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In the seventeenth paragraph of Nāṉ Yār? (Who am I?) Sri Ramana advises us that if we wish to know what we really are, we should completely ignore and reject everything else: குப்பையைக் கூட்டித் தள்ளவேண்டிய ஒருவன் அதை யாராய்வதா லெப்படிப் பயனில்லையோ அப்படியே தன்னை யறியவேண்டிய ஒருவன் தன்னை மறைத்துகொண்டிருக்கும் தத்துவங்க ளனைத்தையும் சேர்த்துத் தள்ளிவிடாமல் அவை இத்தனையென்று கணக்கிடுவதாலும், அவற்றின் குணங்களை ஆராய்வதாலும் பயனில்லை. பிரபஞ்சத்தை ஒரு சொப்பனத்தைப்போ லெண்ணிக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். kuppaiyai-k kūṭṭi-t taḷḷa-vēṇḍiya oruvaṉ adai y-ārāyvadāl eppaḍi-p payaṉ-illai-y-ō appaḍi-y-ē taṉṉai y-aṟiya-vēṇḍiya oruvaṉ taṉṉai maṟaittu-koṇḍirukkum tattuvaṅgaḷ aṉaittaiyum sērttu-t taḷḷi-viḍāmal avai ittaṉai-y-eṉḏṟu kaṇakkiḍuvadāl-um, avaṯṟiṉ guṇaṅgaḷai ārāyvadāl-um payaṉ-illai. pirapañcattai oru soppaṉattai-p-pōl eṇṇi-k-koḷḷa vēṇḍum . Just as one who needs to sweep up and throw away rubbish [would derive] no benefit by analysing it, so one who needs to know oneself [will derive] no benefit by calcula...

Among the descriptions of transcendental communication in William Usborne Moore's "record of investigation into spiritistic phenomena"  Glimpses of the Next State (1911) are seances when communicators from the ascended realm announced themselves as Galileo (1564-1642) and Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727).  In the early 20th Century, disembodied voices were heard at seances or 'sittings' conducted by Spiritualist mediums known as 'trumpet mediums' (or 'independent voice'/'direct voice' mediums) as the voices manifesting in their presence were heard to emanate from horn-like devices called a 'trumpet.'  Two mediums residing in Detroit, Michigan were Mr. A. W. Kaiser, thirty-three-years-old, and Mrs. Henrietta 'Etta' Wriedt, whom Moore described as "forty nine years of age, a slightly built, delicate woman, much subject to bronchitis and neuritis" yet "in her prime as a psychic."  Moore reported instances when ...

Several people have asked for a consolidated list of links to my series on meat and health.  Here it is!  This should make it easier to share.   Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part I .  Introduction and ethical/environmental considerations. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part II .  Our evolutionary history with meat. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part III .  Meat and cardiovascular disease. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part IV .  Meat and obesity risk. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part V .  Meat and type 2 diabetes risk. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part VI .  Meat and cancer risk. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part VII .  Meat and total mortality. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part VIII .  Health vs. the absence of disease. Is Meat Unhealthy?  Part IX .  Summary.

A couple of months ago a friend wrote to me asking: You often say that there is, in essence, very little difference between the dream and waking states. Upon reflection it indeed does seem to be so. However, there does seem to be one substantial difference. There is continuity in the waking state both of location and body. When we enter the waking state we always find ourselves in the same place we left it at. We also find ourselves with the same body that went to sleep. The dream state, on the other hand, is not like that at all. When we enter the dream state we often find ourselves in completely different places. One time we may find ourselves in the UK, another time in America or some place of our youth, etc. We may even find ourselves travelling somewhere in the outer space. Furthermore we get different bodies in our dreams. In one dream we may be our waking state age, in another we find ourselves young as when we were in high school or we may be older, etc. In other words, there i...