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What a wonderful place to work! Come see what opportunities there are to join the Marketplace team!
Blue Gate Restaurant & Bakery, Blue Gate Garden Inn, Blue Gate Theatre, Riegsecker Retail Shops, Riegsecker Cabinet Co. and Riegsecker Carriage.
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Blue Gate Hospitality
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105 E Middlebury St
Shipshewana, IN 46565
Current Postions
Hotel Breakfast - Full or Part Time
If you enjoy doing a little bit of everything in a restaurant, this position is for you! Includes preparing and serving breakfast, cleaning tables, greeting customers, cleaning kitchen and dishes. Hours include Monday - Sunday 5:00 am-noon.
Prep Cook
Prep cooks prepare many of our famous recipes for our restaurant. It involves chopping, mixing easy recipes. Must be able to follow a recipe. Hours vary and include days, evenings and Saturdays.
Furniture Delivery Rider - Part Time
Looking for some extra cash and chance to see the country. Shipshewana Furniture is looking for someone that can help with furniture deliveries as needed on weekdays or Saturdays. The hire will help unload and set up new furniture in residential homes. Must be able to lift/move furniture. We offer pick up and drop off for those without driver license.
Grill Cook - Part Time
Grill Cooks work as a team of 3 at a very fast pace preparing food for our restaurant. Previous experience preferred, ability to multi-task required, must have high quality standards, evening, Saturday availability required.
Bakery Retail - Part Time
Looking for a people person to help serve customers in our bakery. Includes using a computer cash register, helping customers with pies, cookies, donuts, etc., stocking shelves. Must be outgoing and friendly with great customer service. Hours vary, 3 days a week Monday-Saturday from 8:00am-9:00pm.
Busser - Part Time
Looking for part time busser to clean tables. Hours include after school and Saturdays, possible day shift if not in school. Must be at least 16 years old.


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text: First time to Texas from flying in via DFW airport from Australia; having stayed at many starwood properties and the Element brand, the DFW Element keeps the brands standards. The hotel, like all other Elements is clean/fresh, provides free wi-fi, gym, pool and breakfast. Location wise, its a 10-15min drive to the airport, there are a couple of eateries close by. It is also roughly half way to Dallas and to Fortworth - which in themselves are great places to visit


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The post Remember Only Good Things appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
It is through memory that you retain the consciousness of your individual existence. For instance, a minister who lived near Boston, Massachusetts lost his memory for a while. Thinking he was a grocer, he changed his name and opened a grocery shop far from his home town. After three months, his memory came back and he returned home as a minister.
The superconscious mind remembers everything
The subconscious mind is the memory mind and is always awake, memorizing conscious experiences during the state of wakefulness and keeping the body functioning during sleep. While the conscious mind keeps in touch with the exterior world through the senses, the subconscious mind keeps a record of all human experiences. However, just as the conscious mind becomes forgetful without training or creative thinking, so also does the subconscious mind, without training, lose its power of recall.
The superconsciousness is the pure intuitive, all-seeing, ever-new blissful consciousness of the soul. Through meditation and intuition, the superconsciousness can remember all experiences forgotten by the subconscious and conscious minds. Jesus, who was developed in superconsciousness, could remember his past incarnation with John the Baptist when John was Elijah. The less attached you are to the body, and especially during deep meditation, the more clearly you will remember your past lives.
Recall only good and noble experiences
Memory imitates. It does not discriminate. It takes in anything you present to it. Every experience creates a mental record in your mind produced by the needle of attention or deep feeling. In your consciousness there are all kinds of records, both good and bad. You must destroy all records that revive memories of unhappiness and evil deeds. By remembering an experience you live it over again. Thus, it is sometimes important to cultivate forgetfulness.
Use memory only to recall good and noble experiences, which will come to you as angels of inspiration and protection. To use memory to recall evil experiences is to fill your mental temple with torturing mental demons. What is past belongs to your dead ignorant self and does not truly belong to you. The good things you have done, and their effects on the past and present, are your richest treasures.
Thus, see no evil, hear no evil, and think no evil, so that you do not desecrate your mental temple. By recalling only good things, you will find yourself surrounded by angelic thoughts, and you will begin to recall all the forgotten goodness hidden in your subconscious and superconscious minds. Eventually you will recall your pure Self, the image of God within you, long screened off behind your mortal forgetfulness. When the mansion of your soul contains no evil, then the essence of all goodness, God, will visit you within.
Loss of memory through obstruction of desires
Any spiritual aspirant with a tendency toward anger should understand how anger originates and can lead to loss of memory, often with grave results.
Take, for example, the average man who is not free from anger. If he is driving a car joyfully from Los Angeles to Santa Monica for a picnic, but is unexpectedly and forcefully asked by his wife to stop at her relatives' house against his will, he may suddenly become blinded by wrath. His violent rage, caused by the obstruction of his desire to go straight to the picnic grounds, may lead to a word battle with his wife and enclose him in delusion. Delusion would lead to loss of memory of where he was going, which could easily affect his discriminative faculty and ability to drive safely, with the result that he might collide with another car or veer into a roadside ditch.
The foregoing illustration explains how obstruction of desires can cause blinding confusion in an otherwise normal individual. This delusive fog clouds an individual's memory of himself and his position in society, undermining his discrimination, the motivating force of all right action.
The wrong use of memory: the memory of sense pleasures
Another warning to the devotee: As soon as you try to meditate and apply your powers of self-control and discrimination, delusion will try to arouse the memory of your bad habits of sense pleasures to give battle to your forces of discrimination. While trying to experience the joy of meditation, the devotee suddenly finds himself tempted by memories of sense pleasures, often leading to restlessness.
Whenever you feel sympathy for your forsaken sense pleasures, picture your pleasure-loving body being dumped into the grave or cast into the crematory flames, as it most certainly will be, and make a stronger effort to contact God through deep meditation. Once you have contacted the soul in deep meditation, you can never forget the joy of it, even though you may come down from that state for a while.
How to strengthen the power of your memory
Deep attention is a strong force in developing memory. Attention is the needle that cuts the grooves in the record of memory cells. That is why you remember your deep joys and deep sorrows. One way to develop your memory is to pay strict attention to whatever you want to remember. Perform every action, insignificant or important, with quick, alert attention. Try to link one idea with another. Everything has some point of contact with, or similarity to, everything else in the universe.
Be regular in all your activities. Every night try to remember in detail all that happened during the past week. Do the same at the end of each month and year. If time permits, try to remember all the principal events of the month or year in connection with yourself, your city, your country, and the world. In recalling these events, always focus on the good things that have happened.
Just before going to sleep and upon awakening, command your subconscious mind to be attentive to all life's activities and to retain all good and valuable experiences. These two periods are the best for impressing affirmations on the mind. Every day try to memorize a devotional poem and to reproduce it in writing after one or two weeks. You will discover that devotional feeling strengthens the power of your memory.
Nourishing and strengthening the memory cells
Pay attention to your diet. A glass of almond milk or any nut milk is helpful to the memory. Simply grind two tablespoons of nuts thoroughly and mix them with orange juice or water. Milk and cheese are also good for the brain and memory cells.
Avoid eating meat, especially beef or pork, which are harmful to the memory, and also avoid stimulants such as coffee or tea. All strong stimulants deteriorate the intelligence of the brain's memory cells. Constantly anesthetized memory cells lose their retentive power and become inert and lazy. To stimulate the memory cells, every night and morning rub your scalp firmly with the tips of your fingers. Then, with the knuckles of the fingers of both hands, gently strike all areas of the skull and forehead for two minutes.
The art of visualization is also important in developing memory. A good practice is to look steadily at a certain object, perhaps some scenery, or in a store window, then turn away quickly and see how many details you can enumerate. The deeper your initial impressions, the more details you will be able to remember. This is splendid practice for developing the ability to remember important details.
