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This website is operated by AJ Bell Management Limited and AJ Bell Limited.
This policy (together with any other documents referred to in it) explains how we collect, process and protect personal data about you. By visiting our website, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
From time to time, the website may contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that they have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for your data if you choose to use these websites. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.
This policy includes details of:
- the types of personal data we may collect and store
- the legal basis for using your personal data
- how we capture and receive this personal data
- how we use your personal data
- how we may disclose your personal data and share this with third parties
- where we store and protect your personal data and how long we will hold it for
- your legal rights in relation to your personal data we hold
- how you can contact us for more information
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 2018 , the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other relevant legislation, our data controller is AJ Bell Management Limited of 4 Exchange Quay, Salford Quays, Manchester M5 3EE.
The Data Protection Officer for AJ Bell Management Limited is Karen Goodman, Chief Risk Officer, who can be contacted at the address shown above, by email to email@example.com or by telephone on 0345 40 89 100.
The table below confirms the personal information we collect from you and your adviser, along with why we collect your data and the legal basis for doing so:
Type of data | Data collected | Purpose of processing | Legal basis |
Residential and contact information |
Including details of your:
Verifying your identity Contacting you about products, services, regulatory obligations and contractual obligations. Seeking your consent for transactions and changes to terms and conditions. |
In order to fulfil our contractual obligations to contact you and update you on product changes, and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
Socio-demographic |
Including details of your:
Developing products and services. Defining customer types and target markets. Complying with regulatory requirements and managing risk effectively. |
In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
Family circumstances |
Including details of your:
Understanding your circumstances. Paying benefits appropriately from your account/s. |
In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory and legislative requirements. |
Transactional information |
Including details of:
Efficiently completing transactions you instruct, or that we must undertake for legal or regulatory reasons. | In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
Technical |
Each time you visit the website, we may automatically collect the following information: Technical information, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform. Information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) clickstream to, through and from the website (including date and time); page response times; download errors; length of visits to certain pages; page interaction information; methods used to browse away from the page and any phone number used to call our customer service number. |
Developing products and services. Defining customer types and target markets. |
In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
Special and one-off items of information |
Including details of your:
Paying benefits appropriately from your account/s. | In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
Legal |
Verifying your identity, authority and eligibility in relation to the products and services we provide to you. | In order to fulfil our contractual obligations and in order to comply with regulatory requirements. |
The legal basis for using your personal information
We will only collect, use and share your personal information where we are satisfied that we have an appropriate legal basis to do this. This may be because:
- you have provided your consent to us using the personal information, for example in the course of you or your adviser opening your account and agreeing to our terms and conditions
- our use of your personal information is in our legitimate interest as a commercial organisation to verify your identity or to communicate with you about the products and services that you use or may wish to use. In these cases we will look after your information at all times in a way that is proportionate and respects your privacy rights and you have a right to object to processing as explained below
- our use of your personal information is necessary to perform a contract or take steps to enter into a contract with you - for example on opening an account for you, instructing an investment with a third party provider or in the sale or purchase of a property
- our use of your personal information is necessary to comply with a relevant legal or regulatory obligation that we have, for example providing information on investment transactions to the FCA and reporting holdings, payments, accruals, and charges to the relevant tax authorities
If you would like to find out more about the legal basis upon which we process personal information, please contact us.
Information you give us
You and your adviser may give us information by filling in forms on the website or by corresponding with us by phone, email or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you register to use our websites; apply for one of our products; search the website; enter a competition or promotion; take part in a survey; or when interacting with the website in any other way. This also includes any occasions when you report a problem with the website. The information you give us may include your (or your client's) name, address, email address, phone number, financial information and/or other relevant personal details.
By submitting such details, you and your adviser confirm that you are entitled to disclose information about, or provided by, any third party. If you are an adviser submitting an application on behalf of your client, you confirm that you have their authority to do so and that they understand that we will use their personal details.
Information we receive from other sources
We may also receive information about you if you use any of the other websites we operate, or the other services we provide. In such cases, when we collect the data, we will inform you that it may be shared internally and combined with data collected on this site. We also work closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners; external service providers in technical, payment and delivery services; advertising networks; analytics providers; search information providers and credit reference agencies) and may receive information about you from them.
If you authorise a third party to contact us on your behalf and entitle them to provide us with information about you or the services you have with us, we will always verify their identity and right to access you information before any further information about your account(s) is divulged. Please see our website terms of use for more details.
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to improve your experience when you browse our website. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them, see our cookie policy.
Disclosure of your information
We may share your personal information with any member of our group. This includes our subsidiaries and our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.
We share information amongst our subsidiaries to ensure that each business unit that provides platform and pension administration services has the information it needs to efficiently and effectively process transactions and other administrative duties on your behalf, and also to comply with regulatory requirements and reporting obligations.
We may share your information with selected third parties, including:
- business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you, including but not limited to:
- financial advisers
- investment partners or investment providers regulated and authorised to provide investment services in the United Kingdom
- data and software providers
- regulatory and tax authorities
- credit reference and fraud prevention agencies
- analytics and search engine providers that help us to improve and optimise the website
We may disclose your personal information to third parties:
- in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets
- if AJ Bell Management Limited or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, as the personal data we hold about our advisers and customers will be one of the transferred assets
- if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or to enforce or apply our rights under this policy or customer terms and conditions of business and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of any member of our group, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction
How we store and protect your personal data
Your data will primarily be held in the UK but there may be occasions when the data we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers. Such staff may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of orders, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.
All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology. Where we have given you, or you have chosen, a password which enables you to access certain parts of the website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone. If you, your adviser or your representative contact us for details of your account, we will ask some questions so that we can establish your identity (or the identity of your adviser or representative) and we will not disclose any details unless we are satisfied that you, your adviser or your representative are who you claim to be.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet cannot be completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to the website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access. We strongly suggest you purchase and keep up-to-date software to protect the security of your computer or device.
How long we will store your personal data for
Your data will be stored for the duration of your relationship with us. After the relationship ends, we will store your data only for as long as it is appropriate and necessary to do so.
We may store information for longer than ten years if needed to evidence that we have met our regulatory requirements and to demonstrate that we have correctly recorded and reported information on you and your clients' account/s to the relevant authorities.
Your rights
You have the following rights in relation to your data that we hold:
The right to access
You have a right to request that we provide you with a copy of your personal information that we hold. You also have the right to be informed of; (a) the source of your personal information; (b) the purposes, legal basis and methods of processing; (c) the data controller's identity; and (d) the entities or categories of entities to whom your personal information may be transferred.
The right to rectification
You have a right to request that we rectify inaccurate personal information. We may seek to verify the accuracy of the personal information before rectifying it.
The right to erasure
You can request that we erase your personal information in limited circumstances where:
- it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected; or
- you have withdrawn your consent (where the data processing was based on consent); or
- following a successful right to object (see right to object); or
- it has been processed unlawfully; or
- to comply with a legal obligation to which you are subject
We are not required to comply with your request to erase personal information if the processing of your personal information is necessary:
- for compliance with a legal obligation; or
- for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims
The right to restriction of processing
You can ask us to restrict your personal information, but only where:
- its accuracy is contested, to allow us to verify its accuracy; or
- the processing is unlawful, but you do not want it erased; or
- it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, but we still need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
- you have exercised the right to object, and verification of overriding grounds is pending
We can continue to use your personal information following a request for restriction, where:
- we have your consent; or
- to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
- to protect the rights of another natural or legal person
The right to object to processing
You can object to any processing of your personal information which has our legitimate interests as its legal basis, if you believe your fundamental rights and freedoms outweigh our legitimate interests.
If you raise an objection, we will then need to demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate interests which override your rights and freedoms in order to continue processing your data.
The right to portability
You have the right to ask us to provide you with an electronic file containing all personal information we hold about you. You can then give this information to other organisations if you wish to.
Right to object to how we use your personal information for direct marketing purposes
You also have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes, or to change the way in which we process your data for direct marketing purposes.
You can request that we don't transfer your personal information to unaffiliated third parties for the purposes of direct marketing or any other purposes.
You can exercise your right to prevent or change such processing by using the unsubscribe button in marketing emails sent to you. You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting The Marketing Department, AJ Bell, 4 Exchange Quay, Salford Quays, Manchester M5 3EE or email us at email@example.com.
However, keep in mind you cannot opt-out of receiving regulatory or legal updates (e.g. information about a change in the product terms and conditions) by email. We regularly review our records to ensure that we only retain your personal details for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out above.
Right to obtain a copy of personal information safeguards used for transfers outside your jurisdiction
You can ask to obtain a copy of, or reference to, the safeguards under which your personal information is transferred outside of the European Union.
We may redact data transfer agreements to protect commercial terms.
Right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority
If you have concerns about how we are processing your personal information, you have a right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
We ask that you please attempt to resolve any issues with us first, although you have a right to contact your supervisory authority at any time.
Access to information
Before disclosing the personal information you requested, we may ask you for additional information to confirm your identity and for security purposes. We reserve the right to charge a fee where permitted by law - for instance if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
You can exercise your rights by contacting us. Subject to legal and other permissible considerations, we will make every reasonable effort to honour your request promptly or inform you if we require further information in order to fulfil your request.
