Wednesday, October 05, 2016
The Brave and Bruised Heart of Forgiveness
By Nina Bingham
Gandhi said, "Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it. Because nobody else will." It's hard to imagine that Gandhi ever felt that his humanitarian efforts were insignificant-yet here he is admitting to it. If Gandhi felt insignificant, then you and I also have a right to. I've always suffered with interminable and acute pangs of inadequacy. I am perplexed by people who don't stop to question the effect they are having on others, or how they are using their precious time. People seem to skate along unperturbed, while I'm vigorously scrutinizing myself, pretty sure I'm not doing enough for humanity. Gandhi also said it's only those who question at the end of their lives whether they have done enough who actually have.
The emotion of empathy keeps me feeling as if I've not given enough. While empathy is a fundamental characteristic of the human personality, I'm keenly aware, as I'm sure you are, that some of us have lots of empathy, while others have far less. Thanks to neurological scans, we now know that some brains are programmed with more empathetic cells than others. On the empathy spectrum, Psychopaths, people with Anti-Social Personality Disorder, and those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder have been shown to have a marked deficit in empathy, which is why they can commit crimes without thinking twice about it. On the other end of the spectrum is the codependent who rushes to put others before themselves, even to their own detriment. There are specialized types of brain cells, or nerve cells, called Mirror Neurons, which specifically allow us to feel compassion and empathy for others. The more Mirror Neurons you have, the more empathetic you are. This is why Autistics typically display low empathy; neurological scans show the Autistic brain suffers from a deficit of Mirror Neurons. The average brain varies in these benevolent neurons; some of us are naturally endowed with the capacity to care, while others have to work harder at developing more of an awareness of others' feelings. The good news is that while compassion varies brain by brain, it can be learned.
Curiously, one way to increase compassion is through meditation, shown to increase empathetic response. The most surprising aspect of this research is that meditation caused people to help another who was suffering-even in the face of a norm not to do so. In fact, meditators who practiced sending loving thoughts to themselves and others reported less depression, more happiness and satisfaction with life, and were in better physical shape, with stronger immune systems. They were also willing to lend a helping hand when others needed it, and less afraid of suffering. Buddhists have a practice called Tonglen (meaning, 'giving and taking'), in which meditators breath in the suffering of another, and send healing on the out-breath. I have practiced Tonglen many times since I discovered this charitable practice, when a loved one was struggling and in need of strength. I sent them alleviation of pain, acceptance, and peace, on the wind of my breath. Whether it worked for them I cannot say; I know I felt immediate relief. Buddhist monks and nuns practice it with regularity, and the Dalai Llama is said to practice Tonglen everyday. When asked if it worked, he responded: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
When we feel compassion for others' suffering, we are not unlike the Buddhist Bodhisattvas, deities who have taken a vow to return to earth until all sentient beings are enlightened. My favorite Bodhisattva is the nurturing mother of all Bodhisattvas, Quan Yin. She is known as the Goddess of Compassion. She is always depicted carrying a bottle of salve down-turned on humanity, with which to heal their wounds. She stands upon the lotus flower, the only flower that grows in the mud, a symbol of growth despite adversity, and she rests tranquilly on the back of a dragon, a symbol of magic and power.
Perhaps those of us who care deeply, feeling the sorrow of others, are actually blessed. While we experience a double portion of tears and sorrow, we are also the heartbeat of humanity. Perhaps this is why I experience an existential inadequacy; as long as others are still suffering, I can't be contented. Perhaps I have been practicing compassion unknowingly, as I instinctively breath in pain, and breath out compassion. Perhaps I have practiced Tongen all my life without knowing it. If we could see ourselves for the Bodhisattvas we are, Bodhisattvas in becoming, endowed with the power of compassion, we wouldn't doubt our ability to reach out to others in times of loss and sorrow. Instead, we would trust ourselves as the embodiment of strength and compassion, and cease questioning if what we had to give was enough. For with every breath, we would realize that compassion is breathing through us, and could there be anything more extraordinary? http://www.ninabingham.blogspot.com
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Brave-and-Bruised-Heart-of-Forgiveness&id=9482162] The Brave and Bruised Heart of Forgiveness
Sunday, July 24, 2016
A Currency Crisis Called Brexit
By Shivaji Ghata
A Black Friday
Call it a black Friday or what you will, the events that unfolded on the 24th of June 2016 would remain an enigma in the minds of the millions who voted and those across the Globe who watched in awe as history was rewritten 43 years after Britain was officially signed in as a part of the Eurozone. Almost immediately after the landmark outcome of the referendum came to light, markets around the globe reacted wildly even as the Pound Sterling suffered its biggest single day fall ever. While investors rushed to find solace in Bonds and Gold, the strength of the Japanese Yen forced investors out of equity markets across the Eurozone and beyond.
