Or put another another way, "How to tell if you're the reincarnation of Siddhartha."   -  Here's an  article that informs as well as it entertains.  Written in the context of Ram Bahadur Bomjan's recent appearance, it covers both Mahayana and Theravada perspectives.  Thanks to the liberal use of off-site links it can be read in just a few minutes.  - deep bows!

- Slate Magazine

Happy New Year, Gang!  - From almost everyone I've spoken to I sense that it's going to be a good one.  People just seem upbeat about it, and keeping that in mind I considered setting some goals.  Here are the ones that made my short list.

• Eat right - Lose weight - Yadda Yadda
• Implement a personal productivity program
  
• Devote more time to my spiritual practice and study
• Become more socially conscious, actively engage for change

After looking at these I realized that I could probably pull all of them off, or at least some, if I set my sights on #2.   Thanks to my life being less hectic than most,  I doubt I need a formal GTD program, but I'm already off to the start of one.  Over the holidays I cleaned out my closets and cleaned all my drawers.  The carpet is shampooed.  I recently switched to online banking, and I even organized my bookmarks.  Now it's just a matter of keeping things up!

BTW, this morning I checked the numerological forecast for 2007 and found that my goal seems to be right on track.  As it turns out 2007 adds up to a Number 9 year and that means house cleaning on both a personal and global scale.  A page on the subject follows the jump below.

- Cheers, Everybody!

When Photoshop Artists Get Bored


- Video at AxiomSun

Letters to a Dying Friend


- Video at Google  (28 min)



The top 35 torrent sites of 2006

A chunk of ice bigger than Manhattan

American death count in Iraq hits 3,000

Evangelist is sued for claiming God heals

Chicago Tribune:  The best UFO story in eons



Have you ever worked at a health club during the month of January?   Luckily, it's work that I enjoy, but it can also mean putting in some incredibly long hours.  If I appear to vanish a few days from now, please know that I'll be back.  If you can figure out a way to do it, please send sleep! :P

 

Hello, Gang!

After a slew of 14 hour days at work (once a year - January health club sales) I finally made it back.  While out, I was tagged by Starseed, so without delay here we go.

Don't laugh.    lol

Five Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I remember being born, a snippet of the before, and the end of a previous life. Because of a recurring movie in my mind, I believe that I will spend my next life in Australia.

How wild is that.. :P

2. I grew up in a quaint southern town called Magnolia.  My father had a Ph.D. in Philosophy and my mother a Masters in Psychology. Using a cliche' joke around the house, my father would often say to my mother, "Honey, I don't think I can prove this chair exists!"  -  To that my mother would reply, "Honey, I know, but it's OK."

Can there any wonder that I became a nondualist!?

3. Although I describe myself as a dharma bum now, life has not always been this way. By the age of 28, I was well into the corporate ladder and, in fact, the youngest Casualty Claims Manager for any Fortune 500 company in the country. I remained in that position, living in Florida, for over 11 years.  Today, I work happily, part-time, at a health club and make a small income from the Internet.

4. I have been married three times, but have never had any children of my own. Despite each marriage ending prematurely, the second after only three months, I remain open to the idea of marrying again, but doubt that will happen until I'm in my 50s.

5. Although I identify closely with Advaita, Buddhism, and Gnosticism, my spiritual path is a very personal one. I might also say that I'm simply playing out a part. In appearance the path involves introspection, ecstatic projection, and what I like to call contemplation of the relational nature of love (i.e. subject/object). The end of the practice, to the best of my understanding, is described with my signature phrase, "It's a game. In the end you spin a football." - A more traditional saying explains, "When the mind empties, the heart fills it."

Look to the poetry of William Blake and Stephen Crane if you'd like to know more.

I tag Tsi'ta.. :)

I'm afraid that I'm feeling the need for speed again.  The computer that I'm working on now still runs okay, but that's only because of a rebuild that saved it from the grave about a year and a half ago.  With the extra work that I picked up at the health club this month I'm setting my sights on something else.  Right now that means looking at this Gateway.  I must visit the page about it five times a day.  But even with the extra cash and what I had saved I'm only about half way there.  If the computer Gods are out there, please send more money..  :P

Hope you're off to a good week!  -  As always, Cheers!

"So, you want your life to be stressful?   Attempt to control everything:   Try to control other people; both what they do, and also what they think.   The stress factor here lies in the fact that trying to control other people is much like herding cats: [ lol ] it requires enormous effort, and you know
deep down that it's futile and ridiculous to even attempt."

- There's More

Hilarious prank to play on a telemarketer


- Video at AxiomSun

Doc. - The investigation of Binny Hinn


- Video at Google  (41 min)



NASA says it's getting warmer

Massive list of sites for all autodidacts

Twenty ways you can waste money on your car

India's president asks question on Yahoo Answers

Find tons of free items for someone at The Bargainist



Do you know someone who considers going to the mailbox one of the highlights of their day?  I know that sounds sad to most of us, but for some folks, especially the elderly - who often don't use computers, going to the mailbox can be a pretty big deal.  My stepfather falls into that category, so the other day I decided to give him a little help.  After setting up a dummy email account, I signed him up to receive 10 or 12 freebies from various manufacturers. Now that the dummy email account is established I've also added The Bargainst to my list of regular stops.