We may not always be able to fully address your request, for example if it would impact the duty of confidentiality we owe to others or if we are legally entitled to deal with the request in a different way.
Changes to our privacy policy
Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please note that updates to this policy are not emailed as a matter of course, so please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.
Please send any questions or comments about this policy to The Marketing Department, AJ Bell, 4 Exchange Quay, Salford Quays, Manchester M5 3EE. Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling 0345 40 89 100.


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Privacy Policy and Consent to Use of Data
By submitting personal data manually or in electronic form to Technologies HumanWare Inc. and/or by using our website you give your consent that all personal data that you submit may be processed by us in the manner and for the purposes described below.
Collection and Use of Personal Data
You may choose to receive material from us. If you request such material, we ask you for contact information like your name, postal address and e-mail address. The information you give us either manually or electronically is stored in our databases. The information will be used exclusively for the purposes for which it was collected.
Disclosure of Personal Data
Under no circumstances do we share your personal data with or sell and distribute it to unrelated third parties, including mailing agencies or the like.
However, we may transfer personal data to third parties handling sales, support, mailings, publicity or competitions on our behalf. Where required, before disclosing personal data to a third party, we will require the third party in writing to take adequate precautions to protect such data.
Anonymous Data collected through this Website
In addition to the information collected as described above, we use technology to collect anonymous information about the use of our website. For example, we use technology to track which pages on our website our visitors view. We also use technology to determine which web browsers our visitors use. This technology does not identify you personally - it simply enables us to compile statistics on our visitors and their use of our websites. We use this anonymous data to improve the contents and functionality of our website to better understand our customers and visitors and to improve the services we offer.
Links to Other Websites
This website may contain hyperlinks to websites that are not operated by us. These hyperlinks are provided for your reference and convenience only and do not imply any endorsement of the activities of these third-party websites or any association with their operators. We do not support the external operator, its website or the products and/or services offered and sold by the operator in question. We do not control these websites and are not responsible for their data and privacy practices.
Data Security
Access to the information provided is limited to employees who have a legitimate business need for such information.
We strive to maintain the reliability, accuracy, completeness and currency of personal data in our databases and to protect the security of our databases.
We keep your personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or to comply with any applicable legal or ethical reporting or document retention obligations imposed on us.
Data Access and Corrections
If you wish to know what personal data we currently hold about you, please contact us by e-mail at: email@example.com
You can also ask us to correct, amend or delete any personal data we hold about you.
Contact HumanWare
If you have any comments about our privacy policy, practice for this website or the like, please feel free to contact us.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Duchess of York made a huge statement as she rode her way through Beijing's busy airport on a scooter suitcase in a bid to stay away from the hustle and bustle
Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson made her fans' day when she posted an iconic video of herself avoiding the hustle and bustle of Beijing airport on a scooter suitcase.
The 60-year-old royal figure made a joke on how to avoid getting in the way of others by opting for a suitcase with wheels - and a motor.
The former wife of Prince Andrew posted the funny video on Twitter wearing a smart green blazer and a long black skirt, carrying a large bag on her wrist.
She wrote: "When in Beijing Airport.... 'If you can keep your head when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you'.....go and get a scooter suitcase! #china."
Fans were loving her video, and labelled her a "legend" for the time-saving idea.
One fan wrote: "You are the best, I needed a smile today," with a heart emoji.
Another gushed, "How brilliant xxx I would need a larger one than that though," with a laughing face.
And a third penned: "Lol! Not very royal, but that's why we love you!"
Sarah has recently faced backlash after photos of the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton were used to promote a cosmetic clinic frequented the Duchess of York in the latest royal gaffe.
Fergie has had a series of procedures at the Harley Street site and last week made a video tribute about its services.
But there was outrage as the Dr Gabriela clinic used old snaps of Kate, 37, in promotional posts on Instagram .
She joked about staying out of crowds (Image: Twitter)
In the first, taken at Wimbledon in 2014, she wears very little make-up and in the second, taken two years earlier at an evening do, she has a glamorous evening look.
In broken English alongside the photos were the words: "Imagination of natural look. We are doing procedures that you look like fresh you."
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: "What is so blatantly awful in using these images is that prospective clients may be inclined to think that Kate has had a laser facelift or other treatment from this company when she most certainly has not.
"This appears to be a very ill-thought-out campaign by one of the many, many skin doctors that set themselves up in Harley Street. This is another episode in the daily life of the Yorks, I'm afraid."


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It has been known amongst his friends that alien abduction pioneer, Budd Hopkins, has been of ill health. Unfortunately, we recently received a note that Budd passed away Sunday. Here is the message from Leslie Kean:
Budd Hopkins
June 15, 1931 – August 21, 2011
I'm very sad to announce that Budd Hopkins died today, August 21, at 1:35 pm. Budd had been under hospice care for about three weeks, at his home in New York. The combination of liver cancer and pneumonia led to his death. His daughter Grace Hopkins-Lisle and I were with him almost continuously during these past weeks. He was not in any pain throughout any of the process, and he received the best possible care and loving support from those closest to him. Today he gradually slipped away, and simply quietly stopped breathing. He died peacefully and without any struggle, with Grace, Grace's husband Andrew, and me by his side.
Thanks to all of you for being such strong supporters of this extraordinary man, who has contributed so much to our lives, in so many different ways.
– Leslie Kean
Open Minds' Antonio Huneeus has retrieved a number of great original photographs from his archives of Budd throughout his career. We post them here in memory of a colleague and friend.
You can find an excerpt from Budd's latest book, Art, Life and UFOs: A memoir by Budd Hopkins, in our August/September 2010 issue.
Here are a couple of biographies on Budd, this first one is from the Intruders Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Budd to help those experiencing alien abduction and to educate the public on the phenomenon.
Intruders Bio:
Budd Hopkins is a world-renowned artist, author, and pioneer UFO abduction researcher. Having investigated well over 700 cases, he now heads the Intruders Foundation, a nonprofit, scientific research and support organization. Budd first became interested in the UFO phenomenon when he and two others had a daylight UFO sighting near Truro, Massachusetts, in 1964. In 1975 he carried out his first major investigation which involved a UFO landing and occupant incident in North Hudson Park, NJ. Shortly thereafter, he began to concentrate on the investigation of the UFO abduction phenomenon, which led to the eventual publication of his findings. Taken together, his three books, Missing Time, 1981, Intruders, 1987, and Witnessed, 1996, are widely regarded by researchers and skeptics alike as comprising the most influential series of books yet published on the abduction phenomenon. These works, Hopkins' lectures, and his other presentations have been responsible for bringing a number of other noted researchers-David Jacobs, John Carpenter, Yvonne Smith, and John Mack, among others-into this extraordinary area of specialization. His documented discoveries have become the basis of most later abduction investigations and research.
Budd Hopkins has long been considered ufology's most visible figure. He pioneered and continues to lead the investigation into the most controversial aspect of the UFO phenomenon-the systematic abduction of human beings by UFO occupants. As the world's premier expert on this issue, he has worked with more than one thousand people who have reported abduction experiences over the past twenty years. These individuals come from all walks of life and include physicians, psychiatrists, attorneys, police officers, military personnel, political figures, personalities from the entertainment world, and even a NASA scientist.
A prolific writer and internationally respected painter, Hopkins has delivered hundreds of UFO lectures around this country and around the world. His groundbreaking first book, Missing Time, was the first work to compare a number of UFO abduction cases in order to isolate the patterns they revealed. His second book, Intruders-The Incredible Visitation at Copley Woods, was a New York Times bestseller and the basis for the popular 1992 CBS miniseries, Intruders, which has since been broadcast internationally. His widely acclaimed latest book is Witnessed-The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions.
Hopkins' goal has always been to bring an objective, dispassionate scientific intelligence to bear on the UFO abduction phenomenon. To this end, he founded the Intruders Foundation (IF) in 1989. IF is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and public education concerning this extraordinary enigma. They publish a respected journal, as well as offer a nationwide referral service for those wishing to explore their own suspected abduction experiences.
Despite its extremely controversial nature, Hopkins' research has received serious commentary in such mainstream publications as Time, Paris Match, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Omni, People, and Cosmopolitan. He has been a guest on hundreds of television and radio programs including Nightline, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, The Charles Grodin Show, Sally Jesse Raphael, The Geraldo Rivera Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, Unsolved Mysteries, Encounters, A Current Affair, Nightwatch, The Late Show, The Art Bell Show, Tom Snyder, The Laura Lee Show, Hieronimus & Company, Weekend Edition (National Public Radio), Voice of America, Armed Forces Radio, numerous BBC affiliates, and many other shows and forums.
Artist biography from Langs de Wal:
Budd Hopkins was born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1931. He graduated from Linsly Military Institute (now Linsly School) in 1949 and Oberlin College in 1953. He first displayed artistic abilities when, as a child recovering from a long-term illness, he began to create sculptures of ships made out of modeling clay. But it wasn't until he arrived at Oberlin that Budd Hopkins made a serious study of art.
He settled in New York after obtaining his degree and has had a residence there ever since. Budd Hopkins and his wife, April Kingsley, and their daughter, Grace, divided their time between their homes in Cape Cod, MA and New York City.