The greater the preservation of vital essence in the body, by sex discipline, and by normal use in married life, the greater will be the power of your memory, intelligence, and spiritual perception. Above all, never allow your soul's reason to be overruled by your creative animal impulse.
Regular exercise is also important for strengthening and maintaining your memory, especially when you exercise with concentration. A focused mind draws energy and life force into the body from the surrounding cosmos, nourishing the brain and memory cells. Whenever you take a walk, practice the following breathing exercise twelve to twenty-four times with focused attention: inhale, counting one to twelve. Hold the breath twelve counts, then exhale while counting one to twelve.
Always remember good things
If you limit your memory, you limit your life. Memory is comprehensive and elastic, and can record many important things if you develop it. If you love good things and remember only good things, you will eventually remember God, the essence of all good things, and that you are, and always have been, one with Him.
From lessons and articles.
The post Remember Only Good Things appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
The post The Secret of All Spiritual Success appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
Jesus, in referring here to the importance of belief, was speaking of belief directed with energy. As the word is used here, belief means more than acceptance: It means personal commitment to whatever one accepts. Belief is not a careful nod of approval, while puffing thoughtfully on a pipe and saying something like, "Hmmm, yes, that does appear to make sense."
In the world of science, true belief is a hypothesis, which the scientist tests and either proves or disproves. True faith comes when a hypothesis has been proved valid. The belief needed for such definite results contains sufficient energy to commit theory to the test of experience. Of Thomas Edison it is said that he performed over 43,000 experiments before he found the right filament for the electric light bulb. His associates wanted to quit in discouragement after "only" twenty thousand experiments! Edison alone had the belief and the energy to continue on to success.
Belief directed with energy
Belief directed with energy is the secret of all spiritual success. Dogmatic belief may parade itself proudly, marching to the rhythm of an accepted pattern of thought, but it is as brittle as a tree limb through which the sap of life no longer flows. When strong winds of a new insight blow, the limb resists rigidly, preferring time-sanctioned dogmas to the risk involved in any practical test.
Jesus offers us in this passage not only the encouragement to seek everlasting life, but also the courage to test our beliefs and see where they lead. In addition, he gives us a clue to the outcome of this process. For we are not alone on our voyage of discovery. The basic truths of human nature are as universal as the law of gravity.
Belief in God lifts the mind in aspiration toward enlightenment. Doubt, on the contrary, depresses the mind and makes a person fear the divine light. The test is based on the fact that one of these alternatives leads to what everyone really wants in life – perfect love and happiness – whereas the other leads to what nobody really wants, even if, by confused understanding, he feels attracted to them – hatred, fear, and unhappiness.
Ways to manifest your belief in God
Seek by outer reminders and by an inner expansion of awareness and sympathy to manifest your belief in God. The proof of these truths is ever before us. We needn't wait for all the results to be in, as Edison had to do with his light filament, before we may state firmly, "Yes, now I know that this practice works!" For even our first tests already show us the way.
Every time we turn away from the path of love and express hatred toward anyone; every time we criticize others unkindly; every time we desire to revenge ourselves on anyone; and every time we seek personal satisfaction at the expense of others – we reinforce the wall of egoism we've built around ourselves. Thus, we imprison ourselves and limit our ability to be happy. This wall of darkness is made of the "bricks" of our own thoughts.
Every time we open up our hearts to others, however, and to God who dwells in their hearts, we shatter a few of those bricks and let in the sunlight of understanding. Many results are immediate and give us either instant punishment or instant reward: the subtle punishment of nagging self-doubt and unsettled feelings, perhaps, or the gratifying awareness of increased inner happiness.
True belief in God excludes all negativity
In all of God's Truth there is no room for any kind of negativity, and certainly none for judgment either of others, or of oneself. We are God's children. He has placed us all together in this School of Life that we might learn – from one another, as well as by our own inner reactions. Truth is absolute, but the pathway to it is winding and long. The soul must have the freedom to advance according to its present abilities, and also the freedom to make its own mistakes. Without this freedom, it may never learn its lessons thoroughly.
What a person needs in his spiritual growth is not the judgment of others, but their encouragement. At the same time, never identify yourself with your mistakes. Above all, never tell yourself, "I live in darkness, therefore I am dark!"
If you are tempted to explode with anger over someone else's behavior, then, instead of suppressing that "explosion," try deliberately to change its nature. If your urge is toward violence, direct your anger toward some constructive act; don't injure that person. Chop wood, knead bread (afterward you may want to throw it away, and not bake and eat it!), sing —anything, rather than reinforce your negativity by affirming it by outward action.
Best of all, if you can manage it: Relax your heart's feelings, then expand them to include that other person's needs and realities. Expand your sympathy, until you find you can forgive and bless him mentally. Then reflect: Which of the two feelings has given you greater satisfaction: explosive anger, or calm forgiveness?
Again—and do this especially when a measure of personal sacrifice is required: Share something of yours with someone else: money, perhaps, or an opportunity you've been coveting personally. Don't make a sacrifice greater than your own emotional readiness for it. Be realistic as to your actual, as opposed to your idealized, nature. You will soon find that with heartfelt generosity comes a deeper sense of fulfillment than you've ever known when you thought only of your own fulfillment!
When your feelings are deeply hurt by someone you love, ask yourself, "Will I gain anything by allowing myself to suffer twice? It's true that I've been hurt, but this hurt will only deepen if I allow myself to become bitter. Let me meet unkindness, instead, with love, even if for no other reason than this: that I am happier, when I love!"
Concentrate on the energy flow itself
It isn't always easy to find reinforcement outwardly for our belief in God, if we define that belief by such things as holy images. It is easier to practice seeing God, everywhere: in the flowers, the meadows, in every kindly act. And it is easiest of all to uplift our consciousness, wherever we may be, by directing our energy to the Christ center between the eyebrows. Churches, temples, and altars of all kinds are limited as to location, but the Christ center is wherever we ourselves are.
We can also breathe deeply with the thought of raising our energy in the body: In this case, the lungs act as magnets and draw the energy upward. Indeed, we can concentrate on the flow of energy itself, directing it up through the spine by an act of will. Most of the techniques contained in the yoga science are designed to assist in this process. What is more, by any insightful definition of yoga, Jesus Christ himself was a great yogi.
Proceed steadily, step by step
Don't let your belief in God be a sort of "New Year's resolution," intending more than it ever performs. Climb the mountain of awakening step by step. Every action, every thought, every feeling must be patiently attuned to the Divine within.
The Bhagavad Gita encourages us, whatever our present station on the spiritual path, to grow upward and outward: upward, that is, in rising awareness; and outward in expansive sympathy for all. The Gita also urges us not to be discouraged if we don't find immediate self-transformation at all levels. A rock is seldom shattered by a single blow. We should proceed steadily, by natural degrees, and always joyfully. We should accept our own nature, for the time being, as it is, but seek to harmonize it ever more perfectly with our higher realities.
It is not possible to reach a mountaintop by a single leap. It must be attained step by step. Accept that, though there is satisfaction for the climber in every step upward, the journey to the peak will take time. It will be helpful, on the other hand, to take stock of your feelings every now and then. Are your spirits growing a little lighter? Freer? Happier? As your sense of inner fulfillment increases, your pace will quicken, until you find yourself fairly rushing toward the goal! At the top of the mountain you'll find a (literally!) breath-taking view spread out in all directions: range after range of shining peaks and slopes covered with fields that are colorful with wildflowers of joy.
At last you'll know that everything God ever wanted from you was the sweetness of your love. His own love has always been yours. What He wants, however, for your own true fulfillment, is your love. Everything you've ever sought was but a suggestion from your imagination, a hint of your soul's craving. God, forever, has been your sole reality.
*Gospel of St. John, Chapter 3
From: The Promise of Immortality, Chapter 16, "The Way Beckons."
