BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY
THE STATE CO-ORDINATORIN CHARGE OF
KARNATAKA STATE
AND
THE STATE PRESIDENT
Invite your gracious presence on the occasion
of the opening of
(Head office of the Karnataka unit of the BSP)
On Thursday 16th of October 2008
At
No.23, Cockburn Road
Near Cantonment Railway Station, Shivaji Nagar,
Bangalore-560071
At 3:0 p.m.
Followed by High Tea
Dr. Ashok Kumar Siddhartha Marasandra Muniappa
State Co-ordinator State President
PROGRAMME
15:00 Hrs Arrival of Guests
15:05 Hrs Party Flag hoiting by Dr.(Prof) Suresh Mane
15:07 Hrs Ribbon Cutting at the Main Enterance by
Shri. Veer Singh M.P.
15:10 Hrs Buddhist Prayer by Buddha Vihar Banthejees
15:40 Hrs Ribbon Cutting of Meeting Hall by
Shri. Ashok Kumar Siddhartha
15:45 Hrs Commensment of Meeting
15:46 Hrs Welcome Address by
Shri. Marasandra Muniappa
15:55 Hrs Report Presentation by Shri. Bulla Subba rao
15:57 Hrs Speech by Shri. Askok Kumar Siddhartha
16:05 Hrs Speech by the Chief Guest Shri. Veer Singh M.P.
16:15 Hrs Presidential Address by Dr.(Prof) Suresh Mane
16:25 Hrs Vote of thanks by Shri. Kamal Nabhan
16:30 Hrs High Tea
16:45 Hrs Press Meet
This is the famous original sandstone sculpted Lion Capital of Ashoka preserved at Sarnath Museum which was originally erected around 250 BCE atop an Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath. The angle from which this picture has been taken, minus the inverted bell-shaped lotus flower, has been adopted as the National Emblem of India showing the Horse on the left and the Bull on the right of the Ashoka Chakra in the circular base on which the four Indian lions
are standing back to back. On the far side there is an Elephant and a
Lion instead. The wheel “Ashoka Chakra” from its base has been placed
onto the center of the National Flag of India.
Those who practice the Dhamma will begin
to know the Dhamma or to gain a feel for the Dhamma in the area of
meditation more markedly than in other areas, and more extensively. For
example, the gratification that comes from being generous is moving in
one way, the gratification that comes from maintaining the precepts is
moving in another way, the feelings of gratification that come from the
different forms of goodness are moving in their own separate ways. This
is called finding gratification in skillfulness.
But
all of these feelings of gratification converge in the practice of
meditation. We begin to feel moved from the moment the mind begins to
grow still, when the heart gathers its currents together to stand
solely on its own. Even though we may not yet obtain a great deal of
stillness from the inward gathering of the mind, we still find
ourselves gratified within, in a way we can clearly sense. If the mind
or the Dhamma were a material object, there wouldn’t be anyone in the
world who wouldn’t respect the religion, because the goodness, the
well-being, and the marvels that arise from the religion and from the
practicing in line with the teachings of the religion are things
desired the world over.
Goodness, well-being,
marvels: These are things the world has always desired from time
immemorial — with a desire that has never lost its taste — and they are
things that will always be desired until the world loses its meaning,
or until people become extinct, having no more sense of good and evil.
That’s when the world will no longer aspire for these great blessings.
The well-being that comes from the marvels — the Dhamma in the area of
its results — is something to which all living beings aspire, simply
that their abilities differ, so that some attain their aspirations,
while others don’t.
But the Dhamma can’t be
displayed for the world to perceive with its senses of sight, hearing,
smell, taste, or touch in the way other things can. Even though there
may be other immaterial phenomena similar to the Dhamma — such as
smells — still they aren’t like the true Dhamma that is touched by the
hearts of those who have practiced it. If the Dhamma could be displayed
like material objects, there is no doubt but that the human world would
have to respect the religion for the sake of that Dhamma. This is
because the Dhamma is something more marvelous than anything else. In
all the three levels of existence, there is no greater marvel than in
the Dhamma.
The Dhamma can appear as a
marvel, conspicuous and clear in the mind. The mind is what knows it —
and only the mind. It can’t be displayed in general like material
objects, as when we take things out to admire or to show off to others.
The Dhamma can’t possibly be displayed like material objects. This is
what makes the world lack interest — and lack the things that could be
hoped from the Dhamma — in a way that is really a shame.
Even
those who want the marvel of the Dhamma don’t know what the marvel is,
or what the profundity of the Dhamma is, because the mind has never had
contact with that profundity. The eye has never had contact with the
marvel. The ear has never obtained any marvel from the current of the
Dhamma, because the Dhamma can’t be displayed as a current of sound as
other things can. This is one obstacle that prevents people from
becoming moved by the Dhamma, that prevents them from fully believing
and fully entrusting themselves to the Dhamma in a way consistent with
the world’s long-felt hunger for well-being and prosperity.
Each
of the Buddhas who has gained Awakening and taught the Dhamma to the
world has had to reflect to the full extent of his intelligence and
ability on the myriad ways of teaching the Dhamma to the world so that
the world could see it as a marvel, inasmuch as the Dhamma can’t be put
in shop windows or in public places. This is because the true Dhamma
lies in the heart and reveals itself only in words and deeds, which
doesn’t excite a gratifying sense of absorption in the same way as
touching the Dhamma directly with the heart.
Because
there is no way to display the Dhamma directly, the Buddhas display it
indirectly through teaching. They point out the causes — the Dhamma of
conduct and practices leading to the Dhamma of results at this or that
point or this or that level; and at the same time they proclaim the
results — the excellence, the marvels of the stages and levels of the
Dhamma that can be touched with the heart, all the way to the highest
marvel, vimutti, the mental release called nibbana within the heart.
Every
Buddha has to devise strategies in teaching the Dhamma so as to bring
that marvel out to the world by using various modes of speech and
conduct — for example, describing the Dhamma and showing the conduct of
the Dhamma as being like this and that — but the actual Dhamma can’t be
shown. It is something known exclusively in the heart, in the way in
which each Buddha and each arahant possesses this marvel. None of the
Buddhas, none of the arahants who possess this marvel are in any way
deficient in this regard.
The marvel lies in
their hearts — simply that they can’t take the marvel that appears
there and display it in the full measure of its wonder. Thus they
devise strategies for displaying it in their actions, which are simply
attributes of the Dhamma, not the actual Dhamma itself. For instance,
the doctrine they teach in the texts is simply an attribute of the
Dhamma. Their act of teaching is also just an attribute of the Dhamma.
The actual Dhamma is when a meditator or a person who listens to their
teachings about the Dhamma follows the Dhamma in practice and touches
it stage by stage within his or her own heart. This is called beginning
to make contact with the actual Dhamma, step by step. However much
contact is made, it gives a sense of gratification felt exclusively
within the heart of the person who has gained that contact through his
or her own practice.
