janaka has announced that he is holding a svayamvara for his cherished daughter’s marriage. Whoever can lift up the illustrious bow originally belonging to Mahadeva, the greatest of the gods, will win Sita as a wife. We must go immediately, as this will bode well for our family. Not only will we be linked to Janaka Maharaja, who is known throughout the three worlds for his piety and dedication to virtue, but we will win acclaim for having lifted a bow that is famous for its incomparable weight. Ready all the provisions and stock them in the carts. We haven’t a moment to lose. Let us bring our entire clan to the sacred land of Janakpur, where we will vie for the beloved princess’ hand. An opportunity like this shouldn’t be missed.” That people from around the world would gather to one place for a particular event is not out of the ordinary. Companies hold conventions to show off their latest products, and widely anticipated annual sporting events are sometimes held in one particular city. People who are interested in the subject matter, in the topic at hand, will make the necessary arrangements to travel to these destinations, be it by automobile, train, or plane. The idea is that if the event is important enough, no amount of travel is too much. For the really important events, one needs to be there in person, to not only enjoy the scene, but to then later say that they were there. Many thousands of years ago, the vow of a famous king caught the attention of the many princes around the world. Just hearing about the king’s contest made them get ready for the trip of a lifetime. The road trip is nice because you can get away. Prison life is considered a punishment not only for the fact that you are held in a house against your will, but you also have limited engagements. Variety is the mother of enjoyment, so if you take to the opposite extreme, monotony, the mind will feel trapped, so much so that any break in the routine will feel liberating. Even for the human being living outside the confines of a prison, life can get to be quite repetitive, especially if one is mature and working at a job that they attend regularly. In the larger scheme, the material universe itself is considered by enlightened minds to be an enlarged prison, with the confines spread further apart but having the same punishing prohibition on action, which is especially effective on those who are not spiritually conscious. The road trip is best enjoyed when it comes about unexpectedly. On a whim you decide to pack up your stuff and travel somewhere by car, not having any set plans. Reaching the intended destination is the stated purpose to the trip, but the fun comes more from having a break from the grind, getting to escape from the doldrums of your stale life if but even for a weekend. The family vacations provide this sort of opportunity as well, as visiting a foreign city allows you to escape your accustomed surroundings and experience new things. For the important trips, you’ll take items that you need, such as clothing, toiletries, and any gifts you would like to give to the people that will be hosting you at your final destination. The spirit of renunciation is more prominent in males, so they can get away with travelling with very little, just carrying the bare essentials. Not only are the females mindful of what they need for their own beautification, but they will consider what should be given to the people being visited as well. Even if you are going to visit just one person, they may have friends and family members around them. The mindful wife will remind the husband to pack gifts for those people, even if the husband is annoyed at having to bring extra luggage. If you’re travelling by plane, you will have to check-in the extra bags, which means that your items will not always be by your side. When not in your sight, there is the increased risk of the items getting lost. In addition, you’ll always have to carry those items around during transit. The extra burden is worth it if you really want to please the people you are visiting. Also, if you’re travelling with a lot of people, the heavier load is inevitable. With one event in particular many thousands of years back, families from around the world were preparing for a terrific road trip. These weren’t just ordinary families either. Picture every head of state congregating in one meeting place. A head of state travels with pomp wherever they go. Just as the President of the United States has the Secret Service and other entourage following him in his trips, the kings of ancient times would bring their royal families with them to important meetings. The family included not only wives and children, but also servants, priests, and important members of the community. The news of this event was so appreciated that everyone in the notified communities wanted to go. The caravans for each royal family were filled with provisions; everything needed for daily maintenance in the foreign land. Relatives and other important community members were part of the travelling party as well. Such preparation only takes place when the event brings delight to the heart. People flock to pilgrimage sites on important holy days of the year so they can connect with God, to have the chance to think about Him and accumulate spiritual merits. If not for the relation to the Supreme Lord, these sites would not receive the attention they get. Though this particular event many thousands of years ago didn’t openly relate to God, in the background it did. Janaka Maharaja was holding a ceremony to give away his daughter Sita in marriage. He had struggled with the decision up to this point, because he held great affection for her and he didn’t know who her birth parents were. Sita was Janaka’s adopted