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If you are single and you want men to desire your company more and truly cherish you, then here are eleven dating rules you cannot afford to break:
1.Never go to bed with a man on the first date – As much as you would like to ravish the hunk you have a crush on, do not let him feel that you are cheap and easy by going to bed with him on your first date. It does not matter that he is promising that he will respect you in the morning, or that the way he feels about you will never change. If you do it, you run the risk of reducing your value to him. Men are more attracted to women they spend time to get to know, than they are to those they quickly jump into the sack with.
2.Never call him first within the first week of your first date – If your date asks for your phone number and does not call you within the first week, do not call him. If a man is interested in you, he will call you during the first week of taking you out on a date. When you call him during that first week before he calls you, you give him that impression that you are overly anxious. The last thing you want is for this new person to feel that you are a little desperate or forward.
3.Never use obscenities – If you curse like a sailor, it will turn off your date, if you let that part of your personality out on your first date. It is a turnoff for most men. It certainly could ruin the chance of someone getting to know how nice you really are on the inside.
4.Never engage in a conversation about marriage on your first date – No matter how much of a good time you are having with your date, do not bring up the topic of marriage, unless your date asks about how you feel about the subject. When a woman brings it up on a date, it creates the impression that you are on a hunt for a husband. Nothing kills a date like a woman who comes across as obviously interviewing men for marriage – trying to find out if they are ready to make that serious commitment. There is a right time for serious conversations – your first date is not the time. Get to know your date first.
5.Never flirt with other men while you are on a date – The cardinal sin of any first date is to flirt with other men in the presence of your date. Do not do it. If you are trying to get your date to see that you can attract other men, flirting with other men in front of him is not the way to do it. It is disrespectful and conveys that you are shallow and untrustworthy. Your date will feel that if you have the gall to flirt now, when you are supposed to be on your best behavior, what will happen when you get hitched up? Most men wouldn’t want to find out.
6.Never bring up your ex-boyfriend unless he asks you – Let your past remain in the past, unless your date wants to find out why you broke up with your ex-boyfriend. Never compare your ex with your date, nor refer to something someone else did as something that your ex would do. It simply shows that you have not gotten over him.
7.Do not ask your date how much money he makes – This is definitely a no-no. It shows that you could be a gold-digger, and you do not want that label. Once a man sees that you measure the value of a man by the size of his wallet, you can bet that your date will be turned off.
8.Do not let out the skeletons in your closet – Don’t let it be known that you were a drug head or prostitute at one time. Your ugly past, even though you are a new person now, can prevent your date from getting to know who you have become after going through a tough past. Leave the horror stories for when he gets to know you and can easily understand and accept all of you.
9.Don’t go out of your way to be funny, just be yourself – Don’t start clowning around; pretending to be someone you are not. Don’t turn your date into a night of cracking jokes or of proving to your date that you have a fantastic sense of humor. Be yourself and you will do just fine.
10.Do not order the most expensive meal on the menu – Ordering the most expensive thing on the menu at a restaurant shows that you are a potential gold-digger. It also shows that you are greedy. Men love women that are conscious of the cost of things.
11.Do not show him you have a voracious appetite – Just because you are famished does not mean that you should order everything on the menu – super-sized. Most men are turned off by women with huge appetites – men see that as not being feminine and lady-like. Moreover, men feel that if your appetite is this big when he has not gotten to know you, you may swallow a horse when you really get comfortable with each other.
To find out more about what it takes to make men fall madly in love, please visit http://www.smartwomansguide.com.
About the Author
Steve Ubah is the author of Passion Keys – A Woman’s Ultimate Guide To Unlocking The Love In A Man’s Heart. To find out how you can make your man fall madly in love with you, please visit http://www.smartwomansguide.com. A note to all publishers: Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, newsletter or website as long as the article’s content is not modified and all links as well as the author’s resource box are included.
So, you’ve met someone! Maybe at work, in a bar, on the street, online .. it doesn’t matter where you met them, it’s where do you go and what do you do on your first date?
While going out for dinner or a film is always a popular choice for couples who are dating, as a first date, they can kill the relationship before it has even started! Why? Well, if you to see a film, a three-hour date with a film that lasts two and a half-hours is not a good way to get acquainted.- hardly a good way to really get know someone!