The Pandora's Box
Central banks round the world had been at the receiving end of a full-blown Currency War post the Lehman Brother saga when the Federal Reserve was forced to intervene with its one of a kind Quantitative Easing measure that would have far-reaching consequences across the global financial arena. Even as I write this column, the Pound which is trading at 1.3310 has fallen 17% since it made a high of 1.5930 in the year 2015. The fall in the currency has sent shock waves across European and Japanese markets forcing investors to pile up safe heaven assets causing the Yen to strengthen below 100 per dollar.
The Pounding of the Pound
The onus now lies on Policy makers and Centrals Bankers to respond and contain the spillover of the Brexit fallout. Markets around the world are craving for liquidity even as top banks in the United Kingdom face the heat of the falling Pound. While Global Markets reeled under the pressure of liquidity crunch, erratic moves in indices grabbed the attention of central bankers, so much so that Bank Of England's Mark Carney took preemptive measures to announced the availability of 250 billion Pounds to banks across the United Kingdom. Such unforeseen levels of Currency Crisis would result in possible interventions by the likes of BOJ and PBOC in the days ahead.
What Lies Ahead
While high volatility has been a cause of ruin for short-term traders, it would certainly act in favour of those who loathe for Rate Cuts in the coming months. The Federal Reserve has clearly stated its stand on Global Uncertainties and has promised to cooperate with central banks around the world by staying away from further rate hikes in 2016 and possibly in 2017. There is room left for the ECB to make arrangements for further easing to pacify jittery nerves in the face of the ongoing crisis.
Central banks round the world had been at the receiving end of a full blown Currency War post the Lehman Brother saga when the Federal Reserve was forced to intervene with its one of a kind Quantitative Easing measure that would have far reaching consequences across the global financial arena...
Read more market updates at [http://www.dynamiclevels.com]http://www.dynamiclevels.com.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Currency-Crisis-Called-Brexit&id=9455983] A Currency Crisis Called Brexit
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
How I Discovered It's Possible To Photograph The Far-Past
By Jane Tripp
It's an amazing experience to be able to see evidence of spirit activity and other anomalies in a photo or on video footage. Admittedly there are lots of fraudulent and hoaxed photographs and videos out there, but there are still many genuine paranormal images to be found.
I'm a transdimensional photographer - a physical photographic medium. Although this is a type of physical mediumship, rather than communicating with spirits and entities from other dimensions through trance or direct voice contact, my unusual gift allows spirits and trans-dimensional beings to communicate via photography instead.
This means that I can produce transdimensional photographs in which many unusual and fascinating anomalies can be found. I have the ability to take photographs that contain, among other things, spirits of people and animals, as well as elemental forms, scenes, UFOs and cloaked craft.
But by far, the most exciting aspect of this psychic function for me lies in my ability to take photos that access scenes from the past, and more rarely, the future. This means I can photograph through time and space.
Seeing the Past?
Being able to view the past is a subject that fascinates me perhaps more than any other. The idea of being able to actually see a genuine photographic image from the past is beyond intriguing.
There have been a surprising number of people in the last hundred years or so who have claimed to have created time cameras. My own belief is that it is perfectly possible and has already been done several times - and will be accomplished again.
However, there is another way to gather visual data from the past. It's not common knowledge that this can be done. In fact, hardly anyone is aware that it is even a remote possibility, let alone that there are photographic examples available to examine.
Trans-Time Photography
Sometimes re-runs of past events become available in the environment and sometimes, they can even be photographed. Video footage of the target area improves this ability dramatically, as the best way to reveal scenes from the past is by taking screen shots off the footage as it is being played back.
The resulting photographs frequently display trans-time imagery - genuine pictures of past events.
Although as a transdimensional photographer I can usually receive trans-time images by photographing video footage of places rich in history and emotional past events, I'm not yet able to discover the exact mechanism through which this ability functions.
Not Spirit Photography
Trans-time images are different from the paranormal images that appear in ordinary spirit photographs, but these phenomena are both found most abundantly where dramatic events involving many people and a range of strong emotions have occurred in the past.
The images can appear as scenes, vignettes and also in what are known as 'globules', tiny little bubble-like formations which can often carry detailed pictures of people, buildings and landscape within them.
