Merry fish-mas!

Fancy something a bit different this year? Why not try scallops with pancetta, a platter of poached salmon or spicy prawn cocktails

Serves 4

Place the salad into each of the glasses and spoon over the prawn and sauce mix

INGREDIENTS

• 300g (10½oz) uncooked king prawns, peeled5tbsp mayonnaise1tbsp tomato ketchup1tsp brandyPinch of dried chilli flakesSqueeze of lemon juiceSalt and freshly ground black pepper8 Little Gem lettuce leaves4 red chicory leaves150g (5¼oz) king prawn tails, cooked
• METHOD

Put a little oil in a small pan, heat gently and add the prawns. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until pink and cooked through.
Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, brandy, chilli flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the king prawns.
Shred 2 of the lettuce leaves and divide between four serving glasses. Place one chicory leaf and one lettuce leaf into each of the glasses and spoon over the prawn and sauce mix. Top with the prawn tails and serve.



 

Have a very veggie Christmas!

Don’t despair if you don’t eat meat. A vegetarian Christmas dinner can still be a feast full of flavour – and a lot less hassle than a turkey...Serves 4-6

Crowd pleaser: Pour over the onions and arrange the figs around the edge

INGREDIENTS


1 pack (approx 275g) ready-rolled puff pastry
1tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 plump garlic clove, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
1tsp fennel seeds
1 large egg, and 1 yolk, whisked
225ml (7fl oz) double cream
175g (6oz) Gorgonzola cheese
2 figs, quartered

METHOD
Preheat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/ gas 6. Line a 23cm (8½in) tart tin with pastry, leaving a 3cm (1¼in) overhang. Lay baking paper over the pastry, fill with baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes.

Remove the paper, prick the base with a fork and return to the oven for 5 minutes until golden. Cool slightly then trim the edges of the pastry. Heat the oil and gently sweat the onion for 8-10 minutes until very soft.

Add the garlic, fennel and seeds, and cook for a few minutes until lightly golden. Tip into the tin. Mix the egg and cream and season. Pour over the onions, dot the cheese on top and arrange the figs around the edge. Bake for 30-40 minutes until puffed and golden.

TV that can be rolled up and put in your pocket

TV that can be rolled up and put in your pocket



Tiny dots 100,000 times thinner than human hair

'Quantum dots' are printed on plastic sheets
Far thinner even than hi-tech OLED screens
Plastic sheet can be rolled up without damage


Flat screen TVs that can be rolled up and put in a jacket pocket could soon be a reality - thanks to an entirely new screen technology called QD.

Thetechnology, which was developed by a team of British scientists, is known as 'quantum dot' and can be used to make ultra-thin televisions.
Companies such as Samsung are already working on bendable OLED screens - but QD screens will be thinner, and bendier.

Flat screen TVs that can be rolled up and put in a jacket pocket could soon be a reality - thanks to an entirely new screen technology called QD.

Thetechnology, which was developed by a team of British scientists, is known as 'quantum dot' and can be used to make ultra-thin televisions.
Companies such as Samsung are already working on bendable OLED screens - but QD screens will be thinner, and bendier.

The flexible screens are expected to take slightly longer and could be in the shops over the next three years.



The company will not reveal exactly who they are working with but it is believed that Sony, Sharp, Samsung and LG are all working on quantum dot technology.


Most televisions produced have a liquid crystal display (LCD) which are lit by light-emitting diodes (LED) with a screen that is a few millimetres thick.


Using the quantum dot technology would mean televisions are lighter and thinner than ever before.


Chief executive of Nanoco, a company set up by scientists at Manchester University, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'The real advantage provided by quantum dots, however, is that they can be printed on to a plastic sheet that can be rolled up.
'It is likely these will be small personal devices to begin with. Something else we are looking at is reels of wallpaper or curtains made out of a material that has quantum dots printed on it.

'You can imagine displaying scenes of the sun rising over a beach as you wake up in the morning.'










 

Cambridge University today published Newton's most important works on a new library website

Cambridge University today published more than 4,000 pages of Newton's most important works on a new library website. They include his own annotated copy of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. First published in July 1687, 'Principia' not only contains the laws of motion, but also Newton's law of universal gravitation. It is widely regarded as one of the most significant works in the history of science. ...read

click to read further >>>
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2072992/Original-manuscript-Sir-Isaac-Newtons-famous-laws-motion-available-online.html

Kepler discovers planets <>"habitable zone,"

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone," the region around a star where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe."

Kepler discovers planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets that cross in front, or "transit," the stars. Kepler requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.

"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., who led the team that discovered Kepler-22b. "The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."

The Kepler science team uses ground-based telescopes and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to review observations on planet candidates the spacecraft finds. The star field that Kepler observes in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra can only be seen from ground-based observatories in spring through early fall. The data from these other observations help determine which candidates can be validated as planets.


Kepler-22b is located 600 light-years away. While the planet is larger than Earth, its orbit of 290 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our world. The planet's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, called G-type, although it is slightly smaller and cooler.
Of the 54 habitable zone planet candidates reported in February 2011, Kepler-22b is the first to be confirmed. This milestone will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The Kepler team is hosting its inaugural science conference at Ames Dec. 5-9, announcing 1,094 new planet candidate discoveries. Since the last catalog was released in February, the number of planet candidates identified by Kepler has increased by 89 percent and now totals 2,326. Of these, 207 are approximately Earth-size, 680 are super Earth-size, 1,181 are Neptune-size, 203 are Jupiter-size and 55 are larger than Jupiter.

The findings, based on observations conducted May 2009 to September 2010, show a dramatic increase in the numbers of smaller-size planet candidates.

Kepler observed many large planets in small orbits early in its mission, which were reflected in the February data release. Having had more time to observe three transits of planets with longer orbital periods, the new data suggest that planets one to four times the size of Earth may be abundant in the galaxy.

The number of Earth-size, and super Earth-size candidates, has increased by more than 200 and 140 percent since February, respectively.

There are 48 planet candidates in their star's habitable zone. While this is a decrease from the 54 reported in February, the Kepler team has applied a stricter definition of what constitutes a habitable zone in the new catalog, to account for the warming effect of atmospheres, which would move the zone away from the star, out to longer orbital periods.

"The tremendous growth in the number of Earth-size candidates tells us that we're honing in on the planets Kepler was designed to detect: those that are not only Earth-size, but also are potentially habitable," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif. "The more data we collect, the keener our eye for finding the smallest planets out at longer orbital periods."

NASA's Ames Research Center manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters.


For more information about the Kepler mission and to view the digital press kit, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kepler .

மருத்துவ குணமுள்ள செம்பருத்தி பூ

மருத்துவ குணமுள்ள செம்பருத்தி பூவின் நிறம் மற்றும் அழகில் மயங்காதவர்களே இருக்க முடியாது. ஏராளமான நிறங்கள்இ ஒற்றை மற்றும் அடுக்கு செம்பருத்தி என பல வகைகள் உள்ளன.