In 1963, Budd Hopkins was selected by the Columbia Broadcasting System as one of the 15 painters featured in the network's first television special on American art. In 1958, Art News picked Budd Hopkins as one of 12 Americans for exhibition in the "Festival of Two Worlds" in Spoleto, Italy.
The artist's brilliance has won him a number of fellowships and awards. In 1972, Budd Hopkins was awarded the Commission Prize by the West Virginia Arts and Humanities Council. In 1976, he received the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for Painting and in 1979 he received a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. In 1982, Budd Hopkins won a special project grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Also, in 1992 this native son of Wheeling, West Virginia was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame.
According to Budd Hopkins, "My paintings and sculptures, at first glance, may appear to be purely aesthetic; closer up, they are not. They hold a feeling of tentativeness, combined with a sense of arrival."
During his career, the artist has won wide acclaim in the field of abstract art. Budd Hopkins has established an international reputation as an artist and sculptor. His work is on display in many of the most prestigious art galleries and museums, not only in the United States, but in Europe as well. Budd Hopkins artwork has been exhibited in England, Finland, Italy and Switzerland.
The artist's work has appeared in many exhibitions across the country and he is represented in many important private and corporate collections around the nation. Budd Hopkins paintings and sculpture have been featured in the Brooklyn Museum, Bronx Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Queens Museum, Public Library of New York and Whitney Museum.
Across the United States, Budd Hopkins' art has been seen in the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum, among others. In addition, Universities and Colleges which have shown Budd Hopkins paintings and sculpture include his alma mater Oberlin, Princeton, Yale, Denison, Drew, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), DePauw, Williams, Brandeis, Middlebury, North Carolina, Michigan State, Reed, Bradford, Connecticut, Alabama, Bennington and the City College of New York.
Recently, Budd Hopkins has been recognized for his research into the matter of UFO's and one of his books, "The Intruders", printed by Random House, was on the New York Times best-seller list and was the basis for a television show on CBS.


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"Master once taught me a good lesson on the attitude we should hold toward our work." Mrs. Vera Brown (later, Meera Mata), an advanced older disciple whom Master had made responsible for training some of the newer ones, was sharing with me a few of her experiences with our Guru.
"'You work too hard,' Master told me one day. 'You must work less. If you don't, you will ruin your health.'
"'Very well,' I thought, 'I'll try not doing so much.'
"Two or three days later, to my surprise, Master gave me more work to do!"
Mrs. Brown's eyes twinkled. "'Okay, Master,' I thought, 'you must know what you're doing.' I took on my new duties. But all the time I kept wondering, 'How am I going to reconcile all this extra work with his instructions to me to work less?'
"Well, a couple of days after that, Master again told me, more sternly this time, 'You must not work so hard. In this lifetime you've done enough work for several incarnations.'
"What was I to do? Again I tried cutting down my activities, only to find Master, after two or three days, giving me more work than ever!
"We repeated this little comedy several times. Every time Master told me to work less, he soon thereafter added duties that forced me to work more. I figured he must know what he was doing, and that it was up to me to try and understand what that was.
"Well, finally one day I looked at Master. 'Sir,' I said, 'instead of using the word work in our life here, why don't we substitute the word service?'
"Master laughed. 'It has been a good show,' he said. 'All your life you've been thinking, work! work! work! That very thought was exhausting you. But just see how differently you feel when you think of work as a divine service! When you act to please God, you can do twice as much and never feel tired!'"
Mrs. Brown, whose frail body never seemed to run out of energy no matter how much she did, laughed merrily. "You see, the very thought of pleasing God fills us with His energy. Master tells us it's our unwillingness that cuts off the flow of energy."
"True," I replied thoughtfully, "as often as I've put that principle to practice, I've found it works marvelously. But," I continued, "there's another obstacle I run into: that of being too willing. What can one do about that?"
"How can one be too willing!"
"Well, what I mean is, I become over-enthusiastic about what I'm doing. As a result, I lose my inner peace and fall into the old consciousness of hard work, which ends in exhaustion."
"I see." Mrs. Brown nodded sympathetically. "That's right. Without inner peace we lose the consciousness of God's presence. And if we can't feel Him within us, we can't really feel His energy." Again she laughed merrily. "Master taught me a good lesson on that subject, too.
"He was cooking one day in his kitchen. I was there in the room with him. For lack of anything better to do, I decided I'd clean up after him. The moment he emptied one pan, I'd wash it. Whenever he spilled anything, I cleaned up the mess.
"Well, he began dirtying pans and more pans, spilling food and more food. I was working faster and faster to keep up with him. In my whole life I'd never seen such sloppy cooking! At last I just gave up. It occurred to me that I might as well wait till he was finished before I did any more.
"As I sat down to watch him, I noticed a little smile on his face, though he said nothing. Presently, I saw he wasn't messing things up anymore. Finally it dawned on me that he'd only been teaching me the difference between calm, God-reminding activity, and the sort of restlessness that one indulges in just for activity's sake. I'd been working in a spirit of busy-ness. Master's way of showing me my mistake was to lead me to its own logical conclusion!"
I myself learned in time to make inner peace my "bottom line." No matter how many calls I have had on my energies, I have never allowed them to bring me to the point where my inner peace became threatened.
The spiritual path would, one suspects, be relatively easy to understand if it involved only meditation, ecstatic visions, and a blissful expansion of consciousness. Why, one asks, must it be complicated by mundane activities like ditch digging and letter writing and cleaning up kitchens? One may sympathize, on one level at least, with that reluctant disciple, on the day we completed the swimming pool at Twenty-Nine Palms, who grumbled, "I didn't come here to pour cement!" Many a sincere devotee, too, has probably wondered what pouring cement (or digging ditches, or writing letters, or cleaning up kitchens) has to do with finding God.
The answer is, quite simply: nothing! Not in itself, anyway. Master once told the story of a man who placed a hundred-dollar bill in the collection plate at church, then was upset because God didn't answer his prayer. Laughingly Master commented, "God already was that hundred-dollar bill — whether in or out of the collection plate! Why should He care where it was placed?" The realm of maya (cosmic delusion) is like the surface of an ocean: No matter how high the waves are whipped by the storm, the over-all ocean level remains the same. God doesn't need anything that we can give Him. He already is everything! The one thing He wants from us, Master said, is our love.
The purpose of spiritual work, then, is not really to do things for God, but rather to do the most important thing of all for ourselves: to purify our own hearts. No work for God is more or less important than any other. The Bhagavad Gita states that He accepts even a flower or a leaf as an offering, if it is tendered with devotion. The important thing is to reach the point where all our love, all our energy flows naturally toward Him.
Meditation, too, is a kind of work. True, it differs from such labor as digging ditches, but then, so also does mental planning, and who will say that planning is less truly work than the physical execution of plans? Even in the animal kingdom, mental ability is often more highly regarded than brute force. (Witness a group of dogs playing together. Usually it's the brightest one, not the largest, that the others follow.) Meditation is the most refined and exalted of all mental activities. From it have come the greatest inspirations. If one could meditate deeply all day there would be no need for a person seeking divine communion to dig ditches or to do any other work, whether physical or mental.
The criterion, of course, is that word, "deeply."
When Mrinalini Mata, already a disciple when she was still a young schoolgirl, met Master at the breakfast table one day, he remarked to her, "You didn't meditate this morning."
"Sir," she protested, "I meditated a whole hour!"
Master, quite unimpressed, replied, "You should have meditated half an hour." He had seen that in sitting longer, when not in a mood that day to meditate with intensity, she had actually done less effective meditation.
Intensity is everything: intensity of awareness. Superconsciousness cannot be attained by halfhearted efforts. "You must be calmly active, and actively calm," Master said. "Be intensely aware of everything you are doing." Work, on the spiritual path, is a means of helping one to channel his energies constantly, dynamically, toward God.
"Make every minute count," Master said. "The minutes are more important than the years." People who put their whole concentration into working for God find they can also meditate more deeply.
"When you work for God, not self," Master told us one day, "that is just as good as meditation. Then work helps your meditation, and meditation helps your work. You need the balance. With only meditation you become lazy, and the senses become strong. With only work, the mind becomes restless, and you forget God."
Master taught us to consider any work holy that we did to please God. To keep his minister-disciples from imagining that their work of teaching and counseling was more spiritual than that of other disciples who served in the gardens, he gave them manual labor to do also. On that weekend when Master first sent me to San Diego to lecture, I got a valuable lesson from Carl Swenson (later, Brother Sarolananda), a fellow disciple in Encinitas. "Look at my hands!" I lamented. "They're all seamed with cement. People will think I didn't bother to wash them."
"What do you mean?" protested Carl. "They are your badge of honor."
Master taught us not only to offer our work moment by moment to God, but also to see God acting through us as the real Doer. "I slept," he said once, "and dreamt I was working. I woke up, and saw God was working." Action in this spirit wasn't intended to make us automatons. I remember thinking halfway through a sermon one Sunday morning, "If God really is the Doer, why not mentally remove myself from the scene altogether, and wait for Him to speak through me?" There ensued two minutes of silence! Friends in the audience thought I must have frozen from nervousness. But to me this pause was simply an interesting experiment. I concluded at last that God had no intention of speaking for me. His was simply the inspiration for my words. My job was to draw on that inspiration.