And if you go out for a meal, all sorts of things could go wrong! First of all, you may find that after half an hour, you don’t actually like your date that much – and you will still have two courses to get through! Or, you may have left the restaurant booking to your new date and they’ve picked somewhere completely unsuitable for your taste (eg you go to a steak house and your date is vegetarian ) and your budget (if you intend going Dutch)!
And, horror of horrors! The restaurant may dim the lights and soften the music, which can then make it look like you’re on a romantic date – not an ideal setting if you are not sure that is what you want with your date!
So, what is the ideal first perfect date? Well, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The most important thing is that it is fun, relaxed and gives you time to get to know your date. It should also be fairly short, so that you can make a swift exit if things don’t go to plan!
Generally, a daytime meeting takes the heat off- so you have the perfect excuse to dash off for a later ‘appointment’ if your date isn’t going smoothly
The following are some ideas that will help you set the perfect stage for a first date ..
Lunch or going for a coffee is a great start!
It can last for just one coffee if it’s not going well or can last though lunch and afterwards when you go on somewhere else!
Go for a walk along the beach, river or in a park
A walk along a river, in the park or along the beach gives you things to see, time to talk and can be as short or as long as you like. Just make sure you are well prepared clothing wise beforehand – no one wants to spend time with someone who is frightened about getting their clothes dirty or is wearing their ‘best’ shoes while walking along a riverbank and whinging about it!
Do an activity together ..
Try doing an activity together such as bowling, bingo, even a sailing lesson – whatever else takes your fancy! However, biggest rule – dut don’t do something that is your passion. For example, if you are on the bowling team and you take your date to the bowling alley, they’ll feel embarrassed that they aren’t as good as you.
Also, if it is a place you regularly frequent – avoid it! While it is nice that everyone knows you, it can be a bit off putting for your partner if you are talking to acquaintances and your date is standing in the background. They may also feel like a bit of a ‘trophy’ date, like they have been brought along merely to be shown off!
Laugh yourselves silly
Go to your local comedy club and laugh yourselves silly. Comedy clubs have nice, relaxed atmospheres and you can always have a chat at the bar during the break.
Visit the funfair or a zoo
A great place for first dates, there is always so much to do and so many laughs, that you’ll enjoy yourselves even if you don’t actually like your date much!
So that’s it, ideas for your first date covered. All you need to do now is relax, show a genuine interest in your partner, keep the topics light (no one wants to hear how your met your ex on a prison bus or how he/she called you a ‘manic’) and have a good time!
Then – if you want it – you’ll be planning your second date!
About the Author
Chantelle Ashby is online editor at UK Dating Online. An experienced dater of 16 years she has finally found true love and is happily married with a menagerie if animals.
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Nominated for 25 Saturn Awards and one Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for a Series, Angel has established a strong cult following during its five-year run on the WB network. A spin-off of the enormously popular series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel has followed in the footsteps of its predecessor and boasts many of the same heroes and villains. Created by Joss Whedon, the show is one of a number of successful original series aired by WB including Buffy, Smallville, Dawson’s Creek, and Gilmore Girls among others…
Angel revolves around the life of Angel (David Boreanaz), a vampire turned do-gooder following a long career of killing the innocent. After spending three years in the small California town of Sunnydale with his girlfriend Buffy, Angel moves to Los Angeles where he sets up Angel Investigations to help those people most in need of protection from the dark forces that lurk within the city. Aided by old friends and new, Angel seeks to redeem his soul while cleansing the streets of Los Angeles of demons, warlocks, and evil lawyers… Angel’s supernatural fighting team includes Buffy crossover character Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), now an aspiring actress; erudite Englishman Wesley Wyndam-Price (Alexis Denisof), and street fighter Charles Gunn (J. August Richards). Together, they join forces in a series known for its well-written and suspense riddled plots…