When it comes to
ingenuity in teaching, no one excels the Buddhas. Even so, they reveal
only what they see as appropriate for humanity. They can’t reveal the
actual Dhamma — for example, by taking out the true marvel in their
hearts and unfolding it for the world to see, saying, ‘This is the
marvel of the Tathagata, of each Buddha. Do you see it?’ This can’t be
done, for here we’re talking about the marvel of the purity of a heart
that was previously swamped with defilement like a heap of assorted
excrement, but now has become a pure, unsullied nature, or a pure,
amazing nature because of the practice of constantly and relentlessly
cleansing it. They can’t show that Dhamma to the world, saying, ‘Do you
see this? Look at it. Look at it. Feast your eyes till they’re full and
then strive to make this treasure your own!’ So instead, they teach by
using various strategies for those who practice, describing the path in
full detail, in terms both of causes and of results.
What
they bring out to show is simply the current of their voices, the
breath of their mouths. That’s what they bring out to speak, simply the
breath of their mouths. They can’t bring out the real thing. For
example, when they say, ‘It’s marvelous like this,’ it’s just sound.
The marvelous nature itself can’t be brought out. All they can bring
out is the action of saying, ‘That nature is marvelous,’ so that we can
speculate for ourselves as to what that marvel is like. Even though
this doesn’t remove our doubts, it’s better than if we had never heard
about it at all.
But the basic principle in
making us come to know and see the marvel of the Dhamma is that first
we have to speculate and then we follow with practice. This qualifies
as following the principles of the Dhamma the Buddha taught, and this
is fitting and proper. No matter what the difficulties and hardships
encountered in following the path, we shouldn’t let them form barriers
to our progress, because this is where the path lies. There are no
other byways that can take us easily to the goal. If our practice is
difficult, we have to stick with it. If it’s painful, we have to bear
it, because it’s a duty we have to perform, a burden we have to carry
while working so as to attain our aims.
The
Dhamma of a pure mind is like this: The mind is the Dhamma, the Dhamma
is the mind. We call it a mind only as long as it is still with the
body and khandhas. Only then can we call it a pure mind, the mind of a Buddha, or the mind of an arahant. After it passes from the body and khandhas, there is no conventional reality to which it can be compared, and so we can’t call it anything at all.
No
matter how marvelous that nature, no matter how much it may be ours,
there is no possible way we can use conventional realities to describe
it or to make comparisons, because that Dhamma, that realm of release,
has no conventions against which to measure things or make comparisons.
It’s the same as if we were in outer space: Which way is north, which
way is south, we don’t know. If we’re on Earth, we can say ‘east,’
‘west,’ ‘north,’ and ’south’ because there are things that we can
observe and compare so as to tell which direction lies which way. We
take the Earth as our standard. ‘High’ and ‘low’ depend on the Earth as
their frame of reference. How much higher than this, lower than this,
north of this, south of this: These things we can say.
But
if we’re out in outer space, there is no standard by which we can
measure things, and so we can’t say. Or as when we go up in an
airplane: We can’t tell how fast or how slow we’re going. When we pass
a cloud, we can tell that we’re going fast, but if we depend simply on
our eyesight, we’re sure to think that the speed of the airplane is
nowhere near the speed of a car. We can clearly see how deceptive our
eyesight is in just this way. When we ride in a car, the trees on both
sides of the road look as if they were falling in together down on the
road behind us. Actually, they stay their separate selves. It’s simply
that the car runs past them. Since there are things that we sense, that
lie close enough for comparison, it seems as if the car were going
really fast.
As for the airplane, there’s
nothing to make comparisons with, so it looks as if the plane were
dawdling along, as if it were going slower than a car, even though it’s
actually many times faster.
This is how it is when we compare the mind of an ordinary run-of-the-mill person with the mind of the Buddha. Whatever the Buddha says is good and excellent, we ordinary people tend to say that it’s not.
Whatever we like, no matter how vile, we say that it’s good. We don’t
admit the truth, in the same way as thinking that a car goes faster
than an airplane.
The practice of attending to the mind is something very important. Try to develop mindfulness (sati)
and discernment so that they can keep up with the things that come and
entangle the mind. By and large, the heart itself is the instigator,
creating trouble continually, relentlessly. We then fall for the
preoccupations the heart turns out — and this makes us agitated, upset,
and saddened, all because of the thoughts formed by the heart.
These
come from the heart itself, and the heart itself is what falls for
them, saying that this is this, and that is that, even though the
things it names ‘this’ and ‘that’ merely exist in line with their
nature. They have no meaning in and of themselves, that they are like
‘’this’ or ‘that.’ The mind simply gives them meanings, and then falls
for its own meanings, making itself glad or sad over those things
without end. Thus the stress and suffering that result from
thought-formations have no end, no point of resolution, just as if we
were floating adrift in the middle of the sea waiting to breathe our
last breath.
The Buddhas all reached
Awakening here in this human world because the human world is rich in
the Noble Truths. It’s where they are plain to see. The Noble Truth of
stress (dukkha) lies in the human body. Human beings know about
stress — because they’re smarter than common animals. The Noble Truth
of the origin of stress: This lies in the human heart. The Noble Truth
of the path — the path of practice to cure defilement (kilesa), craving (tanha), and mental effluents (asava),
which are the things that produce stress: This, human beings also know.
What is the path? To put it briefly: virtue, concentration, and
discernment. These things human beings know and can put into practice.
The Noble Truth of the cessation of stress: This, human beings also
know. No matter which of these truths, all human beings know them —
although they may not know how to behave toward them or take interest
in behaving in line with them, in which case there is no way the Dhamma
can help them at all.
The Buddhas thus taught
the Dhamma in the human world, because the human world lies in the
center of all the levels of existence. We have been born in the center
of existence, in the midst of the religion. We should conform correctly
to the central point of the religion, so as to comprehend the
religion’s teachings that lie in the center of our heart.
The
superlative Dhamma lies right here. It doesn’t lie anywhere else. The
mind is what can reach the Dhamma. The mind is what knows all dhammas.
The affairs of the Dhamma, then, do not lie beyond the mind, which is a
fitting vessel for them. Good, evil, pleasure, pain: The mind knows
these things before anything else knows them, so we should develop
mindfulness and discernment to be resourceful, to keep up with the
events that are always becoming involved with the mind in the course of
each day.
If we’re intent on investigating
the origin of stress, which fans out from our various
thought-formations, we will find that it arises without stop. It arises
right here in the mind. It’s fashioned right here. Even though we try
to make it quiet, it won’t be still. Why? Because of the ‘unquietness’,
the thoughts with which the mind disturbs itself, which it forms and
sends out towards its preoccupations (arammana) all the time.
Once the mind sends out its thoughts, it then gathers in stress for
itself. It keeps at it, in and out like this. What goes out is the origin of stress, and what comes back in is stress.
In other words, thoughts form and go out as the origin of stress, and
when the results come back to the heart, they’re stressful. These
things are constantly being manufactured like this all the time.