The post The Secret of All Spiritual Success appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
The post Balancing Work and Spiritual Life appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
Paramhansa Yogananda said that we should think of work as active meditation and meditation as inward service. In other words, our daily activities and meditation are not separate from each other; they are two aspects of our spiritual path. Here are some tips on how to do that:
1. Remember God while you work.
Keeping our mind focused on God while at work is a central part of the life of a devotee because, for many of us, most of our waking hours are spent at work. The biggest problem we face is forgetfulness. In order to succeed at work, we need to focus on the task at hand, but we can become so engrossed in the task that we forget about God. How can we remember to keep our mind on God?
There are two basic approaches. One is to have little reminders so that during pauses in your work, you can bring your mind back to God. Some people set their digital watches to go off every hour, and they stop momentarily to think of God. There's also a program called Stillness Buddy that's available on Ananda.org. Periodically a brief message appears on your computer, either from Paramhansa Yogananda or Swami Kriyananda. Other memory devices might be a picture of the Guru on your desk, or thinking of God whenever you take a sip of water. During pauses in your work, you can always be inwardly chanting or talking to God.
Using auditory or visual cues to remind us to think about God and make the connection are very important. But a deeper aspect of keeping the mind on God is to feel that you are in God's presence while you are working. If you work in a retail store, you can relate to the customers as God. This world is made of God's consciousness and God is embedded in the subatomic particles. Bringing that awareness to your work will dramatically change the way you relate to others. If you find it difficult to relate to certain people as God, try at the very least, to see them as souls who are evolving and moving toward ultimate bliss, just as you are.
2. Consciously serve as a channel for the Divine.
An important aspect of seeing your work as service is to see everything you do as an opportunity to share love, blessings and joy. Swami Kriyananda told of the time he and another monk were nailing studs into the beams for a temple under construction. His brother monk took great care to place the nails evenly and to hit each one correctly. Since the beams would be covered with sheet-rock, someone asked him, "Why are you giving so much attention to nailing these studs? No one's going to see them." The man, who was a very deep devotee, said, "God will see them."
Not only was the man remembering God when he worked, he was also consciously putting God's blessings into every aspect of the job he had been given. Whatever you are doing, try to feel that you are a channel for divine consciousness. If you're answering e-mails, don't do it mechanically. A good practice is to take a moment and consciously feel that you are sending blessings along with the message. In everything you do, pray, "God, guide me that I might be Your channel."
This world very much needs God's blessings, and the practice of consciously serving as a channel for the Divine is another way work becomes service.
3. Be calmly active and actively calm.
There's a story about Yogananda when he was late for a lecture and was running to the lecture hall. One of his disciples said, "Don't be nervous, Master." Yogananda stopped and said, "I'm not nervous, But not to run when you're late is to be lazy!" He was saying that you can put a lot of energy into what you are doing, but that doesn't mean you have to be nervous and agitated. To be calmly active is an especially important goal for daily life.
It's important also to take a pause every now and then and check your body. "Are your shoulders tense? Is your stomach tense? Are you worried? If so, do some deep breathing, or, if you do yoga postures, do a few stretches. If you know the energization exercises, go outside and do a few rounds of double breathing.
A friend of ours was a nurse in the emergency room of a hospital. She would meditate each morning before she went to work. At lunchtime, she would meditate in her car in the parking lot because it was the only place where she could be alone. Other emergency room staff members would ask her, "How is it that you're so calm all the time?" She would say, "It's because I meditate."
The key here is to build in little breaks for you to relax and become centered again. When you come home from work, it's very important to have a short transition time. Take five minutes and breathe deeply. If possible take a short walk. Many people like to meditate before dinner, before the busyness of the evening activities.
There's a beautiful statement by Yogananda: "I feel God like a breath of bliss blowing through all the time." Try to work and interact with other people with this sense of bliss flowing through you. If you have difficult co-workers, try, when you interact with them,
to be centered and calm.
4. Work with concentration and absorption.
Another aspect of seeing your work as service is to do everything with concentration and absorption. Some years ago we were having a large Indian banquet at the Expanding Light and my [Devi's] job was to juice a large box of lemons, using a little hand juicer. Sitting alone at a table, I was completely focused on the task and enjoying it.
One of the Expanding Light guests walked by and, asked, "Can I help?" I said, "Sure." He went and got a juicer, bowl, and box of lemons and began juicing the lemons. At one point he began watching me, trying to understand why I was enjoying the task and he wasn't. He said, "I think your juicer is better than mine." I said, "Let's trade." We traded juicers and continued with our work. After a little while, he said, "I think your lemons are better than mine." I said, "Fine, let's trade lemons." So we traded boxes of lemons. After a few minutes, he said, "I think I have to go and do something else," and he left.
The task was drudgery for him but not for me because my mind was absorbed in the task. When you work with concentration and absorption, activity becomes a kind of meditation. Then, when it's time to meditate, your mind is already focused and interiorized.
5. Prioritize your daily activities.
To establish the right balance between your work and your spiritual life, it is very important to prioritize your daily activities. The first priority should be to meditate when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed at night. Taking a calmer, more expanded consciousness into sleep will make your sleep more restful and uplifting. You should also build in blocks of time during the week and month for longer meditations. These daily meditations and periodic longer meditations should be your first priority. Having a schedule will make it easier to do.
Try not to read emails before you meditate. Checking emails before you meditate can ruin your meditation, especially if the email brings up a problem or includes some negativity. Meditation is the mind deeply focused on God or one of His aspects. You can't think about emails and think about God at the same time.
Yogananda said that we should also leave time for reading, study, perhaps for writing in a journal, and for laughter and fun. It's important to leave time for the right kind of relaxation: a walk in nature; an uplifting movie or book; uplifting and relaxing times with friends. For some people, finding hobbies that enable them to be alone and to relax deeply is also very important.
At the end of your work day, try not to take your work home with you. Consciously say a prayer: "Lord, I am done now with this day of service. I am withdrawing my mind and my involvement from it."
Everybody is on the spiritual path.
One time, a disciple of Yogananda asked, "Master, will I ever leave the spiritual path?" Yogananda replied, "How can you leave the spiritual path? Everybody in the world is on the spiritual path." The spiritual path is best described as an evolving or increasing awareness until we arrive at the point at which we actually perceive ourselves as part of the Divine.
From a July 13, 2011 webinar
The post Balancing Work and Spiritual Life appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
The post Cancer and the Guru's Grace appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
It was April, 2009. I was on the phone, fiddling with a button on my shirt when I felt a lump the size of robin's egg in the left upper chest. I thought, "Uh oh. I better call Peter," my doctor. Within ten minutes I was in his office down the road from Ananda Village where I live. Thirty minutes later, I was on my way to the imaging center at the local hospital.
"If I die, fine; if I don't, fine."
A song started playing in my head: "Thy Will," written by Swami Kriyananda to convey the spirit of Jesus Christ's complete submission to the will of God on the eve of his crucifixion. Inwardly I said to Paramhansa Yogananda, my Guru, "If I die, fine; if I don't, fine. But this is yours." I surrendered totally to what was happening. I have always known that my life was in God's hands and, when I remember that, I have no fear. During this entire process I was never afraid.
The atmosphere in the imaging center was heavy with fear. The nurses were obviously concerned on my behalf as I lay on the table while they conducted an ultrasound examination. Looking at the monitor, I could see many cysts; in both breasts there was more than one lump. I decided to break the tension. Feigning the excitement of an expectant mother looking at the image of her unborn child, I exclaimed, "Oh look, I can see its little hands and feet!" We all had a good laugh.
A few days a later, I received the results of the ultrasound: I had several types of breast cancer, not only in both breasts but also in the lymph nodes. The surgery could not be scheduled until June, two months later. Obviously, I wanted the cancer removed as soon as possible, but I had no choice but to wait. I used the next two months to prepare mentally for loss of the two breasts and to discuss with friends in the Ananda community, who had offered to help in whatever I needed, the kinds of things they could do before and after surgery. No words can express the gratitude I feel for the love and support I received. Without it, my experience would have been very different.