To see God as the Doer, then, means recognizing that it is by His energy and inspiration that we live. It means not taking personal credit for anything we do. This attitude keeps one humble, and also vastly increases one's powers of accomplishment.
Master instructed me to pray to God and our Gurus before every lecture, and ask them to use me as their instrument, that I might express what they wanted me to say. Humility, alas, is not easy to acquire. After working some months on developing it, I awoke one morning to the realization that I was becoming proud of my humility! In working to develop devotion, too, I discovered that I was becoming pleased with myself for feeling it. (Master's comment: "If you love yourself, how can you love God?") The real secret of humility, I came gradually to realize, is self-honesty. To see everything in its right proportion to everything else reduces the chances of one's taking oneself, or anything else, too seriously.
As Sister Gyanamata once remarked to Bernard, after he'd thanked her for the spiritual help she had lovingly given him over the years: "It is the nature of a fig tree to bear figs." Her words revealed the humility of perfect detachment — that is to say, again, complete self-honesty.
Master, in his effort to break us of halfhearted willingness — what he called "one-horsepower energy"—urged us always to keep a positive outlook, and to affirm possibilities rather than weaken them with too many so-called "reasonable" objections.
I remember his greeting to me one day: "How are you, Walter?"
"Well," I began.…
"That's good!" he interposed promptly, nipping in the bud what he saw was only a mild case of "vapors."
Never supportive of us in our moods, he urged us to banish them firmly with vigorous, positive affirmations. "I suffer when you have moods," he said once, "for then I see that Satan gets ahold of you."
Faye, when she was seventeen, was inclined to be somewhat moody. "If you want to be unhappy," Master once said to her, "no one in the world can make you happy. And if you determine to be happy, no one in the world will be able to make you unhappy." She once told me, "Master wouldn't even allow us to be around him when we had moods."
Moods weren't often my specific problem, but I remember one that ambushed me one day, and the helpful method I discovered for combatting it.
It was in February or March, 1949. Master had been away from Mt. Washington several weeks, and I hadn't seen him in all that time. I was beginning to feel his absence keenly. Finally he returned. The next day word came down to me to get someone to carry a five-gallon bottle of drinking water up to his kitchen. Eagerly I appropriated the job to myself. Arriving upstairs with the bottle, I could hear Master dictating a letter in his sitting room. Hoping to attract his attention, I rattled the bottle and made as much noise as I felt I decently could for a job that called for a minimum of tumult. Master paid no attention.
"He doesn't care that I miss him!" I thought, plunging suddenly into a violent depression. "I'm just a worker to him, not a disciple!" I rushed on to brood over the unfeeling nature of this world, where nobody really cares for anyone else. Moments later I made an abrupt about-face: "No, Master cares, but he sees I'm such a hopeless case that he figures he might as well give up pouring water into this bottomless pit!" On and on my mind churned. I tried reasoning with myself: "Look here, he's obviously busy. Why should he drop everything just for you?"
"Yeah?" retorted my recalcitrant mind. "I imagine he said, 'Look out, here comes that worthless disciple, Walter! Quick, let me dictate a letter as an excuse not to have to call him in here.'"
Clearly, reason wasn't going to pull me out of my mental whirlpool. Indeed, reason's tendency is to support any feeling that happens to be uppermost in the mind.
"Do you like being moody?" I demanded of my mental citizens.
"No!" came the chorus — unanimously, except for one or two grumblers in the background.
"Very well, then, boys, if reason won't do it, let's see if changing our level of consciousness will do the trick."
I went down to my meditation "cave," and there plunged my mind deeply at the Christ center between the eyebrows. Five minutes was all it took. By the end of that time my mood was so uplifted and positive that I no longer needed to affirm anything. "But of course he's busy!" I thought. "Hasn't he told us often that our real communion with him is inside, in meditation? And what if all his disciples tried selfishly to take up his time? He wouldn't have any time left over to complete his writings, which will help thousands."
In Autobiograpy of a Yogi Master wrote, "Thoughts are universally and not individually rooted." We don't create them. We only receive them, depending on our level of consciousness.
"Sir," someone once asked Master, "what causes moods?"
"Moods," he replied, "are caused by past overindulgence in sense pleasures, and consequent over-satiety and disgust. If you indulge your moods," he added warningly, "you will reinforce the mind's swing back again toward sense pleasures. For that is how the law of duality works: it moves constantly back and forth, like a pendulum, between opposite states of awareness. If, by not giving in to moods, you remove energy from one end of the pendulum's swing, you will find the hold that the senses have on you at the opposite end will weaken as well."
I learned in another way, too, how important it is not to indulge one's mental tendencies too freely. For some time during my first year at Mt. Washington I was disturbed by periods of almost obsessive sleepiness during meditation. I no sooner sat for meditation than my head began to nod. One day I felt particularly joyful inside, and was eagerly looking forward to that evening's meditation. To my immense disgust, however, the moment I sat to meditate drowsiness descended on me once again like a dense fog. I was furious with myself.
"Since you insist so much on sleeping," I scolded my mind, "I'm not going to let you sleep at all!"
I stayed up all that night — typing letters, walking about the grounds, drinking tea — anything to beat down my insistent craving for sleep. When daylight came, I went outdoors and worked hard in the garden. By the following evening my mind had become so submissive — terrified, I imagine, lest I abuse it with sleeplessness a second night!—that my meditative drowsiness ceased completely, and didn't return again for many months.
I worked as hard at meditation as I did during the day at my various jobs. ("Too hard," Master once told me. "In meditation, you should place more emphasis on relaxation.") I soon learned that the adage, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is as true for spiritual as for mundane expectations.
During my Saturday meditations I had been going deeper and deeper into inner stillness. "Just a little more effort," I began to think, "and surely I'll slip into full superconsciousness." One Saturday morning I entered my cave with the determination not to stop meditating until this goal had been achieved. For nine hours I sat, continuously applying every ounce of will power I could summon. In the end, exhausted, I had no choice but to admit defeat. If I had stopped short of exhaustion, I might have avoided discouragement and salvaged enough confidence to keep on trying over successive Saturdays. As it was, however, though I continued to meditate regularly, months passed before I was able again to make a really deep effort. It was from this very failure, in fact, that my obsession with drowsiness began.
Yet even now there were compensations: at times, deep joy during moments of inner stillness, and increasing devotion, and blissful inner sounds — one, particularly, that resembled wind in the trees. Master urged us not to talk about our meditative experiences, so I prefer to keep the most precious of them locked in my heart.
I worked hard to develop devotion, chanting and praying daily for the grace of intense love for God. Master one day smiled at me lovingly. "Keep on with your devotion," he said. "See how dry your life is when you depend on intellect."
His help was available to anyone who called to him mentally in meditation. Here he was the guide, ever subtly inspiring us, according to the measure of our receptivity, to make the right kind of spiritual effort. Sometimes, too, when we met him during the day, he would admonish us on some point concerning our meditations. Indeed, he watched over us in all ways. It never ceased to amaze me that, with so many disciples to look after, he could be so perfectly aware of the needs of each one.
"I go through your souls every day," he told us. "If I see something in you that needs correcting, I tell you about it. Otherwise, I say nothing." On another occasion he said, "I have lived the lives of each one of you. Many times I go so deep into a person at night that when I wake up in the morning I think I am that person! It can be a terrible experience, if he is someone full of moods and desires."
Mrs. Michelle Evans, that lady I initiated into Kriya Yoga in San Diego, told me, "I used to drink — not much, but the way most people do — you know, to be sociable. When I met Master, he told me to give it up, so for a while I took nothing alcoholic at all. But then I got to thinking, 'Surely beer doesn't count, does it? or wine? I mean, they really aren't in the same class with whiskey, rum, and brandy are they?' So I went back to drinking beer or wine occasionally. It gave me less explaining to do when we had guests.
"Well, the next time I saw Master at the San Diego church, he looked at me sorta penetratingly and said, 'I meant all alcoholic beverages!' Well! Since then, what choice have I got? Any time I slipped, he'd know about it!"
Jan Savage, a young boy of nine who had come to Mt. Washington with his mother, was meditating one day with Daniel Boone when he had a vision of Jesus Christ. Thrilled, he told Boone about it afterwards.
"It could be your imagination," Boone said. "Better say nothing more till you ask Master about it."
Master, who was away at that time, returned to give the service the following Sunday. Afterwards Jan joined the line of devotees that always waited to come forward for Master's blessings. As he approached, Master reached out and tousled his hair affectionately.
"So!" he cried. "Little Jan had a vision of Jesus Christ. That's very good. That was a true vision!"
Boone told me in February of an experience he too had had after keeping his mind steadfastly on Master for two days. He was given a kind of ecstasy in which he was quite unable to feel his body, even while he moved about, performing his daily duties in the print shop. "I had to pray, finally, that I'd be able to feel my body again," he said. "I was afraid I might harm it in the machinery."
Well, I thought, that was for me! More eager for the experience itself, I'm afraid, than for humble attunement with my Guru, I kept my mind on Master one-pointedly. He was in Encinitas at the time. Two or three days later, he returned to Mt. Washington; I met him by the front porch as he arrived.
"What sort of mischief are you up to, Walter?" He smiled significantly.