When
we want the mind to have even just a little bit of calm, we really have
to force it; and even then these things still manage to drive the mind
into forming thoughts whenever we let down our guard. This is how it is
with the origin of stress, which is constantly producing suffering. It
lies in the heart and is always arising. For this reason, we must use
mindfulness and discernment to diagnose and remedy the origin of
stress, to keep an eye out for it, and to snuff it out right there,
without being negligent. Wherever we sit or stand — whatever our
activity — we keep watch over this point, with mindfulness alert to it,
and discernment unraveling it so as to know it constantly for what it
truly is.
All those who practice to remove
defilement practice in this way. In particular, those who are ordained
practice by going into the forest to look for a place conducive to
their striving in order to wipe out this very enemy. Even when they
stay in inhabited areas, or wherever they go, wherever they stay, they
keep their attention focused continually, step by step, on the
persistent effort to remove and demolish the origin of stress, which is
a splinter, a thorn in the heart. Such people are bound to develop more
and more ease and well-being, step by step, in proportion to the
persistence of their striving.
We can see
clearly when the mind is still and settles down: Thought-formations are
still, or don’t exist. Turmoil and disturbances don’t occur. The stress
that would otherwise result doesn’t appear. When the mind is quiet,
stress is also quiet. When thought-formations are quiet, the origin of
stress is also quiet. Stress is also quiet. All that remains at that
moment is a feeling of peace and ease.
The
war between the mind and the defilements causing stress is like this.
We have to keep fighting with persistence. We have to use mindfulness
and discernment, conviction and persistence to contend with the war
that disturbs and ravages the mind, making it stagger and reel within.
The disturbances will then gradually be suppressed. Even when there is
only a moment of quiet, we will come to see the harm of the
thought-formations that are constantly disturbing us. At the same time,
we will see the benefits of mental stillness — that it’s a genuine
pleasure. Whether there is a lot of stillness or a little, pleasure
arises in proportion to the foundation of stillness or the strength of
the stillness, which in the texts is called samadhi, or concentration.
A
mind centered and still is called a mind in concentration, or a mind
gathered in concentration. This is what genuine concentration is like
inside the heart. The names of the various stages of concentration are
everywhere, but actual concentration is inside the heart. The heart is
what gives rise to concentration. It produces it, makes it on its own.
When concentration is still, the mind experiences cool respite and
pleasure. It has its own foundation set firmly and solidly within.
It’s
as if we were under an eave or under the cooling shade of a tree. We’re
comfortable when it rains, we’re comfortable when the sun is out,
because we don’t have to be exposed to the sun and rain. The same holds
true with a mind that has an inner foundation of stillness: It’s not
affected by this preoccupation or that, which would otherwise disturb
and entangle it repeatedly, without respite. This is because stillness
is the heart’s dwelling — ‘concentration,’ which is one level of home
for the heart.
Discernment (pañña) is
ingenuity, sound judgment, evaluating causes and effects within and
without; above, below, and in between — inside the body — all the way
to the currents of the mind that send out thoughts from various angles.
Mindfulness and discernment keep track of these things, investigating
and evaluating them so as to know causes and effects in terms of the
heart’s thought-formations, or in terms of the nature of sankhara within us, until we see the truth of each of these things.
Don’t go investigating these things off target, by being clever with labels and interpretations that go against the truth — because in the investigation of phenomena, we investigate in line with the truth. We don’t resist the truth, for that would simply enhance the defilements causing stress at the very moment we think we’re investigating phenomena so as to remove them.
Birth
we have already experienced. As for old age, we’ve been growing old
from the day of our birth, older and older, step by step. Whatever our
age, that’s how long we’ve been growing old, until we reach the end of
life. When we’re old to the nth degree, we fall apart. In other words,
we’ve been growing old from the moment of birth — older by the day, the
month, the year — older and older continually. We call it ‘growing up’,
but actually it’s growing old.
See? Investigate it for what it really is. This is the great highway — the way of nature. Don’t resist it.
For example, the body is growing old, but we don’t want it to be old.
We want it always to be young. This is called resisting the truth —
which is stress. Even when we try to resist it, we don’t get anywhere.
What do we hope to gain by resisting it and creating stress for
ourselves? Actually, we gain nothing but the stress that comes from
resisting the truth.
Use discernment to
investigate just like this. Whenever pain arises in any part of the
body, if we have medicine to treat it, then we treat it. When the
medicine can take care of it, the body recovers. When the medicine
can’t, it dies. It goes on its own. There’s no need for us to force it
not to die, or to stay alive for so-and-so many years, for that would
be an absurdity. Even if we forced it, it wouldn’t stay. We wouldn’t
get any results and would just be wearing ourselves out in vain. The
body has to follow its own natural principles.
When we investigate in line with its truth this way, we can be at our ease.
Wherever there’s pain, keep aware of it continually in line with its
truth. Whether it hurts a lot or a little, keep aware of its
manifestations until it reaches the ultimate point of pain — the death
of the body — and that’s as far as it goes.
Know it in line with its truth. Don’t resist it. Don’t set up any desires,
because the setting up of desire is a deficiency, a hunger. And hunger,
no matter when or what the sort, is pain: Hunger for sleep is pain,
hunger for food is pain, hunger for water is pain. When was it ever a
good thing?
The hunger, the desires that
arise, wanting things to be like this, wanting them to be like that:
These are all nothing but disturbances, issues that give rise to stress
and pain. This is why the Buddha doesn’t have us resist the truth.
Use your discernment to investigate, to contemplate in line with the natural principles of things as they already are. This is called discernment that doesn’t fly in the face of truth — and the heart can then be at ease.
We
study the four ‘Noble Truths’ here in our body. In other words, we
study birth, aging, illness, and death, all of which lie in this single
heap of elements (dhatu) without ever leaving it. Birth is an
affair of these elements. Growing up or growing old, it’s old right
here. When there’s illness, it manages to be ill right here, in one
part or another. When death comes, it dies right here. So we have to
study right here — where else would we study? We have to study and know
the things that involve us directly before we study anything else. We
have to study them comprehensively and to completion — studying our own
birth, our aging, our illness and pain, and completing our study of our own death. That’s when we’ll be wise — wise to all the events around us.
People who know the Dhamma through practicing so that they are wise to the events that occur to themselves, do not flinch in the face of any of the conventional realities of the world at all.
This is how it is when we study the Dhamma, when we know and see the
Dhamma in the area of the heart — in other words, when we know rightly
and well. ‘Mindfulness and discernment that are wise all around
themselves’ are wise in this way, not wise simply from being able to remember.
They have to be wise in curing doubt, in curing the recalcitrance of
the heart, as well as in curing their own attachments and false
assumptions so as to leave only a nature that is pure and simple.
That’s when we’ll be really at ease, really relieved.
Let the khandhas be khandhas
pure and simple in their own way, without our messing with them,
without our struggling with them for power, without our forcing or
coercing them to be like this or like that. The khandhas are then khandhas,
the mind is then the mind, each with its own separate reality, each not
infringing on the others as it used to. Each performs its own duties.