The Angel DVD features a number of exciting episodes including the season premiere “City Of” in which Angel moves to L.A. unaware of his life purpose, at least until he meets up with his half-demon spiritual advisor Alan Doyle (Glenn Quinn) who reveals a more positive direction for Angel. When powerful vampire lawyer Russell Winters sets his sights on Cordelia, it’s up to Angel to save her from his evil clutches… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “Sense & Sensitivity” in which an evil sensitivity training instructor casts his spell over an entire police department including Angel himself, and “The Ring” in which Angel stumbles into a secret underground demon fight club…
Below is a list of episodes included on the Angel (Season 1) DVD:
Episode 1 (City Of) Air Date: 10-05-1999
Episode 2 (Lonely Hearts) Air Date: 10-12-1999
Episode 3 (In the Dark) Air Date: 10-19-1999
Episode 4 (I Fall to Pieces) Air Date: 10-26-1999
Episode 5 (Rm w/a Vu) Air Date: 11-02-1999
Episode 6 (Sense & Sensitivity) Air Date: 11-09-1999
Episode 7 (Bachelor Party) Air Date: 11-16-1999
Episode 8 (I Will Remember You) Air Date: 11-23-1999
Episode 9 (Hero) Air Date: 11-30-1999
Episode 10 (Parting Gifts) Air Date: 12-14-1999
Episode 11 (Somnambulist) Air Date: 01-18-2000
Episode 12 (Expecting) Air Date: 01-25-2000
Episode 13 (She) Air Date: 02-08-2000
Episode 14 (I’ve Got You Under My Skin) Air Date: 02-15-2000
Episode 15 (The Prodigal) Air Date: 02-22-2000
Episode 16 (The Ring) Air Date: 02-29-2000
Episode 17 (Eternity) Air Date: 04-04-2000
Episode 18 (Five by Five) Air Date: 04-25-2000
Episode 19 (Sanctuary) Air Date: 05-02-2000
Episode 20 (War Zone) Air Date: 05-09-2000
Episode 21 (Blind Date) Air Date: 05-16-2000
Episode 22 (To Shanshu in L.A.) Air Date: 05-23-2000
About the Author
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Angel (DVD).
In the Ancient times, there was always arch enmity between God and demons. On one occasion when the Gods had performed a Yajna or fire sacrifice, the demons demanded a share of the sacrifice.
The laws of ‘atithi Sewa” or hospitality, bound the Gods and they had to abide by the demand. Gods offered Saraswati the Goddess of knowledge and learning to the demons. Alas! Demons were meant always to be ignorant and they refused to accept her. Demons felt that knowledge had no positive aspects and that it only increased sorrow. They were not so concerned with speech and the art of communication. According to them speech only led to disputes and quarrels.
Enraged Saraswati was happy to decree the Gods as always higher and wiser while stated that the demons would always remain fools of ignorance.
Gods are not always serious and somber and ritualistic. They are also witty, cunning and diplomatic. A tale of such a wit is also associated with Saraswati.
A certain demon had practiced meditation over years together and had appeased Brahma. Brahma in such events always blessed the devotee. This would normally be a boon which may make him invincible.
The heavenly kingdom was alert as the demon continued with his austerities and reached a stage when getting a boon from Brahma was looming large. They all in a group appealed to Saraswati to find a way where Brahma’s boon will not make the demon at par with the Gods.
Saraswati the symbol of intelligence transformed herself into a little speck and perched at the tip of the demon’s tongue. When the time came and Brahma was pleased and asked the demon what he wanted as a boon, the demon’s tongue was in control of Goddess Saraswati; the poor demon could only say ” I want to be asleep forever”.
This way Brahma’s boon was diverted towards making the demon ineffective, ignorant and always asleep.
Madhushri completed her early schooling at the Shri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry. Having grown up in an environment of literature, music and spirituality she proceeded to complete her Masters in Comparative Literature from the Jadavpur University after completing graduation studies in the same course of the University. In addition, Madhushri also hold a Masters degree in Music from the Rabindra Bharati University.
Given her deep interests in mythology, literature and spirituality, the move to Vedic Astrology was a natural extension. Being an intuitive reader of Natal Chart, she brings a successful blend of astrology and spiritual skill-sets into all her readings and counseling’s. A natural flair for expressing complex and difficult matters makes her a prolific creator of most of the content on CyberAstro website since 2001. Madhushri has a large following for the accuracy of her daily, weekly and monthly zodiac predictions.
