Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” is considered to provide the most profound lessons for leadership, and victory in East or the West. Today its principles are applied to business all over the world. This classic body of work came from life and death scenarios, which evolved from empire, trade and political struggles. Obviously today’s corporate world does not induce anywhere near as strong a mechanism for change, or success, as the consequences of failure in business are far less than warfare. Nonetheless, the trickle down lessons from the “Art of War” are definitely applicable to any organized effort, project or business. Although Chinese in origin, the “Art of War” and lessons from Zen were adopted by Japanese groups such as the Samurai and Corporate Japan for clarity of mind, decision making and strategy.

Past and Present: Modern Asia is now very different from its past. The question is: how much do today’s managers in an environment like Japan apply these principles? In short, the answer is that some components of the “Art of War” are easily spotted broadly across Japanese business culture and other attributes of the text are rare. Looking at specific companies, or managers, one will sometimes see avid followers of the principles of the “Art of War”, and sometimes very little application at all. The roots of almost any good strategic plan can be found in the text the “Art of War” so it’s implementation is also present in Western business (even if it not derived by someone who directly studied the text).

Alliances: Using alliances is a key strategic component of the “Art of War”. This translates to partnering in the business world. Business partnering models and strategies based on the “Art of War” are outlined in detail in a downloadable video series by Applied Zen (www.AppliedZen.com). This article will not go into the details of such strategies but rather relate to their presence in Japanese business today and make comparisons to Western business. The importance of partnering and relationships is apparent to anyone who has done business in Japan. While these may not always portrait the efficiency of Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” strategies, partnering in Japan has permeated almost every aspect of Japanese business to an extreme. Over the years it has evolved to a degree of “middle men” involvement not seen in the West. The benefits, and hindrances, of such a system are often discussed by those doing business in Japan. Strategic partnering if carried out correctly should optimize sales, marketing, reduce operational requirements and create synergies that a company who approaches end point sales cannot. From Sun Tzu’s teachings such partnering strategies should also be put into product development (both the item itself and the marketing of it) as a process – not an after thought once the product is finished. Again, broadly speaking, Japan is rich with examples of this type of implementation.

Leadership and Decisions: The “Art of War” offers many lessons on leadership and people management. After all, if you can create a situation where people are willing to follow you into battle and die, there must be valuable motivation and leadership practices in place. Nowadays in Japan, one can see good examples of team co-operation and communication, and yet also some very bad examples. For example, Japan is a group-oriented society and usually makes decisions on that basis. Therefore, typically more staff are consulted and informed about decisions and ideas while they are in the making. However, this draws out the decision process. In comparison, Western companies often have decisions made only by upper management and then the ruling is put into the company as policy. In this Western approach, it is common for staff to learn about the policy only after it is announced. (the net result is often a long time before staff “buy-in” and policy becomes practice). The interesting thing about these two different approaches is that the time spent from contemplating a new idea to company implementation is very similar in both cultures, despite the generally faster decision making that occurs in the West. When one considers staff compliance and conflict avoidance, the Japanese way is better in that more staff are involved in the communication before policy is induced.

Communication: On the other side of staff communication, the Japanese environment does not encourage pro-activity like Western organizations. In fact, to suggest radical alternatives is often considered “rocking the boat” and is not a good career move inside Japanese businesses. In comparison the “Art of War” clearly identifies the need for taking calculated risks to gain intelligence as well as potentially gain ground. In the 1990’s Stephen Covey’s name became famous through the publication of the “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. As many know the “7 habits” are not a group of new concepts but age old approaches to success. They are simply represented in a way that can be clearly applied to modern day personal and corporate development. The same precepts are taught in a number of ancient development and achievement, arts such as: Zen (which is not a religion, but a path for self discovery and growth), the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu, and the Tao de Ching (the “book of change”). Covey’s first “habit” is pro-activity. This is based on recognizing, just as Sun Tzu did, that not taking some calculated short-term risks due to fear of action, is the sure way to long-term failure. In contrast Japanese business behavior is generally very risk adverse. On the flip side, Sun Tsu’s “Art of War” stresses the importance of defense and conservative advancement. It is the balancing of risk and conservative defense that must be strategically planned to ensure victory.

Synergize: The “Art of War” by Sun Tzu, is often superficially viewed as an aggressive approach to victory. However, it is essentially a master text on “Conflict Management” and “Win-Win” scenarios. Again the modern day programs such as Covey’s “7 habits” possess such precepts (“Win-Win”, habit 4 of Stephen Covey and “Synergize”, habit 6). Japanese models of partnering and distribution encompass these ideas.

S.W.O.T: Zen, the “Art of War”, and the book of change (Tao de Ching) are all about self-analysis and understanding. They allow one to understand yourself and your organization’s: strengths and weaknesses, and therefore how to synergize with others to achieve positive outcomes. These things have a direct correlation to Western company S.W.O.T review (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). A better understanding of how one can approach self and competitior analysis from an “Art of War” business perspective can be found at www.AppliedZen.com. Generally, in comparing the authors dealings with Japanese workers and companies, to many Western organizations, it seems that Japan places more attention on understanding one’s own, and competitor’s, position before acting. Again this relates to setting out a strategic path before embarking on a journey rather than exploring options as you go. Again reflecting on Japanese actions with regard to modern Western corporate trainers, Stephen Covey has said, “begin with the end in mind”(Habit 2 of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).

Training: Continuing to train employee skills and undergo development both in-house and outside a company is essential. As the ancient samurai saying says: “Continually sharpen the sword or it will go blunt!” Generally the Japanese are quite good about providing thorough in-house training for tasks and sales. However, compared to many Western companies, outside training to create new ideas is rare. On the flip side, many Western companies (particularly smaller ones) are often a bit light with regards to in-house development.

Embracing Change: All the above methods (old and new) are about changing base behavior, beliefs and approaches. These are core values, and are far more important than putting band-aids on problems, or approaching things with simply a behavior change. In regard to the ancient philosophies, they of course must be interpreted, and applied, using case studies in a context that matches the modern corporate world. Japan today is a very different place than preached by its ancient philosophical ideals. Japanese businesses and employees are generally not as good as the West at embracing, or coping with change – one of the few things in life which is inevitable. All people and cultures struggle with change and it is openness to it is the subject of the classic Chinese text “Tao de Ching”.

Etiquette: Many people at first glance take the strategic approaches of the “Art of War” to be aggressive. As outlined above Sun Tzu’s work is quite the opposite - avoiding conflict and aggression is in fact the thesis. Etiquette and humanity is absolutely built into all issues, and one obvious connection is the value of partners, networking and not creating enemies. In Japan, the depth of etiquette is very extreme which again provides a similar link to the “Art of War” which has evolved over time.

This article only touches the surface of a few of Sun Tzu’s strategies and lessons. It also eludes to some Japanese behavior in a generalized fashion (in any culture there are always exceptions). The study of Japanese corporate behavior relative to such Asian arts such as Zen and the “Art of War” is a fascinating area of study with lessons that can be applied to doing better business in the Asian environment, or in the West.

About the author:

Jason Armstrong, Ph.D., has worked at CEO levels in Japan, the USA, & Australia. He has also consulted for large multi-national companies in Japan and has specialized in the “Art of War” for more than 20 years. His merging of Asian strategy and the business world was further developed by living with a Japanese budo master. In the last 6 years he has consulted with Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Pharmaceutical and been General Manager of a US company in Tokyo. Today he runs http://www.AppliedZen.com.au, which conducts workshops in the USA Australia and Japan.

Game is a very peculiar side of the human life that has its own laws, which do not fit into the framework of traditional logic. Here reigns His Majesty Chance and everything is relative: the weak can defeat the strong, the cunning can make a fool of himself, the poor can become rich, and vice versa.

Gamble opens up new possibilities of the personality, which are often not displayed in ordinary life. Almost everybody wants to get rich at once, without any efforts. Game gives a hope for this, but luck is destiny of the chosen ones.

Origins of the game.
Game and gamble has followed the humanity since its first steps. A grain of gamble is evident almost in everything, starting from hunting in the primitive society and up to major financial deals in the 21st century. Elements of game are inherent to many competitions and entertainments, which our forefathers arranged. For example, it is evident in competitions in strength and deftness, which were later transformed into famous tournaments. Later on the first gambling games appeared. They were based on the element of chance, trying one’s destiny.

The historians believe that the very first game was casting various stones, shells, animals’ bones – these objects were the prototypes of the dice. Documental evidence of the first games is stored in the British Museum. Among this evidence are dice, made by an unknown Egyptian craftsman from the elephant’s tusk (16th century B.C.) and a board for playing draughts, also called checkers which belonged to the queen Hatchepsut (1600 B.C.).

Historical evidence attests that all ancient civilizations played dice. Astragalus,i.e. fetlocks of the animals, were mostly used as dice. The word “astragalus” also referred to tetrahedral bricks with indentations, which more resembled modern dice - hexahedral bricks with somewhat rounded corners, in which the opposite facets, when added up, always amount to seven.

In the old days the people played odd and even, cast dice in the circle or threw them, trying to hit certain openings. Dice were also widely used for fortune-telling. It is also interesting that the players treated dice with nearly reverent trepidation, as if the dice were alive: the players talked to them, whispered charms and tried to persuade them to bring victory.

Since their emergence dice almost at once became one of the most venturesome gambling games. The players placed everything in their bet: money, things, dwelling and even freedom (ancient Germans who lost in dice humbly became slaves). At the same time there appeared various lawful bans on this seemingly harmless game. For instance, in the 3rd century B.C. the first known in history law against gambling games was adopted. It was called Lex aleatoria (alea means a die).

In Ancient Greece there was a legend that the Olympic gods divided the “spheres of influence” by casting lots (Zeus got the Olympus, Poseidon received the ocean, and Hades came to rule the underworld). The laws of Ancient Rome formally forbade gambling games, but there was no specific punishment for violation of the ban. The only “penalty” for the players was the right of the defeated player to reclaim everything he lost, if he though that he was wrongly or unfairly defeated. Officially the games were allowed only once a year, during the Saturnalia (annual festivities in honour of the god Saturn).

Throughout the years the significance of the game increased. There appeared new game contrivances, for example cards. Some researchers argue that the first playing-cards appeared in China. In the Chinese dictionary, Ching-tsze-tung (1678), mentions that cards were created in 1120 (according to the Christian chronology), and in 1132 they were already widely used. Cards at those times were long and narrow plates with numbers from 1 to 14 on them. Four suits symbolized four seasons, and the number of cards (52) corresponded to the number of weeks in the year.

The prototype of the modern deck of cards is the Tarot cards. The first documentary witness that we know of refers to 1254, when Saint Louis issued an edict that forbade card game within France under the fear of punishment with a whip.

Other researchers call Egypt the homeland of cards. The Tarot deck was used for fortune-telling. It had 78 sheets – arkana (22 seniors and 56 juniors). The pictures on the senior arkans correspond to golden tables, which are preserved in the dungeon of the god Tote in Egypt. Their names are as follows: 1. Fool; 2. Magician; 3. Priestess; 4. Hostess; 5. Host; 6. High priest; 7. Lovers; 8. Chariot; 9. Power; 10. Hermit; 11. The wheel of fortune; 12. Justice; 13. The hanged man; 14. Death; 15. Abstinence; 16. Devil; 17. Tower; 18. Star; 19. Moon; 20. Sun; 21. Court; 22. Peace.

It is considered that cards reached Europe in the 10-11th century, during the crusades to the Near East. Other argue that the majority of card games were born in France, which is called the homeland of European cards. The first factory-made deck of Tarot cards included 56 cards of four suits (swords, wands, money and cups). Besides there were 22 trump-cards with numbers from 1 to 21. Every card had a name of its own: the emperor, the empress, the nun, the conjurer, the fool etc. Thus, the deck incorporated 97 cards. Gradually it was substituted by new cards, which more closely resembled the modern ones.

It is surprising that the symbols of suits and the suits themselves did not change since 15th century. In the Middle Ages card games were very popular among various strata of population, ranging from a king’s court to the common people. By the way, in those times cards were not only a means to beguile the time, but also a symbol of the society structure: hearts embodied the priests, diamonds meant the bourgeoisie, spades represented officers and aristocracy, clubs referred to the peasants.

Modern card games (poker, blackjack) arose in the U.S. in the second half of the 19th century. It is difficult to name them all. There are card games for adults and children, games for training logic and wit – and there are games just to beguile the time. The more mature is the individual, the more complex are the games he plays. Having become financially independent, he lets loose his gamble: makes bets, plays in the lotteries, makes bets on the totalizator and finally funds himself in the very temple of game, the casino. Here the individual totally submits to the game, which sharpens his feelings and emotions and makes him forget everything, but the green cloth and roulette wheel. The thirst for such feelings lures again and again those people, who have at least once been in the casino. Meanwhile, the skeptics say: “If you want to win in the casino, buy one of those”.

Arthur Prudent is the developer of Casino bonus codes web site covering gambling news, features reviews on Casinos, Poker rooms, bingos, Sports Betting bonuses promotions and more. Casinos History of gambling in brief

Any psychic could legitimately claim to be a Love Fortune Teller, although they would not use that specific term, as fortune telling covers every aspect of a persons life. Nevertheless, the vast majority of questions asked of a fortune teller concern love and relationships, which is not really suprising as most people base their happiness on their love life.

There are many psychics who claim to be love or relationship experts, although this is generally based on their experience of giving psychic readings on matters of the heart, as opposed to formal counselling qualifications. If you have been giving love advice to people for many years, you are bound to gain some insight into the human condition. As such, you could claim to be a Love Fortune Teller.

In the 20 years that I have been using my psychic abilities to help people, its invariably a person’s love life that features predominately in a reading. Often people will ask me for a reading on something else, totally unrelated to their love life, but l can tell straight away that its a love problem that is uppermost in their minds. The Tarot cards never lie, and will show this quite clearly. Often, they just want to see what shows up regarding their love life, even though their questions are not about this issue.

Its possible to do a reading specifically on love, and how it features in a person’s life. But for the best results, I feel an overall general reading shows up much more about that person and what specific influences are causing unhappiness in their life. Once you see this, you can then do a more detailed reading about the problem to find the answers they are looking for.

A Love Fortune Teller can use a variety of aids, such as the crystal ball, stones, I Ching, Palm Reading, etc, but the Tarot Cards are without doubt the foremost (IMHO) when it comes to fortune telling. They offer so many possibilities for happiness in a person’s life, and always provide the answers to the problems we all experience. Furthermore, you can go into a detailed analysis about a particular area that is causing unhappiness and will always gain insight and inspiration. But more importantly, the Tarot provides hope for the future, which is something we all need in our lives. Bear this in mind, the next time you seek the services of a Love Fortune teller.

About the Author
The Tarot cards are a powerful medium for examining your life, past, present and future. l have been using them on a daily basis for over 20 years. To see how the Tarot Cards can help you in your daily life, or for a Live Tarot Reading by Phone, visit us at http://www.ancientarcana.com

The ascended masters once walked the earth the same as we do. They had lifetimes in which they perfected various soul and character qualities. A study of specific lifetimes of the masters helps us to understand what is required for true self-mastery. One of the more well-known lifetimes of the ascended master Lord Lanto is that of The Duke of Chou of China.

The Duke of Chou (twelfth century B.C.) is regarded as one of the greatest statesmen in Chinese history. Also known as the Yellow Emperor, he is considered to be the architect of the Chou dynasty and the true founder of the Confucian tradition. Confucius looked to the Duke for his model and believed it was his mission to reestablish the principles and culture of the early Chou era, considered to be a golden age.

The Duke of Chou was a legendary figure whose life is surrounded in the mists of ancient history, though accounts of his personal life and achievements do remain. The Duke of Chou is credited with the writing of the I Ching and with the founding a new form of classical Chinese music. Some historians also credit him with the founding of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, he was instrumental in the invention of the calendar and forms of martial arts that are beneficial for health as well as self-defense. His wife, Luo Zu, is said to have taught the Chinese to weave silk from the cocoon of domesticated silkworms.

The Duke of Chou is said to have lived to be 100 years old. Of his 25 children, 14 were boys. All of the noble families of the first three dynasties of China are reputed to have been descendants of these sons. When the Duke’s long life was over, he arranged his affairs with his ministers and prepared for his journey to heaven. Some Chinese believed that he flew to the heavens on the back of a dragon and became an immortal.

As an ascended master, the Duke of Chou is known as Lord Lanto, the chohan or lord of the second ray of God’s wisdom. Lord Lanto is the sponsor of all forms of education and those who seek both wisdom and knowledge.

Carol Wells has been involved in teaching spiritual principles and writing about them for twenty years. In 2005, she joined The Hearts Center Community, a newly-formed and prolific ascended master activity, offering daily and timely messages from the ascended masters to meet the needs of society today. Learn more about The Hearts Center at http://www.theheartscenter.org

For three years, Carol has been a part of the editing staff of their HeartStreams™, messages from saints and sages of Eastern and Western religious philosophies delivered through the messenger David C. Lewis. Carol also supervises the community’s web content writing teams. Publications by The Hearts Center and other spiritual organizations can be found at http://store.heartscenter.org

Tired of having the same ordinary parties year after year? Bored with overused party games like charades? Looking to add some extra spice to this year’s holiday party? Why not try psychic entertainment!

Move away from the mundane with this exciting new form of party entertainment. Metaphysical entertainment can take a variety of forms, including tarot readings, palm readings, fortune tellings, crystal ball readings, I-Ching readings, psychic readings, and more. Many of these ancient arts stem from fascinating traditions and mythologies that can shed meaning on the confusion of the modern world. You can select one or more of these captivating services for your event and an experienced practitioner or practitioners will be on hand to provide partygoers with an unforgettable psychic experience. Unlike clichéd performers such as jugglers and magicians, psychic entertainers bring something fresh and electrifying to the table. Your guests will be fascinated: After all, how many people have ever had their palm read or their fortune told!

This emerging genre of entertainment is becoming more and more popular in the United States. With a number of local and national metaphysical entertainers available, you’re sure to be able to find one with a specialty perfect for your party. Another option is to contact a psychic association or brokerage team such as The Gathering Promotions of Albany, New York. These groups work with a number of qualified metaphysical entertainers so they’re essentially a one-stop shop for all of your psychic entertainment needs. You’ll be able to contact a wide variety of metaphysical practitioners so you can find just the right one for your special event.

Your guests are sure to love the tarot readings or fortune tellings. These experiences are fun for the subject regardless of whether they believe in metaphysical and psychic powers. Whether the readings end up being solely for entertainment or if they bring the subject deeper understanding of a problem or impending choice, your guests will certainly never forget your party!

Psychic entertainment is also perfect for special occasions like birthday parties or baby showers, conventions or large group meetings, charity balls, and more. Think outside the box and bring metaphysical entertainment to your next gathering.

Matt Gallo is the Internet Marketing Manager for Prospect Genius, a leading provider of online local advertising.

There are few things in life that are more stressful than the loss of a job. You may think that the loss of your steady paycheck puts financial freedom that much further off, but nothing can be further from the truth.

Being laid of from your regular job can provide you with a golden opportunity to explore how passive income can mean you will never need or want another job. Instead of putting your considerable time, effort and talent into being just another wage slave, use your savvy and skill to put yourself on the road to financial freedom through the awesome power of passive income.

With passive income, you will not have to rely on your boss to tell you how much you will earn. Your passive income earning potential is only limited by the expertise and knowledge of you and your marketing team. The right marketing plan will make all the difference in the world. Harnessing the power of proven marketing strategies, and duplicating those proven strategies in your own business, can turn that trickle of passive income into a virtual flood.

If you are ready to take the bull by the horns and use your time and energy to gain this knowledge, financial freedom may be closer than you ever imagined. Unlike the income you generate as a cog in some giant machine, passive income can be generated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Instead of your boss and your company telling you what you are worth, passive income allows you to have unlimited earning potential.

Financial freedom means many things to many people. To some, financial freedom means having the time and money to do what you want to do instead of what you want to do. To others, financial freedom means you will be able to use your assets to help those you care about. When you have financial freedom, you can help those you love and give back to the world. The financial freedom you generate through passive income will help you gain the quality of life you have always wanted.

Stefanus Wahyudi has started his financial freedom journey since his college years. Now, he is encouraging many to do the same: start early! For more information about his business, you can access his system at: http://www.RetireYounger.com

“I don’t have the time to exercise!”

“I am busy! How can I spend 10 or 15 minutes to just sit there, closing my eyes and meditate?”

“I don’t have the room to do this!”

“I can’t stretch like that!”

“At that specific time, I’m not available!”

Do all the above sound familiar to most people who want to stay healthier but could not do so due to a number of reasons? The list can go on endless…

“How nice if I can get to do something easily – at anytime and anywhere, and stay healthy!”

Yes – now you can!

Huh? How?

By just changing the way you breathe, that’s all!

“Kidding me???”

No, I’m serious!

Most of us, in fact 98% of North Americans do not breathe correctly. Friends, co-workers, students, clients and vendors I came to know around me do not breathe correctly. Some of my friends I keep contact with through the Internet know how to breathe correctly but do not do so.

There are two reasons why they do not do so. First, they do not know the correct breathing methods. Secondly, they know but do not know how to learn and practice so that it becomes a habit. I would like to share in this article on how to solve these two reasons so that you too can breathe your way to healthier life and well-being, easily at anytime and anywhere.

First of all, let me explain what are not the correct breathing methods then only move on to the correct method. Most people breathe using the chest or the upper diaphragm. Worst still if they breathe through the mouth. Breathing in this way will result in shorter, shallower and coarser breath.

Shorter, shallower and coarser breath does not allow the air to go in deep enough to oxidize the cells in the lungs. This of course results in lesser oxygen intake into the blood systems. Breathing through the mouth will let unwanted elements in the air to go into our blood systems. Mouth breathing is one of the reasons that cause you to snore in your sleep.

Even if you are tired or gasping for air after strenuous sports or activities, try to breathe through the nose, except when you are swimming.

The correct breathing pattern is long, deep and in smaller flows. Long breath allows more time for the lung cells to be oxidize and send more oxygen into the blood system. This increase the metabolism rate, and increase blood circulation throughout your mind and body.

I believe most of you know what deep breathing is about, and I’m sure some of you have done this. Felt better each time you did deep breathing? Of course, you did. I will explain this from the Chinese point of view why deep breathing is good.

In meditation practice, martial arts or qigong practice, one of the requirements to make these practices effective is to “Sink the Qi into the Dantian”. Qi here means vital energy, and in the same time – air. Dantian is the acupuncture point (acu-point) at 1-2 inches below the navel which gathers the vital energy Qi for our body.

Sinking the Qi into the Dantian – can be achieved through long and deep breathing. With more vital energy coming into your body, your energy level will increase, and you will have a healthier and clearer energy body.

Breathing should be done in smaller flows. This will result in a calm and relaxed disposition and composure.

How to achieve all this?

The secret to long and deep breathing, with smaller flows is to breath with your abdomen or lower diaphragm. This is called Abdominal Breathing.

Abdominal Breathing is the key areas taught by most instructors, whether they are Tai Chi Chuan instructors, martial arts shifu, Qigong master, Yoga guru or meditation masters. From my experience in energy healing – my master emphasizes on abdominal breathing during healing session and energy meditation!

Unfortunately, some people took abdominal breathing lightly. Sad to say, some don’t even bother to learn and practice. Understandably, they have been breathing using the chest over the past… what, 10 years, 20 years 30 years? It has become their habit. So, if you want to change your breathing pattern overnight and make it a habit, you need to put in the effort to do so.

This comes to the second reason as to why people do not breathe correctly despite of knowing the technique.

First of all, I came to know that most instructor tell their students about abdominal breathing. Some showed them how to do it. But the students have to consciously doing it, and in the same time focus on the movements, motions, postures, steps etc and etc and soon before that, their forgot about their abdominal breathing!

Most of them focus on the form, not on the essence! I have a Tai Chi friend from New Zealand who shared with me that his friends do Tai Chi, but do not feel Tai Chi. Breathing forms the essential parts of the practice and for you to understand and ‘feel’ the flow of Tai Chi.

Secondly, I came to know friends who tried to practice abdominal breathing, and they got confused and breathless – don’t know which is which: the chest or the abdomen! They gave up instantly.

Thirdly, I myself took almost 2 years of conscious and constant practice to make it a habit! Now, I’m doing it unconsciously – as a habit! Thus, to consciously doing it is easy. To make it a habit takes time and effort. That’s why most give up after that!

So, how to make it a habit?

Based on Tai Chi Chuan’s healing and breathing system, plus my 23 years of experience in various meditation forms, martial arts and Tai Chi Chuan, I derived a 5-Step Systems which I call as Tai Chi Breathing to help my friends to ‘habitualize’ abdominal breathing. The 5-Steps are:

• Step 1: Connect the channels with the tongue touching the upper palate.
• Step 2: Abdominal breathing by using the lower abdomen.
• Step 3: Use the nose to breathe, with the mouth tightly closed
• Step 4: Breathe deeply, with long, slow and with tiny flows of inhaling and exhaling.
• Step 5: Maintain the slow and constant breathing rhythm.

These 5 steps each consists its background and reasons, and I designed many exercises and practices for each of the steps specifically for you to master each of the steps, towards making it your breathing habit.

These steps look easy, but they require exercises and constant practice in order to make it a habit. I have friends e-mailing to me saying that how these steps helped them to keep focus and conscious effort to make abdominal breathing a habit in their life. One of them told me that he stopped smoking because of this!

Where can you get these exercises and practices. Go to my website under my name or author profile to find out more.

Till then, I wish you with great health, great joy and happiness. And may you breathe your way to a better life!

May the Energy of Tai Chi be with you!

***** Copyright (C), 2005 C. Guan Soo *****

You are free to distribute or publish this article provided you do not change any of the content, and/or delete my name and URL from the article. Thank you!