daughter; he found her as a baby when he was ploughing a field. Though a voice from the sky told him that the baby girl was his child in all righteousness, or dharma, Janaka still didn’t know any of the astrological signs at the time of her birth, which meant that he couldn’t get an accurate horoscope made that would be used to find a suitable husband. Not able to use matching qualities determined from the time of birth, Janaka did one better. He had been given an amazing bow belonging to Lord Shiva   . This bow was so heavy that no one could lift it. Lord Shiva is one of the famous divine figures of the Vedic tradition. While in the Puranas reserved for those in the mode of ignorance, or the lowest mode of material nature, Mahadeva is sometimes described as the Supreme Lord, he is an elevated living entity who is very powerful. His greatest strength is his firm conviction to always chant the holy name of Lord Rama   , who is none other than God Himself. This bow belonging to Shiva was meant to be lifted by that same Rama. Therefore wherever there is Mahadeva, the Supreme Lord can never be too far away. Because of the bow’s origin, the contest relating to its lifting automatically had a religious significance. Add to the fact that Janaka was famous for his piety and renunciation from material attachment and you get an event that couldn’t be missed. After deciding on the rules of the svayamvara, or self-choice marriage ceremony, news was sent out to country after country. Hearing of the contest made people happy, for not only would they get to witness history by seeing if someone could lift Mahadeva’s bow, they would also get to see Janaka and his daughter. What they didn’t know was that Sita was the goddess of fortune, Rama’s wife in the spiritual world. Shri Rama is the Supreme Lord who periodically incarnates on earth to enact pastimes. During Janaka’s time He had appeared as the son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. Rama’s family wasn’t part of the clan that travelled to Janakpur because Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana    at the time were escorting the sage Vishvamitra in the forests. Since he had been harassed by terrorists capable of assuming false guises, the sage wanted Rama, an expert bow warrior, to protect him for a bit, to alleviate the distresses caused by the rangers of the night. Since Rama was the eldest of four sons, Dasharatha was not going to send anyone in His place to contest for Sita’s hand. When following strict Vedic regulations, it is considered a sin for a younger brother to get married before an older one does. The guests eagerly travelling with their families and paraphernalia to Janakpur would get to see Rama nonetheless. In this way they were actually making a pilgrimage trek, one that is still followed to this day. Vishvamitra, seemingly by chance, would bring Rama and Lakshmana to Janakpur. After many princes had failed to even move Shiva’s bow, Rama would step up and lift it without a problem, giving the onlookers a sight worth seeing. The beautiful Shri Rama would be reunited with Lakshmi Devi, Janaka’s daughter, in front of the fortunate attendees. Because of Janaka’s position and the outstanding qualities of his daughter, when people first heard the news of the svayamvara, they were immediately pleased and decided that they had to make the journey to Janakpur. They were certainly very fortunate to be there that day, but this doesn’t mean that sincere souls looking for spiritual awakening and transcendental pleasure today can’t have the same benefit. GoswamiTulsidas    composed his Janaki Mangala specifically so that the people of his time, and many future generations as well, could focus the mind on the marriage ceremony of Sita and Rama. Hearing of the event is as good as being there, such is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord. Just thinking of Janaka and his immense love for his daughter that wasn’t even biologically his brings so much pleasure to the heart. In one sense harboring parental affection for an adopted child indicates an even stronger love than that given to a child one is biologically linked to. It is a matter of duty to love your own children, but that duty isn’t inherently there with someone else’s child. Janaka found Sita and raised her as if she were his own daughter, his most prized possession. The same king that was famous for his dispassion was also appreciated for his affection. There is no contradiction, for Janaka lived a spiritual existence,. Affection for Sita never goes in vain. Her transcendental features drew people to Janaka’s kingdom that famous day many thousands of years ago. That attraction would prove fruitful for the residents of Janakpur, the attendees of the ceremony, the families involved in the marriage that would come, and the many sincere listeners who would recreate the sequence of events many times in their minds in the years to follow. The royal families from around the world hit the road to see the wedding of a lifetime, and what they took away from that event was the vision of Sita and Rama, the sight for sore eyes, the union of God and His pleasure potency. In all the worlds, one cannot find a better vision than this. In Closing: “The King of Janakpur has made a solemn vow, Lifter of bow marriage to Sita he will allow. On path of righteousness that king remains steady, So let our family, provisions and carts be ready. To Janakpur we will all travel, In joyous occasion let our hearts revel.” Thus arriving in the city were kings in a throng, To try to lift bow that to Shiva did belong. From what they would see from that road trip, Made the difficult travel worth it. Seeing Sita and Rama, God and His wife, Married in splendor, vision to keep for life.