Size differences vary widely, and as in all varieties of paranormal photo anomalies, they can appear large enough to cover the entire surface of the photo or be almost microscopically tiny. They can also appear upside down and sideways in an image.
Under certain circumstances the photographic pictures can even display as negative images that have to be cropped and flipped to positive in a photo-editing program in order to be seen clearly. They can also be situated next to a positive image on the same picture.
This phenomenon occurs with other forms of transdimensional photography as well. I've not yet discovered how this polarization happens, but have found it to be a fairly common result.
How the Past May be 'Stored'
I believe from my own experiences, along with studies based on the work of other people, that every event that takes place on Earth, from the most insignificant to the most noteworthy, is permanently stored holographically, saved as light and sound bites, giving us retrievable visual and auditory data, if we can only learn how to comprehend the mechanism by which that data can be released.
But it's also possible that they are stored in a more temporary fashion as well, within the matrices of materials which act as storage units for event-records, perhaps giving two possible ways of future retrieval:
• from the original permanent holographic data-storage system for all records in existence
• from temporary localized storage available around us within natural landscape features, architecture and objects.
The Stone Tape Theory
Stone, wood, water - anything that has form - could theoretically become a temporary storage unit for light and sound records.
Obviously, some materials would store these records more efficiently than others, and all such data would be subject to disintegration with the breaking down of the storage materials over time.
The stone tape theory was put forward in the 1970's as a new explanation for ghosts and residual hauntings. It was theorized that records from the past were absorbed by materials in their surroundings, especially if they were fueled by strong emotions and traumatic events.
The Stone Tape Play
In fact, a BBC television play was broadcast as an atmospheric ghost story during the Christmas season of 1972, called simply 'The Stone Tape'.
This was possibly the first use of the term 'stone tape' in reference to this fascinating phenomena, and it was after the title of the play that the stone tape theory was later named.
The play was written by Nigel Kneale, and for the era it was produced in, it really was fairly good, apart from the rather dramatic over-acting.
In the story, a team of scientists move into a gothic mansion which had been built on top of much earlier foundations and subsequently renovated many times over the centuries.
They are there in order to experiment with the idea of retrieving information from the stones in a room where builders have refused to work because of a haunting involving a woman who died tragically in the location many years before.
Using their scientific equipment they strive to find a way to unlock the data and replay the emotionally-charged events. Finding themselves unable to accomplish this with their instruments alone, they hit upon the idea that a human agency and some play-acting might be necessary to prompt the release of the 'rerun'.
Of course it all ends tragically, but some of the basic ideas in the story align very closely with the mysterious truth of the matter.
Past data can be retrieved, and although this will one day be possible to achieve using specially designed and standardized instruments, it is also possible today, using video footage, photography and human intervention.
A Human Agency
In my own work I have discovered just how important human agency is in revealing such fascinating anomalies.
Without a mechanical means of play-back, trans-time images have to be first photographed by a psychic with physical mediumship abilities, and then the images must be coaxed from the photograph with editing techniques and finally prepared for viewing.
Understanding Storage and Release of Visual and Auditory Data
Specific events can trigger a release of this nature, and active paranormal activity can occur. Phenomena might be auditory, visual, or both. Sounds such as voices or footsteps may be heard. People, animals and objects can be witnessed. Sometimes, an entire scene can be re-played.
This may include seeing events, either silently or with sound, or just hearing them with no visual input. Sometimes the olfactory senses are stimulated and strong scents such as perfume or tobacco can be experienced.
These replays are non-interactive. It's more like experiencing a movie than a real event. A residual haunting of this nature does not have a present reality. The actions that precipitated the storage of the records are over, and the people who were once involved are usually no longer present as spirits.
Electro-Magnetism?
It's considered that the method of storage could be electro-magnetic, and I also think that this may be the case, at least in part. It makes sense, but nothing is yet known with any certainty and there is probably far more involved.
Some researcher's with greater scientific understanding than myself think that this is not the case, and it remains to be seen. Perhaps they are stored in standing scalar wave form, waiting to be potentiated by whatever impulse might trigger the paranormal activity.
Disturbing Construction Sites
This provides one explanation for the well-known phenomenon of supernatural disturbance that can occur when a building or other structure is altered or remodeled, leading to a spate of 'ghostly' activity involving sightings and auditory phenomena.
This may be perceived as a haunting, when in fact it is more likely to be caused by the release of past records from original materials as they are disturbed during construction, and associated phenomena will usually not continue for very long.