Written by,
C. Guan Soo
Tai Chi Chuan Practitioner


C. Guan Soo is a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner who has 23 years experience in various meditation forms, martial arts, healing, charka healing and meditation as well. He is a keen learner of eastern philosophies including I-Ching, Daoism, Buddhism, Veda’s and Jainism. You can find more details about the breathing techniques on his website: http://www.TaichiBreathing.com

In my previous article, we talk about the dangers of using Feng Shui to improving one’s life without considering the destiny of this person that is brought about by his time of birth and that destiny is a zero-sum game.

How important then are Ba Zi (4 Pillars) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS) towards the execution of Feng Shui? Is it enough to know entry level Chinese Astrology to the extent enough for him to know this client will have health problem and his Feng Shui is tuned to avoiding health problems? If this Geomancer knows only entry level 4 Pillars and ZWDS, it is safe to say he does not know how much allowance he have in the rest of the aspects of life (wealth, career, romance, marriage, children) to re-allocate amongst in this zero-sum destiny game. The result? Either death, bankruptcy, lose job, divorce if this practitioner is aggressive in his Feng Shui approach. Otherwise, a life of mediocrity for the client if this practitioner is conservative in his approach. Neither of which bodes well for a paying customer.

Is it sufficient then for a Geomancer to be well-skilled in either Ba Zi or Zi Wei Dou Shu? From an ethical stand point, I would say no again because a Feng Shui practitioner’s work could result in dire consequences like death or **** for a client whose destiny is skewed towards such possibility. This is not an exaggeration because I have indeed come across cases of Feng Shui audit exacerbating death or **** because these practitioners do not know Zi Wei Dou Shu. What Fengshui setup these practitioners have to amplify wealth unwittingly brought about other undesirable outcomes.

The next time you intend to engage a Feng Shui consultant, do check if he also knows Ba Zi and more importantly Zi Wei Dou Shu. Ask whether his methods include Zi Wei Dou Shu inspired methods.

I am a Fengshui Practitioner in private practice and I specialise in Ba Zi, Zi Wei Dou Shu ZWDS, Feng Shui, I-Ching, Qi Men Dun Jia QMDJ and other Chinese Metaphysics tools. My blog site is at: http://fengshuiforward.com and http://fengshuiforward.com/forum

Where is your financial thermostat set? Is it set way up high for wealth and abundance or way down low for “Not Enough?” Is it set for striving or thriving? The answer is easy. Just look at your life. Your thoughts and beliefs about money are reflected in precise detail in your environment. What is your environment telling you? Whether you live a life of wealth, poverty, or somewhere in between, it’s all determined by where your financial thermostat is set.

Your financial thermostat is so hard-wired that, whether you experience a major setback or a huge windfall, ultimately you will find yourself back where you started. That’s why lottery winners are so often broke again in two years. If your financial thermostat is set for “Poverty,” any wealth that comes to you will be a memory before you know it. On the other hand, if your financial thermostat is set for “Midas Touch,” you will move through any financial reversals and regain (or exceed) your high level of prosperity with ease and grace. Think Donald Trump. Even though at one point he was more than $2 Billion in debt, his financial thermostat is set for “Billionaire!” and he’s back on top with an estimated net worth of $5 Billion.

As children, we were taught how to think about money. We were taught how much or how little we can have and how difficult or easy money is to come by. Some of us were taught to think of rich people as greedy and to believe that having money is bad or not spiritual. Although your financial thermostat was set in childhood by others, the good news is that it’s YOUR thermostat now and you can reset it for any level of prosperity you desire.

Let’s start with a little quiz:

• Do you experience more scarcity and lack or wealth and abundance?
• Do you believe you can have what you truly desire or do you settle for what you think you can afford?
• Are you a good money manager or does money “slip through your fingers?”
• Do you work hard for your money or do you let your money work hard for you?
• Does it seem that, no matter how much money comes in, there’s never enough?

How’d you do? Did you notice any “stinking thinking” around money? If so, it’s a good time to reset your financial thermostat. Here are five ways to raise your thermostat and become a vibrational match for ever-flowing abundance:

(1) Replace old, tired, limiting beliefs with fresh, empowering beliefs, such as:

• This is a Universe of Abundance and I freely and joyously tap into that Abundance.
• I know I can be and do and have whatever I desire.
• I am an excellent money manager.
• My money works hard and I work smart.
• I am so happy and grateful now that I know there’s always enough.

(2)Write a new script for your financial life. Cast yourself in the leading role as a hero, as a winner, as a huge success, and write a new story of wealth and riches. Not only is this a fun exercise, it’s also a powerful way to raise the setting on your financial thermostat.

(3)Keep an Abundance Journal and record every penny that comes to you. When you receive income in any form, write it down, appreciate it and declare with joy “I am a money magnet!”

(4)Commit to your financial success. Stay focused on the level of prosperity you desire, take inspired action and hang in there until you see the evidence (Ka-Ching!) that your financial thermostat has been reset for “Big Bucks!”

(5)Associate with positive, successful people. Birds of a feather flock together, right? Reading books, attending seminars, and spending time with like-minded people who encourage you to believe in your success and teach you how to think like a rich person are great ways to raise your financial thermostat.

So what do you think? Are you ready to release any poverty consciousness you picked up along the way? Are you willing to consciously choose thoughts and actions that contribute to abundance and success? As you raise your financial thermostat to allow in more money, you are at the same time raising your overall vibration to allow in more love, more joy, more health, more confidence, more peace of mind, and more fun adventures of all kinds. It’s a package deal. Take a moment now to imagine and savor how fantastic you will feel and how magnificent your life will become as you reset your financial thermostat to “Sky High!”

Kate Corbin is a Law of Attraction Life Coach and the creator of Gold Star Coaching. Both her coaching practice and her books - Dining at the Cosmic Café: How to Be and Do and Have Whatever You Desire as well as Think and Grow Thin with the Law of Attraction - http://www.goldstarcoaching.com/ebook.html are designed to empower you to truly live the life of your dreams. To contact Coach Kate, check out her books, and subscribe to her free ezine, Magical Musings, visit http://www.goldstarcoaching.com/

“The Secret” is a movie, book and cottage industry that teaches the Law of Attraction which states that our thoughts and expectations have the power to attract to us what we focus upon. It’s common sense that if you truly expect to graduate from school, you will study hard, persevere through obstacles and therefore, be more likely to graduate than someone who doubts they will ever succeed. Of course, our positive expectations influence our own behavior and determination.

It’s quite a different question whether I can attract external events that are beyond my direct control into my experience simply because I expect or focus on them. There is a great debate about the “Law of Attraction” teachings of (the channeled teacher) Abraham-Hicks, and the teachers in “The Secret”: 1) Does positive intention influence objective life events? 2) Must one include constructive actions to further those positive intentions?

As a practicing psychologist, I always encouraged a process that culminated in setting goals, thinking positively, and most definitely,in taking ongoing action steps (of a suitable size) in the direction of one’s goals. As a child I had been told that “the Lord helps those who help themselves” and that seemed to apply to psychology too; clients who were motivated to take action to get what they wanted seemed to get more out of therapy.

However, my personal experience had challenged this: in 1979 a friend sent me an audio tape with a long passage from some book she was recommending without mentioning the author in advance. She did that because I had refused to read the Seth books that Jane Roberts was channeling from the invisible realms. I was then completing a double Ph.D. in psychology and social work and the concept of channeling a discarnate being seemed far too weird to even consider. After hearing a long passage on audio tape which I found to be profound and deeply insightful, and which felt true to me, my friend mentioned she was reading it from one of the Seth books! My prejudices had been outsmarted once again.

Always willing to listen to the truth wherever I found it, I purchased my first Seth book (of the many I would read), put it on my night table and ignored it for at least a month; until it awoke me with a loud bang in the middle of the night! I still have no idea how it “leaped?” or “fell” to the floor but the experience sure got my attention and I started reading it the next day.

I was genuinely intrigued by the concept (now popular but then, unheard of), that: We create our own reality. When I came to the section in the Seth books about manifesting objects in the outer world merely by focusing attention and making a request, my scientific mind had great reservations. Of course, I had heard: “Ask and ye shall receive,” but I was definitely not convinced. Since I was in training to be a research scientist I decided to test the concept.

As a graduate student, what I most needed was money so requesting that money appear in my life simply as a result of my requesting it, would give the Seth concept a stringent test (which I fully expected to fail!) and be to my benefit if it succeeded. I took an afternoon nap while making a request and focusing on money coming to me. As I dropped down into sleep (in the hypnogogic stage), my mind involuntarily thought, maybe one could attract money simply by requesting or expecting it, but shouldn’t one create some sort of vehicle to invite it? Perhaps I should run a small ad in the paper or put up a sign with something for sale or ask for donations for some worthy project. The last thought I heard before sleep was “I can’t just expect to find the money lying the gutter.”

I was awakened about an hour later by the ringing of my phone. My friend John was calling to apologetically tell me that he finally had the $20 he had borrowed from me several months earlier and was ready to drop it by if I was going to be home. I agreed and as I hung up the phone I remembered the money-attraction experiment I was engaged in and realized that this could possibly be related, when the phone startled me by ringing while my hand was still on it. Ed was calling to say he wanted to buy one of my books that I had told him was for sale and we agreed on a price on the phone. When I hung up I sat on my bed feeling amazed at how immediately two small sums of money had just appeared in my life.

A few minutes later I heard the unmistakable roar of John’s noisy Chevy pulling up in front of my second story apartment. As I glanced out at his car I got the shock of my life and ran wildly down the stairs and across the street. He assumed I was running over to greet him, but right in front of his bumper I bent down to pick from among the golden Ann Arbor leaves, yes, right there in the gutter, a one dollar bill. This third and smallest sum was by far the most convincing evidence of all. I have never forgotten that first experiment in manifesting with the power of thought–alone–using the Law of Attraction.

After I completed my doctorates at the University of Michigan, I studied for many years with psychics and shamans and mystics where I learned more about how truly powerful our thoughts and expectations can be. I am now amused by my former attachment to seeing only the visible side of the reality coin and how playfully–and undeniably–my first “experiment” jolted me into a larger world view.

Now I agree with the Abraham-Hicks channeled suggestion about how very important it can be to monitor the thoughts we entertain due to their attraction power: “You are picky about the car you drive. You are picky about what you wear. You’re picky about what you put in your mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think.”

Get the free 8 part email class “Discover Your Dreams: A Beginners Guide to Dream Interpretation”.

DreamTalk is a low-cost dreamwork email group and TeleDream is a weekly telephone dream group which Dr Masa, Debbie Hart and Dr Marjorie Miles co-moderate. Work on your dreams and help others too.

Ron Masa, Ph.D. wrote columns on dreams while in private practice for 25 years. He and Debbie Hart co-lead University of Yourself.com: “Helping You Hear the Guide Inside.”

One definition of creativity states that creative people look at
the same thing everyone else does, yet they see something
no one else does.

But even creative people (which includes all of you, of
course) can run into roadblocks every now and then.
Sometimes it’s not possible to see something different.
Sometimes you’ve just been staring at a problem for so long
it’s now impossible to look at it in any other way.

So what do you do in these situations?

Why not try changing your perspective?

Consider this: A friend of mind who does needlepoint has a
design that’s mostly black. Rather than simply stitching the
design on white canvas with black thread, she’s using a
black canvas and is stitching the negative aspects of the
design instead of the positive.

She changed the way she viewed the problem. And now she
has a really cool-looking needlepoint design that’s different
from most other ones out there.

Or what about this: An art teacher has her students turn a
photograph or object upside down and paint what they see
– not a picture but an arrangement of shapes.

By changing your perspective, you’re changing what you
see. And when you change what you see, you’re more likely
to create something completely different.

But — I can hear you all saying right now — that’s art. That
won’t help me with my business problem.

Okay, so here’s another story from the book “Thinkertoys” by
Michael Michalko. Back in the 1950s, experts proclaimed the
ocean freighter industry was dying. Costs were skyrocketing
and delivery times kept getting pushed back later and later.

Executives at the shipping companies kept focusing on
ways to cut costs while ships were sailing. They developed
ships that went faster and needed fewer crew members to
run.

It didn’t work. Costs continued to spiral out of control and it
still took too long to get the merchandise shipped.

Then one day, a consultant changed the perspective. Rather
than ask the question: ” In what ways might we make ships
more economical while at sea?” executives asked: “In what
ways can we reduce costs?”

Ta-da!

Ships are big money-sucking machines when they aren’t at
sea actually doing their job — shipping merchandise. And
when aren’t they working? When they’re sitting in port being
loaded and unloaded.

So, the industry came up with way to preload merchandise
on land. Now a ship comes in, the container carrying the
cargo rolls off, a new container already loaded with cargo
rolls on, and the ship heads back to sea.

That one innovation saved an entire industry. And it
happened because shipping executives changed the way
they viewed their problem.

Creativity Exercise — Change your perspective

So, how can you change your perspective and solve your
business/marketing problems?

Try what the shipping industry did and change the question.

Instead of looking at a narrow part of the problem (”In what
ways can we make ships more economical while at sea?”)
broaden the question (”In what ways can we reduce costs in
general?”)

Here’s another example.

Maybe your question is “how can I land more clients?” What
if you started broadening the question like so:

How can I land more clients?

How can I grow my business?

How can I make more money from my business?

How can I make more money period?

How can I be happier in my life? (I know, I know, money
doesn’t buy happiness. But it’s certainly nice to have.)

Maybe one of those questions is a better place to look for a
solution. Because maybe one of those questions is the
“real” question you want to solve, but since you never took a
step back to look at the big picture, you’ve never discovered
the right question to ask.

And if you don’t ask the right question, your muse will never
give you an answer that actually solves your problem.

Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of “Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money.” She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at TheArtistSoul.com

My definition of listening is, “Loving someone with your ears.”

This brings to mind a common scripture quoted at many wedding ceremonies:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

THEREFORE: If listening is loving, and if loving is patient…

Listening = Patience

Here are four practices to help your grow patient ears:

1. Have faith in the process.  Natalie, my yoga instructor, constantly reminds her students to be patient and with and have faith in themselves during class.  “Remember, you have sixty seconds to execute this posture,” she’ll say, “So take your time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  Have faith and trust that your body will be there.” 

Similarly, in your listening practice, you need to believe that the speaker’s intention will eventually show up.  Even when they’re tap-dancing around the real issues.  Even when they’re taking too long to get to the point.  Sure, you don’t have all day to sit there in silence, but sometimes you can only probe so much. 

NOW HEAR THIS: Faith means, “finally allowing it to happen.”

2. Leading others to lead themselves. Marjorie, a writer I once coached, came to me with a challenge about discipline.  Because of her hectic schedule, she was unable to squeeze in regular blocks of time to complete her project.  Eventually, after asking a few questions about her daily schedule, it occurred to me that her problem wasn’t about discipline; it was about time management. 

Now, the old, impatient me would have flat-out TOLD her that.  But part of being a patient listener - as I’ve learned from countless screw-ups of my own - is leading the other person to lead herself.  In the words of the Tao Te Ching, “A good leader takes the people to the finish and makes them say, ‘We did it on our own.’” 

NOW HEAR THIS: Listen a little and they’ll give you their problem; listen a LOT and they’ll give you their solution.

3. Don’t immediately come to a conclusion.  Listening impatience is kind of like stress: everybody manifests it differently.  For example, some people tap their pen, others incessantly shake their left leg, while others whip out their Crackberry and start text messaging their boyfriend. 

For me, listening impatience has a tendency to manifest in my arm.  That is, I ALWAYS have to be the first one in the discussion to ask a question.  Sometimes even before the speaker finishes asking, “Do we have any questions?”

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! I have a question!  Me! Me! Me! Pick me!  Oh MAN what a great question I’m going to ask!  Right here! Right here!”

I know.  I’m working on it.  And I’ve been this way since I was four years old, so it may take a while. 

Anyway, uncontrollable arm ticks aside, here’s the secret to remember: You don’t (always) have to IMMEDIATELY come to a conclusion.  Whether you’re practicing patience at a staff meeting, in a seminar or during a meeting with your boss, don’t be so quick to impose your own answers.  Just pause.  Listen first.

NOW HEAR THIS: Decide if your thought is a reaction or a response.

4. Mobilize people’s inner resources. As The Listener, few things are more beautiful than watching someone realize a truth on their OWN.  In The Sacred Art of Listening, author Kay Lindahl writes, “If we’re still like water in a pond, the other person can see his reflection in it.”

That’s your job.  To practice attentive silence.  To let people see, find, say, do, know, learn and discover on their own.  Resist the need to take over while respecting the speaker’s speed of self-discovery.  No pushing.  No forcing. Gentle nudging. Facilitating a natural process, you enable and nurture the speaker’s rhythm and guide him to make the best choices.

NOW HEAR THIS: When someone is listened to, she can more easily clarify her thoughts and feelings

Now that we’ve identified four key practices to enhance your listening patience, let’s conclude with an affirmation.  I suggest you print it out, post it in a visible location and read it daily as reminder of your role as The Listener:

THE PATIENT LISTENER’S CREED

When I pause, I listen to the silences.
When I pause, I respect which questions want to be asked next.

When I speak, it’s only to improve on the silence.
When I speak, it’s to make a difference and contribute to the conversation.

When I engage, I make it easy for others to talk.
When I engage, I grant others adequate space to talk.

When I comment, I choose NOT to inject too much of myself.
When I comment, I choose to contribute to, not disrupt the conversation.
When I comment, I choose to be helpful and not intrude upon the speaker.

I am a Patient Listener, and I know how to love people with my ears.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you patient enough in your listening?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “27 Reasons People Aren’t Listening to You,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

© 2007 All Rights Reserved.
Scott Ginsberg, aka “The Nametag Guy,” is an author, speaker, award-winning blogger and entrepreneur. As the creator of NametagTV.com, he teaches people how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business. To rent Scott’s brain, call 314/256-1800 or email scott@hellomynameisscott.com.

When you look inside yourself to discover what your problems might be like from the inside out, you might pay attention to the way your body feels. You notice thoughts that arise. You watch patterns of breathing. You see if any previous experiences wish to present themselves to you. You remain as present in the moment with this experience as you possibly can. You explore whatever you’re experiencing in your deep inner mind. You may find tightness in your chest or a pain somewhere. You may find that your breathing is shallow or that a thought springs up out of the blue. You may find tears coming or anger rising to the surface. Whatever it is, you just pay attention. It’s about becoming centered and creating a bridge to awareness.

Let’s say you had a fear of driving across bridges. You might describe it like this, “My heart is beating fast, and my hands are moist. My throat is choked up, and my feet feel as if they’re rising up off the ground. My mouth is dry, and I feel as if I’d like to go under the covers instead of drive across that bridge.”

You might ask for more details: “I fear that my car will go over the side of that bridge if I lose control. I fear losing control because I’ve had these symptoms before, and they were debilitating.”
You continue to observe: “My father comes to mind. He practically came unglued when he was teaching me to drive. His terror was infectious.”

And then you ask yourself, “Is there anything else here I need to know?” You look even more deeply, and you perceive within yourself a tiny child who feels all alone. Where is everyone? No one is there.

Watching Your Mind and Body

It can be detailed as in the example above. It can also be brief. It is about coming to know what you’re creating on whatever level inside your being. It may involve old pictures and feelings and thoughts of times past; it may be entirely focused on the moment.

The ancient and wise Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching, his book of poetic verses:

In standing back

from your own mind

you begin to understand all things

One of the things he is talking about here is the art of being the witness, of standing back and observing your own experience. You gain perspective as you allow yourself to feel and experience whatever you perceive is there.

You allow your own inner mind to reveal a brilliant database of material that has its own rhyme and reason, its own logic. With this attitude of deep interest, you can see what’s taking place in this subterranean inner world. You ask yourself the leading questions, and much is revealed. Here are some of the possible questions:

• What’s happening here?

• Who is there?

• What am I feeling, seeing, hearing, knowing?

• Is there anything else I need to know?

• Tell me more.

• Does this remind me of any previous experience, and do I need to know what it might be?

• Where do I feel this in my body?

• How am I picturing this or representing it in my mind?

• Is there a particular part of me that is in need of healing?

• Tell me more.


You can approach this with your intuitive and spiritual powers, or you can be primarily scientific and pragmatic. Your experiences might come as symbols. You might experience an empty warehouse in which you’re alone and there’s no furniture. This may be symbolic of the alienation you feel. Or you might experience a great light that is a foreshadowing of the illumination you’re preparing to experience in greater fullness.

Eventually you become adept at standing back and viewing your own mind, seeing from the state of witness consciousness, and you begin to understand all things.

Want to learn more about life transformation, spiritual growth, and healing? You can download our 100 page free ebook, Extraordinary Healing at http://www.thewisemind.com - You can also subscribe to our wonderful free monthly newsletter, “The Transformation News.” Marilyn Gordon is a board certified hypnotherapist, teacher, speaker, healer, school director, and author with over thirty years of experience. Her latest book is The Wise Mind: The Brilliant Key to Life Transformation and Healing.Read more about hypnotherapy at http://www.hypnotherapycenter.com

You should take a self-made rich person to lunch whenever you can and you should always pay. Why? Read on and all will be revealed.

Let’s take a look at the first part first. Why should you take a self-made rich person to lunch?

The self-made rich don’t get there by accident. They weren’t broke up until one day when they went to their mailbox they found that someone had left them a check for a few million dollars. The self-made rich got rich because of what they know, how they think, what they do and how they do it.

Do you think that if you knew what they know, thought like they thought, and did the things that they do, in the same way that they do them, that you too may become rich? I think that you would find that indeed you would become rich by following that formula.

But why take them to lunch (or dinner)?

The self-made rich have learned that their time is very valuable. You may be able to buy some of their consulting time but it won’t come cheap. For example, my standard consulting rate is $2,000 per hour and I know people, far richer than me, who charge $20,000 for an hour, or more, for their time.

But even the rich have to eat sometime. If you can be fortunate enough to find a time when they are eating, and it is not a business lunch, then you may be able to share that time over a meal and learn a tremendous amount without paying the huge consulting fee.

Also, when that rich person is having lunch he is probably more relaxed and open to conversation.

What do you think a self-made rich person likes to talk about? You will probably find that his two favorite topics of conversation are himself and the things that he is doing to make money. The self-made rich get that way by following their passion and learning how to leverage that passion so that it provides them with a large amount of money.

If, after a brief rapport period, you ask him a question about himself or his passion then you will probably get a flow of incredibly valuable information, which you should write down. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions. Asking clarifying questions is a good listening skill and it shows that you are interested in what the speaker is talking about.

Okay. Why should you pay for lunch? After all, that rich person can afford to pay much more easily than you can.

In order to become rich you have to develop rich thinking. Expecting a person who has just given you a fortune’s worth of free information to then pay for his own lunch is definitely poverty thinking. With an attitude like that you will never become rich.

Rich people know how to give and how to receive, and above all they know how and when to show appreciation and gratitude. By developing those same qualities in yourself you will open your mind to the style of thinking that will allow you to also become rich.

You may be thinking “but what if I can’t afford to buy lunch?” All the more reason why you need to develop rich thinking or you’ll continually find that you can’t afford to buy lunch.

Poor people tend to have a hand out mentality. They expect the government and the rich to pay the bills and they always have their hand out for something for nothing. Something for nothing is 100% poverty thinking.

The rich understand the law of reciprocity. That law states that you reap what you sow. You have to give in order to receive. Most rich people are getting rich by giving valuable solutions or happiness to a large number of people.

For example Bill Gates, through his company Microsoft, has given hundreds of millions of people the opportunity to use a computer without the need to understand how to program a computer. In return for helping so many people, he has made an enormous amount of money. It’s the law of reciprocity in action.

The average person has helped virtually no-one and in fact expects others to help them whenever they need help. As a result they are broke.

I suggest that you read this article a second time and think about what is being said. Then, if the message is sinking in, think how you could take a self-made rich person to lunch or dinner and pickup the tab.

YOU can be successful in all areas of your life! Acclaimed Author & Success Coach, James Delrojo will show you how to turn your life around in just 30 days and unlock the flood gates of success. You Deserve Success!

Go to http://www.SuccessIn30days.com

One of the most fundamental aspect of any growth or spiritual path is the trust in one’s own perception. There is no question it is an incomplete perception; so long as you have a body, you will not see even a minuscule fraction of the totality of the universe, or that of your Self. But it is still your perception. It is your link to your soul. It is the basis for all growth, for if you rely on someone else’s eyes and intuition, you are not living your own life, discovering your own Truth, but are being a guinea pig for other’s experiments with Truth. As J. Krishnamurthi said,

“All authority of any kind, especially in the field of thought and understanding, is the most destructive, evil thing. Leaders destroy the followers and followers destroy the leaders. You have to be your own teacher and your own disciple. You have to question everything that man has accepted as valuable, as necessary.”

Living and speaking from your own perception can be very challenging. At the same time, it is also compassionate. One of my teachers, the channeled entity Michael, described a compassionate supporting person as “This person can be counted on to tell you the truth about you in any situation.”. Being someone who speaks their perceptions fully can cause worldly problems if used indiscriminately, but within the context of close relationships generates trust and love. When someone is being exactly who they are, Love exists. Love is. Living and speaking your perceptions is another way of being who you are. Being who you are brings awareness to the Truth that you are nothing but Love.

Unfortunately, even in progressive groups, there can easily be an environment where only “positive perceptions” are shared. This can be a definite improvement over a environment of venting and flaming at each other, but it still is not the full truth of who we are. Paradoxically, if everyone is restricted in what they can say, then over time people don’t feel supported and safety issues can come up strongly. When it’s considered not compassionate to speak true perceptions then a very strange dynamic occurs and dysfunction starts. Compassion will always start from truth.