The South is cold... brrrrr.  -  As always, Cheers!  :)

Does high-fructose corn syrup have to be in everything? - If you're accustomed to reading food labels you may be wondering.   But how does it compare to sugar and why are we using so much of it?  - The answers, after the jump, are as alarming as they are educational.

-  Lew Rockwell

 

Mad scientists study spiders on drugs


- Video at YouTube

Entire lake sucked down by whirlpool


- Video at Google  (5 min)



Incredible Photo of the Amazon

7 hidden pages in your Firefox browser

Methodist Ministers Petition:  No Bush library at SMU

Weather Channel expert wants warming skeptics decertified

Like to build things?  -  Pick out fun weekend project at Instructables



Today, I had the pleasure of visiting one of our health club members in his home. His name is Ray, he's 72 years old, and he wanted some help learning how to use email. - I was happy to oblige, not only because Ray and I have struck up a small friendship at the club - and because it's the right thing to do, but because Ray also has a fully equipped wood working shop. - In exchange for a few computer lessons he offered to give me full access to it (while insisting that the lessons weren't really necessary), and I'm pretty siked.  I've always wanted to take up woodworking, but I've never had access to a shop, the tools, or a teacher. With that coming together, today has been a great reminder that what we give often returns.  No wonder it's one of our oldest ways of making friends.

2007 rolls on..  -  As always, Cheers! 

Or so says one scholar. -  "The exact location of Mona Lisa's burial site, the convent of Sant'Orsola, was just about 900 feet away from the house of the artist's father, according to the historian, Giuseppe Pallanti."

- Discovery Channel

You exist, right? - Some would say you need to prove it.  /  If you haven't checked into the developing field of consciousness studies lately or if you're just looking for somewhere to begin, this special report from Time magazine might be just the ticket...   On a separate but related note, let me also mention that the book Contemplative Science by B. Alan Wallace has been on my Wish List for some time.  If you're familiar with it I'd love to hear your review.

- Time Magazine   

Doc. - The Life of Ramana Maharshi


- Video at Google  (73 min)

Terence McKenna - Alien DreamTime


- Video at Google  (59 min)



A Field Guide to Critical Thinking

Facts and falsehoods about Obama

(71) - Median age of Bill O'Reilly's audience

Rare Photo:  sunset, lightening, and a rainbow

For your entertainment - Celebrities without make-up

Sam Harris is stirring up the hornet's nest again. His newest essay, published at this Newsweek / Washington Post  website, targets religion's treatment of women.  As usual, the words are to the point and hard-hitting.  Quote collectors are apt to find new material here.  Whether you're fully in
the Harris camp or, like me, still reading and thinking it's one that you might enjoy.

Here's to a new week!  - As always, Cheers!

Prediction:   "The new hot thing in our future will be anonymity.  To be un-famous.  To be Googled — and to not be there.  No link.  No Wiki.  No tube, space or face.  No nothing."

- There's More

 

Sara Silverman:  A Very Convenient Truth


- Video at DevilDucky

Build your own Impossible Triangle


- Video at Instructables



Photos:   Off-shore wind farm

The 20 most popular myths in science

Senate Republicans block minimum wage hike

8 Steps - How to sell your book, CD, or DVD on Amazon

Network HDTV Quality Tested - The State of the High-Def Union



I'm one of the few or many (really not sure) who missed the president's speech last night, but I
was happy to see the broadcast used to test high-definition signal quality across the various HD capable news networks. I don't choose my news based on that criterion, but I recently switched from cable to the dish Network and thought the information was nice to know. - BTW, for anyone who does consider HD signals, I'm glad to report that the one from Fox News is really bad.. . :P

Thanks for your visit. - As always, Cheers!

WIth responses like this he just might win.  - "Obama is aggressively going after Fox News today for pushing that smear-job report claiming that he went to an Islamic “madrassa” school as a child.  The report has already been completely debunked by CNN, but Obama isn't letting up."

-  There's More

 

How dogs became man's best friend.


- Video at National Geographic

Rich English Guy and his Trebuchet


- Video at YouTube



Right slams school yoga program

GE Energy-Smart CFL Savings Calculator

Stanford Univ. - Fish capable of human-like logic

CNN Money - 8 technologies that could save the world



CFL is the acronym for what I've been calling spring bulbs.   I'm not sure when I picked up that term or if my use of it is correct.   I couldn't find it listed in the Urban Dictionary.   But whatever the case, after using the calculator I've decided to replace a few more lights, even before my existing bulbs burn out.  The potential for saving is just spectacular.

Hat tip to Digit. - As always, Cheers!

How did life begin?   Is time an illusion?   Why do we sleep?   Is the universe actually made of information?   What is at the Earth's core? -  John Hodgman takes a look at 42 of the biggest questions in science.   Looks like a good starting point for this rainy day in Southwest MS.

- Wired Magazine

 

Just type in your date of birth to discover some unique facts about your birthday.  There's also  a similar tool for your name.

- Paul Sadowski

"Daniel Tammet, unlike most savants, has no obvious mental disability, and most important to scientists, he can describe his own thought process.  He may very well be a scientific Rosetta stone, a key to understanding the brain."

- Story and Video at CBS  /  Documentary at Google