Many people may have had glimpses of meditation unconsciously. For example whilst walking through nature and being awed by its beauty and magnitude. Others may have been moved by sublime music. At such moments our mind becomes still and we feel a sense there is something greater beyond our usual perceptions. As mysteriously as it came, such experiences may leave, giving only a fleeting glimpse of a feeling that is hard to describe. Meditation is an attempt to make such experiences permanent and also deepen and expand our own consciousness.
People may take up meditation for a variety of reasons which could just be curiosity, a desire for more relaxation, peace of mind, or help in sleeping. Others may take to meditation from a feeling of disenchantment with the outer life. If practised with sincerity and regularity, meditation can give us relaxation and peace of mind but it can also offer more than we ever expected. Through meditation we can expedite our soul’s inner journey and we can become more aware of our own spiritual dimension.
“Meditation is absolutely necessary for those who want to have a better and more fulfilling life. If you feel that you are satisfied with what you have and what you are then you need not enter into the field of meditation. But if you feel that there is a barren desert deep inside your heart, then meditation is the answer. Meditation will give you inner joy and peace of mind.”
- Sri Chinmoy
To begin meditation we need to learn the art of concentration. Here concentration is different to mental concentration. Concentration for meditation means the ability to be aware of only one thing at a time. We need to keep the mind one pointed and focused only on our meditation exercise. If you try sitting still for 5 minutes and observe your own thoughts you will realise how difficult this is at first. However spiritual teachers who have mastered the art of meditation have offered a variety of techniques to help control the mind. If practised these can change the inherent tendency of the mind to wander and we can enter to silent meditation.
Meditation has significant benefits, these do not materialise in one or two sessions, they are slowly accumulated over time as we deepen our own meditation practise. These benefits will include a more focused and calm mind, greater dynamism and better sleep. In addition we will find ourselves less worried by minor irritants because we can more easily detach ourselves from these negative thoughts.
Some people associate meditation with the Kundalini energies, and psychic powers, however these are really like diversions on the path. The real goal of meditation is peace of mind and positive changes to our inner life.
To start meditation is very easy. Just take 5 or 10 minutes somewhere quiet. Begin by focusing on your breathing and let your thoughts drift away, if thoughts come pay no attention to them. Next try to feel yourself diving deep within away from the mind. If you like you can visualise a beautiful garden or vast ocean. Then for 10 minutes try to hold this awareness with one pointed concentration. If external noises come do not let them distract you, they will always be there. Just concentrate on your breathing. Even if this first experience is not fruitful keep persevering for with each try we will be able to add to our capacity and gradually learn the art of meditation.
Richard is an economics teacher in Oxford and member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. He edits a website about spiritual poetry called Poetseers and Write Spirit.
History of the Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is not a transcription of a single talk by Gautama the Buddha.
Rather, it is a collection of his words on the most important subjects for those
seeking Nirvana. It was compiled only three months after his passing away by his
enlightened disciples (arhats), who gave it the name Dhammapada, which means
“Portions of the Dharma” or “The Way of Dharma.” The Dhammapada consists of
four hundred twenty-three Pali verses that were gleaned from about three hundred
discourses of the Buddha. It is a distillation of forty-five years of teaching.
What is the mind?
“Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made.”
(Dhammapada 1)
What is the mind? The language of Buddha, as well as Pali, in which his complete
teachings are set down, was based on Sanskrit, so we can get some understanding
by looking at the Sanskrit terms from which the Pali was derived. (In fact, we may
get a better understanding than if we rely on the Pali commentaries and their
explanations, considering that they were begun exactly five hundred years after the
death of Buddha, who had stated that in five hundred years the dharma he was
preaching would begin to be lost.) Sanskrit and Pali have the same word for mind:
mana. Mana comes from the root verb man, which
means “to think.” However, mind takes in more territory than the intellect; it
includes the senses and the emotions, because it is in response to feelings and
sensory impressions that thoughts arise in the attempt to label and understand
them. Evolved minds have the capacity to think abstractly and to determine what
shall be experienced by the senses or the feelings. That is, in lesser evolved minds
these impressions precede thought, but in higher evolved minds thought becomes
dominant and not only precedes those impressions but also determines them.