However, simply announcing this intention this does not mean it will happen. If there is no openness to intimacy, then bare honesty may provoke strong defenses; awareness of this is compassionate in itself. It is good to ask what is necessary to create relationships, an environment, or even a deeper level of community where true perceptions can be displayed openly. I call this “Higher Communication”. This is where the interrelationships are about sharing who you are, completely and in complete wholeness. I hope insight into these helps bring true communication in this holiday season. Each of these are needed by all parties involved in the interaction:

1. Self awareness: Being conscious enough to know feelings and dynamics as they are happening.
2. Expressive ability: Enough interconnection exists between the emotional and intellectual centers of the body that all of the issues involved can be communicated in words or via other forms of expression.
3. Translation ability. This is an added level of expressive ability. As we know from NLP and other systems, people interpret and communicate their world in different ways. The ability to bridge communication distances by flexibility of words or modalities helps greatly when connecting.
4. A dynamic of equality, where there are no power plays going on. Social positions and roles are dropped. Within a dynamic of power plays, there is a struggle to hold to a position of power, which I call a “magnetic center” and deep communication usually gets blocked in this struggle.
5. Trust. This is an extension of equality; the relationship has developed to the point that it is unquestionably known that everyone’s wellbeing is linked. You are on the same side. Your happiness is quite literally their happiness. Any power dynamic immediately removes this.
6. Fears have been calmed. If someone is arrogant - which is the same thing as being influenced by a great fear of vulnerability - then the openness of intimacy tends to be blocked whenever the fear has not been calmed. Similarly, someone with a fear of change (e.g., stubbornness), will also tend to stonewall if they feel pressured rather than head towards true communication. Other fears act similarly. Note that all fears are nothing more than blocks in perception. And because communication is an extension of perception, fears block communication and communion.

Note that fears do not need to disappear. They simply need to be calmed. And more often than not, a gentle listening to is all that fears need in order to be calmed.

1. Love of Self. Without a connection to an unconditional acceptance of the larger Self, which connects us to All That Is, there will be limitations on the interplay between people. You cannot communicate intricacies about something you have contempt for - you can only denigrate it, which is to say offer reasons for not looking at it. With Love of Self, all communication is tinged with it, and the depth of interaction increases exponentially. It is said that Buddha’s smile conveyed such detail about the nature of the universe that this was enough for some monks to reach higher understanding.

When any of these are not present - or when there is simply no listening - then of course it’s wise to let it be and not push for deeper communication. Respect for other’s choices is in itself compassionate. Love simply allows what is, and a true compassionate acceptance of blocks without resentment opens many doors in and of itself.

Rules in any group or community, such as “before judging, get it from the horses mouth” that do not incorporate an understanding of the processes above can easily be used as a subtle way of saying “do not trust your own perception”. When there is a denial of perception going on, such as those of any blocks listed above, this is a subtle form of brainwashing. I do not use that term lightly. “brainwashing” I would define as actions taken to cause distrust of one’s own perceptions, intuitive knowingness, and connection to Self. This is our most valued treasure - our selves. This is why trusting one’s own perception is fundamental; without this, we disown our Self.

Any time you may hear a response like “don’t trust your perception, ask me” then power plays and fears are in operation. There are no exceptions to this, and it is applicable to everyone, no matter how “wise”. Everyone’s perceptions are inclusive and build on each other’s; we only know a small part of ourselves, and others’ perceptions add greatly to our own. This is not saying asking others for verification isn’t a good thing; it is very important to get feedback to tune perceptions or reevaluate them. This is the benefit of positive doubt; if there is a blind trust of one’s own intuition, then this can be used to wall one’s self in an ivory tower. You can trust your own perceptions while having a vast space open to expand them through others’. With Higher Communication, there is no conflict; we are always enriched by the sharing of our selves with each other. Within higher communication, other’s perception is literally your own. True intimacy appears Oneness is experienced.

Again, trusting your own perception is an absolutely fundamental cornerstone of all growth. You start from where you are now.

Matthew is the resident writer at http://www.loving-awareness.org He is a teacher, writer, coach, and sometimes activist living in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is a founding member of the federal Work Less Party of Canada.


He is a world traveler, having been to most of the continents on the Earth. He considers himself as a basically simple person who tries to look into the framework of life. Sort of like the Tao Te Ching if you added some interpretive dancing & clowning to it. Playfulness is his modus operandi, and he’s learning how to relax, have fun, and be perceptive, and be balanced at the same time.


Matthew is totally with the Dalai Lama when he says “my religion is love” - he strives to practicing loving-kindness towards everyone, including George Bush. Really, he needs it. Yes, Matthew even hugs Republicans! But then, he doesn’t perceive ‘evil’ as such anyway, seeing the universe as being a tremendously loving place, without slipping into being naive. To contact Matthew please email him at Matthew@loving-awareness.org

Missing credit payments may not seem like a major concern, however, if you are in the business of making money, this is one incident that spells ka-ching! From balance transfers to late payment fees and everything in between; credit card companies generate millions of revenue every year from this kind of finance charges. And to our disadvantage, we rarely receive an immediate heads up from the billing authorities. Heck, it could even take a week before we hear from the credit card company about the delayed payment or worse it could be reported only on the next billing cycle. Surprise, surprise, you have an obligation to settle a fee amounting to $35 due to late payment.

Attached to delayed payments are penalty fees. But this is not the only scenario that may occur. It may be followed by an increase in your interest rate and a decrease in your credit score. Further damage may be done to your credit standing when the said delay reaches one of the three credit bureaus. In addition to this, the card holder may not be aware but he may be covered by the universal default clause. Under this provision, a perfectly fine loan goes into default when you incur a delay on another distinct obligation. An example is having two credit cards, Card X and Card Y. The first card, Card X, is subject to universal default. If you ever incur a late payment with Card Y, Card X will automatically be on default as well. And usually default is equated to an increase in interest rates.

Now you have to deal with two credit cards with interest rates shooting upward. One must realize that there are a lot of loopholes in the agreement that allows a financial institution to legally increase the interest due to late payment. Reading the fine print in the terms and conditions suddenly becomes a necessity, huh?

Though this late payment and interest boost can be questioned or appealed. If you incur delay knowing that you settled the debt before the due date, don’t hesitate to contact your service provider and demand an explanation. This usually happens when payment was done through snail mail. It is advised that it be sent 10 days prior the due date to give ample time for delivery and processing.

However, this does not mean that an online payment is a ticket to no more delayed payment. Because like the terms and conditions, online payments also have guidelines that need to be followed to recognize any action performed. If it is posted that online payments are accepted only up to a specific time of the day like 6 in the evening, make certain that you settle everything before the clock strikes 6. Another issue is that you can still get smacked with a late fee even if you’ve configured a monthly payment scheme.

Let’s assume that the minimum amount due is $80. You arranged that $100 be withdrawn from your checking account monthly. Unfortunately, you purchased one too many items the following month escalating the minimum to $135. Presto! Another late payment fee. To prevent this from happening, routine check and review must be made at least once a month to make sure that the minimum amount be settled.

On the bright side, the computation of the credit score doesn’t treat each and every delayed payment as one and the same. An isolated incident of a 30 or even 60 day payment delay will prove its impact on your credit score in the months when it was incurred. But after a year or so, its effect will slowly diminish. But to default on quite a few payments for one or two billing cycle is a no-no.

Bottom line: Settle all your debts on time to avoid any hassle or any unwanted charges.

Stephen Lee is the author for aboutcreditcards.info that is geared toward helping people choose and compare credit card offerings You can view more articles about credit cards by visiting here

Remember in college, those droning professors that put your class to sleep? Then there were the rare few who challenged you, kept you interested, excited, and enthusiastic about subjects that you might not even have wanted to know about. Similarly, a press release should never be a boring, sleep inducing, yawner that puts the media and other audiences to snoring. If your dog is napping, wake up and smell the puppy chow.

Present your business to the media and your target audiences online, offline, borderline and over the line, with a funny heartfelt message that is newsworthy and reap the beneficial results.

Consider:

How can you communicate about your business in 400 words or less?

After reading what you wrote, would you hit the snooze alarm?

Is your story something others will wag their tongues about?

Business owners can tell their story to the media, so that journalists wake up and pay attention, and customers run do not walk to their website to buy their products and/or services.

How about this Pup-Lick Relations tip from my dog Cici. “Consider telling your business tale with animal media spokespersons or animal stories.

“Know why Geico has a Gecko in their TV commercials? What about Tony the Tiger, Morris the cat, Taco Bell’s Chihuahua or Smokey the Bear. During the Super Bowl, the average price for a 30-second spot was $2.5 million. In these ads, many companies portrayed furry animals to convey their message.

“Dogs, cats and even fake, stuffed and animated animals can enhance how you tell the world who you are and what you represent. Why? One reason is that people love animals. And so do the media. When you touch people’s hearts, funny bones and get them talking to one another about your business, (aka word of mouth), ka-ching… you’ve written the write stuff,” she concludes.

Below are 12 ideas to jump start your plan to write one press release for every month of the year. Focus upon holidays and pets. Team up and support a local animal organization for one year and include photos and videos with your news releases.

January

Write a press release about the pet rescue/shelter’s New Year’s Resolutions. Tell a heartwarming tale about a particular dog or cat or horse. Let the media know that you are donating a percentage of your profits to support these animals.

February

Write about how your company is now offering pet services. Even if you are a CPA or florist or printer, you can provide pet services. Be creative and pet owners will love to do business with your company.

March

Write a St. Patrick’s Day theme such as Green Pet Day or Green Pet Food Day. Educate, entertain and inspire.

April

Write about the Easter pet parade or event you are sponsoring. Everyone loves a heartwarming tale. Keep a tally of how many pets your business has saved, how many pit bulls were rescued, or how your generosity inspired a larger donation to your favorite pet cause.

May

Write about the fundraiser the pet charity is doing with your assistance. Winners receive a free service from your business. Promote events ahead of time for maximum coverage. Three to six months ahead of time is ideal and the local newspaper may print a few stories leading up to the event.

June

Write tips for keeping pets hydrated during the summer heat. Or safely taking a pet on vacation.

July

Write about the work of a wonderful local kennel, pet sitter, boarding facility and/or doggie daycare place.

August

Did the dogs from the organization receive swimming lessons to enjoy the Dog Days of Summer, tell the world.

September

Home sweet homes for those cats you have been sponsoring are always a good news brief.

October

Write a spooky story with photos about the pet costume party that the pet organization is putting on for the pets.

November

How have you answered HOW MANY pet’s prayers? Got recipes? Compile a Thanksgiving community cookbook or calendar with recipes for healthy pet food and treats that the pet organization can sell as a fundraiser.

December

Write about how the community’s pet gift giving has made a huge difference in these particular pet’s lives and impacted the health of the pet organization.

Voila, you now have a plan for the year. Be sure to post press releases on your website and distribute them to your media contact list and via online press distribution services such as prweb.com, prleap.com, and others.

CeliaSue Hecht is a published writer, editor and publicist who assists business owners in promoting their products and services. She has been published in more than 40 publications (Top 100 newspapers and national magazines) and has obtained media coverage for authors and entrepreneurs. She offers a range of services, from publicity strategy to press release writing and email newsletter campaigns.((Her blog, Cuppa Writing for the Soul (http://celiasue.wordpress.com) offers free tips and advice for pet owners and pet businesses as well as traveling with dogs tales.

For more information, visit http://celiasue.hecht.googlepages.com/home

The money equation - what is it? It’s really quite simple. Think of it like a see-saw. The left hand side is money in. The right hand side is money out. Is your see-saw down on the left side or is it down on the right side?

If your see-saw is down on the right because you have more money going out than coming in then you have two choices.

Actually… you have three choices because, idiotically, you can always choose to do nothing. That is what all the “blamers” in society do. They do nothing or they do something stupid and then they try to shift the blame onto somebody else.

But, essentially, because you are not a blamer, your two choices are as follows::

1. you can earn more, or
2. you can spend less.

Either way, you can get that see-saw to start shifting back in the direction that you want.

It really is a “no-brainer” of a question when I ask: “Which side of the money equation do you want to be on?”

Only a complete fool would give the wrong answer. Perhaps the REAL question is this: “What are you prepared to do to get your money equation working for you?”

Sadly, for many the answer will revolve around doing something “later” and we all know that later never comes. It is the soft-option expert’s way of suggesting defeat without actually coming right out and admitting it. I hope that is not what you are thinking.

There is no better day than today to get your financial equation in order.

Brought to you by: Gary Simpson’s http://www.MotivationSelfEsteem.com/Zenspiration.html website where you can receive motivating “Zenspirational Thoughts” plus an immediate FREE copy of the highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book “The Power of Choice.” Here you will also be able to get your password for the “Wealthy Minds” Newsletter which will give you access to the MEMBERS’ ONLY area of the http://www.turn-debt-into-wealth.com website.

Gary Simpson is the author of nine books covering a diverse range of subjects such as motivation, self esteem, affirmations, self defense, wealth creation and much more. His many motivation and success articles appear all over the web.

Of all the unknown factors involved in receiving guidance from a phone psychic, the one certainty is that each person will have a unique experience. Psychic advice is subjective and it is up to the individual to evaluate how each psychic met their expectation and needs.

However, guidelines are available to assist a person in making a comparison of phone psychics in order to best match their own needs with the perfect psychic and reading. Those experienced in connecting with a phone psychic are familiar with the many different types of readings provided including the use of astrology, clairvoyance, and Tarot cards.

One way to gauge the reliability of a psychic phone provider is to ascertain how long the provider has been in business or in the role of professional reader. Like most companies and organizations, psychics have a “mission statement” along with testimonials available from their satisfied customers. These can be very informative in your phone psychic comparison.

For callers wishing to thoroughly compare the available psychics at each phone psychic provider, photos, biographical profiles, and information about their experience, can often be found at the provider’s web site. A small handful of truly dedicated phone psychics invite callers to view them live online in their own environment while they actually give phone psychic readings to the advice seeker on the other end of the line.

The mission of certified psychics is to provide ethical and professional standards through the use of reputable psychics to deliver accurate psychic readings. Unfortunately, the phone psychic practice also attracts its share of frauds, con artists, and fakes, so it’s buyer beware when evaluating for a phone psychics comparison.

If the idea of speaking with a reputable local psychic appeals to you, a listing can be found via an internet search for phone psychics.

Phone Psychic Info provides detailed information on psychic phone readings, phone psychic advice, phone psychic jobs, phone psychic comparisons, free phone psychics and more. Phone Psychic Info is affiliated with Original Content Web.

In order to solidify your plans and intentions for a results oriented savings plan in your new life together, you must be willing to go beyond today’s insta-matic, microwave, and have it now mindset. If your partner has a tendency to spend like one of the Hilton sisters, even a well defined savings plan can quite frankly be derailed and made non effect.

Since the world economies are delivering major financial blows to families all over the world, you have been given the assignment to do more with less. Now the Jones’ would dictate to you that you must be able to get it all now and pay for it later, but this type of spending behavior will likely deliver you to place of utter financial ruin sooner than you can imagine.

Take heart my friend because even though times are hard, you can still save for whatever goals and dreams you have together. You just have to be willing to be more frugal and no frugal is not the same thing as being cheap. You don’t have to spend every single coin that rolls in your bank account like most people do. Your brief should the two of you choose to accept it, is to get past the ching a ding ding of the cash register into a place of strong financial security together.

Whatever you do, make sure you incorporate these three key elements in your savings objectives.

1. Savings plans must be realistic - Savings goals should be something that you can actually accomplish. They should not be so highfalutin that you can never achieve them no matter how hard you try. Set your goals to be like steps on a staircase. A little step here and there will eventually get you to the top but it will take a degree of patience and hard work. When you were a baby you had to crawl before you walked. Goals are not achieved with an immature or destructive mentality. You will have to work together until you see what you envision materialize.

2. Consistency is a goal necessity - A goal is something that needs to be carved in stone. You cannot change them every time something new and more exciting crops up. There’s nothing wrong with having more than one thing on your list. In fact you should have list and lists of different types of goals that are in every area of your life. A good notebook will help you keep track of your joint goals as well as your individual ones. The more goals you set, the more of them you will achieve. Getting what you want out of life cannot be a guessing game or a mere dream. An item is not a goal until it is written down. But if you never look at your goals after you write them down then your list of goals become only a wish list. Unfortunately, Santa Claus is not going to deliver your goals to you wrapped up in a bow under the Christmas tree and the Easter Bunny is not going to give you a goal crusted magic egg either.

3. Focus on what lies at the end of the road - After we get married we have a tendency to focus on the present with all of the newness and passion and stuff. While you need to focus on the present, you also need to take hold of what’s at the top of the staircase of your lives together and go after your targeted goals wholeheartedly. If you do not remain focused, you will look up the stairs years later and see the steps you never even stood on.

Realize that you will arrive at some destination in the future. You must make sure that you arrive where you originally intended. Do you think Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey got to where they are by just willing things into existence? No, they had a general ideal of what they wanted, I’m sure they wrote it down somewhere and worked on in each and every day until what they envisioned materialized.

Perhaps you are with a partner that does not believe in goals at all. They may believe that you should just take every day as they come and that tomorrow will work itself out over time. I have to tell you that they are partially right? They are right smack dab in the middle of their way to financial ruins and they are taking you along for the ride. With all of the resources available to couples like you today, that would be a crying shame.

Did you know that the average couple spends more time planning their wedding day then they do planning their future finances? When passion starts to give way to regular day to day living, couples won’t argue over what color their wedding was, they’ll likely argue over money. To get a grasp on what newlyweds need to consider in managing their finances please visit http://www.financialbasics101.com

Signature lines are a great way to prospect and make the most of a medium you are already using. You already send e-mail’s to friends, family, and business colleges but perhaps you don’t want to present your opportunity outright to them. Let’s face it, most of us have been in more than one network marketing opportunity and have “burned some bridges”. Adding a compelling signature line to your e-mail’s allows you to say whatever you want, provide a “link” to your marketing web page and do it without any pressure or obligation.
Think about it, how many emails do you send out every day? How many of these forwarded jokes, pictures, stories and things of that nature, do you receive every week?

Why not put your email to work for you by adding a link or two to your signature file? That’s all it takes! You can start as simple or as fancy as you’d like. You do want to get your readers attention though. Your signature line should make a statement, ask a question, or intrigue them in some way.
Right now, a lot of people that you email on a daily basis may not be interested in building a long-term residual income with your business opportunity. But imagine if one of them just found out she is pregnant and wants to explore options working from home. Or another gets injured on the job, and needs to make ends meet with something they can do lounging at home. Your link is there, quietly beckoning. “Click on me, I am offering you a chance to change your life”. Okay, I am exaggerating a little, but you get my point. A compelling signature line is a must.

In most email clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, and some online email sites, you can create more than one signature file so that you change it up from time to time. And you should use a different one when emailing the same group more than once a week. You should never miss an opportunity to display your links though. You never know when someone’s situation or circumstances change or they are secretly unhappy with their present occupation. Suddenly, someone you least expect may be interested in what you have to offer, whether it’s a product or a business opportunity.

The idea is to get as much exposure for your business or products as possible. Maybe one of your friends has a slow day at work and clicks on one of your links out of boredom and ends up making a purchase. Cha-ching.
You may also want to consider all the funny stories, pictures, jokes that inevitably end up in your inbox. Imagine what would happen if you just forward them to 5 people, who forward them to 5 of their friends. Suddenly, your signature links have the potential of reaching hundreds of people. And did I mention, it’s free?

To make this even more effective, take it a step further and add your link right above the story, joke or picture, with a little “brought to you by www.your-domain-name.com.”

Now, I am making a couple of assumptions..

a) I am assuming you have a “place” to send your prospects that explains your business opportunity for you. That’s the www.your-domain-name.com we were talking about.

b) I am also assuming you have a method there for them to “raise their hand” when they are interested. They have to be able to let you know in some way.
These are absolute requirements to make the most of this method of prospecting.

Purpose of signature line

* Helps you sort and prospect without talking to people initially

* Provides *people* an opportunity to see what you are doing without pressure

* Makes it “their” idea

* Gets forwarded to other people, extending your personal reach


Sort People Effortlessly

Now, let’s go into a little detail about each of these. What do I mean by “sort”? Well, let’s say you send an email to a group of friends, perhaps a joke you received or a link to a particularly good website or YouTUBE video. Some of those people are successful in what they are doing, and some are not. It’s not up to you to decide which is which. THEY’LL do that. If they are unhappy in their current situation, they will be open to looking elsewhere, meaning they just might click. If they are happy in what they are doing, they might click because they know someone who isn’t happy or could use extra money.

Get Your Message OUT There, With Zero Pressure

Signature lines are your silent partners in that they “prospect” without pressure, without obligation, without you having to say a word! You didn’t ASK them to click a link or read more about your opportunity.. your signature line is just there, taunting them, intriguing them. A well-written signature line can be more powerful than the *3 foot rule*, your circle of 40 or whatever other “marketing” ideas your upline has.

It’s Always Better When It’s Their Idea

See, it’s MUCH better when taking some action is their idea. Most people will resist, JUST TO RESIST. It’s ingrained, particularly if they have had, or know someone who has had a *bad* network marketing experience.

Extend Your Personal Reach

There is another advantage to signature lines in emails. It extends your reach for you. When you send an email to a friend or family member that is cute, funny, news worthy and is passed along, your signature line is passed along with it. Think about the possibilities here. Imagine sending an email that lands in someone’s inbox who is unhappy with their income/job/situation. They might not know you, or maybe only know you only by name, but here is a chance for you to reach out to them.

Let’s cover some examples of signature lines and where you would use them.

• On All Outgoing Emails You Send (even replies)
• On All Posts You Make In Forums
• On All Replies You Make In Forums
• On All Posts You Make In Your Blog
• On All Comments You Make On Other Blogs

Let me give you an example to help you understand the value here. Not long ago, I joined a new network marketing company called Nussentials. I built a website and started advertising “Work From Home And Create Wealth” on Google’s Adwords. At that time, less than 3 months ago, 100% of the traffic (or visitors) I got was from those paid ad’s. Once I started using signature lines posting in my blog and submitting articles to the article directories, I started getting traffic I wasn’t paying for. Now, just 3 months later, almost 30% of my web traffic comes from these sources. Those are visitors I didn’t pay for. 30% of my web traffic by taking a few minutes and setting up a signature line.

Cenay Nailor spends her days working on business applications as a custom software designer and her evenings exploring the world of Network and Internet Marketing. She is currently involved with Nussentials, a Health Products MLM. You can get more info here: http://www.nowyouaretalking.com

To get more articles like this one: http://www.cenaynailor.com/blog

Seeing into darkness is clarity.

Knowing how to yield is strength.

Use your own light

and return to the source of light.

This is called practicing eternity.

(Tao 52)

Do you want a life? Or do you desire your life? Did you know there was a difference? For the longest time, I didn’t. In A Course In Miracles it says: “Let Him, therefore, be the only Guide that you would follow to salvation. He knows the way, and leads you gladly on it. With Him you will not fail to learn that what God wills for you is your will. Without His guidance you will think you know alone, and will decide against your peace a surely as you decided that salvation lay in you alone. Salvation is of Him to whom God gave it for you. He has not forgotten it. Forget Him not and He will make every decision for you, for your salvation and the peace of God in you.”

What does this mean?

Spiritual maturity or what I have come to call “self-actualization” calls us to claim our life and in effect let go entirely of what we want. Said differently, if we choose to grow into our “self” - life truly becomes more about tuning in and listening, while ultimately letting go of our own agenda. As a spiritual seeker, I used to think we had some kind of say in the course for our lives. Now I would amend this thought.

Although I do believe we are part of our co-creation with the divine, I now recognize that our outward life reflects only the life we live within. To let go of expectation and claim the life that is ours then, we must hold fast to the divine within and follow its light to show us the way. As I see it, for true spiritual seekers, you will need to know three “rites of passage” on your journey. I call these steps: Embracing Choice, Embracing Necessity and Surrendering to Divine Intention.

Step One: Embracing Choice

Embracing choice begs the question: How is choosing different than expectation? To me, expectation involves an egotistical outward desire for an intended result. As spiritual adults, it is of great importance to learn how to give up our need to have things our way. Easterner’s remind us through the Tao Te Ching. It says: “True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can’t be gained by interfering.”

In my words, I feel we are all threads and colors in the greater mosaic, and as such we are vessels of the divine. Instead of imposing your will then, look instead to “tune in” with every decision you are faced with. In doing so you can better become aware of your inner world and the way it directs you. As a spiritual seeker, this will become part of your daily “work.”

Step Two: Embracing Necessity

Next, we must aim to understand that some things simply must happen to shape the overall framework and development of our life. Like this or not, necessity is often a large part of what I think of as our spiritual infancy - the life we must know in effort to know who we are not. These events aim to develop us into who we truly are. As we come to know ourselves through necessity of experience, we can evolve into maturity. It is through these sometime dark places, we can find our balance and channel to the divine.

Step Three: Surrender To Divine Intention

On the road to self-actualization - the process of surrender is the most challenging of all of our quests. It is most difficult to give up our ways to live in divine intention. In the beautiful volume The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song Of God, the great Hindu classic, Sri Krishna says: “Who cares to seek for that perfect freedom? One man, perhaps, In many thousands. Then tell me how many of those who seek freedom shall know the total Truth of my being? Perhaps one only.”

Sadly many will not dial in to receive their messages. The path is difficult and as we’ve said before, the roads are narrow and rocky. In the bravery of being a freedom seeker, we involve a spiritual evolution and maturity that requires a discipline of discernment. For those inspired to reach spiritual maturity - surrendering to divine intention is the discernment of the inner messages we receive and follow their direction. It is not important to immediately be clear on this path right away. It is only important that one gives in to it and surrenders, no matter the outcome. Life will then show us its way.

Laura M. Turner, M.S., CHHP is an author and certified holistic health practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Want to know how to use these principles to heal your life? Let Laura show you. You’ll find all the answers in her latest book: Spiritual Fitness The 7-Steps to Living Well: http://www.beauty-and-body.com/Spiritual_Fitness_Info.htm Visit Today to learn more and subscribe to her free eZine.

