MEAT IN THE DIET TAKES AN ENVIRONMENTAL TOLL

THE LESS MEAT ONE EATS, THE
BETTER IT IS FOR ENVIRONMENT

USA (Scientific American) - Our meat consumption habits take a serious toll on the environment. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the production, processing and distribution of meat requires huge outlays of pesticides, fertilizer, fuel, feed and water while releasing greenhouse gases, manure and a range of toxic chemicals into our air and water. Livestock are typically fed corn, soybean meal and other grains which have to first be grown using large amounts of fertilizer, fuel, pesticides, water and land. EWG estimates that growing livestock feed in the U.S. alone requires 167 million pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer each year across some 149 million acres of cropland. The process generates copious amounts of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, while the output of methane - another potent greenhouse gas - from cattle is estimated to generate some 20 percent of overall U.S. methane emissions.

Ecologist David Pimentel of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences says the seven billion livestock in the U.S. consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire U.S. population. Our meat consumption habits also cause other environmental problems. Four-fifths of the deforestation across the Amazon rainforest can be linked to cattle ranching. And the water pollution from factory farms can produce as much sewage waste as a small city, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Further, the widespread use of antibiotics to keep livestock healthy on those overcrowded CAFOs has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that threaten human health and the environment in their own right.  Eating too much meat is no good for our health, with overindulgence linked to increasing rates of heart disease, cancer and obesity. Worldwide, between 1971 and 2010, production of meat tripled to around 600 billion pounds while global population grew by 81 percent, meaning that we are eating a lot more meat than our grandparents.

A lifecycle analysis conducted by EWG that took into account the production and distribution of 20 common agricultural products found that red meat such as beef and lamb is responsible for 10 to 40 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as common vegetables and grains.  The grain currently fed to some seven billion livestock in the United States could feed nearly 800 million people directly.  Lets use agriculture products to feed humans instead of feeding bred animals.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

You have to feed 16 pounds of grain and soybeans to a cow to produce one pound of edible beef. In other words, to produce 500 pounds of meat on a 700 pound cow requires that the cow consume 8,000 pounds of grains and soybeans. And you can feed many, many more people with 8,000 pounds of grains and beans than with the 500 pounds of beef. ... Any beef producer will admit that he buys (or grows) far more pounds of feed for his cattle than what he sells as meat. Meat production is horribly wasteful. Meat feeds a few at the expense of many. Futurists predict that, as the population of the world grows, vegetarian diets will be the norm, since the limited resources of the planet will be unable to supply the demands required to produce meat. ... And then consider the ethical argument: it is estimated that 20,000,000 people per year die of malnutrition throughout the world.

Śrīpad Yajnavalkya Dasa :
“Defending Dharma”
http://stephen-knapp.com/defending_dharma.htm
http://es.scribd.com/doc/46973472/DefendingDharma

PRIESTS HIRED HITMEN TO KILL THEMSELVES

SUICIDE BY HITMEN: COLOMBIAN
PRIESTS HIRED GUNMEN TO KILL THEM

www.nydailynews.com - Rev. Rafael Reatiga asked his parishioners to pray for him and gave the choirmaster a list of songs for his funeral just before he was found shot to death together with another Roman Catholic priest, a Colombian prosecutor said. Authorities initially suspected robbery when Reatiga’s body was found along with that of Rev. Richard Piffano, 37, in a car in southern Bogota on Jan. 27, 2011. But prosecutor Ana Patricia Larrota said investigators had determined that it was suicide by hitmen: the two priests hired gunmen to kill them after Reatiga discovered he had AIDS. The priests gave members of a criminal gang the equivalent of $8,500, said the chief investigator of the prosecutor’s office, Maritza Gonzalez, as two of the four alleged assassins appeared before a judge for processing. She said the two priests had originally planned to throw themselves off a cliff into a canyon north of Bogota but apparently lacked the nerve.

In addition to AIDS, Reatiga had syphilis and witness testimony indicated he was a regular visitor to places frequented by gays in central Bogota, Larrota told the judge who processed the two alleged assassins on Tuesday. Gildardo Alberto Penate and Isidro Castiblanco were charged with aggravated homicide, said Larrota. Each faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Three weeks before their deaths, Reatiga had transferred his possessions to his mother. Piffano withdrew about $3,700 from his bank account on the day of his death, Gonzalez said. Investigators said they located the alleged killers based on telephone numbers the priests had called from their cell phones in the days before their deaths. Some of the numbers ended up belonging to a criminal band involved in counterfeiting, fraud and arms trafficking, they said. It allegedly supplied the killers, including two who authorities say remain at large.

