Tips Memilih Komputer Sebelum Membeli

Komputer memang sudah sangat dibutuhkan semua orang saat ini, mulai dari anak-anak hingga kakek nenek semuanya membutuhkan komputer namun masih banyak orang tidak memikirkan baik buruknya, kelebihan dan kekurangan apabila membeli komputer tanpa memikirkan manfaat dari komputer itu sendiri. Apalah artinya jika komputer yang kita beli begitu mahal harganya namun tidak bisa kita manfaatkan

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The Health Benefits of Incense.

Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression.

They found that the compound significantly affected areas in brain areas known to be involved in emotions as well as in nerve circuits that are affected by current anxiety and depression drugs.

James: I use incense to show my gratitude to Buddha for bringing us the Dharma but I also use it because I too have found it to be very relaxing, tranquil and thus conducive to meditation as now proven by science. I find it very rejuvenating to catch a scent of sweet smelling incense while concentrating upon my breath much like lying in a mountain meadow and taking in the smell of fresh flowers with eyes closed. And speaking of eyes closed, I have noticed that when I close my eyes in meditation that the scent of the incense stands out more in my mind. This is probably similar to how when some go blind that their other senses are heightened.

James: I have found too that incense helps me concentrate and focus my attention back to the present moment when I meditate as the incense burns throughout my sessions. This is because when I feel like my mind is doing intellectual somersaults I breath in and out for a bit and the scent brings me back to the present moment.

Also, the burning of incense helps to create a positive state of mind and helps condition the mind to associate the typical fragrance with a positive and calm mind.

James: For myself, Aloes wood reminds me of smells that I enjoyed in Africa, which was a very happy time in my life so when I burn it while meditating it helps me recognize happiness that is always present in each moment if I'm mindful enough. And Nag Champa reminds me of the Nepal-Tibet Imports store where I buy all of my incense and altar items. I always feel relaxed in that shop with all the nice smells, beautiful Buddha statues and the nice family that runs it.

Sandalwood is another favorite of mine and has been used by Buddhists, Hindus and others for 4,000 years. Its special calming effect has been used to treat anxiety and depression, and it acts as a mild sedative. It's one of my favorite incenses for those reasons but also for it's woody smell that reminds me of the woody smells of my favorite camping spot way up in the Rocky Mountains here in Colorado.

And smelling that woody smell reminds me that I am one with all things, which makes me feel small in a good way, in the sense of reducing my ego and just enjoying being no different than a sweet, woody scented pine tree. Trees are rooted deeply in the Earth and smelling that woody scent helps me feel rooted in the present moment and that there is much beauty and peace to be had in this world of suffering. It relaxes me because I have spent so many peaceful, happy days up in those mountains. It is one of my favorite places to meditate because of the fresh air, scents of sweet and woody pine trees and the crisp breeze that often blows through the area.

However, because of it being smoke I try and keep a bit of distance between myself and the burning incense. Also when the weather is nice I will crack open a window a bit to circulate fresh air.

~Peace to all beings~

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Buddhism and Depersonalization.

One of the symptoms of my mental disorder, Schizoaffective disorder is depersonalization. It is something that I have experienced since I was a child when I would experience out-of-body phenomena in response to stress or anxiety. And the out-of-body phenomena is the best way to describe the main essence of my depersonalization. I slip in and "out of my body" often and before I know it I'm outside looking in and when this happens it feels as though I'm watching my body talk, move and act from a remote location. It reminds me of the movie, "Being John Malcovich" where people can live inside Malcovich's brain for about 15 minutes at a time and witness what he witnesses.

In these moments I feel as though I'm viewing a movie that has me playing a role. I talk but I don't feel like the words are my own but just a computer program that is simulating a conservation. It happens often when I'm in a new environment or with people that I feel uncomfortable around. I have also found that I don't feel physical pain as much when I'm depersonalizing.

I liken it to an escape hatch when the symptoms of my disorder get to be too much to handle, when the hallucinations, delusions or paranoia get too strong. As well as when my anxiety and stress reach a certain level. Part of my condition is that I am almost always in a state of anxiety and stress so that from the outside it looks like it doesn't take much to set me off but in reality its just one final trigger for my brain to handle so I slip out of my body and go on autopilot. The depersonalization also expresses itself when I look at myself in the mirror. I often gaze into my eyes and see someone else behind that image running things. It's stressful because it feels like I am watching a copy of myself but not a happy copy but one who seems to want to cause me trauma. This all said, I have found Buddhism to be like another psychiatrist who has a tried and true prescription for emotional stress--meditation.

