Mayawati reviews
flood situation
STAFF WRITER 20:10 HRS IST
Lucknow, Sept 12 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today directed officials to
launch relief and rescue operations in flood-hit areas of the state on a war
footing, assuring that dearth of funds would not be allowed to hamper their
efforts.
Reviewing the floods caused by incessant rains during the last two days and
water released by neighbouring
at her official residence here, Mayawati asked the administrative machinery of
the concerned districts to keep round-the-clock vigil and provide prompt relief
to the affected people.
Directing the officials to relocate the people to safer areas, Mayawati asked
for keeping the flood companies of the PAC in a state of high alert and sending
them to marooned areas for providing medicines and other necessary relief
material
ONLINE TRAINING ON PRECEPTS AND TRADE-74
4
Buddhist
Microeconomics for the Hereafter
|
It. 26
|
In
the Buddhist microeconomics of the previous chapter, in fact we have spoken
about only the profane category of happiness due to us from following the
Buddha’s economic principles — i.e. the happiness we can expect in the present
lifetime. Our Buddhist ancestors saw each person’s life as a sort of business
which could run at a profit or at a loss. For those interested only in worldly
wealth, but who ignored spiritual values, their business was seen to trade only
in worldly wealth. However those who consecrated time for spiritual practice
saw their profit and loss in terms of merit and demerit — which were the way
to transcendental wealth. If you are not born human it is going to be difficult
to deal in merit. An angel, even though considered fortunate in birth, in fact
still has difficulty in accruing merit. If one is born in the nether realms such
as hell, the animal realm, as hungry ghosts or as Titans, then it is all the
more difficult to ‘deal in merit’. It is only in the human realm that we have
the possibility to accumulate merit for ourselves. This is why the wise were
wont to ask the Buddha two questions whenever they had the opportunity to meet
with Him, in the same way as Diighajaa.nu Byagghapajja who wanted to know what
he should do for his happiness and benefit both in this lifetime and the
next. The four practices [byagghapajjadhamma] enumerated by the Buddha
in response to Diighajaa.nu’s second question, which are for happiness in the
hereafter are as follows [samparaayikattha sa.mvattanika dhamma]
(A.iv.284):
- faithfulness [saddhasampadaa]:
Faithfulness is something that arises in a person when they have
confidence (rather than blind-belief) in the wisdom and enlightenment of
the Buddha. The benefit of having such faith in the Lord Buddha is that
one is prepared to practise in his footsteps. Faith is thus no
insignificant virtue for a person to have, because it will literally
illuminate the mind from within. In general, any person who isn’t overly
bent on wickedness has a little brightness in their heart — but it tends
to be fleeting like distant lightning over the horizon or the glimmer of a
firefly. Sometimes we have a flash of inspiration in our mind and we’d
like to follow the thought further to its conclusion, but because of lack
of continuity we are unable to follow the train of thought to completion.
If only we had a little faith in mind to give a continuous level of
brightnessin the mind, we would be able to follow our inspiration through
to its logical conclusion — e.g. to realize that the Law of Karma is
reasonable, that those who do good actions receive good returns on their action,
that those who do evil actions will get evil retribution — allowing one
to find the proper pathway in life for oneself. No-one should ever
underestimate faith because it means that the mind is sufficiently
illuminated to understand about the enlightenment of the Lord Buddha — to
a degree that the causes and effects of any issue begin to become clear to
one — that merit and demerit are no longer a myth or a mystery to one –
and one gains the precursory discretion or ‘benefit of the doubt’ to discern
the difference between appropriate and inappropriate, heaven and hell.
When one’s mind is sufficiently illuminated to understand these issues,
one will trust in the truth of the wisdom of the Buddha’s enlightenment –
banishing the doubt and suspicion from one’s mind, and making one ready to
practise in the Buddha’s footsteps. Even if one possesses faith alone,
already one has a chance to protect oneself from falling into the
nether realms — but the trouble with having faith alone is that it may
not be very steadfast. For the cultivation of faith, one needs invest
enough time, money and effort in one’s spiritual activities so that one’s
faith can be developed into wisdom. Economically speaking, this justifies
the expense of going to listen to Dhamma teachings in order to consolidate
one’s level of faith in the Triple Gem.