Two Colombian priests who were found shot dead in the capital Bogota a year ago had themselves hired the assassins who killed them, prosecutors say.  They had agreed a suicide pact after one of them was diagnosed with Aids, but contracted hitmen because they could not bring themselves to carry it out.  It is sad that people seek refuge in suicide, which leads to take birth in lower species of life or to remain as a ghost, unable to obtain a gross material body.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

When a person in despair feels that all of their basic defenses are broken and there is no one to turn to, nor can they find a comforting voice to console or support them, then they may conclude that there is no way out but through death.  If their cry for help is not heard or seems to be ignored, or if they do not know where to find help, then suicide may be considered as a last resort.  But it must be understood that suicide is never the end.  And suicide, and the state of mind that one has to compel one to commit suicide, is never a way for progressing into the next realm.  Death is never the final act.  It only opens the door to additional challenges that must be met or endured, depending on how one leaves their body.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Curing Depression with Spirituality”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/curing_depression_with_spirituality.htm

HONDURAS PRISON FIRE

HONDURAS JAIL FIRE: MOST PRISONERS
HAD NOT BEEN CONVICTED CRIMINALS 

www.theatlanticwire.com - Investigators continue to search for answers in the prison fire that killed 358 inmates, as reports suggest that more than half of the inmates at the Comayagua prison had never been convicted, or even charged, with a crime. The farm-style camp in central Honduras held 856 prisoners despite being built to accommodate just 500, crammed into giant barracks with four-level bunk beds. Many were suspected gang members who had been swept up in a "law and order" push in what has become one of the world's most violent countries. The AP reports that according to Honduras' strict anti-gang laws, simply having the wrong tattoo is enough to get someone arrested and jailed. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but there are reports that an inmate managed to call the state governor, screaming that he would burn the prison down, shortly before setting his mattress on fire.

After the fire initially started, guards refused to allow fire fighting crews in to the prison for nearly 30 minutes, because they believed that a riot was in progress. At the time the fire happened there were only 12 guards on duty who either didn't have for couldn't find keys to let prisoners out of their cells and rooms. A U.S. military outpost that includes search and rescue and fire teams sits just 15 minutes away, but was never called.  Prisoners who survived the fire told horrific stories of climbing walls and tearing down ceiling tiles in an effort to escape through the roof. Many of the victims were found stuck to metal pieces of the roof or huddled in the bathrooms, trying to use the water in showers and bathtubs to avoid the fire. Most died of smoke inhalation.  Honduras has been criticized in the past by human rights groups and the U.S. State Department for its deplorable prison conditions that have contributed to previous incidents like this one.

The deadliest prison fire the world has seen in a century claimed 358 lives in a Honduran jail which was at double capacity.  Many of the prisons in this country of 7.6 million are overcrowded.  According to the United Nations, Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Government officials have repeatedly promised to improve conditions, but little has been done.  In this material world, due to misuse of the free will, the conditioned souls' sufferings are very painful.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Babaji: Lord Krishna’s pastimes are naturally full of bliss. If an individual soul of his own free will voluntarily leaves those pastimes and enters the world of Maya and accepts the sufferings there, then if anyone is at fault it is the individual soul who is at fault. Krishna is not at fault.
Vrajanatha: In that situation, what is the harm that Lord Krishna does not give the soul free will? Krishna knows everything. Therefore Krishna knows if a certain soul will misuse his free will and bring suffering to himself. In that situation it is cruel of Krishna to give such a person free will. Is it not?
Babaji: Free will is a precious jewel. In the material world there are many inanimate material objects. None of them were given the jewel of free will. ... The souls, who all have free will, are all the dear servants of Lord Krishna. When they misuse that free will and enter the world of maya, merciful Krishna weeps to see how they are suffering. Eager to deliver them, He follows the individual souls into the material world.