Within a few days of receiving the news of cancer, I had a dream. I was standing at the back of a church while Paramhansa Yogananda was in the final stages of giving a Sunday service. After the service ended and the church emptied out, I remained planted firmly in the back of the empty church while Yogananda came striding down the aisle to where I was standing. I fell to my knees and put my forehead on his feet, somehow managing to notice that he was wearing velvet slippers. As I lifted my head, he placed his hand on the top my head in blessing and held it there for a long time. I woke up knowing beyond any possibility of doubt that Yogananda would be with me always.
Post-surgery complications and decisions
The surgery was an eight-hour bilateral mastectomy plus reconstruction. I was in the hospital for three days. Two days after coming home, I experienced an extreme pain in my lung, as though someone had plunged a knife in my back. The next day, at my post-operation hospital check-up, I learned that the pain was caused by a blood clot in my lung. Suddenly, I was also feeling a sharp pain behind my knee, caused by a huge blood clot in my leg.
The blood clot in my leg was extremely dangerous, and landed me in the hospital's intensive care unit for a week, while hospital personnel worked on thinning my blood. The doctors said I could have died any minute, but I was never worried for myself, only for my husband, mom, and dear friends who were very concerned. Through it all, I knew I would be fine.
A few weeks after the cancer surgery, the doctors did a PET scan to determine if there was cancer anywhere else in my body. They found a spot on my ovary. In July 2009, one month after the double mastectomy, I had a hysterectomy.
I had to choose between using alternative (natural) methods of cancer treatment or undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, and I chose the latter. Why? Everyone I knew who had chosen alternative methods had not survived, even if they later underwent chemotherapy. Because I had a strong body, I believed I could handle the ravages of chemotherapy and radiation.
The guru becomes my constant companion
Chemotherapy started in July 2009 and continued once a week for six months. As I received eight different chemicals designed to kill the multiple cancers, I watched my mental and physical faculties diminish. Mentally, chemotherapy can temporarily destroy the brain's ability to function normally. It becomes difficult if not impossible to think or concentrate. People who have received chemotherapy refer to this condition as "chemo brain."
The other well-known side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, fatigue, and loss of hair. I experienced non-stop nausea for six months. In addition, there was extreme fatigue – crippling fatigue. For two days after a treatment, all I could do was sleep. And let's not forget that all the hair on one's body falls out. I was bald as a cue ball. The start of thirty days of radiation in February 2010 brought equally painful side effects.
Even though I had never felt worse in my life, I was never so blissful. As the chemotherapy progressed, I began to hear AUM almost constantly — sometimes very quietly, at other times so loudly that at first I did not know what the sound was.
I felt Paramhansa Yogananda's presence constantly throughout the seven-month treatment process. Every day I felt comforted and deeply loved. I had never doubted that I belonged to him, but never was that fact as tangible as during this period. His presence was so real that I felt more in God's world than in this one. I believe the many prayers I was receiving, and especially the blessings of Swami Kriyananda, who was praying for me, magnified the experience. I thought this experience of basking joyfully in the Guru's presence, day after day, would never end.
The road to recovery: slogging through the mud
When it was time to return to a normal life, I tried to jumpstart my life in my usual manner, with lots of energy and gusto, but it seemed as though my brain had been completely rewired. Communication between brain and physical body was not flowing. Thinking and doing felt like slogging through mud. I had to work hard to concentrate and pay attention. Not only did I have to take things more slowly, I became upset more easily.
Before becoming involved with Ananda, I had worked in the corporate world on a managerial level. Even at Ananda Village I had been drawn into similar work. Before developing cancer, I was manager of The Expanding Light guest retreat at Ananda Village, one of the largest departments at the Village.
I was now given a job in marketing, but my level of functioning was lower than what was needed, and I was let go. Without a job, I had no way to serve others and little contact with other devotees. Old friends had moved on and, except for my Guru and my husband, I felt completely abandoned.
Moving into uncharted territory
The phrase, "The old way doesn't work anymore" became my new reality. No longer could I power my way through life. I had to listen to the Guru's inner guidance and ask, "What is trying to happen here?" Sometimes my questions were more like accusations: "What the 'bleep' happened to me?!" It had been easier for me to accept the cancer than the aftermath, but railing against the circumstances of my new life was not productive.
I knew from my cancer experience that my Guru loved me and was with me always. If so, why would he abandon me after the recovery? Could it be that he was guiding me toward those activities that would continue the deepening of my attunement that occurred during the cancer treatment process? My new challenge was to let go and listen. But how does someone who has long considered herself to be "the doer" totally embrace the truth that "everything comes from God?" For me, this was unchartered territory.
Since I had a knack for cutting and styling hair, I enrolled in cosmetology school and commuted a total of three hours a day for over a year. I received my cosmetology license and soon had a steady flow of customers from Ananda Village, including guests at the Expanding Light.
Life is simpler now.
Perhaps it took the cancer and its aftermath to soften me enough to be receptive to the Guru's grace in whatever form it comes. No longer am I the high-powered executive type. I now cut and style hair and, several days a week, assist my mother who lives in Reno, Nevada. These are both serviceful, nurturing activities.
I have time for a spiritual life, and to give love and support to my husband and friends. I can now see that, through the Guru's grace, I was taken out of management and marketing and placed in activities more conducive to the blossoming of the nurturing, loving side of my nature.
Life is simpler now. When I feel it becoming too complicated I stop and rest in my heart. In times of complete stillness, I feel the bliss of God and Guru and know that I am being gently guided back to my home in the Infinite Oneness.
Jivani Ghirla, a longtime Ananda member, is married and lives at Ananda Village, Nevada City, California.
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The post The Highly Vulnerable Teenage Brain appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
PVH: Yes. Our brain is developing all through our childhood years, going through very specific changes. But then at puberty, around age 12, it enters a second phase during which there are many changes specific to adolescence and beyond. In nearly everyone, this phase is complete around age 25. By then, the brain functions like an adult brain.
Q: What changes occur during adolescence?
PVH: The prefrontal lobes, a key area of the brain relating to will power, organization, concentration, mood, and the ability to get along with other people, decrease in size and become less efficient for a while. What happens is a bit like pruning rosebushes in February to prepare for a new burst of growth in the spring.
During adolescence, our brain goes through a similar pruning. It begins to get rid of whatever we no longer need now that we are heading into adulthood and a much higher level of neurological functioning. The neurological challenges we had to resolve as a child are behind us, and it's time to move on to adult challenges. Thus, the brain shrinks down to prepare for the explosion in cellular growth and function needed to become a full adult brain.
Q: You said that the prefrontal lobes are less efficient for a while? How is this decreased efficiency expressed?
PVH: Impulse control can be more of a problem for teens than for some 10-year-old children. Teens sometimes find that their ability to do complex things, and to be organized and stay focused, gets worse for a while. A 12-year-old boy may be a great student, but at age 14, he may be struggling. These new deficits are often caused by the changes the brain is undergoing. This process can be as difficult for teens as for their families because their behavior may not be what the teens want, but they have difficulty controlling it.
Q: Why, all of a sudden, are the neurological changes of adolescence being discussed in the scientific literature?
PVH: Until recently, we had little understanding of the specific neurological changes that occur during adolescence because we didn't have the right kind of imaging technology. With the new technology, we can actually see how the brain changes over time.
Q: Does this new understanding of adolescent brain development explain some of the aberrations in adolescent behavior?
PVH: Yes. People have long attributed these aberrations to raging hormones but the hormonal surge is a modest factor. The biggest factor is the revolutionary reorganization the brain undergoes during adolescence.
Q: Does our new knowledge explain why a love of thrill and openness to risk-taking are more common during the adolescent years?
PVH: Yes. A lot of risk-taking behavior is neurological. The brain is being reshaped in such a way that risk-taking or doing thrilling things releases dopamine, the risk-reward neurochemical, in the brain. We call it the "gambler's neurochemistry." People will engage in the risky activity of gambling in order to experience an incredible high when they're successful. Even in anticipation of success at gambling there's a surge in their brain's dopamine levels, which we can see when we look at their brain chemistry.
