Archive for Entities & Attachments
“Missing?” from Curbside at DFW – $1,000 Reward
Portrait of Helen, Commissioned At Dallas Convention At Dallas Convention in 1967
We would like our Grandmother Helen Smyrniotis back. She passed away just
last week, on August 16th, in St. Louis MO….and now her portrait has
mysteriously disappeared as well.
I am the first Grandchild and was honored by my family to have been given
the gift(see attachment)of the only portrait of her image- She and I were
very close. This painting was commissioned by a Dallas local, unknown
artist at The Greek AHEPA Convention in 1967. It has no material value but
is of great sentimental value to our family.
I brought the painting back to Dallas, full circle 42 years later, from St.
Louis last night at 8:15pm, via American Airlines. It mysteriously
disappeared or was missing/taken from us curbside, while we were busy
loading the car. The Greek Goddess of our family.
Helen was born in St. Louis MO. Her parents, both immigrated there from
Greece and she was one of four children. She lived a tough childhood in
downtown St. Louis, working for the family restaurant and Inn, until she
married our Grandfather, also of Greek Immigrant parents- who rose to a
status of respect within their community as a McDonald Douglas Aircraft
Engineer.
I reside here in Dallas with my husband. I am an Interior Designer and the
owner of my namesake boutique, Stephanie Anne, in Highland Park Village.
We would like to compel to the entity who felt the need to take her, to
please return it anonymously and to do the right thing by a lady who was
truly the Queen of our family.
Or please note, we will offer a monetary reward, no questions asked, if
found and returned to the DFW Airport Police
Thank you,
The Smyrniotis Family
Duration : 0:1:3
[youtube kgi5ChzfKZU]
4 noble truths part 3, Hindi Dhamma talk, catu ariya sacca ki desana, By Venerable Sheel Ratna
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering – a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely “wandering on the wheel of becoming”, because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
Duration : 0:6:20
[youtube bvROIen3cKI]
4 noble truths part 2, Hindi Dhamma talk, catu ariya sacca ki desana, By Venerable Sheel Ratna
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering – a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely “wandering on the wheel of becoming”, because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
Duration : 0:7:28
[youtube LyeB43DWzTg]
4 noble truths part 1, Hindi Dhamma talk, catu ariya sacca ki desana, By Venerable Sheel Ratna
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering – a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely “wandering on the wheel of becoming”, because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
Duration : 0:8:58
[youtube 3Hxfw-usHPs]
Buddha Image & Ambient Music for Meditation
Take 10 minutes out and listen to this with earphones or headphones…
…ultimate relaxation therapy! 
The Four Noble Truths
A formal description of the Four Noble Truths follows:
1. Dukkha (suffering) – This can be somewhat broadly classified into three categories. Inherent suffering, or the suffering one undergoes in all the worldly activities, what one suffers in day-to-day life: birth, aging, diseases, death, sadness, etc. In short, all that one feels from separating from ‘loving’ attachments and/or ociating with ‘hating’ attachments is encompassed into the term. The second class of suffering, called Suffering due to Change, implies that things suffer due to attaching themselves to a momentary state which is held to be ‘good’; when that state is changed, things are subjected to suffering. The third, termed ‘Sankhara Dukkha’, is the most subtle. Beings suffer simply by not realizing that they are mere aggregates with no definite, unchanging identity.
2. Dukkha Samudaya (cause of suffering) – Craving, which leads to Attachment and Bondage, is the cause of suffering. Formally, this is termed ‘Tanha’. It can be classified into three instinctive drives. ‘Kama Tanha’ is the Craving for any pleasurable sense object (which involves sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and mental perceptives). ‘Bhava Tanha’ is the Craving for attachment to an ongoing process, which appears in various forms, including the longing for existence. ‘Vibhava Tanha’ is the Craving for detachment from a process, which includes non-existence and causes the longing for self-annihilation.
3. Dukkha Nirodha (cessation of suffering) – One cannot possibly adjust the whole world to one’s taste in order to eliminate suffering and hope that it will remain so forever. This would violate the chief principle of Change. Instead, one adjusts one’s own mind through detachment so that the Change, of whatever nature, has no effect on one’s peace of mind. Briefly stated, the third Noble Truth implies that elimination of the cause (craving) eliminates the result (suffering). This is inferred in the scriptural quote by The Buddha, ‘Whatever may result from a cause, shall be eliminated by the elimination of the cause’.
4. Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada (pathway to freedom from suffering) – This is the Noble Eightfold Pathway towards freedom or Nirvana. The path can roughly be rendered into English as right view, right intention, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
The Three Characteristics
These are the three characteristics of all conditioned phenomena in Therevada thought.