கண்ணை கவரும் இதன் சிவப்பு நிறத்தால் தோட்டத்தில் மற்ற செடிகளுக்கு இடையில் பளீரென அழகாக தோற்றமளிக்கும்.

வீட்டில் அழகுக்காக வளர்க்கப்படும் இதில் பல்வேறு மருத்துவ குணங்களும் இருப்பது பலருக்கு தெரிவதில்லை. செம்பருத்தி பூக்கள் மற்றும் இலைகள்இ தலைமுடி வளர்ச்சிக்கும் தலையில் பொடுகு உள்ளிட்ட பிரச்னைகளுக்கும் தீர்வாகும்.

தேங்காய் எண்ணையில் இதன் காய்ந்த மொட்டுக்களை போட்டு ஊற வைத்து தொடர்ந்து தடவி வந்தால் கூந்தலின் கருமை நிறம் பாதுகாக்கப்படும்.

இங்கிலாந்தை சேர்ந்த தாவரவியல் ஆராய்ச்சியாளர்கள் சமீபத்தில் மேற்கொண்ட ஆய்வில் தெரியவந்த தகவல்கள் இவை. இதை நேரடியாகவோ மறைமுகமாகவோ உட்கொண்டால் கிடைக்கும் பலன் மற்றும் பயன்களை பட்டியலிட்டுள்ளனர்.

அதன் விபரம்: உணவில் செம்பருத்தி பூவை சேர்த்துக் கொள்வதால் சோர்வு நீங்கும். இதன் இலைகளை சேர்த்து கொதிக்க வைத்து தேநீராக அருந்தினால் ரத்த அழுத்தம் சீராக இருக்கும். உயர் ரத்த அழுத்தத்தை கட்டுப்படுத்தும்.

தொடர்ந்து இதை பயன்படுத்தும் போது ரத்தத்தில் உள்ள கொழுப்பு கரையும். அதிகப்படியான கொழுப்பு சேர்வதை தடுக்கும். உடலுக்கு குளிர்ச்சி அளிக்க வல்லது.

சருமத்தை பளபளப்பாக்கி நோய் எதிர்ப்பு சக்தியை அதிகரிக்கும். இந்த தாவரத்தின் அனைத்து பாகங்களும் மருத்துவ பயன்கள் கொண்டது.

இயற்கையின் கொடை என்பது மட்டுமின்றி பக்க விளைவுகளும் பாதிப்புகளும் அற்றது என்று இங்கிலாந்து ஆராய்ச்சியாளர்கள் கூறியுள்ளனர்

ரூ.10 கோடி செலவில் தங்க கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரம்

ரூ.10 கோடி செலவில் தங்க கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரம்!
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உலகம் முழுவதும் கிறிஸ்துமஸ் பண்டிகைக்கான கொண்டாட்டங்கள் இப்போதே தொடங்கிவிட்டது. அலங்கார பொருட்கள் மற்றும் குடில்களை அமைப்பதற்கான பொருட்களை இப்போதே மக்கள் வாங்க தொடங்கி விட்டனர். பல்வேறு நகரங்களில் வண்ணமிகு அழகிய கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரங்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றன. இந்த நிலையில் ஜப்பான் தலைநகர் டோக்கியோவில் தங்க கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரம் ஒன்று தயாரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 2.4 மீட்டர் உயரத்தினால் ஆன இந்த கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரம் டோக்கியோவில் ஜின்ஷா தனாகா என்பவருக்கு சொந்தமான நகைக்கடையில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. சுமார் 12 கிலோ தங்கத்தினால் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்ட இந்த மரத்தின் மதிப்பு ரூ.10 கோடி(இந்திய ரூபாய்) ஆகும். இந்த மரத்தை 15 தங்க நகை நிபுணர்கள் 4 1/2 மாதங்கள் இரவு-பகலாக சேர்ந்து வடிவமைத்துள்ளனர்.

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Posted in பல்சுவை

மசூதியில் பாடம் எடுத்துக் கொண்டிருந்த இஸ்லாமிய ஆசிரியர் ஒருவர் குழந்தைகளை அடித்து உதைத்து தாக்கியுள்ளார். ரகசியக் கமரா மூலம் குறித்த ஆசிரியரின் தாக்குதல்கள் அம்பலமானது.

இவர் நேற்றுக் கைது செய்யப்பட்டார். 60 வயதான Sabir Hussain என்ற ஆசிரியரே கைது செய்யப்பட்டவராவர்.

சிறுவர்களை அமர வைத்து கைகளை பின்பக்கமாக வைக்கச் சொல்லி கடுமையாகத் தாக்கியுள்ளார்.
லண்டனில் உள்ள Keighley, West Yorkshire பிரதேசத்தில் உள்ள Jamia Mosque இல் தான் மேற்படி துயரச் சம்பவம் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது.

தாக்கப்பட்ட சிறுவர்கள் பத்து மற்றும் பதின்மூன்று வயதுக்கு இடைப்பட்டவர்கள்.


குறித்த வீடியோக் காட்சிகளை லண்டனின் பிரபல சனல் 4 தொலைக்காட்சி தான் அம்பலப்படுத்தியிருந்தமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.


குர் ஆனை வாசிக்கும் போது தான் சிறுவர்களை தாக்கியுள்ளார் ஆசிரியர்.

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அல்சர் நோயை குணப்படுத்தும் வாழைப்பழம்

உள் குடல்களில் சுரக்கும் அமிலங்களும் நச்சுப் பொருட்களும் அரிப்பதன் காரணமாக குடல் புண் என்கிற அல்சர் ஏற்படுகிறது.



பச்சை வாழைப்பழத்தை தொடர்ந்து சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் இந்த பாதிப்பில் இருந்து விடுபடலாம்.

குடல்களில் பழுதுபட்ட மெல்லிய சவ்வுத் தோல்களைச் விரைவில் வளரச் செய்து புண்ணை ஆற்றிவிடும் சக்தி பச்சை வாழைப்பழத்திற்கு உண்டு.

1. வெண்டைக்காய் விதையைக் கொஞ்சம் கஞ்சியில் போட்டு காய்ச்சி முன்று நாள் வரை சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் சிறுநீர் கழிக்கும் போது எரிச்சல் ஏற்படாது.

2. உணவு சாப்பிடுவதற்கு 1/2 மணி நேரத்திற்கு முன்னதாக தினசரி அரை கோப்பை ஒலிவ் எண்ணெய்யைச் சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால், ரத்தக் குழாயில் கொழுப்பு படிவதை தடுக்கலாம். வாய்ப் புண் உள்ளவர்களுக்கு காரம் ஆகாது. முடிந்தவரை காரத்தைக் குறைத்துச் சாப்பிடுங்கள்.