Emotions are an arousal of energy (energy in motion) intended to motivate and support the will to action-in this regard, they provide us with experiential feedback and power to move on the results of our perceptions. They are intended to pass through, alerting and arousing us. When this natural process is arrested, then the emotions get stuck and stuffed in our bodies. We are not our emotions, though we often end up identifying with them. (I am angry, rather than I feel angry). When we do this over a lifetime, we can become so enmeshed in the emotion (e.g. chronic states of anxiety or depression) that we think it’s who we are. We then lose all ability to ‘let go’.

We often believe that we need to hold on to a feeling or emotional state as proof of being wronged, as self-punishment, or to make sure we don’t make the same mistake in future. “How will I improve if I don’t berate myself and feel ashamed?” This only strengthens the illusion that we are flawed and shameful, and makes us more prone to attracting situations that ‘prove’ our shame and flawed nature. Sometimes we gravitate to a feeling as a cover up for something else (e.g. angry when feeling inept or sad when feeling angry). This creates negative emotional habits.

Most people don’t know how to use emotions, as they don’t understand its language-fundamentally, it is the language of the soul. When we learn to use it as the soul does-flowing and shifting–we come to experience all emotions with equanimity. Emotions are messages, providing us the experience of our perceptions-in this regard they give us valuable feedback on where we are holding distortions about who we are. When we stop resisting them we can ‘get the message’, the necessary internal shift can be made and the emotion dissipates or moves on, leaving way for a deeper emotion. And the process repeats until we hit our essential nature, which is inner peace.

“If you want to shrink something,

you must first allow it to expand.

If you want to get rid of something,

You must first allow it to flourish….” Tao Te Ching, (Translated by Stephen Mitchell)

To truly resolve issues, come to a freedom to act effectively in our reality and to know the true self as loving and powerful requires that we develop this skill of letting the emotions speak and move, in other words, of feeling then letting go of emotions at will.

A good analogy borrowed from the Sedona Method, Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well-being(1), is that of holding a pencil. Imagine gripping a pencil for so long that you’re no longer aware of doing so. You will limit your movement (possibly only using one hand) and work around ‘gripping the pencil’ until you become aware that you are holding the pencil. When you are aware of it, you can begin to move the pencil in your hand, open your hand and let go-dropping the pencil. The pencil is not attached to you-you were holding onto to it; it cannot hold on to you. It is similar with emotions. When you recognize an unwanted emotion, you can isolate it and let it go at will. This makes room for other (deeper or more real) emotions to surface, and you can simply let go of those as well. The important thing is to let emotions flow-their nature is movement as they are an aroused energy.

When you keep the surface emotion stuck, all the deeper emotions (or messages) are kept repressed and you never allow the internal shifts necessary to feel good. If you resist letting go, then process that resistance. Letting go at will gets the emotions back into their natural flow. And when you stay present with the movement, you are able to shift and understand deeper parts of yourself. The deeper you go and let go, the more deeply you will experience peace. From a state of inner peace, you are then free to act.

When we have made a habit of ‘holding on’ to negative emotions, our thoughts and perceptions are colored by them and we can never quite get away from them. The emotions simply grow in their negative charge and fuel our reactions in life. On the other hand, with a clean emotional body, our actions are free and the emotional charge we bring to them can be a positive choice.
With freedom to act, we choose what expresses our nature and life becomes joyful.

This is a very simple exercise that requires mindfulness. It is the basis of the Sedona Method of attaining freedom. It is a two-step process, with step two consisting of asking three questions. Sit quietly and answer honestly. Your honest answer will be very revealing to you.

The Basic Sedona Method

NOTE: For greatly accelerated results, run the Affirmation Enhancer Tool (AET) (see below for details) throughout the exercise. The Tool will activate on all release and positive intention statements.

Step 1: Connect to the uncomfortable feeling/emotional state that you do not want to experience (either current or something from your past). Allow yourself to welcome the feeling. Ask yourself: “Could I let myself really feel this? Experience it and identify it if you can. Don’t worry if you can’t put a good descriptive word to it-just a felt-sense of it is fine too. The more clearly you can isolate the feeling, the easier it is to let go of.

Step 2: Next, ask yourself the following three question, taking time on each to feel within:

1. Can I let this go?

2. Will I let this go?

3. When?

If the answer is ‘no’ to the first two questions, or ‘later’ to the last one, listen to your inner voice to find the reasons why you cannot or will not let go, or will not let go right now. This in itself is very revealing. Ask yourself if holding onto that resistance has made you happy in the past. Chances are it has never led to happiness and so, see if you are willing to let that resistance go.

If you’re not willing to let go of the resistance, change the focus from the unwanted feeling to your resistance to letting go. And repeat the two-step exercise on ‘not wanting to let this go’. Do this repeatedly on what gets in the way until you can let go of the original feelings. Be methodical and you will end up letting go.

If you answer yes and NOW to the above three questions, sit quietly and allow yourself to sense the shift within you. Take a deep cleansing breath. Then tune in to whatever feeling/emotional state surfaces next. Repeat the process on that new emotional state.

Handling Being Stuck

Additional Processing Step

If at any time you feel stuck, ask yourself if the situation expresses a need or want for security, approval, control, or separation. When you identify what it involves (and it may several), focus on the “need or want for [one of the four]“. Then do the Sedona Method on that, and go back to the original situation again. Note that you’re not being asked to let go of control, approval, security, or separation, but merely to let go of your feeling of lacking them, or wanting.

If you’re not sure what the underlying want is, then ask, “Could I allow myself to want [security, approval, control, or separation].” Go through each and feel if it’s there. If you find a want, then release on it.

Another way to move through resistance or being stuck is to ask yourself if you want to change the situation or emotional state. Generally the answer is “yes”. Then let yourself feel ‘wanting to change the situation’, and do the basic Sedona Method release steps on that. Note that letting go of wanting to change a situation does not imply you want to keep the situation as is-you are merely letting go of a feeling of lack.

When you let go of these underlying wants, you free yourself to accept the situation as is and are far more able to come to peace and resolution with it.

These and other additional steps are suggested in the Sedona Method book1, which is an excellent resource to learn about using the Sedona Method for all manner of dysfunction and to increase your competence with it.

If you’re having difficulty isolating the wants, then (with the AET running) make general affirmations such as “I am detached from the situation completely”, “I have no hidden agendas with this situation”, “I am no longer seeking security, approval, control or separation with this situation”, “I release all my motives, conscious and unconscious, keeping me in this situation”.

Clearing the Meridians

If you are having difficulties releasing still or feel in a muddle, do one or several of the following steps, and then go back to the original exercise. The AET will activate on all statements made, so make liberal use of reprogramming statements.

1- Tap vigorously on the psychological reversal point (karate chop on the pinky side of either hand), and state the following three times:
“Even though [I am choosing to be miserable, or I would rather be right than happy, or I refuse to let go of [emotional state], I love and accept myself completely and deeply.” (Be as specific as possible in stating [emotional state].)

“Even though I needed [to see things [this way], or to hold onto [this feeling], I now choose to see this situation differently.” (Be as specific as possible, and you may also replace ’see this situation differently’ with something more specific.) - 3 times

2- Rub the Tender Spot, which is on the left side of the upper body, below the collarbone and between the 2nd and 3rd rib and state “I’m okay even though I can’t or won’t let go of this [state emotion]“, “Everyone else is okay even though I can’t or won’t let go of this [state emotion]“.

Follow with “I’m okay no matter what happens. Everyone else is okay no matter what happens”. Repeat the last statement.

3- Rub a fist over the heart chakra and say: “Even though I feel [state emotions], I love and accept myself completely and deeply” - 3 times

4- Tap over and around the ears (Triple Warmer (fight/flight) meridian and the Gall Bladder Meridian (major role in mental activity) and say “It is safe to let go of this [emotions]“, “I can easily let of this [emotion]“, “I no longer need to hold onto my [emotion]” (tapping the full length around the ears about 5 times - emphasis on ‘need’)

* * * * *

Keep doing the Sedona Method of release until you reach a state of inner peace. Let the peace of mind you are now feeling enter into every cell of your body. Welcome a feeling of joy and gratitude for having shifted your emotional state. If you feel this clearly, then tap on the your third eye, firmly but gently, for about 20 seconds while breathing deeply through your nose and exhaling out the mouth. Tapping at your third eye will direct this energy to leave an imprint on your entire nervous system, thereby making it easier for your body to support this vibration as a new habit. (2)

It is recommended that you practice this release method often so that you reach proficiency with it and are able to use it ‘on the spot’. It is possible to get to the point that just thinking ‘can I let this go?’ triggers the release. I consider this method not so much as a release technique, as a new life skill resulting in a much more resourceful way of approaching external events of life.

For practitioners of energy psychology and psychotherapy/psychology, mastering the Sedona Method will help you in facilitating inner processing of issues for clients. No matter what modalities you use, the method will help you gain skill in pinpointing underlying beliefs that are keeping your clients stuck in dysfunction. The more tools you have, the more flexible and effective you can be.

Combining inner processing with the Affirmation Enhancer Tool, you will find that clients become quite insightful about their situations. I used to always be at least a few steps ahead of my clients while facilitating inner processing. But since using the AET and other Inner Mastery Tools, I’ve noticed that clients will often come up with brilliant insights and resolutions on their own, before I’ve had a have a chance to get there.

The Affirmation Enhancer Tool is a unique transformational, healing, and enlightenment tool that clears all that stands in the way of a person becoming a co-creative force in their life experience so they can choose the contents of their life in a manner that supports fulfilment and joy. The Tool clears all that stands in the way of you embodying the truth of that affirmation, accelerating you towards the reality that you desire. The AET works through body activations and codings, making you a perfect vibrational match to your desires in their fulfilled state. Your ability to tap into the power of Attraction is optimized in this manner.

References

1- The Sedona Method®, By Hale Dwoskin (Sedona Press), or see http://www.sedona.com

2- Donna Eden, Energy Medicine Tarcher-Putnam 1998. ISBN 1-58542-021-2. p. 331

With over 20 years of esoteric study and a strong vision and commitment to human freedom, Anita Briggs has been counseling clients and supporting emotional healing with Rapid Eye therapy and energy psychology for over 7 years. Anita has recently co-developed Inner Mastery Tools for accelerated clearing and rescripting of dysfunction, for use by therapists or individuals. The first Tool released is the Affirmation Enhancer Tool (http://www.affirmationenhancer.com) Visit the website to learn more about this phenomenal tool to accelerate healing and manifestation. You can get a taste for the power of this tool, by listening to a free 1-hour recorded teleconference call, in which the Tool will activate on your specific desires.

Sign up to the Inner Mastery Tools email list on the websites if you would like to receive articles and tips on healing. http://www.innermasterytools.com Practitioner versions of the IMTs are also availalble!

“And Allah’s are the best Names, therefore call on Him thereby, and leave alone those who violate the sanctity of His Names; they shall be recompensed for what they did; God’s alone are the attributes of perfection; invoke Him, then, by these, and stand aloof from all who distort the meaning of His attributes.” Quran Al A’Raf 7:180

“Say: ‘Call upon Allah or call upon the Beneficent God; whichever you call upon, He has the Best names.’ Say: ‘Invoke God, or invoke the Most Gracious: by whichever name you invoke Him, He is always the One — for His are all the attributes of perfection.’” Quran Al Isra 17:110

“Allah is He, other than Whom there is no other god; Who knows both what is hidden and what can be witnessed; He is the Most Compassionate and Merciful. Allah is He, other than Whom there is no other god; the Sovereign, the One, the Source of Peace, the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Security, the Exalted, the Compelling, the Supreme. Glory be to God, beyond any associations. He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: Whatever exists in heaven and earth declares His Praise and Glory. And He is Exalted in Power, the Wise.” Quran Al Hashr 59:22-24

“He is the First and the Last and the Ascendant (over all) and the knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things. He is The First (Al-Awaal) and The Last (Al-Aakhir), The Outward (As-Zhahir) and The Inward (Al-Batin); He is The Knower of All Things.” Quran Al-Hadid 57:3

The Divine Names

As humanity evolved along the path of spirituality, various aspects and attributes of divinity were sensed. Climbing higher on the scale of the holy path, Man discovered more facets of Allah, or whatever one may call the Absolute. Gradually, the hidden Isis unveiled, and is still unveiling her beauty–her ***** Truth. This revelation is an on-going process, for humanity will not cease to struggle for enlightenment being unsatiated with the crumbs or the milk of the Word.

Discovering himself, man discovered God; and the more he grew in self-awareness, the more he discovered the treasures, the various divine elements unawakened within his essence. This was how the various names of God came into existence. Primitive cultures might have referred to the unseen Intelligence with a single appellation, but as they grew in maturity, in awareness, wisdom and understanding, as they unfolded their own innate divinity, more attributes were realized and names were assigned to the God they worshipped, for man inherently felt that the awakened virtues he had are possessed in full perfection by the Source of All. The amount of God-names expands as man develops his Spirit-awareness.

What man formally understood broadly, he now began to apperceive the details, the minor rays of the One Light; and these details, he may subsequently discover, further differentiate themselves ad infinitum. These divine rays or virtues of Allah were personified by the ancients ushering man from the animistic stage to the polytheistic phase. Almost all of the ancient cultures had their pantheons of gods and goddesses, representing externally the inherent, and somewhat dormant spectrum of divine virtues lying hidden within man. Though man be made in God’s image, possessing the seeds of divinity, he still reflects poorly the divine attributes and aspects of his Progenitor; thus humanity still needs to grow into God’s image and attain its own beautification, acquiring the state of perfection, the evolutionary stage called “Insan Kamil,” or “Perfect Human Being.”

Polytheism is not merely a concept or untrue. Human beings do evolve into perfection and attain god status as exclaimed by the prophets, “ye are (intrinsically) gods!” An adept on the spiritual path might make a divine virtue a predominant part of its expression that the embodiment of the attribute causes the adept to be universally and celestially recognized as a god of the divine ray itself. Thus, we have Venus, the goddess of Love, Kwan Yin, the goddess of Mercy, Thoth, the god of Wisdom, etc. The gods are embodiments of the ideal and various esoteric practice revolves around the assumption of the forms and characteristics of the gods and goddesses in order to quicken the magician’s own divinity and to produce occult effects. The gods, however, do bow in reverence to Allah, the One Essence recognizing and understanding more than what is known to mortal minds.

In Islam, and in al-Hikmah, in general, human figures are not permitted to represent Allah or the divine attributes, as they are considered sacrilegious. Even the portrait of the Prophet was not saved for posterity. This was to avoid making a cult around the personality of the Messenger as was unfortunately done with the Piscean Master.

One of the teachings of Islam is that angels do not descend into houses filled with dogs and images. Though fundamentalists may adhere to the rule of the letter, esoterically, this refers to the unrestrained desires and the idols of the mind. The Divine Ray of the Holy Spirit has trouble entering man through the crown chakra blocked with psychic toxins generated by the impure mind and emotions. This is the esoteric interpretation of Christ knocking at the door and waiting for entry. He who would not purify himself causes the portal to remain barred.

There is an interesting account about images: during the early days of the promulgation of Islam by the walis or saints in Indonesia, the Islamic leaders encountered a problem as the indigenous people of Java were fond of the shadow-puppet theatrical plays. These puppets were in the shape of human figures. In keeping with the Islamic law that human icons were not allowed to be portrayed, they sought to ban this traditional entertainment but feared causing an uproar as a consequence. One of the Walis known as Sunan Kalijaga, intervened, however. His keen mind saw the potential of the plays as a media in conveying the moral teachings of Islam and suggested to the council of the “9 Saints” to allow the continuance of the practice. To comply with the teachings of Islam, he proposed that the human figures of the puppets be caricaturized. Thus deformed images of the shadow-puppets came into being. Samples of these may be found all over our website.

The Divine Names in Islam that have traditionally been passed on to us are 99 in number; the word “Allah” rounds the number to 100. The “Beautiful Divine Names” is probably the development of the 72 divine names of the Schemhamphoras, the 10 God-Names of the Qaballistic Tree of Life, and the other numerous appellations of God to be found in Jewish scriptures. Scholars of Islam may debate as to the legitimacy of the 99 names as a whole, whether they are a revelation from God and a true teaching of the Prophet, or whether they are simply concocted by man; but as occultists, this is of no import. The names are archetypal and may be experienced as realities within the recesses of one’s psyche.

Each letter of the Arabic alphabet has a numerological value and is said to be associated with khodams, or angelic servants. The letters are embodiments or are representative of cosmic energies. The combined letters forming the Divine Names are in turn associated with other spirit khodams or classes of the angelic hierarchy. Having numerical values, the combined letters of the Divine Names represent metaphysical structures mathematically-based that possesses esoteric significances. Practitioners normally chant the Names the number of times in accord with its total value. The numerical value of a Name resonates with the power that it represents. Thus chanting the value of a Name or one of its expression mathematically derived therefrom, invokes the power, grace and virtues of the Name into the magician’s consciousness. The figures in the table below, extracted from old manuscripts, is the result of just one numerological method of calculating the value of the Names. The Arabic letters, not the Latin, have been used as a basis for this calculation; the various methods of acquiring the value of a Name will not be given here as they are related to initiatic transmissions.

The khodam familiars assigned to the Divine Names may actually represent an angelic class rathers than to specific individual spirits judging from the vague statements of certain Islamic authors. Various lists assign different angels to the Divine Names, however, most of these are probably due to the variations in pronunciation/spelling of the angelic names. According to our compilation of the list below, some angels are associated with more than one Divine Name; thus for instance we have ‘Athfayail as the guardian of Al-Lathif and Ash Shakur. As to the accuracy of the list, we leave that to the practitioner to discover through direct experience.

Practical Usage

Above we initimated that the angels of the Divine Names may be known through direct experience. In the occult practices of Ilmu Hikmah, the beautiful appellations of Allah are recited for thousands of times per day, sometimes for consecutive months in order to evoke the khodams to “material” appearance. The purpose of the evocation are varied. The angelic servers may be called upon to assist the practitioner in solving the varied problems of life; to provide familiars, to acquire occult powers and abilities, mystical objects, general information and magickal knowledge; to assist in magickal operations, etc.

In Islamic occultism, the interaction with angelic spirits are preferred to the socializing with jinns or the trafficking with demons. Jinns are unpredictable and deceptive while demons are malicious. Orthodox Islam as a rule, does not condone the practice of conjuration as it presents too many dangers for the evolving soul. Al-Hikmah, however, teaches the subject but with the stipulation that the novice be fully guided in the process and apply the strenuous disciplines that refines the soul, awakens the heart and will, and uplifts the intelligence so as to offer protection against the temptations, illusions, deceptions, glamor and maya along the way. Conjurations in al-Hikmah are confined to angels and jinns, and in rare cases to human spirits. “Demons” are not sought for except by the strayers of the path.

Methods of conjuration are numerous. They may be done through the methods of the magickal schools of the Western Tradition (the Golden Dawn, etc), the shamanic process, or the simple zikir in Tasawuf, or Islamic mysticism; though the latter, viewing from a spiritual perspective, does not consider conjuration as of any importance or even as causing obstacles along the path. Al-Hikmah, being eclectic, combines many methods, depending upon various factors. Different methods are also used by different schools of the al-Hikmah tradition. These occult lodges guard their methods with secrecy–or sad to say, with a price.

So far we have mentioned the lower goals and effects of the recitation of the Divine Name. This comes under the province of thaumaturgy. We would like to point out that the chanting of the Divine Names has a more lofty purpose and this is theurgical in nature. Islam refers to the chanting of Divine Names as “zikr.” It is widely practiced in the tarikat aspect of Islam. Zikr means “remember.” It is the remembrance of Allah, done through contemplation of the name and not mere mechanical chanting. Practitioners of Tasawuf recognize the psychic effects of zikir but stand aloof from them. Their purpose is to unite with Allah, the “unio mystica,” through his Divine Names. Zikr somewhat plays the same role as the occult practice of the assumption of godforms.

In the teachings of the Asma ul-Husna or the “Divine Names” of Islamic mysticism, the first step is to know and memorize the names intellectually. Then one contemplates upon the Names, striving to express the divine attributes in daily life. Concomitant to this, one would chant the Names in one’s daily practice until overshadowed by them. Knowing all of the Divine Names, not merely intellectually, but experentially is part of the gnostic stage of Islam. Termed “marifat,” the gnosis offers the practitioner a greater awareness of the Spiritual Source. Zikr of the Divine Names is just one method of attaining the gnostic state. It leads to the Inner Light and Sound emanating from the Divine Throne.

Divination

The Divine Names, like the Urim and Thurim of Judaism, long vanished, may be used as a divinatory system approximating the spiritual consultation system of the I Ching. Chips with the Names inscribed thereon may be constructed and consecrated with the associated Name. These are placed in a talismanic pouch. Inquiries may be made and the chip/s drawn to answer the questions. We will not over-dwell on the mechanics and process of this, leaving it to the ingenuity of the practitioner to develop his/her own methods and reading style. We would just like to add that our many inquirers were amazed at the accuracy of the system as we presented it to them.

Spiritual Discipline

Before engaging in any magickal practice, one should undergo a strenuous period of purification, sensitivity training, the unfoldment of the heart and will, the spiritual culture of one’s character, the accumulation and comprehension of essential knowledge, the practice of goodwill, and the development of intuition. These would greatly protect and shield the practitioner from assorted problems presented by astral glamor and the illusions on the mental plane.

Such a period of discipline ought to be supervised by a spiritual adept or his representative. This is essential for various reasons; one being that the novice may not know the appropriate standard or criteria with which to evaluate his advancement. Lacking the overseership of an adept might cause the novice to be filled with illusions of personal grandeur, pride, vanity, etc. The pitfalls are indeed numerous. Being predominantly a magician or a mystic causes problems. The way of the heart and the head/will should be in equilibrium. It is the magi that balances both qualities to perfection.

How to Invoke

Prior to commencing a rite of invocation of one of the Divine Names, undergo an ablution–a holy wash. Then sit in a quite room and do some rhythmic breathing. If you are conducting your obligatory prayers at the same time, then begin the chanting of the Divine Names after the prayers; if not, offer a general prayer of worship to Allah prior to the zikr. If you know the Al-Fatihah verse, commence with this.

Carefully choose a Divine Name in accord with your need, or you may pick one from your divination pouch as explained earlier. Then recite the name for the amount of times equal to its value; or you may multiply the value with the sacred numbers 19 or 11 to be found structurally in the Quran and chant the resultant amount.

Another method is to chant the Name until you feel that you have reached an inner response. In some specific rites you may be asked to chant for a certain number of times unrelated to the value of the Names. This is permissible so long as there is ground for this. There is much leeway in the practice of the Divine Names. We might also point out that Allah loves odd numbers.

To count the number of chants, a tasbih (rosary) may be used. Use one tasbih for one Divine Name, Mantra or Prayer, as this would charge the rosary with a specific energy and not fill it with cross vibes derived from charging with too many different Names. They may cancel each other out. Stick to this rule–one mantra or Name–one rosary. This would transform the counter into a powerful talisman as the energy of the Name accumulates. Practitioners have found that rosaries are the best counting device, as mechanical counters and watches tend to dysfunction because of the influence of the energy build-up.

When reciting do not phrase the Names with the prefix Al but begin with Ya; and add the suffix “u” to it. Thus for instance, “Al Jabbar” is invoked as “Ya Jabbaru.” “Ar Rahim” as “Ya Rahimu.”

Begin the recitation with a voice volume-level neither loud nor soft.You may then shift to whispers or to a mental recitation; and back and forth–for variations. Avoid monotony. Recite with full focus, mentally and emotionally, on that attribute of God of the Name in question. Let your consciousness absorb the power of the Names. Do not chant mechanically, but do it with feelings of awe, respect, love, and admiration for the Divine Attribute. Visualize yourself as being filled with rays of light from the celestial realms. Contemplate the names. Chant with a sense of devotion and faith expecting no rewards. Conduct the chanting rite for no other purpose other than to approach closer to the Throne.

After completing the zikr close the session with a brief prayer of thanks.

Other Effects of the Names

Regular chanting of the Divine Names affects one psychologically. The practitioner tends to express strongly in his everyday life the Name that he regularly recites in his spiritual disciplines. This is one of the great benefits of the Divine Name recitation. Transforming one’s character and evolving the soul should take precedence over the acquisition of earthly possessions. The practice of the chanting also have its effects in the improvement of mundane affairs or unfolding the dormant psychic faculties. This should be considered as blessings and not as the main purpose of the discipline.

Evoke the Angel, “Qanyail”

Chanting the Divine Names as mentioned before may be done for thaumaturgical or theurgical purposes. Physical needs should be met so that greater time, energy and resources are available for spiritual works. So long as there is a realization that the goals of mundane life do not represent life’s purpose, they may be temporarily attended to by any harmless means at one’s disposal. Magicians resort to magick.

Below we present an example of a rite of evocation in al-Hikmah of an angel:

If you are interested in evoking the angel Qanyail to assist you with your needs, recite daily after the 5 obligatory prayers the Divine Name “Al’Aziim” (Recite “Ya Aziimu”) 1020 times. Do this in a clean room and wearing clean clothings. Repeat this rite daily for two months (perhaps more) on a vegetarian diet until the angel appears. When the spirit manifests, state your need. At each session after reciting the Divine Name for the stated amount of times say the following prayer once:

[Note: Table, prayer and notes may be seen as originally published at our website]

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

Luxamore
Metaphysical teacher, counseler, healer and merchant of occult/magickal items of Indonesia.
http://www.indotalisman.com/
http://www.bezoarmustikapearls.com/

Logic is always bound by discursive thought, and therefore people of logic or syllogism can never believe that there exists the illogical. Not that it is illogical, only you don’t have logic yet, to prove or to disprove. The priests, the mahatmas, the maulanas, the rabbis, and the so-called saints go on arguing that God exists.

Christianity has wasted over two thousand years arguing and trying to prove the existence of God. How can you prove that God exists? If it can be proved then it can be disproved too. And the beauty is that if an argument can prove that God is, the very same argument can also prove that God is not.