1. Anicca (impermanence): Change is. All conditioned phenomena are subject to Change, including physical characteristics, qualities, umptions, theories, knowledge, etc. Nothing is permanent, because, for something to be permanent, there has to be an unchanging cause behind it. Since all causes are recursively bound together, there can be no ultimate unchanging cause.
2. Dukkha (suffering) – Craving causes suffering, since what is craved is transitory, changing, and perishing. The craving for impermanent things causes disappointment and sorrow. There is a tendency to label practically everything in the world, as either ‘good’, ‘comfortable’ or ‘satisfying’, as opposed to ‘bad’, ‘uncomfortable’, and ‘unsatisfying’. Since we label things in terms of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’, we create suffering for ourselves. If one succeeds in giving up the tendency to label things and free himself from the instincts that drive him towards attaining what he himself labels collectively as ‘liking’, he attains the ultimate freedom. The problem, the cause, the solution and the implementation, all of these are within oneself, not outside.
3. Anatta (not-self) – The concept ‘Anatta’ can be rendered as lack of fixed, unchanging identity; no phenomenon constitutes an individual’s permanent, essential Self. A living being is a composite of the five aggregates (khandhas), which is the physical forms (rupa), feelings or sensations (vedana), perception (sanna), mental formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana), none of which can be identified as one’s Self. From the moment of conception, all entities (including all living beings) are subject to a process of continuous change. A practitioner should, on the other hand, develop and refine his or her mind to a state so as to see through this phenomenon.
Direct realization of these three characteristics leads to freedom from worldly bonds and attachments, thus leading to the state where one is completely, ultimately free, the state which is termed Nirvana, which literally means ‘Freedom’.
…..
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ – Copyrighted Material
℗&© Alex at Shopping Bargains 2009
All rights of the producer/owner of the recorded work reserved. Unauthorised public performance, broadcasting, copying, hiring or rental of this recording prohibited.
Duration : 0:9:50
[youtube D3wmI0E7KSo]
CONNECT Solution and Core Services Overview
More info at http://healthit.hhs.gov
Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.newmedia.hhs.gov/comment_policy.html
Duration : 1:58:21
[youtube MarB-jk3emU]
Business Case For Adoption: Perspective Of Private Sector and States
More info at http://healthit.hhs.gov
Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.newmedia.hhs.gov/comment_policy.html
Duration : 0:49:14
[youtube XthisAo8OIA]
The Gate of Liberation Part 2 _001_of_002
http://esotericteaching.org
In Bhagavad-gita Kṛṣṇa is advising Arjuna. Arjuna accepts His advice and addresses Kṛṣṇa as Acyuta, the Infallible One. Kṛṣṇa is acyuta, infallible, because He never falls down . Cyuta means those who are fallen in the material world. They are cyuta, fallible, because they have failed to avoid the trap of material existence.
We are fallen in the material world; therefore we have accepted this material body. And because we have accepted the material body, we are afflicted by so many undesirable material qualities: iccha-dvesa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata sarva-bhutani sammoham sarge yanti parantapa O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate. [Bhagavad-gita 7.27]
Iccha means desire. And dvesa means envy, hate. Iccha-dvesa-samutthena. When we become envious of Kṛṣṇa and we want to enjoy this material world, then we come to this material creation. But because we are constitutionally not enjoyers but servitors, we cannot satisfy our desires. Therefore we become envious, spiteful and hateful, and because of this the material world is a ish place of suffering and death.
So all of us in this material world, having material bodies, from Brahma down to the ant, are required to enjoy or suffer the resultant action of karma. yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma- bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami He impartially ordains for each living entity the due enjoyment of the fruits of their activities, for all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny indragopa insect than in that of Indra, king of the devas. I therefore adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns to the roots all the karma of those who are imbued with devotion for Him. [Brahma-samhita, 5.54]
There is an insect called in indra-gopa Sanskrit. It is a microbe so small that you cannot see it with the naked eye. This microbe is called indra, and there is another Indra, the King of Heaven. So the Brahma-samhita says, yas tu indra-gopa. Beginning from this indra-gopa, up to the King of Heaven, everyone is subjected to enjoy or suffer the resultant action of his karma.
By the resultant action of karma, material cause and effect, one jiva soul has become the King of Heaven, and by karma, another jiva soul has become a microscopic indra-gopa. This is material existence. There are 8,400,000 species or types of material bodies, and we are wandering through the different planets in many different forms. This is the material world, samsara.
And in the material world, whatever form we may have, we have got attachment and identification with this body. Therefore we are under the impression that I am this body. That is the material conception of life or the material ontology.
