ISHC 24

Le talisman du Bouddha est un objet vénéré dans les traditions bouddhistes et au-delà. Il incarne une profonde signification spirituelle et constitue un rappel tangible des enseignements de Siddhartha Gautama, le Bouddha historique. Ces talismans, souvent fabriqués sous forme d’amulettes, de pendentifs ou de petites statues, sont empreints de signification symbolique et sont censés offrir protection, favoriser la paix intérieure et guider celui qui les porte vers l’illumination. De leurs origines dans les anciennes pratiques bouddhistes à leur popularité actuelle dans toutes les cultures, les talismans du Bouddha occupent une place unique dans le paysage spirituel, alliant respect de la tradition et dévotion personnelle.

Origines et contexte historique
L’utilisation des talismans dans le bouddhisme remonte à des siècles, ancrée dans les pratiques culturelles et religieuses plus larges de l’Inde ancienne, où symboles et objets sacrés étaient utilisés pour invoquer la protection et les bénédictions divines. Les premiers textes bouddhistes, comme le Dhammapada, soulignent l’importance de la pleine conscience et d’une vie éthique. Cependant, des objets matériels comme les talismans sont devenus populaires comme aides à la pratique spirituelle. Le Bouddha lui-même mettait en garde contre la superstition, mais au fil du temps, ses fidèles ont commencé à créer des images et des symboles inspirés de sa vie et de ses enseignements pour rappeler le chemin de la libération.

Les talismans du Bouddha représentent généralement l’image du Bouddha dans divers mudras (gestes des mains) ou postures, chacun ayant une signification distincte. Par exemple, le mudra Dhyana (pose de méditation) symbolise la concentration et la paix intérieure, tandis que le mudra Bhumisparsha (geste de toucher la terre) représente l’instant d’illumination du Bouddha et sa victoire sur la tentation. Ces talismans étaient souvent consacrés par les moines lors de rituels élaborés, censés les imprégner d’énergie spirituelle. Autrefois, ils étaient portés par les voyageurs, les guerriers et les moines pour se protéger et maintenir un lien avec le Dharma, les enseignements du Bouddha. Symbolisme et signification spirituelle

Au fond, un talisman de Bouddha est plus qu’un objet décoratif ; c’est un outil spirituel qui incarne l’essence même de la philosophie bouddhiste. L’image du Bouddha sert de point focal à la méditation, encourageant la pleine conscience et la compassion. Chaque élément du talisman est porteur d’une charge symbolique. L’expression sereine du Bouddha rappelle aux pratiquants de cultiver l’équanimité, tandis que la fleur de lotus, souvent représentée sous le Bouddha, symbolise la pureté et l’éveil spirituel, s’élevant au-dessus de la boue des souffrances terrestres.

Dans de nombreuses traditions, les talismans de Bouddha sont censés offrir une protection contre les énergies négatives et le malheur. Cette qualité protectrice est particulièrement mise en avant dans les pays bouddhistes Theravada comme la Thaïlande et le Sri Lanka, où les amulettes à l’effigie du Bouddha ou de moines vénérés sont très recherchées. Ces talismans sont souvent bénis dans les temples et portés en collier ou conservés dans les maisons pour conjurer le mal. Dans le bouddhisme Mahayana, répandu en Chine, au Japon et au Tibet, les talismans peuvent également incorporer des mantras ou des syllabes sacrées, comme Om Mani Padme Hum, renforçant ainsi leur puissance spirituelle.
Au-delà de la protection, les talismans de Bouddha sont considérés comme des vecteurs de développement de qualités positives. Porter un talisman ou méditer avec peut inspirer le pratiquant à incarner les vertus du Bouddha : compassion, sagesse et patience. Pour beaucoup, le talisman est un rappel constant de rester ancré dans l’instant présent et d’aligner ses actions sur le Noble Octuple Sentier, le guide du Bouddha pour une vie éthique et consciente.

Variations culturelles et artisanat
Les talismans de Bouddha varient considérablement selon les cultures, reflétant la diversité des traditions bouddhistes et de l’art local. En Thaïlande, les amulettes Phra Pidta, représentant un moine se couvrant les yeux, symbolisent la protection contre l’ignorance et le désir. Elles sont souvent fabriquées à partir de matériaux comme le bronze, l’argile ou des herbes sacrées et sont très prisées des collectionneurs. Au Tibet, les talismans peuvent représenter des mandalas complexes ou des représentations de divinités comme Avalokiteshvara, le bodhisattva de la compassion, en argent, turquoise ou corail.