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
“Jaiva-dharma” (The Universal Religion)
Chapter 16: Nitya-dharma O Sambandhabhidheya Prayojana
Eternal Religion and Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojana
http://bvml.org/SBTP/index.htm  -  http://bvml.org/SBTP/JD/index.html#16

CELEBRATING VALENTINE’S DAY

LOVE AND VALENTINE’S DAY:
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE IT?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com - More than a Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day, like Halloween, is rooted in pagan partying. The lovers’ holiday traces its roots to raucous annual Roman festivals where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility, said classics professor Noel Lenski of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The annual pagan celebration, called Lupercalia, was held every year on February 15 and remained wildly popular well into the fifth century A.D. - at least 150 years after Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. Lupercalia was “clearly a very popular thing, even when the Christians are trying to close it down,” Lenski said. “So there’s reason to think that the Christians might instead have said, OK, we’ll just call this a Christian festival.” The church pegged the festival to the legend of St. Valentine.  It is said that in the third century A.D., Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking to bolster his army, forbade young men to marry. Valentine, it is said, flouted the ban, performing marriages in secret. 

For his defiance, Valentine was executed in A.D. 270 - on February 14, the story goes.  While it’s not known whether the legend is true, Lenski said, “it may be a convenient explanation for a Christian version of what happened at Lupercalia.”  Greeting cards, as usual, will be the most common Valentine’s Day gifts. Fifty-two percent of U.S. consumers plan to send at least one, according to the National Retail Federation survey. The Greeting Card Association, an industry trade group, says about 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year. And that figure does not include the hundreds of millions of cards schoolchildren exchange.  An estimated 50.5 percent of U.S. consumers will exchange Valentine’s Day candy in 2012, according to the retail federation survey - adding up to about a sweet billion dollars in sales. About 75 percent of that billion is from sales of chocolate, which has been associated with romance. But there’s nothing chocolaty about Valentine’s Day’s most iconic candy: those demanding, chalky little hearts emblazoned “BE MINE,” “KISS ME,” “CALL ME.”

Yesterday, on this Valentine’s Day, the average person in the USA spent $126 on their loved one, which amounts to about $17 billion this year. May St. Valentine’s story inspire you to not only show romantic love to your mate, but to show brotherly (or sisterly) love to everyone you encounter on that day and everyday.  If we love Lord Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and center of the universe, then we will automatically love all His other sons and daughters even more.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

With Valentine’s Day recently passing, we are reminded of the modern day relationships between men and women and the issues that come with them. Unlike during Vedic times, in today’s society, men and women are free to mingle amongst each other and have independence in choosing their significant others. ... Revealing our loving feelings to someone else naturally give us tremendous satisfaction and bliss. We want the other person to know how we feel. ... These loving feelings exist in all of us due to our original loving relationship with God. We are all part and parcels of God, but we have forgotten this relationship due to our contact with material nature. ... If we declare our love for God and sincerely mean it, then He will never abandon us. Krishna will love us ten times more than we love Him.

Krishna’s Mercy
“Three Simple Words” Published by Keshava on 2/22/2009
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/News/Blog/tabid/57/EntryId/20/Three-Simple-Words.aspx

LEADERSHIP: LEADING WITH SPIRITUALITY

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY
MEAN FOR LEADERSHIP?

BizTimes (Karen Vernal) - I begin this article with a confession… I realize that while I have wanted to write an article about Leadership and Spirituality for some time, I have also experienced “writer’s block,” resistance or just plain fear. I think I have been afraid to offer these reflections for fear that readers will not think it “businesslike enough.” And yet, we learn from our clients that spirituality is an integral part of their growth and development as leaders, whether they use the language or not.  And so, I offer these reflections.  Have you considered what spiritual means for you? We have been struck by the recent reflections of clients who somehow appreciate that the deep inner work they are doing, individually and collectively, is in the realm of spirituality.  Recently, after a team retreat, one of the leaders said to my colleague, “You have an amazing way of blending spiritual and corporate.”

I stumbled upon this description of spirituality from the Wellness Center at Ohio State University.  It captures the dimensions of spirituality that resonate with my experience. “Spirituality is not religion. While the definition of spirituality is different for everyone, here are some common themes associated with spirituality: The idea of a process or journey of self-discovery and of learning not only who you are, but who you want to be. A connectedness to yourself and to others. Spirituality is personal, but it is also rooted in being connected with others and with the world around you. This connection can facilitate you finding “your place in the world.”  A higher power, whether rooted in a religion, nature, or some kind of unknown essence.”  I would also add that spirituality strengthens our ability to be fully present in the moment.

