Umazon Blog

“We become sick because we act
In sickening ways.”
Louis Jourard

Modern medicine is based upon the notion of battle. We battle germs and fight for life. As soon as we feel pain or discomfort, we immediately try to change it. We feel we must conquer

This way of being leads to a never-ending struggle. After one illness or problem is conquered, another arises. Usually we expect the doctor to take control and make us well. We relinquish our part in the illness, deny the fact that it is up to us to stop, listen, and discover the lessons the illness has to teach us.

Healing from within brings inner peace with it. It arises from a different orientation towards all the experiences of life. We are taught to stop, pay attention, to respect what is happening - to see our pain as a messenger. It is as if we were re-focusing a camera, receiving our experience through a different lens.

Pointer 1
See Your Pain As A Messenger Bringing Important News

Dialoguing With Your Pain

Usually there is a deep sense that when pain arises it is because something is wrong. This is a misunderstanding. Pain arises from lack of balance. It contains much needed information, brings many messages along with it. When we see our pain as a messenger and learn how to really listen to it, healing begins in all kinds of ways.

Some would suggest there is no difference between our physical pain, our illness and the emotional, mental or spiritual suffering we are going through.

Illness often comes when we feel defeated and may not want to struggle or live anymore. Some become ill when they are overly exhausted, which is a way of telling themselves it is time to make changes in their lives. Looking at one aspect of our suffering, we are also inevitably, looking at the next. All aspects are interconnected.

In some cases, for full healing to take place, a person may have to make deep changes in his life.
It is important to stop and wonder specifically what the pain is saying to you, to dialogue with the pain, ask fundamental questions of it: “What do you want from me? Why are you here now?”

No matter what we are feeling there is only one pain and it manifests itself in various ways. If we do not address it in one mode, often it will come in another. It can come physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

In whatever form this pain arises, it is extremely empowering to turn directly to our suffering and interact with it. This requires turning around. Instead of tensing up, we learn how to pause and understand there is a lesson here we have to learn. As we do this, we often discover that the pain comes holding a gift in its hands.

Pointer 2
Pain Often Comes Holding A Gift In Its Hands

Each Illness Has Its Own Story

Illness often comes when we feel defeated. We may not wish to struggle anymore. Some people become ill when they are overly exhausted. The illness is the only way they can give themselves permission to stop, rest, and make much needed changes in their lives. Each illness has it’s own story. The same is true with psychological or emotional symptoms that grow strong, demanding our attention.

When someone is in physical pain and suddenly understands what is troubling them emotionally, the physical pain often startlingly subsides. For full healing to take place it may be essential to make changes in one’s total life. Cancer can be suppressed for many years, and then it returns. When it reappears we must ask, “Why now? What is going on in my total life?”

Sitting In The Middle Of Trouble

During the practice of Zen, students engaged in zazen (Zen meditation), sometimes sit for many hours on the cushion without moving. Sometimes incredible pain arises.

As they continue to do this practice, they gradually become
stronger than the pain. They learn to see that most of the pain
simply comes from resistance to what’s going on. It comes from
refusing this very moment.

When we stop fighting, we experience joy. Once we start
fighting again, we are cramped into agony.

Pointer 3

The Best Way Out Is The Way In

The Best Way Out

“The best way out is the way in.”

Eido Roshi

The best way out is to make friends with the pain. Fighting intensifies it. If we can relax into it for a little while and explore, many new possibilities arise.

Natural healing is always available in all situations, but it can be cut off by fighting and by fear. When we let go and enter the flow of what’s going on at the moment, we became available to our greater source of energy, guidance and help.

Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D, is a psychologist, speaker and well known author who is a long term Zen practitioner. This article is from her new book Living By Zen, (Timeless Truths For Everyday Life) http://www.livingbyzen.com The relationship expert on i.village, she is also the author of of Zen Miracles (Finding Peace In An Insane World,) Zen And The Art Of Falling In Love, (Simon and Schuster) and many other books. You may contact her at topspeaker@yahoo.com. Her personal website is.http://www..brendashoshanna.com

Have you ever walked by a piano and wondered “how can anyone make sense of all those keys?” If that’s you, then you’re going to love this.