More than one construction crew has quit in the face of unexplained paranormal antics that have scared and unsettled workers as they went about their business. There is plenty of research available for those who would like to explore the subject further, and some cases are well documented.
Eerie phenomena have occurred in which inexplicable and seemingly impossible events have taken place, such as elevators that continued to go up and down even when their power source was disconnected.
This type of activity does not correlate to our present understanding of physics and is often enough to scare some people away for good.
Experiencing these replays can be a little bit unnerving, but they can't generally harm anybody. It's also true that although they can be accidentally triggered, nobody has so far formulated any standard procedure for releasing these residual records, let alone recording them as they are released.
Photographing the Past?
But I am stating that scenes from the past can be resurrected and brought to life once more in a specific way. It's possible and it has already been achieved.
Genuine images of people and scenes who lived long ago can actually be made visible again, photographically, as they once appeared, and I have provided incredible evidence that this startling assertion is the truth.
If you view my work with trans-time photography you will see something very, very special - fascinating images of the past that have been extracted from video footage of historical locations.
Photographed directly from the screen as the video footage played, the edited pictures reveal haunting trans-time images, details from an ancient world, in color, embedded in locations such as the original walls of buildings that are centuries old.
How I Discovered the Truth About the Past
When I first taught myself how to edit photographs containing paranormal images I had no idea just how deeply my explorations would take me into the twilight zone.
I had of course seen and examined the evidence in other people's photographs, but only a few pictures of this type were (or are) available, and frankly I already had more of my own anomalous trans-time images than all the accessible work from other people's experiments with cameras put together.
I had still to fully realize the implications of my own discoveries. Although I had always been interested in and recognized the validity of the stone tape theory, I hadn't experimented seriously with trans-time photography myself.
I had taken photographs which displayed trans-time imagery before, but this was a spontaneous phenomenon over which I had no control.
What I hadn't done was to experiment exclusively with trans-time photography, with the sole purpose being the extraction of trans-time images from the past, targeting specific surroundings that had historically witnessed a lot of emotional past activity.
I went on to experiment, garnering spectacular results that surpassed any of my original hopes.
How I Photograph Images From the Far Past
Such images can be extracted from many materials, including wood, but the one which seem to store residual records most efficiently seem to be stone.
My discoveries so far indicate that walls are the most reliable target from which to extract past records visually. Very old stone buildings and walls with old plaster still adhering have so far proved to be the perfect media for storage and subsequent retrieval of trans-time images.
Other people have experimented with the retrieval of sound, but as far as the author is aware, nobody else has managed to extract identifiable, color images of the past with any success.
The process of re-photographing video footage taken at target sites provides the scenes from the past.
The Psychic Factor
At present there is no known system which will reliably extract images of the past from video footage in a mechanical way. I'm certain that this will be possible in the not too far distant future, but for now the only way I know in which to accomplish this is through the intervention of a psychic photographic medium such as myself.
As a psychic and a physical medium, I don't enter into trance or channel information for people. I do produce ectoplasm.
My gift manifests most strongly when I take photographs. In the old-fashioned language of spiritualism, the veil parts for me, and I'm able to photograph interdimensionally.
Many of these photos contain real-time interactions with human spirits and other trans-dimensional entities. But they are perhaps even more special when they contain these amazing trans-time images - genuine photographic pictures of the past.
Extraction of Imagery
Once the images have been preserved on a photo the next task is to extract the visual data via editing techniques that have been designed to excavate through layers of imagery, isolating the clearest scenes and figures and revealing the details, sometimes minutely.
This editing method allows even very tiny details, such as the iris and pupil of a person's eye or a detail of jewelry they are wearing, to sometimes be revealed.
The images are preserved in color, producing a good approximation of the color palette at the time the original parent-image data was stored.
Trans-Time Photography & The Living Dead of Pompeii
In AD 79 Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted so violently that it covered several nearby towns, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, in many feet of ash and debris.
The devastation was so complete that for 1500 years it was forgotten by everybody that these cities had ever even existed.
Only when they were re-discovered and excavations began was it realized what an utterly devastating fate had befallen the entire area.
Many fascinating discoveries were later made, and the world could at last see some of the excavated and perfectly preserved ruins and even some of the eerily perfect body-casts of victims who perished in the disaster.
Although a lot was learned from these excavations, it only made the longing people have to see the actual past seem like an even more impossible dream - until right now!
Photographs of Pompeii 2,000 Years Ago!