When I find myself outside looking in and feel it really interfering with my day or lasting longer than usual I have watered the seeds of good habit energy enough to feel some doer inside that body move for me to get on the meditation cushion. So when I start breathing and concentrate upon that I feel my body and mind return together in union. The breathing is like a gentle guide helping me return to the reality of oneness much like someone helping a person with dementia return to a place of security and peace.

Another good habit that I've developed to help connect me back to my body and present moment is to touch the ground from time to time while meditating as the Buddha did. It helps me feel something tangible that anchors me back into the experience of being. I have also found it helpful to wear a strand of prayer beads or mala around my wrist at all times because it is another physical touch object that brings me back to the present moment. It is comforting to feel a fabricated object touch my skin because it helps me remember that my body is in fact real. It also reminds me at the same time of the teachings of Buddha to remind me that I what I'm experiencing is a delusion which sometimes helps me return to myself.

Buddhism has so much to offer those of us with mental disorders because it is a religion that focuses upon the mind and emotions more than many of the religions that I have studied. It is the religion of psychology and I am hearted that the once distant field of psychology toward religion and spirituality is now opening up to the techniques of Buddhism to help reduce pyschological trauma and stress. So while I also embraced Buddhism for the spiritual teachings it has also been another tool in my toolbox to aid me in dealing with my mental disorder. It is like having an extra medication but without any side effects except peace and stability. I highly recommend that those whoe suffer from a mental disorder and feel like they are being tossed around in a sea of unstability look into Buddhism as a potential foundation to anchor your body and mind into.

~Peace to all beings~

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A Note of Business.

Just a note of business: I received an email from a reader (I think it was a woman) who wanted to talk about working on a Western Buddhism. Well I somehow got rid of the email or can't find it so please resend your message. I was very interested in what you had to say.

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Animals Farmed For Meat Are The No. 1 Source Of Food Poisoning Bug, Study Shows.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2008) — A study by researchers from Lancashire, England, and Chicago, IL, found that 97 percent of campylobacteriosis cases sampled in Lancashire were caused by bacteria typically found in chicken and livestock. The work is based on DNA-sequence comparison of thousands of bacteria collected from human patients and animal carriers. Campylobacter jejuni causes more cases of gastroenteritis in the developed world than any other bacterial pathogen, including E. coli, Salmonella, Clostridium and Listeria combined. Wild and domestic animals act as natural reservoirs for the disease, which can also survive in water and soil.

James: This is part of the reason that I became a vegetarian to avoid this kind of stuff but it must also be said that vegetables can become tainted too. We "veggies" can get a little self-righteous sometimes so here's a good dose of reality for us because it must be said that even vegetarians are taking lives too so to some degree we can not avoid taking lives.

Few of us are in a position to judge meat eaters or anyone else for "killing by proxy." Being part of the world economy entails "killing by proxy" in every act of consumption. The electricity that runs our computers comes from facilities that harm the environment. Books of Buddhist scriptures are printed on paper produced by an industry that destroys wildlife habitat. Worms, insects, rodents and other animals are routinely killed en masse in the course of producing the staples of a vegetarian diet. Welcome to samsara. It is impossible for most of us to free ourselves from this web; we can only strive to be mindful of entanglement in it. One way to do so is to reflect on how the suffering and death of sentient beings contributes to our comfort. This may help us to be less inclined to consume out of mere greed.

James: One of the main reasons that I practice vegetarianism is to increase loving-kindness and compassion. I know that I can't completely avoid taking lives even being a vegetarian but I can limit the number of lives that I take. As an omnivore I was taking lives of insects in the course of producing the staples of a vegetarian diets as mentioned above but I was also taking the lives of animals. So I wanted to live so that I was taking the least amount of lives possible--causing the least suffering and harm.

While I don't agree with the taking of animal life for food I try not to judge people who do eat meat as terrible people. It is a personal choice either way. I have many, many family and friends who eat meat and I still love them and respect them as much as I did before I became a vegetarian. I just tot along my faux meat products and veggies to BBQ's and dinners where most will be eating meat.

~Peace to all beings~

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