3. தேங்காய்த் துண்டுகளைச் சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் எளிதில் வாய்ப்புண் ஆறும். ஜாதிக்காயைச் சிறு சிறு துண்டுகளாகச் சீவி அதை நெய்விட்டு வறுத்து சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் சீதபேதி குணமாகும். இதற்கு சிகிச்சை மேற்கொள்ளும்போது தயிர், மோர், இளநீர் ஆகியவற்றை மட்டும் ஏராளமாகச் சேர்த்துக் கொள்வது நல்லது.

4. இரவில் படுக்கப் போகும்முன் வெந்நீரில் சிறிது தேன் கலந்து அந்த நீரில் வாயைக் கொப்பளித்து வந்தால் பற்களுக்குத் தொந்தரவு கொடுக்கும் பாக்டீரியாக்கள் செத்துப் போகும். பற்களின் எனாமல் சிதையாமல் பாதுகாக்கப்படும்.

a living miracle of our times<> St. Bernadette who died 122 years ago in Lourdes ,

These are the pictures of St. Bernadette who died 122 years ago in Lourdes ,
France . And was buried; her body was only discovered 30 years ago..
After church officials decided to examine it they discovered her body is
still fresh until today and if you ever go to Lourdes , France you can see
her in the church in Lourdes . Her body isn't decomposing because during her
lifetime, the Mother of Jesus would always appear to her and give messages
and advise to all mankind on the right way to live on this earth.
Many miracles have taken place in this place of Lourdes and still do until
today.

These pictures show her
body after 122 years.


Scientists have wondered about this because it defies the laws of nature and
instead of expecting a foul smell of a dead body, a fragrance of flowers canbe experienced when the glass of coffin is opened. Some say they experience
the fragrance by just going near the coffin. You  can visit the Church of
Lourdes , France, to verify yourself the authenticity of this truly
wonderful experience and see for yourself a living miracle of our times.

இந்த வருடம் குபேர கிரிவலம் 23.11.2011

உங்களுக்கு வாழ்க்கையில் பொருளாதார ரீதியாக ,

ஒரு சுமுகமான நிலை வர வேண்டும் என்று விரும்பினால் , நீங்களும் இந்த தினத்தைப் பயன் படுத்திக் கொள்ளுங்கள். 

உங்கள் ஜாதக அமைப்புப் படி - கிடைக்கும் பலன்கள் , முன்னே பின்னே தாமதப் பட்டாலும், நீங்கள் இப்போது இருக்கும் நிலையை விட - ஒரு படி நிச்சயம் முன்னேறுவீர்கள்.

இந்த வருடம் குபேர கிரிவலம் 23.11.2011 புதன்கிழமை வருகிறது.அன்று மாலை சரியாக 4 மணி இலிருந்து மாலை 6 மணி வரை குபேரலிங்கத்திடம் , உங்கள் நியாயமான கோரிக்கையை வையுங்கள். பூஜை முடிந்த பிறகு - அங்கிருந்து நீங்கள் கிரிவலம் தொடங்கி , முடிக்க வேண்டும். புதன் கிழமையாக இருப்பதால் மாலை 4  மணி முதல் 5 மணி வரை  குரு ஹோரையும் சேர்ந்து வருகிறது.

கிரிவலம் செல்லும்போது எவரிடமும் பேசாமல்,மனதுக்குள் ஓம்சிவசிவஓம் ஜபித்தவாறு செல்லவும். ஐயா மிஸ்டிக் செல்வம் ஐயா அவர்கள் கூறியபடி மஞ்சள் ஆடை , அல்லது வேஷ்டி

அல்லது ஒரு கைக்குட்டையாவது வைத்து இருந்தால் ,

 உங்கள் உடலில் இந்த மந்திர ஆகர்ஷணம் தங்கும்.
 

குபேர லிங்கத்தில் ஆரம்பித்து , ஈசான்ய லிங்கம் வந்து - அண்ணாமலையாரை தரிசித்து விட்டு - ராஜ கோபுரத்தில்

கிரிவலம் தொடங்கி , பின் அஷ்ட லிங்கங்களை வரிசையாக தரிசித்து விட்டு - ராஜ கோபுர வாசலில் கிரிவலம் முடிப்பது உசிதம். 

இந்த நாள் என்று இல்லாமல் , எல்லா நாளுமே திருவண்ணாமலையில் கிரிவலம் செல்வது , மிக மிக

நல்ல காரியம். இந்த நாளுக்கு இப்படி ஒரு சக்தி இருப்பது உண்மையோ , பொய்யோ - பௌர்ணமி அல்லாத ஒரு

சாதாரண நாளில் , நிம்மதியாக - சுற்றி இருக்கும் கூட்டத்தின் தொந்தரவு இல்லாமல் , மன அமைதியுடன் கிரிவலம்

வர முடியும். அஷ்ட லிங்கங்களை கண் குளிர தரிசனம் செய்ய முடியும். 

சாதாரண  நாளில் கூட ஒரே ஒரு முறை - குபேர லிங்க

வாசலில் ஒருவருக்கு அன்னதானம்  செய்தவர்களுக்கு -

ஒரு மாதத்துக்குள்ளாகவே - இரண்டு மடங்கு சம்பளத்துடன்

புதிய வேலை கிடைத்தும் இருக்கிறது.

எல்லாம், பதி பக்தியுடன் , நம்பிக்கையுடன் - நாம் வேண்டும் முறையில் தான் இருக்கிறது.. அப்படி இருக்கும்போது ,

இந்த நாளை பயன்படுத்துவது நல்லது என்பது

என் அபிப்பிராயம்.......

யோகம் உள்ளவர்கள் நிச்சயம் வர முடியும். நம்பிக்கையுடன் வருபவர்களுக்கு , அந்த அண்ணாமலையாரின் அருளும்,

லட்சுமி கடாட்சமும், குபேர சம்பத்தும் நிச்சயம் உண்டு..!

நேரம் தாராளமாக இருந்தால் , அண்ணாமலை கிரிவலம்

முடிந்து திருப்பதி சென்று வருதல் , கூடுதல் விசேஷமாக

அமையும்.  

மழை நேரமாக இருப்பதால் , அதற்க்கு தகுந்த ஏற்பாடுகளுடன் வருவது நல்லது. 

முயற்சி செய்து பாருங்களேன்..!  

வாழ்க அறமுடன் ! வளர்க அருளுடன் !

the natural world has some fantastic fireworks of its very own…..

Fountains of feathers
Male birds are some of the biggest show-offs in the animal kingdom, and their extravagant feathers can be the key to a female’s heart. We thought we would kick off our display with some of the most flamboyant, including the Atlantic royal flycatcher, the raggiana bird of paradise and an unusual albino Indian peafowl….

Bates’ pygmy antelope (Neotragus batesi)

Bates’ pygmy antelope (Neotragus batesi)

Bates' pygmy antelope is a shy, secretive creature, much like Mr Bates
It is doubtful that this secretive species was named after Downton’s favourite valet given that it comes from East Africa, but it does seem to share certain traits with the quiet Mr Bates.