 

Spirituality proposes a challenge of reaching beyond your current limits. This can include keeping an open mind and trying to better understand others’ beliefs.  Spirituality often embraces the concept of searching and moving forward in the direction of meaning, purpose and direction for your life. We should use our business and companies not to exploit neither to delude, but used them in the spirit of service to others; and in serving our brothers and sisters there is a great spiritual joy.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

People sitting in this room today are potentially the leaders of the next generation. What difference do we want to make in our lives to do something positive in the service of God, in the welfare of the world. That is the question we must ask if our life is to be meaningful. The greatness of India historically is people who ask these questions. ... We have devotees who are members of this temple who are industrialists with tens and thousands of employees; we have doctors, lawyers, engineers and they are very productive, creative and successful in the business world, the medical world and the professional world. You don’t have to be a simple pauper to be spiritual. You can be powerful, you can be dynamic, you can be successful in the society but everyday they clean their hearts by chanting the Holy Names; they raise their family with compassion and love for the soul and they are trying to use their influence and their power to uplift the humanity, and their lives are meaningful, worthwhile and perfect.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Conquering The Greatest Enemy”
http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/content/conquering-greatest-enemy-radhanath-swami
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/

RELIEVE STRESS IN FIVE MINUTES WITH YOGA

KILL STRESS AND ANXIETY
WITH EASY YOGA TECHNIQUES

www.mensfitness.com - Deadlines, meetings, bills - no matter how big or small, life is replete with stressors. Countless studies reveal a correlation between high stress levels and poor health, particularly strain on the heart. Many people turn to yoga to decompress and achieve mental clarity, but are all the awkward motions and painful poses really making a difference? Yoga expert, instructor and author Tara Stiles of Strala Yoga Studio spoke to us about how and why yoga relieves stress, and shared with us tips to achieving a healthy body and mind through yoga. Yoga used to have a reputation as an alternative, new age way of getting healthy, but it’s grown into a legit, doctor-approved method for treating emotional disorders. “I get a lot of people who come in with doctor’s notes for anxiety because they don’t want to go on mood-enhancing drugs,” says Stiles. “It isn’t mysterious anymore -it will help your body.”

Confirming this is a new study conducted by the researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, who found that yoga practitioners increased GABA levels in the brain by 27% after a session. GABA, or Gamma-aminobutyric acid, is a main neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for regulating other neurotransmitters that reduces stress and anxiety.  Stiles explains, “[Yoga] is resetting everything that keeps you happy and healthy. It’s calming.”  
Stiles theorizes, “Yoga makes more room in your body and mind. You don’t get wrapped up in the roller coaster of thought patterns or stuff that is disruptive to yourself.” 
Regarding strategies to use when in immediate need, she finds alternate nostril breathing to be effective. “You close off one nostril and breathe in from the other side, hold for a four-second count, exhale and repeat the other side,” she explains. “Do that for three-to-five minutes.”

According to Yoga expert Tara Stiles, “The more regular the practice, the more benefits happen, but studies show that even five minutes of meditation - the deep breathing you are practicing - stimulates the vagus nerve,” which acts as a sensory highway between the physical body and the central nervous system.  Through Yoga we relieve stress, anxiety, anguish and fear. If your body and mind are healthy and you are feeling at peace with yourself, you can emanate serenity, love and health to those around you.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Today we live in a world of constant stress, always facing the outside, which prevents us from knowing our essence or inner nature. This makes us feel frustrated, anxious, tense and thus, ill.  When a problem arises we take drugs to hush those signals that the body emits and then we do not realize that just by stretching out, relaxing, a conscious living, refusing to negative influences, breathing in a slow and controlled manner, having a natural and healthy diet, we can restore our health and prevent diseases. Well, yoga is to implement a series of techniques that help us to get that full health. These Hatha Yoga techniques include relaxation exercises, body positions or asanas, pranayama or breath control exercises and techniques of internalization and concentration that lead us to a fullness.