"None, Sir." Mischief? It didn't seem like mischief to me.
"Are you sure you aren't up to some kind of mischief?"
I began to understand what he meant, but was reluctant to accept his definition of what I'd been doing. As he was going indoors, he smiled lovingly, saying, "Goodbye, Walter." Thinking the matter over, I had to admit to myself that, while my practice had been right, my intentions had been wrong.
"Don't seek experiences in meditation," Master told us. "The path to God is not a circus."
More touching was the experience of another disciple, Rev. Michael, who, feeling deep love for Master, would often repeat the words mentally, "I love you, Guru."
One day Master responded to his silent offering. The two of them happened to meet in the hermitage garden at Encinitas. With a gaze of deep tenderness, the Guru said, "I love you, too."
Master responded instantly to sincere love. One day, missing him intensely, I went down to see him in Encinitas where he was staying at the time. Shortly after my arrival he passed a group of us on his way back from a drive. Seeing me, he invited me to ride up with him to the hermitage. "I have missed you," he told me lovingly. How rare is it, I thought, for one's unexpressed feelings to be intuited so sensitively.
Master's help was with us not only in our inner, spiritual struggles, but in our work as well. One day Norman and I were replastering the wall of a garage by the main entrance to the Mt. Washington grounds. The plaster was old, and was setting up fast. Though we kept on adding water, we had all we could do to complete each batch before it hardened completely.
Halfway through the job, Master, on his way out for a drive, saw us and stopped the car. Calling us over to him, he chatted with us for about half an hour. We were delighted, of course. Yet at the back of our minds there lurked a slight apprehension: What about that plaster? I'd just mixed a fresh batch and poured it onto the board. And there it was, getting harder by the second.
By the time Master left us, both Norman and I were certain it would take a sledgehammer to break up the plaster. To our amazement, however, we found it as soft and pliable as it had been when I poured it. For the rest of that day the plaster gave us no trouble at all.
Hard work was as important to our way of life as regular meditation. "You must be intensely active for God," Master said, "before you can attain the actionless state of union with Him." More than either work or meditation, however, was the stress he placed on the importance of devotion. "Without love for God," he told us, "no one can find Him."
Nightly I chanted Master's translation of a song by the great Bengali saint, Ram Proshad: "Will that day come to me when saying, 'Mother! Mother!' my eyes will flow with tears?" Gradually I found myself becoming transformed inwardly. I began to feel I had some cause for self-congratulation, when one day word came to me that Master had been talking with a group of the monks in Encinitas. During the course of the conversation he had remarked lovingly:
"Look how I have changed Walter!"


text:
The Unique, Safe Mineral with Multiple Uses
By Ward Dean MD and Jim English
Lithium is a mineral with a cloudy reputation. It is an alkali metal in the same family as sodium, potassium and other elements. Although lithium is highly effective in the treatment of manic depressive illness (X4 DI), its pharmaceutical (prescription) versions – lithium carbonate and lithium citrate – must be used with caution. (1) The reason for the caution with prescription lithium is because lithium in these forms is poorly absorbed by the cells of the body – and it is within the cells that lithium's therapeutic effects take place. Lithium ions are believed to act only at particular sites on the membranes of intracellular structures like mitochondria and lysosomes.
Consequently, because of this poor intracellular transport, high dosages of pharmaceutical forms of lithium must be taken in order to obtain a satisfactory therapeutic effect. Unfortunately, these therapeutic dosages cause blood levels to be so high that they border on toxic levels. Consequently, patients taking prescription lithium must be closely monitored for toxic blood levels. Serum lithium and serum creatinine levels of prescription lithium-treated patients should be monitored every 3-6 months.
Toxic effects of lithium may include hand tremors, frequent urination, thirst, nausea, and vomiting. Even higher doses may cause drowsiness, muscular weakness, poor coordination, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, and other symptoms.
There has been concern that long-term lithium treatment may damage kidney function, but data in this regard are equivocal. Renal insufficiency without a known cause has occurred in the general population, and the incidence of renal failure among manic-depressive patients not treated with lithium remains unknown.
Most patients treated with lithium are also taking other medications, and it is just as likely that the few known cases of renal failure in patients taking lithium were due to other medications that they were simultaneously taking. (2-5)
Nevertheless, with potential side effects like this, why in the world would anyone want to take lithium? It is because lithium has been found to be one of the most effective treatments for manic-depressive illness (bi-polar disorder).
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder characterized by manic or depressive episodes that usually cycle back and forth between depression and mania. The depressive phase is characterized by sluggishness (inertia), loss of self-esteem, helplessness, withdrawal and sadness, with suicide being a risk. The manic phase is characterized by elation, hyperactivity, over-involvement in activities, inflated self-esteem, a tendency to be easily distracted, and little need for sleep. In either phase there is frequently a dependence on alcohol or other substances of abuse. The disorder first appears between the ages of 15 and 25 and affects men and women equally. The cause is unknown, but hereditary and psychological factors may play a role. The incidence is higher in relatives of people with bipolar disorders. A psychiatric history of mood swings, and an observation of current behavior and mood are important in the diagnosis of this disorder. (7)
Orthodox Treatment
Hospitalization may be required during an acute phase to control the symptoms. Antidepressant drugs may be given; anticonvulsants (Carbamazepine, Valproic acid, Depakote) may also be used. (These substances deplete body stores of L-carnitine and Taurine. Supplementation with several grams daily of these supplements greatly ameliorates adverse side effects of these drugs).
Lithium, however, is the treatment of choice for recurring bipolar (manic/depressive) illness, serving as an effective mood enhancer in 70-80 percent of bipolar patients.
Mortality-lowering, Anti-suicidal Effect of Lithium
The mortality of manic-depressive patients is markedly higher than that of the general population. The increased mortality is mainly, but not exclusively, caused by suicide. Studies have shown that the mortality of manic-depressive patients given long-term lithium treatment is markedly lower than that of patients not receiving lithium. The frequency of suicidal acts among treated patients is significantly lower than patients given other antidepressants or carbamazepine. The results of mortality studies are consistent with the assumption that lithium-treatment protects against suicidal behavior. (8-13)
Unipolar Disorder
In addition to its well-recognized benefits in the management of bipolar disorder, trials have conclusively demonstrated that lithium is also an effective treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive illness (recurrent major affective disorder). (14-16) Although physicians in Europe have successfully used lithium for this indication for many years, American psychiatrists do not share their appreciation of lithium's safety and effectiveness for conditions other than MDI. Perhaps it is due to a difference in the lithium preparations they have at their disposal.
Superiority of Lithium Orotate
The lithium salt of orotic acid (lithium orotate) improves the specific effects of lithium many-fold by increasing lithium bio-utilization. The orotates transport the lithium to the membranes of mitochondria, lysosomes and the glia cells. Lithium orotate stabilizes the lysosomal membranes and prevents the enzyme reactions that are responsible for the sodium depletion and dehydration effects of other lithium salts.
Because of the superior bioavailability of lithium orotate, the therapeutic dosage is much less than prescription forms of lithium. For example, in cases of severe depression, the therapeutic dosage of lithium orotate is 150 mg/day. This is compared to 900-1800 mg of the prescription forms. In this dosage range of lithium orotate, there are no adverse lithium side reactions and no need for monitoring blood serum measurements. (17)
Other Uses for Lithium Orotate
Lithium orotate has also been used with success in alleviating the pain from migraine and cluster headaches, low white blood cell counts, juvenile convulsive disease, alcoholism and liver disorders. (18) Nieper also reports that patients with myopia (nearsightedness) and glaucoma often benefit from the slight dehydrating effect of lithium on the eye, resulting in improvement in vision and reduction of intraocular pressure. (19)
References |
1. Aronson JK, Reynolds DJM. ABC of monitoring drag therapy: lithium. BMJ. 1992;305: 1273-1276.
2. Schou M, Effects of long-term lithium treatment on kidney function: an overview. J Psychiat Res, 1988;22.,287-296,
3. Waller DG, Edwards TG. Lithium and the kidney: an update. Psycliol Mod. 1989; 19:825-83 1.
4. Gitlin MJ. Lithium-induced renal insufficiency., J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1993) 13:276-279.
5, Kallner G,.Petterson IJ. Renal, thyroid and parathyroid function during lithium treatment: laboratory test in 207 people treated for 1-30 years. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1995;91:48-5 1.
6. Baastrup PC, Schou M. Lithium as a prophylactic agent: its effect against recurrent depressions and manic-depressive psychosis. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1967; 16:162-172.
7. Goodwin FK, Jamison KR. Manic-Depressive Illness. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 1990.
8. Mueller-Oerlinghausen D, Ahrens B, Volk J, Grof P, Grof E, Schou M, Vestergaard P, Lenz G, Sinihandl C, Tlau K, Wolf R. Reduced mortality of manic-depressive patients in long-term lithium treatment, an international collaborative study by IGSLI. Psychiatry Res. 1991;36:329-331.
9. Ahrens B, Mueller-Oerlinghausen 3, Schou M, Wolf T, Alda M, Grof. E. Grof P, Lejiz G, Simhandl C, Thau K, Vestergaard P, Wolf R, Moeller H. Cardiovascular and suicide mortality of affective disorders may be reduced by lithium prophylaxis. J Affect DI-Y, 1995;33:67-75.