The range of the male Bates’ pygmy antelope often overlaps those of two females. Sadly for our Mr Bates, it seems that the same can be said of him too, with his life being torn between his beloved Anna and his wife, the venomous Mrs Bates.

Bates’ pygmy antelope favours areas of dense vegetation cover, but it can also be found along roadsides and in village gardens. It tends to move around several suitable feeding sites on rotation, spending just a month or two in each area. Is this perhaps why Mr Bates keeps coming and going from Downton?!

(From Downton Abbey to the ARKive estate)

(wow it is so cute >

Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Special to USA TODAY
With humanity coming up fast on 2012, publishers are helping readers gear up and count down to this mysterious — some even call it apocalyptic — date that ancient Mayan societies were anticipating thousands of years ago.
Since November, at least three new books on 2012 have arrived in mainstream bookstores. A fourth is due this fall. Each arrives in the wake of the 2006 success of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, which has been selling thousands of copies a month since its release in May and counts more than 40,000 in print. The books also build on popular interest in the Maya, fueled in part by Mel Gibson's December 2006 film about Mayan civilization, Apocalpyto.

Authors disagree about what humankind should expect on Dec. 21, 2012, when the Maya's "Long Count" calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year era.

Journalist Lawrence Joseph forecasts widespread catastrophe in Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End. Spiritual healer Andrew Smith predicts a restoration of a "true balance between Divine Feminine and Masculine" in The Revolution of 2012: Vol. 1, The Preparation. In 2012, Daniel Pinchbeck anticipates a "change in the nature of consciousness," assisted by indigenous insights and psychedelic drug use.

The buildup to 2012 echoes excitement and fear expressed on the eve of the new millennium, popularly known as Y2K, though on a smaller scale, says Lynn Garrett, senior religion editor at Publishers Weekly. She says publishers seem to be courting readers who believe humanity is creating its own ecological disasters and desperately needs ancient indigenous wisdom.

"The convergence I see here is the apocalyptic expectations, if you will, along with the fact that the environment is in the front of many people's minds these days," Garrett says. "Part of the appeal of these earth religions is that notion that we need to reconnect with the Earth in order to save ourselves."

But scholars are bristling at attempts to link the ancient Maya with trends in contemporary spirituality. Maya civilization, known for advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy, flourished for centuries in Mesoamerica, especially between A.D. 300 and 900. Its Long Count calendar, which was discontinued under Spanish colonization, tracks more than 5,000 years, then resets at year zero.

"For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," says Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Fla. To render Dec. 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."

Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that "whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time," Joseph writes.

But scholars doubt the ancient Maya extrapolated great meaning from anticipating the alignment — if they were even aware of what the configuration would be.

Astronomers generally agree that "it would be impossible the Maya themselves would have known that," says Susan Milbrath, a Maya archaeoastronomer and a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History. What's more, she says, "we have no record or knowledge that they would think the world would come to an end at that point."

University of Florida anthropologist Susan Gillespie says the 2012 phenomenon comes "from media and from other people making use of the Maya past to fulfill agendas that are really their own."

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Influencing The Atmosphere

Influencing The Atmosphere

Thoughts are very powerful.
It is thought power that creates the atmosphere in my home or office.
The atmosphere may or may not be positive depending on the thoughts of those present at home or in the office.
If I can control my mind and develop its positive power,
I can influence rather than be influenced by the atmosphere around me.
My dependence on others and physical things will decrease. I will gain satisfaction, and within that satisfaction there will be great strength. Then nothing will be experienced as difficult.
The question of wanting to drop out (leave) of the system or escape does not arise because, although I remain within society, in my thoughts I am beyond its influence.


Anything that we do in life will have a consequence.
If you do the right thing, you will have the right effect and if you do the wrong thing, you must bear the consequences of that activity.
This law is inviolable. Nobody can change it.

Remember you have control and mastery only over the cause.
Once the cause is laid, you do not have control over the effect.
The cause produces the effect.
Therefore, analyze and understand the cause of your suffering.
Exercise your influence and control over the cause.
Influence the cause and the effect is bound to change. That is the law.

Gopal Nair
For FREE Membership registration, click here http://mfgglobal.org/membership.php)

Magical Jonglage Strip Show : Video Clips From The Coolest One

Magical Jonglage Strip Show : Video Clips From The Coolest One

Who are the top 10 women in U.S. technology?

By David Zielenziger October 31, 2011 3:57 PM EDT

Who are the top 10 women in U.S. technology?

Nobody would ask who the top 10 men are in U.S. technology because their ranks fill the executive suites at Intel, Apple, Texas Instruments, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Motorola Mobility....and on and on

Finding the women is harder because there are fewer, especially at the CEO level, where they can really influence the company and the industry.

Here are a few more than 10 to start:

Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, a mechanical engineer with a masters degree from Columbia University. Head of Xerox since 2009, when she succeeded Anne Mulcahy, who had been a senior VP of human resources. Burns, 53, is experienced with technology.

Part of her mandate is to make the Stamford, Conn.-based Xerox more profitable by adding services, so Burns has spent billions acquiring services companies, mainly in printing and document preparation, but also in services important to enterprises.

The gamble has paid off so far. Xerox has been consistently profitable, selling services to the global Fortune 500, a far cry from when people were wondering about the "paperless office."

Xerox has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion since Burns took over.

Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, the former CEO of eBay. Whitman, who has an economics degree from Princeton and a Harvard MBA, lacks a technology background. But she helped transform eBay into an auction and sales giant. In a month as CEO of HP, the No. 1 global computer company, she managed to raise the share price 23 percent.

Still, the verdict is out on Whitman, HP's second woman CEO. The first, Carleton (Carly) Fiorina, a former sales executive from Lucent Technologies, was ousted over her performance in 2008, highlighted by her acquisition of Compaq Computer.

Now Whitman, 55, has decided to keep HP's PC business, essentially "old" Compaq, and use it as a key for growth. Whitman is also relying upon her executive chairman, Ray Lane, former president of Oracle, as a co-partner, especially for software issues.

Stay tuned.

Virginia Rometty, CEO-designate of IBM. Starting Jan. 1, Rometty, now IBM's EVP for strategy, gets the ring at the No. 2 computer services company, where one of her top lieutenants will be Linda Sanford, EVP for computing. It's believed Rometty won the CEO job because she's 54, compared to Sanford's 58. IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano is stepping down at 60.

Rometty, who has a B.S. in computer science and electrical engineering from Northwestern, is well-regarded as a strategist and got high marks helping IBM manage its giant takeover of Pricewaterhouse Cooper's consulting.

The Armonk, N.Y.-based giant has never had a woman CEO since it was founded in 1911, so Rometty's touch will be different, for sure. But with more than 325,000 colleagues, IBMers are known to have changed over the years when the typical IBMer was a middle-aged man with a white shirt. No longer.