Listen, 16 years ago I was in the same boat. You see, I was a guitar player and the thought of actually making music at the piano seemed way out there. In fact, the whole idea that anyone could make heads or tales of all those keys always amazed me.

But, I did enjoy the piano - especially the solo piano music of George Winston. I loved his music and wondered if I could create like that. I then started my journey of musical discovery. At that time, it led me to all my local libraries in the city of San Diego. I hit local libraries, college libraries… anywhere there were books on music.

And do you know what I discovered? Very little! That’s right.

There was a pitiful amount of information available on how to improvise and create your own music. Oh, there were books on how to compose. But most of these authors assumed you already knew counterpoint and other higher-level harmony knowledge taught at colleges.

What a disappointment!. But my luck was about to change. Just by chance, I happened upon a very slim volume at San Diego State University. I forget the name of the title (it was a long time ago) but basically, the book showed you how to play chord changes within a given framework. That framework was something called phrases. Four-bar phrases, eight-bar phrases, etc.

Anyway, playing chords within these phrases taught me how to improvise. How? Because it solved the problem of repetition and contrast! I didn’t have to think about when to change chords or where I would be playing them. The chord chart took care of that! Now all I had to do to improvise and create my own music was to come up with chord changes of my own.

Here’s the thing… learning how to play chords is the first step towards creative piano playing. But you also have to know what to do with these chords. The chord chart solves this problem and gives you a template upon which you can chart out your own unique arrangements!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

A credit Score is a formula that tells a potential creditor how likely you are to default on a loan.

Credit scores range from 350 to 950

A Credit Score is composed of the following:

To improve your credit score, start by checking your credit reports for any inaccurate or outdated information.


If you find any inaccurate information on your credit report, write to the credit bureau and dispute it


By federal law, credit bureaus are required to remove any inaccurate, outdated or unverifiable information from your credit report within 30 days of receiving your dispute


If you have any accounts past due, it is very important that you bring your accounts up to date, so they are reflected on credit reports as “current” or “paying as agreed”


Do not max out your credit cards, this means try not to charge more than 35% of the credit limit. For example, if your credit limit is $5000, do not charge more than $1750


If your credit card balances are more than 35% of your credit limit, try to pay down your balances, this will make a huge positive impact on your credit score


If your creditors are not reporting your credit limit to the credit bureaus, have this information corrected, since this may lower your score


Limit the number of credit inquiries to a minimum. If you are shopping for a car, credit scores interpret inquiries within a 14-day period as one inquiry, so do it within a 14-day period


Always pay your bills on time, even one late payment can doom you, and lower your credit score up to 100 points. Even libraries are now reporting your late payments to credit bureaus


Have a mix of revolving and installment credit. Revolving means credit cards, installment means car loans, mortgages or student loans


Do not close old accounts, even if you do not use the account anymore. Part of your score is based on the length of your credit history. If you close one of your oldest accounts, it will shorten your credit history, and lower your score

Gerardo A is the owner of http://www.aris-financial.com. Visit his website to learn about credit restoration,how to fight identity theft,credit scores and finances management

Gerardo A is the author of this article. You can check his website at http://www.aris-financial.com where you’ll find useful info about credit reports,credit scores and credit restoration.

Ethical question: You are in a local store. (This really
happened.) An elderly, poorly-dressed lady is pushing a card,
moving with obvious difficulty as she adds to her hoard first
one item and then another. She finishes, and proceeds slowly -
not to the checkout, but to the exit, where two security guards
are chatting. At the door, the woman pauses, waits for perhaps
30 seconds directly under the guards’ noses. It is as though she
is invisible to everyone but you, for no one even blinks as she
moves through the door, pushing the card and its stash of
un-paid-for goods to her waiting car.

The question: What would you do? How would you balance respect
for the elderly (Honor thy father an mother?) with issues of
theft (Thou shalt not steal?). How about individual need versus
corporate greed? Assigned responsibility (the security guards)
vs your own “right to privacy” (mind your own business?) What
about your potential embarrassment (what is she is the manager’s
crazy aunt and they reclaim the goods each night), or her
potential shame (an “old lady” hauled off to jail)?