10. Mueller-Oerlinghausen B, Mueser-Causemam B, Volk J. Suicides and parasuicides in a high-risk patient group on and off lithium long-term medication, J Affect Dis. 1992;25: 261-270.
11. Felber- NV, Kyber A. Suizide und Parasuizide wachrend und aubetadserhalb einer Lithiumprophylaxe. In-, Muclicr-Oerlinghausen B, Berghoefer A, eds. Ziele und Ergebnisse der medikagivitoeseyi I-i-opiiylaice affektiver Psychoseii. Stuttgart, Germany, Thieme; 1994:53-59.
12. Thies-Flechtner K, Seibert W, Walther A, Greil W, Mueller-Oerlinghausen B, Suizide bei rezldlvprophylaktisch behandelten Patienten mit affektiven Psychosen. In: Mueller-Oerlinghausen B, Berghoefer A, eds. Ziele und Ergebnisse der medikamentoesen Prophylaxe offekliver Psychosen. Stuttgart, Germany. Thieme; 1994,61-64.
13. Schou M.. Mortality-lowering effect of prophylactic lithium treatment, a look at the evidence, Pharmacopsychiatry. 1995;28: 1.
14. Souza FGM, Goodwin GM. Lithium treatment and prophylaxis in unipolar depression: a meta-analysis, Br J Psychiatry. 1991; 158:666-675.
15. Johnstone EC, Owens DGC, Lambert MT, Crow TJ, Frith CD, Done DJ. Combination tricyclic, antidepressant and lithium maintenance medication in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. J Affect Dis, 1990;20:225-233,
16. Prien RF, Kupfer DJ, Mansky PA, Small JG, 'I'uason VB, Voss CB, Johnson WE. Drug therapy in the prevention of recurrences in unipolar and bipolar affective disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1984;41.1096-1104,
17. Nieper HA The clinical application of lithium orotate. Agressologie 14(6). 407-411, 1973,
18. Sartori HE, Lithium orotate in the treatment of alcoholism and related conditions, Alcohol 1986 Mar; 3 (2): 97-100.
19. Nieper HA The curative effect of a combination of Calcium-orotate and Lithium orotate on primary and secondary chronic hepatitis and primary and secondary liver cirrhosis. From lecture Intl Acad of Prevent Med, Washington, DC March 9, 1974.


text:
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CRodible Back Cover for Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus (Gold, 64 GB) (6 GB RAM) (Blue, Shock Proof)
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Suitable For: Mobile
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CRodible Innovation 100% Brand New Product And Provied a Good Quality and Unique Cases For Your Smart Phones Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus (Gold, 64 GB) (6 GB RAM), 4 Cut CRodible Made of Durable Plastic Material, Yet it's Light And Durable Protect Your Phone from Scratches,After Attachment Have a Good quality Hard Rubber Cases Perfect Compatible,Light Weight And durable,Easy to Install And Remove. This Back Cover is a Light weight Product to provide a maximum protection to your Smartphone . It is made of Light Weight high quality durable material for long life & is useful in protecting your smartphone from scratches , dust , etc .
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text:
Thank you for choosing Java™ SE Embedded for your embedded system. Java SE Embedded 6 Update 34 is based on Java Development Kit 6 Update 34 (JDK 6u34) and provides specific features and support for embedded systems.
This document provides details about the Java Runtime Environment (JRE™) of Java SE Embedded 6. The Java Runtime Environment contains the Java virtual machine, runtime class libraries, and Java application launcher that are necessary to run programs written in the Java programming language. It is not a development environment and does not contain development tools such as compilers or debuggers. For development tools, see the Java Development Kit (JDK™) Tools and Utilities documentation.
To ensure that you have the most recent update of the technical documents for Java SE Embedded, check the latest versions on the Java SE Embedded Product Documentation web site.
See also the JDK 6 Release Notes for release information on the JDK 6 platform.
The Java SE Embedded technology included in this package can be installed using the gunzip
and tar
To install Java SE Embedded on your system, download the files onto your system and uncompress the binary files with the following commands:
gunzip <name of the downloaded file>
tar xvf <name of the downloaded file>
The directory ejre1.6.0_34
will be created in your current directory and populated with the entire JRE release. This installation directory, <current-directory>/ejre1.6.0_34
, will be hereafter referred to as <JAVA_HOME>
Add <JAVA_HOME>/bin
to your PATH
environment variable setting in order to run the Java binaries.
This release of Java SE Embedded 6 Update 34 was tested on Linux for ARM, Power Architecture and x86 systems. The requirements of these systems are specified at Java SE Embedded System Requirements. For ARM, testing was done on the v5, v6 and v7 architectures. Power Architecture systems based on e600 core and e500v2 core architectures were tested. Headless mode was tested on all systems; headful mode was tested on ARMv7.


text:
I have been wanting to experiment with chocolate and caramel and found the perfect recipe to try {here}. This was maybe one of the easiest recipes I have duplicated! Just a few simple steps and ingredients! I highly recommend making for your next gathering!
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
bag of mini pretzels
12-oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
sea salt
– lay pretzels out on tin foil on a baking sheet {tin foil is a must in order to remove once bark is complete}
– pre-heat oven to 400
– melt butter over medium heat
– once butter is melted add sugar and stir continuously
– don't let it boil, browning process should take about 3 minutes
– once sugar and butter have caramelized pour over pretzels
– melt chocolate, there are several ways to do this, I choose to microwave pausing to stir every 30 seconds took about a minute and a half total
– pour melted chocolate over pretzels and caramel, work quickly and use a spoon to spread out chocolate
– sprinkle sea salt {i also added little heath bar bits as well}
– place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to let set
– once you remove from the refrigerator break apart to form small pieces of bark {best part about it, no need to be perfect}
– if you have little ones this would be a great step for them to help with
*chalkboard frame DIY {here}


text: URMC / Encyclopedia / Content Search Encyclopedia Racquet Sports: Training Tips Playing tennis or racquetball is an enjoyable way to boost the intensity of your fitness program. It can also improve your balance, strength, and agility. Racquet sports alternate bursts of high-intensity exercise while you score points, with brief rest periods while you pick up the ball and serve. This stop-and-start activity is similar to interval training. Playing racquet sports, or any active sport, 3 hours a week can cut your risk of developing heart disease and lower your blood pressure. One key to getting a good aerobic workout in tennis or racquetball is to keep your rest periods brief. Your heart will continue to work at an aerobic level, but without the sustained stress. It's also important to prepare for your game as you would for a workout. Warm up for at least 10 minutes before you begin, followed by another 10 minutes of stretching. Check with your healthcare provider before you begin an exercise program. The take on tennis Playing tennis at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity burns calories. It also builds strength in your upper body, legs, hips, and belly, and improves your speed and overall flexibility. To get the most from your workout, you and your opponent should agree to play for the aerobic benefit, as well as for fun. Instead of firing aces past each other, plan on a volley-and-return match that keeps you both moving. Scatter your shots around the court to make the most of the distance you both run. Also limit your number of serves. Or play for total points instead of using traditional scoring. Health tips for tennis To keep your game injury-free, follow these suggestions from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Warm up before you begin to play. Jumping jacks, stationary bike riding, or running in place for 3 to 5 minutes are good warm-up activities. Do slow, gentle stretches after you've warmed up. Play on a court with a forgiving surface, if possible. Stay off hard surfaces like cement and asphalt. Wear shoes that offer good support for your ankles. Dry your racket handle often to prevent blisters. Protect your back by bending your knees and raising your heels when serving or hitting the ball overhead. Rating racquetball Racquetball has plenty of fitness benefits. If you play to 15 points, it usually takes about 20 minutes. A typical match of 3 games usually lasts an hour. You can burn lots of calories. Because racquetball demands many twists, turns, and dives, the game also helps you maintain flexibility and fine-tune your concentration, balance, and reaction time. Health tips for racquetball Always wear eye protection when playing, says the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Buy eye guards that have been certified by the American Standard of Testing and Materials. If you wear eyeglasses, wear eye guards over them. Your eyeglasses aren't made to give enough protection. Drink plenty of fluids before you play. Drink 16 to 32 ounces of water or other fluids 1 to 2 hours before you begin. If you feel pain or cramping, stop the game. Keep at least a foot-and-a-half of space between you and your opponent. If you think you're too close to swing your racket without hitting them, hold your swing or stop the game. After the game, allow time to cool down before showering, and do some stretching exercises. Medical Reviewers: L Renee Watson MSN RN Raymond Turley Jr PA-C Thomas N Joseph MD


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Updated New Mexico COVID-19 cases: Now at 10,430
New Mexico state health officials on Saturday announced 172 additional COVID-19 cases. Per the state Department of Health, the most recent cases are:
- 15 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 1 new cases in Cibola County
- 1 new cases in Colfax County
- 7 new cases in Curry County
- 10 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 2 new cases in Eddy County
- 8 new cases in Lea County
- 2 new cases in Luna County
- 30 new cases in McKinley County
- 7 new cases in Rio Arriba County
- 10 new cases in Sandoval County
- 8 new cases in San Juan County
- 5 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 1 new case in Torrance County
- 1 new cases in Valencia County
- 9 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
- 55 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility
The Department of Health on Saturday also reported two additional deaths in New Mexico related to COVID-19. Those cases are:
- A female in her 60s from McKinley County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A male in his 50s from McKinley County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
The number of deaths of New Mexico residents related to COVID-19 is now 466.