In the technology world, talent counts. Rometty (and Sanford) have been well-regarded for years because of their records.

Ann Livermore, director of HP and until June, EVP for enterprise business under its last CEOs, Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd and Leo Apotheker. Livermore, 53, is a Stanford MBA and has years of expertise building up HP's networking business.

When HP bought Electronic Data Systems for $13.9 billion in 2008, she was responsible for oversight. Twice passed over to be HP's CEO, Livermore could well be poised to be CEO of just about any other company in the sector. She is now a director of UPS.

Safra Catz, one of two co-presidents at Oracle as well as its CFO for the second time. Catz, 49, came to the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software company from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where she had a successful Wall Street career.

The Israel-born Catz has a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and testified in Oracle's intellectual property lawsuits against German rival SAP. She argued then that Oracle deserved the $1.3 billion awarded by a jury rather than the $40 million SAP lawyers argued for.

Serving alongside co-President Mark Hurd, former CEO of both HP and NCR, Catz will always be a No. 2 after Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison, 67. But she's among the most respected women in the sector.

Stephanie DiMarco, founder and CEO of Advent Software. Not as well-known as she should be, DiMarco, 53, founded San Francisco-based Advent in 1983, which has become one Wall Street's best-regarded financial management software developers.

DiMarco's personal Advent Software holdings are valued now around $28 million.

DiMarco has also been CFO and president of the company throughout her tenure. Advent now has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion and a blue-chip client list.

Ellen Kullman, DuPont CEO, where she is the first woman to run the Wilmington, Del.-based chemical giant. Kullman, 55, has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Tufts as well as a masters in management from Northwestern and worked at General Electric before joining DuPont in 1988.

Kullman is a major advocate of science-based education as well as using chemicals to increase food supplies. Not surprisingly, just about all her subordinates are men, save for Linda Fisher, VP for safety, health and environment, and Diane Gulyas, president of DuPont Performance Polymers.

After IBM and HP, DuPont's market capitalization of $44.9 billion makes it among the biggest technology companies with a woman CEO. Kullman assumed office in 2009.

Three university presidents with technology backgrounds of major research universities are: Susan Hockfeld, 60, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2004; Shirley Ann Jackson, 65, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 1999; and Shirley M. Tilghman, 65, president of Princeton since 2001.

All three are at the top of their fields, Hockfeld in neuroscience, Jackson in physics and Tilghman in molecular biology. All are the first women presidents of their institutions, among America's greatest research universities that train the next generation of technical professionals and have the money for original research.

Besides serving as role models for students, all three presidents serve on at least one technology board of directors. Hockfeld is a director of General Electric; Jackson is a director of IBM and Medtronic and Tilghman is a director of Google.

Finally, in the U.S. government, two top women in technical positions are Lisa P. Jackson, 49, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Jane Lubchenko, 63, undersecretary of commerce and administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Both women were appointed by President Obama in 2009.

Both are key policy makers on matters of the environment and climate change. Jackson is a chemical engineer from Princeton and Lubchenko, who has a doctorate in ecology from Harvard was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

There are other women in U.S. technology ranks: Carol Bartz, 63, was Yahoo CEO until she was ousted Sept. 5, but had served for years as CEO and chairman of Autodesk. Weili Dai, 49, is co-founder of Marvell Technology Group, the chipmaker, and an EVP, although her husband, Sehat Sutardja and brother-in-law Pantas Sutardja, really run the company.

Why so few at the top? Given that young women now outnumber men in graduate schools, there ought to be more. Surely, as far as consumption of technology products goes, from iPhones to Kindles, they are a huge market.

Will there be change over the next decade? Signals are mixed. But women were 50.8 percent of the U.S. population, the 2010 census reported.

Girls are nearly 50 percent of high school students who take the Advanced Placement exam in calculus but only 19 percent of the AP computer science test takers, the College Board reports.

In college, something happens. By graduation, women received only 18 percent of degrees in computing and information sciences in 2009, a sharp decrease from the 37 percent in 1985, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology.

There are similar disparities in electrical engineering, the traditional source for semiconductor and computer industry talent. Both Bill Hewlett and David Packard were electrical engineers.

Of the 407,000 members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), 90 percent were male in 2010, despite years of supporting technical education for women.

Statistics also show that women engineers and technologists often leave the workforce in mid-career because they want to raise children or spend time at home. But other figures show they leave the technology sector for another. So that when the time comes for promotions, there are fewer women to choose from.

Besides the women mentioned above, there are several more who have been CEOs who might be available for another challenge.

Among them are Kim Polese, 39, who was CEO of Marimba when it was acquired by BMC Software; Diane Greene, a co-founder of VMware before its acquisition by EMC and then its spinoff, and Sandra Kurtzig, who founded ASK Group in 1972, is a mechanical engineer who built that company into one of Silicon Valley's biggest mid-range computer software developers. She sold ASK to CA Technologies in 1994. This year, she started Kenandy, another software developer, with $10.5 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Salesforce.com and the Wilson Sonsini law firm.

For feedback or corrections email editor@ibtimes.com

How dangerous is Mexico right now?

This is a subject of endless debate.


A security guard patrols the beach in Cancun. In light of headlines about drug-cartel violence and kidnappings in Mexico, Cancun has added security personnel and tourist greeters to make sure that visitors stay safe. CAPTIONBy Kitty Yancey, USA TODAYThe Mexico Tourism Board says the country is having a great year and that nearly 100% of U.S. vacationers queried say they had a great time. However, the board has launched a $30 million ad campaign targeted at Americans, which tells you that it knows Mexico has an image problem in the USA mainly due to drug cartel violence.

Meanwhile, some in the U.S. travel industry are bullish on Mexico. Hard Rock International says it is moving into Mexico, re-branding three all-inclusive palace Resorts. And Wyndham Hotel Group just announced it has added the 68-room Las Villas Hotel at Estrella del Mar in the Mazatlan area to its portfolio.

RELATED: $30 million ad campaign says Mexico is safe

But this week comes news of the apparent kidnapping of a Mexican luxury car dealer from a restaurant not far from the tourist zone of Cancun. That popular resort area has added security guards and is generally considered a well-patrolled area where American tourists can wander safely.

A report on foxnews.com says that the car dealer and three companions were abducted after leaving the unnamed restaurant last Friday. It said families did not officially report the disappearances, and that ransom had been demanded.

Kidnappings and "a move toward extortion" are increasing problems in Mexico, says Charles Regini, a former FBI hostage negotiator who now is managing director of crisis response and planning for Kroll Associates Inc. Kroll bills itself as "the world's leading risk consulting company" and offers security and negotiating services.

Regini says that Kroll's sources in the Cancun area confirmed that the kidnap happened on the Boulevard Luis Donaldo Colosio in front of a mall named Plaza Pabellon Cumbres in Cancun. So far this year, Kroll has seen no Americans kidnapped in Mexico, but that certain parts of the country are lawless -- like "the Wild West," Regini says -- because drug cartels have taken over.