This is called khandhas pure and simple, the mind pure and
simple, without any conventional realities adulterating them. What
knows is what knows, the elements are elements, the khandhas are khandhas.
Whatever
things may break apart, let them break apart. We have already known
them clearly with our discernment. We have no doubts. We’ve known them
in advance, even before they die, so when death comes, what doubts can
we have? — especially now that they display the truth of their nature
for us to see clearly. This is called studying the Dhamma, practicing
the Dhamma. To study and practice this way is to follow the same way
that sages have practiced and known before us.
All of these conditions are matters of conventional reality — matters of the elements, the khandhas, or the sense media (ayatana). The four khandhas, the five khandhas,
whatever, are individual conditions, individual conditions that are
separated in line with conventions. Discernment is also a condition;
and mindfulness, another condition — conditions of the heart — but
they’re Dhamma, means of curing the mind that is clouded and obscured,
means of washing away the things that cloud and obscure it, until
radiance appears through the power of the discernment that cleanses the
heart. Once the heart is radiant, in the next step it becomes pure.
Why
is it pure? Because all impurities have fallen away from it. The
various misconstruings that are an affair of defilement are all gone
from the heart, so the heart is pure. This pure heart means that we
have completed our study of ourselves, in line with the statement of
the teaching:
When
the tasks we have had to do — abandoning and striving — are done to
completion, we know right here, because delusion lay right here in the
heart. We study and practice simply to cure our own delusion. Once we
know right here, and delusion is gone, what else is there to know? —
for beyond this there is nothing further to know. What else is there
for us to be deluded about? We’re no longer deluded, because we know
fully all around.
This very state of mind:
When at the beginning I referred to the superlative Dhamma, the
marvelous Dhamma, I was referring to this very state of mind, this very
Dhamma — but it’s something known exclusively within itself, and exists
only within itself. It’s marvelous — this we know within our own mind.
It’s superlative — this we also know within our own mind. We can’t take
it out or unfurl it like other things for other people to see.
So
if you want to have any Noble Treasures to show for yourself, practice.
Remove all those dirty stains from the heart, and the superlative
things I have mentioned will appear by their own nature — in other
words, they will appear in the mind.
This is
called completing your study of the Dhamma; and your study of the world
is completed right here. The ‘world’ means the world of elements, the
world of the khandhas that lie right here with each of us, which are more important than the worlds of elements and khandhas belonging to other people, because this world of elements and khandhas lies with us and has been weighing on the heart all along.
When we have studied the Dhamma to the attainment of release, that’s all there is to study. We’ve studied the world to completion and studied the Dhamma in full. Our doubts are gone,
and there is nothing that will ever make us doubt again. As the Buddha
exclaimed, ‘When dhammas become apparent to the Brahman, earnest and
absorbed, doubt comes to an end because the conditions, the factors for
continued being and birth, come to an end.’
Once
we have reached this level, we can live wherever we like. The war is
ended — the war between the mind and defilement, or the war between
Dhamma and defilement, is over. This is where we dismantle being and
birth. This is where we dismantle the heap of suffering in the round of rebirth — right here in the heart.
Since the heart is the wanderer through the cycle of rebirth, we have
to dismantle things right here, to know them right here. Once we know,
that’s the end of all problems right here.
In
this whole wide world there are no problems. The only problem was the
issue of the heart that was deluded about itself and about the things
that became involved with it. Now that it has completely rectified the
way it is involved with things, there is nothing left — and that’s the
end of the problem.
From this point on, there are no more problems to trouble the heart until the day of its total nibbana. This is how the Dhamma is studied to completion. The world — the world of elements and khandhas — is studied to completion right here.
So
keep striving in order to see the marvel described at the beginning,
which was described in line with the truth with no aspect to invite any
doubt.
The Buddha and the Noble Disciples
have Dhamma filling their hearts to the brim. You are a disciple of the
Tathagata, with a mind that can be made to show its marvelousness
through the practice of making it pure, just like the Buddha and the
Noble Disciples. So try to make it still and radiant, because the heart
has long lain buried in the mud. As soon as you can see the harm of the
mud and grow tired of it, you should urgently wake up, take notice, and
exert yourself till you can manage to make your way free. Nibbana is holding its hand out, waiting for you. Aren’t you going to come out?
Rebelliousness
is simply distraction. The end of rebelliousness is stillness. When the
heart is still, it’s at ease. If it’s not still, it’s as hot as fire.
Wherever you are, everything is hot and troubled. Once it is still,
then it’s cool and peaceful wherever you are — cool right here in the
heart. So make the heart cool with the practice, because the heat and
trouble lie with the heart. The heat of fire is one thing, but the heat
of a troubled heart is hotter than fire. Try to put out the fires of
defilement, craving, and mental effluents burning here in the heart, so
that only the phenomenon of genuine Dhamma remains. Then you will be
cool and at peace, everywhere and always.
Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath
Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent
about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants
created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th
and 3rd centuries B.C. - which reached its zenith under ASHOKA –
united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta
dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science,
art, and culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and
Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of European traders,
beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain
had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian
armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars.
Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI
and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent
was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim
state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971
resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh.
India’s nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct
its own tests that same year. The dispute between the countries
over the state of Kashmir is ongoing, but discussions and
confidence-building measures have led to decreased tensions
since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic investment
and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant
overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty,
and ethnic and religious strife.
|
Mayawati the true heir of Kanshi Ram
Coming October 9 was observed as
the second Parinirvana Day of Kanshi Ram, the founder of BAMSEF, DS4 and most importantly, Bahujan Samaj Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh today.. KANSHI RAM was born on March 15, 1934, in a village in Ropar district of Punjab. Despite his Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath roots, he earned a bachelor’s degree in science from the Government College at Ropar. Soon after, he was hired by Survey of India through a quota system for Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath. In 1965, than working in the nation’s defence ministry, he quit his job after becoming involved in a caste discrimination case. Thereafter,
the uplift of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath and creation of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, was the dream project of the Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath leader. He succeeded in his project and the emergence of BSP, signalled a tectonic shift away from the supremacy of the Congress Party, which ruled India almost without interruption, since Independence in 1947. It Mayawati, who, held that post for less than a year in 2001,
managed a 2/3rd majority in assembly to form a stable government in UP after a decade Interestingly, Kanshi Ram had declared
that he will accept Dhamma on October 14, 2006. Unfortunately, he passed away earlier. |
Mayawati hits back, accuses Sonia of farce
Lucknow:
UP Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday accused the Congress of
defaming her and stalling her government’s development plans—the latest
round of acrimony between her and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
“The
Congress has opposed our development schemes such as Ganga Expressway
from Noida to Ballia,” said Mayawati at a press conference in Lucknow
to answer Sonia’s allegation.
The
Congress chief alleged on Tuesday the UP Government tried to block her
rally in Rai Bareli and took back land allotted for a rail coach
factory because it was not interested in the state’s development. “If
need be, I am also prepared to go to jail,” Sonia had said when asked
whether she would support a ‘jail bharo agitation’ by the Congress.