Previously reported numbers included two cases that were determined to be out-of-state residents in Doña Ana County, two cases that have been identified as duplicates (one in Cibola County and one in Roosevelt County) – these have now been corrected. Previously reported numbers did not include one case that was thought to be an out-of-state resident that has since been identified as a New Mexico state resident and one case has been added to McKinley County; and one case previously classified as suspect, but has since been lab confirmed and one case has been added to Torrance County. Including the above newly reported cases, New Mexico has now had a total of 10,430 positive tests for COVID-19:
- Bernalillo County: 1,792
- Catron County: 2
- Chaves County: 64
- Cibola County: 194
- Colfax County: 9
- Curry County: 108
- Doña Ana County: 700
- Eddy County: 51
- Grant County: 16
- Guadalupe County: 20
- Harding County: 1
- Hidalgo County: 26
- Lea County: 66
- Lincoln County: 7
- Los Alamos County: 7
- Luna County: 49
- McKinley County: 3,041
- Otero County: 32
- Quay County: 5
- Rio Arriba County: 79
- Roosevelt County: 53
- Sandoval County: 672
- San Juan County: 2,173
- San Miguel County: 18
- Santa Fe County: 193
- Sierra County: 5
- Socorro County: 55
- Taos County: 33
- Torrance County: 36
- Union County: 5
- Valencia County: 96
County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.
The Department of Health currently reports the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the following facilities:
- Cibola County Correctional Center: 2
- Luna County Detention Center: 1
- Otero County Prison Facility: 284
- Otero County Processing Center: 146
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 24
The Department of Health currently reports the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by the New Mexico Corrections Department at the following facilities:
- Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 1
- Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
- Otero County Prison Facility: 362
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
As of today, there are 145 individuals hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19. This number may include individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 out of state but are currently hospitalized in New Mexico. This number does not include New Mexicans who tested positive for COVID-19 and may have been transferred to a hospital out of state.
As of today, there are 4,628 COVID-19 cases designated as having recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health.
The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following long-term care and acute care facilities:
- Advanced Health Care of Albuquerque in Albuquerque
- Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
- Artesia Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Artesia
- Avamere Rehab at Fiesta Park in Albuquerque
- Bear Canyon Nursing and Rehab Center in Albuquerque
- BeeHive Homes of Farmington in Farmington
- BeeHive Homes of Gallup in Gallup
- Belen Meadows in Belen
- Bonney Family Home in Gallup
- Brookdale Tramway Ridge in Albuquerque
- Brookdale Santa Fe in Santa Fe
- Camino Healthcare in Albuquerque
- Camino Retirement Apartments in Albuquerque
- Casa De Oro Center in Las Cruces
- Casa Del Sol Center in Las Cruces
- Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell
- Cedar Ridge Inn in Farmington
- Central Desert Behavioral Health in Albuquerque
- Clayton Nursing and Rehab in Clayton
- Dungarvin New Mexico, LLC in Gallup
- Genesis Uptown Rehabilitation Center
- Good Samaritan Society in Grants
- Heartland Continuing Care Center in Portales
- The Jim Wood Home in Hatch
- Laguna Rainbow Elderly Care in Casa Blanca
- La Vida Llena in Albuquerque
- Legacy Santa Fe in Santa Fe
- Life Care Center of Farmington in Farmington
- Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup
- McKinley Care Center in Gallup
- Mimbres Memorial Nursing Home in Deming
- Mission Arch Center in Roswell
- MorningStar Assisted Living & Memory Care of Santa Fe in Santa Fe
- Namaste House Assisted Living in Farmington
- Pacifica Senior Living Center Santa Fe in Santa Fe
- Prime Care Assisted Living in Albuquerque
- Princeton Place in Albuquerque
- Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup
- Retirement Ranches, Inc. in Clovis
- Robin House Assisted Living Center in Albuquerque
- San Juan Center in Farmington
- South Valley Care Center in Albuquerque
- Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites in Albuquerque
- Sundance Care Home in Gallup
- Tohatchi Area Opportunity Services (TAOS) in Tohatchi
- The Village at Alameda in Albuquerque
- The Village at Northrise in Las Cruces
- Wellbrook Transitional Rehabilitation Center in Farmington
The Department of Health has detected community spread in the state of New Mexico and is investigating cases with no known exposure. The agency reports that given the infectious nature of the virus it is likely other residents are infected but yet to be tested or confirmed positive. To that end, all New Mexicans have been instructed to stay home except for outings absolutely necessary for health, safety and welfare. These additional restrictions have been enacted to aggressively minimize person-to-person contact and ensure spread is mitigated. New Mexicans are strongly urged to limit travel to only what is necessary for health, safety and welfare.
The New Mexico Department of Health has active investigations into the positive patients, which includes contact-tracing and swabs of symptomatic individuals who have had contact with the positive cases.
Every New Mexican must work together to stem the spread of COVID-19. Get tested. Stay home, especially if you are sick. Wear a mask or face covering when in public and around others.
New Mexicans who report symptoms of COVID-19 infection, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and/or loss of taste or smell should call their health care provider or the NMDOH COVID-19 hotline immediately (1-855-600-3453).
Thanks to increased statewide testing capacity, the following people may now be considered for COVID-19 testing:
- Asymptomatic people who are close contacts or household members of New Mexico residents who have already tested positive for the coronavirus;
- Asymptomatic residents in nursing homes;
- Asymptomatic people in congregate settings such as homeless shelters, group homes, detention centers;
- Asymptomatic people who are currently working;
- Symptomatic people displaying the COVID-19 symptoms of cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and/or loss of taste or smell.
New Mexicans who have non-health-related questions or concerns can also call 833-551-0518 or visit newmexico.gov, which is being updated regularly as a one-stop source for information for families, workers and others affected by and seeking more information about COVID-19.
Media Contact
We would be happy to provide additional information about this press release. Simply contact David Morgan at 575-528-5197 (Office) or 575-649-0754 (Mobile) with your questions.
Versión en Español
En un esfuerzo para hacer que nuestros comunicados de prensa sean más accesibles, también tenemos disponibles una versión en español. Por favor presione el enlace de abajo para acceder a la traducción.
Actualización de Casos de COVID-19 en Nuevo México: Ahora 10,430


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18 Tasting Notes
This is my first tea with rose petals so I was very exciting my this purchase. I love roses so this may be a tad biased. This tea is delicate and would be great for an afternoon tea with scones. It smells really good as well. For my net cup I may steep it for a couple of more minutes. If you love roses, this tea is for you!
I'm so excited to drink a local tea! I was pleasantly surprised this morning with drinking this. Subtle hints of vanilla and cherry makes this black tea enjoyable to drink. I steeped it for 5 minutes and it wasn't bitter so I'm thinking if you left the bad in it won't turn bitter. I'm glad I picked this up.
I remember buying this box and looking forward in trying something new and was really disappointed because it was very harsh for me. It could be the steeping time and temperature. It took a year for me to finish the box. Maybe I will try again with a different brand or a loose altenative.
1/16/2012- Okay, so I bought a second box since it was on sale. I carefully steeped this tea for 2 minutes or it becomes bitter quickly. I raised the rating since I like the favor the second time around. I'm not sure if this will be in my regular rotation of my tea, but I will give it a chance to grow on me.
My friend getting over a cold gave me a box so this is what I'm sipping on this afternoon. Very smooth- I'm even able to tolerate the lemon, as I have to be in a mood for lemon in my tea. I wish I had this tea when I was getting over my cold last month!
My first mint tea in a long time to wind down my work day. Since I don't have anything to compare to, I will say that 's nice to sip for the afternoon. I think I was expecting something special, so maybe I'm a bit disappointed.


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At quite an early age, I became closely associated with the so-called arrow-of-time problem. This has to do with the mystery of why most physical processes in the universe seem to go one way in time, whereas the underlying laws of physics that govern them are reversible — they have no preferred time orientation. I got into this because of a couple of papers by John Wheeler and Richard Feynman, in which they tried to explain how, for example, radio signals always arrive at the receiver after they leave the transmitter and never before. They had a clever way of starting out with time-symmetric electromagnetic waves (forwards and backwards in time, symmetrically), and recovering the purely time-forwards waves by appealing to cosmology — that is, taking into account a whole universe full of emitters and absorbers of electromagnetic waves. This led me to investigate a wide range of other topics in which time symmetry gets broken. When I was twenty four, I wrote a book on the subject, called The Physics of Time Asymmetry. It was really just a preliminary skirmish with an enormously complicated topic, but lots of influential people, like Wheeler, Roger Penrose, and Martin Gardner, said nice things about it. Even Feynman recommended it to a colleague!
