The Obama-test for America January 31, 2009

 

A lot has been said about the hope Barak Obama has brought about in the USA and around the world.

To me personally the main intrigue of his presidency will be in seeing the impact of IDEALISM on MATERIALISM.We have just learned from the Davos summit that recently the 40% of worlds money (50 billions of Dollars) has vanished into the deep black whole (where it probably originally came from). To be realistic, there is nowhere to exept help and immediate recovery from.

At the same time the amount of faith and optimism connected with Obama`s avatar is truly fascinating – millions do hope that he will perform a wonder and save the sinking world…

The USA has a notorious image of being a very materialistic country. My theory and a strong personal belief is that it is only idealism and high spirits of people that can perform wonders.

Confusion of roles January 30, 2009

 image y axinia

There is a complete confusion of roles and people are no longer sure what it means to be a man or a woman. God has created two sexes for good reasons, and these two sexes I feel are like two wheels of a chariot.Of course, there is a certain space or distance between the two and although equal and similar, they are not identical. One is on the left side and the one is on the right side. If you try to fit the left into the right side and the right side to the left, it won´t work out.

Apart from that, if you make one of those wheels smaller or less important than the other, this will prevent the chariot from moving forward and it will just go round and round in the circles.

A human being consists of the whole world January 27, 2009

A human body consists of all five elements

And resembles of different animals.

A human heart can be a desert or a flourishing garden,

A stone or a fresh cooling waters.

A human brain can be a rich soil or a fruit tree

a lightning or a fast flowing river,

Male and Female essences are reflecting the Sun and the Moon,

The Breath of God is in every cell.

…Truly, what a perfectly beautiful creature, a human being.

A being that consists of the whole world!..

 

by axinia

Who is looking for Russian men? January 25, 2009

Since I posted “What 1000 Russian men told about their female ideal”  last summer I keep getting most of the search engine visits for the term Russian men.  Apparently my post shows up on the second Google page while searching for “Russian men”.

That puzzles me every day when I look at my blog stats: who is actually looking for Russian men? I mean Russian women are quite popular on the bride market and if you search for “Russian women” on Google you will find pages and pages of dating sites, and very few articles. But Russian men? My experience tells that it it is mostly Russian women themselves who are interested in their fellow men but they will definitely not go to Google for that.

My blog stats made me investigate of what the world thinks of Russian men. Let`s see what the frist Google page shows:

“”What about the men? Are the Russian men all sexist alcoholics? How do they feel about Russian women looking elsewhere for husbands?…”

“Russian men attempt to treat women like princesses, and at least before marriage , … When Russian men are out and about the city they ooze machismo…”

“If you ask russian men, they will say that women look for foreign men just for money. … The single leading cause of death in Russian men is Russian women! …”

“This feature is characteristic not only for Russian men but also for women, … Let’s start with the fact that Russian men sometimes are very generous. “

“How to date Russian Men. Inspired by the heroic characters of Dostoevsky or Pushkin, many women regard dating a Russian men as a unique and exotic…”

Rather a controversial picture. But I think I can agree with everything here. And there is a lot more to say…

I like this article saying that Russian men attempt to treat women like princesses, and at least before marriage, cater to their girlfriend’s wishes. “But the Russian man, alone with his friends is almost always a hooligan! When Russian men are out and about the city they ooze machismo, but take a step into their home, or their parent’s home, and they are powerless. Russian women have figured this out. In the end the woman, mother or wife, will get her way. They have this subtle form of manipulation down to an exact science. But, a Russian woman loves her husband and needs him for other things than to rule the home life.”

This instruction how to date Russian men (I wonder who is intrested in that?)  is soooo sweet and pretty true: “Russian men are educated in the spirit of chivalry and are generally very romantic. They will drop bouquets of flowers to your feet and will protect you from burglars, even if it presents a risk for their own lives or budget. The only thing they want in exchange is your enthusiasm and praise.
The ideal woman of a Russian man should be very understanding and supportive of her partner’s ideas. (swives of Russian historical personalities have dedicated their lives to them, even without being fully appreciated by them). Russian men can accept many flaws in a woman and won’t give up on her easily, even if his friends or family are against her. But there are few things that can’t be forgiven: unfaithfulness, feminism and depreciation of russian culture or language. Russian men are very proud of their historical background and will not let anybody offend their culture.”

And this report tells another (bitter) truth:

The magnetic mount January 21, 2009

I have been there. I have been enchanted by this magestic mount. And I could have meditated on it forever…

This very special for me mountain may not look so special at the first sight. Although its peak is quite artistic, one can find many similar hills in some regions of Maharashtra, India – by the way, it makes me think that Indian architecture is just the mirror of its nature…

This mount belongs to Saptashringi Hills (near Nasik, Maharashtra) famous for the great sage Markandeya who used to live there in ancient times. As a beautiful outcome of his enlightenment and mediations we have got Markandeya Purana, one of the Puranas or secondary Hindu scriptures.

I can honestly say that this mount (or hill?) fascinates me even more than the powerful Devi Swayambhu (self-manifested divinity, mostly as a stone), which is on the opposite hill. The story tells that

The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass. January 20, 2009

One of the most beautiful poems about seeking the truth and actually finding it by Kabir (translated by Rabindranath Tagore):

The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf  ears cannot hear it. 

So long as man clamours for the “I” and the “Mine”,  his works are as naught:
When all love of the “I” and the “Mine” is dead, then the work of the Lord is done.