Mayawati shot back by saying: “Sonia did drama at Rae Bareli and went back to Delhi. We did not stop her from doing a rally.”
“The
UPA Government has not given any financial assistance to us. The
Congress has raised the issue of rail coach factory at Rae Bareli to
defame my government,” she said.
Atiq Khan
| She dubs Sonia’s ‘ready-to-go-to-jail’ statement a political drama |
LUCKNOW: With Chief Minister Mayawati — irked at UPA chairperson
Sonia Gandhi’s accusation that the Uttar Pradesh government is creating
hurdles to the development process — calling a ‘maha rally’ in Rae
Bareli, the face-off between the Congress and the BSP regime has
deepened.
The rally, whose date is to be announced soon, is to expose the
Congress and the UPA government’s record of development in the State.
More specifically, on the issue of how many jobs have been created in
Rae Bareli and Sultanpur (Amethi) since the Congress-led UPA came to
power at the Centre in 2004. Ms. Mayawati dubbed Ms. Gandhi’s
statement, made at Lalganj on Tuesday, that she was ready to go to jail a political drama, and said had the BSP been like other parties the
Congress president’s rally and roadshow in Dadri would not have been
allowed. And had the Congress violated the ban (prohibitory orders
under Section 144 of the Cr.PC) at Lalganj, she would have fulfilled
Ms. Gandhi’s desire to go to jail.
The Chief Minister defended her government’s action canceling
allotment of land for a rail coach factory there. She deputed her
Principal Secretary Net Ram to conduct an inquiry into the objections
raised by farmers and the land dispute pertaining to the rail coach
unit. After he submitted his report, within three days, the Cabinet
would take a final decision on the rail coach factory land, Ms.
Mayawati said. It would have been better had the rail factory been
planned in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region. The manner in which
development projects were allotted to Rae Bareli and Amethi
(represented by Ms. Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha)
by the UPA government seemed to suggest that there was no other Lok
Sabha constituency in the State. Rae Bareli was to the Congress what
Safai (the former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh’s village) was to the
Samajwadi Party, Ms. Mayawati said.
If the UPA government sent a proposal to set up 50-60 factories in
other parts of the State, land would be made readily available, she
told a press conference here. Dismissing the allegation that her
government was stalling the development process, she said that
according to official records 20 factories had been established in Rae
Bareli (since the time of Indira Gandhi); of these only nine were
functioning and the others closed down. An extent of 192 acres of land
was locked up in the closed units.
Of the 16 units set up in Sultanpur, seven applied for closure and
the others were functioning, she said adding 862 acres turned
wasteland.
As for the UPA chairperson’s description of Rae Bareli and Amethi as the karmabhumi
of the Gandhi family and her home, Ms. Mayawati invited intellectuals
and the media for a discourse on what the Congress had for the
development of the two constituencies in the last 60 years.
Only a few Congressmen benefited from the development process and no
benefit accrued to Dalits, the OBCs and the minorities, she alleged,
blaming the Congress leadership for poverty and unemployment in the
area.
Also, the Congress stalled development, launching an agitation against the Ganga Expressway and Yamuna Expressway projects.
Nor did the Centre take any decision on the Rs. 80,000-crore special package sought by the State, the Chief Minister said.
‘I could have fulfilled Sonia’s wish of going to jail’
Lucknow, October 15: The war of words over theRae Bareli coach factory land hotted up on Wednesday with Chief
Minister Mayawati on Wednesday hitting back at Sonia Gandhi accusing
her of enacting a ‘drama of going to jail’ and worrying only about Rae
Bareli and Amethi and not Uttar Pradesh.
“Congress is worried only about Rae Bareli but I
am worried about the whole of Uttar Pradesh,” she said, while
countering Gandhi’s charges after her government cancelled a land
allotment for the railway coach factory.
The Chief Minister said, “if we wanted to display
the power of the state administration, then we would not have allowed
her (Gandhi) to conduct a road show in Rae Bareli and would have
arrested her.”
But “we had only asked her not to hold a public
rally in Lalganj following tension there. The prohibitory orders were
not imposed anywhere else in the district,” she said.
Mayawati announced a ‘maharally’ to apprise people about the ‘impediments created by the Centre’ in developmental schemes.
On alleged protests by farmers on the acquisition
of their land for the factory, Mayawati said that she had constituted a
committee under Principal Secretary Netram to inquire into objections
of the farmers that will submit its report to the government within
three days.
“Cabinet will decide on the issue later on”,
Mayawati said, claiming that the land allotment was not approved by the
Cabinet due to a ‘goof-up’ by officials of previous regime.
Taking a pot-shot at the Congress chief for
terming Rae Bareli and Amethi as ‘karmbhoomi of Firoze, Indira and
Rajiv Gandhi and now that of her and Rahul’, Mayawati asked as to how
many jobs ‘have been given to people of Rae Bareli in past 44 years of
Congress rule in Uttar Pradesh and 48 years of rule at the Centre.’
“The bhoomipujan for the project is a mere drama
for taking political mileage ahead of Lok Sabha elections,” the BSP
supremo said.
“Like Saifai was entire state for Samajwadi Party,
Raebareli and Amethi are the entire state for Congress. There are
already a number of factories in the district, Congress should think
beyond Rae Bareli and avoid regional imbalance,” Mayawati said.
“Despite this the state government is giving
maximum electricity to Rae Bareli as compared to other districts,” she
said, adding unlike Congress, ‘BSP is not doing politics on issues of
development’.
Mayawati alleged that only the Congress party
people were benefiting in Rae Bareli while ‘the common people mostly Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath and minorities are still living in pitiable condition in
Gandhi’s karmabhoomi’.
She alleged that the Congress had put impediments in schemes like Ganga and Yamuna expressways.
“This project in Rae Bareli and a similar project
at Bihar were launched simultaneously by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad
Yadav. While the work has started in Bihar, nothing except false
propaganda was initiated by the Congress here.”
She advised Congress to set up 50 factories in the
backward Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh) and Bundelkhand regions and
said the state would provide land in these areas on priority basis.
BSP says no to pre-poll deal in M.P.
Indore: Rejecting possibility of any pre-poll alliance, Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday
said that it will contest the coming Assembly election in Madhya
Pradesh all alone.
The party has two MLAs in the present 230-member State Assembly,
though it is confident to win clear majority in the coming election
scheduled to be held on November 25.
Welcoming the announcement of poll dates by the Election
Commission, BSP state chief Narmada Prasad Ahirwar said the people of
the State are upset with both the Congress and the BJP.
People have been suffering due to rising prices caused by the wrong
policies of the ruling Congress at Centre while the BJP Government in
the State has failed to fulfil its promise to ensure law and order and
basic facilities such as roads, water and electricity, Mr. Ahirwar told
PTI. He added that the party will fight the election on its own and
will come up with surprising result. — PTI
Maya returns fire
Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s assertion that she
was “ready to go to jail” for the sake of development, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati retorted on Wednesday that she could well “have
enabled Sonia to achieve her ambition” but had chosen not to do so. She
had instead “allowed her to have her road show in Rae Bareli”.