With this in mind I decided to target an area and time period that is well-known in the annals of history for one single devastating event - its utter destruction through a cataclysmic event almost 2,000 years ago.
The ruins of Pompeii turned out to be a perfect selection. The entire city had been completely covered in the debris from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, preserving the town under many feet of ash and cinders.
It lay undiscovered and forgotten for centuries and only fairly recently has a section of the remains been properly excavated. It is from video footage of these archeological remains that my raw material was sourced.
Now, who wouldn't like to see the living past in the form of colored photographic images - trans-time photographic images from the very day that Mount Vesuvius erupted on august 24th in AD 79? That's two thousand years back in time - who wouldn't?
In the trans-time images you won't see murals or casts of human bodies created from the cavities left by entombment in volcanic ash, but instead real photographic scenes from the far-past. National Geographic's got nothing on this!
Made visible once more are:
• Scenes of the area during the eruption, including buildings
• An actual image of Mount Vesuvius erupting
• People fleeing the area and sharing their last moments together
• Smoke and fires
• Indoor scenes - interior rooms
• Outdoor scenes with landscapes
• The people of the time - children, women and men - in period-appropriate attire
• Animals, incense burners, a mirror - even earrings - and very much more
It proved possible to extract - in color - poignant photographic images of people and scenes exactly as things were happening on that terrible day almost 2,000 years ago, from footage of the ruins of Pompeii and the surrounding areas.
If you would like to learn more about Jane Tripp's research and see some genuine photographic examples of trans-time photography you may do so by visiting the author's website at the following URL: http://www.janetripp.com/the-pirates-of-time/
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-I-Discovered-Its-Possible-To-Photograph-The-Far-Past---Trans-Time-Photography&id=9201326] How I Discovered It's Possible To Photograph The Far-Past - Trans-Time Photography
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Chinese Zodiac Signs and Their Meanings - What Chinese Horoscope 2016 Holds For You
By Abhishek Lodha
The Chinese horoscope is determined by the lunar year that an individual is born in. According to the Chinese culture, the animal that rules one's birth year has an immense influence on the personality of the person and his destiny. What differentiates it from the western astrology is that it does not look into the heavenly constellation or planets to predict the destiny of an individual. Chinese horoscope is the science of the five elements or the wuxing - earth, fire, water, metal and wood, Yin and Yang and also the cycles of time.
There are 12 Chinese Horoscope signs and each of them has their own unique meaning. The Chinese Zodiac is a cycle of 12 Chinese years that are placed under the signs of the 12 animals - Rat, Buffalo or Ox, Tiger, Cat or Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat or Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig or Boar. The Chinese years also evolves in cycles of ten years each where two set of consecutive years is governed by one of the cosmic element - wood, fire, earth, metal and water. It is your year that will determine the Chinese animal sign and also the Chinese cosmic element. Since the Chinese zodiac reoccurs every 12 years, your animal year will come around when you are 12, 24, 36 and so on. According to the legends, your birth year brings bad luck to you that year and the only way to defy it is by wearing something red that is given to you by your elders.
2016 will the year of Red Fire Monkey and will start from February 8th, 2016 and last till January 27th, 2017. There is a number of reliable Chinese Horoscope 2016 available on the internet. While some are just based on speculations, others are done by Chinese astrologers who have been doing it for years and their predictions are mostly true. If you are looking to plan your next year based on your Chinese horoscope 2016, you should look into your horoscope to find out more what your future holds for you. You will be able to find out about your career opportunity, wealth, health, family and relationship and your career as well. If you are planning to marry this year, it is best to find out your compatibility with people of other zodiac signs to predict if your relationship will be successful or not. You can also make certain changes to your life to make sure that some of your predictions do not come true.
To know about the best predictions for the New Year 2016-2017 for the 12 signs of Chinese Zodiac, you can get your [http://www.sunsigns.org/chinese-horoscope-2016/]Chinese Horoscope 2016 that gives accurate Chinese astrology forecasts for the coming year.
[http://EzineArticles.com/?Chinese-Zodiac-Signs-and-Their-Meanings---What-Chinese-Horoscope-2016-Holds-For-You&id=9188906] Chinese Zodiac Signs and Their Meanings - What Chinese Horoscope 2016 Holds For You
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Chinese-Zodiac-Signs-and-Their-Meanings---What-Chinese-Horoscope-2016-Holds-For-You&id=9188906] Chinese Zodiac Signs and Their Meanings - What Chinese Horoscope 2016 Holds For You
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