On the other hand - are some animals more equal than others?
What would you have done if the thief had been a body-pierced
teen? A person of color? A white man in dirty overalls?

What would you do? What would you not do? Why? What difference
does it make? (c) M. Killoran, Hendersonville NC 2003

One of the essential nutrients for your body optimal health is vitamin B-12. It is part of what is called the “B complex” of vitamins and since it contains cobalt, it is also known as cobalamin. Vitamin B-12 is important for the maintenance of the nervous system, the formation of red blood cells, and growth and development in children. It is especially important in cells that are dividing rapidly such as in the bone marrow where red blood cells are formed.

Some of the signs and symptoms you would want to look out for if you suspect you might be deficient in vitamin B-12 would include:

•Nervousness or Moodiness- All of the B-Complex vitamins are important to your body’s nervous system in one way or another. If you are experiencing a deficiency of Vitamin B-12, you may notice symptoms such as moodiness, nervousness, or even depression.

•Elevated Levels of Homocysteine in your blood- There is a lot of evidence that elevated levels of homocysteine is associated with elevated levels of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B-12 along with other B vitamins, have been shown to reduce the levels of homocysteine in your blood. Your physician can test for these levels with a blood test during an office visit.

•Numbness and Tingling In The Fingers and Toes- Because of vitamin B-12’s importance in the nervous system, a prolonged deficiency could ultimately cause feelings of numbness or tingling in your extremities. Because this can also be a sign of neuropathy due to many different causes such as diabetes, it is important that you immediately notify your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms.

•Anemia- Since vitamin B-12 is such an important part of the development of red blood cells, you may have anemia, which can be easily identified by a blood test preformed at your doctors office. Symptoms of anemia include, sluggishness, lack of energy, fatigue.

•Constipation and Loss of Appetite- Many vitamin deficiencies have been linked to gastrointestinal complaints. If you are constipated be sure to discuss this with your doctor.

It is always important to try and identify why your body may be deficient in vitamin B-12 or any other critical nutrient.

Are you getting enough of vitamin B-12 from your diet? Foods that are high in Vitamin B-12 include fish, dairy products, eggs and organ meats such as liver. A diet rich in vitamin B-12 important for you to obtain and maintain optimal health.

Are you taking any prescription or over the counter drug that has been shown to either reduce your levels, or increase your bodies demand for vitamin B-12 such as Prevacid, Prilosec, Zantac, Metformin, or even other over the counter Antacids? If you are taking any of these medications and experiencing some of the mentioned side effects, they could be due to the vitamin deficiency and easily corrected with a good supplement. These medications can cause deficiencies if other essential nutrients as well.

If you want to learn more about why your body needs vitamin B-12:
http://www.essential-nutrients.net/vitamin_B12.htm

If you would like to learn more about other medications that have the potential to put you at risk of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies please visit:
http://www.essential-nutrients.net/

If you would like to see the full line of NutraMD products please visit: http://www.essential-nutrients.net/store/PPF/Category_ID/11/products.asp

An old farmer had once said, “Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.” This is the yardstick of a good privacy fence around the house. You need to put a fence around the house in order to give it the security and privacy you need. Even though you may think that a fence is not necessary, it makes your house safer.

Burglars are scared of thorny or spiky fences, as it can hurt them. So put them under your windows. Border fences can be put near the plants in your garden, or you could use barbed-wire fences. Put a burglar alarm on your doors and windows, so that you know when burglars are trying to enter your house. Strong, pointed and tall picket fences should be put around the house for further security.

The fences you have should suit the style and personality of your house. Add decorative fences in order to enhance the beauty of your house. Sometimes, simple-looking fences can make your house look better than a decorative fence. Try looking for various designs and types of fences in your local fence store or on the Internet. Selecting the right fence for your house is easier said than done.

Maintenance-free fences are also available today. As the name suggests, these fences need not be painted often, as they do not rust easily. Try to install durable fences. For instance, try to avoid using wooden fences, as they could be destroyed by white ants or rough weather conditions. You could also build your own vinyl fences with a Do-It-Yourself kit, as it makes it easier to customize the fences and gives speedy results. Use hedge plants to decorate it, and your fence is ready!