Mayawati implied that since large numbers of people came out to
greet Sonia during her visit to Rae Bareli on Tuesday, despite
prohibitory orders under Section 144 being in force, her administration
could well have arrested Sonia for instigating them to break the law.
Addressing a crowded press conference, the chief minister added that
she would soon hold a rally in Rae Bareli to counter Sonia’s charges
that she was stalling development in the region and in the state. She
did not specify the date of the rally.
She claimed Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had done nothing for their
respective constituencies, Rae Bareli and Amethi. “Except dirty
politics the Gandhis have done nothing for development,” she said.
“Congress
workers brought their president to Rae Bareli who did a drama of going
to jail without any reason and returned to Delhi yesterday.”
Mayawati’s remarks are the latest in the round of charges and
counter charges between the Congress-led Centre and the BSP in the
state, which started after her government cancelled the allotment of
land for a rail coach factory at Lalganj in Rae Bareli district. The
state government had said the decision was taken on the basis of a
report that said land acquisition for the factory could lead to unrest
in the area.
Mayawati has now directed Principal Secretary Netram to look into
the complaints of Rae Bareli farmers that led to the decision. She said
land was allotted without Cabinet’s nod.
Netram will submit his report in three days. It might come handy for
the government to deal with the case in the high court, which has
ordered status quo on the site. The next hearing is on October 22.
Mayawati said development in Rae Bareli could not be the benchmark
for the development of the state. If Sonia was so concerned about UP,
she added, she should take the rail factory to Bundelkhand or
Poorvanchal, both extremely backward areas, and help in balanced
development of the state.
| BSP says no to alliance for assembly polls in MP | |||||||
|
|||||||
Rejecting possibility of any pre-poll alliance, Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati-led Bahujan Samajwadi Party today said that it will
contest the coming assembly election in Madhya Pradesh all alone.
The party has two MLAs in the present 230-member state assembly, though
it is confident to win clear majority in the coming election scheduled
to be held on November 25.
Welcoming the announcement of poll dates by the Election
Commission, BSP state chief Narmada Prasad Ahirwar said the people of
the state have become annoyed with both the Congress and the BJP.
People have been suffering due to rising prices caused by the
wrong policies of the ruling Congress at Centre while the BJP
government in the state has failed to fulfil its promise to ensure law
and order and basic facilities such as roads, water and electricity,
Ahirwar told PTI.
Asked whether the BSP would forge any third front against the the
Congress and the BJP, Ahirwar said, the party will fight the election
on its own and will come up with surprising result to form government.
He said, the party has already announced its candidates for 130
constituencies and list of the rest contestants will be announced soon.
Ahirwar claimed that several leaders, who are dissatisfied with
Congress are knocking BSP’s door. The party is ready to welcome such
leaders, he added. PTI
Nodal centres to promote science in rural Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, Oct 15 (IANS) The National Botanical Research Institute(NBRI) and the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) will jointly set
up nodal centres in Uttar Pradesh schools to promote science and
scientific thinking among rural students.”The move intends to spread
science awareness in rural students, who at times do not get enough
opportunities to learn science,” NBRI director Rakesh Tuli said
Wednesday.
Initially, the nodal centres will be set up in villages in Lucknow
and its adjoining districts. In the first phase, we include only 10
schools in our programme, he added.
Tuli said: “At the centres, students will get science literature,
magazines that will enable them to understand and apply scientific
principles in everyday life. Moreover, at regular intervals, science
talk shows, exhibitions and other events would also be organised.”
CDRI and NBRI have also sought assistance from the Bangalore-based
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and the Indian
National Science Academy for the smooth functioning of the nodal
centres.
CM seeks probe into Delhi encounter
Lucknow, October 13 Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterMayawati is seeking a probe in Jamia Nagar encounter and
announcing several schemes for the community during the BSP convention
on the “Problems of Muslim community: its causes and solutions” on
Monday. Prominent Muslim clerics, who attended the meeting, however,
raised issues like lack of legal defense for terror suspects, arrest of
innocent Muslims, growing sense of insecurity in the
community and harassment of Muslims in Azamgarh.
Mayawati told the gathering that she has written a
letter to the Prime Minister requesting him to resolve the controversy
over the Jamia Nagar encounter. “Doubts among the Muslim community over
the incident must be removed,” she said.
The chief minister said the Muslim Community was
feeling a sense of insecurity in the country. “No action will be taken
against anyone in Uttar Pradesh without concrete evidence
regarding involvement in terror cases,” said the BSP chief.
She also attacked the Congress over the nuclear deal and its failure to act on the Sachar Committee report.
Shia cleric Kalbe Jawwad said: “While the killers
of Mahatama Gandhi and Indira Gandhi could defend their cases, it
seemed Muslims have no right to live and they can’t even contest their
cases.” The cleric advocated constitution of a committee comprising
non-government Muslims (Gair Sarkari Musalman) to look into the cases
of terrorism. He demanded adequate representation of Muslims in police
force and making Urdu compulsory up to high school. He also said he
wished to see Mayawati as Prime Minister of the country.
The Naib Imam of Lucknow’s Aishgah Idgah and All
India Muslim Personal Law Board Member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali
said innocent Muslims are being taken into custody in the name of
terrorism and Madrasas are seen with suspicion. He asked the government
to deploy honest officers in Azamgarh. Referring to Gorakhpur MP Yogi
Aditya Nath, he said Muslims in various parts of Eastern UP are living
under fear and Islam has nothing to do with terrorism.
Blaming the Centre for terrorism in the country,
Mayawati said the root cause of terrorism was the failure of the
Central government to secure borders of the country. The CM also
announced the constitution of a special cell headed by BSP general
secretary Satish Chandra Mishra to review the progress of the schemes
announced by her government for minorities.
She announced to set up an Arabic-Persian
University and a Unani Directorate in Lucknow soon and said her
government has already earmarked Rs 10 crore for this.
She also announced various government measures
including launching of employment scheme for minorities, setting up of
a Rs 4 crore coaching centre for IAS and IPS aspirants from the
minority community in Lucknow, opening of 964 primary schools, 1,212
high schools, 58 government secondary schools and appointment of Urdu
teachers in Muslims-dominated districts. The government has also
decided to increase the annual grant for Urdu Academy from Rs 1.5 crore
to Rs 3 crore.
|
KANPUR: At least five people were injured in a minor explosion here Tuesday evening, with the Uttar Pradesh police saying it was seemingly caused was not a terror attack. The explosion took place outside a liquor vend in Colonelganj locality under the Bajaria police station of the city around 7 pm, police officials said. Police said it seemed that a man had purchased firecrackers ahead of the Diwali festival and left these in a bag on his bicycle. Apparently, the firecrackers went off accidentally, injuring five people including three children, senior superintendent of police HR Sharma said. However, another police officer did not rule out some criminals being behind the incident. “The bombs were crude and it appears that some criminal element was carrying them for some crime,” additional director general of police (Crime, Law and Order) Brijlal said. “We are probing the incident and hope to nab the culprit soon,” he added. Senior police officials rushed to the spot, Sharma said. “The injured are undergoing treatment in the Ursla government hospital,” he said. “Some mischief mongers are linking the incident to terrorist activities. Public should not pay heed to such rumors,” added Sharma Kanpur is about 90 km from Lucknow. |
In
these final three weeks, our opponents are signaling they will do
whatever they can to distract voters and distort the truth, so we need
to redouble our efforts.