In terms of actual discoveries, my name is most often coupled to a weird effect I found in the theory of quantum fields. Imagine a total vacuum, devoid of all particles including photons. Now suppose you accelerate through that emptiness, what do you see? Nothing? In fact, you see a bath of heat radiation, even though your nonaccelerating friend still sees absolutely nothing. The effect, which is closely related to Stephen Hawking's discovery that black holes radiate heat, was discovered independently by Bill Unruh, at the University of British Columbia. I wrote up this result in the mid-seventies, almost casually. The effect is very small, and not hard to prove, and I didn't think many people would be interested, but papers still appear at the rate of several a year, elaborating on this or that aspect of "acceleration radiation."
After this success, I worked on the theory of quantum fields in curved spacetime — that is, in the presence of gravitational fields. The book I wrote with my student Nick Birrell, called Quantum Fields in Curved Space, remains the principal text on the subject, I am pleased to say. A lot of my investigations concerned the behavior of quantum fields in certain model universes that were simple to study. We were interested in many questions. Could the expansion of the universe create particles? How did the quantum field get disturbed by the gravitational field of the universe, and how did this disturbance in turn react gravitationally? One of these model universes is named after the Dutch cosmologist Willem de Sitter, and together with another student, Tim Bunch, I spent a lot of time looking at it. Among many results emerged the concept of a particularly interesting quantum-vacuum state, still known as the Bunch-Davies vacuum. It never occurred to me at the time — the late seventies — that this stuff would find any real applications. How delighted I was when suddenly de Sitter space became of central importance in Alan Guth's inflationary-universe scenario, and people began using the Bunch-Davies vacuum in their calculations!
I also did a lot of work on black holes and their thermodynamic properties, discovering, for example, that if a black hole carries a large enough electric charge it can remain in equilibrium with a surrounding heat bath instead of evaporating away in the manner Hawking first described. I've always been fascinated by Penrose's belief that gravitation represents a sort of entropy in its own right, and many papers I wrote in the eighties were attempts to flesh out this idea, but without complete success.
It's very curious how Alan Guth got into the inflationary scenario. He was trying to solve a rather specific problem connected with magnetic monopoles. The standard hot-big-bang theory, combined with our best knowledge of particle physics, indicated that the universe ought to be stuffed full of magnetic monopoles, and yet we don't see any. The question was, How had they been eliminated? One obvious way to get rid of them is to have the universe inflate by some large factor that simply dilutes the density of these monopoles.
Guth wasn't a cosmologist; he was a particle physicist trying to get rid of monopoles, and so he proposed the idea that the universe, during its first split second, suddenly jumped in size by a huge amount. Plausible answers to key cosmological questions — such as whether the universe is expanding at precisely the rate to escape its own gravitational pull, and whether the quantum fluctuations around that precise rate would give the sort of spectrum just observed by the COBE satellite — came as a bonus. The fascinating thing is that what Guth did was to come in the back door and discover this immensely rich seam of ideas, which he then successfully quarried. His inflationary theory, inevitably refined, is now pretty much the standard cosmological scenario for the origin of the universe.
Only twenty-five years ago it was not considered appropriate to consider the physical mechanism of the birth of the universe. I remember a lecture I attended as a graduate student at University College London. This was a couple of years after the discovery in 1965 of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and the implications of that discovery had not yet generally sunk in. A professor was talking about how theorists had computed, based on the existence of this radiation, that there would be about 25 percent helium and 75 percent hydrogen in the universe, and that this had come from an analysis of the nuclear processes that took place in the first few minutes after the big bang. Everyone in the lecture hall fell about laughing, because they thought it was so absurd and audacious to talk about the first three minutes after the big bang, just on the basis of the discovery of this radiation. Now, of course, it is absolutely standard cosmological theory. We feel we understand the first few minutes of the universe very well.
What we now find is that the big bang has gone from being merely a description of the origin of the universe to being an explanation. That's a key difference. Simply saying that things just happen that way — in other words, to say that things are the way they are because they were the way they were — constitutes a description. What we now have is something much closer to a scientific explanation, in which not only can we account for the fact that there was a bang but also a lot of the specific features of the big bang now emerge from well-formulated physical theory, instead of being put in as ad-hoc initial conditions. That's the big difference. The latest COBE discovery adds enormously to the strength of the big-bang theory as a proper theory and not just a description.
The evolution of the big-bang theory leads to a discussion of the anthropic principle, which says that the world we see must reflect, to some extent, the fact that we're here to see it — not only here but here at this particular location in space and time. There are different variants of the anthropic cosmological principle, and how much credence you can give it depends on which one you're talking about. What's quite clear is that there must be an anthropic companion to our science. To take a trivial and extreme example: most of the universe is empty space, and yet we find ourselves on the surface of a planet. We're therefore in a very atypical location, but of course it's no surprise that we're in this atypical location, because we couldn't live out there in space.
Obviously, there's an anthropic factor to what we observe and the position in the universe from which we observe it, or maybe the time, the epoch, that we observe it. Having said that, the question is whether it's just a comment about the universe or in some sense an explanation for some features of the universe. If there's only one universe, it's just a comment on it. But if we imagine that there is a whole ensemble of universes — a huge variety, with different conditions, different laws — then it starts to become an explanation, or a selection principle. Part of the reason for the order we observe in the universe is that this is one of the few universes out of the whole ensemble that is cognizable. Some people have tried to carry this principle to a ludicrous extreme by making out that ultimately there are no laws of nature at all, that there is only chaos, that the lawfulness of the universe is merely explained by the fact that we've selected it from this infinite variety of essentially chaotic worlds. That is demonstrably false, and an unreasonable extrapolation of the whole anthropic idea.
It's remarkable that the universe is lawful, that there exist underlying rational principles which govern the way the universe behaves. We can't account for that just on the basis of the fact that we're here to see it, as some people have tried to do. There's a dual principle at work. There's a principle of rationality that says that the world is fashioned in a way that provides it with a rational order, a mathematical order. There's a selective principle — which is an anthropic principle — that says that maybe out of a large variety of different possible worlds this type of world is the one we observe.
We can't avoid some anthropic component in our science, which is interesting, because after three hundred years we finally realize that we do matter. Our vantage point in the universe is relevant to our science. But it's very easy to misconstrue the anthropic principle, and draw ridiculous conclusions from it. You have to be very careful how you state it. What it is not saying is that our existence somehow exercises a theological or causative compulsion for the universe to have certain laws or certain initial conditions. It doesn't work like that. We're not, by our own existence, creating such a universe.
We are now very close to identifying the nature of the fundamental building blocks out of which the world is put together. This reductionist path is tremendously important and has exercised an enormous influence in the thinking of physicists, but it's only a part of the story. To say that the world is built up of a collection of certain particles playing certain roles of interaction is one thing. But to give an explanation of problems like the origin of life, the origin of consciousness — problems that refer to highly complex systems — that's quite another. To talk about complexity, we have to realize that there are systems the behavior of which can be understood only by looking at the collective and organizational aspects, instead of the individual constituents. It's impossible to explain the behavior of these so-called adaptive complex systems in a purely reductionistic manner and expect to build up from that. These are systems like biological organisms, which appear to respond to and adapt in accordance with their environment.
I look forward to a time when the biologists stop berating the physicists for abandoning reductionism. At the moment, the biologists are strongly and evangelically reductionistic, and any suggestion by physicists that one can deviate from the path of strict reductionism tends to evoke a rap over the knuckles from the biologists. My personal belief is that biologists tend to be uncompromising and reductionistic because they're still feeling somewhat insecure with their basic dogma, whereas physicists have three hundred years of secure foundation for their subject, so they can afford to be a bit more freewheeling in their speculation about these complex systems. I hope to see this cultural division between these two communities dissolve away within the next ten to twenty years, so that they'll be able to talk to each other in the same language.
There are two paths in investigating the world: the reductionist path and the synthetic path. In the science of complexity, it's essential to recognize that there is this second path. Complexity amounts to more than mere complication. It's more than just a large number of simple systems coming together in conjunction. Complex systems really do have their own laws and principles, and their own internal logic.
In the next few decades, physics will be going in the direction of complexity. One of the key questions for physics is, Can the reductionist program be completed? Stephen Hawking said, in his famous 1979 address on his inauguration to the Lucasian Chair, that the end might be in sight for theoretical physics, by which he meant that the end of this reductionist program might be in sight. Indeed, we may complete it and be able to write down a formula you could wear on your T shirt — some mathematical statement, or a set of principles encapsulated in a single piece of mathematics, describing all the fundamental particles and forces out of which the world is built.
That would still leave this path of complexity, this synthetic or holistic way of looking at the world. There, what I see as the real excitement is the dissolving away of the division between physics and biology. We see a very curious phenomenon at the moment: while physicists are increasingly recognizing the importance of looking at the collective, organizational, and qualitative features of complex systems, and recognizing that they have their own laws and principles and qualities, in a way that makes them every bit as fundamental as the elementary particles out of which the world is built, at that same time the biologists are going the other way, becoming overly reductionistic and regarding life as nothing but a collection of individual particles interacting in an unwitting manner by means of blind and purposeless forces.
It's often said that if we had a theory of everything, everything would be explained. But when physicists talk about a theory of everything, they don't mean literally everything. They don't mean a theory that would explain how the stock market rises and falls, still less something that would explain the origin of life. They mean a theory that accounts for all these fundamental units out of which the world is built.
Excerpted from The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution by John Brockman (Simon & Schuster, 1995) . Copyright © 1995 by John Brockman. All rights reserved.