L’artisanat des talismans de Bouddha est un art sacré. Les artisans, souvent formés dans des traditions monastiques, abordent leur travail avec révérence, veillant à ce que chaque pièce respecte les directives iconographiques. Les matériaux utilisés vont des métaux précieux et des pierres précieuses au simple bois ou à l’argile, le choix du matériau reflétant souvent la fonction du talisman. Par exemple, les talismans en jade sont prisés dans le bouddhisme chinois pour leur association avec la pureté et la longévité, tandis que les amulettes en or symbolisent la richesse spirituelle.

Popularité et controverses modernes
Ces dernières décennies, les talismans de Bouddha ont gagné en popularité au-delà des communautés bouddhistes, apparaissant sur les marchés mondiaux comme accessoires de mode ou symboles spirituels. Cet engouement généralisé a suscité des débats sur l’appropriation culturelle et la commercialisation. Dans certains pays bouddhistes, notamment en Thaïlande, la production de masse d’amulettes à des fins lucratives a augmenté.

Remote viewing, the purported ability to access information about distant or unseen targets using extrasensory perception, has captivated the human imagination for decades. Rooted in both ancient mysticism and modern scientific inquiry, this enigmatic phenomenon continues to intrigue and perplex researchers, skeptics, and enthusiasts alike.

At its core, remote viewing challenges conventional notions of perception and cognition. Unlike our traditional senses, which rely on physical proximity and sensory input, remote viewing suggests that consciousness can transcend spatial and temporal boundaries to perceive distant or hidden information. This concept, although controversial, has inspired extensive investigation and experimentation, particularly within the realm of parapsychology.

One of the most notable chapters in the history of remote viewing unfolded during the Cold War era, when intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the U.S. military, initiated classified programs to explore its potential applications in espionage and national security. The most famous of these programs was the Stargate Project, which ran from the 1970s to the 1990s and involved research into remote viewing as a tool for intelligence gathering.

Under the Stargate Project, researchers such as Ingo Swann, Hal Puthoff, and Russell Targ conducted controlled experiments to test the validity of remote viewing. Their work led to the development of protocols like Controlled Remote Viewing (CRV), a structured method for accessing and describing remote information, which laid the foundation for subsequent studies in the field.

Despite the closure of the Stargate Project in the mid-1990s, interest in remote viewing persisted, with individuals and organizations continuing to explore its potential. Today, several renowned institutes and organizations offer training, research, and educational programs in remote viewing, catering to both skeptics and proponents of the phenomenon.

In 1995, Courtney Brown founded The Farsight Institute as a non-profit research and educational organization. The institute’s mission is to advance the understanding and application of remote viewing through rigorous scientific research and public outreach. Farsight conducts remote viewing experiments, publishes research papers, and offers training programs for individuals interested in learning about remote viewing.

Under Brown’s leadership, The Farsight Institute has gained recognition for its innovative approach to remote viewing research. Brown and his team have conducted numerous remote viewing projects on subjects such as archaeological sites, UFO phenomena, and global events. Their work has been featured in documentaries, books, and media outlets, contributing to public awareness and discourse surrounding remote viewing and related topics.

While Courtney Brown and The Farsight Institute have garnered attention for their contributions to the field of remote viewing, their work has also been met with skepticism and criticism from some quarters of the scientific community. Critics argue that remote viewing lacks empirical evidence and rigorous scientific validation, and they question the reliability and replicability of remote viewing experiments.

Despite the controversies surrounding remote viewing, Courtney Brown and The Farsight Institute remain active in their pursuit of understanding the mysteries of human consciousness and exploring the frontiers of scientific inquiry. Through their research, publications, and educational initiatives, they continue to push the boundaries of what is known and understood about the nature of reality and the capabilities of the human mind.

I was Googling the “law of 72” which is used in compound interest to determine how many times your initial investment is required to be compounded at a given interest rate to double itself. In Investopedia website they defined it as “a simple way to determine how long an investment will take to double given a fixed annual rate of interest”.