Cancun and the Riviera Maya are considered "relatively safe," he says. But border towns, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallerta and Acapulco can be "extremely dangerous" once you leave the tourist areas, he says. "And overland travel in Mexico also is extremely dangerous" for Americans, he says.

"If you're going to Mexico, do some due diligence," Regini says. "Maintain awareness and don't put yourself in a position to be a victim." Leave the expensive watches and flashy jewelry at home, too.

While many tourists have positive and safe experiences, Regini is not high on Mexico right now. Trouble there is a big part of Kroll's business, he says. "Frankly," he adds, "I advise everyone I know not to go."

So readers, what do you think? Have any of you returned recently from Mexico? How was your trip?

P.S.: Just found out that Martha Stewart journeyed to Mexico City and offers a look at its culture, crafts, cuisine and more on today's The Martha Stewart Show on the Hallmark Channel. The episode was taped in Mexico City in July 2011 with support from the Mexico City Tourism Promotion Fund. You can watch the show on Stewart's website.

(sources :http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2011/11/how-dangerous-is-mexico/560394/1?csp=Travel)

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Music Relaxation

Vangelis - Song Of The Seas

யோகா mystical experiences and "siddhis".

Originally published in Tattva Prakasha newsletter.)

It has become quite popular nowadays to speak about mystical experiences and "siddhis". Most yoga and meditation groups speak of them, along with other esoteric blabber such as the raising of kundalini, opening of chakras, and other things which no one has actually experienced. On one side we have new age gurus speaking of siddhis very cheaply as though they are as common as sand on a beach, and on the other hand we have "rationalists" who discount siddhis all together as mere fantasy.

Siddhis are a reality, and the science behind them has been passed down from time immemorial by the rishis and preserved in the Vedic texts. In actuality nothing is mystic. Everything functions according to natural laws. The rishis, by virtue of their expanded consciousness, understood the functioning of matter on the subtle levels of sound and mind. They actually understood the absolute laws of nature, and not just the surfacial reactions caused by mixing gross physical elements.

True transcendentalists have no interest in mundane material life. As such, the rishis did not give much importance to material powers and perfections. They were not interested in acquiring wealth, power, fame, etc. Their aim was much higher.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:


vishaya vinivartante
niraharasya dehinah
rasa-varjam raso 'py asya
param drishtva nivartate


"The embodied soul may be restricted from senses enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness."

We must imagine how great the spiritual experience of the rishis and yogis must be to turn away from absolute material power - control over the fundamental laws of nature - and sit alone in the forest absorbed in meditation. That is the brahmananda, paramananda, shivananda, yogananda spoken of in the scriptures - the spiritual bliss which is the constitutional nature of the self. Experiencing a higher taste of spiritual bliss, they are able to renounce all lower material sensual enjoyment - both subtle and physical.

How else can we explain the countless yogis, jnanis, tapasvis, siddhas, and rishis who dwell in the sacred realm of the Himalayas. High in the mountains, surrounded by a forest covered in snow. The rishis are there even today meditating on the banks of the Ganges. What keeps them there, living in apparent poverty? Are they fools, are they mad? No, on the contrary, the world is mad and we are all fools. For we are chasing after the broken glass of sense enjoyment, while they are offering us the diamonds of
spiritual bliss.

The rishis are calling to us. We must heed their call. Whether we are in the city or in the forest, it makes no difference. Internally we must all become rishis and sadhus - transcendentalists of the concrete jungle. Be situated in your place and attain the goal of life, this is the message of the rishis and the Upanishads - sthane sthitah shruti gatam tanu-van-manobhih.

The aim of those following spiritual discipline is to become free from the desire to lord over material nature. Those seeking mystic perfections are motivated by their desire to control matter, subtle and gross. Those who are sincerely interested in spiritual life should try their best to become free from such material desires. I have seen many people who belong to lines that focus on siddhis. Some of the siddhis are amazing, some are just stupid. Everything from being able to pull chocolate out of the sand (the specialty of one particular sadhu) to being able to change the density of matter. Through various processes of meditation one's mind is expanded and the understandings of matter become much greater. All matter is based on sound, so through sound it can be manipulated. Furthermore, the physical realm of our experience exists and is based on the subtle mental realm. Those who have conscious access to that realm can know and do things that we would consider to be mystical or supernatural.

There are eight primary siddhis described in the scriptures, and ten secondary perfections. Lord Krishna confirms this in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows:


siddhayo 'shtadasa prokta
dharana yoga-para-gaih
tasam ashtau mat-pradhana
dasaiva guna-hetavah


"The masters of the yoga system have declared that there are eighteen types of mystic perfection and meditation, of which eight are primary, having their shelter in Me, and ten are secondary, appearing from the material mode of goodness."

The eight primary mystic perfections are as follows:

Anima-siddhi - The ability to decrease the size of one's body and become smaller than the smallest particle. Through this siddhi one may enter into stone or change the density in one's body, enabling one to pass through solid matter.

Mahima-siddhi - The ability to increase the size of one's body, ultimately enveloping the universe.

Laghima-siddhi - The ability to make one's body lighter than air and fly at will. The perfection of this siddhi enables one to travel on the sun's rays and enter into the sun planet.

Prapti-siddhi - The ability to manifest any object one desires within one's hand. This siddhi removes the limitations of space which seperate two objects from each other. It is said one will even be able to touch the moon with one's finger [i.e. the limitation of distance is removed].

Prakamya-siddhi - The ability to attain anything one desires.

Ishita-siddhi - The ability to control the sub-potencies of the laws of nature. This enables one to control various energies and seemingly defy the laws of nature. On the lowest level, one may make fire come from one's mouth, etc.

Vashita-siddhi - The ability to bring others under one's control.

Kamavasayita-siddhi - The ability to attain anything anywhere. This is the highest of the eight and contains most of the abilities of the other perfections.

The ten secondary perfections are as follows:

1) The ability to be free from hunger and thirst. With this perfection one no longer depends on food and water for maintenance of one's body. One will be able to sustain himself simply on prana, the life air.

2) The ability to hear things far away. With this perfection one can hear any conversation spoken anywhere in the world.

3) The ability to see things far away. With this perfection one develops a mystic vision, by which one can see any person or place. Sanjaya, the disciple of Vyasa, used this siddhi to see and hear the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna (known as Bhagavad Gita) which took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, though he was situated far away.

4) The ability to travel at the speed of the mind. With this perfection one can travel great distances in a moment simply by thinking of the destination.

5) The ability to assume any form one desires. This enables one to change one's physical body at will.

6) The ability to enter the bodies of others. This perfection enables one to enter into the bodies of others and enjoy through their senses. Since ghosts do not have physical senses, they often resort to this to satisfy their desires through other's bodies.