Yoga Inbound :
“Hatha Yoga - Overall Benefits of Asanas: Full Health”
http://www.yogainbound.org/ws/hatha-yoga
http://www.yogainbound.org/ws/hatha-yoga/30-articulos-interes/213-salud-plena

2011 WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR AWARDS

WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR:
SAMUEL ARANDA, NEW YORK TIMES

www.nydailynews.com - The World Press Photo of the Year 2011 was awarded to Samuel Aranda, a Spanish freelance photographer for the New York Times, for capturing a moment in Yemen that illustrated the stakes of the mass protests that rocked much of the Arab world since early last year. The image, taken Oct. 15th, shows a woman wearing a full-length burka cradling a wounded relative in her arms inside the shelter of a mosque in the city of Sana’a, Yemen , that was being used as field hospital after demonstrators protesting against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with government forces. "I think it's really important when you receive such an award to remember that all of this work is for the people we're documenting," Aranda told The British Journal of Photography. Though the image is from Yemen, it symbolizs movement by millions of disenfranchised citizens that swept much of the Middle East last year, leading to regime change in Egypt, Libya and Yemen despite violent crackdowns.


Breaking traditional and cultural taboos, women were often leading the charge in dangerous protests that successfully ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s decades-long hold on power. Saleh is currently in New York under diplomatic immunity while receiving medical treatment, the Associated Press reports. Other World Press Photo 2012 award winners among the nine categories include images of Occupy Wall St., Egypt’s Tahrir Square protests, Japan’s devastating Earthquake and Tsunami , and poaching of endangered rhino horns. 
"The winning photo shows a poignant, compassionate moment, the human consequence of an enormous event, an event that is still going on," said chairman Aidan Sullivan. "We might never know who this woman is, cradling an injured relative, but together they become a living image of the courage of ordinary people that helped create an important chapter in the history of the Middle East." 

Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda has won the 2011 World Press Photo of the Year award for an image of a veiled woman wearing rubber gloves as she clasps her relative, a thin man whose torso is bare, grimacing in pain after a demonstration in Yemen. Jurors said today that Mr Aranda's photo, taken for the New York Times, encapsulated many of the facets of the uprisings across the Middle East. The world needs more compassionate attitudes and Vaishnavas’ feelings, who are “para dukha dukhī” and suffer when they see the sufferings of others.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The Bhagavad Gita teaches us to balance our lives; to understand that we are eternal spirit souls while honoring material nature and cultivating feelings of compassion for the body, mind and soul of ourselves and others. A genuine spiritualist accepts the suffering of others as his or her own and finds joy in other people’s happiness. A genuine spiritualist feels compassion for all living beings-humans as well as animals and other species- because he realizes that everyone is a sacred part of God, who is the father and mother of all living entities. Thus a spiritualist extends love and compassion to all, without egoistic, selfish conditions. … We should all try to do our part however little or big it may be. A compassionate heart also extends to those apparently fortunate people with wealth, health and success, who forgetful of their eternal nature are being consumed by time, on the road to death.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Nature - Love It Or Fear It?”
http://radhanathswami.com/events/nature-love-it-or-fear-it
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/

20 PERCENT OF AMERICANS ARE MENTALLY DISTURBED

MENTAL ILLNESS STRUCK ONE IN
FIVE U.S. ADULTS IN 2010: REPORT

www.latimes.com - One in five adults in the U.S. had a mental illness in 2010, with people ages 18 to 25 having the highest rates, according to a national survey. The report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Thursday, includes information from 68,487 completed surveys about mental illness (as defined by the American Psychiatric Assn.’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV) and substance abuse among adults and children. Rates have remained fairly stable since 2009, with only a slight uptick in overall numbers.  Among the highlights, people in the 50-plus age bracket had the lowest incidence of any mental illness (14.3%), while those ages 18 to 25 had the highest, at 29.9%. Women had higher rates than men: 23% versus 16.8%

When broken down by racial and ethnic groups, the highest rates of mental illness were seen among people who reported two or more races (25.4%), followed by whites (20.6%), blacks (19.7%), Native Americans or Alaska natives (18.7%), Hispanics (18.3%) and Asians (15.8%).  “Mental illness is not an isolated public health problem,” SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde said in a news release. “Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity often co-exist with mental illness and treatment of the mental illness can reduce the effects of these disorders.” Mental illness can lead to thoughts of suicide, and in 2010 8.7 million people thought seriously about taking their own lives. In that group, 2.5 million people made plans to kill themselves, and 1.1 million attempted suicide. Substance abuse sometimes goes hand in hand with mental illness; those who had any mental illness had higher substance abuse or dependence rates.

