Protect our Pets

Weekly Quote

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

- Kurt Vonnegut (11/11/22-04/11/07)

Meditation & Mantram

Using a Mantram

The Blue Mountain Center for Meditation teaches using a mantram during meditation. Even though I had read their recommendations previously I hadn't put them into practice. I started yesterday and found it very helpful. I have always had a hard time meditating without a guided meditation, because I can't seem to quiet my mind and I have a short attention span.

"A mantram is a powerful spiritual formula which, when repeated silently in the mind, has the capacity to transform consciousness. There is nothing magical about this. It is simply a matter of practice. The mantram is a short, powerful spiritual formula for the highest power we can conceive of – whether we call it God, or the ultimate reality, or the Self within. ... Choose whichever version of the Holy Name appeals to you; then, once you have chosen a mantram, do not change it. ...

[T]he mantram can be repeated under almost any circumstances, and it is so brief that it will come to your mind under even the most agitating circumstances. ... The mantram is most effective when repeated silently in the mind. Repeat the mantram whenever you get the chance: while walking, while waiting, while doing mechanical chores like washing dishes, and especially when you are falling asleep. Whenever you are angry or afraid, nervous or hurried or resentful, repeat the Holy Name until the agitation in your mind subsides."

http://www.easwaran.org/nilgiri.cfm/pageid:3

My Chosen Mantram

The mantram I have chosen to use is from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition:

Om mani padme hum
(pronounced: ohm mah nee pahd may hung)
"Hail the jewel in the lotus"

Viewing the written form of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- it is often carved into stones. I have seen jewelry for sale on ebay with it and I am going to go look for something and buy it. I did buy a medallion with it and incorporated it into a set of meditation beads for someone least year.

The meaning of this mantram is not just its literal translation; it is said to contain the essence of the whole of the Buddha's teachings.

• Om is composed of three letters, A, U, and M. These symbolize the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.


• Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.


• The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom


• Hum indicates indivisibility. Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom

Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.

http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/om-mantra.html

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum

http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm

It's a beautiful world

"I walk with beauty before me
I walk with beauty behind me
I walk with beauty above me
I walk with beauty below me
I walk with beauty all around me
Your world is so beautiful, Oh God."

-- Navajo prayer

Unity

I had never paid much attention to this sculpture. I've been taking pics around town with my cell phone and took this yesterday. It wasn't a very good day for picture taking.


"Unity"
Haddad Riverfront Park, Charleston, WV


The plaque on it says the name of it is "Unity" and it also has two sculptors' names, Dr. Cubert Smith and another that appears to be in Russian. I was only able to find a little info about it online. It appears to have been undertaken via the Charleston-Korolev Connection (which fosters some kind of exchange/sister city program between West Virginia and Russia - Korolev apparently being a town in Russia). The sculpture was a collaboration between Dr. Cubert Smith, a Charleston artist and Director of the City of Charleston's Environmental Resources Office, and Vladimir Smirnoff, a sculptor from Korolev. It's kind of neat.

UFO over Oregon?

Found via About.com



"Headed to Medford there was a shiny thing that caught my eye so I zoomed in with my handycam and got this little clip. 40x zoom so it is bigger than what I could see with my own eyes. Sorry about the shaking but the truck is bouncy and even more so when zoomed in.If you look closely at the clouds you can see that it really wasn't moving. It was headed south just above the hills back behind and in between Eagle Point and White City. It is at regular speed and then I slowed it down to half. Still not sure what it is,probably just a plane maybe a ufo, you decide. Recorded Tues. March 20, 2007 at about 11am"

Easter Memories

I dug these out to post on my sister's MySpace so I'll share them here too. I am the oldest, 4 years older than my sister Tina. Click on them to see larger versions

Easter 1968



1970
Look at that bow on Mom!. I love the expression on my sister's face.


Don't know what year this one is. Maybe 1971?
I remember that purse distinctly. Those are some ugly bunnies!


20 years ago!!

Weekly Quote

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." - Buddha

Google yellow pages - via the telephone!

Call 1-800-GOOG-411. At the prompts, say your city and state, then either the category of business or business name. Then you hear a list of matching businesses. When you decide which one you want to call, just say or press the corresponding list number (such as "number 4") and they will connect you with them. For free. FREE! I just tried it and got a list of pizza restaurants in my area. Pretty nifty!

How do they make money on this?? It's still in Google labs.

Found via: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/07/0339229&from=rss

More info:

http://news.com.com/2061-10803_3-6174124.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/04/google-voice-local-search.html

Weekly Quote

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." - Eleanor Roosevelt

More Pet Food Recalls

All sizes and varieties of Purina's "Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy" wet dog food (Date codes 7037 through 7053, followed by plant code 1159. Those codes follow a "Best Before Feb. 2009" date. Bottom of can or top or side of multi-pack cartons.)