7) The ability to control the time of one's death. With this perfection one may choose the time of leaving his body.

8) The ability to witness the pastimes between the demigods and the celestial girls called apsaras.

9) Satya-sankalpa - Perfect accomplishment of one's determination. Whatever one desires to happen will happen.

10) Satya-vak - Giving orders that are unimpeded. With this perfection one's very word is truth. Simply by saying something it occurs.

Besides these eighteen, there are five inferior perfections as follows:

The ability to know past, present and future.

The ability to tolerate heat, cold and other dualities.

The ability to know the minds of others.

The ability to check the influence of fire, water, poison, and weapons.

The ability to remain unconquered by others.

The primary eight siddhis are of a much higher order than the rest, and require severe discipline to accomplish. It is very rare that one will achieve such a perfection. But for every siddhi there is a reflection that is easily attained. The processes for attaining these minor siddhis are usually outlined in the Tantra-shastra. [Please refer to the course on Vedic literature to understand what is Tantra-shastra.] The processes generally involve doing upasana to a particular deity, who when pleased reveals their form to the Sadhaka. On the way many siddhis naturally develop due to expansion of the consciousness through mantra upasana and meditation. According to the category of deva one worships the result will come either quickly or after a long time, and the result will either be temporary or permanent. If you aim at a low entity, for example a ghost, the result will be quick, but it will be of minimal value. Whereas if your upasana is to a higher divinity, the result will be much more permanent and significant, but will take much more time to accomplish. The aim of the Sadhaka generally depends on his conditioning within the modes of nature. This is described by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita:


yajante sattvika devan
yaksa-raksamsi rajasah
pretan bhuta-ganams canye
yajante tamasa janah


"Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the yakshas and rakshasas; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits."

As you progress in the modes, the worship becomes more and more purified, from ignorance to goodness. When you finally transcend the modes by worship of Krishna, the worship is completely transcendental beyond the influence of material nature.

The long term results of various upasanas are also described by Lord Krishna:


yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrin yanti pitri-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam


"Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors (pitruloka); those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me."

Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our divine spiritual master, says in his commentary to this verse:

"Pishacha (ghost) worship is called 'black arts' or 'black magic.' There are many men who practice this black art, and they think that it is spiritualism, but such activities are completely materialistic."

It should be noted that in this verse from Bhagavad Gita the first three types of worship are described as a vow (vrata). The worshipper is making a vow to the object of worship in exchange for some material gain. An agreement is being made between the two parties. But in regards to the worship of Krishna it is stated to be devotion (mad-yajinah). There is no expectation on the part of the devotees. The true yogi, meditating on the Paramatma within his heart, has no desire for mundane mystical perfections. Their worship is completely unalloyed, without a tinge of desire for material enjoyment.

Another category of siddhi involves the control of the object of worship. You do not directly acquire a siddhi, but you maintain control over an entity who by nature of their higher existence possess natural powers. This relationship is maintained through your worship to the entity, who receives nourishment from the worship.

According to the level of the deity the results are greater and more permanent. But the greater the results the more difficult the process is. As you move up from the lowest levels of worship of ghosts, to yakshas and yakshinis, to minor devas, the process becomes harder and harder (i.e. there is more sacrifice and sincerity involved). The perfection one achieves by worshipping a ghost cannot be compared to that attained by worshipping someone like Ganesha, but the worship of Ganesha will require more on the part of the Sadhaka. The results will not nearly be as temporary as that attained by worshipping a ghost or spirit. In the same way, when you go beyond the worship of the devas and you take up the worship of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the perfection you will achieve will be much greater than anything that is offered within this material world. And more than that, it will be the most permanent (eternal to be precise). But at the same time, to attain it will require the most sacrifice and sincerity. From the bottom of the grades of worship up to the top most level (worship of Lord Krishna) there is a direct correspondence between the necessary endeavour for perfection and the permanence of the result.

The third chapter of the Yoga sutras describe the following minor siddhis:

The ability to know all languages including those of animals.

Knowledge of one's past lives.

Knowledge of the nature of other peoples minds.

The ability to make one's body invisible.

The ability to make the sounds of one's body unhearable.

The ability to make everyone happy and joyful.

The ability to possess great strength.

The ability to locate hidden things.

The knowledge of the fourteen planetary systems.

The knowledge of the arrangements of stars.

The knowledge of the movement of stars.

The knowledge of bodily anatomy.

The ability to remain motionless.

The ability to perceive the celestial beings known as siddhas.

The understanding of consciousness.

The knowledge of the soul.

The ability to walk on water, thorns and similar objects.

The ability to surround oneself with a blaze of light.

The ability to be omnipotent and omniscient.

How these powers are attained is summarized by Patanjali as follows:


janmaushadhi-mantra-tapah-samadhijah siddhayah


"The mystical perfections may be obtained either by birth, by elixir, by the chanting of mantras, by austerities, of by attainment of samadhi."

The Vedic texts describe 400,000 different species of humans existing throughout the universe (such as yaksha, rakshasa, vanara, etc.) In many of the species, they are born automatically with various powers. This is the siddhi attained by birth. By reciting certain mantras and performing austerities one's consciousness is expanded and one develops supernatural abilities. Finally, by attaining the state of complete absorption in meditation, samadhi, one attains powers depending on the object of one's meditation. For example, one who meditates on the sun gains complete knowledge of the planetary systems; one who meditates on the relationship between the ear and the ether attains the ability to hear anything.

After listing all of these apparently wonderful powers, Patanjali provides a warning:


tad-dvairamyadipi doshabijajakshaye kaivalyam


"By giving up even these powers the seed of evil is destroyed and liberation follows." This is the last test of the yogi.

Patanjali mentions one final method for attaining these perfections:


pratibhadva sarvam


"All these powers will come to one whose mind is spontaneously enlightened through purity."

Even without following a mechanical process of meditation, if one's mind is naturally purified by spiritual advancement and unalloyed devotion to God, one will automatically attain these various supernatural abilities. Lord Krishna confirms this in the Bhagavad Gita when He says:


yoginam api sarvesham
mad-gatenantar-atmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah


"Of all the yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me - he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and the highest of all. That is My opinion."

The topmost yogi is not someone who has artificially restricted his senses through mechanical processes (like asana, pranayama, pratyahara, etc.), but one who has naturally engaged all of his senses in the devotional service of the Lord. The devotee, having experienced the spiritual bliss of bhakti-yoga, has no interest in mundane perfections and remains fixed on his ultimate aim to attain the lotus feet of Krishna. That is the ultimate perfection, sam-siddhi:


mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam ashashvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah


"After attaining Me, the great souls (mahatmas), who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection (sam-siddhi)."


Questions and Answers:


For most of my life I have been able to feel objects in my left hand that aren't there and manipulate their texture and shape, etc. Do you know anything about this?