About 20% of American adults reported having had a mental illness during the preceding year, a government survey found. The figure rose to almost 30% of those in the 18 to 25 age group. Depression was an issue among children ages 12 to 17. Almost 2 million people in that age bracket had a major depressive episode in 2010 that lasted at least two weeks.  Increasingly, anxiety, loneliness and mental illness are characteristic of living in big cities.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Many large cities are unsafe at night. For example, it is understood that no sane person will walk in New York’s Central Park at night because he knows he will almost certainly be mugged. Apart from ordinary thieves, who abound in this age, large cities are filled with cutthroat businessmen, who enthusiastically convince people to purchase and consume useless or even harmful products. It has been well documented that beef, tobacco, liquor and many other modern products destroy one’s physical health, what to speak of mental health, and yet modern capitalists do not hesitate to use every psychological trick in the book to convince people to consume these things. Modern cities are full of mental and atmospheric pollution, and even ordinary citizens are finding them unbearable.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Śrīla Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Canto 12: “The Age of Deterioration”
Chapter 3: “The Bhūmi-gītā”
Verse 32 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

DINING WITH THE HANDS

MIND YOUR MANNERS:
EAT WITH YOUR HANDS

USA (www.nytimes.com) - Julie Sahni vividly remembers the first time she had to eat with utensils. Ms. Sahni, a New York-based cookbook author and cooking teacher, grew up in India eating the traditional way, with her right hand. Then, in college, she won a dance competition that would take her to Europe. How, she wondered, would she eat?  Ms. Sahni, 66, mastered the knife and fork, but she has never really liked them. “Eating with the hands evokes great emotion,” she said. “It kindles something very warm and gentle and caressing. Using a fork is unthinkable in traditional Indian eating. It is almost like a weapon.” Ms. Sahni refuses to eat Indian food with a knife and fork, even in the most formal South Asian restaurants in New York. “I don’t care if I’m all dressed up, if everyone else is eating with a knife and fork, if the wine pairing is $80,” she said. “It’s essential.” Eating with the hands is common in many areas of the world, including parts of Asia and much of Africa and the Middle East.

But until recently, you would have been hard-pressed to find many restaurants in the United States - especially those with $20 or $30 entrees - where digging in manually was encouraged. Now, several high-profile chefs are asking diners to get their hands dirty, in the belief that it heightens the sensual connection to food and softens the formality of fine dining.  Chef Roy Choi’s restaurant - “A-Frame” - in Culver City, Calif., is utensils optional. Though a basket of silverware is provided at each table, when the grilled pork chop or market salad arrives, servers advise customers that they’ll be missing out if they pick up a fork. 
Etiquette is central to most traditions of hand-to-mouth eating; the artfulness and ritual of the practice is part of what people love about it. Hand-washing often comes first. In many communities, a prayer of thanks comes next. Only then can one reach in - usually with just the right hand - to eat.

No-utensils menu “creates more of a social atmosphere,” says Mr. Tila, a chef from Hollywood. “It brings us back to our childhood, and it seems to lighten the mood in the room.”  Dining with the hands is not necessarily easy: in some regions, including parts of India, it is most polite to use your thumb, pointer and middle finger, and to let only the first two joints of those fingers touch the food. In the ancient Vedic system, lot of basic social etiquette was respected.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

“They (asuras) do not know etiquette.” Ācāra means one should learn how to behave. That makes a gentleman and a rough person. ... Ācārau means he learns from the sāstra how we should live, that, preliminary, that you must take bath, you must wash your hands after eating or you must take bath after evacuating. So many things are there. ... In the Vedic literature you find all these directions, but now they have given up. Especially Vedic culture was there long, long ago all over the world. But now that is finished. Now in India, also, where little Vedic principles were still glowing, that is now being finished also.  They are learning from the Westerns how to remain unclean, how to eat meat, how to drink wine, and so on, so on, so many things. ... The asuras, they have no aim. They do not know what is the aim, neither they follow.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Lecture on Bhagavad-gītā - Chapter 16 verse 6
South Africa, October 18, 1975
“Complete Works of Srila Prabhupada”
Bhaktivedanta Booktrust Inc - Copyright © 1972-2006