When I read the words “annual rate”, I laughed out loud. What if the rate was for a given “cycle” which less than a year, perhaps just over a month? Lets say there are 10 of these cycles in a year, and lets assume the rate per cycle is 7%, using the “law of 72”, it would be 72/7 or 10.28 cycles or in other words after 11 cycles, your initial investment would double.

Let us try a hypothetical scenario, where the minimum investment was $1,000, and you could increase it in increments of $100, so it would be $1,000, $1,100, $1,200, etc. For this illustration we can use 7% as the fixed rate per cycle. We shall use start with $2,000 for this example. After one cycle, you would get 7% or $140. Since the investment steps are in the nearest $100, you could increase the investment in the next cycle by $100, and save the $40 until it grows to $100 or more. Now let’s tabulate it over 11 cycles.

Cycle 1 Profit $140 Next investment amount: $2,100 Remainder : $40
Cycle 2 Profit $147 Next investment amount: $2,200 Remainder : $87
Cycle 3 Profit $154 Next investment amount: $2,400 Remainder : $41**
** $87 + $54 = 141 (so, we can add another $100 to invest)
Cycle 4 Profit $168 Next investment amount: $2,600 Remainder : $9**
Cycle 5 Profit $182 Next investment amount: $2,700 Remainder : $91
Cycle 6 Profit $189 Next investment amount: $2,900 Remainder : $80**
Cycle 7 Profit $203 Next investment amount: $3,100 Remainder : $83
Cycle 8 Profit $217 Next investment amount: $3,400 Remainder : $0**
Cycle 9 Profit $238 Next investment amount: $3,600 Remainder : $38
Cycle 10 Profit $252 Next investment amount: $3,800 Remainder : $90
Cycle 11 Profit $266 Next investment amount: $4,100 Remainder : $56**

As you can see after 11 cycles, the total amount is at $4,156 just a little over double the initial amount. If you could fit 10 cycles in a year, you can guess that a cycle is 5 weeks, as there are 52 weeks in a year. So, 11 cycles is a year and 3 weeks. In just that time, your initial investment has doubled, and in that same amount time a year later, it will double again. $2K becomes $4K, becomes $8K, $16K, $32K, $64K. This is what we call annual exponential growth.

Somehow this seems too good to be true, and yet truth is stranger than fiction.

Magnesium which is usually referred to as the fifth but forgotten electrolyte. Like calcium, only a small amount of body magnesium (Mg) is present in blood. Approximately half the total Mg pools is present in soft tissue and the other half is present in the bone. There are about 25 grams of magnesium in a person weighing 150 pounds, 53% is found in bone, 46% is in soft tissues and 1% is extracellular.

Magnesium is the second most abundant electrolyte next to potassium, and is a cofactor in more than 300 metabolic reactions. In other words, magnesium is basically involved in all metabolic pathways.

The importance of magnesium in human health is taken much more seriously outside the United States. Israeli researchers explain that diverse clinical manifestations have been reported in conjunction with magnesium deficiencies, including sudden death, accelerated atherosclerosis, asthma, neurologic, and even psychiatric clinical entities. They summarize the current literature concerning magnesium supplementation and recommend supplementation on a national basis by adding magnesium to the water supplies of large areas.

Magnesium is required for the removal of DNA damage generated by environmental mutagens, endogenous, process and DNA replication.

Magnesium has a stabilizing effect on DNA and chromatin structure, and is an essential cofactor in almost all enzymatic systems involved in DNA processing.

All components of connective tissue depend on magnesium. Four macro molecules make up connective tissue: collagen, elastin, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins. Magnesium serves to modulate the synthesis and degradation of both collagen and elastin. Proteoglycans, which allow for connective tissues to withstand compressive forces, and glycoproteins involved in connective tissue healing is regulated by magnesium.

Magnesium assists in the activation of vitamin D, which helps regulate calcium and phosphate homeostasis to influence the growth and maintenance of bones. All of the enzymes that metabolize vitamin D seem to require magnesium, which acts as a cofactor in the enzymatic reactions in the liver and kidneys.

Numerous authors acknowledge the problems that develop with inadequate magnesium intake. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency principally occur in the central nervous system (CNS), skeletal muscles, digestive tract, and cardiovascular system. Marginal magnesium deficiencies are thought to be very common. Inadequate intake of magnesium has been linked to various adverse health outcomes, including the development of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and headaches.