These dopamine surges, which teens never experienced as younger children, "encourage" them to take more risks. As younger children they might have been very content playing with their action army figures or their dolls.
Q: Is adolescent brain development a linear process?
PVH: No. It is very up and down. That's why in any given year, an adolescent might start behaving like an idiot even though he knows better. A year later, whatever triggered that behavior might no longer be a catalyst. Different things take on importance in different years.
Q: Will this new scientific knowledge enable society to view adolescence differently, and not as an aberrant period as is commonly assumed?
PVH: It should certainly help. What previously might have been viewed as aberrant behavior is often normal behavior for an adolescent.
Q: What is our obligation as adult members of society concerning the challenges adolescents face during this period?
PVH: First, we need to understand that the estimated end of this neurological adolescent phase is as late as age 25, which happens to be the age at which car rental companies will rent to young people. Second, there's an escalating increase in the ways adolescents can do irreversible damage to their brains and nervous systems, and we need to know how to protect them from this danger. The use of marijuana and certain new technologies is very common in high schools. Both of these have negative effects on the developing adolescent brain.
Q: Taking these up one at a time: how are new technologies harmful to the developing adolescent brain?
PVH: Nowadays, it's not unusual for teenage boys, by the time they enter their 20s, to have spent 10,000 hours playing video games on their computer. Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book, Outliers, that the brain needs to put 10,000 hours into an activity (such as learning a musical instrument) in order to master it neurologically. Many teenage boys are thus putting out a master level of energy and neurological patterning that is not helpful to their brains.
A study I read asks the question: "Is there such a thing as a technology addiction or internet addiction?" I think most physicians today would say: yes. Adolescents can become so dependent on the new technology that being deprived of it gives rise to the same level of agitation, anxiety, or depression that a smoker or cocaine user experiences when suddenly deprived of cigarettes or cocaine. When the technology is restored, their dopamine gets re-activated exactly as it would in a smoker or cocaine user.
So, yes, I think there is such a thing as internet or technology addiction. Controlling it comes down to families setting limits.
Q: Are any other problems caused by over-exposure to computer-related technology?
PVH: Yes. Nowadays many teenagers have mobile phones or tablets, and they sleep with them. They are thus exposed to wavelengths of light that have harmful effects on brain function and nervous system development.
Exposure to light during the night, especially of the blue light variety emitted by computer screens, smartphones, and tablets, prevents the release of melatonin, an important neurochemical hormone associated with sleep. A surprising number of teens will wake up two or three times a night and text their friends in the middle of the night.
The other risk for teens is that they are not getting enough sleep compared to 30-40 years ago when sleeping nine or more hours was not as difficult to do. Now it's very difficult because of these electronic devices that they can use all night. Recent research shows that teens need to sleep at least nine or more hours to support their developing brains.
I'd also like to mention that addiction to the electronic devices can become socially isolating for teens at a time when it's very important for them to be interacting with their peers. Suddenly they have the option of being totally self-satisfied, completely alone. They may even be happier in their chat room because there's no social pressure, but that social pressure of human interaction is actually important!
Q: You mentioned that the use of drugs is also harmful to the adolescent brain?
PVH: Yes, as significant as technology addiction is, as a physician and neuroscientist, I'm much more concerned about the effects of marijuana and alcohol on the adolescent brain. There can be permanent harmful effects that persist throughout adulthood from even casual drug use.
Q: What kind of harmful effects?
PVH: They include lowered cognitive function, including memory and concentration; poor impulse control and anger management; and more of a tendency toward anxiety and depression. Even casual use seems to trigger these problems. Of course, the effects are much greater when adolescents use these substances regularly for years.
Q: Does occasional alcohol or marijuana use by mature adults produce similar effects?
PVH: The adolescent brain is affected differently by alcohol and marijuana than an adult brain. None of this is harmless, even to adults, but there aren't as many permanent effects on cognitive function as are caused by even casual use in these younger years.
From the perspective of a neuroscientist, the number of negative changes that can occur to the adolescent brain from those two substances particularly is deeply disturbing. Of all illicit substances, those two are potentially the most dangerous, in part because they are widely available. I've been most disturbed by studies on marijuana use in adolescence. It's surprising how even a very limited use of marijuana can harm the brain's development in terms of memory and emotional control. Repeated exposure worsens the harm.
Q: At what age does this risk decrease?
PVH: At age 25, the brain has completely finished this critical period of development and is much more resilient to the neurological onslaught of something like alcohol or marijuana. Also risk-taking behavior has calmed down a bit, and there's less chance of people using marijuana or alcohol to excess.
Q: Would teaching meditation to teens offset the tendency to use alcohol or marijuana?
PVH: Yes. Once children enter puberty, meditation can be very helpful with the kinds of challenges they face and either prevent or limit the kind of brain damage that can occur.
Q: How would meditation help?
PVH: Meditation would help curb risk-taking behaviors and improve their ability to control their emotions. Meditation would also have beneficial effects on the growth and development of their prefrontal lobes, benefits that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Q: Would you say, then, that meditation offsets some of the harmful effects of adolescent brain changes on prefrontal lobe functioning?
PVH: Yes, it does. Adolescence is also a time of increased socialization for adolescents, particularly with their peers. The prefrontal lobes are involved with one's ability to interact harmoniously with other people. By learning to meditate, teens become better able to get along with other people in general, not only with their peers.
Peter Van Houten lives at Ananda Village and is the founder and Medical Director of Sierra Family Medical Clinic near Ananda Village. He frequently writes and lectures on the brain and other "yoga and science" topics.
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The post Finding a Way to Harmony appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
Kriyananda's counsel points the way forward for one of the great challenges in any devotee's spiritual life—how to respond to negativity, especially when the dark energy seems to have made you its particular target. The high path to overcoming inharmony is not to be trod without effort; there will be setbacks, reversals, even falls. But the journey can be carried through to its blissful conclusion.
Relax away from the turbulence
One way of overcoming—I think of it as the way of the turtle—is to relax away from the turbulence on the water's surface, to dive deep into the stillness of the lake itself. Returning to the surface, one may well find the little tempest blown over and the water again calm and unruffled.
Thirty years ago I shared an office with a fellow devotee, a friend of many years. My friend was intensely interested in and eager to share his enthusiasm for the (still relatively new) world of computers. Repeatedly he tried to draw me into his own delight with these technological marvels. Then, as now, I preferred pen and paper, and simply could not summon up more than a polite grunt at his proselytizing exuberance.
One day, just before noon, he lost all patience with my, as he perceived it, intransigence, and began to upbraid me with increasing intensity until he was actually yelling at me. Stunned and at a loss how to respond, I began inwardly praying to my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, for help. At once I felt an overwhelming desire to meditate. Somehow I managed to say, "I can't talk now. It's noon, and I'm going to meditate."
Just outside the office room was a wooden deck overlooking a canyon leading down to the Yuba River, a subdued roar sounding in the distance. The torrent of words followed me onto the deck, and continued after I had sat to meditate.
Never seek to justify or defend yourself.
I had no wish, or inner compulsion, to argue; nor had I any idea what to do to restore harmony. The impasse drove me inward to find a place of harmony deeper than the vituperative attack on my character swirling around and above me.
Continuing to pray, I found myself drawn into a deep, inner stillness and silence. The angry voice receded into a distant murmur, then disappeared. An hour passed. Coming out of meditation I looked around—all quiet in the office.
Looking within at my way of responding, I could see lessons ahead—openness to new ideas and ways of doing things; placing other's feelings above my own habit patterns; above all, learning to project a force field of harmony and good will strong enough to transmute misunderstanding into a deeper level of friendship.
This particular friendship did indeed survive, and came in time to be marked by mutual respect, appreciation, and open-hearted support each for the other. Describing seekers deeply committed to the spiritual path, Kriyananda writes that they, "never seek to justify or defend themselves, but accept all judgment by others dispassionately, as experiences given them by God for their own highest good."