- self-discipline [siilasampadaa]: By
self-discipline, we mean at least the ability to keep all five of the
Precepts — all the way from restraining oneself from taking the life of
living beings, to restraining oneself from drinking alcohol. Apart from
restraining ourselves from the behaviours prohibited by the Five Precepts,
we must work on our mind too to uproot even the latent tendencies that
make us want to break the Precepts in the first place. The reason we have
to be so strict with ourselves is that one’s mind is filled with faith and
has sufficient inner brightness to see the connections between causes and
effects, we will start to be self-motivated to be more strict with ourselves.
From an economic point of view, in cultivating self-discipline you need to
find the time to go to the temple to keep the Precepts purely — rather
than labouring under the misapprehension that extra salary will bring
happiness both in this lifetime and the next;
- self-sacrifice [caagasampada]: A person
is endowed with self-sacrifice when they are free of any further
stinginess in their mind — someone who takes pleasure in giving. Such
people, apart from having self-discipline and faith, can also be said to
be skilled in saving up their wealth — but they choose not to save
it up in this this world as material wealth, but as transcendental
wealth for the next. They know that if they try to hoard what they
have in this world, before long it will be nibbled away by unjust
taxation, by thieves, fire, flood or uninvited inheritants. Some
grandchildren who cannot wait for death of a wealthy grandparent might
even conspire to murder them in order to receive a legacy before its due!
Buying shares is no real security, because even the value of shares can
sometimes collapse. Buying dollars or gold offers no real security either,
because the market might slump at any time. However, if you transform
material wealth into merit by giving it away, it will be wealth that will
stay with you from one lifetime to the next — and without fear that the
value of your assets will deteriorate — they will know only increase!
Wherever there are those who practice self-sacrifice, there will never be
a danger of economic exploitation — on the contrary, when self-sacrifice
is abundant, everyone’s financial status will improve, both giver and
recipient alike. This is why self-sacrifice is so important in laying the
foundation of happiness for lifetimes to come. For self-sacrifice, you
need do divide up an appropriate proportion of your wealth (as
mentioned already in the section on skilful deployment of wealth) for
giving in charity to save as transcendental wealth for next lifetime. If
we share wholeheartedly with others, in turn they will want to share with
us — and this will save one from finding oneself on the breadline, or
living from hand to mouth, with a job that destroys our health.
- wisdom [pa~n~naasampadaa]:
Sometimes the word ‘wisdom’ is bandied about without real consideration of
its true meaning. In Buddhism, the word means ‘penetrative insight into
the vicissitudes of the psycho-physical constituents [khanda] and
into the arising and decay of all things’. Knowledge of other things, for
example engineering or computing, could hardly be considered wisdom
according to the Buddhist definition. True wisdom means knowing every
facet of the constant change taking place in our bodily make-up — knowing
that there is birth, old-age, sickness and death, decay and destruction as
in the words ‘arising, continuity and decay’. Even though a person might
have several doctorates under their belt, if their knowledge cannot keep
up with the working of the bodily make-up, it is still incomplete
knowledge — and knowledge which is not completely pure because it still
potentially harmful. Wisdom allows you to uproot the last of the
defilements in your mind. True wisdom is not only reflection on a matter,
but reflection in a way that you can see the arising and the decay of that
thing. This sort of wisdom is indeed noble wisdom because it helps
us to uproot the last of the defilements in the mind and can thus bring
us, by the proper means, to an end of suffering. The importance of wisdom
is that it shines forth like light which drives away the darkness that
prevents us from seeing the reality of the world. Wisdom also functions
like a spade which one can use to dig up the deepest roots of a poisonous
weed — in this case the poisonous defilements which pollute the mind.
Thus, economically speaking, we have to be self-disciplined in the use of
our wealth to give ourselves sufficient freedom to use one’s time for
meditation practice and Dhamma study to give rise to a constantly higher
level of wisdom within oneself.