மனசுக்குப் பிடிக்காத சூழ்நிலைகளை எப்படி சமாளிப்பது?

எப்போதும் அமைதியாகவும் சந்தோஷமாகவும் இருக்கவே விரும்புகிறோம்.ஆனால் ஏதேனும் தொல்லைகள் வந்து சேரத்தான் செய்கிறது.எப்படியாவது இந்த சூழ்நிலையில் இருந்து விடுபட்டால் போதும் என்று மனம் தவிக்கும்.மனதிலும் உடலிலும் விரும்பத்தகாத மாற்றங்கள் ஏற்பட்டு குழப்பம் தோன்றிவிடும்.இப்படிப்பட்ட சங்கடங்களை சமாளிக்கும் விதம் ஒவ்வொருவருக்கும் வேறுபடும்.அவரவர்களுடைய ஆளுமையை பொருத்து திறனும் இருக்கும்.சிலருக்கு மிக எளிதாக இருக்கிறது.இது என்ன பெரிய விஷயம் பார்த்துக் கொள்ளலாம் என்று அலட்டிக் கொள்ளவே மாட்டார்கள்.இவர்களுக்கு சில தகுதிகள் அமைந்திருக்கின்றன.அல்லது அவற்றை வளர்த்துக் கொண்டார்கள்.

அவையாவன.....


எதிலும் நம்பிக்கை கொண்டிருப்பது.(confidence)
நம்மால் இதை சமாளிக்க முடியும் என்ற நம்பிக்கை அவர்களுக்கு இருக்கிறது.என்னால் முடியக்கூடிய ஒன்றுதான் என்ற நம்பிக்கையை எப்போதும் மனதில் தாங்கி இருக்கிறார்கள்.தனக்கு திறன் இருக்கிறது என்று நம்புகிறார்கள்.
தன்னைப் பற்றி நல்லவிதமாக உணர்கிறார்கள்.

சுய மதிப்பு .(self esteem)
நம்மை நாமே மதிக்காவிட்டால் யார்தான் நம்மை மதிப்பார்கள்? தான் சரியானவன் என்ற எண்ணமும் ,யாருக்கும் சளைத்தவன் இல்லை என்ற எண்ணமும் .


கடுமையாக உணர்வதில்லை.(sense of control)
பெரிய தீர்க்க முடியாத பிரச்சினையாக எதையும் நினைப்பதில்லை.கடிவாளத்தை கையில் வைத்திருக்கிறார்கள்.உணர்ச்சிகளில் சிக்கி அலைக்கழிக்கப் படுவதில்லை.

நல்லதே நடக்கும் (optimism)
தனது முயற்சிக்கு நல்ல விளைவுகளை எதிர்நோக்குகிறார்கள்.இந்த நம்பிக்கை தடுமாற்றமில்லாமல் செயல்பட வைக்கிறது.


நேர்மறை எண்ணங்கள்.(positive thinking)
நேர்மறையாக சிந்திக்கிறார்கள்.எதிர்மறை எண்ணங்கள் இல்லாமல் இருக்கிறார்கள்.


மேலே சொல்லப்பட்டவை நம்மை நாமே பரிசோதித்துக் கொள்ள சொல்லப்பட்டவைதான்.இந்த தகுதிகள் நமக்கு இருக்கிறதா என்று பார்க்கவும்,இல்லாவிட்டால் வளர்த்துக்கொள்ளவும் முடியும்

Bhakti Songs - Sai Ki Jadugari Title Song