"Show me how to respond for the best."
Quite recently the Divine Playwright thrust a farcical but wonderfully instructive and encouraging scenario into my workday. Grading a back country road and adjacent parking area with a tractor, I was covered with dust, which also billowed about the work in progress, making me almost invisible behind grimy dust mask, goggles, bandanna, and metal helmet. Dimly I perceived a low-slung sports car approaching in a purposeful manner. I could feel righteous indignation and a great many words of complaint and reproof building within the driver.
The door opened. Out stepped someone who had formerly lived in the community, then moved nearby. I knew her well as a person whose intelligent and articulate mind focused readily on what she perceived as unfairness and mistreatment. Her acrimonious relationship with her neighbors had turned her own immediate neighborhood into a hotbed of contention over borders and rights of way.
Here she came, clearly intending to take me to task. I could feel her thoughts pushing toward me—her right of way; drainage ditches so deep that her sports car scraped bottom. Inwardly I prayed to Yogananda, "Show me how to respond for the best." At once my apprehension gave way to a feeling of affection for someone I now perceived as a dear old friend, but tortured by resentment and bitterness.
A glimpse of the right attitude
Behind my grubby dust mask a huge, happy smile formed on my face. My head began nodding in friendly fashion, like a good-natured puppy wagging its tail, hoping to make friends with a new playmate. The roar of the tractor engine and my earplugs had already reduced her tirade to a quiet muttering.
Without my volition, my right foot gradually increased its pressure on the accelerator. The noise of the tractor engine kept intensifying until, although my friend's arms continued to wave expressively and her mouth to work, her voice no longer reached my hearing. At the same time, I could see her face gradually relax, her eyes soften, and her mouth form something close to a smile. My foot pressure lessened just in time to hear her final words: "Thank you!" She climbed back into her Porsche and drove peacefully away. I felt I'd made a new friend.
What had happened? Somehow, by Yogananda's grace, all that roaring and swirling dust had precisely countered and balanced her negative energy, neutralized it, and, at least for the moment, freed up the hurt little girl inside to at least try to smile. Harmony was restored. Perhaps my experience was Yogananda's way of giving me a glimpse of the right attitude toward the roiling confusion of the human scene.
The way of a true yogi
Swami Kriyananda himself, in dedicating his life to spreading the light of Yogananda's teachings, came under attack again and again. Always he responded in the highest way, the way of a true yogi.
More than thirty years ago, I was present in Kriyananda's dome when a couple came to see him. I could feel a dark cloud enter with them. Graciously Kriyananda escorted them to the screened-off part of the dome that then served as his office. I could not hear the actual words spoken, but could all too clearly feel their vibration—malice, cruelty, arrogance. I was deeply shocked. It was inconceivable to me that anyone could direct such dark energy toward such a great soul.
The one-sided tirade went on for an hour. When the couple reappeared, my impression of the man was of someone swollen with a kind of self-congratulatory egotism. The wife followed admiringly, as though proud of her man for his brave stand. Behind them came Kriyananda, perfectly calm, showing his maligners out with old world grace and courtesy, as though they had honored him with their visit.
As Kriyananda walked past me, he spoke to the couple with complete kindness, thanking them for coming, wishing them well. At the same time, he turned toward me a gaze of fathomless tenderness, compassion, and love. His whole concern was for my suffering, so evident in the shock written on my face. Never will I forget his utterly selfless kindness. Because true renunciates, Kriyananda writes, "are always happy in themselves, they are impervious to insults, outer suffering, failure, defeat, or disaster. They strive to live the ideal that Paramhansa Yogananda voiced when he said, 'you should be able to stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds.'"
"Make me an instrument of Thy peace."
Whatever success I have had in responding well to negative energy has come by turning in sincere prayer to Yogananda, feeling his guidance, and following it—the way of the turtle, the way of the friendly puppy, or the way of the true yogi, Kriyananda's way—letting the outer world play out its dramas while himself remaining perfectly centered in the Self, allowing only the divine harmony and compassion to flow through.
Into my mind come the words of St. Francis, who Paramhansa Yogananda called his patron saint: "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love…."
Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work. Before moving to Ananda Village in 1974, he taught English and Literature at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina.
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The post What Is Superconsciousness? appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
Swami Kriyananda often spoke of the epiphany that inspired him to devote his life to seeking God. Walking alone at night in Charleston, South Carolina, at the age of 21, he grappled with the question, "If there is a God, what must He be?" The answer followed shortly. "Well, what's making me ask this question? It's because I'm conscious. Furthermore, if God does exist, He must be asking it through me. Therefore, God must be consciousness!"
Kriyananda's reflections may seem like statements of simple logic. His reasoning process was at work, certainly, but it was his intuition, truly a memory divine, that had been awakened. For the first time, after seemingly long years of seeking truth, he experienced a conscious, mature awareness of his connection with the greater consciousness that pervades the universe, with superconsciousness.
The evening of Kriyananda's epiphany took place in 1947. Within months, he discovered the spiritual path and became a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. Thus began a life of earnest meditation practice and dedication to sharing the spiritual teachings he received from his Guru.
Swami Kriyananda, through his level of spiritual advancement, soon regularly abided in deep states of meditation, and brought the fruits of divine contact into his daily life. His direct experiences of superconsciousness supply the foundation for Awaken to Superconsciousness, and are the source of guidance and inspiration that readers can draw upon to uplift themselves to the same heights.
Information combined with direct experience
Awaken to Superconsciousness is a comprehensive guide to meditation, spirituality and consciousness, the latter presented as the fundamental reality of existence. These are vast subjects to explore, yet Swami Kriyananda presents them in ways that are practical as well as profound. The book is written in three parts: "Divine Memory," "The Process," and "Superconscious Living." It offers a progression to the reader, inviting him to awaken an inner understanding of the depths of his own consciousness, and then to put that understanding into practice, until it becomes a living part of his daily reality.
Throughout the book, Kriyananda weaves together information and direct experience. Each chapter ends with a meditation exercise that includes helpful elements of visualization. Drawn from Kriyananda's direct experience and intuitive insights, these exercises enable readers to experience their own potential for expanding their awareness.
For example, here is the exercise from the chapter "Stilling the Waves," in which he introduces the importance of developing one's feeling nature:
Visualize your heart's feelings as a boundless lake. Strive to see reflected in that lake the full moon in the sky above. Ripples in the lake's surface, and deeper vortices churning below its surface, disturb that reflection. This agitation is due to disturbances in your heart's feelings, past as well as present.
Calm that movement—not by suppressing it, but by seeking at the center of every ripple and vortex the undistorted reflection of the moon above.
You do not have to work to develop divine love. The calmer your lake of feeling, the more clearly and spontaneously will love and devotion appear, reflected, in the heart.
Love is the very essence of reality.
What is superconsciousness?
Kriyananda calls superconsciousness the "central reality," an absolute state of awareness that exists beyond all creation. Yet, it is simultaneously all-pervading throughout creation. Paramhansa Yogananda compared it to an infinite ocean of awareness, composed of the countless waves of creation, which must include, of course, our seemingly finite selves.
Clearly, attaining this level of consciousness is a lofty and challenging proposition, but not beyond our reach. We can gradually expand our awareness through meditation and by leading a spiritual life, until we reach this final goal. We can make that goal increasingly accessible by deepening our understanding of our inner selves.
Who should read this book?
I would recommend Awaken to Superconsciousness to anyone open to the insights it presents, but Swami Kriyananda had a few particular audiences in mind when writing it: 1) the beginning meditator who wants a practical system based on experience, rather than scholarship; 2) more experienced meditators, to bring them to a new and deeper level in their practice of meditation; 3) those who are on a spiritual path but don't realize the importance of direct spiritual experience; 4) people who, without necessarily realizing it, are seeking deeper meaning in life; and finally, 5) those who, while not ready to take up meditation, desire a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of consciousness.