It appears appealing to the childish minds as to how can such a vast existence be there without a creator? Somebody must be there who created it. If somebody created it, then the question can be asked, “Then who created the creator?” It is the same logic. This is called tautology - the question coming back, stuck as it is, exactly where it was, without any movement - like a stillborn.

You can go on and say that the number one created the world, and number two created number one, and number three created number two … you can go on and on. But the ultimate question will remain the same; who created the first, the original?

Now, if you accept that the original was not created, then why all this fuss that the world was created. Just like your God, why can the universe not remain uncreated? At least it is better than the “created” logic. That’s why you cannot convince a single atheist about your God. Just imagine the implication: If you have no God, then where do all your religious beliefs go? Your religion is doomed to decimation. Whom will you pray to? And who will answer your prayers?

What is in your churches and temples and mosques? - Nothing but syllogism - you make images, and then start worshipping your own imaginations. For example you say: “Man is mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore Socrates will die”. This is syllogism, the logic of “therefore”. You start worshipping this logic. No doubt, the idea of a God gives you consolation, a certain security, and it is convenient.

Supposing you were to be in an airplane, comforted by the thought that there is a pilot who is taking care of things, and you get interested in talking or touching the girl sitting next to you. But perchance you go to the cockpit and there is nobody! What will happen? Everything was convenient up to this moment, but now the pilot is not there! You will lose all interest in men and women, you will become nervous; your breathing and blood pressure will become disturbed, and you will start perspiring in an air-conditioned plane.

It is convenient to believe that in the cockpit there is a pilot who knows and everything is going well - God takes care. He is ‘the Father’. He knows everybody. This is a convenience. This God is part of the cunning mind.

It’s funny that it could sound as if I am talking like an atheist. I am not. It is not my intention that through these arguments, any one single believer is dissuaded into not believing in a personal God. All I want to point out is for you to see the illogic of logic-chopping that leads you nowhere. Shun such false Gods. Never use the prop of belief to prove God.

Believe nothing unless it passes the test of your experience. But how to really know what one has experienced is true? This is a separate subject that I shall try to delve into later, but it is enough to say here that a man who has known his inner reality knows that there is no proof other than realizing it. He does not believe in discursive thought. Truth is not intellectual; it is experiential. Truth is an experiencing!

Be Blissful!

Bhaskar Banerjee runs iBongo Inc. as a Business Development Manager for iBongo Inc. and manages a recently developed website http://www.Rajasthan.iBongo.com - He is dedicated and works hard to ensure success.

Suiren, Fuxi and Shennong are regarded as the Three Sage Kings of ancient China who made personal sacrifices to improve the lives of the people. They are known for one or more unique contributions to mankind.

Suiren who reputedly lived 18,000 years ago discovered how to make fire by drilling wood. This discovering enabled mankind to eat cooked food and use fire to keep warm and ward off wild animals.

Fuxi taught people how to domesticate animals. He also taught them to make nets to catch fish, birds and wild animals and in the process ensure the supply of food all year round. He was also responsible for creating the institution of marriage and the for a 35 string musical instrument. His most important contribution however was the Bagua or Eight Trigram that formed the basis for the all important I Ching or Book of changes.

Shennong, also known as Yandi, invented the ancient rake, spade, plough and sickle and taught people to grow five types of cereals, rice, two types of millet, wheat and beans. He also invented barter trade and further modified Fuxi’s 35 strings musical instrument into a 5 strings one.

However he was best remembered for tasting hundreds of wild herbs to find remedies to treat illnesses. In the process he suffered continually from poisoning and eventually die from eating one too many.

The emperors after Shennong were Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao and Shun and they are collectively known as the Five Legendary Rulers.

Huangdi have many achievements attributed to him. He had good management skills and knows how to use men of ability to help him rule the country and come out with innovations.

He commissioned his subject to develop a written language which contributed to the growth of Chinese Culture. With another he studied the art of healing and compiled “The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic”. Yet with another he developed the 60 year cycle “Jia Zi” calendar that aided in farming.

Huangdi advocated peace and avoided war. During his reign, the people enjoyed peace and prosperity and it ushered in the age of civilization for the Chinese people.

Zhuanxu who succeeded Huangdi was not his son. He was chosen over Huangdi’s many sons because of his outstanding ability. Zhuanxu greatest contribution was to bring law and order to the people plus consolidating the power of the central authority.

After Zhuanxu comes Diku who was a great grandson of Huangdi. Diku was a benevolent king who placed the people’s welfare above self. He created new official posts and ministries with clearly demarcated duties such as the Ministry of Land, Forestry, Water, Metal Ores and Fire. And he personally conducted inspections frequently to ensure that the country was well run. He also further improved the calendar which contributed to farming.

Yao was Diku’s son. He was industrious and benevolent like his father. He further developed the calendar and modified the timing of planting that resulting in bumper harvests.

Shun was Yao’s son in law. Although his mother died when he was very young, and his step mother and father ill-treated him, he remained filial to them. His great virtue helped him to gain fame and he was summoned to King Yao’s service at 30. He eventually married King Yao’s daughter.

Shun drafted the five rules of etiquette and others rules and regulations which the dukes and princes had to observed. He also divided the country into 12 states with each having its own administrator. He continued to implement changes at the administrative level and set up the department of rites, music, farming, mulberry planting, works, water and land.

Shun was succeeded by Yu who founded the Xia Dynasty. Yu was famed for his ability to control flooding but that is another story for another time.

Henry Fong

Feng Shui Consultant.

Feng Shui Absolutely

During a casual chat with a dentist friend, we had a difference in opinion on the efficacies of Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (or “TCM” as it is more popularly known). Neither can she bring herself to concur on my suggestion that Chinese Astrology studies like Bazi (or 4 Pillars) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS) are useful towards maintaining good health.

To most people, Western Medicine is scientific, more widely accepted and belongs to the main stream tools toward health and wellness. Hence, it is the defacto choice for them. While I have utmost respect for the advancement Western Medicine have made until today, I have come across enough cases that makes me convinced that TCM is the superior choice to Western Medicine when it comes to achieving good health. I will say TCM is more effective at keeping people in the pink of health while Western Medicine is better in treating sick people. When people are severely ill, naturally Western Medicine is the better choice of treatment.

What is my basis for concluding so? Western medicine treats symptoms but do not get to the root of the problem. For someone suffering from headache they usually prescribe pain killers but falls short of addressing the real cause of the headaches. When a patient has fever, sometimes they ask the patient to dip in cold water or stay in cold air-conditioned rooms to combat the rising temperature. Proponent of Western Medicine may challenge me to say why make a fuss when the illness is “cured”. I will say the symptoms may be cured but the root cause of the illness is merely subdued. The result of which is a weaker health constitution in the long term.

TCM is very different as it seeks to identify the underlying health deficiencies. TCM acknowledge that the body consists of organs that are all interlinked and their yin & yang composition determines how the energy flows within the organs of the body. TCM thus goes right to the root of the health problem instead of just treating the symptoms. Rome is not built in a day, and neither should we expect our health problems to be fully cured by a TCM practitioner within a short period of time. For those that have developed to a critically late stage of illnesses, I still advocate they rely on Western Medicine as the short term cure but use TCM as the longer term fallback solution.

When do Bazi and ZWDS come into play? They hold the key towards a comprehensive diagnosis of the health problem and medical prescription. I am a firm believer of the adage that “prevention is better than cure”. Bazi and ZWDS will be able to identify the inherent health deficiency and medical problem of a person even way before the symptoms or the illness sets in. They can also help to identify the Fengshui aspects of the house or environment that the person lives in that will prevent such illnesses from setting in. An understanding of Bazi and ZWDS also holds the key to prescription of a comprehensive cure. This is because the patient may not articulate the medical problem clearly enough and an effective cure can only be achieved when the TCM practitioner understands how the energy flows within the organs and their yin & yang predisposition.

Opponents may still claim that I am bigoted against Western Medicine. In my next article, I will share a few examples of how Western Medicine failed or how TCM + understanding of Bazi/ZWDS cured a problem that was not satisfactorily resolved by Western Medicine.

I am a Fengshui Practitioner in private practice and I specialise in Ba Zi, ZWDS, Flying Star Fengshui, I-Ching and other Chinese Metaphysics tools. My blog site is at: http://fengshuiforward.com and http://fengshuiforward.com/forum

Affiliate marketing is quickly becoming a very specialized form of online business. It seems that people all over the Internet are clamoring for more affiliate tips. And there are a ton of products, services, ebooks, ultra-high priced DVD sets, and a plethora of other “things” geared for affiliate marketing.

So, the question of the moment is how do you weed through this avalanche of “stuff” and find out what actually works. Because, after it’s all said and done, the name of the game is making a living from affiliate marketing.

There are plenty of strategies and tips. There are plenty of people telling you which way is best and which way you absolutely should not do. Funny thing is, the things you should do don’t work sometimes and the things you shouldn’t do, work sometimes. It’s really anyone’s guess at what works and what doesn’t.

However, there are three critical affiliate tips that you should take heed of and use on a consistent basis.

Affiliate marketing is built around content

Do you really want to make a name for yourself in affiliate marketing? Do you want a long lasting online business? Then you have to take very seriously this first critical tip.

Content is what drives affiliate sales. Period. You can advertise as much as you want, in as many different places that you want, but at the end of the day, it’s the content on your site that will make the sale. Notice I said “your” site.

Affiliate marketing becomes a very lucrative form of business when you have your own website. A website that contains timely, relevant, and informative content. This content can be in the form of articles, product reviews, industry news, interviews with key people, or whatever people will want to keep coming back for.

Ken Evoy of Site Built It!(buildit.sitesell.com/glimmersales.html) says that content is the only way to Pre-sell your site visitors. I whole heartedly agree. Content will effectively pre-sell your visitors, that you work so hard to advertise to, into taking action… clicking through to the merchant and ka-ching… making you commission.

Affiliate marketing is made stronger through your list

Any type of online marketing depends heavily on a way to keep in frequent touch with previous website visitors. Having an ezine, newsletter, or other type of e-mailing list is a key component to affiliate marketing. A strong list of subscribers is a gold mine for savvy publishers.

The key to making an ezine work for you though is, again, strong, quality, and relevant content. Something that people will want to keep reading on a continuing basis. A weekly, or bi-weekly ezine can easily boost your affiliate commissions sky high by placing a few links within the content or as a product review or special recommendation.

Again, please note the use of “a few”. Many ezine publishers just don’t seem to get the idea of “a few”. That means one to two affiliate links within the whole ezine. The key to publishing an ezine is to establish contact and grow a relationship with your subscriber. Not force affiliate links down their throat. When you can build a strong relationship with subscribers, they will be more likely to listen to your advice, your suggestions, and your recommendations.

An example of this would be Alan Gardyne of AssociatePrograms.com. His newsletter is crammed full of great tips and case studies of successful affiliates and what they are doing. He has grown a great list of over 22,000 subscribers who he can actually call a friend. Why? Because he has never crammed affiliate links down the throats of his subscribers. But, each and every issue of his ezine earns him thousands of dollars in affiliate commissions.

If you don’t have an ezine, start one. If you do then take a hard look at it and see if you’re using too many ads and not enough content.

Affiliate marketing depends on strategic linking partners

Search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo! are looking hard at sites and one of the criteria for high rankings is how many relevant links to your site there are. Meaning is there any other sites out there that are linking to you. This is very important for affiliate marketing websites.

And another reason why content is so important.

Every day I set aside one full hour of time in my day to research and email potential linking partners. Once I find someone who’s site is comparable to mine I will email them, by name, and present my proposal. Keep in mind they do not have to link back to you. So, you must make it appealing. Either by reciprocating with a link to their site, a special comission for everyone they refer who buys from you, or some other way of enticing them to link to you.

Now, just any site will not do you any good. They must be relevant to your particular niche. For example, a fishing oriented website would not benefit, either by traffic or search engine rankings, by having a diet site link back to them.

Content, mailing list, link partners. Easy, right?

It is, but it takes time and dedication. You can create a very profitable affiliate program. Anyone can do it. But, it depends on you. Are you dedicated enough to do it?

Use these three critical affiliate marketing steps in your online business and you’ll see an immediate increase in your bottom line.

Tim Bossie is the owner of Guaranteed-Ads.com and has released a brand new service for affiliate marketers. The Power Niche Package is a full package that contains everything you need to create, or improve, an affiliate marketing business and make it profitable for years to come. Check out the full details today at http://www.guaranteed-ads.com/nichepackage.html

One common mistake I see small business owners and entrepreneurs make time after time is this — relying on one source for leads.

In fact, I can’t tell you how many times I tell someone I’m in marketing and what they say to me is “oh, the only thing I do for marketing is word of mouth.” (I’m going to write an entire article about word of mouth marketing, maybe two, because that is hands down the most misunderstood marketing strategy.)

Anyway, if you rely on only one marketing source, like word of mouth, I can nearly guarantee what your business looks like. Feast or famine. Either you’re buried in work, stressed to the max as you spend all of your time and energy frantically fulfilling the work pouring in, or you’re starving. Nothing is coming in and you spend your days worrying about how you’re going to pay next month’s bills.

So how do you avoid that situation? By not relying on one lead source but instead diversifying and having leads come in from multiple sources.

When this happens, you start to create a much more stable business environment for yourself, plus you have the added bonus that if a lead source dries up, you’re not out of business.

Let’s look at some lead sources other than word of mouth:

1. Speaking. This is a great one as it also positions you as an expert. You can speak at live events or you can speak on your phone for teleclasses or you can do both. I personally do both and have found they work very well together.

2. Web site. People are constantly searching the Internet looking for products and services you’re already selling. Why not cash in on this by turning your Web site into a lead generating machine?

3. Networking. Both online (also called social networking and includes sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn) and offline (includes networking events and live seminars filled with your target market) are good ways to find leads and clients.

4. Advertising. Not my favorite but it definitely has its place. And there are times where this is the absolute best way to pick up new leads.

5. Existing/past clients. You can pick up quite a bit of work both by upselling your existing clients or by reconnecting with past clients and seeing if their needs have changed.

6. Media. Getting articles placed or being interviewed on radio or television can also increase your bottom line.

7. Strategic partners or affiliates. This is where other people promote you to their customer base for most likely a percentage of the sale. The difference between strategic partners and affiliates is strategic partners tend to have a more long-term relationship with you and affiliates can be a one-off or short term (for instance, they promote a sale you have going on).

There are other lead sources, but these ideas will get you started. Best yet, all these sources will work together for you and feed off each other (and even increase your overall referrals). For instance, someone might hear you speak, then meet you at an event, then check out your web site and finally hire you. Or they might first meet you on Facebook, then head on to your web site, then hear you speak and finally buy a product.

But in order for all of this to happen, you need a very crucial step. And I’ll be covering that in my next newsletter so stay tuned.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site http://www.michelepw.com - Copyright 2008 Michele Pariza Wacek.

GUARANTEE. This is particularly important on the web. It promises security and no risk, and the chances are that few people will actually take you up on your offer. The mail order industry never really took off until they started offering a money-back guarantee.

IMMEDIATELY. Creates a sense of urgency and maybe a niggling feeling that if you don’t act now, you might miss something. And no-one wants to miss out.

LIMITED. Scarcity is a big motivator and setting a limit of some kind (e.g. limited time, limited number available) can make the cash register go “ching- ching.” We often want something when we think we might not be able to get it later.

SECRET. Makes the reader curious and gets them wondering what you know that they don’t.

NEW. Appeals to our desire to be in the forefront and to be part of an exclusive club. There are people who like the joy of being the first to own or use something new.

The most common objection I hear to using words like these is: “But everyone does that. I want to be different.” Well, guess why everyone does it? Because it works! We don’t have to reinvent the wheel when we can ride on the experience of those who’ve tried and tested it. It’s much easier to do what has proven to be successful.

Maggie Dennison is a Marketing Consultant and Writer. She is the author of “11 Steps To Marketing Materials That Get You Clients NOW!” Maggie holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology, and is fascinated with what triggers people to do the things they do. And that’s exactly what marketing materials are all about. Pick up a free report “11 Hot Keys to Website Content That Works” at her website http://MyMarketingMessage.com/

A lot of time, people who are new to Feng Shui are more keen in enhancing wealth, health, and relationships, but often overlook the importance of avoiding the inauspicious locations, inauspicious directions and inauspicious stars.

By avoiding these inauspicious factors, one may be able to avoid potential problems that lie ahead. These inauspicious locations, directions and stars include annual San Sha (3 Killings), Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter), Sui Po, inauspicious locations and directions according to personal gua, annually and monthly 2 Black and 5 Yellow Stars in Flying Stars Feng Shui.

To check your personal gua, your auspicious and inauspicious locations and directions, you may use the Personal Gua Calculator. One should try to avoid facing these directions or staying in these locations.

To locate the annually and monthly 2 Black and 5 Yellow Stars, both Flying Stars Year Chart and Flying Stars Month Chart are required. One should try to avoid facing these directions or staying in these locations.

The table below lists the Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter) and Sui Po for the next few coming years, please use the 24 Mountains chart with the table. One should try to avoid facing these directions.

All the required charts and resources can be found here.

Year: Tai Sui / Sui Po

2004: SouthWest 3 / NorthEast 3

2005: West 2 / East 2

2006: NorthWest 1 / SouthEast 1

2007: NorthWest 3 / SouthEast 3

2008: North 2 / South 2

2009: NorthEast 1 / SouthWest 1

The table below lists the San Sha (3 Killings) for the next few coming years, please use the 24 Mountains with the table. One should try to avoid renovations in these locations of the house or office.

Year: San Sha (3 Killings)

2004: SouthEast 3, South, SouthWest 1

2005: NorthEast 3, East, SouthEast 1

2006: SouthWest 3, North, NorthEast 1

2007: SouthWest 3, West, NorthWest1

2008: SouthEast 3, South, SouthWest 1

2009: NorthEast 3, East, SouthEast 1

Please take note that all the above serves as a general guide to the inauspicious directions and locations.

Driven by the strong interest in Metaphysics, Ray is consistently exploring into different fields of Metaphysics. These fields include Feng Shui of different schools, BaZi (also known as 4 Pillars), I-Ching (also known as Book of Changes), Qi Men Dun Jia, etc. Ray is also the webmaster of Feng Shui portal, FengShuiCorner.com (http://www.fengshuicorner.com). Being an IT engineer for a living, he is also committed to create online tools and resources to enhance people’s learning and application of these ancient arts.

I’m going to tell you a weight loss secret: Very few people ever lose weight and keep it off. And I’m not talking about the pictures you see in magazines or on TV.

You know all those diet centers? The high profile weight loss centers with celebrity endorsers and boxed up meals? I won’t name names, but the big time weight loss centers; did you know that most of their revenue comes from repeat customers? Yep. Those centers cash in on people making a little bit of progress and then failing. That’s how they make their money!

How much money do you think it takes to A) Hire a celebrity, and B) Pay for that TV airtime? The answer is obvious.

People lose weight, yes, in a rare circumstance they do. And that’s when the diet center steps in and takes a snapshot (and credit) for the weight loss success. But here’s the thing: very few keep the weight off. And chances are pretty good that someone who is in a “before and after” photo will gain all the weight back within a year’s time.

Weight Loss Fact: It’s rare for a person who struggles with his or her weight to get it off and keep it off.

Who’s fooling whom? The weight loss centers exploit a person’s success, but never give you the statistical facts. And hey, maybe you don’t want to know the facts. Maybe you don’t want to know the failure rate. Maybe you’d rather take a look at the weight loss “success stories” and hope that you can be one of them.

And you can. But why overpay for meals that they’ve packaged to sell? Those places have turned into glamorized grocery stores. Diet food? They keep ******* you in to pay extra for foods that you could go out and buy yourself, better quality and cheaper. They can justify the extra sticker price because if you look at Kristen over there in the latest print advertisement “look at me, I’ve lost 58 pounds.” You’re convinced!

There must be something to it. Yes, there is: Kristen could have done it without Jenny what’s-her-names help. Those centers can only hope that people like Kristen step into their stores. They bank on people, women mostly, like Kristen who have lost a little confidence over the years and put on gradual weight.

They know the Kristens of the world are vulnerable. They know that if they can get enough Kristens to come in and lose weight that she’ll be happy to endorse their products. They know that when believable girls like Kristen spread the word, that’s like a cash register going “cha-ching” again and again.

So what’s the solution? First, save your money. Second, realize that in order to lose weight you will need to rely on only one person. That’s you. Begin by educating yourself on the different aspects of weight loss. More importantly begin examining yourself, your motivations. Think about where you’ve come from, and where you want to go from here.

If you want to lose a lot of weight, there are ways. You will need effort, but there are ways.

Get your FREE subscription to Underground Weight Loss VIDEOS. Plus a FREE copy of the “can’t miss” Fat-Slashing Power Formula: Weight Loss Secrets! Visit: Lose Weight Fast!

A few months ago I was watching a stream meandering back and
forth across a flat plain in a high mountain valley. The stream
reached it’s destination - a small lake - but only after dozens
of loops and curves. It occurred to me that Water and clever Web
Marketing have something in common - they both follow the path
of least resistance.

Let me explain.

Your first contact with a future customer usually starts with an
email. It could be an Ad in an Ezine, it could be your Resource
Box at the end of one of your Articles, or it could be your
Signature File in your correspondence.

But in the chain of events that leads to a web sale, an email is
the point of greatest resistance.

Why is that?

Firstly, your future customer is reading your message offline.
She or he has to fire up their modem before they can buy your
product. And that requires effort (and expense).

Secondly, if your message is in an Ezine, it’s probably one of a
dozen other messages all clamoring for attention.

Thirdly, whether your message is an Ezine Ad, a Resource Box, or
a Signature File, you’ve probably had only a few lines to
explain why your widgets are so good.

So if an email is the point of greatest resistance, what is the
solution?

The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism (pronounced ‘Dowism’) -
also known as ‘The Watercourse Way’ - gives us the answer.
Taoism tells us to be like Water and follow the path of least
resistance. Water flows. It is soft and moves easily around
obstacles in its path, instead of attempting to go through them.

Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for
dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.
(Tao Te Ching, ch. 78)

“What is the path of least resistance in an email?”, I hear you
ask. Offer something free!

Successful web marketers know this already. I recently did a
survey of the Resource Boxes of fifty well known Ezine Writers.
Over 90% of them were not trying to sell anything from their
Resource Box. In fact, an overwhelming majority were not even
trying to get a click-thru to their website - they were simply
offering a free subscription to their Newsletter. In other
words, they were more interested in building a long-term
relationship than they were in making a quick sale.

When I started out on the Internet, I was pretty impatient. I
certainly didn’t want to the follow the path of least
resistance. The path I had in mind was more like the flight of
an arrow - straight to it’s target.

But the statistics suggest that most web sales are not made like
that; on average your customer will have to see your message
seven times before he or she buys your product.

So next time you plan your marketing strategy, why not take a
lesson from Water and follow the path of least resistance?

————————————————————
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
————————————————————

One of the most common type of question I get as a Fengshui, Bazi and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS) practitioner is that asking which type of career or occupation suits them. Indeed the Chinese Astrology Art of ZWDS and Bazi is able to accurately determine the type of career that suits a person most because it can tell us a person’s character, ability, interests and luck.

However, I have observed that there are very few Bazi practitioners that are able to accurately advise their clients what is a really suitable profession for them. How did such an accurate astrological tool end up to such a sorry state? The root of the problem stems from these Bazi practitioners failing to understand the context for which the rules of this ancient art were set up.

Ancient China Bazi practitioners classified all jobs within 5 categories of elements consisting of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water by matching the key traits of jobs to metaphysical elemental properties of these 5 elements. During such medieval times, they had at most 72 types of job which can further be grouped into 5 main types comprising of businessman, farmer, fisherman, government officials and academics. Hence classifying each occupation under 1 of the 5 elements is straightforward then.

They will proceed to read the Bazi charts of their client and determine their favorable elements. Finally, they will advice these clients to take up a job listed in the category of their favorable element. Note also the pace of life folks living in ancient China is relaxed and the mindset then is not so much about making big bucks but more about leading a not so hectic life.

Unfortunately most of these Bazi practitioners are copying such ancient Bazi practices lock, stock and barrel without much understanding the context and modifying it to suit modern society’s lifestyle and mindset as well as the much more complex range of occupations. In Bazi, favorable elements are usually the element that we are in shortage of because the general principle of favorable elements is to balance out the elemental unevenness in one’s Bazi chart.

If one’s favorable element is one that this person’s Bazi chart has shortage of, suffice to say, he will be weaker in the qualities for which that particular element represents. For example, metal represents perseverance and a person who has metal as his favorable element generally can be said to score lower in terms of perseverance. As such, how can a person who lacks perseverance do well in a job that is the epitome of perseverance?

Why did ancient Bazi practitioners advocate client to take up an occupation one is weak in? That is partly because in ancient China, the pace of life is much slower and hence it was more important then to lead a sedentary lifestyle which can only be brought about by using one’s occupation to balance out one’s Bazi deficiency. In modern society, the emphasis has changed to excelling in one’s occupation even if this means a poorer quality of life brought about by hectic work schedule.

The other issue that makes such a method of advising occupation based on favorable elements’ industry inaccurate is because jobs have evolved in complexity and variety that makes it difficult to classify them exclusively into either one of the 5 elements anymore. For example engineering is classified as wood but electronics and mechanical stuff are classified as fire and metal respectively. So what then is the elemental classification of electronic engineering and mechanical engineering?

As such, I hope Bazi practitioners and believers alike will assiduously consider the context and relevance when practicing and following this art that has evolved from ancient times. I will write an article on my method of deciding the favorable occupation based on a person’s birth data soon. Stay tuned.

I am a Fengshui Practitioner in private practice and I specialise in Ba Zi, Zi Wei Dou Shu ZWDS, Feng Shui, I-Ching, Qi Men Dun Jia QMDJ and other Chinese Metaphysics tools. My blog site is at: http://fengshuiforward.com and http://fengshuiforward.com/forum

I love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. Family, food, friends and football thrown in for good measure. But I digress.