Of
the four practices, the most important precursor of transcendental wealth is faith.
Faith is something we have often heard about, but often misunderstood — so in
our studies of the practices for happiness in the hereafter, we should start on
the right foot by making sure we understand the concept of faith. With a
correct understanding of faith, it will start to become clear how the the
Buddha could teach that ‘each time faith arises for someone, in the end it will
lead to wisdom.’
Anyone
who works diligently and is not reckless with their earnings, who knows how to
earn their living in an appropriate way, while at the same time having faith,
self-discipline, who is helpful to those in need (giving an amount to them
which is appropriate), whose mind is free of stinginess, who cultivates
continuously the path to happiness in the hereafter (rather than doing virtuous
deeds sporadically or according to whim) — making such good deeds habitual.
Thus, faith, self-discipline, self-sacrifice and wisdom are the microeconomic
practices recommended by the Buddha for happiness in lives to come.
Wealth
is lost nothing is lost
INTERNATIONAL JIVAKA
PRESUMPTIVE HEALTH PROTECTION (IJPHP)
Are you a cortisol victim?
DR. SHEELA NAMBIAR M.D
|
If you are dieting, working out and still not losing |
Sometimes weight is not all that meets the eye. What lies beneath may
be the cause of the unmanageable cycle of weight-stress-and more weight.
Have you been working out, “dieting” and still not losing any
weight, or worse still, steadily gaining in girth? Are you anxious, annoyed and
frustrated with your apparently pointless weight loss efforts? Well, you may
very well be one of those people suffering from an overload of stress hormone
Cortisol. It has been found that in certain people, Cortisol overload leads to
weight gain, particularly around the abdomen.
I am often faced with clients who believe they are near starving
themselves, working out like dogs and yet not losing any weight. Aside from the
irony that most dogs rarely work, it is with some trepidation that I approach
this situation. It has been found that on questioning, most individuals
under-estimate what they eat and over-estimate how much they exercise.
What is Stress?
If, however, it is established that you honestly are unable to
lose weight despite following the necessary precautions, it may be time to
evaluate the rest of your life and take into consideration your stress levels
as one of the causes for weight gain or failure to lose weight.
Emotional stress is defined as a person’s reaction to any
situation that places special physical or psychological demands on the person
so as to unbalance his/her equilibrium (Niemann 1998). Everyone from the
corporate executive, housewife or student is under stress. How one’s body
responds to stress may vary. Although the biochemical reaction to stress is
similar for every human being, some individuals lose their appetite and weight
during stressful times, while others gain steadily.
The Stress Response: According to Hans Selye
M.D, the pioneer of Emotional stress, when the human body is faced with a
stressor (or what it perceives as a stressor), the sympathetic and endocrine
system of the body set in motion physiological responses that include the
release of hormones Cortisol and Epinephrine from the adrenal glands. Once the
stressful event has passed, the body reverts to its ‘normal homeostasis’. Most
times however, when the stress is ongoing or the individual has a personality
type that responds to most situations like they are disasters waiting to
happen, the body remains in a ‘high alert’ situation with the continuous
outpouring of stress hormones. These situations cause certain bodily changes
that include weight gain! Research findings suggest that Cortisol is the
offender.
In today’s fast paced society there is hardly an opportunity for
the body to revert to normal homeostasis after a stressful event. Consider,
deadlines at work, traffic jams, financial crisis, sick children, an unpleasant
mother-in-law, school admissions, the list is endless. The stage is set for a
body that is constantly on an over dose of Cortisol and other stress hormones.
The Food Connection: To make matters worse, food
as we all know, is not used solely to alleviate hunger. It is also seen as a
form of psychological fulfilment. Periods of stress in your life — whether a
bereavement, loss of job, divorce, exams or even change of home — can be times
when you reach for food as comfort leading to weight gain. This is called
Emotional Eating and is a common coping strategy to soothe disturbed feelings.
The weight gain and dieting itself can be a source of stress especially in
today’s world where the pressure to look slim is foisted on most people
(particularly women), by the media depiction of super slim models. This
often-unrealistic image can lead to a self-perpetuating cycle for a lot of
women.