Undoubtedly this is progress, but like everything in relative existence it has a down
side, and that is the capacity of the mind to “create reality” rather than simply
respond to it or classify it. Perception is not a matter of exact and undistorted
experience. Perception itself is learned and is therefore extremely subjective. People
born blind who have gained their sight in later childhood or even in adulthood have
said that it took them weeks to tell the difference between circles, squares,
triangles, and other geometric shapes-as well as the difference between many other
kinds of visual impressions. This tells us that we do not just perceive spontaneously
through the senses. We learn perception-it is not just a faculty. In other words, the
senses do not perceive; it is the mind alone that perceives even though it uses the
impressions of the senses as its “raw material” for those perceptions. Objectivity in
human beings is virtually impossible. We might even hazard the speculation that
objectivity is impossible outside of enlightenment.
All of the foregoing might worry us greatly-indeed, the insight into this truth about
the nature of the mind may well be the seed of paranoia, for it is well-known that
the Eastern description of the enlightened mind and personality is closely akin to
what modern psychiatry calls paranoid schizophrenia. Some might say they are
identical, but they would be wrong, for the enlightened respond to their vision with
positive behavior, peacefulness of mind, and lovingkindness towards others. The
mentally ill, on the other hand, respond with anxiety, fear, hostility, and mistrust of
others. The sage has profound self-understanding, whereas the paranoid
schizophrenic has almost no self-realization at all. (More than one psychiatric nurse
has told me that they often took their problems to the paranoic schizophrenics in
their charge, who gave them remarkably insightful and wise advice. But regarding
themselves, those same patients were just plain crazy and without a clue. This is a
terrible and cruel dichotomy.)
The understanding to be gained from all this is that our life experiences are a
training film, an exercise in the development of consciousness with the mind as its
main instrument. We are to look and learn. The question of “Is it real?” is almost
irrelevant, “Is it comprehensible?” being more vital. There is a sense in which the
individual alone exists and all that he experiences is but the shifting patterns of the
movies of the mind-but for a purpose: insight that leads to freedom from the need
of any more movies. Then the liberated can rest in the truth of his own self.
The problem is that those who have only an intellectual idea about the relation of
experience to reality-ourselves-will come to erroneous conclusions that may result
in very self-destructive thought and behavior. And those observing them will rightly
consider them either fools or lunatics. Only right experience garnered from right
meditation and right thought (which is based on meditation) can clear away the
clouds of non-perception and misperception and free us.
The demarcation between “out there” and “in here” must become clear to us in a
practical sense. We must also come to understand that “real” and “unreal” have both
correct and mistaken definitions, that all our perceptions are
interpretations of the mind and never the objects themselves. Our
perceptions may be more or less correct as to the nature of the outside object, but
how can we know? The enlightened of all ages have told us that a stage of evolution
can be reached in which the mind is no longer necessary, a state in which we can go
beyond the mind and enter into direct contact and communication with “out there”
and then perceive objects as they truly are-or at least as they momentarily “are.”
The knowledge of temporality or eternality is inseparable from that state, so
confusion cannot arise regarding them.
In our childish way we always think of perfection as consisting of all our good traits
greatly increased and our bad traits eradicated. (If we are “good” enough children to
admit we have bad traits, that is.) We think of God as being just like us, but with His
goodness expanded to boundless dimension, and badness impossible to Him. In the
same way we think of eternity as time without end rather than a state that
transcends time. Our ideas of eternal life are pathetic since we have no idea what
life is, much less eternity. It only follows, then, that our ideas of enlightenment and
liberation are equally puerile and valueless. This is why the wise center their
attention on spiritual practice rather than theology and philosophy. Experience-
Right Experience-will make all things clear or else enable us to see that they do not
exist.
At the moment we can say that we do not know just what the mind is, but we are
working on knowing it. So let us again set forth the opening words of the
Dhammapada.
Mind-the source
“Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made.”