What I REALLY like about Thanksgiving is it’s about giving thanks. And I think gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions out there. Why is it so powerful? Because it has the capacity to change your life.

My business and life are going great right now, better than I had planned, but it hasn’t always been that way. There were plenty of times where things were looking pretty bleak. During one particularly bleak time, a friend told me to just start listing everything I had in my life to be grateful for. Now, when things are looking pretty bad, it can be easy to say “everything sucks, I have nothing to be grateful for.” But, if we’re honest, we know that isn’t true. There’s always something, no matter how small, that is in your life you can be grateful for, and sometimes you just need to take a step back to see it.

What’s so amazing about gratitude is it’s so simple yet it has so much power - in fact, it’s so powerful it can start turning things around for you. Now, granted, being grateful all by itself will probably not turn a sinking business into a profitable one. But, it CAN be the catalyst to a transformation.

Why does this work? Well, if you’re a fan of the Secret and law of attraction, you’ve heard the phrase “what you focus on expands.” So if you focus on all the things you’re grateful for instead of all the things that aren’t working, the universe will bring you more things to be grateful for and less of the things that aren’t working.

Now, while I do think this is true, I also know a lot of people do not believe this or don’t think it’s true for them. So, might I suggest another, more practical reason, for why gratitude works — because it makes you feel better.

Yes, if you start to think about all the wonderful things that are in your life and that you have to be grateful for, things don’t look quite so bleak. You’re able to break, even for just a few moments, the funk you might have sunk into. And, with that improved mindset, you most likely can see your situation a bit more clearer and start coming up with some solutions (and maybe even take some actions) to get yourself out of it.

But gratitude isn’t just about when things are going wrong, it’s also powerful when things are going right. When you’re on top of the world, it’s still an amazing practice to give thanks. If nothing else, it gives you a moment to fully appreciate how wonderful things are right now. (And isn’t that a nice feeling to enjoy?)

So, how do you start adding a practice of gratitude to your life? Here are 3 tips to get you started:

1. Feelings are important. It’s not enough to just think about being grateful, you have to feel grateful as well. When you think about all the things you’re grateful for, really feel that gratitude throughout your body. Focus on it, and feel it radiate everywhere, from your fingers to your toes. Another tip is to imagine you have a dial in front of you, and when you turn up that dial you’re amplifying that emotion. It only takes a few moments to do, but the results are amazing. Try it and see if you don’t feel so much better afterwards.

2. Write it down. My coach, Melanie Benson Strick, Success Connections, has a great daily journal which includes a space to write 5 things you’re grateful for each day. Writing is a physical activity, so again you’re anchoring that gratitude feeling in your body. If you’re really struggling right now, I would suggest taking a few minutes and writing down everything you’re grateful for each day.

3. Put out a reminder. My grandfather gave me a stuffed bear. But not just any stuffed bear, this bear has a little button on it and a story. The story is a bit longer than what I want to get into now, but the gist of it is this — the bear comes from a magical land and represents an emotion. When you push the button and give it a hug, the emotion is released. My particular bear is about love. I’ve put the bear out so I can see it every day, and when I see it, it reminds me to be grateful. (And yes, sometimes I push the button and give it a hug as well.)

I agree, it’s a little silly. But it works. And if there’s something you can put out that reminds you to be grateful, then it’s an easy way to make being grateful a daily part of your routine.

It only takes a few minutes, but the results can be amazing. I challenge all of you to try it for 30 days and see if your business and your life start to improve.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site http://www.michelepw.com

Copyright 2007 Michele Pariza Wacek.

News Flash — the economy is bad.

Oh wait. You know that already? So, I’m not sharing anything new?

My good friend Nancy Marmolejo, VivaVisibilityblog.com, asked her social networking followers if people should be using the bad economy to market their products and services. The answers that came back were for the most part against doing that.

Well, that got me thinking. Is it a good idea to talk about the economy and get into the fear and negativity, or not?

The answer isn’t quite so straightforward. (Which you probably guessed.) But to explain, let me start by giving you some quick background.

First off, fear and negativity does sell. People will move away from pain more than they’ll move towards pleasure. And that makes sense, when you think about it from our cavemen days. We would have a need, maybe it was hunger, maybe we were cold, and that was what we focused on until it was satisfied (i.e. we looked for food or built a fire). But once we had that need satisfied, we didn’t keep focusing on it. We moved to the next pressing need, which maybe was running away from a saber tooth tiger or finding a mate.

We’re wired to deal with the pain first, until it’s solved, then we can tackle the next problem. We’re NOT programmed to keep focusing on something even after the pain has gone away.

Think of yourself right now. Let’s say your leg is NOT hurting right now. And it hasn’t hurt in a really long time. Are you doing anything right now to keep it from hurting in the future? (I’m guessing probably not.) And even if you do do things to keep your leg from hurting (i.e. exercise regularly) you would quit taking care of your leg that’s not bothering you in a heartbeat if, say, your arm started hurting.

Unfortunately, the economy right now is all about pain, so as a marketer you might decide to jump right up and start hitting the pain button.

Well…That may not be such a great idea either.

You see, most people are pretty savvy themselves when it comes to marketing. So if you blatantly get into that fear and negativity, especially if you then turn around and try and sell something, it will probably be a huge turn off.

But, there’s something else going on as well. You see, there’s another copywriting rule, which is whenever possible you should join the conversation in your prospects’ heads. What I mean by this, if your prospect is thinking at this moment about what he’s going to eat for dinner, your promotional piece should start out with some mouth-watering recipes. (By the way, this is why sending out promotional pieces that tie into the holidays work so well, because so you’re entering the conversation that’s already going on in your prospects’ heads.)

Now, if there are two things that are dominating many American’s thoughts right now, it’s the coming presidential election and the economy. The presidential election is a bit harder to work into promotional copy (besides you don’t necessarily want to turn off your prospects by getting into a debate about who you think should be the next president) but the economy is perfect. It’s got the fear/pain and you can’t get away from it.

In fact, it’s SO prevalent if you don’t talk about the economy at all, that doesn’t feel right either. Like you’re completely out of touch with the problems your prospects are going through right now.

So what do you do?

First off, make sure you understand where your prospect is coming from. And what I mean by that is HOW is the economy affecting your prospect right now? For instance, are you targeting a lower income prospect who is extremely worried about money, so that’s all their thinking about, or are you targeting a more affluent prospect where the economy is something to talk about, but it’s going to have to get pretty darn bad before it even starts to affect them? Are you targeting people who don’t want to focus on the bad but are making a pact to thrive no matter what the economy is doing? Are you targeting people sick to death of hearing about the economy and may strangle the next person who brings it up to them?

Once you know how it’s affecting them and how they’re thinking about it, then you can decide if and how much to address the economy in your marketing. Or if it even has a place in your campaigns. If you own a high end spa catering to a very affluent prospect, I probably wouldn’t say much (if anything) about the economy. And I certainly wouldn’t say something like “Bad economy sale — stretch your spa dollars for a limited time.” That is NOT the conversation your prospect is having in their head right now.

If you’re going to do it, make sure you do it smart. Otherwise all you’re doing is turning your prospects off.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site http://www.michelepw.com

Copyright 2008 Michele Pariza Wacek.

With today’s energy crisis and rising costs of heating and electricity, educating yourself on how you can save money, get money back into your pocket through government grants, and help do your part learning about the Going Green Facts - Homemade Energy.

The statistics prove that there is non-renewable energy that we consume in our daily lives that can be reversed by a few simple things that can be implemented by consumers with the knowledge of how to utilize what the earth has provided for us with wind, biodegradable materials and solar power. Below are a few shocking statistics that will open your eyes on what we are taking and not giving back.

US Energy Consumption By Source

Non-Renewable

• Petroleum: Used for transportation and manufacturing——— 38.1%
• Natural Gas: Used for heating, manufacturing and electricity - 22.9%
• Coal: Used for electricity and manufacturing ———————– 23.2%
• Uranium: Used for electricity ———————————————- 8.1%
• Propane: Used for heating and manufacturing ——————— 1.7%

Renewable

• Biomass: Used for heating, electricity and transportation ——- 2.9%
• Hydro-power: Used for electricity —————————————- 2.7%
• Geothermal: Used for heating and electricity ———————– 0.3%
• Wind: Used for electricity ————————————————- 0.1%
• Solar & other: Used for light, heating and electricity ————– 0.1%

So as you can see the numbers are staggering and with a bit of knowledge under your belt, you can save a great deal of money with renewable energy. Wind turbines and solar power are just to name a few. Taking your time to recycle waste products will do Mother Earth good also. A lot of what is recycled will be turned into a product which can be used again and again. Ordinary waste can be converted into renewable energy thanks to our Waste Management companies. Waste Management’s landfill gas-to-energy projects generate enough energy to power 160,000 homes every day. That translates into almost 5 million barrels of oil per year.

With your knowledge of Going Green Facts, Homemade Energy can be made with ease to save you money and put the cashola back into your pocket. For example: Did you know that if your purchase a hybrid car, plans and build a wind generator or solar panels with Obama’s home energy grant program you can be rewarded by the Federal Government by receiving funding to help with their plan on reducing our dependence on fossil fuels? This is one of their top agenda items for 2009. Depending on what you do, there has been reported funding of anywhere from $600-$2000. That’s a lot of ching! You must have a receipt for your purchase of course, and apply for grant funding at the home energy grants website.

If you are eligible, you will receive a check in a month or two. You can’t however apply for multiple energy grants. For example, if you own a hybrid car, solar panel and a wind generator you can specify the information in the grant kit if you qualify to receive it. What a way to get some of those hard earned dollars put back into your pocket.

Do your research and find out how you can help convert your home into renewable energy and put money back in your pocket. When you educate yourself on the Going Green Facts Homemade Energy is where to start. Whether you choose wind, solar, or both will be the best thing you will ever do for the crisis that all of us are faced with on a daily basis. Green living is not as hard as it sounds and with a little knowledge and a few items, you could get off the grid and let the power company pay you.

With today’s energy crisis you can not afford to waste energy. Let the Sun and the Wind give you all the energy you need. Why Wouldn”t You Want To Learn How To Build Your Own Solar and Wind Energy? Get a jump start on today’s energy crisis with Homemade Energy

In part 1, I will discuss the sun signs, which has twelve in all: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The twelve signs are divided into two groups called Dualities, which are masculine and feminine. There is a group of six
masculine signs and six feminine signs; here I’ll list the first group:

Masculine: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius

And now the second group:

Feminine: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces

Next I discuss the Triplicities of the 12 signs; they are divided into four groups containing 3 signs each. Triplicities contain an element which is: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. It is said in Astrology, an element symbolizes an essential characterization of the sign. Now here are the elemental signs of each I listed above.

Fire: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius; Fire signs are active and enthusiastic

Earth: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn; Earth are practical and stable

Air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius; Air are intellectual and communicative

Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces; Water are emotional and intuitive

Now I go on to talk about Quadruplicities, which are 12 signs divided into three groups, containing four signs each. Each group represents a quality and these qualities are: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.

The four signs that are cardinal: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. They are enterprising and outgoing. They are initiators.

Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. They are resistant to change. They are also perfectors and finishers, rather than originators.

Mutable: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. They are flexible, versatile and adaptable. Able to adjust to different circumstances.

Not any sign in the astrological zodiac will have the same exact duality, element, and quality as another sign. They are all different. Example: Pisces, Feminine, water, and is a mutable sign. There is no other like this.

Because each sign has a unique combination, each one expresses the characteristics of its quality, element and duality differently.

Now lastly, Polarities are opposites. When a sign is of opposite of each other. For example, Virgo and Pisces; Virgos are a sign of work and self improvement, and the opposite is Pisces, which is a sign of dreams and self delusion.

Here are others that are Polarities:

Aries & Libra-Aries is a sign of self and Libra is of partnership
Taurus & Scorpio-Taurus is a sign of personal possessions and Scorpio is Legacies and shared possessions.

Gemini & Sagittarius-Gemini is a sign of self expression, Sagittarius is a sign of philosophy and higher thinking

Cancer & Capricorn-Cancer is a sign of home life, Capricorn of public life
Leo & Aquarius-Leo is a sign of personal pleasure and creativity, Aquarius is a sign of hopes and ideals on a large scale

So as you see, these signs, which are opposite of each other, again Polarities, may make a difference in who you pick as a partner when it comes to love, home, money or whatever.

Each of these 12 signs are associated in the outer world. Lucky numbers, lucky days of the week, special colors, plants, metals, jewels and etc. Also there is areas of danger alongside.

So there you go, information about the 12 sun signs. These are the basic scientific ways to explain how they work.

Part 2 will be about Moon signs.
Enjoy!

We have been doing Birth Charts, Numerology Charts, I-Ching Readings, Tarot Readings, and much more for our friends & family for years. We have recently decided to take our services public. Check out our website; http://miraclesnmagic.wordpress.com/

In my early, to mid-twenties I made money easily, recession or not. I never had any debts, except the mortgage and money just seemed to flow to me. But then it all stopped rather abruptly and for years I was left with one question…

Why?

In truth my life changed. It could be argued it completely fell apart. Perhaps the most challenging area of this - long term - was around money and career. In fact I’ve reflect on these challenges many times, i.e. why do they seem so difficult when all I want to do is do something I love or be spiritual.

Maybe you can relate to this.

More lately I’ve come to understand that my vibrational field changed. I began to attract and repel through this new spirituality (vibration) rather than my old. This meant that jobs and people and my experience of life began to change. At times I felt like my life was completely breaking down, but the truth is, I was actually breaking through.

I guess it’s like a good spiritual healing. Your energy field is shattered and you can begin anew. And while you might feel like you’re coming apart at the seems, you’re actually reforming.

And what do we find on the other side of this reformation?

Most likely you’ll find a person you like more. Someone more settled. Someone who appreciates much more than ever before. Perhaps someone who can tap into heartfelt love and laugh more easily.

Is it easy to do?

I didn’t find it easy in the beginning. I’d also say I’ve been stuck in certain places for certain times. But the further along this spiritual route I’ve come, the more fun I seem to be having.

One of the areas we may fight with most is our careers or what we perceive to be our ‘Life Purpose’. Here we seem to have a struggle with the physical need for money, verses spiritual way of being. It’s a struggle that can go on for quite some time.

For years I read books on spirituality, but more recently I’ve been fortunate enough to find a wealth of teachers. As these teachers have passed on their knowledge to me, the financial gates seem to have reopened. It’s as if I had to get off the money path, in order to learn spirituality, so I could return to the money path, but with enlightenment.

My tip for you is to discover your life purpose - your true gift and talent and begin using it in ways that add value to the lives of others. I also suggest that a good teachers can help you, but you have to choose wisely.

Best
Neil

At CommunitySoul I have put together a group of teachers - bestselling authors and personal development coaches in personal and spiritual development. They’ve already helped millions - maybe they have something of value for you too. Sign up for our weekly newsletter - free. http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

Let me, if you would, briefly share something with you. I
would like you to have a little background as to how I
started in this business we call Internet Marketing, and as
I said, I will be brief.

It started with me attempting to replace a part of my income
that was “literally” and very unexpectedly deleted, so to
speak, from my much-needed below-poverty level
income. Yeah! If things were not already tight. I guess you
can tell that I am still a little upset because of it, and
to be honest, that’s basically why I do this. So you see I
didn’t just get smart one day, and say, Ahh.. I guess I’ll
go into the Internet Marketing business. No, I was kind of
forced into it, which now brings me to the title of this
article: In The Beginning….,Then What?

With this article, I will be attempting to reach the masses
of the new individuals and teams, that have decided to
venture into this arena of dog-eat-dog marketers. My deepest
and most sincere desire is to give you hope and to
encourage you to just hang in there. Most of all as I
expressed in my last article entitled: I Learned The Hard
Way, Now You Don’t Have To - (3) Steps To Profits, I stress
the importance of Research, Focus, and Passion. These
three elements are essential in any business, online or offline.

In The Beginning….,Then What? Well, in the beginning you
decided, (or something or someone helped you decide) that you
were going start your own business - a very ambitious thought.
Hey… please keep that drive and ambition, because it will
surely pay great dividends eventually. That ambition has led
you to the sometimes not-so-pleasant world of Internet Marketing.
Don’t get me wrong now, this is a great business to be
involved in, but like in anything else, it also has its pitfalls.
My gift to you is to be real about what’s really going on.

(1) You and I are the Prime Target of the unscrupulous
Internet Marketer.

(2) There are some very “talented” Ad Copy creators all
over the Internet.

(3) You and I are emotional, and for the most part
impulsive.

(4) You and I are the Prime Target of the unscrupulous
Internet Marketer. Yeah, I know it’s the same as (1).

My point is this; if you can keep in mind that you are a
prime target, you will have a good chance of making it in
this business. You see, if you take a talented ad copy writer,
yours and my emotions, add them to our impulsive spending
habits and….. ch-ching, somebody’s going to the bank.

Listen now, you can do very well in this business. But after all
of the “HYPE” when the dust settles, you must remember these
three words - Research, Focus, and Passion, and also keep your
eyes and ears open for the people who are truly trying to be a help
to you. Believe me when I tell you there are some genuine folks
out there who do not consider you to be just another sales conversion.

————————————————————

To sum it all up for you, be sure to know (research) as much
as you can about your program, products, or service. Then be
honest, and ask yourself, “Is this product or service that I am
trying to sell really a valid offer?” If the answer is no, then simply
trash the thought. Try your best to keep a clear head about
what you are doing. Focus, because you will encounter a
ton of very enticing offers, and no matter what they say, you
do not need all of them to be successful in this business.

Last, but not at least, the lesser. Are you fired up ? (passion) Are
you ready to take your new business to heights that most
people only dream about? Good ! ! Stay “hot” and full of
zeal and you can do it.

If you have read this and would like information on some
great “free” resources to help you build your online
business, please feel free to contact me at your leisure.
I truly wish you much Peace and Success.

————————————————————

© Copyright 2006 by Felton L. Thompkins

Felton L. Thompkins is a native Atlantan, now making his home in Jacksonville,FL. He is a lover of God and of people, his interest include golfing, music, Internet Marketing, and Real Estate Invesment. Felton L. Thompkins, The Newbies Advocate. http://www.Simplyeshop.com

Because I know you have given the image of God a lot of thought, I’m sure you will find my book interesting. Here’s the introduction, which also serves as a synopsis:

A HIGHER GOOD

INTRODUCTION

CAIN’S QUESTION

I was fifteen when I died. It was long before anyone used the phrase “Near Death Experience” or talked publicly about “Out Of Body Experiences.” I don’t know how other NDEs or OBEs feel about these terms, but I consider them euphemisms of a society scared to death of death.

I died. That’s a fact. Then I came back, and I’ve spent four decades thinking about it.

My death experience was so profound, and so at odds with Western religions, that about 20 years passed before I even spoke of it. At first I was confused and thought that if I let enough time pass the experience would fade like a dream. Such knowledge was a burden, especially for a cloistered Catholic so young. A Catholic education back in the 1950’s was nothing short of dogmatic brainwashing, complete with the certainty that anyone who did not strictly adhere to every aspect of the “one, holy, apostolic” church doctrine was headed straight to Hell. So I tried to forget it, to deny it.

Nevertheless, even after four decades, my death experience remains the most vivid memory of my existence. With the wisdom of hindsight, I now realize I had to experience the lies of life before I could accept and understand the truths of my death. I’m writing it down now because of a sense of duty, and because I obviously went further into this mysterious realm than the many who have come forward during the past decade.

I strongly suspect that other souls throughout history, and even more in the modern age, experienced the same thing, returned to this life, and remained mute. At the very least, I suspect that many of the outspoken NDEs of the common era aren’t really telling it all.

It says in the Tao Te Ching: “Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know.”

However, I believe it more appropriate to say: Those who know don’t know how to express it, or they refuse to do so from fear of religious labeling or even persecution. After all, even Lao Tzu disappeared into the wilderness, never to be seen or heard again, right after he handed over the Tao Te Ching, a little book of just 81 verses that spawned one of the major religions of the world.

At any rate, NDEs are difficult to talk about, especially at first. During the past decade, I’ve only shared my experience occasionally, and then only when compassion has moved me to do so. Each time I have struggled for words and similes to describe conditions and attitudes for which there are no close comparisons on Earth.

I’m not sure of all the reasons I’m baring my soul, so the speak, here and now. The logical reasons are numerous. None of them, however, carry enough weight to motivate this task. I write this because I must. I don’t expect to profit much from it. Because of my age and my health, I doubt it will be widely read until after my passing.

At any rate, it won’t be read until the world is ready to understand. It will be read during an age in which enough people are ready to burst through the confines of preconceived notions and think for themselves. It will be read when enough people are sick and tired of the social sickness they see in the world. It will be read when enough people are ready to stray from the frightened flocks that have continued to blindly follow the same paths to fearful isolation and violent mayhem.

That time, I believe, is near. It is no coincidence that today we have many thousands of living souls who have had experiences as profound as did Saint Paul on the road to Damascus. Everyone today knows of someone who claims to have had an NDE or OBE. You can attribute this phenomenon to the proficiency of modern medicine, but it is all part of a spiritual evolution that is leading mankind through a transitional period.

You won’t find these thousands standing on busy street corners attracting attention with signs warning of the end of the world. They’re not starting any new religions, and they wouldn’t think of intimidating you with threats of eternal damnation. Nor do they ask for donations to spread the “word.” When talking of spiritual matters, they never raise their voices. Theirs is a still, small voice. They are the meek, but they have no desire to “inherit the Earth.” They’ve seen something infinitely better. They just seem to be quietly waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

There is, however, another reason for general silence among those enlightened by death. Wrapped up in the concrete understanding of answers that have puzzled philosophers and theologians throughout time is the realization that everyone must find their own way.

Knowing this, I realize what I say may have little effect on some. Even I had to make my own mistakes, suffer my own pain, and learn my own lessons; for without the mistakes, the pain, and the profound lessons–everything is little more than intellectual supposition. People can believe just about anything, but they only know for sure what they have experienced.

In many ways, my life has been richer and more purposeful because of the death experience. My existence this time around has been full and diverse and gratifying. I wouldn’t trade with anyone, though I do wish I could be more like Jesus, Gandhi, Lao Tzu, Buddha and a few other of my long-gone heros.

Like most everyone who reaches a certain age, I realize I have been blessed in many ways, but I also have experienced the depths of despair and what seems like more than an average share of pain. These painful realities of life, nevertheless, find graceful balance in the deep joys and interests. I have a passion for life, and it has been interesting. The worst part of it, however, has been continually witnessing the needless anguish, suffering, and violence that my fellow men inflict upon themselves and each other. In that respect, it seems a self-perpetuating curse in which I’m trapped–like a subject in one of Rod Sterling’s “Twilight Zone” episodes.

I am completely human and carnally burdened by the same instincts for survival and egotistical satisfaction that distorts spirituality and happiness in every human being. I retain the common fears of being hurt and of disease, but I have no fear of death. “Such a second death hath no power.”

I know my life must follow some natural course, so I walk along looking for people to help, trying to make sense of the chaos in the world and in myself. I have known God well for nearly all of my life, but have struggled a lifetime trying to figure out people. I have known Heaven and Earth, so I am left perpetually home-sick on this planet, no matter where I reside.

I think all old souls have this longing to be elsewhere, whether they’ve had a death experience or not. For most of them, the afterlife and past lives are like that name that’s just on the tip of the tongue. They know it, but they just can’t seem to think of it or grasp it. I believe this causes some people to think they must have been adopted, that they are the offspring of some alien abduction, or some other weird fantasy.

I’m going to detail my death experience in the first two sections of this book, but the goal of this work is to define the underlying causes of the chaos in this world and offer some spiritual suggestions that will relieve it. To do this I will question the most basic presumptions that have hampered and plagued mankind for thousands of years. These are not his fanciful presumptions about God, but the things he takes for granted about himself, those things that he has denied so repeatedly that they have fallen below his examination.

The underlying foundation of all our problems are buried in what we loosely dismiss as “human nature.” It has little to do with gods or devils, but with the denial of the very nature we readily dismiss without serious and objective introspection. Instead we create all manner of gods and devils to project the focus into the supernatural, and we war with each other over these egotistical definitions.

Our ideas of God, or a supreme system of balance, is the foundation of our moral philosophy. Therefore it also is the foundation of every social structure. It doesn’t matter whether one believes in God or not–all the rules and attitudes of a society are founded upon thoughts and philosophies that transcend the animal instincts of this realm of existence. This is the noble intent of man. From these thoughts we derive our ideas of moral behavior, social order, and justice.

Unfortunately, we most often twist these noble ideas of supreme rule to justify continuing cycles of violence. We use them to rationalize cruel and/or domineering behavior and retribution on a personal and national level. And we continually deny any personal responsibility for the unabated evil of the world with a logic that is always pointing the finger at some higher transgressions of our fellow man.

Based upon actual experience, I intend to stand this human logic on its head by debunking the standard metaphysical suppositions that lies at the foundation of societal structures. I’m going to explain a love and goodness that transcends our primitive ideas of justice. I’m going to tell you of a Higher Good.

My hope is that what I say may open your mind enough to rediscover the peace and love and hope that the collective ego-driven world has buried. Accept or reject whatever you wish. It’s all up to you. In the end, you are the only one responsible for finding the Way.

Religious organizations and philosophical persuasions all have their tightly cloistered camps. Each of us gleans from that religion and/or philosophy our own attitudes which constitute a personal spiritual philosophy. Whether it comes from the East or from the West, we alone are responsible for that personal spiritual philosophy. Because of free will–no one can be lead, or even blame someone else for being misled–because to follow is a choice. We’re all responsible for our own path.

On this path each of our spiritual attitudes supersede the influence of Plato, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Freud, mom and dad, or whomever. We must all seek truth individually and responsibly–without a person, people, politics, or religion as the ultimate authority or scapegoat. To do so, we must learn to think for ourselves.