Hills Science Diet dry cat food - Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food, 4 pound bag, 52742 42770 (all lot numbers) and Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food, ten pound bag, 52742 42790.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21272348.shtml


Del Monte voluntarily recalling select product codes of pet treats Jerky Treats®, Gravy Train® Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels® Moist Chicken Treats as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands (Ol' Roy, Dollar General and Happy Tails). See link for complete list of brands, products & codes.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070331005023&newsLang=en

* * *

SALMONELLA RECALLS!

United Pet Group, Inc., is voluntarily recalling Dingo® CHICK’N JERKY treats for dogs, cats and ferrets due to concerns that they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Products affected were sold at Target, PetSmart and other retailers. Products subject to recall are Dingo CHICK’N JERKY 3.5 oz. and 8 oz. for dogs and Dingo Kitty CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz. for cats and Dingo Ferret CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz for ferrets. I have these chicken treats and am throwing them away now - the cats didn't like them anyway and only ate a little and haven't had any recently

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070331005008&newsLang=en

Petrapport is voluntarily recalling pig ear dog treats because of of potential to be contaminated with salmonella (see link for more details info re brands etc)

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_5445994,00.html

Miladun-Nabi

Today's religious holiday, according to my calendar, is the Islamic holiday Miladun-Nabi (I also see it called Miladdunnabi, Eid-e-Miladunnabi and Mawlid al-Nabi). It marks the birth of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

The Prophet Muhammad was born about A.D. 570 in the city of Mecca and died in A.D. 632. He established Islam as a religion.

"At a critical point in his life, Muhammad received a vision of the angel Gabriel who called him into service as a prophet. He later received a second vision of Gabriel who told him to "magnify thy Lord." Muhammad then began to preach publicly in Mecca where he had lived for many years. Many people were receptive to his message but others ridiculed him. Because of the opposition of many citizens of Mecca and threats against him, Muhammad fled to Yathrib in A. D. 622. This journey of nearly 200 miles is known as the Hegira and is so important that the Muslim calendar begins with the year of the Hegira.

The Mawlid al-Nabi was first observed around the thirteenth century and was preceded by a month of celebration. The actual day of Muhammad's birthday included a sermon, recitation of litanies, honoring of religious dignitaries, gift giving, and a feast. The festival spread throughout the Muslim world and is celebrated in many countries today. However, some conservative sects (e.g., the Wahhabiyah) consider the celebration to be idolatrous."

http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic_relig/mawlid.html

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawlid

Very interesting - the life of Muhammad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad

A walk along the river

Kanawha River, Charleston, West Virginia

I have been walking every day, 30-45 minutes generally. The weather was perfect today so I snapped some pics with my cell phone. I usually walk on the Kanawha Boulevard, today I walked below it, on the lower sidewalk, which is much nicer and less crowded. I stop and sit by the river and enjoy the peacefulness before I go back, and it usually puts me in a good frame of mind to return to work.

Click on pics for larger versions

Sunshine, jet trail, trees!



The first half of the walk, upriver



Sitting



To the right from where I was sitting



To the left



Looking up toward where I usually walk



On the way back, down river



I heart big old trees! In the background is the Southside Bridge. Maybe next week I'll walk across it. But then I'll just walk right back, because if I continued I'd have to walk up hill, up Bridge Road. It would be a beautiful place for a walk, and I see people walking over there, but I'm not in good enough shape for that yet.



Bye for now

Weekly Quote

"What you believe yourself to be, you are." -- Claude M. Bristol

Woman eats dog's food, gets sick

This beats just about all the tainted pet food stories I've seen!

"It's a case that could be related to the tainted pet food that has killed several dogs and cat's and sickened dozens more across in Canada and the United States.

Elaine Larabie tells the Ottawa Citizen that for three days she suffered symptoms that included loss of appetite, vomiting, foaming at the mouth and trouble urinating. She went to an emergency room on Tuesday and is now awaiting test results from blood work. advertisement

After noticing her dog, Missy, wasn't eating, Larabie said she took bites of Iams pet food in order to trick the terrier into thinking it was people food.

The ploy worked and the mealtime routine continued for about two weeks until both dog and master became sick on March 17."

More here: Woman, dog both sick after eating recalled pet food

A couple of recent UFO stories

"Former Gov. [of Arizona] Fife Symington says now that those strange lights that appeared over Phoenix a decade ago were from another world and that he had a close encounter with an alien craft on March 13, 1997. 'I'm a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I've ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people,' Symington said Thursday. 'I don't know why people would ridicule it.'"