First there is the mind. Let us go deeper than we have so far. It is possible to view
“mind” as both the perception machinery we have been talking about and the
consciousness which perceives the perception, the consciousness that is
unconditioned and permanent-in other words, the spirit, the eternal self. (“The Self
is ear of the ear, mind of the mind, speech of speech. He is also breath of the
breath, and eye of the eye”-Kena Upanishad 2.) From this higher aspect of Mind all
things proceed-in both the macrocosmic and the microcosmic sense. From the Mind
of God all things are projected that are found in the cosmos; and from the mind of
the individual are projected all that are distinctive to his life. We are all co-creators
with God, even though we have long ago forgotten that and attributed everything
that goes on in our life as acts of God. From this delusion erroneous religion has
arisen-religion that thinks it necessary to pray to and propitiate God in order for the
“good” to come to us and the “bad” to be eliminated from our life. It is this religion
and its false God that Buddha adamantly rejected and from which we must be freed
if we are to gain any true understanding of what is really happening to us from life
to life. On the other hand, we need true religion-the conviction and aspiration for
the uniting of the finite consciousness with the Infinite Consciousness in eternal
Being. The call of the self to the Self is the essence of true religion, and in that
sense those who would turn from death to life must be thoroughly religious. Any
god that is separate from us is a false god; the true God is the very Self of our self.
Though distinct from us, He is not separate. We are eternally one with Him. But we
have to realize that-not intellectually only, but through direct experience. And that
experience is only possible in meditation.
All right: mind precedes its objects, which are themselves governed and made by
the mind. This has profound implications.
1) Karma is the creation of the mind-is simply the mind in extension. Karma need
not be worked out or fulfilled; the mind need only be changed, or better yet brought
into complete abeyance. Then karma is no more and its attendant compulsions-
including birth and death-no longer exist.
2) Our entire life experience is but a mirroring of the mind. If something is not
already within our mind it cannot be projected outward as a (seemingly) external
factor or experience of our life. So our life is our mind in motion! By observing it we
can come to know what is in our mind. If we do not like what is happening in our
life, the solution is to alter our mind. People who like to tell of how cruel, selfish,
dishonest, and disloyal others habitually are to them are merely telling us how cruel,
selfish, dishonest, and disloyal they are. “Victims” are only victimizers
in a down cycle. The moment the upswing comes in their life rhythms they will go
back to victimizing others. Action and reaction are purely psychological matters, the
film in the projector-the light and sound on the screen being only its projection.
Change the film and you change the experience. Since objects come from the mind
they can only be compatible with the mind and therefore express and reveal its
character.
3) All the factors of “life” are really only thought, attitude, and outlook in
manifestation.
4) Study your life and thereby know your mind.
5) You are always in control, even though that control may be on an unconscious
level.
6) Change your mind and you change your life. (Do not forget that “mind” includes
consciousness.)
7) Mary Baker Eddy was right: All is Mind and Mind is All.
Action and reaction
“To speak or act with a defiled mind is to draw pain after oneself, like a wheel
behind the feet of the animal drawing it.” (Dhammapada 1) Suffering is inevitable
for the person with a defiled mind, for it is impossible not to act or think (speak
inwardly, even if not outwardly). “Good” or meritorious acts done by a person with a
defiled mind will bring suffering-perhaps not as much as evil acts, but still the
suffering will not be avoided. This is imperative for us to comprehend: Action
is not the determining factor in our life-Mind is! And mind alone. This why in
the Bhagavad Gita Krishna describes how bad people do good in a bad way and thus
accrue more misery to themselves.
It is so important to understand this fact, since we tend to mistakenly assume that
“good” acts produce “good” karma, etc., when in reality the actions mean nothing-it
is the condition of the mind that determines their character and therefore their
consequences. (Buddha was very insistent on this.) Selfish people do “unselfish”
deeds to either cover up their selfishness or to get merit for themselves so they can
enjoy this or a future life. Their intentions defile the actions and no good accrues to
them whatsoever. Instead their selfishness and pettiness is compounded! This is the
plain truth. False religion gets rich on such persons with false promises of merit and
remission of sins. And even after death the deception goes on as their relatives and
friends offer prayers and almsdeeds that supposedly will mitigate their negative
karmas and alleviate-or even eliminate-the after-death consequences of their
defiled thoughts and deeds. It is common to hear patently evil people excused on
the grounds of “all the good” they do along with their evil actions. The truth is plain:
evil minds can only produce evil actions that produce evil results.