Looking for ways to improve your home’s appearance…without spending a fortune? Here’s how I gave our old family room a burst of color - without bursting our budget!

I was tired of looking at the same old earth tones in our family room. Everything seemed so “safe” and blah.

With winter storms blowing in every week, I wanted a fresh burst of spring! But I had to stay within a budget as we just finished up with holiday spending.

I browsed through Pier 1 Imports and with great ease I collected a few colorful and well-made items and put those together to coordinate an outstanding new look for our family room that screamed “fresh and alive!” I began by removing the throw pillows that came with our sofas. I replaced them with bright gold pillows. I was just looking for a splash of color to brighten those sofas.

On the walls, I relocated a hanging clock and took down old tired pieces of artwork and replaced them with paintings with the same vibrant gold color to honor the new theme: new life! Pier 1 had some gorgeous silk florals on sale and I teamed them up with a handsome red hand blown glass vase for a stunning look.

Finally, I grouped a cluster of simple white glass candle holders of various sizes, inserted brand new scented yellow candles and the look was elegant, yet comfortable and new. For less than $150 I changed a tired room and gave it a clean, fresh new look.

That’s all we needed!

We didn’t need to paint, buy new furniture etc. It just needed a lift, and our spirits soared.

You don’t always have to think big when redecorating. Something as small as new throw pillows and new scattered throw rugs might be all you need.

Have fun!

Ann Bickell is the co-owner of HouseBuying-Tips.com. For more tips on buying a house, sign up for the free “How To Avoid These 10 Costly Mistakes When Buying Your First Home” email course at: www.HouseBuying-Tips.com. © 2006 HouseBuying-Tips.com

If you enjoy being involved in live poker games then you will love video poker. The rules for video poker are normally the same as the rules for a live table game but in video poker you are playing against a machine rather than a group of people.

Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television monitor with a central processing unit. Early models appeared in the mid-1970s around the same time the first personal computers were introduced. However, these machines were rather primitive compared to the technology available today.

To play you must first deposit your money and, if given an opportunity screen, choose your game of choice followed by choosing which poker game variation you would like to play. You are then dealt a five card hand. You choose which cards you want to hold and which ones to discard. The new cards are dealt and you either win or lose.

A lot of people who are intimidated in a live poker game actually prefer to play video poker. The game is growing in popularity online as well because there isn’t that much of a difference in the online type and the bricks and mortar casino versions.

Newer video poker machines employ variants of the basic five-card draw but the best return on your money is often found on the “Jacks are Better” variation of the game because you are paid twice the amount of your bet for a pair of Jacks or better and usually the payout for three of a kind is three times your bet.

Some of the video poker machines offer a bonus feature at the end of the hand. You might have a double down or a high / low opportunity to double your winnings. Please exercise caution when playing this feature because this is usually a side bet designed to take back more than it pays out.

Video Poker is one of the best games online or off for the player if you give yourself the advantage by learning how to play the hands correctly. Always remember when playing any machine to bet the maximum coins allowed for maximum payouts.

One of the worst things that can happen to a video poker player is to play the minimum coins allowed and hit a Royal Flush. If you play the maximum number of coins in, you stand to win several thousand dollars.

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: “Seven Days to Better Betting” is available at both of these websites.

Las Vegas can be found in the western United States and is
located in the state of Nevada. Las Vegas, Spanish for ‘The
Meadows’, was originally discovered in 1829 by a party of
explorers led by Antonio Armijo, a Mexican trader searching for
a route to Los Angeles. Before the discovery of the valley the
route, Las Vegas was referred to as the ‘journey of death’.
However, exploration for water revealed an abundance of springs
in the valley that reduced the journey by several days.

Las Vegas remained virtually unknown until 1844, when explorer
John C. Fremont, made an entry in his travel log detailing how
his expedition camped at the springs. Nevertheless, it was
another ten years before Las Vegas became a permanent settlement
for Mormon missionaries from Salt Lake City. They built a fort
to create a mail stop between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City,
becoming the first non-Indian settlement to do so. It was also
the Mormons’ intention to teach farming to the Paiute Indians.
However, in 1857 this was abandoned when the Paiutes raided the
fort and rejected their teachings.