Thank you very much for your question. What you are experiencing is the residual effects of prapti-siddhi from your previous life. One of the sadhakas at our ashram had similar experiences when he was young. He would feel something like an itching sensation in his hand and he would feel the subtle presence of some object. When he would close his eyes, he could see what object was there. Later by mantra upasana he was able to revive the siddhi to the extent that he could materialize things within his hand.

The prapti siddhi enables one to acquire any object one desires by transfering it from one location to one's hand. As mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita, there are eight material elements:


bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakritir ashtadha


"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego - all together these eight constitute My separated material energies."

The Sankhya system of philosophy explains how each element telescopes out from the previous element. The first physical or gross element is the ether. Within the ether all the other four gross elements are present (earth, water, fire and air) in a subtle form. The subtle quality of ether is sound, and from the sound expands the air. The subtle quality of air is touch (movement), and from the touch expands the fire. The subtle quality of fire is sight, and from the sight expands the water. The subtle quality of water is taste, and from the taste expands the earth. And finally, the subtle quality of earth, the last of the physical elements, is smell.

Thus you have a telescoping effect of the elements and their subtle qualities beginning from ether down to earth. Since each element is manifesting from the previous, each new element contains all of the qualities of the previous elements. The ether element, being the first, only possesses the quality of sound. One cannot touch, see, taste or smell ether. The air element, having expanded from the ether, possesses both the qualities of sound and touch. One can feel and hear the movements of air, but one cannot see, taste or smell the air. The fire element's added quality is sight. Thus one can see, touch and hear the fire, but one cannot taste or smell fire. The water, having expanded from the fire, can be heard, felt, seen and tasted, but not smelt. And earth, being the final element, contains all the five qualities of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell.

This sequence is the natural sequence of manifestation of gross matter. The prapti siddhi enables one, through mantra, to reverse this process and transform gross physical objects into ethereal objects by merging the respective elements into their source element. Thus one takes an object located in a particular location, and by utilizing mantra siddhi, one merges the earth element into the water element, the water element into the fire element, the fire element into the air element, and finally the air element into the ether element. As you merge each element into the previous, the corresponding quality disappears (being merged back into the source element). In this way, a physical object is transformed into an ethereal object with no quality other than sound. This ethereal object can be transferred over space by mind, and then the entire process is reversed to remanifest the original object in one's hand.

What appears as a mystical feat to most is actually manipulation of the subtle laws that govern physical nature. There are eight major siddhis and ten secondary siddhis, all of which are based on manipulation of the subtle laws of nature.

To revive this latent siddhi you will need to take up mantra upasana very seriously. At present we are shifting our library from one location to another, so all of our manuscripts are in trunks. After one or two weeks, when the shifting is over, I will be able to provide you with the necessary mantra and yantra for prapti siddhi.

You must rekindle your spiritual pursuits. In your previous life you had undertaken much sadhana. Now continue from where you left off and perfect your life. These siddhis are not important at all. They will arise in anyone who takes seriously to spiritual practices. For the weak minded they are an obstacle on the path of self-realization. Their use is only to reaffirm one's faith that one is progressing on the path.

You have mentioned [in Tattva Prakasha 1.1] that at the final devastation Lord Brahma will also have to face his karma but I have indeed read that Lord Brahma goes to Vaikuntha upon the final devastation. Please clarify.

The scriptures state:


brahmana saha te sarve
samprapte pratisancare
parasyante kritatmanah
pravishanti param padam


"Brahma along with all of his followers enter into the supreme abode at the time of devastation."

This verse is in reference to the present Brahma of this particular universe, who is a pure devotee of the Lord. It does not mean that every Brahma in every universe will automatically attain liberation. Neither will every inhabitant of Brahma-loka automatically go to the spiritual world. Brahma is no different than any other living entity. If he engages in pure devotional service he goes to the spiritual world. The same is the case for any of us. If he does not execute unalloyed devotional service, he will take his birth according to his desires.

Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great saint in the line of Chaitanya, has sung:


kita-janma hau jatha tuwa das
bahir-mukha brahma-janme nahi as


"May I be born again even as a worm, so long as I remain Your [Krishna's] devotee. I have no desire to be born as a Brahma averse to You."

Very rarely there is a bahir-mukha brahma, a Brahma who is averse to the Lord's devotional service. Generally all Brahma's are favourable to bhakti, but there are exceptions. Sri Viraraghava acharya has stated, based on revelation, that two brahma-kalpas (lives of brahma) ago within this universe there was a bahir-mukha brahma. Otherwise we generally do not get information of what has occured in other universes, or even within the same universe in prior creations.

Is it possible to tell one's future?

Dear Sadhaka,

There are ancient sciences that enable one to know the destiny one has created for himself in previous lives. Our future is based on the previous activities we have performed and the karmic reactions we have accumulated. At the same time, free will is powerful enough to overcome any fate that one may have, provided it is powered from a spiritual source. It is like the water flowing in a river. Generally the water will follow the river bed, and it will not flow above the river bank. But it is possible if there is enough force for the water to make a new path. Such an occurrence is very rare. Thus, if a man sees a river flowing, he can "predict" the path it will follow. It will naturally follow the riverbed towards the ocean. Our futures can be known in a similar manner, but 99% of modern astrologers do not know the actual science behind it. They are simply interested in making money from the public. Only a spiritually powerful person has the purity and honesty to be able to tell your future in truth.

Can I know what will be my future. Also, can I get rid of bad luck and if so how?

Dear Sadhaka,

Everyone's future in this world is the same. We are all moving towards death. Time is constantly ticking away, decreasing our life by the second. This is the only future that everyone can be certain of. It is possible to know other aspects of one's future and destiny, but the information is not as important as this.

For all the wealth in the world, one cannot buy back one second of time wasted. Thus there is nothing more valuable than time. Use your time valuably in spiritual pursuit. Then you will be able to know your ultimate future, and become free from the bondage of "destiny".

Bad luck is very simple to remove. You must take up a daily spiritual sadhana, for by spiritual strength only can destiny be changed. Spend at least 10 minuted a day in the morning doing nama japam. Recite the names of Hari and meditate on the sound vibrations of the divine names. Swami Shivananda, the great saint from Rishikesh, has advised that this is the simplest way by which we can become free from the influence of bad luck.

Actually there is no such think as "luck". Everything happens due to our previous activities. The Karmic reactions are comming to us from previous lives of activity. We must burn up the seeds of karma before they sprout into reactions. For our previous good activities we will experience enjoyment or happiness, and for our previous bad activities we will experience suffering or disturbance. Those who have knowledge of these laws of nature know there is no luck, but only the natural law. Develop your spiritual strength and you can burn the karmic reactions to ashes. The scriptures describe that just as dry grass is instantly burnt to ash, in the same way the chanting of Hari's name will burn away the sinful reactions. If you truly want to become free from the control of your karmic reactions, take up a daily spiritual sadhana. Spend ten minutes a day in meditation on the mantra:
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

This will benefit you immensely.