How then can a negative person break the pattern of negativity and escape it? By
thinking and acting with the intention to change from negative to positive. The
admission of negativity and the resolution to turn from it can produce positive
thoughts and deeds when the intention is to change the consciousness, not just the
consequences. Without the desire for real change nothing worthwhile can take place
in the life.
Unavoidable good
Buddha then repeats his statement about the nature of objects and then continues:
“To speak or act with a pure mind, is to draw happiness after oneself, like an
inseparable shadow.” (Dhammapada 2)
What is defiled and what is pure? Buddha is speaking of something much more than
good and bad thoughts and deeds in the ordinary sense. Instead, he is speaking of
defiled and pure minds. What is a defiled mind? One that is smudged and clogged
with egotism and its demon attendants: selfishness, greed, jealousy, spite, hatred,
and materiality. A pure mind is free from all these things, including the root of
egotism. Further, a defiled mind is outward-turned and a pure mind is inward-
turned. One roves through the jungle of illusion and delusion that is the world of
man’s making, and the other rests in the truth and perfection of its immortal self. A
person who is spirit-oriented cannot but produce peace and happiness for himself.
It is as inevitable as the suffering of the matter-oriented person. It is a matter of
polarity of consciousness.
Again we see that suffering and happiness are matters of the mind alone.
Swami Nirmalananda Giri is the abbot of Atma Jyoti Ashram, a traditional
Hindu monastery in the small desert town of Borrego Springs in southern
California. He has written extensively on spiritual subjects, especially about
meditation and
about the inner, practical
side of the world’s religions. More of his writings may be found at the
Ashram’s website, http://www.atmajyoti.org
“[Mary] broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head” (Mark 14:3 NIV).
My brother in law died this morning. He was ill and we knew that his time was coming, but still it was a shock. As my husband and I drove to New Smyrna to see his wife I started thinking about the brevity of life, and I shared with my husband the Latin proverb that was seared into my heart and mind when we saw the movie Awakenings: CARPE DIEM. “Seize the day!” In the movie Robin Williams tells his young and hopefully impressionable students to seize the beauty and love of each moment while we may.
What truth there is in this advice: Carpe Diem! Seize this moment of the sunrise and sunset, the unexpected letter of love, the joy of your child as he discovers the joy of his children…! Oh, seize the moment, dear friends, for tomorrow there may not be another moment to seize. Phillips Brooks wrote something years ago that applies to this thought of seizing the moment: “Oh, my dear friends, you who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day, if you only could know and see and feel that the time is short, how it would break the spell! How you would go instantly and do the thing which you might never have another chance to do!”
Mary seized the moment and poured perfume of Jesus’ head. There are many “carpe diem” moments in the Bible but this is an outstanding one of love sitting in the driver’s seat. Please, dear friend, seize this moment now for doing or saying that which cannot be said or done tomorrow. Your loved one may not be here tomorrow! There are times when common sense tells us to set aside common sense. Perhaps today we can pour perfume on someone in a “carpe diem” moment!
According to Stephen Carson, Executive Vice-President of Visibility Corporation, “Shop Floor Control supports the operational side of production providing shop floor work center and routing definition, operation scheduling and production activity reporting. Comprehensive information is available regarding shop capacity, order status, work center performance versus plan and actual operation costs. Multiple scheduling methods are available and can be applied to selected work orders. Reducing lead times to speed up the design-to-finished product process is critical for engineer-to-order, project-based and to-order manufacturers.”
The VISIBILITY manufacturing solution puts all the information needed to manufacture highly engineered products. Key elements include the ability to pass design information quickly to the production floor, track job progress and collect actual cost and project status information.
Labor recording and tracking can be done in a number of ways. Labor Distribution supports timesheet reporting for both hourly and salaried employees allowing for managerial review before posting. Visibility provides Web-based remote time entry. Real-time reporting is provided by Time and Attendance using event transaction reporting models. Both modules can support time reported to work orders or directly to project tasks and are enabled for bar code data collection entry.