Symptoms related to the CNS often begin with depression as well as an inefficient memory and a lack of concentration. Several diseases have been linked to a disorder of magnesium metabolism, including chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, mellitus, premenstrual syndrome, cardiovascular disorders (acute myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and arrhythmias), stroke, renal tubular disorders and osteoporosis.

Magnesium deficiency creates a pro-inflammatory condition with an excessive production of oxygen-derived free radicals. It is now established that free radicals initiate and promote inflammation.

Magnesium deficiency is also known to promote a general state of nervous system hyperexcitability and a lower threshold for nerve stimulation which produces a substance that triggers pain receptors. With low levels of magnesium, calcium is more readily released in a muscle that is more readily contractible to a given stimulus and is less able to recover from contraction. Such increased muscle activity may reduce circulation in muscular tissues and promote hypoxia, which can lead to tissue injury and inflammation.

When in Bangkok, if you require anything computer or technology related, then Pantip Plaza is the place. This is one of the most well-known Bangkok electronic devices mall. Pantip Plaza is the mother of all IT shops in Thailand and has gained legendary standing as the place to discover new and used computers and accessories at rock-bottom costs. Located on New Petchaburi Road, Pantip Plaza has likewise obtained prestige due to the wide-spread technique of offering pirated software program, Music, DVDs … movies and porn. The mall itself has absolutely seen better days, yet Pantip Plaza is still drawing in the crowds thanks to unsurpassable bargains and affordable technological experts for deals, repair works and upgrades.

First of all, everything a technophile could possibly wish can be located here – typically several times over: laptops, tablets, software application, cams, components, printers, electronic cams, MP3 players … you name it. Pantip Plaza purchasing mall is where other investors from around the nation go to acquire at wholesale prices so cut out the middleman and buy direct from among the plenty of stalls to pocket some considerable financial savings or bag some added bonus. The fine art of negotiation is alive and well in Pantip so even if the trader won’t move on a certain rate, you can constantly ask for some freebies. With a lot competition for your personalized, shops are usually going to include a couple of additions to seal the deal.

Together with the smaller trading stalls, there are also 2 anchor establishments: Equipment House on the mezzanine level and IT City covering the entire of the top floor. These shops sell at a little higher prices than the others stores, yet they still supply suitable rebates along with the included safety of a supplier’s guarantee and dependable after-sales solution. Another fantastic function of Pantip Plaza is the bargain bins that could be found outside lots of stores, selling anything from cute and funky phone devices, to USB flash drives and computer mouse pads. Some of these bargain bins offer things for as low as 20 baht an item.

The repair shops are located mostly at the back part of the building. You can find them on the first and second storey of the building. The can repair anything from PCs, laptops, printers and so on. You can also find second hand or refurbished items there as well. If you have the time, do take the opportunity to explore the whole building to familarize yourself with what is offered.
It can be bit difficult recognizing where to go and which to trust in Pantip Plaza as the entirety of this five storey shopping mall is devoted to computer and innovation products. There are definitely well-trusted shops inside given that it’s not that uncommon to view a distressed-looking Thai bring their whole CPU into the techno-doctors that live inside; you recognize, the socially-awkward ones stooped over a computer system with a fan the dimension of a tiny plane propeller. The problem for some is that Pantip Plaza honestly offers fake products along with authentic, top-of-the-range designs, but it is necessary to keep in mind that Pantip Plaza has been running for well over Two Decade and the vast bulk of shopkeepers aren’t trying to tear any individual off. Although copies and counterfeit items are common, in mostly all scenarios the sales aide will provide you both the copy and the authentic product and it is then around the customer to determine. The key is to take your time, and to contrast costs.

To place it simply, if you are trying to find electronics equipment in Bangkok, Pantip Plaza is a have to – particularly if you’re shopping on a spending plan. Also just for the experience it is well worth your time to discover the intense and flashing stalls and considerable range of IT products supplied, packed from floor to ceiling. To get there, just tell the taxi driver “Pantip Plaza”, though the best time to get there is in the late morning before noon, as the traffic gets really bad, and many taxis would not want to take you there at that time. Alternatively, you can use the BTS, and get off at Ratchathewi and walk a few blocks over to Pantip.