Stress-related weight gain: Besides the regular exercise/
healthy diet combination, “lifestyle” changes and a holistic approach to
fitness has to be observed if stress is to be effectively combated.
Exercise by itself is a great stress reliever, (Neimann, Kramer
& Lee 1991, Blumenthal et al 1999). Conversely, it may serve as a source of
stress for some people who approach it competitively or generate their own
stress by setting unrealistic goals.
Mind-Body Fitness disciplines like Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates,
which are introspective and focus on the breath can be use for stress
management. They are an ideal support system to a regular cardio and iron
pumping routine.
Strategies
The importance lies in the strategic combination of exercise modalities
for each individual depending on his requirements. Some may need emotional
assessment and counselling while others may require longer slower cardio
sessions interspersed with high intensity weight training and/or Yoga. It is
complete foolishness for instance for an obese individual to rely solely on a
‘stress relieving’, breathing and yoga routine paying no attention to his food
or cardio in the hope of losing weight. He would also need to burn adequate
calories to make a difference to his fat percentage.
Certain foods and herbs like ginseng, ashwaganda, amla are
believed to be useful in combating stress and are called ‘adaptogens’.
Inclusion of these foods may be beneficial for some individuals.
Other issues worth considering would be, is your workout too high
in intensity? Are you providing your body with an opportunity to recover
sufficiently between workouts to grow in strength and performance, or are you
subjecting it to inappropriate, punishing, endless routines that are only
serving to stress you further?
Sometimes weight is not all that meets the eye. What lies beneath
may be the cause of the unmanageable cycle of weight-stress-and more weight. As
trying to lose the weight in itself can be stressful, attention needs to be
paid to the psyche of the individual. Careful adjustment of schedules,
monitoring of stress levels and progress and a positive approach needs to be
implemented to overcome this barrier of Cortisol over-load leading to weight
gain.
Dr Sheela Nambiar M.D, is a Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Fitness
and Lifestyle Consultant NAFC (USA) and Director, TFL Fitness Studio, Chennai.
E-mail drsheela@tfl-inc.com
Did you know?
The stress hormone Cortisol has been found to cause weight gain in
some susceptible individuals.
Losing weight for such people involves a strategic combination of
exercise modalities and lifestyle.
Food plays a major role in the weight gain, as Emotional Eating is
a common coping strategy while some food items can aid in stress relief.
Exercise is a stress buster but can be counterproductive in some
people. The key lies in planning the right amalgamation of routines for such
susceptible individuals.
FLAVOURS
All steamed up
ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
|
With the festive season coming up, try these healthy |
Nothing prepared me for the steamed food festival organised by
Chennai’s Cholayil Sanjeevanam. So far steamed food meant idly, iddiyappam and
puttu. What more can they offer, I thought rather snootily. But this
was one time I was glad to be proved wrong.
The “fragrance” of steaming food was in itself wholesome. The Food
and Beverage Manager, Elangovan, who designed the menu, said the focus was on Kozhukattai
and Ela Ada, made extra special with palm candy, jaggery, and honey.
Mushroom kozhukattai, aval kozhukattai, vegetable kozhukattai
spiced up the menu with nendram, raw mango, groundnut and aval ela
ada giving that extra dash.
Tasting the goodies aesthetically arranged on banana leaves, I
realised “steamed” did not mean “bland.” In fact, steaming retained the colour,
flavour and nutrients.
Here are some of the chef’s treasured recipes.
* * *
Stuffed Kozhukattai
Take 500 gm of raw rice flour, add a pinch of salt and a few drops
of oil. Add water gradually and knead it well.
Oil mould and press the dough firmly. Fill it with the stuffing
and close it in with a thin film of dough. Steam on a banana leaf in a steamer
or idli cooker. Best eaten hot with chutney.
For mushroom filling
Chop mushroom and onions extra fine. Saute with green chilli and
ginger- garlic puree, till golden.
Piddi kollukattai
Pound 500 gm raw rice into tiny granules. Heat two cups of water
and stir in the granules so that the dough is smooth and without lumps. Leave
it to cool.