Work in Process supports the material side of production letting you identify the assemblies to be built, channel material to the shop floor and return finished assemblies to their next logical destination. Planners can allocate materials, adjust component lists and identify shortages. Work orders can be linked into vertical hierarchies supporting receipts directly to higher assemblies, sales orders and accumulated job cost information.
Visibility Corporation (www.visibility.com) is a leading developer and supplier of business software solutions designed for the unique needs of project-based, engineer-to-order and to-order manufacturers. Visibility’s Enterprise Application solutions help midsize manufacturers of complex products operate their businesses effectively.
VISIBILITY.net is an integrated ERP solution and more. Offering unparalleled functionality and integrated workflow, this browser-based solution cost effectively delivers the power of .NET-based Web services for use with either a Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle® database. Conducting business any place, any time, any where is a reality, deployable with unprecedented flexibility.
Visibility Corporation Jaclyn Aldrich 978-694-8132 aldrich@visibility.com
For everyone who believed in the power of the internet, the dot com bust of 2000 was always a short-term phenomenon. Over the last few years, the internet has matured into the most amazing economic and social engine since the dawn of television. In this past holiday season alone, U. S. online sales in November and December registered more than $15 billion – a whopping 30% increase over a year ago.
Savvy marketers are already taking advantage of the unique power of the internet as an advertising medium. Online advertising is now siphoning money away from traditional media, including local media such as newspaper advertising and yellow pages. And according to advertising analysts, online advertising as a whole is poised to overtake total magazine advertising by 2007. It’s a long way from the dotcom bust of a few years ago.
Internet marketing options for small businesses are plentiful – and this is true whether their market is local, regional, or national. Local businesses, in particular, have opportunities that are frequently overlooked. Because they have a local focus, these businesses can make sure that their website is “optimized for search” at the local level – which simply means having their website set up properly, and maintained, so as to take advantage of the fact that Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL, and other search engines make it fairly easy for local businesses to be found on the internet. The “pay-per-click” opportunities from Google and Overture are also an important tool both for local and national advertisers. A local business in Norwalk, CT, for example, can tailor their Google ads to be seen only by customers in their local region – and they can track precisely which ad (and which keyword) led a visitor to click through to their website. Want to take it a step further? The advertiser can now track where on their website this visitor goes – and even what they click on. It’s a powerful way to monitor spending and ad dollars ROI (Return on Investment). You can’t do that with an ad in your local newspaper.
A good internet marketing plan is now essential for any small business. The plan will be unique to that business, because the choice of internet marketing options virtually demands that the plan be customized. This is a good thing, because a unique internet marketing plan will help the business stand out from the competition. Our internet marketing company has clients who are successful using one or more of the available tools, including Google Adwords and Overture “pay-per-click,” online publicity, search engine optimization, email marketing, internet yellow pages, vertical directories, regional directories, and so on.
The most important thing for the small business to recognize is that internet marketing is an ongoing process. The internet is a dynamic medium. It is constantly changing. Sites come and go. Links (which are crucial to search engine success) disappear. Search engines change the way they rank websites. The list goes on. In order to be succcessful, an internet marketing plan must embrace this dynamic nature of the internet, and be ready to switch tools as the situation demands. The thing to keep in mind is that internet marketing, while it need not involve a huge budget, must involve an ongoing budget, if it is to succeed. The days of “if you build it, they will come,” are long gone, if they ever existed.
The great news for small businesses is that it does not have to cost a fortune to get involved in internet marketing. We have clients in several businesses who are spending $100 a month on Adwords, and seeing big ROI. What’s important is to find a good internet marketing consultant, and get started. Internet marketing is unique in its ability to be tracked, monitored, measured, and tweaked. This means that even with a modest budget, a business can keep track of where the dollars are going, and whether they are well spent. There is an old saying attributed to an exasperated business owner: “I know half of my advertising works. I just don’t know which half.” With the exciting options on the internet today, that saying need no longer hold true. You can find out exactly what works, and what doesn’t. For small businesses everywhere, that’s really big news.
About the Author
Neil Street is co-founder of Small Business Online, an internet marketing and web design company, based in Norwalk, CT. Email Neil at Small Business Online or call him at 203.299.0889