As a result of my death experience, I have developed a spiritual attitude that is neither eastern or western. It recognizes the good in each and strives for a Golden Mean. This book provides a different way of looking at God and his people (regardless your religious affiliations) so that His unconditional love can fill you with understanding.

This Golden Mean Philosophy can lead to a true and lasting peace on Earth, something that is impossible under the present conditions of modern religious dogma, which gains its authority from the negative concepts of control through fear mongering and power through separatism. As long as we continue to label ourselves as Christians or Muslims or Jews or whatever we continue a tradition of tribalism that is as old and as barbaric as man himself.

As a species, we have learned little from the continuing separatism of our history. We have never grasped the profound implications of the first question asked by a man in the Bible: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” This question, of course, was posed as an evasion from God’s question of: ” Where is Abel thy brother?”

Cain’s evasive question assumes that the answer is no, and as long as we continue to assume that the answer is no, we are condemned to repeat the past as an unavoidable aspect of what we justify as human nature. Until we give the underlying assumptions of Cain’s question our most serious attention, we will never change man’s quarrelsome and murderous nature. By assuming the answer is no, a cancerous attitude lurks in the hidden recesses of man’s most minor egotistical tendencies and surfaces in evil acts that he justifies with political and religious reasoning.

It is time for man to address the implications and ramification of these underlying assumptions, because what the first murderer may have done with a rock, we now can do with weapons that threaten our biological clock.

Much of what I’m about to reveal will offend small-minded egos and be condemned by religious fundamentalists. Religions, the way they are organized and promoted, are not the paths to love and peace–they are the insidious force behind societal differences and societal problems. They are dictatorships of totalitarian rule that ironically appeal to the worst parts of our human nature while camouflaging themselves in self-righteousness.

Religions are the most powerful and dangerous forces on Earth, and they become most self-righteous and aggressive whenever their financial structure and political power face criticism. It is built into their doctrine: to question them is to question God, and to question God is a sacrilege. “God will get you” is the implication. But I pay no heed to that threat, because God already got me.

What I’m about to tell you will not change you. It will make you think. It may even make you think differently. But it will not enlighten you or effect any peaceful change. Only you can do that, and toward that end I have devised the Three Phases of Spiritual Enlightenment to help you find your own Way. It is possible to climb God’s mountain from various sides, but all paths merge at the top. All paths lead back to the source of life. But you may have to stray a bit from the frightened flocks and dogmatic directives to find a more forthright route. You may have to think for yourself, using the simple wisdom of your soul instead of the convoluted reasoning of political and religious dogma.

Today most of us still accept the confining fences of preconceived views, prejudices, and attitudes which influence everything we see, read, or hear. As long as we remain enslaved by those biases, we remain destined to repeat the violent sessions of the past. Nothing has changed, because the general and basic human attitude toward self has not changed. We are still sheep being lead by wolves.

I have a message that can change that; a message that can help you realize the awesome power that resides within you. Why I was chosen to deliver it is beyond me. During the course of my life, I have broken, to some degree, every commandment–especially as they are defined in the Sermon On The Mount. I certainly am no saint. I’m just an ordinary man with an extraordinary experience.

My words are not meant to convey ultimatums or condemnations–but to eliminate them. They are meant to speak past the ephemeral fears of your ego to the eternal compassion of your soul. My formidable task is to formulate logical hypotheses for revolutionary statements of faith.

I am not pompous or insane enough to claim that I speak for God, but I do speak of God with the authority of actual experience.

May he help me here.

A Higher Good is 264 pages and is available from Amazon and other online bookstores.

Sure some medications are useful, and very important, like painkillers, heart rhythm drugs, epilepsy drugs, anesthesia and medications used to prevent organ transplant rejection just to name a few. I confess however, that ridiculous stuff does happen in the health industry. So at this time, I’m offering you my First Ever Presentation of Dumb Awards:

Dumb Award: The first ones goes to (drum roll please)? The FDA because they approve recycled drugs. For example, when a prescription medication loses patent, and cheaper generics come onto the market (think of Claritin for allergies), the FDA gets pressure from manufacturers to approve a brand new (and improved?) version of the same drug (called Clarinex). So one drug gets re-birthed into the marketplace with a new name and higher price tag.Cha-Ching!

Dumber Award: We have a tie between birth control pills and Accutane. Let’s start with birth control pills: They prevent pregnancy, of course, but they’re often prescribed to young girls to treat severe acne. The pill has been associated with cancer, heart disease, weight gain, blood clots and stroke. Now for Accutane or isotretinoin? It’s been tied to *******. For real! It has also caused deformities in babies, so today, women of child-bearing are not even allowed to take the drug unless they are also on the pill. I would recommend Clearasil and condoms before I recommended this combination of drugs.

Dumberest Award: (Throw confetti here)? Statins! I don’t think that cholesterol is so bad, and these drugs lower it vigorously. I can’t find one study that proves statins make you live any longer. Inflammation and nutritional deficiencies will continue to damage your heart, even if you have perfect cholesterol. It’s like blowing the smoke out of the house while the fire continues to burn. And statins drugs can cause muscle aches, depression, leg cramps and erectile dysfunction. Dumb or brilliant? Depends what side of the counter you’re on. If you want natural options to prevent heart disease, read Chapter two of my book,The 24-Hour Pharmacist.

Honorary Mention goes to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) for allowing drug commercials to bombard our airwaves. People used to have to go to the doctor for a diagnosis, now they can just chill out, have a bag of artery-clogging chips and watch TV. Within minutes, you will discover what disorders all of your friends and relatives have? and of course, the newest drug to suggest to them for their bizarre conditions. But tell them not to stress because you also found a way for them to save hundreds of dollars on car insurance by switching to!

Did You Know?

Pau D’Arco supplement or tea may help you with arthritis, diabetes, auto-immune disorders and even cancer.

Suzy Cohen RPh, is the author of “The 24-Hour Pharmacist” and Suzy’s newest book, “Drug Muggers-How your medicine is stealing the life out of you”
Suzy also writes the nationally syndicated column, “Dear Pharmacist” which is read coast to coast each week in over 30 newspapers.
http://www.DearPharmacist.com

Would you be surprised to learn that there are a LOT more people in your country and even your city who have money problems than those who do not?

I attended a seminar recently where one of the speakers said that just by having a roof over your head, enough to eat when you are hungry and a fresh supply of drinking water puts you in the top 10% of wealthy people in the world.

Now, I know that such a statement gives you little comfort or solace when you are finding it difficult to pay the rent, meet your monthly mortgage repayments or put fuel in your motor vehicle. But, hey, it sure does put a NEW perspective on things, doesn’t it?

Anyway, in a western style, democratic country, most of, if not all, your particular money worries stem from one thing. Excuse me for saying this but there is no other way to really say it with the impact that it requires:

STINKING THINKING

If you are suffering from not having as much money as you need or want then check the list off below as it applies SPECIFICALLY to you. Just say TRUE or FALSE and be honest. There is absolutely NO POINT in deluding yourself. You might as well go and cheat at playing solitaire if that is what you are going to do. I am trying to HELP you here.

Here’s the list:

1. You DON’T like to read books on wealth or investment
2. You do NOT attend seminars on wealth creation or investment opportunities
3. You go out of your way NOT to associate with wealthy people
4. You do NOT like to take advice - not on money matters or anything much
5. You have NO role models or mentors who are wealthy or successful
6. You find information on motivation, self esteem, wealth and the like dull and boring
7. You would rather have a “good time” indulging in things that you know are not always the best for you
8. You spend more in one day feeding your stomach than you would in one month - or even a year - feeding your mind
9. You regard most wealthy people as cheats, crooks, liars and “show offs”
10. Your best chance of personal wealth is from lottery, inheritance or a compensation payment

Be honest. You said “true” to most of those, didn’t you? Well, I’m sorry but that is stinking thinking. That is a demonstration of all your prejudices holding you back from a better lifestyle.

NOTHING is going to change for you until you re-organize your thinking and start to THINK like a wealthy person does rather than a poor person. That is the FIRST step. Education is the next step and action is the final step.

Change your thinking, change your ways and you WILL change your outcome. Until then you are just going to get more of the same. And if you don’t believe that then don’t believe it. You are already proving beyond a shadow of doubt that your method up until now simply does not work. Isn’t it time to switch to plan B?

Brought to you by: Gary Simpson’s http://www.MotivationSelfEsteem.com/Zenspiration.html website where you can receive motivating “Zenspirational Thoughts” plus an immediate FREE copy of the highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book “The Power of Choice.” Here you will also be able to get your password for the “Wealthy Minds” Newsletter which will give you access to the MEMBERS’ ONLY area of the http://www.turn-debt-into-wealth.com website.

Gary Simpson is the author of nine books covering a diverse range of subjects such as motivation, self esteem, affirmations, self defense, wealth creation and much more. His many motivation and success articles appear all over the web.

Many forms of divination use guides, charts, or other reference materials. Because the scope of divination is broad, and interpretations have various meanings, a divination chart is a necessity for most readers and mediums. Tarot incorporates meticulous charts to explain the meanings of the cards. The I Ching is a chart of possible solutions. Another form of divination chart is used by astrologers to ***** characteristics influenced by heavenly bodies. Numerology employs a divination chart to reference the mystical messages contained within numbers. Without the use of a particular divination chart, many mystical tools would be of little use, and accuracy would suffer greatly.

When laying out a spread for a querent, the reader will often consult a divination chart, of sorts. This reference contains the meanings of the cards, and how they relate to each other. Using a guide allows the reader to be accurate, and ensures proper interpretation of the layout. Without something to refer to, there is a high likelihood that the reading will be misunderstood, or that a temporary confusion of meanings ruins the truth that has been sought. Successful readings depend on proper materials.

When an astrologer is contacted to perform a reading, they use a divination chart to consult the stars. Once the information related to the client has been gathered, another form of divination chart is created, which holds the possible futures indicated when the different sun signs have been calculated for their individual influences on the person. While the average person thinks of astrology as their daily horoscope, a true reading could result in many pages of detailed information concerning conflicts and events that are forecast by psychic and cosmic forces. Not only is the person’s zodiac sign assessed, but so are the many and complex variations which are caused by the influence of the other signs. There are Houses, Cusps, and ascending and descending influences, and sun and moon signs to be reconciled. If the reading involves more than one person directly, this information has to be compiled for each individual, until a chart of possible destinies becomes clear. Far from the daily version of a fortune cookie, astrology has been used for purposes of deciding the future for thousands of years, and is still consulted today, by political figures and business leaders.

Richard Wilkins, co-owner and psychic trainer at the Psychic Academy is a leading researcher in developing psychic powers and how to learn tarot for beginners. To learn more about his research and new psychic training opportunities, visit his website today.

I have seen current practitioners having the nonchalance to cite methods in Feng Shui classics compiled by renowned Feng Shui Masters like Jiang Da Hong & Yang Yun Song’s methods as if these were universal truths that are applicable for all time and social context. For example, they say that these greats did not mention in their books that tailor their Feng Shui method according to the beneficiary’s destiny so they believed that Astrology is not needed to carry out Feng Shui. If the likes of Jiang and Yang omitted to mention it, does it mean that they are against it or such a practice is useless? The likely reason is that the context of houses and technology during their time could have rendered it immaterial or unachievable to do so. In any case, unless one is speaking from the capacity of someone having learnt directly from these Feng Shui greats over a few years, they cannot assume to have fully understood the thought processes and approaches of these greats.

During Zhang and Yang’s time, there were hardly high-rise apartments with subjective façade that makes for determining the apartment facing and consequently most Feng Shui formula highly subjective. It can also be said during their time, people that can afford paying for Feng Shui do not live in small apartments unlike now whereby the closer inhabitation means Feng Shui tuning takes on a new level of complexity which therefore warrants a fresh perspective into occupant’s destiny.

Afterall, it was said that Jiang lead a very tough life and remained very poor even after practicing Feng Shui. So is he poor by choice or would he have become richer had he incorporated astrological consideration into his Feng Shui methods for himself? Although we will never know the answer to this question, still it shows that Feng Shui cannot improve beyond the borders demarcated by destiny.

It is interesting to note that the principles of Xuan Kong method begins with the Qing Nang Jing given to Zhang Liang by Huang Shi Gong during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC). The technique of the Xuan Kong Flying stars is well explained in the classics Xuan Kong Mi Zhi, Xuan Ji Fu, Fei Xing Fu all published in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It can be surmised then that Jiang had adapted some of Zhang’s works in his classics on Xuan Kong Fei Xing Feng Shui. The great Zhang Liang was greatly revered for his immense practical contributions and success towards kingdom building. It was also a known fact that Zhang practices Qi Men Dun Jia and others on top of Feng Shui. Jiang may be widely respected for his work in the practice of Feng Shui but that’s not a justification to deride others like Zhang who blends in multiple practices and achieves resounding success.

In modern society, Feng Shui clients look to their consultants for one-stop consultation on many of their problems some of which may be really beyond Feng Shui. Hence, a Feng Shui consultant that also practices other skills like Astrology, Chinese Medicine and even Psychology can provide more comprehensive and synergistic services. Imagine a Feng Shui client had to visit a Feng Shui practitioner, an Astrologer, a doctor and a career advisor for his host of problems and each of them gave advices that contradict each other?

Another reason practitioners need to move along with times is that that technological advancements have rendered what could have been a best practice in those times to become cavalier now. For example, it would have been ludicrous for Feng Shui Masters during those times to perform Feng Shui audit without the aid of a Feng Shui compass, otherwise known as the Luo Pan. Even in current society, it may be frowned upon by ignoramuses that such a practice lacks professionalism. In actual fact, with the advent of Google Earth, it is no longer absolutely critical for a practitioner to bring the Luo Pan with him on an audit. In fact, it is a preferred option to measure directions as compared to the Luo Pan because it is unbiased and not affected by the magnetic fields in and within the vicinity of the house. Remember modern houses are built very differently now, with concealed cables running within and close to the house and their magnetism may skew the compass reading on the Luo Pan.

So having illustrated the need for Feng Shui practitioner to move along with times and society, am I sounding the death knell on reading up the historical developments of Feng Shui? Far from it! History is a good starting point for us to learn the past so that we can more effectively improve the future. Unfortunately, some people are curtailed by history because they use historical cases as benchmark of best practices and did not consider the change in context from these historical cases to modern ones. The Chinese saying that “Water can transport the boat and yet capsize it” sums it all. It is up to one whether to use historical cases as assistance or impedance.

I am a Feng Shui Enthusiast in private practice and I specialise in Ba Zi or 4 Pillars, Zi Wei Dou Shu or ZWDS, Feng Shui, I-Ching, Qi Men Dun Jia or QMDJ, Chinese Name Analysis and other tools. My blog site is at: http://fengshuiforward.com and http://fengshuiforward.com/forum

It’s a big trial-seven figures at stake. It’s time for jury selection and I’m in the courtroom with my client attorney.

The attorney asks who knows the parties. He asks if anyone knows the attorneys. He asks if anyone has been involved in a similar business dispute. He follows up by asking whether anything about that experience would prevent the juror from being fair and impartial in this case.

Then he turns to me and asks, “Okay, who do we want?”

Well gosh, I don’t know. I haven’t learned a thing about any of these folks.

I’ve watched dozens of attorneys do voir dire and for the more often than not, I see it done badly. I’m not sure if voir dire and jury selection strategy are routinely taught as part of trial advocacy programs in our nation’s law schools or not; if they are, they’re not being taught well.

And as I’ve grimaced my way through bad voir dire after bad voir dire, I’ve come to realize that the main reason for bad voir dire comes down to one word: fear.

WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

It seems that attorneys are afraid of three things when they stand up to speak to prospective jurors in voir dire:
1. Fear of losing control;
2. Fear of a juror poisoning the panel;
3. Fear of jurors actually talking.

So in response to these fears, I see attorneys make these same three mistakes over and over:
1. Talking too much; (and thus listening too little);
2. Not asking the tough questions;
3. Not following up enough.

CALMING THE FEAR

Here’s the thing: just because someone says something bad about your client, doesn’t mean that everyone else in the room will automatically agree with it. Now, if some members of the panel think ill of your client because he’s Muslim, or because she was the second wife of a wealthy decedent or he did inhale, wouldn’t you want to know about it before the trial, instead of after?

And what if most everyone does agree with something bad a prospective juror says about your client? GREAT! BREAK THE PANEL!! There are more jurors where those came from, and if there aren’t, you’ve got a mistrial motion. That might not be an appetizing prospect if you’re, say, plaintiff’s counsel and you’ve got a lot invested in the case, but what is more unappetizing is being poured out on the table by a panel of jurors who don’t like your client and you didn’t know it.

HOW TO FIX IT

1. In preparing for jury selection, first develop a fear list-what are the vulnerabilities of your case, of your client?
2. From the fear list, develop voir dire questions that will ferret out unfriendly attitudes.
3. Be willing to ask the tough questions; there are ways to ask them gently (”Is there anyone on the panel who is a bigot?” usually doesn’t generate a lot of response), but you have to get it out there. And DON’T ask it this way: “Will anyone here hold it against my client because she was the second wife of a wealthy decedent?” You need to discover their attitudes about family disputes, their experiences with stepparents, their beliefs about the motivations of people when they are called upon to share an inheritance. Once you get to those attitudes, you’ll reveal the folks who won’t like your client because she’s the second wife.
4. Follow up with open ended questions: “Tell us more about that?” “Tell us why you feel that way?” “How long have you felt this way?” (Note: “How long have you felt this way” is a great question that can seal off the juror from attempted rehabilitation by opposing counsel or by the judge. If you can demonstrate a long-held belief it makes your challenge for cause more compelling)
5. Ask if other jurors agree with the unfriendly juror and let them speak their minds, too.
6. Most importantly, as my colleague David Ball says, “Shut Up and Listen.”
Now hopefully before you ever enter the courtroom you’ve done some pre-trial research (mock trial, focus group) and have had a chance to develop a profile of favorable and unfavorable juror characteristics-demographic, experiential and attitudinal. Doing the research ahead of time does wonders to reduce uncertainty.

Ultimately, it’s okay to cede some control during the voir dire process. It’ll help build rapport with the jurors and it will get you where you need to go in terms of finding out who is on your panel. Still worried about losing control? Focus on self-control: listening without arguing or persuading. As the ancient Chinese book of wisdom, the Tao Te Ching says,” He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

Bob Gerchen is a nationally-known jury consultant and author who helps lawyers communicate with people who don’t have law degrees through consulting, books, articles, a newsletter and seminars. His Courtroom Presentation Tips newsletter http://www.winmorecases.com offers free tips for lawyers to help them win more cases. Bob is also the author of the book, 101 Quick Courtroom Tips for Busy Lawyers http://www.CourtroomPresentationTips.com To speak to Bob directly, call 1-877-863-0909.

From time immemorial it has been known that some people, Yogis, Gurus, Shamen, Priests, Saints, Paramahamsas, Buddhas, Christs, have evolved to a state of high energy. For example, Ramakrishna.

These pure and good people, wanting benefit and happiness for all, without a trace of selfishness and competition have been known to have psychic powers.

Their search for energy and goodness has precipitated within them the next stage of human evolution.

For thousands of years they have been Good Doctors, Good Priests, founders of religion, Philosophic Geniuses, Advisors of Kings, Musical Geniuses, Poets, Makers of the Law.

For thousands of years these people, wielding amazing Siddhis or Psychic powers, have been recorded as healing of the sick, casting out mental sickness, coming in dreams, communicating through telepathy, the radiation of specialised energies, leaving the body, entering into the body of another, astral travel, telling the future, acting at a distance, raising Kundalini, Shaktipat, the ability to pass healing into amulets, temples, places of peace, pilgrimage sites, creating miracles, birds and beasts come to them in peace.

Sri Ramakrishna’s life is a wonderful record of realization and the powers that follow upon it, powers which in themselves did not particularly interest him, drowned as they were in the knowledge of the higher vision.

Indeed, he said that psychic powers could take one away from the path of self realization because of the selfish ego of having psychic powers. Just because a person has psychic powers, does not mean that the person is good, or that the psychic powers are used with good intent.

The enlightened always come from the direction of good, of goodness, and the aura of psychic powers follows them like a shadow, although they themselves think nothing of them.

Realization came to Ramakrishna in the typical way–devotion, longing for liberation from the ******* of the senses, and then one day with the help of his Master, Totapuri, suddenly, a flood of light and the loss of self-consciousness for 21 days in Samadhi.

I will mention some of the powers it brought with it. They are described as “characteristics distinctive of the highest degree of concentration.”

He would meet his disciples at the door, and begin to answer, without being asked, the written questions they carried in their pockets.

He could tell by touch the character of anyone who had even come in contact with his food, clothes or mat.

He would say of one from whom he shrank, that the contact with anothers negative energy and deep energy blockages had “burnt” him.

Sometimes–”Look, I can eat this. Some good soul must have sent it.”

His disciples have told of the strangeness with which they would listen to one side of a dialogue carried on for hours while Ramakrishna, resting, evidently believed himself to be communicating with beings they could not see.

He had his own nervous force so completely under control that during his last illness he could remove all consciousness from the cancer in his throat and allow it to be operated upon as if under a local anesthetic.

He could interpret the smallest detail of the physical constitution of others as expressing their inward personality.

He would throw a disciple into the hypnotic state and learn from his subconscious mind all that was lodged there.

At times, he said, men and women seemed to him like glass and he could look them through and through.

Above all he could by his touch exercise a compelling power over other lives.

Through this touch they also received flashes of the higher consciousness which molded their futures, this touch is called Shaktipat.

An example is given of his placing his hand on the heads of a row of persons with a different phrase for each, and each receiving a different gift. With one, overwhelming joy; to another a great light which never left him, so that he could never pass shrine or temple after without seeming to see there in that light a Form which he described as “the Spirit that dwells in the images,” and so forth.

One of his disciples says, in speaking of the usual talk of men’s consciousness: “Consciousness? What does consciousness matter? It is as NOTHING compared with the unfathomable depths of the subconscious and the heights of the superconscious.

Some disciple saw Ramakrishna gather in ten minutes from a man’s subconscious mind the whole of his past, and determine from that his future and his powers.

Of this disciple Ramakrishna eagerly asked when he first saw him, “Tell me, do you see a light when you are going to sleep?” “Doesn’t everyone?” asked the boy, in wonder. He had indeed a consciousness of light so great that he took it for granted that someone had placed a bright lamp behind his head.

When the disciple was to speak in public, which he did frequently and with power, he would hear at night in his room a voice shouting at him the words he would say next day. It was given to him. This man was the well-known student of Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda.

Doing all this they also pass on their energy in Shaktipat for the awakening of all good students.

The shaktipat, the radiation of psychic energies by the enlightened can awaken these abilities in all who come to them. This has been known and recorded in the Sacred literature for thousands of years.

Uppadesa, or the grace of the masters is said to come in a glance, touch, or in silence.

Indeed, some sacred literature states that only by access to the energies of the Masters, can enlightenment be passed on.

The search for this next step in evolution comes from the enhancement, the increase, of energy.

As fire is spread from candle to candle. As the sacred word resonates in both he who gives and he who receives. As Grace dropeth as the gentle dew from Heaven, twice blessed..

So a preparation of he who receives, the student, the candle, by the removal of Negative Energy, Energy Blockages. A lack of Energy Blockages allows more Spiritual Energy to be absorbed and used to crystalise, complete, finalise, create the Spiritual Body of another Master, another transmitter of the Truth!

They say that Masters represent infinite power through a complete loss of the selfish ego - When the robe was touched no credit was claimed by the wearer, It was your faith which healed you! said the Master - and so the truism, It takes two to Tango, - the student must be purified and prepared by evolution and spiritual practice to accept the Force, the Energy transmitted by the Master.

All energy blockages stopping the flow of energy through the system and preventing the buildup of psychic power in the system must be removed.
Thus we learn and practice Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, Samadhi, Samyama, the Kundalini Kriyas, Chinese Alchemical Taoism and the Micro and Macrocosmic Orbits, VITRIOL and The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, The Grounding of Negative Energies, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Raja Yoga and the Eighteen Classical Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita.

Thus the torch is passed on from Master to Student.
Another candle is lighted up!

And Masters have existed in every time period.

They exist Now!!

Satchidanand, Director of Energy Enhancement, is one of the leading teachers of Meditation.!

He helps people worldwide reach further than they EVER thought possible, FASTER!!!

http://www.energyenhancement.org

So you want to have a special sales event – great idea! But why are you slashing your prices and having big discounts? You can have a successful income buster without even touching your prices! You just need brains, guts and real (and I mean real) excitement.

What’s an “income buster”?

An income buster is a promotional event that gets a large amount of people excited about something. It wows and delights your customers so much that they want to thank you for it when it’s over. It’s not about lowering prices; it’s about getting your customers excited about something more substantial.

Of course, there’s no magic event that will work for everybody. The key to finding the right income buster for you is in your customers – and your ability to see things their way.

The First Element: Brains

Before you can put on this event, you must ask yourself some questions to spark your creativity and find your focus.

What do your customers truly get excited about?
If you said price, you’re flat out wrong! If you don’t know what excites your customers, ask them! Call ten customers today and ask them what they enjoy about your products and your company.

What will make your customers actually want to come?
This event isn’t about you; it’s about your customers and prospects. If you want a great turn out, you must make your income buster worth their time. Your event needs to be so appealing and exciting that your customers will actually make time in their busy schedules to attend it.

How can you convert a group of people into money?
Income busters are not customer appreciation days; they are events and promotions designed to make YOU money! If the cash register doesn’t go cha-ching, it’s not an income buster.

The Second Element: Guts

Simply having great ideas isn’t going to feed your family – you must be able to put those ideas into action! If they are any good, they will not only make you money, they will be risky, thrilling and nontraditional.

For this reason, great ideas take guts to put into motion. There may be people in your company that are too comfortable in their settled ways. They like doing things the same way they’ve always done them. Do you have the guts to not only weather their comments and criticism, but to encourage them to get excited about something new?

The Final Element: Crazy Excitement

The last, and best, part of throwing a killer income busting event or promotion is the real excitement. It must be intoxicating; it must be powerful enough to rev up EVERYBODY in your organization.