 

For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge:
When that comes, then work is put away. 

The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.
The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.

Tag: all my jobs January 18, 2009

 image by axinia

Nowadays it has become quite normal to change jobs often and to try many things out. Especially while studying young people take to all possible opportunities to earn some money or to get some additional qualification.

I just thought of making a funny tag on all the jobs I have ever done in my life. It is amazing, how life often plays with us and makes us do things we would never expect from ourselves…

So, this is my personal listing (chronologically, from the beginning of my adult life):

1. photo-model
2. teacher of English
3. translator
4. cleaning lady
5. au pair girl
6. cosmetician /make up artist
7. kindergarten educator
8. extra (in theater and films)
9. journalist
10. decorator
11. event manager
12. teacher of German
13. trainer for intercultural communication
14. interpreter for NATO
15. assistant to director (in oil trading)
16. key account manager (sales  in media)
17. human resources manager (in wealth management)

These are all I could remember, because obviously I did not put everything on my CV 🙂 It was fun to do every single job and meet interesting people from all these fields.

THE IDEAL LIFE – is it possible? January 15, 2009

 image by axinia

When speaking on the subject of ideal life, the words of the Prophet of Islam may be quoted, where he says, ‘Every soul has
its own religion.’ This means that every soul has a certain direction, which it has chosen, a goal to attain during life. This goal is
a certain ideal, which depends on the soul’s evolution.

Religion in the East is not made into a thing apart from one’s life, as in the West where business, profession, and other things
on the one side of life, and going to church one day in the week on the other side, together constitute religion, with a prayer
before going to rest. But, strictly speaking, life is religion. When one has that ideal before one with whatever occupation one is
concerned, business, industry, domestic life, or whatever it is, one carries it out, trying to be worthy of it, that is religion.

In the Hindu language, the same word, Dharma, means both duty and religion. Both are expressed by one word. ‘This is your
Dharma’ means: ‘This is your faith.’ How beautiful the thought is! Whatever kind of duty it is, so long as you have an ideal
before you and are performing that duty, you are walking in the path of religion.

We, with our narrowness of faith or belief, accuse others of belonging to another religion, another chapel or church. We say,
‘This temple is better, that faith is better.’ The whole world has kept on fighting and devastating itself just because it can not
understand that each form of religion is peculiar to itself. Therefore, the ideal life is in following one’s own ideal. It is not in
checking other people’s ideals. If a certain thing is one’s ideal, that does not mean that another person will agree that it is best
to offer prayers ten times a day. He may be doing better by following his religion in his shop than by going to a mosque and
offering up a prayer twenty times a day. Perhaps somebody with that ideal cannot see that the other person’s way is an ideal
also. Leave everyone to follow his own ideal.

Fortune-telling in Russian style: making and eating vareniki January 12, 2009

Despite Christianity being an “official” religion in Russia, Russians have always been deeply pagan. Apparently most of the rituals and traditions of Russian Orthodox Church rooted in the pagan culture of pre-Christian Russia. In the same way the tradition of fortune-telling nights straight after the Russian Christmas (7th January) – is still popular, even after over 1000 years of Christianity.

Since many years my girlfriends and me, we meet after the Russian Christmas to enjoy a special way of fortune-telling, originally in South-Russian tradition. We make and eat VARENIKI – a kind of stuffed dumplings: stuffed with food and “telling objects” 🙂

Now let me share with you the fun.

As a stuffing we normally use smashed potato and mushrooms, however for the sake of fortune-telling we used some other things as well:

Here on the plate you can see:

tomatoes  -for love

coins          -for money/wealth

boy leaf    -for job and fame

ring            -for wedding

thread      -for travel

Then vareniki were carefully and artistically stuffed:

   

A proper varenik should look like this:

Cool your brain – new medical evidence and interesting spiritual effects January 10, 2009

image by axinia

It is common knowledge that cooling the brain with a wet cloth eases headaches. In complex situations, cooling organs prolongs their chances of survival in trauma.

A researcher is working on developing a helmet envelops puts the head in a soothing cooling flow of air. Meditation practitioners have long known that cool breeze-like flow is a sign of balance and positivity.  Temperature being just a little lower than normal body temperature.

In this article the speculation drives at developing medical technology, however generating a cooling breeze is inherent in many meditation practices. The five vital breaths (Prana, Saman, Udan etc.) travel up the central channel, cooling the chakras and finally the brain matter at the final stage before yoga or union occurs at the top of the head. (reposted from Great Lakes Mediation)

Here is what the New Scienetist article says:

“For some time, doctors have observed that cooling patients following a heart attack can reduce brain damage. Although they are not yet sure of the mechanism behind this effect, researchers suspect that cooling the brain by 4 °C, to around 33 °C, reduces the metabolism of brain cells, reducing their hunger for oxygen for the crucial moments during which blood is in short supply. Damage seems to be reduced even if the brain is only cooled once the heart has been restarted, suggesting that cooling may also slow the release of toxic chemicals from neurons and glial cells – a process called the ischaemic cascade, which triggers further brain-cell death up to 24 hours after a cardiac arrest or stroke.” Read more.

P.S. My personal experience with Sahaja meditaion shows that the cool breeze of “own” production is indeed very helpful and releasing by eventual headaches and any kind of pressure in the head. Apart from that healing and pleasing effect,