The topics in Awaken to Superconsciousness include:
-The different levels of human consciousness
-The relationship between consciousness and energy.
-The anatomy of meditation, and understanding our center as our spine
-Our feeling nature and its higher octave of intuition
-The importance of listening during meditation
-The right use of prayer
-The different paths of yoga
-Reincarnation and the natural evolution of human consciousness
-The laws of karma
-Will power and concentration
-Spiritual magnetism
-Chanting and affirmations
-How to receive intuitive guidance
Superconscious living
Superconsciousness is attainable by all of us. Swami Kriyananda has shared with us his example of one who lived most of his adult life in this state of consciousness. Through a lifetime of meditation and spiritual practice, he learned how to touch the heart of creation, and was thus able to express the love, joy and wisdom, to name just a few qualities, that he experienced in their purest form.
Kriyananda's reality can become our reality. What he gave to the world, we can also give. Here are a few of his suggestions on how to do so:
Be joyful in meditation. Be peaceful. Bless all the world with your love. And, even walking down a city street, send divine love and blessings to everyone you pass. You'll be surprised how many strangers treat you as a friend.
Brahmachari Prashad is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda and lives in the monastery at Ananda Village. He serves as a web developer for Ananda's websites and enjoys sharing Swami Kriyananda's consciousness through his music.
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The post Reflections on Creativity appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
I buried dead disappointments in the cemeteries of yesterday. Today I will plow the garden of life with my new creative efforts. Therein I will sow seeds of wisdom, health, prosperity, and happiness. I will water them with self-confidence and faith, and will wait for the Divine to give me my much-needed harvest.
If I reap not the harvest, I will be thankful for the satisfaction of having tried my best, and I will thank God that I am not crippled, but able to try again and again until with His help I do succeed. I will thank Him when I succeed in fulfilling my heart's worthy desire.
Metaphysical Meditations, 1932.
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A Simple Operation
"Why did you run out of the operating room?" a hospital administrator asked a nervous patient.
"The patient replied, "Because the nurse said, 'Don't be so jittery, an appendectomy is a simple operation."
"So?" said the administrator.
"She was talking to the doctor!" the patient explained.
No Rest for the Weary
A man had been driving all night and by morning was still far from his destination. He decided to stop at the next city he came to, and park somewhere quiet to get an hour or two of sleep. As luck would have it, the quiet place he chose happened to be on one of the city's major jogging routes. No sooner had he settled back to snooze when there came a knocking on his window. He looked out and saw a jogger running in place.
"Excuse me, sir," the jogger said, "do you have the time?" The man looked at the car clock and answered, "8:15." The jogger said thanks and left. The man settled back again, and was just dozing off when there was another knock on the window and another jogger.
"Excuse me, sir, do you have the time?"
The jogger said thanks and left. Now the man could see other joggers passing by and he knew it was only a matter of time before another one disturbed him. To avoid the problem, he got out a pen and paper and put a sign in his window saying, "I do not know the time!" Once again he settled back to sleep. He was just dozing off when there was another knock on the window.
"Sir, sir? It's 8:45!"
What Marks the Spot?
Harry and Larry rented a rowboat for a day of fishing on the lake.
Harry: "Boy, we're doing great! Let's mark the spot so we can come back here again."
Larry: "I already did. See this "X" I drew on the bottom of the boat?"
Harry: "You idiot! What if we don't get this boat tomorrow?"
From Genesis to Revelations
When I was a young minister, a funeral director asked me to hold a graveside service for a homeless man with no family or friends. The funeral was to be at a cemetery way out in the country. This was a new cemetery and this man was the first to be laid to rest there.
I was not familiar with the area and became lost. Being a typical man, I did not ask for directions. I finally found the cemetery about an hour late. The backhoe was there and the crew was eating their lunch. The hearse was nowhere to be seen.
I apologized to the workers for being late. As I looked into the open grave, I saw the vault lid already in place. I told the workers I would not keep them long, but that this was the proper thing to do. The workers, still eating their lunch, gathered around the opening. I was young and enthusiastic and poured out my heart and soul as I preached. The workers joined in with, "Praise the Lord," "Amen," and "Glory!" I got so into the service that I preached and preached, from Genesis to Revelations.
When the service was over, I said a prayer and walked to my car. As I opened the door, I heard one of the workers say, "I never saw anything like that before and I've been putting in septic systems for twenty years."
Rude Neighbors
Katie: "My neighbors are impossible! They must've had a fight last night — they were banging on the walls until three in the morning."
Tim: "I guess it kept you awake?"
Katie: "I was up late anyway practicing my trombone!"
Flight Attendant Humor
Occasionally, airline attendants make an effort to make the "in-flight safety lecture" and other announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are a few real examples that have been heard or reported:
1. "Your seat cushions can be used for flotation and in the event of an emergency water landing, please take them with our compliments."
2. "As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."
3. "Last one off the plane must clean it."
4. A flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."
The Parachute
Farmer: "Say, you're a might brave guy to come down in a parachute in the middle of a hurricane."
Stranger: "I didn't come down in a parachute! I went up in a tent!"
To Sue or Not to Sue?
A Charlotte, NC man having purchased a case of very rare, very expensive cigars insured them against fire among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of cigars and without having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the man stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The man sued….and won.
In delivering the ruling the judge, agreeing that the claim was frivolous, stated nevertheless that the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure against fire, without defining what it considered to be "unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid the man $15,000 for the rare cigars he lost in "the fires."
After the man cashed the check, however, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson. Using the man's own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.
No Fishing
Albert had just read a book on ice fishing, and was eager to try it. He followed the book's instructions carefully and had just finished cutting a hole in the ice when a voice out of nowhere boomed, "There are no fish here!"
"God, is that you?" asked Albert, his voice trembling.
"No," boomed the answer. "It's the rink manager!"
The post Humor: A Smile a Day appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
The post Book and Movie Recommendations appeared first on Clarity Magazine.]]>
The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System
by James Rickards
The premise of this book is fairly straight forward: The current monetary system is unsustainable and is bound to collapse. Rickard's analysis of causes can be boiled down to these four: debt, structural problems in the world economy, derivatives, and out-of-control increases in the money supply. According to Rickards, it's only a question of time.
Monetary collapse can sound quite alarmist to some. But as Rickards points out, it is not as uncommon as people tend to think. In the past century alone, the international monetary system changed three times; the first after WWI, the second after WWII (Bretton-Woods agreement), the third was in 1971 after Nixon closed the gold window. Rickards offers a bracing analysis of the issues and shows why money itself is now at risk and what we can do to protect ourselves.
James G. Rickards is an American lawyer and senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners LLC, a merchant bank based in New York City.
Publisher: Portfolio; hard cover edition (April 8, 2014)
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
by Atul Gawande
In this best-selling book, Atul Gawande, a surgeon and public-health researcher, addresses end-of-life care, and how we're getting it wrong, both within the medical establishment and in our families. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, confine patients to railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, and check for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.
Atul Gawande argues that we should focus less on prolonging life and more on making it meaningful. He offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified. A deeply affecting, urgently important book–one not just about dying and the limits of medicine but about living to the last with autonomy, dignity, and joy.
Atul Gawande MD, MPH is an American surgeon, author, and public health researcher.
Publisher: Metropolitan Books; first edition (October 7, 2014)
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
by Cokie Roberts
This book, which covers the earliest beginnings of the United States (1740-1797), is an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families and their country was just as crucial to the forging of the nation as the rebellion that established it.
Drawing upon their personal correspondence, letters, and private journals, Roberts highlights the contributions made by such exceptional women as Abigail Adams and Martha Washington, Deborah Read Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, Mercy Otis Warren, Sarah Livingston Jay, and many others who, working behind-the-scenes, managed property, raised their children, and served in countless ways in support of the cause of liberty.
Cokie Roberts is an American journalist and author, and a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio.