Meanwhile heat a little ghee and temper curry leaves, chopped
green chillies, grated coconut and channa dal.
Mix with the dough. Take a lime-sized ball of dough and shape it
with your hand. Steam it.
* * *
Ela ada
100 gm Wheat flour
1 tsp Coconut oil
Salt to taste
70 -80 ml Water
Mix flour, oil and salt together. Add water gradually till the
mixture is slightly soggy. Let it ferment for about 45 minutes.
Spread mixture evenly on a banana leaf cut into a round. Add
prepared stuffing, fold in a semi circle and gently press. Steam for about 15
minutes.
Aval Stuffing
25 gmRed aval
10 gm fried gram coarsely ground
Grated coconut 5 gm
Cardamom powder a pinch. Soak the aval for 10-15 minutes. Drain
and mix with the other ingredients. And make the ada as above.
Groundnut stuffing
Chop steamed or roasted peanuts and mix with chopped onions,
coconut, curry leaves, salt and pepper. Add a dash of lime juice.
Raw mango stuffing
Chop raw mango and mix with chopped onions and green chillies.
Banana Stuffing
Mash ripe nendrampazham with ghee and powdered palm candy.
* * *
Kambu (millet) Idly:
1 kg of millet
300 gm Black gram dal
Soak the Black gram dal for eight hours and grind it well. Roast
millet without oil. Grind coarsely and soak for an hour.
Drain it carefully and mix it with the black gram dal batter. Keep
for 45 minutes and make the idlis the usual way. Serve hot with a green chilli
coconut chutney.
Health is lost something is lost
A BLUE PRINT FOR LIFE
ON GOVERNMENT
THE WAY OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
With
today’s freedom of religion and the protection and
support of the government, Buddhism can assert a purifying
influence on the government, and government should not
be jealous of Buddhism, nor should it attend to trifling
matters
while neglecting essentials and only rewarding philanthropy.
Instaed, it ought to encourage all activities that purify
the
mind and improve the social climate. Buddhism must also
be directly concerned with society, defending human rights
and the happiness and welfare of the people. As such,
Buddhists should not seek to remain aloof from politics. The
individual need not care about position, fame, and power,
but cannot forsake concern for society or the responsibility
of
serving others. In order to spread Dhamma nad benefit
others, Buddhists today should not seek to avoid politics
but
should be actively involved and do their share. For in
society,
who can avoid politics? Although Buddhists may not wish
to be involved, they must be concerned about society and
politics. The appropriate attitude for a Buddhist today is
“ask
after government without interfering in governance.”
Precepts (Character, morality
self-discipline) is lost everything is lost
FREE
ONLINE TRAINING ON BUDDHISM FOR CHILDREN-34
Ladyface
[Association]
Once upon time, the King of
had a royal bull elephant who was kind, patient and harmless. Along with his
sweet disposition, he had a lovely gentle face. So he was affectionately known
as ‘Ladyface’.
One night, a gang of robbers met together just
outside the elephant shed. In the darkness they talked about their plans for
robbing people. They spoke of beating and killing, and bragged that they had
given up ordinary goodness so they would have no pity on their victims. They
used rough he-man type gutter language, intended to scare people and show how
tough they were.
Since the nights were quiet, Ladyface had
nothing else to do but listen to all these terrible plans and violent rough
talk. He listened carefully and, as elephants do, remembered it all. Having
been brought up to obey and respect human beings, he thought these men were
also to be obeyed and respected, even as teachers.
After this went on for several nights,
Ladyface decided that the correct thing to do was to become rough and cruel.
This usually happens to one who associates with those of a low-minded cruel
nature. It happens especially to a gentle one who wishes to please others.
A ‘mahout’ is what the Indians call the
special trainer and caretaker of a particular elephant. They are usually very
close. Early one morning, Ladyface’s mahout came to see him as usual. The
elephant, his mind filled with the night’s robber-talk, suddenly attacked his
mahout. He picked him up in his trunk, squeezed the breath out of him, and
smashed him to the ground, killing him instantly. Then he picked up two other
attendants, one after another, and killed them just as ferociously.