UFOs flew over Phoenix in '97, Symington says

* * *

"France became the first country to open its files on UFOs Thursday when the national space agency unveiled a website documenting more than 1,600 sightings spanning five decades. The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists. ... Of the 1,600 cases registered since 1954, nearly 25 percent are classified as "type D", meaning that "despite good or very good data and credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can't explain," ... .

France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years

Happy Naw Ruz

Well I wanted to research this holiday more, but I don't have time, unfortunately. Here's a bit about this holiday, which coincides with the Vernal Equinox. On my calendar it is spelled "Naw-Ruz" but it appears to have other spellings as well.

"Naw-Rúz is an ancient Iranian New Years day festival which occurs near the Spring Equinox. It is now a world holiday of the Bah á'í faith. If the equinox occurs before sunset, then New Year's Day is celebrated on that day in the Middle East; otherwise it is delayed until the following day. In the rest of the world, it is always on MAR-21. It is celebrated with many symbols indicating regrowth and renewal - much like the Christian Easter. Some members follow the ancient Iranian "haft-sin" custom on this day involves arranging seven objects whose name begin with the letter "S" in Persian; e.g. hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver coins, garlic, vinegar and rue."

http://www.religioustolerance.org/main_day5.htm

It appears to be celebrated all over the middle east. It is a time for spring cleaning, new clothes, visiting family. Not unlike the other new year celebrations I have been reading about.

There's a long Wikipedia article that has a lot more of the history and such:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norouz

Maybe next year I'll actually learn more about it :)

Happy Ostara (and First Day of Spring!!)

For those of you new to this journal, I am learning about unfamiliar religious holidays which appear on my calendar.

Today is the Spring Equinox, and “Ostara”, which my calendar says is a Pagan/Wiccan holiday. It is the time of the balancing of the earth's gravity midway between the extremes of light and dark at Winter and Summer Solstice.

Ostara is based on several holidays celebrated around the Vernal Equinox. Ostara is one of the eight major Wiccan holidays and is celebrated on the Vernal Equinox. It marks the end of winter and beginning of the season of rebirth (spring). It is a time to honor the God and Goddess as natures balance returns to the world. To celebrate the rebirth of Mother Nature.

The name goes back to Jakob Grimm, who, in his Deutsche Mythologie, speculated about an ancient German goddess Ostara, after whom the Easter festival (german: Ostern) could have been named. (Although another article says this time is sacred to Eostre, the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility, where we get the word estrogen from and whose symbols were the egg and rabbit.) Obviously, the Christians took this holiday and made their own out of it, and incorporated some of the pagan symbols. That always amuses me because some Christians are or would be horrified to think that they are using pagan symbols. But to me, it is just another example of how many religions celebrate similar holidays around the same time. This is a time of rebirth and awakening after a long winter. Everything comes alive. I watch eagerly for the first crocuses, the first green leaves on the trees, the first yellow buds on the forsythia and I am filled with joy when I see them! It makes me want to celebrate too. What better time is there to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

I’m not sure exactly how Ostara is celebrated because I don’t have time to research it in depth. It appears to me that there is no one set way. Colored eggs, symbols of fertility such as rabbits and early spring flowers are mentioned, as are various rituals.

For Pagans, this is a day of preparation - reconsecrating magikal tools, balancing energies for new work, blessing seeds for spring planting, etc. It is also a time for introspection, examining where you might be unbalanced and where you need to let go of the past and prepare for a fertile future. You may conduct a simple ritual to honor the rebirth of Mother Nature and the coming of spring.

Sources/More Info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostara

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/ostara.htm

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=1991

http://www.paganspath.com/magik/celtic/ostara.htm

THIS PAGE HAS A GREAT OVERVIEW:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/spring_equinox.htm

Quote of the Week

"The ancient Hawaiians knew that there were many paths to the top of the mountain, each one beautiful in its own way - yet the view from the top is always the same. Their teachings remind us to honor our path and the path of our fellow travelers. Remember to walk always in light, live in love, and treat all beings with honor, dignity, and respect." - Susan Gregg

IMPORTANT Pet Food Recall

There has been a major recall of wet pet food in cans and foil pouches, sold as store brands for Wal-Mart, Safeco, Krogers, PetSmart and others. There have been reports of kidney failure and death. They have also recalled Iams and Eukanuba canned and foil pouch food with code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by plant code 4197.

The news story is here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070316/ap_on_he_me/pet_food_recall_4

More detailed product info and list of brands is here: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

I have both Iams and Nutro in my kitchen right now :(. Luckily only Roscoe & Snoop eat it and then only once or twice a week. I am going to throw it all out just to be safe.