So in the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was apparently overwhelmed by material consciousness. In the battlefield, he identified himself as the body. He thought that he belonged to the Kuru dynasty, and all his family and relatives were there to fight, on one side his brothers, and on the other side his cousins, nephews, grandfather and guru.
He become very much disturbed that I have to kill the other side, my cousins and my nephews, my grandfather. No, no. Kṛṣṇa, I cannot. No. This is impossible. I shall not fight.
So he refused to fight, and this set the stage for Kṛṣṇa to speak Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna played the part of a conditioned soul under the impression that he is the body. That is animal life, material consciousness.
Duration : 0:10:59
[youtube -MpFp5pRivI]
The Gate of Liberation Part 2 _002_of_002
http://esotericteaching.org
In Bhagavad-gita Kṛṣṇa is advising Arjuna. Arjuna accepts His advice and addresses Kṛṣṇa as Acyuta, the Infallible One. Kṛṣṇa is acyuta, infallible, because He never falls down . Cyuta means those who are fallen in the material world. They are cyuta, fallible, because they have failed to avoid the trap of material existence.
We are fallen in the material world; therefore we have accepted this material body. And because we have accepted the material body, we are afflicted by so many undesirable material qualities: iccha-dvesa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata sarva-bhutani sammoham sarge yanti parantapa O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate. [Bhagavad-gita 7.27]
Iccha means desire. And dvesa means envy, hate. Iccha-dvesa-samutthena. When we become envious of Kṛṣṇa and we want to enjoy this material world, then we come to this material creation. But because we are constitutionally not enjoyers but servitors, we cannot satisfy our desires. Therefore we become envious, spiteful and hateful, and because of this the material world is a ish place of suffering and death.
So all of us in this material world, having material bodies, from Brahma down to the ant, are required to enjoy or suffer the resultant action of karma. yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma- bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami He impartially ordains for each living entity the due enjoyment of the fruits of their activities, for all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny indragopa insect than in that of Indra, king of the devas. I therefore adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns to the roots all the karma of those who are imbued with devotion for Him. [Brahma-samhita, 5.54]
There is an insect called in indra-gopa Sanskrit. It is a microbe so small that you cannot see it with the naked eye. This microbe is called indra, and there is another Indra, the King of Heaven. So the Brahma-samhita says, yas tu indra-gopa. Beginning from this indra-gopa, up to the King of Heaven, everyone is subjected to enjoy or suffer the resultant action of his karma.
By the resultant action of karma, material cause and effect, one jiva soul has become the King of Heaven, and by karma, another jiva soul has become a microscopic indra-gopa. This is material existence. There are 8,400,000 species or types of material bodies, and we are wandering through the different planets in many different forms. This is the material world, samsara.
And in the material world, whatever form we may have, we have got attachment and identification with this body. Therefore we are under the impression that I am this body. That is the material conception of life or the material ontology.
So in the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was apparently overwhelmed by material consciousness. In the battlefield, he identified himself as the body. He thought that he belonged to the Kuru dynasty, and all his family and relatives were there to fight, on one side his brothers, and on the other side his cousins, nephews, grandfather and guru.
He become very much disturbed that I have to kill the other side, my cousins and my nephews, my grandfather. No, no. Kṛṣṇa, I cannot. No. This is impossible. I shall not fight.
So he refused to fight, and this set the stage for Kṛṣṇa to speak Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna played the part of a conditioned soul under the impression that he is the body. That is animal life, material consciousness.
Duration : 0:10:19
[youtube -82NxNzlLdA]
Spirit Attachment part 7/8
Coast to Coast AM July 27 2009
During the middle two hours, Kelly Kiernan Ray, an expert in hauntings, discussed the various ways that ghosts and entities can share our space and cause physical, mental and emotional problems as well as addictions. Unlike classic cases of demonic possession, “the spirits, themselves, don’t necessarily have bad intent,” Ray said about the unearthly entities that may attach themselves to living people. She posited that the spirits are unaware that they are dead and, often via a chance encounter with a vulnerable person, they “get stuck in your energy field and so then you have all these conflicting thoughts, feelings, urges, and addictions.”
Ray shared one chilling story of a woman who fell victim to spirit attachment. Already stricken with a low immune system, she took her mother to a hospital emergency room. While there, the patient in the adjoining bed passed away suddenly. Morbidly curious, the woman “took a peek behind the curtain” at the dead man. Upon returning home, she was afflicted with all of the symptoms of the same disease which felled him. Ray erted that the spirit of the man died so quickly that he didn’t know he’d passed away and approached the victim to ask what had happened. Upon doing so, the spirit of the man, along with his ailment, became attached to her body.
Duration : 0:10:0
[youtube OqJ2_38Nj8I]