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (February 15, 2005)
The Wright Brothers
by David McCullough
In this thrilling, easy-to-read book, master historian David McCullough tells the dramatic behind-the-scenes story of the Wright Brothers, two unknown bicycle mechanics, who ushered in the age of flight. Bicycle shop owners by day, Wilbur and Orville taught themselves flight theory. Soon realizing that theory was no match for practical testing, they repeatedly risked life and limb in pursuit of their goal.
Based upon family correspondence, private diaries, notebooks, and more than a thousand letters, McCullough tells the human side of the Wright Brothers' story, including the little-known contributions of their sister, Katharine, without whom things might have turned out differently for them.
David McCullough, an American historian, is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition (May 5, 2015)
The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults
by Frances E. Jensen, MD
In this groundbreaking book, Frances Jensen, MD, an internationally respected neurologist—and mother of two boys—offers a revolutionary look at the science of the adolescent brain. She explains why teenagers can be especially impulsive, moody and not very good at responsible decision-making. Drawing on her years of research and clinical experience, she not only dispels commonly held myths about the adolescent years, but offers practical advice for both parents and teenagers on learning, multitasking, stress and memory, sleep, addiction, and decision-making.
The Teenage Brain is a valuable resource for parents, youth workers, educators, and anyone involved with teens in any way.
Frances E. Jensen, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She lectures widely on the subject of adolescent brain development.
Publisher: Harper (January 6, 2015)
The Parent Trap, 1998
This romantic comedy is about identical twins, Hallie Parker and Annie James. They were separated at birth by their parents' divorce and grew up unaware of each other's existence—Hallie in California with her dad; Annie in London with her mother. By coincidence the twins meet at the same all-girls summer camp in Maine 11 years later.
Much to their amazement and surprise, they discover that not only were they born on the same day but that they are, in fact, sisters. Eager to meet their respective parents, the girls devise a scheme to switch places and ultimately, reunite their mom and dad. The Parent Trap, a wonderfully entertaining feel-good movie for the whole family, was a critical and financial success.
Available: DVD; Rated PG
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 1988
This American comedy film, set on the French Riviera, is about two con men, Lawrence Jamison (Michael Caine), a suave Continental who lives in luxury in the town of Beaumont-sur-Mer and Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) a brash young American upstart who wants to horn in on the action. Although they attempt to develop a working relationship, it becomes apparent that the town just isn't big enough for both of them.
The fun begins when they devise a winner-take-all competition to decide who will stay and who will go: The first to con 50,000 dollars out of a selected mark may remain; the other must leave town. Embarking on separate strategies, they target a newly-arrived, American soap heiress. The bet, which brings out the best and the worst in each of them, turns into a battle of wits and double-cross as they attempt to sabotage each other's efforts. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which ranks 85 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, is a buoyant, funny film with a clever twist at the end.
Available: DVD; Rated PG
The Goonies, 1985
This American adventure comedy film is about a group of pre-teens who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon. When a group of developers attempt to buy out their neighborhood and turn it into a golf course, the "Goonies" as they call themselves, take on the mission to raise enough money to save their homes. That's quite unlikely until they stumble upon an old Spanish map that leads them on a quest to unearth the long-lost treasure of One-Eyed Willie, a legendary 17th-century pirate.
But complications set in when they discover that the entrance to the cavern where the treasure is located is under the hideout of local gangsters whom they must outsmart in order to get to it. This beloved 1980s classic was nominated for best adventure motion picture.
Available: DVD; Rated PG
Get Low, 2009
In this film, Oscar winners Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek team up to tell the true story of Felix Bush, an irascible backwoods Tennessee hermit who, in 1938, planned to attend his own funeral while he was still alive. Gruff, confrontational, and ill-tempered, Felix had been the target of malicious rumors for over 40 years. But the death of an old friend inspired Felix to make plans of his own, and to set the record straight by requesting a "funeral party" for himself while he's still alive.
On the big day Felix reveals to everyone the long-held secrets of his past and exactly why he shunned society to lead a life of solitude in the deep woods. Get Low, a movie about guilt and redemption, is a poignant, moving film that you'll want to see again and again.
Available: DVD; Rated PG-13
The Man Who Knew Too Little, 1997
This American comedy/satire is about Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray), an American who gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity. In London to celebrate his birthday with his wealthy younger brother, Wally gets signed up for an audience-participation event which promises to treat the participant as a character in a crime drama. But an unfortunate case of mistaken identity leads him into a web of espionage in which he's mistaken for a real spy.
The clueless Wally is unaware that he's become involved in a plot to kill Russian dignitaries on the eve of signing an international peace agreement. To him it's all part of an elaborate theater performance with the people around him as actors. Recommended for the whole family!
Available: DVD; Rated PG
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Thunder Tiger Throttle/Brake Linkage Set, S3
This is a replacement throttle and brake linkage set for the Thunder Tiger EB4 S3 buggy. This includes all the parts for the throttle and brake linkage, includeing the spings, collets, set screws and small plastic pieces that attach to the servo horns.
This product was added to our catalog on December 28, 2004.
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Canoeing on the lake
Today Ruth and I took a canoe on the lake. We wanted to explore it more close to the coast. It was great fun apart from the burden on your shoulders. After an hour of paddling, our shoulders and forearms were worn out. We then had a relaxing afternoon by the pool, followed by a last supper at home before moving on to ...
Bellagio by lake and Como by road
... at a most inopportune moment. When we arrived in Como, even I needed a strong drink. Como was very busy with people out shopping. Lisa and Ruth found all the jewellery shops - we also frequented a few makeup and granita shops. We had a lovely afternoon wandering in the sun. We made it home for bourbon and Prosecco in the setting ...
Messing about on the lake.
We were looking forward to hiring a boat and experiencing lake Como from the lake. We went down to the local hire place in Ossuccio and hired a 40hp motorboat. It was very comfy with a foredeck to sunbathe and seats at the back and for the pilot. It was very easy to operate and we listened to a safety briefing and then off we went. The hire company had given us a map with suggested routes for our time in the lake. We decided to ...
Lazy day by the pool
Ok so today was the day off from the holiday. Lisa is still fighting a cold and we had planned to take it easy. I started my holiday book, caught up on Hell on Wheels a great American drama about building the railways from the east to the west. Very gritty but a good story. I decided to talk a walk locally ...
Lake Life!
Woke up after having an awful nights sleep. Our room was next to a vending machine and for some reason people were buying things from it all night. At one point I genuinely thought there was a hockey match going down in the hallway it was so noisy!
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We set off out of Milan - we were so pleased that we managed to get out of the city without going wrong once!! ...


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I enrolled in e-harmony at the suggestion of a friend, who was happy with the service at the time.
After looking at over 100 'matches', I did not find even one individual whom I would consider meeting at a Starbucks for a cup of coffee! I asked for a refund, and was told that I 'wasn't trying to find my mate'. I replied that I already had a full-time job, and that weeding out these losers took too much time. I was told to consider my 'search' as a second job!
Finally, both my friend and I began to get 'matches' that were absolutely creepy men, obviously looking for victims. Photos of a couple with the woman's eyes scratched out, comments about needing 'control' in relationships, anger towards women, and how these men had been 'betrayed' many, many times, and that they were only living to find their 'true love'. And on and on...
I again asked for a refund, stating the above, and was told that I really needed to 'try harder' to find my 'soul mate'. E-harmony stated that it 'respected the privacy' of the individuals mentioned above, but they 'would investigate', if I would tell them who they were. At that point, I told them they were scam artists, and that for my own safety, I was shutting down my site with them. However, they continue to bill me.
Stay away from e-harmony. You're better off at the local singles bar.


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HP Deskjet 6122 Driver Compatible with Windows 7 32-bit
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I need to find out how to update the driver for my HP Deskjet 6122. We upgraded to Windows 7 32-bit and the only instructions I can find show using a USB cable from the printer to the computer, and the HP Deskjet 6122 does not have a USB cable nor does it have anywhere to plub on in? Is there another way?
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