In 1902, U.S. Senator William Clark from Montana bought the
rights to the Mormon settlement, along with water rights and
2,000 acres of land. It was his intention to develop a town and
he managed to construct a railroad for steam locomotives.

The town was officially founded in 1905 and incorporated in 1911
with a population of only 800. Initially strict anti-gambling
laws governed the state of Nevada but this all changed in 1931
when gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada. That
same year divorce laws were liberalized in Nevada, making Las
Vegas the place to obtain a divorce after only six weeks of
residency.

It was after World War II that Las Vegas began to develop its
reputation of ‘Sin City’. Hotels and casinos were developed and
entertainment and tourism became the valley’s largest employer.
Accordingly, by the 1960s wealthy businessmen were being
attracted to the city. Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian was a major
player in developing the modern city; he bought the Flamingo and
in 1968 opened the biggest hotel in the world, the International
Hotel.

Now, a hundred years after its conception, Las Vegas is one of
the largest cities of the 20th Century with a population
exceeding two million. Wonderful resorts are still being
created, all bigger and more luxurious than ever. Finally, Las
Vegas remains the strongest contender for the world’s major
international tourist attraction.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL GRANT:

There are good things done by the hegemony. The Shriner’s Hospital is one fine example to be sure. But when these organizations took control of the institutions of charity things started downhill fast. I am pretty sure that no open-minded person could read my books on Synarchy and not be fairly certain that the Catholic Church and the hierarchy of elitists that include the Shriners and lesser Masons are in fact run or managed by the same people. But to recap briefly I advise that the interested person could check out St. Columba acting as Arch or ‘High’ Druid at the Synod of Drum Ceatt and then follow the Isle of Druids (Iona) monastic Order into the Cistercians and other Inner Sanctums or bowels of this behemoth. There they will find Hibernians like St. Bernard who walked both sides of the Cathar issue and helped create the Grail legends to cover up the facts of secret trade the Cathars and family of Jesus or other paladins were engaged in. Along this path are many good people including St. Columba and Pelagius as well as those Cathars who wanted to bring humanity out of the Dark Ages. It is not a black and white simple matter to be sure. There is no ‘easy’ answer especially when sophisticated power elites have the arm of academia to twist or coerce through funding their projects.

The level of naveté never ceases to amaze me. My own family has treated me as a pariah or paranoid at times. The good Masons who tell me how they do good work actually cannot see the small percentage of the massive wealth that goes to fund the window-dressing operations. They see millions go to these causes and do not see the trillions going elsewhere or they take the ‘trickle-down’ they are allowed to feast upon and think how much better off they are than the rest of life on earth who is not sold out to this game of corrupt and soulless cretins who would rather wield power than see all life on earth be wealthier than they are. Yes, it is possible to make everyone a very wealthy person. People become supporters and proselytizers for nations (Divine Kings outgrowth) or dogma (Manifest Destiny) and feel important as they exercise their ‘Right’ to be more than their wife or child. The Cycle of Violence and laws that maintain it and the wars or religions (tax free) are all a part of this game or Hegelian Dialectic in the Platonic or top-down hierarchy.

The pride in the face of the bible-thumper who never studied to be an adept like Jesus and needs to believe only God’s ‘only begotten’ can do the things he (Yeshua) and his family have often done is far more than merely false pride. It endangers the soul of all life on earth. The census continues to ask questions that support this lawful (horrific) cause. Here is a fine example of how this infects our picture or management of society. It comes from 19th Century Trinidad but Jedi students in Australia or England know the same thing goes on in the 21st Century. The church that thinks ecumenicism is when Christian denominations agree, is a church that needs to be taxed and found guilty of much more than supporting pedophilia or destroying the Native culture, such as has been happening in the courts of Canada.

“The grant was based on the proportion of adherents in the Christian community. No religious census of the population was taken in 1861, 1871 and in 1881. Roman Catholic members of the Legislative Council opposed an inquiry into the religious persuasion of the people for the fear that the results might lead to a reduction in their allotment of the Ecclesiastical Grant. [The Maritime Presbyterian, Vol. II, No. 6, June 15, 1882, p. 165]” (6)

About the Author

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com