The key to stirring up excitement in your company is in knowing who determines it. At the risk of shocking you, I’m going to share an important fact: the person who sets the mood of the company isn’t you!

Think about it: Who answers the phones? Who delivers your orders? Who sends the faxes? Who greets visitors?

These people make up the living, breathing body of your company. They are responsible for the mood of your corporation. If you want to psych up the entire organization, you must start with them. When their excitement levels are high, they will drive their energy throughout the organization and into your customers!

Having these elements in your plan will give you a clear objective of what you need to do to accomplish your goal. They will help you create an event that will excite your staff and thrill your customers. With this environment, you will have what it takes to turn your promotional event into a real income buster!

Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don’t Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3-4 NIV)How do I love You, Lord? Let me count the ways: I don’t do drugs; I don’t commit adultery or murder; I don’t take Your Name in vain; I don’t gossip or cause dissension among the brethren; and I don’t forget to keep the Sabbath holy. It seems like all I do is don’t do! I guess You could say I’m just about as holy as my house plants are: they also don’t do any of the above.

I’ve come to church this morning feeling as though I’m entering some kind of spiritual beauty contest, and the winner is the one who doesn’t do the most! Surely that is not all there is to holiness!

I want to be holier than my house plants are! Show me how to express my love for You in what I do. Send me to the powerless people You love so possessively. Give me a heart for hurting people, and show me how to fill their needs so that You will become real to them.

Live Your life through me, and give me courage to reach out in concrete ways to the needs of others. There are so many who have never heard of You, or if they have, they don’t understand how much You care for them. I want to be more than a “do-nothing house plant” sitting in this pew.

Thank You for the strength to not do what isn’t pleasing to You. Now I need a heart that burns within me to do what pleases You. Bring me beyond my self-satisfied complacency and break my heart over the needs of others. Teach me how to bring honor to You by doing and being in You. Let me be Your hands until I meet You face-to-face.

(c) 2007 April Lorier

April Lorier is an award-winning poet, writer, Author, Christian Speaker, Columnist, and former music teacher.

As a pastor’s daughter and a survivor of severe child abuse, April Lorier has an intimate knowledge of child abuse in and out of the church. She founded COPE, Inc, for the retraining of abusive parents. Her testimony before the CA State Legislature helped with the passage of The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), signed by Ronald Reagan.

Her autobiography, “GOD’S BATTERED CHILD: Journey from Abuse to Leader” (2007) is available at Amazon, B & Nobles, Target and at gods-girl.com

While the U.S. continues the debate about the propriety of online casinos, the rest of the world is having fun online. If you love gambling and casino games, and enjoy playing online, the choices can be dizzying. That’s why it’s helpful to have access to a gambling directory that gives you all of the information you need in order to find the games you love to play. Here are some of the features that a good gambling directory will offer:

Welcome Offers

Most online casinos offer new players what are termed “welcome offers.” These welcome offers can come in the form of matching bonuses, where you receive a percentage (often 100% or even more) of the amount of your first deposit. While a deposit bonus cannot be withdrawn, it can certainly extend your play. Other welcome offers might include free money to play or a certain amount of time of free play - sometimes up to one hour. So, for example, if you wanted to play online poker and deposited £500 into your account, you might get a matching bonus of £500 plus an hour of free play. A good gambling directory will list the top ten welcome offers available on the Internet.

Other Bonuses

In addition to welcome offers, online casinos can offer a number of other types of bonuses. A gambling directory will keep you up-to-date on multiple bonuses, high roller bonuses, reload bonuses, cash back bonuses, and other extra bonuses.

Search Preferences

Most people who love to gamble have a preference when it comes to games. One person may be a poker player, while another loves the excitement of bingo. Some people like to play lotteries, while others like the thrill of sportsbooks. Look for a gambling directory that allows you to quickly find the games that tickle your fancy.

So, for example, the gambling directory should have drop down menus that allow you to search for an online casino, a mobile casino, a poker room, a sportsbook, a racebook, lottery, or a bingo parlor in your choice of over two dozen languages. It should give U.S. players the ability to search for sites where they are welcomed.

Gambling News

If you love to gamble, whether in Las Vegas or in online casinos, you’re undoubtedly interested in news relating to gaming. A great gambling directory will have a regularly updated news section that will inform you about new sites, tournaments, promotions, gambling-related television shows and magazine articles, and more. If ca-ching is your thing, it will also give you the lowdown on some of the latest video slot machines.

Informational Articles

If you’re new to online casinos, a gambling directory can help you navigate the waters. The best directories have a compendium of informational articles that can guide you through the initial steps of registering with a site, teach you what types of sites to avoid, and provide advice on wagering. If you’re an avid gamer, the articles can help you refine your poker or blackjack skills, give you ideas for hosting your own casino nights, and help you find ways to leverage your wagers.

A gambling directory can help you have fun, bet safely, and win big at online casinos!

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Directories for Online Casinos or Majon’s Gaming and Gambling directory.

To do a great right, do a little wrong.

Shakespeare

I have often thought about whether or not it is possible to integrate the peaceful teachings of the sages with the total destruction that a skilled warrior can render on his enemy.

How does the warrior balance the destructive, martial side of his life, with the calm, peace-loving, side which is taught by masters such as Lao Tzu and Jesus? As I have said many times, the warrior is a peace-loving individual. I totally enjoy the wisdom of the elders and try to live according to the teachings of the sages such as Lao Tzu, but how does one integrate teachings such as those found in the Tao Te Ching with what must be done to protect himself and those he loves in times of crisis?

This is a balancing act for the warrior, and one which requires time spent in meditation and deep thought concerning his personal code of ethics. He has to figure out exactly how far he is willing to go before he finds himself in a life-or-death situation. He has to determine what he must do to balance the teachings that are a part of his life, with the things which, at times, must be done in order to fulfill his duties as a warrior. This is a tall order and takes time spent in quiet contemplation for the warrior to fully come to grips with how to balance these two parts of his life.

For when moral value is considered,

the concern is not the actions, which are seen,

but rather with their inner principles, which are not seen.

Kant

Most things can be perceived in more than one way, just as the glass can be viewed as half full or half empty. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to get physical with someone, think of the reasons you must fight, not how sad you feel at the prospect of having to do damage to your enemy. Think of the duty that you have to protect those around you, not of your desire for things to be different. Think of what you fight for, not what you fight against. What you fight for determines whether your fight is just or unjust.

It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character,

and make it either good or bad.

Plutarch

Can this be done with love? Can a warrior walk in love as Lao Tzu, Jesus, Buddha, and others taught, while at the same time destroying his enemy? He can if his perception is right. When you must fight, think of fighting for those you love. This is the flip side of fighting against those you ****. Must you **** your enemy in order to stand for what you know is just and defeat him? I don’t think so. You do not have to allow your emotions to drift into anger and **** in order to use your martial arts skills. In fact, getting emotional can cloud your thinking and hinder your success.

The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life.

Samurai Maxim

Remember to preserve a calm soul amid difficulties.

Horace

Control your emotions and your thoughts. This is the key to finding balance between the spiritual side of the warrior which tries to live according to the wisdom of the sages, and the physical side of the warrior which has the power to destroy. You have to know that your actions are just. A guilty conscience can be dangerous for the warrior. If he feels deep inside that his enemy’s anger against him is just, he will have a hard time going against this enemy. The warrior must stand on the side of justice, and when he is in the wrong, he must own up to the error of his ways, not continue to maintain a position which he knows is not right.

In critical times, one must be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.

Gichin Funakoshi

So, can the warrior balance the spiritual and physical duties of the warrior lifestyle? The answer is absolutely, but as with so much of the warrior lifestyle, it takes work. The warrior lifestyle is a lifestyle of excellence, and a life of excellence takes effort. It doesn’t just happen naturally while you are sitting on the couch watching television. You have to work for it. You have to take the time to develop yourself - spirit, mind, and body. It is up to you, nobody is going to do it for you. When it comes right down to it, nobody else cares. It is extremely rare to find anyone else who really cares about the truly important parts of your life. You’re basically on your own in this arena, as you are in most others.

Each individual is responsible for his own evolution.

Lao Tzu

Prepare yourself for you must travel alone.

Book of the Golden Precepts

If you are not willing to slow down and spend some time in quiet meditation and contemplation, you will never have a deep understanding of this essential balance. Exercise your mind, and think for yourself. This sounds so simple, but it actually takes more effort and discipline than your physical training. The mind can be hard to control. Control it nonetheless! Be the master of your thoughts, not mastered by your thoughts. Determine your code of ethics and find balance today.

One should know what our convictions are, and stand for them…

therefore it is wise to be as clear as possible about one’s subjective principles.

Carl Yung

Perfection is attained by slow degrees;

She requires the hand of time.

Voltaire

Bohdi Sanders, Ph.D.

Dr. Bohdi Sanders is the author of the new book Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior. Dr. Sanders has a doctorate in Natural Health and in Naturopathy, a black belt in Shotokan Karate, is a Reiki Master, a Certified Personal Trainer, a Certified Specialist in Martial Arts Conditioning, and currently teaches history in Colorado.

His personal web site is: http://TheWisdomWarrior.com
You may reach Dr. Sanders through his email at WarriorWisdom@comcast.net.

A limited number of signed special edition copies of Warrior Wisdom are still available. get your copy soon before they sell out. You can order your copy from: http://thewisdomwarrior.com/

Did you fall for that one? How many times have you bought hot, targeted, even pre-screened or telephone verified leads?

I fell for it!! I have been in network marketing for about 10 years now. For the first 8 years, it was the MOST frustrating thing I’ve ever seen. I was going over the money that I’ve spent on leads. WOW - amazing. I dialed and dialed and dialed. Toward the end of my lead buying days, I got so I was actually able to talk with these people.

Most of the people that I talked to said they were filling out a form for a free ipod, free computer, free dinner at Olive Garden or something of the sort. They filled out their name, address, email address, phone number etc… and were brought to another page where they had to answer questions and choose so many of the “free offers” to go further. Most stopped after 3-4 pages of this, however some of them went up to 20 or more pages.

TWENTY PAGES!!

One question was “Have you ever considered having your own business?” They said sure, what the heck. I’ll check that box. They become one of those “pre-qualified” leads you buy.

Then they get to fill out a form asking how much they want to make per month - KA-CHING - your price just went up for that lead. They were then asked why they wanted a home based business - KA-CHING - your price just went up more for that lead.

These poor people were simply ****** into thinking that they were going to get a free product. You’ve seen the offers. They pop up on all kinds of websites. They come in your email. They are EVERYWHERE.

How many people who have been on the internet very long do you think fall for that garbage?? Probably not many. HOWEVER, there are millions of NEW internet users every day. These are the people that you get to talk to when you buy leads.

First of all, they are mad that they didn’t get their free whatever.

Second of all, they are mad because all they got instead was a bunch of spam emails and tons of people calling them trying to get them into their deal.

OF COURSE you are going to get a lot of NO’s. Your upline will tell you - “Get 100 No’s and you’re that much closer to a YES”. Oh My Gosh!! Of course you might get a couple out of every 100 or 200 people that you talk to who will take a look at your business. BUT…IF they do join you, those people are probably getting ****** in by hype and false promises, just like you probably did. Most will drop out and leave you high and dry.

Will it ever end??? Most likely not. That means that you can NEVER RETIRE. You will have to work FOREVER to outsponsor the attrition rate. All this to just get a little bit further ahead. Not a lot, but a LITTLE BIT further ahead.

Is this really the life you want? Is this what you signed up for? Are you ready to learn about a different way? Are you ready to find out how to generate your own leads?

Roxanne Green is a Professional Network Marketer and a Success Coach & Mentor. If you’ve been struggling in MLM or looking for a new company Roxanne can help. http://NetworkMarketingRules.com

Feng Shui is a quite a sophisticated and abstract subject to the average man in the street. To the layperson, hiring a Geomancer is quite a challenging task because he would not know how to assess the competency of the Geomancer. Yet, if he did not get a highly competent Feng Shui practitioner, he would, at the minimum, be wasting the fees he is going to pay for the Fengshui audit. However, if he gets really unlucky, he could hire a practitioner that accelerates the death of his son or the **** of his daughter.

Feng Shui being such a highly abstract and yet unregulated industry, has naturally seen to the proliferation of quacks who are in this industry to make easy money. It is unfortunate that these quacks are giving the Geomancy profession a bad name. For the benefit of our readers who are believers in Feng Shui, I have come up with some simple questions and considerations for clients to ask and consider the professionalism of their prospective consultant.

For a start, customers may ask if the prospective Feng Shui consultant knows Ba Zi (4 Pillars) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS). It is highly preferred that he knows both these art of Chinese Astrology. The next question is ask is for him whether he thinks consideration of Chinese Astrology affects the Feng Shui recommendations he is going to make. The acceptable answer is only yes.

Following this, the customer may ask him to describe how he would use Ba Zi and Zi Wei Dou Shu to carry out the Feng Shui recommendations. Admittedly the answer to this question may be beyond the comprehension of most customers but yet it is pertinent to assess his confidence and the reasonableness of his answer. Stay tune for my next article for more tips on selecting a Geomancer.

I am a Fengshui Practitioner in private practice and I specialise in Ba Zi, Zi Wei Dou Shu ZWDS, Feng Shui, I-Ching, Qi Men Dun Jia QMDJ and other Chinese Metaphysics tools. My blog site is at: http://fengshuiforward.com and http://fengshuiforward.com/forum

There comes a certain point in time where all you need to do is jump. The path has ended on a crumbling cliff’s edge. Either you close your eyes, take a deep breath and step off in the optimistic hope that someone is there to catch you… Or you retreat. Reconsider. Run away.

It seems that we’ve become very good at running, or sprinting for that matter, its hard when fear is breathing down our necks. The question “what if” plagues us and it usually goes something like this: “what happens if I this happens” or “what happens if that happens?” Fear takes a hold of us and we usually push it to the back of our mind. We go back to working for somebody else and creating somebody else’s dream.

It’s not our fault by the way; it’s just what we’ve been conditioned to think; the way we’ve been brought up. School teaches us to get a job, university teaches us to get a job, its how we’ve operated over centuries as a human society. For the people that see through the whole job concept and by no means am I saying that having a job is bad, if you’re happy in your job, that’s great, I’m not here to spoil the party.

But if your looking to really achieve success, really create wealth and abundance for the people around you, a job just wont cut it, especially when the tax man comes knocking on your door asking for 45% of what you’ve earned.

You see, my acronym for Job is ‘Just Over Broke’. I mean seriously, how long could you survive if you gave up your job today without getting another one? Maybe a week? Two weeks? A couple of months at the most right? Well it’s time to do something about that, pensions are a thing of the past and the government is going to stick around for you at retirement. Its time to wake up and build something for yourself and the people you love. And It all starts with that thing between your ears. Yes, that’s right, your mind.

Did you know that 80% of success is psychological and 20% is technical? And by technical, I mean strategies. A lot of people ‘get’ that we need more than a job to retire on, especially in these economic times. The number one mistake the average person makes though, is trying to follow a strategy without first working on their psychology. Psychology is the key to our success.

Have you ever wondered what makes a Richard Branson a Richard Branson? What makes an Oprah Winfry an Oprah Winfry? Why do you think Anthony Robbins and Donald Trump are so successful? It’s their psychology, there major asset is there mind. I bet millions of people get exposed to the strategies their using right now. But how many people do you think really apply these strategies to the best of their ability? Not many right?

You need to have the mindset of a “winner”! And you need to start working on your most powerful asset right now! The one between your ears remember. So you have to make a commitment to change what you’re doing and take action. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got… The definition of insanity is doing something the same way and expecting a different result. Successful people Take Action and that is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt thus far in my life. Today I’m here to help you take some massive action. Massive Action that could change your life in the most positive way you’ve ever dreamed of.

Because too many times I’ve stood at a cliff’s edge deciding on whether to take that leap of faith into the unknown… and too many times I have run!

I now come to the point in my life whether to take that leap. I believe that as humans we learn from the people before us… Just as I mentioned earlier; The Donald Trumps, The Richard Bransons, The Robert Kiyosaki’s, The Christopher Howards… Mentors are important…

Perhaps you are like me, in that you have made extreme efforts to change certain aspects and behaviors of your life, but sure enough, you find yourself falling back into old patterns of behavior that linger and pull you down. Maybe you have had the intention of taking charge of your finances, or your physical health. Maybe you have wanted to create a fulfilling relationship, to get ahead in your career, or to create the lifestyle you desire. Yet something is always holding you back, keeping you from making that leap into greatness.

Finally there is a way to create fast and long-lasting change in any area of your life and to consciously take charge of your destiny. It was something that was introduced to me some years ago, something that has proved to be empowering in my life, something that has skyrocketed my results in everything I do. It is called the Breakthrough to Success (BTS). The Breakthrough to Success is a powerful 3 day weekend that takes a quantum leap forward in relation to other personal development programs of the past.

The Breakthrough to Success actually assists you to change your behavior through the power of unconscious integration of the concepts presented throughout the course. It works on your psychology. Christopher Howard, internationally acclaimed expert in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), has spent the past decade studying cutting-edge technologies for accelerating human change and empowering individuals to unleash their true potential.

He is the Founder and President of The Christopher Howard Companies, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on the psychology of wealth and accelerated personal achievement. He has been described as “The Richard Branson of personal and professional development”, and his public seminars on the psychology of wealth have captivated audiences worldwide. From his companies humble beginnings in 2002, he has spear-headed the Christopher Howard Companies into a multi-million dollar international success.

And now my friends, it is time to take massive action, because you can join Chris for his life-changing weekend that will allow you to create rapid change, break through the limitations of the past, create a compelling future and accelerate your success all for FREE. Yes that’s right, totally complimentary, as my guest.

You see, the Breakthrough to Success has come to show me that there are endless opportunities in this world… but in order to fully take a hold of those opportunities, we first need to work on yourself. It has been said that if you can change your inner thoughts, you can surely change your outer world. It has inspired me to shine the light on people all over the globe who are ready to step up and start living the life of their dreams.

I made a commitment to share this opportunity to all people, from all walks of life. Chris has inspired me to be the best that I can be; he has challenged me to take action… And I challenge you to be the best that you can be. So please, accept my gift and take action! Take those steps towards the dreams you hold close to your heart, be committed, be persistent and most of all, be Empowering!

Because what I’ve learnt through all of this, is that when you learn to jump. And you learn to be un-fearful of falling into the depths and crashing broken into the ground… When you learn to be liberated from all these fears…

When you take that leap, you don’t fall my friends…
You fly.

Dale White

PS - Grab your FREE tickets to Chris Howards Breakthrough to Success, simply go to our website at http://www.chrishowardaustralia.com/ - He does the Breakthrough to Success course all over the globe, so check out when he’s next in your country by visiting our site.

Dale White Is a young entrepreneur “Go Getter” from Australia and since the age of 15, has been attending personal development seminars and conferences all over the country. He has been and heard from inspirational speakers such as Anthony Robbins, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Christopher Howard, Stephen Pierce, Jamie McIntyre and many more. His message is to “Live with Passion” and Remember “Attitude is Everything, Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows And Wealth Grows”

I love a good storm. Today we are feeling the effects of a tropical storm that is making history as a result of the number of landfalls that have occurred. I believe so far there have been four. It is interesting how we try to predict the path of a storm only to find that we are unable to do so with any real degree of certainty. This one has been described as having a mind of its own. Really?

Well, what’s so bad about that?

I have a mind of my own and sometimes I get in trouble for expressing it. I am judged and predicted. And what keeps happening is the ones who would try to pigeon hole me are constantly uncertain of where I am going to come out on a given subject. There are some who actually believe they can tell me what I am thinking or feeling in spite of the facts. I like being unpredictable and I encourage those of you who think you know the mind of someone else to stop trying to get into the other person’s head and spend time dealing with your own

It is a mistake to think that we are required or justified in trying to predict or profile someone other than ourselves. We all would be better served if we would begin to spend our energy on ourselves and offer the grace to leave others to their own way. Trust me on this: The more you try to know someone else, the less you trying to know of yourself. Said another way, we really can’t know the mind of another unless we are the other, and they cannot know ours. We err when we only project and never reflect.

Today is gray and windy, wet and bleak… all the elements of a good storm. I can look at it and watch where it goes but I cannot tell you where it will be in an hour or a day, nor do I really care. I like the storm but I have no desire to possess it or manipulate it. I trust that the storm will not hurt me and I believe that it will be beneficial instead of harmful. If I’m Tropical Storm Fay, I like Jeff Baker too. He’s a nice guy. Trustworthy and faithful. Beneficial and not harmful. Watch him but never try to possess him and he will do likewise for you.

Peace. — jb

Jeff Baker

I have been looking and I have been finding, asking and receiving, knocking and doors are opening. If you want to know more, it’s easier if you just go here — http://www.jeffbakertalks.com/mystory.html

It used to be if you were a small business, you were at a
distinct disadvantage with your marketing compared to the
bigger companies.

No more. Small business owners will actually have an edge
over bigger companies thanks to the emerging marketing
model.

Yes, you heard right. Emerging marketing model. The old
ways of marketing are dying. And a new regime is coming of
age.

To understand how marketing is changing, it’s important to
start with a bit of history. The image most of us have of
marketing is based on an old communications model, one
that was popular in, say, the 1970s. That was when we had
three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS and NBC — no FOX
either) a public station, one newspaper and a handful of
magazines and radio stations. Trade magazines and
newsletters were few and far between, we had no Internet
and no e-mail.

Because consumers had so few choices, it was fairly easy
to market to them. Chances were pretty good they were
watching, reading or listening to one of a handful of mass
media sources.

In fact, to be successful in this marketing model, all you
really needed was money.

Here’s how it worked. A business created a good product.
The business hired an advertising agency. The agency
spent thousands of dollars placing ads on the three
network television stations and national magazines.
Perhaps it also bought a few spots on local radio stations
and newspapers. And if the ad budget was big enough,
success was practically guaranteed.

There was no mystery to marketing. Mostly it was a
numbers game. Spend the money and get a return.
Businesses were selling products. Mass media
businesses were selling advertising space. Advertising
agencies were buying space. Everyone was making money.
And everyone was happy.

Fast forward to 2004. Now, instead of three television
channels we have hundreds. Instead of a handful of
magazines we have dozens, including about a million trade
publications. On top of that, we have the Internet and e-mail
just begging for a piece of our time.

Never before in the history of communications have
audiences been so fragmented. Just finding your
customers has turned into that old adage of finding a
needle in a haystack. But that’s not the only challenge —
even if you do locate your customers that’s no guarantee
they’ll listen to you.

Wherever we go, we are confronted by marketing message
after marketing message. It’s been estimated that we’re
bombarded with over 3,000 messages a day…and that
number keeps going up. How have we responded? By
learning to shut most of those messages out (which of
course makes it even harder for marketers to get us to act
upon their message).

But the woes of the traditional marketing model don’t end
there. The Internet has also introduced a little thing called
accountability

When you market online, you can track what people are
looking at and, even more importantly, where you lost them
in selling process. For instance, you can check your Web
site stats and see which pages people entered your site
and which pages made them leave. You can track what
people clicked on in your e-mail campaign or if they clicked
at all.

With traditional or offline marketing, you only know if it
worked (a customer bought something) or didn’t (a
customer didn’t buy something). You don’t know if they saw
the ad, read the ad or what happened.

All of this is bad news for those who have built their
business on the traditional marketing model. But, it could be
good news for you. How? Find out in part two.

Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com

The Bagua is a most fair and practical way of applying the philosophical principles of the I Ching or what is also referred to as “The Book of Changes” to Feng Shui.

It is more than well and accepted that shape itself has an effect, which is noticeable as well as well documented, on the flow of energy and balance. It can be best said and described that Bagua itself, used like a map, can be applied to your plot or land, your house, your rooms and even down to the detail of the arrangement of your furniture.

Indeed , for many centuries , if not millennia , the Chinese have consulted the I Ching , or “Book of Changes” to give insight, as well as hope and support into situations , places, people and relationships in what can be said to be very similar , if not identical to the same way and means that other cultures used , and continue to use other insightful vehicles and measures as Tarot cards, horoscopes , runes and astrology.

The basis of I Ching, towards an understanding of its rules and basics are trigrams which indicate the degrees of yin and yang as well as the ideas of constant cyclical change and changes. Indeed this has been referred to and summarized as the “eight stages of life”. In its simplest explanation the octagonal shape of the eight trigrams with unbroken lines represent yang, and broken lines represent yin and is called a or the “Bagua”.

Thus the Bagua represents the eight directions - the eight trigrams of the I Ching. Each of these represents the eight life situations - prosperity, fame, relationships, creative energy, travel and helpful people, career, knowledge, family and health - with the taiji (tai chi) in the middle, represented best and most simply and straightforwardly the yin/yang symbol of complimentary opposites.

How can the Bagua best be used and its teachings and insights used?

By placing the Bagua over a plan of your home or room you can best identify your own particular problem areas. Next step about balancing these particular areas of concern and discord. For example you can activate the relationships corner of your home or bedroom, if you are single and unattached in a relationship, at this moment yet looking for or actively seeking a relationship in your life. In the case of seeking to prosper in business you can choose to place your cash register in the designated wealth area of your business area. All you need to do now is to wait for the profits, and thus prosperity to roll along and in.

To apply the Bagua effectively you will need a plan of your home drawn to scale. It is best to purchase actual graph paper as this will make your task, your planning and implementation significantly easier as well as thorough. First designate the “center” and the “front”. The” front door” can be said to be qi enters your block of land, home, office or room. Its position will help you determine where the Bagua should be placed. The front door will always fall in one of three areas. Depending on whether your door is in the center (career choices), to the right of center as you are facing it (travel as well as helpful people) or lastly to the left (knowledge as well as wise intuition).

Feng Shui.

Morris E. Brown
Bridal Shops Winnipeg Manitoba
Extended Stay Hotel Rooms Winnipeg