Did mass meditation fuel stock market surge?

As predicted one year ago, a surging U.S. stock market has charged to record-breaking highs, the longstanding nuclear crisis with North Korea is quietly being resolved without incident, and public backing and congressional support are on the rise for peaceful new approaches to resolving the Iraq war and other conflicts around the world.

These dramatic and unexpected developments are just a few of the concrete signs of the success of the Invincible America Assembly in Iowa — the largest-ever scientific demonstration project to document the effects of large group meditations on the economic and social trends of the nation, according to Dr. John Hagelin, world-renowned quantum physicist, executive director of the International Center for Invincible Defense, and President of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace, who is leading the Assembly. Dr. John Hagelin is to present preliminary findings of the first year of the Invincible America Assembly — and to lodge predictions for the coming year.

More at:
http://www.rushprnews.com/press/archives/1231083

Surfing the Waves of Mind

Waves are the ultimate illusion. They come out of nowhere, instantaneously materialize and just as quickly they break and vanish. Chasing after such fleeting mirages is a complete waste of time. That is what I choose to do with my life. -- Miki Dora

Traveling child goddess gets back her divinity

She was the Nepalese child goddess who broke with centuries of custom and travelled overseas, only for her family to learn she was being stripped of her title for that breach of etiquette. For three anxious weeks, her family negotiated with authorities, insisting she had done nothing wrong.

And that effort has finally paid off. In a noisy and colourful return to Nepal, 10-year-old Sajani Shakya flew home this week to undergo a special cleansing ritual and to be told that her deity status remained intact.

The Kumari tradition dates back hundreds of years and with the King of Nepal having traditionally sought the blessings of the goddesses of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2785463.ece

Mirror Neurons Influenced by Culture

In a recent study by researchers at a UCLA neuroscience institute wanted to investigate the imprint of culture on the so-called mirror neuron network. Mirror neurons fire when an individual performs an action, but they also fire when someone watches another individual perform that same action. Neuroscientists believe this "mirroring" is the neural mechanism by which we can read the minds of other people and empathize with them.

When it comes to the influence of culture, they found that indeed, the mirror neuron network responds differently depending on whether we are looking at someone who shares our culture, or someone who doesn't.

Based on the research so far, it appears that neural systems supporting memory, empathy and general cognition encode information differently depending on who's giving the information -- a member of one's own cultural group, or a member of an out-group, and that ethnic in-group membership and a culturally learned motor repertoire more strongly influence the brain's responses to observed actions, specifically actions used in social communication.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070718002115.htm

To acquire knowledge it is not enough to travel hastily through a
country. Observation demands eyes, and the power of directing them
towards the object we desire to know. There are plenty of people
who learn no more from their travels than from their books, because
they do not know how to think; because in reading their mind is
at least under the guidance of the author, and in their travels
they do not know how to see for themselves.

-- Rousseau, Emile

Muktananda

"How can a mirror see itself? Why would one cover gold with gold plate? When a flame is already burning, a second flame cannot illumine it. In the same way, whatever a Siddha may do can never be considered action. To his vision, everything is That, neither good nor bad. This is the nature of perfect Siddhahood."

-- Muktananda

Purpose and Manifestation

"Everything exists only because it has a purpose. The moment that purpose has been accomplished, everything disappears and existence is manifested as self-existing Self."

-- Meher Baba (1894-1969)