Interior Journeys

> Smokers will usually die 10-12 years younger than non-smokers. > Every eight seconds someone dies from tobacco use...that's about as long as it takes to read this sentence. Source =========== Image Source

"What is good news for this person?": Could not get this poster off my mind... Source

We are no other than a moving row Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go Round with the Sun-illumin'd Lantern held In Midnight by the Master of the Show -- Omar Khayyam, Verse 68 ( Image Source )

Source Who is Meena ? (Please support the cause of RAWA and all Afghan women by ordering as many copies as possible of this poster and other RAWA publications, against its price and postal charges for sale/distribution to your friends and all interested to raise awareness about the horrible situation in Afghanistan.)

We are so small yet think we are very big...possessed by an illusion of grandeur ! (Canute, Joe and I in Penang, Malaysia. Canute's comment.)

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Inspiration1b View more OpenOffice presentations from smrebu . (Source of pictures: Various including mine. This is general acknowledgement.)

Loss...That one moment of complete, total helplessness. We will live by but will we ever come to terms with the loss of loved ones? (Sharing: The grief of a warm teacher and friend of mine who just lost his loving wife. Remembering my mother, father, sister and brother.)

About Smile: * A smile is a universal expression of happiness and recognised as such by all cultures. * A smile is the most frequently used facial expression It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles and as many as all 53 to smile. * Regardless of the precise number of muscles used, smiling causes far fewer muscles to contract and expand than frowning. * Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. * Even faking a smile can lead to feeling happier. * People are born with the ability to smile (They dont copy the expression, even babies who are born blind, smile). * Babies reserve special smiles (Duchenne smiles of joy and happiness) for their loved ones. * A newborn shows a preference for a smiling face over a non-smiling face. * Women smile more than men. * Younger people smile more than older American males with high testosterone, who smile least of all. * There are 18 different kinds of smile used in a variety of social situations. * Human beings can differentiate bet...

Children at a brick factory in Fatullah (Bangla Desh). For each 1,000 bricks they carry, they earn the equivalent of 0.9 USD. “All the problems of the world - child labor, corruption - are symptoms of a spiritual disease: lack of compassion.” Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama ------------------- Source

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Rootless consumerism: "dominant world religion of the planet." "Its God is economic growth for its own sake; its priests are economists and politicians; its evangelists are the advertisers; the shopping mall is its church,"...The consumer church has as its creeds, "More is better. Bigger is better. Faster is better. You can have it all," and the only blasphemy in the church is to say, "Enough!" Finally, the doctrine of salvation for the church of consumerism is "appearance, affluence and marketable achievement" summed up as, "I've made it." -- Jay McDaniel, a Christian influenced by Buddhist teachings in Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque), October 24, 2001 Picture Source

One day, a professor asked his students 'Why do we SHOUT instead of speaking softly when we are ANGRY?' All the students thought for a while. One answered 'Because we lose our cool. That's why we SHOUT.' The professor asked again, 'But the person is just right next to you, why can't you talk softly but instead have to SHOUT?' Everyone gave their opinions but none was accepted by the professor. At last the professor explained 'When we are ANGRY, our hearts drift apart. To mask the DISTANCE we feel, we instinctively SHOUT instead of speaking softly so that the other party can hear us.' 'But as we SHOUT, we get ANGRIER. And we feel we drift apart further. So we SHOUT even louder....' 'It is the opposite when we are in love. Not only we do not shout, we whisper into each other ears. Why?' 'This is because our hearts are very close, almost never apart. As our love deepens, we reach a state of communication where there is no need f...

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Understanding the Class Nature of the Present Crisis: "Top bosses of New York financial firms paid themselves bonuses worth $18 billion in 2008. The kleptocrats clearly believe that the crisis — one that has their personal stamp on it — is for others. They themselves flourish by divine right. And the bailouts seem to confirm that. The very gangs that spurred the meltdown are rewarded with huge amounts of taxpayer money so that they can go back to doing the same things they were doing before. Meanwhile tens of millions of human beings across the world stand to lose their jobs. Many will descend into distress and chaos. The already hungry will have it much worse. Whose crisis is it, anyway?" (P. Sainath: The Meltdown: http://www.counterpunch.org/sainath02162009.html) ( Source )

Don't we sometimes act like this? Reminded me of doing somethings all wrong: "No matter how hard you try, you will fail"...if you work hard and not necessarily smart. ( Picture Source )

If all of us are connected, are we - you and I - in any way responsible for this, even remotely? ---------- Source

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  Have a great year and future.