08.31.04
Posted in Buddhism, Religion/Philosophy at 9:23 pm by James
From what I read, there are four types of karma.
* Samchita Karma: The accumulated total of all your actions. This includes everything from all your previous lives. The thoughts and actions from previous lives form your inclinations, abilities, and persona.
* Prarabadha Karma: The portion of Samchita karma being worked on in the current life. This is the “setup” of your current life. This includes your birth, death (so to speak, not fixed in stone), family, events in your life. This cosmic status provides the setup of your current life.
* Agami Karma: Conscious actions in your current life that are added to your samchita karma and and used in future lives.
* Kriyaman Karma: Instant Karma. Actions in this life that are resolved in this life.
I have seen the last two lumped together, and/or only one of the two being used. I think its important to keep that distinction.
It is important to realize that Karma is a statement of free will. It says you have the ability to choose your future. It tells us that the we plant the seeds of the future in out actions. Whatever they may be, we will reap the results of them. No one is perfect, so we all have lessons to learn. Karma teaches by experience. It doesnt work by merely doing a good action. It requires a conscious effort on our part to be mindful of our intent. For example, giving money to beggers merely so they will leave you alone may not generate positive karma. In otherwords, the Machieavellian view of “The end justifies the means” is not a complete guiding principle. Something I read that really stuck me is: We forget about karma to see if we have learned. History repeats itself. I think it takes great ability to be able to remember the lessons of yesterday. I remember reading a study that stated the ability to forget was a evolutionary trait. Otherwise we would never be able to forget any bad or traumatic experience in our past. By the same mechanisms, we forget all the good lessons too. My friend Mim had this quote on her exam: “Education is what is left after we have forgotten everything we have learned”. An interesting aspect to this is that time, and its progression, tests us to see if we remember the lesson, and also if we can connect the action to the effect. And lessons always come in different forms. There are so many facets to life. To truly understand, we have to be able to apply abstract concepts from one realm to another.
There is truth in simplicity. Complexity is simply the interweaving of simplicity.
Articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
http://www.spiritual.com.au/articles/reincarnation/karma_emogensen.htm
http://www.prodigyweb.net.mx/santhigi/karma/types.htm
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08.16.04
Posted in health, Restaurants at 9:13 pm by James
In case you didnt know, monosodium glutamate is a compound in seaweed. Glutamate is a highly regulated chemical of the nervous system, and a proper balance is necessary for healthy brain and organ function. Every major organ contains glutamate receptors. Many foods, such as soybeans and tomatoes, contain naturally high levels of free glutamate.
Reported reactions to MSG include: headaches, migraines, stomach upset, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma attacks, shortness of breath, anxiety or panic attacks, heart palpitations, partial paralysis, “heart-attack like symptoms,†balance difficulties, mental confusion, mood swings, behavioral disorders (especially in children and teens), allergy-type symptoms, skin rashes, runny nose, bags under the eyes, flushing, mouth lesions, depression, and more. In addition, medical research has demonstrated glutamate relationships in Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS (Lour Gehrig’s Disease), diabetes, Huntington’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease.
==Ingrediants that contain Msg==
* Monosodium Glutamate
* Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
* Hydrolyzed Protein
* Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
* Plant Protein Extract
* Sodium Caseinate
* Calcium Caseinate
* Yeast Extract
* Textured Protein
* Autolyzed Yeast
* Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Check out www.nomsg.com and www.msgmyth.com
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Posted in health, Unfiled at 9:02 pm by James
Weird exercise info I’ve come across click here. It talks alot about the body in relation to HGH and longevity. Of particular interest:
Exercises that will stimulate the release of growth hormone are those that include the larger muscle groups such as squats, lunges, and dead lifts.
Maybe thats why people say for kids to play basketball to grow taller.
Running, race walking, and aerobic exercise stimulates the neuroendocrine system, releasing brain chemicals called endorphins and the catecholamines. These brain chemicals stimulate growth hormone secretion. The only catch is that these exercises have to be done in an intense level (70% to 80% of VO2 max). In other words, intensive exercise is equivalent to taking a potent growth hormone releaser.
Yup yup.. The endorphin rush from exercsie. Excercise (work) can lead to some happiness.
Over-exercise can lead to insomnia, depression, and a feeling of constant fatigue. It can also lead to over oxidization of cells from excessive free radical release. While you heart may be in excellent shape from the exercise, too many free radicals can lead to cellular mutations, which may ultimately result in cancer.
Ack! not just fatigue.. Cellular damage. I guess an excess of anything is bad.. Moderation.. Moderation
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Posted in internet, linux, PL Research, Unfiled at 8:48 pm by James
I like the sound of that.. Well its not really much of a paradox.. While python is not a language pressed by the education system, it does have its home in the land of scripting, the web, and unix. And it does have a more theoretical basis… lambda! I use python a decent amount. However, for me its a struggle between python and php (with the stabilization of php-cgi). Because the Python db 2.0 APIs are too Java-ish, i prefer php for all my more complex tasks. php has the ability to get results in associative arrays, uses ” for empty string and null. I can deal with ‘None’ popping up everywhere, but I gotta have associative arrays. I just cant see myself doing row[ 23 ] and being correct. I stand corrected!! ADOdb for python! Here is the full article.
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08.08.04
Posted in Unfiled at 1:55 pm by James
I found this article in the Houston Chronicle today about fake merchandise in the paper today. Apparently, many of the electronics made are not up to US standards. They talked about some fake extension cables that sparked fires. This danger also shows up in other goods:
The most common counterfeit items is cigarettes, which Trainer said can contain items so disgusting he did not want to name them.
….
Dangerous counterfeits, according to the IACC, include cough syrup made from anti-freeze that killed 100 children in Nigeria in 1880; infant formula sold in US grocery stores that caused fevers, rashes, and allergic reactions; …
So safest bet is stick to the fake cloths, accessories, etc.. anything that is not used in/on your body or anything that uses electricity….
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08.06.04
Posted in health at 4:27 pm by James
I just saw this in the Houston Chronicle online.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization and most other experts recommend that mothers give their babies breast milk only — no formula, juice or solid food — until they are 6 months old.
The recommendations add that mothers should, if possible, breast-feed babies until they are 2 years old but at the very least for a full year, adding juice, formula and solid food to suit the baby’s appetite.
Here is the Houston Chronicle article. Here is the link to the World Health Organization‘s page on infant feeding, and here is the link to their report The Optimal Duration of Exclusive Breastfeeding. In the synopsis, they say:
…provided, the available evidence demonstrates no apparent risks in recommending, as public health policy, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life in both developing and developed country settings.
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