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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Memasang Yahoo Messanger di blog

Untuk mempermudah pengunjung blog kita berkomunikasi secara langsung (apabila online) dengan pemilik blog, banyak blog sudah memasang icon YM (yahoo messenger) pada blog mereka, termasuk blog Belajar Ilmu Komputer ini :) (namun sekarang tidak pasang lagi karena icon YM sudah di pasang di blog lain).

Untuk memasang icon YM (yahoo messanger) seperti




maka kita harus menambahkan script untuk

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kisah sukses Cosa Aranda, Pebisnis Dunia Maya , Berkantor di Kamar, Raup 90 juta sebulan

Kalau ada orang menjadi kaya setelah bersusah-payah membangun bisnis bertahun-tahun, itu hal biasa. Tetapi jika mendengar anak muda berkantong tebal dengan cara mudah, jelas menarik untuk ditelusuri.

Cosa Aranda jutawan. Nyaris tak ada yang tahu. Hanya mereka yang rajin keluar masuk situs milik Cosa, panggilannya, yang paham betul. bahkan teman kuliahnya baru bulan lau tahu bahwa orang inilah yang sering dibicarakan di Google AdSense dan Adwords.

Memiliki Penghasilan dari iklan yang masuk di situs milik Google ini awalnya memang mimpi bercampur coba-coba. "Jika ada yang mengatakan berbisnis iklan di Internet mudah menghasilkan uang, itu bohong", Kata lelaki 25 tahun ini saat ditemui di rumahnya di Surabaya, Rabu (1/8) Berbeda dengan banyak orang yang menganggap bisnis seperti ini bisa dilakukan sambil lalu dengan hasil tak terbatas, COsa justru menganggap pekerjaan ini berat. Sangat berat.

Ketika pertama kali membuat situs yang berawal dari blog pribadi, dia harus jungkir balik menghabiskan waktu 8-10 jam sehari. Selama itu dia tidak keluar kamar. Dan ini terjadi pada bulan-bulan pertama saat membangun www.cosaaranda.com April 2005.

Percobaan demi percobaan dilakukan dengan telaten. Kesulitan utama yang dialami mahasiswa semester akhir jurusan Sistem Informasi Sekolah Tinggi Manajemen Informatikan dan Teknik Komputer (Stikom) surabaya ini adalah melakukan promosi. Karena niat awalnya belajar dan mencoba, Cosa memilih cara gratis lewat search engine. setelah itu, menunggu "dan berdo'a", kelakarnya.

Penantian itu tak sia-sia. Tiga minggu setelah diluncurkan, ada juga iklan yang datang. semakin banyak pengunjung yang datang ke situsnya, makin besar kemungkinan iklan di klik. Jika pengguna melakukan transaksi, maka publisher, pemilik situs yang sudah bergabung dengan Google Adsense dan surah pula memasang iklan AdSense di situs mereka, mendapat fee. biasanya 20 persen dari harga iklan.

"Bulan pertama saya mendapat 1 dollar AS. wah.. senang sekali. Ternyata laku juga", kata sulung dari dua bersaudara yang terkesan berhati-hati ketika berbincang.

Satu dolar AS inilah yang memacu Cosa memoles situsnya. Tidak dengan tampilan artistik tetapi dengan isi yang paling dibutuhkan orang. Dia meng up date data setiap hari. Dengan demikian setiap hari pula orang berkunjung karena membutuhkan informasi terkini dan penting.

Sekarang situs ini dikunjungi 800-1.000 pengguna setia hari. Ini membuat perolehan Cosa dimungkinkan makin besar. Ledakan penghasilannya baru di dapat tiga bulan setelah menunggu dan berdoa. Jika Oktober 2005 penghasilannya Rp. 1 dolar AS, akhir juli 2007 dia mendapat kiriman cek 5.000 dolar AS atau lebih dari Rp. 45 juta. Ini baru perolehan lewat Google Adsense. Padahal dia juga memiliki jalur lain, Adwords. Jika semua ditotal, Juli Kemarin Cosa mendapat lebih Rp. 90 juta.

Cosa memang kaya, tetapi belajar dari buku Seven Years To Seven Figures karangan Michael Masterson, kaya menurut Cosa adalah kondisi saat segala kebutuhan terpenuhi, baik yang bersifat sekunder maupun darurat atau mendadak. "Saya tabung uangnya. Saya ingin punya rumah sendiri", kata lelaki yang mengaku belum punya kekasih ini.

Putra pasangan Drs. Toto, Soedjianto dan Ir. Yustisia Martani ini ingin menjadi full time blogger. Awalnya keluarga dari Jawa Tengah ini tak sadar jika Cosa punya bisnis di kamarnya. Yang mereka tahu anak mereka 'gila' internet. Baru setelah ada kiriman cek, mereka paham.

Tetapi sambil bergurau Cosa mengaku tak tahu harus mengatakan apa pada calon mertua bila ditanya pekerjaan. "Pokoknya saya jawab kerja di Internet. Mudah-mudahan bisa mengerti", katanya sambil tertawa ngakak. Karena semuanya sudah tertata, sekarang Cosa hanya butuh dua jam untuk up date dan setelah itu waktu luangnya diisi dengan jalan-jalan ke mal dan membaca. Jangan salah, bukan buku komputer atau teknologi yang jadi favoritnya melainkan komik. Tahun ini atas desakan para kerabat di situsnya, akhirnya Cosa membuat workshop di warnet. Tiga kali workshop dilakukan di Surabaya. Pesertanya tak lebih dari 30 orang.

"Saya lebih suka kelas kecil karena semua pertanyaan bisa dijawab dan langsung praktik", tutur pelahap film apa saja ini yang tidak memungut biaya kecuali untuk membayar pemakaian internet di warnet.

"Di Jogjakarta banyak publisher yang penghasilannya lebih hebat. Saya belum apa-apa. Tetapi kalau ada yang mau mengikuti cara ini, ayo sama-sama belajar", tuturnya.
sumber kisahsuksesbisnis

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