NARCISSISTIC MEN MAY PAY WITH THEIR HEALTH

NARCISSISM CAN BE NOT
GOOD FOR MEN’S HEALTH

(ANI) - Men who are narcissists may be at risk for some health problems, since they could have inherently higher levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol even when they’re not under pressure, a new study suggests. “Narcissistic men may be paying a high price in terms of their physical health, in addition to the psychological cost to their relationships,” said Sara Konrath, a University of Michigan psychologist who co-authored the study. Earlier studies by Konrath and others have shown that the level of narcissism is rising in American culture, and that narcissism tends to be more prevalent among males. The personality trait is characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, overestimations of uniqueness, and a sense of grandiosity. For the new study, Konrath and colleagues examined the role of narcissism and sex on cortisol levels in a sample of 106 undergraduate students. Cortisol, which can be measured through saliva samples, is a widely used marker of physiological stress.  

The researchers measured cortisol levels at two points in time in order to assess baseline levels of the hormone, which signals the level of activation of the body’s key stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The researchers found that the most toxic aspects of narcissism were indeed associated with higher cortisol in male participants, but not in females. In fact, unhealthy narcissism was more than twice as large a predictor of cortisol in males as in females. They also found that there was no relationship between healthy narcissism and cortisol in either males or females. “These findings extend previous research by showing that narcissism may not only influence how people respond to stressful events, but may also affect how they respond to their regular day-to-day routines and interactions,” stated Konrath. “Our findings suggest that the HPA axis may be chronically activated in males high in unhealthy narcissism, even without an explicit stressor,” she said. The study has been published in PLoS ONE.

Men with an inflated view of their importance, who are incapable of putting themselves in other people’s shoes and who see themselves as “special” and superior to others - some traits of a narcissistic personality - may pay for this with their health. A study found that narcissistic men can have higher levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol in their bloodstream increasing their risk for developing cardiovascular problems. By devotion to God our whole mundane and illusory self-centered will be finished.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Bhagavad-gita tells us, “Work only for the center, otherwise you will be tied down with a reaction.” So it has been made clear that a very laudable life is possible for us if we dedicate ourselves to the highest center. That is neither dishonorable nor tiresome. Neither is it ignorance. ... If we are attentive to that and try to follow the advice coming from the real source, from real saintly persons, we will become properly adjusted; we will develop a proper understanding. And everything will be harmonized. ... Only by devotion, by dedication to Krishna, can we very easily become free from ignorance in the world of suffering. To be a devotee means to serve; service is everything. Our proper life is to be found in dedicating ourselves and in self-distribution, not self-aggrandizement. We can live in service.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Loving Search for the Lost Servant”
Seventh Chapter: “Knowledge-Free Devotion”
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip.
http://www.scsmath.com/
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/

INDIAN MINISTERS RESIGN OVER SEX VIDEO

3 INDIAN MINISTERS RESIGN IN
ASSEMBLY PORN-VIEWING SCANDAL

Bangalore (AFP) - Three state ministers from southern India, including one holding a portfolio for women and child development, quit on Wednesday after being accused of watching porn in the local assembly. The ministers from the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were filmed by television cameras watching graphic footage on their mobile phones on Tuesday while other lawmakers in the house were debating legislation. In the footage, the ministers were seen watching a woman dancing, undressing and then engaging in a sexual act. They passed their mobile phones amongst themselves.“We have resigned to avoid embarrassment to our party and not give the opposition an opportunity to disrupt the assembly proceedings today,” state minister for cooperation Laxman Savadi told reporters.“We were watching a clipping of an incident for a discussion on the rave parties held at St. Mary’s Island (on the western coast of Karnataka). It was not a porn clip.” Karnataka’s minister for women and child development, C.C. Patil, and the minister for ports and fishery Krishna Palemar also stepped down. “It’s a shameless act. The three ministers have submitted their resignation. We will set up an inquiry committee to probe the incident,” said BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

A survey by India Today magazine conducted in 2008 in Indian cities found that three out of five men and one out of five women approved of pornography, which is illegal but widely available in India. The incident is the latest embarrassment to hit the Hindu nationalist BJP. An ombudsman investigating corrupt mining practices reported last year that illegal mining fraud had cost the Karnataka state and federal exchequers $3.6 billion. After the scandal broke B.S. Yeddyurappa, the chief minister of Karnataka, had to resign and was arrested on graft accusations. He is now free on bail. Yeddyurappa also faces allegations of selling government land at below market cost to family members. Reacting to the sex video incident, a leader of the national ruling Congress party, Kapil Sibal, who is also telecom minister, said the BJP should “introspect” before they preach morality in public life. In 2009, young activists from the radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, which has close ties with the BJP, attacked women in a fashionable bar, accusing them of “debauched behaviour” for drinking and smoking.