The negative ads and smears seem to
grow by the day. The most effective way to respond is by reaching out
to more people than ever before with the truth — the stakes in this
election are too high not to.
We need to grow this movement by 100,000 new donors before Friday.
By promising to match the contribution of a new supporter, you will
encourage them to give for the first time. This is your last
opportunity to partner with a fellow supporter and make your donation
go twice as far.
Dear Sashikanth,
If your family isn’t already supporting Barack, it’s time for you to have “The Talk.”
With so many rumors and misperceptions out there, it’s incredibly
important that you sit down with parents or other family members. Tell
them who Barack is, what he stands for, and why you’re supporting him.
You may be the only person who can convince them.
But it can be difficult to bring up the subject, so here are a few tips:
- Send an email. You can scroll down for some talking points, but feel free to add your personal touch.
- Breaking the ice can be hard. Start by asking if they saw the debate on Tuesday and what they thought about it.
- Have some information handy. We have one-page summaries of Barack’s positions on various issues. Look for the issues you know are important to your family.
- Share Barack’s speech from the Democratic National Convention or Meet Barack, a video about who Barack Obama is, where he comes from, and what his values are.
For more resources, and to share your story about talking to family members, go to:
http://my.barackobama.com/thetalk
Earlier this year, as one national leader after another announced
support for Barack, there was a common refrain — they said their kids
persuaded them that Barack was the right candidate to bring about real
change.
Family members talking to one another about Barack is one of the ways
this movement has grown so large. Even if your parents are already
convinced, talk to your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
There are only 25 days until Election Day. So have The Talk, and do it soon. Then tell us how it went, and what advice you would offer fellow supporters.
Thanks for all that you’re doing,
Obama for America
——– Suggested email ———
Hi,
I’ve been thinking a lot about the election and how important it is to our family.
I’ve decided to support Barack Obama, and wanted to let you know why.
There are many rumors floating around out there, so here’s some
information about Barack’s positions on things I know are important to
you:
– Economy: http://my.barackobama.com/EconomyFlyer
– Health Care: http://my.barackobama.com/HealthcareFlyer
– Education: http://my.barackobama.com/EducationFlyer
This is probably going to be the most important election in my
lifetime, and it’s something I strongly believe in. So let’s talk about
it. Ask me anything.
Sashikanth –
I thought the differences between John McCain and me were pretty clear tonight.
I will fight for the middle class every day, and — once again — Senator McCain didn’t mention the middle class a single time during the debate.
If you agree that we need to cut taxes for 95% of working families, reduce health care costs, and end the war in Iraq responsibly, then I need your help right now.
And if you heard John McCain push more of the same discredited
policies, including tax cuts for the wealthy and giant corporations,
tax increases on health care, and continuing to spend $10 billion a
month in Iraq, then now is the time to act.
Four weeks from tonight, we’ll know which of us will be the next president.
The time to make a difference in this election is running out — will you make a donation of $25 or more right now?
https://donate.barackobama.com/townhall
Thank you,
Barack
Thanks.
Dear Sashikanth,
With less than a month to go before Election Day, undecided voters across the country are choosing which candidate to support.
We’re asking you to play an important role in making sure voters know that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will bring the change we need on issues facing service members, veterans, and military families.
Use our Letter to the Editor tool to write a letter to your local paper.
We’ve made it easy. We provide you with a list of local papers, and
some important background on the issues to help you get started.
We’ll even send the letters to the papers for you.
John McCain and
the lobbyists on his campaign staff want to make this election about
personalities and trivialities, rather than the issues that matter in
people’s lives.
Instead of talking about our economic crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or helping out the middle class, they are trying to distract voters from the issues.
We need you to help us keep the conversation on track, and remind
everyone that this is about change versus four more years of the same.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper today:
http://my.barackobama.com/vetsletter
With your help, together we can change America for the better.
Thank you,
Veterans and Military Families for Obama
Sashikanth —
I
was in North Carolina with Barack yesterday — getting ready for
tonight’s debate — and I took a break to record a short strategy
update for you.
Yesterday, millions of Americans learned the details about John McCain, his political patron Charles Keating, and their role in the last major financial crisis and taxpayer-financed bailout of our time.
The truth makes it even clearer why a senior McCain adviser admitted to
a reporter, “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going
to lose.”
But it’s not enough to merely inform voters — we’ve got to turn them out to vote.
You live in a key battleground state where the race is neck-and-neck, so you can make a huge difference right in your own community.
Watch
our latest strategy update video and consider giving a day of your time
to help turn out the vote in the crucial four days leading up to the
election:
While we’re focused on persuading and turning out voters, John McCain
has given up talking about the issues that are central to this election
– especially the economy. Instead, he’s running the most negative presidential campaign in modern history.
In the past few days, we’ve seen the beginning of a major offensive
that McCain is about to launch, filled with distortions, personal
attacks, and flat-out lies about Barack.
But you can help
fight back by getting involved at the grassroots level — knocking on
doors, making phone calls, and talking to undecided voters about what really matters in this election.
Commit at least one day to make sure Barack gets the votes we need to win:
http://my.barackobama.com/giveadayvid
Thanks for everything you’re doing,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
P.S. — Don’t forget to tune in to the debate tonight at 9:00 p.m.
Eastern. And make sure your friends and family watch Barack talk about
the change we need in this country. Jagatheesan –
Want a look inside our strategy to win the battleground states?
I recorded a video on my laptop yesterday to brief you on the plan –
including details that haven’t been shared publicly before.
Our fight in the battleground states is going to be tougher than a lot of you may think. Take Florida, where George Bush won by just 381,000 votes in 2004. The campaign we’re running there is going to cost more than $39 million.
That can only come from supporters like you — unlike John McCain, we don’t take money from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.
To reach our goal, we need 50,000 new donors by Friday at midnight.
And if you make your first online donation today, your gift
will go twice as far. A previous donor has promised to match every
dollar you donate.
This race has come down to a matter of weeks, and it could pivot on a few tremendously important swing states.
Supporters like you are strengthening this campaign in amazing ways — voter registration efforts, organizing in your communities, and bringing folks into the political process like never before.
Barack and Joe can’t win this without you.
Make a donation of $5 or more right now to provide the resources we’ll need to make victory a reality:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
This campaign is committed to winning in every state we can. But it’s
the support of folks like you that will decide this election.
Thanks for everything you’re doing,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
Jagatheesan –
The economy hit a new low this week, and in every part of the country, people like you are feeling it.