Word spread quickly through the city that the
once adored Ladyface had suddenly gone mad and become a frightening man-killer.
The people ran to the king for help.
It just so happened that the king had an
intelligent minister who was known for his understanding of animals. So he
called for him and asked him to go and determine what sickness or other
condition had caused his favorite elephant to become so insanely violent.
This minister was the Bodhisatta, the
Enlightenment Being. Arriving at the elephant shed, he spoke gentle soothing
words to Ladyface, and calmed him down. He examined him and found him in
perfect physical health. As he spoke kindly to Ladyface, he noticed that the
elephant perked up his ears and paid very close attention. It was almost as if
the poor animal were starved for the sound of gentle words. So the
understanding minister figured out that the elephant must have been hearing the
violent words or seeing the violent actions of those he mistook for teachers.
He asked the elephant guards, “Have you
seen anyone hanging around this elephant shed, at night or any other
time?” “Yes, minister,” they replied, “for the last couple
of weeks a gang of robbers has been meeting here. We were afraid to do
anything, since they were such mean rough characters. Ladyface could hear their
every word.”
The minister returned immediately to the king.
He said, “My lord king, your favourite elephant, Ladyface, is in perfect
physical health. I have discovered that it was by hearing the rough and vulgar
talk of thieves during many nights, that he has learned to be violent and
cruel. Unwholesome associations often lead to unwholesome thoughts and
actions.”
The king asked, “What is to be
done?” The minister said, “Well my lord, now we must reverse the
process. We must send wise men and monks, who have a high-minded kind nature,
to spend just as many nights outside the elephant shed. There they should talk
of the value of ordinary goodness and patience, leading to compassion,
loving-kindness and harmlessness.”
So it was carried out. For several nights the
kind wise ones spoke of those wonderful qualities. They used only gentle and
refined language, intended to bring peacefulness and comfort to others.
Lo and behold, hearing this pleasant
conversation for several nights, Ladyface the bull elephant became even more
peaceful and pleasant than before!
Seeing this total change, the minister
reported it to the king, saying, “My lord, Ladyface is now even more
harmless and sweet than before. Now he is as gentle as a lamb!”
The king said, “It is wonderful indeed
that such a madly violent elephant can be changed by associating with wise men
and monks.” He was amazed that his minister seemed to be able to read the
mind of an elephant. So he rewarded him appropriately.
The moral is: As rough talk
infects with violence, so do gentle words heal with harmlessness.
COMPREHENSIVE
PALI COURSE
LESSON 12
Nahāpita = barber
Parinibbuta = Demised one, Arahat who
has passed away
Visayaṁ = object
Ārammanā = object
Saṁyojanāni = fetters
The ten fetters are:
1.
Sakkāyadiṭṭhi = Lust pertaining to sensual world
2.
Vicikiccā = skeptical doubt
3.
Sīlabbata Parāmāsa = superstitious adherence to
rites and rituals
4.
Kāmarāga = Lust pertaining to sensual world
5.
Vyāpāda = ill-will
6.
Rūparāga = desire pertaining to fine material sphere
7.
Arūparāga = desire pertaining to immaterial sphere
8.
Māna = pride, conceit
9.
Uddhacca = restlessness
10.
Avijjā = ignorance
Nānā = separately, different Puna = again
Evaṁ = thus, yes Vā or Athavā = or
Sīghaṁ = quickly Kathaṁ = how
Kasmā = why Tathā = in that way
So = he, that Aññatra
=except
Yattha = wherever Tattha = there
Yasmā = because Tasmā = therefore
Attano = one’s own Kiñci = anything
Pi = emphatic particle Tena
= by that
Vaṭṭati = to be done Atita
= past
Paccupanna = present, now Anāgata = future
Uyyāna = garden Upari = above
Ekaṁ = one pana = however
Subhāsaṁsī
= well-wisher Asubha = repulsive
Apekkhati = expects, desires Sattā = being
Jarā/vuddhavaya = old age Pāni = living being
Kujjhitvā = having become angry Catutro = cunning