Three government ministers in the southern Indian state of Karnataka resigned Wednesday after they were accused of watching a pornographic video during an assembly session. They were ordered to resign after television channels aired footage of the men watching the allegedly pornographic video clip while the state assembly proceedings were going on. They denied they were watching pornography. The low morals and lack of belief in higher values encourage pornography and prostitution.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Modern society has different elements which lead their members to destruction, such as lust and pornography; the latter is so prominent, which becomes a real danger to a person’s spiritual progress. ... There is pornography on the internet, in magazines, everywhere, even in many modern writings in which, apparently there is only text, but it is filled with terrible pornography.  Pornography is the worst offense to the people and sex, because it describes the human being just like a source of pleasure, in other words: The body would be the gift that God gave us to enjoy irresponsibly of the sex and have it whomever, whenever and whatever. ... So the world goes from bad to worse; this is what we observe, and we have to face it because lust and pornography are the enemies number one for spiritual advancement.  God says in the Bhagavad Gita - “kāma esha krodha esha rajo-guna”: “Lust is the largest of the sins; lust is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.”

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Vedic Wisdom Collection - The Lust”
http://vedicwisdom.weebly.com/index.html
http://vwonline.blogspot.com/2006/03/vedic-wisdom-online.html
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.la_lujuria

FRENCH AIRPORTS BATTLE AVIATION STRIKE

CANCELLATIONS GROW IN
FRENCH AVIATION STRIKE

PARIS (AFP) -  Hundreds of flights in France were cancelled on Tuesday, including 40 percent out of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, as unions ratcheted up pressure on day two of a strike over labor rights. Air France forecast that it could guarantee just 50 percent of long-distance flights Tuesday, after running 85 percent of them on Monday. The airline, among the world’s biggest, said that 70 percent of short- and medium-range flights would be maintained. At the heart of the dispute is the right to strike itself. Unions representing pilots, cabin, ground crews and others called the walkout to protest a draft law that would require air transport workers to give 48 hours notice before striking. A spokesman for the Paris airport authority ADP said 40 percent of flights out of Charles de Gaulle were canceled. Most of those were announced to passengers the day before, but the airport also saw a few last-minute cancellations.

The airport sees about 1,500 landings and take-offs per day on a normal day, he said. At Paris’ Orly Airport, about 15 percent of flights were cancelled, the spokesman said. He wasn’t authorized to be publicly named according to the airport authority’s policy. Red “cancelled” signs dotted the huge screens greeting passengers to Charles de Gaulle, and long lines snaked out from the Air France service desk.Transport Minister Thierry Mariani says the bill is needed to protect passengers in a country where strikes occur regularly. The bill passed in the lower house of parliament last month, and goes to the Senate later this month. The conservative-led parliament passed a law a few years ago requiring a minimum level of service during strikes and warning time ahead of walkouts on other forms of public transport. The Air France statement suggested frustration with the current rules, noting that last-minute changes may await because “personnel is not required to warn ahead of time of their intention” to strike.

Air France and other airlines sought to limit the damage from a strike by aviation industry workers. Paris aviation officials canceled or rescheduled at least 100 flights in advance as 200 flag-waving protesters marched from terminal to terminal at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, watched by riot police. Unions callS strikes but we are part of a higher plane of existence and we should avoid self-centered interest.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Our real cause, the purpose of our lives, our satisfaction, and our existence will be found within the universal wave of the Absolute. That is Krishna consciousness, the most universal, fundamental wave. We have to catch that wave. Our goal, our satisfaction, the fulfillment of our life is to be found only there, in that plane, not in this superficial plane of nationality or family interest or social service. All these are provincial interests. ... In a nation, so many workers may be failing to follow the proper rules for production, and that is bad, it is disorder. The product will be bad. However, to go on strike won’t produce good results either.  No work, that is also bad. To work in the interest of the country, only that is good.  From our local, separate interest, we must go to the universal interest, to the interest of the Absolute.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Follow the Angels” - ‘The Path of Dedication’
Part One: “The Krishna Conception” - “Sraddha is the Minimum Demand”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/FtA.html