The recent financial disasters — from the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the historic drop in the stock market
– are not just a string of bad luck. They are the result of years of
bad decisions made in favor of big corporate special interests instead
of America’s working families.
More than 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Home foreclosures are skyrocketing, and home values are plunging. Gas prices are at an all-time high, and we’re still spending more than $10 billion every month on a war in Iraq that should never have been waged.
John McCain’s campaign is doing everything it can to focus attention on
false personal attacks and distractions — but there’s too much at
stake for that kind of politics.
I need your help to get the conversation back on track.
I recorded a two-minute TV ad about our economy and my plan to solve this crisis. Please watch the ad and share it with everyone you know:
For eight years, Bush-McCain economic policies have favored reckless deregulation and huge tax loopholes for big corporations. Now, as these corporations crumble, American taxpayers are facing costly bailouts.
More of the same failed ideas are not going to solve our economic problems.
I’m calling for a $1,000 tax break for middle-class families — not
just because they need help dealing with the rising costs of gas, food,
and health care, but also because our economy needs to be reinvigorated
from the bottom up, not the top down.
I’m proposing a second stimulus package to save over one million jobs and provide immediate relief to struggling families.
And I’ll end the “anything goes” culture on Wall Street
with real regulation. We can see clearly that our economy is stronger
when we protect investments and pensions, and avoid devastating
bankruptcies and bailouts.
This is no ordinary time, and it shouldn’t be an ordinary election. Help keep the discussion focused on the issues.
Please watch the video and share it with your friends today:
http://my.barackobama.com/economyvideo
Thanks for helping to bring the change this country needs,
Barack
Dear Jagatheesan –
This movement for change is growing in every corner of the country, and our unprecedented voter registration effort is a huge part of our success.
You know how important it is that every voice is heard. In the last
eight years, veterans and military families have faced an uphill
struggle to get necessary medical care and to expand programs like the G.I. Bill.
We can’t afford four more years of the same — neither can the tens of
thousands of soldiers who will return home in the next presidential
administration.
Now is the time to make sure your voice will be heard, and your vote is counted. In most states, registration is required and absentee ballots must be requested weeks before Election Day, November 4th.
Our team has put together a resource called the Overseas Vote Foundation.
It’s specially designed to assist active duty members of the armed
services, veterans, military families, and Americans living overseas.
Find specific deadlines in your state, register to vote, apply
for an absentee or federal write-in ballot, and find answers to any
questions you might have about the voting process at the Overseas Vote Foundation.
It only takes a moment to make sure your voice is heard in this election. Visit the Overseas Vote Foundation site today:
http://my.barackobama.com/VetOVF
Registering to vote is one of the most important things you can do to bring about the change this country needs.
Please forward this email and share these resources with friends,
family and others to make sure they are registered and getting absentee
ballots in on time to be counted.
Thanks,
Veterans and Military Families for Obama
P.S. — You can look up information about deadlines and ballot information for your state here:
http://my.barackobama.com/OVFstateinfo
Hi,
Bennett S. in Queensbury, NY just made a donation to match yours!
Bennett S. in Queensbury, NY might choose to write you a personal message (over 90% of people do). If they do, you’ll receive a separate email with that message in a moment.
Want to make another matching donation to double someone else’s impact? You can do it right now:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/match/pledge/semmatch
Thank you!
Dear Sashikanth,
Thank you for your generous donation of $5.00.
Want to make another matching donation?
Many people have asked whether it’s possible to have multiple matching donations active at the same time — the answer is yes.
If you make multiple matching donations, you’ll be able to bring that many more new people into the process.
Make another matching donation now by visiting:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/sempledge
Obama for America
http://www.barackobama.com
Dear Sashikanth,
Voting is one of our most important responsibilities as citizens, and
as Ohioans we know the stakes this year could not be higher.
But you don’t have to wait for November 4th to vote for
change. Early voting has begun in Ohio and I urge you to cast your vote
for Barack Obama today.
Even if you haven’t voted before and are not registered to
vote, you can still register and cast your ballot, in one stop. But
One-Stop Early Voting ends on Monday, October 6th. So there is not much
time.
Find your early vote location and vote today.
Every day, I see another example of the toll that George
Bush’s failed policies are taking on Ohio’s workers, our families, and
our businesses. And I know that you feel it, too.
Ohioans deserve real leadership in Washington. It is time for a change.
The most important thing you can do to bring the change we
need is go to your county’s early vote location today, and vote for
Barack.
This election is going to be close in Ohio. Every single vote
will make a difference, so please tell your friends and family about
this special opportunity, and bring them to the polls, too.
Find your early vote location:
http://oh.barackobama.com/OHevlocations
Thanks for taking this important step to continue turning around our state.
Sincerely,
Governor Ted Strickland
Dear Sashikanth,
When Barack came to Ohio this week, he made a very important stop.
In Holland, a town outside of Toledo, Barack went door-to-door and talked with undecided voters
about the issues that Ohio families are facing — everything from
health care to the credit crisis to the struggles of the auto industry.
He went canvassing because he knows that real change comes
from the bottom up, through people talking face-to-face with their
friends and neighbors. That’s why we need your help this weekend.
With early voting
already underway here in Ohio, it’s never been more important to reach
out to the people in your community to tell them more about Barack –
who he is and where he stands on the issues that really matter.
Watch this video of Barack canvassing in Ohio and sign up to volunteer in your area this weekend.
John McCain’s campaign has been flooding the airwaves with ads that
are nearly 100% negative. It’s clear their plan is to distort Barack’s
record and distract people from the issues.
But talking with the people you know — friends, family,
neighbors, and co-workers — is hands-down the most effective way to
drown out the attacks with the truth, and persuade undecided voters to
support Barack.
From the very beginning, this campaign has been based on the
power of grassroots organizing. Take this opportunity to show how
powerful it really is, and sign up today for a weekend canvass:
http://oh.barackobama.com/ohweeklywalks
John McCain can run all the negative ads he wants, but this is what helps us win.
Thanks for all that you do,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
General Election Director
Ohio Campaign for Change
P.S. — Here in Ohio, you don’t have to wait until Election Day to make your voice heard. Find your Early Vote location and cast your ballot for Barack today:
Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting Senator Barack Obama and Obama for America.
Barack is gratified by the overwhelming response to his candidacy, and
we appreciate hearing from you. Please note, though, that we are now
replying only to emails sent through our webform. You may resend your
message through the webform here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/
We also encourage you to submit your policy ideas through the My Policy
feature of our website, here:
www.BarackObama.com/issues
We have also created the Answer Center, an easy-to-search database of
questions and answers that lets you find information on a wide range of
subjects from volunteering to policy positions. Try it out here:
http://answercenter.barackobama.com
The webform and other technologies help improve our ability to
communicate with you and efficiently read and respond to the thousands of
messages we receive every week. Please note that you can use it to cut and
paste large messages and links to other websites.
Thank you for using the webform, it helps us improve the process of
communicating with you.
Sincerely,
Obama for America