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A lovely site that promotes beauty inside, outside, and around you – Poreless.com

Poreless.com is an exciting site that guides people to innovative news and new products for revitalizing skin and body. This week they go behind the beauty scene with the director, and the writer, of the short film “The Retreat” www.theretreatfilm.com. This past weekend “The Retreat” received Boston International Film Festival’s award for “Indie Soul Special Recognition.” The film also had a screening at The Big Apple Film Festival 2010, and the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival 2011. Soon it will have another screening at the Staten Island Film Festival 2011.

I hope you enjoy the article. Those at Poreless.com are interested in knowing what you think about their article, along with the questions and answers, and the way they have of handling a busy lifestyle in the entertainment industry. They are open to your comments.
http://poreless.com/?p=711

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park slope, brooklyn

I have a simple question. First, the reason for the simple question. Last week in Park Slope, Brooklyn it was impossible to not notice mothers, fathers, and caregivers strolling babies. That’s fine; Park Slope is an almost ideal place for families. And, at the same time, a wonderful place for people of all ages on their own, or not.

It’s an etiquette fact that pedestrians stay on their right side. Understandably, in Manhattan it’s almost impossible to keep to that etiquette rule as it gets tricky because of the sheer number of people. When Manhattan is at its busiest it’s often necessary to play a little game of side-stepping.

Park Slope, however, should be very different. People are wanting a more laid back lifestyle from their next door neighbor, Manhattan. Park Slope suggests a stress free environment, and pure creativity in the form of small clothing shops (many by Brooklyn designers), consignment stores, exciting new small restaurants, take-away speciality food places, pottery, furniture, and painting workshops, wonderful small gift shops, the Brooklyn Museum, co-op gardens, the Botanical Garden, an easy ride to ever-evolving Coney Island, and green and gorgeous-looking Prospect Park for everyone’s pleasure, and that’s a partial list of goodies.

Now the simple questions: Why do people strolling carriages in Park Slope think it’s all right to push two (or three) side-by-side so that no one can pass from the back, or from the opposite direction? And why should a pedestrian who’s walking toward someone who’s pushing a carriage as if in a race, be required to quickly step to the side to let the serious pusher pass? Strolling with baby in a Park Slope setting should be, could be, nice.

They’re simple questions, maybe so simple that it’s not worth the time. But wait, there are a few important matters to consider: respect for other people, awareness of one’s surroundings, and teaching a toddler how to behave in public. Let the people pass; do it graciously, and don’t stress, enjoy the time with the little one.
The following website with its interesting name has a lot to offer: www.fuckedinparkslope.com

Now to change the subject . . . have an extraordinary day everyone!

* * * * * * *

“To know how to live is my trade and my art.” – Michel De Montaigne

“The moment your attention turns to the now you feel a presence, a stillness, a peace.” -Eckhart Tolle

“I live for every present moment and don’t think about the future.” -Henry Schliemann (from the book The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone)

“May I always be in the right place at the right time to do as much good as possible.” -Raymon Grace

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a spiritual power list by watkins books, london

The Watkins Review magazine in London published a list of the 100 most spiritually influential living people. Are you up for reading about it?

from www.watkinsbooks.com

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We’re delighted to share our début list of the 100 most spiritually influential living people, that was published in the Spring issue #26 of the Watkins Review.* Yes, we’ve taken up the not so simple task of naming the most popular authors and spiritual teachers, whose contribution in spirituality and spreading awareness is affecting us all.

We live in an age of lists – from groceries and obituaries to Facebook friends, resume facts, lists of city capitals and lottery numbers. Of course, lists that classify the past, are easier to compile than lists that attempt to predict the future. With the holy grail of sorting algorithms, the world is sure to be your oyster.

Lists help us organize, explore and perceive our environments. But are so many lists really necessary? It is very much in vogue to publish lists of people: Time Magazine publishes an annual list of the 100 people who most influence the world; Forbes publishes several lists including a Celebrity 100 list, the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and a list of 1000 Billionaires; Art Review’s Power 100 is an annual list of the worlds 100 most powerful collectors, artists, gallerists, etc…

The lists of lists of people, just keep going and going. However, the Watkins Review believes that an important list has been long overdue, and we are delighted to share with you our list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Lists of influential people contribute to the discourse and issues that each person represents, and the Watkins Review hopes that our list will nurture the debates surrounding contemporary spirituality.

There are several factors that were taken into account when compiling the list. Listed below are the main three:
1) The person has to be alive
2) The person has to have made a unique and spiritual contribution on a global scale
3) The person is frequently googled, appears in Nielsen Data, and highlighted in throughout the blogosphere
It’s interesting to think about the amount of times that a person is googled; in a sense, being googled is a form of digital voting, and illustrates just how often someone is being sought out.

I’m not printing the names because these things change all the time. How do you feel about having a list of  “spiritual teachers”?

******* ******* ******* ******* ******* ******* *******

“Teachers open the door. But you must enter by yourself.”
– Qi The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness, spring 2011, page 11
www.qi-journal.com

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constantine’s sword by james carroll – first a book, then a movie . . .

James Carroll’s Constantine’s Sword is directed by Oren Jacoby.

Here are some of the reviews:

“ENTHRALLING!” -Stephen Holden, New York TImes
“ASTONISHING!” -Jeffrey Lyons, NBC-Reel Talk
“MAGNIFICENT!” -Ronnie Scheib, Variety
“A FASCINATING JOURNEY . . . THAT COULDN’T HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME.” -Ken Fox, TV Guide
“ENGROSSING AND EVOCATIVE!” -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“EXHILERATING!” -Rob Nelson, Boston Phoenix
“ELOQUENT . . . FASCINATING!” -Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
“EYE-OPENING! Moments that are simply amazing. James Carroll is a marvelous teller of truths.” -Eric Goldman, NJ Jewish Standard

BONUS MATERIALS includes: Introduction by Gabriel Byrne, discussion with Elaine Pagels and James Carroll

www.firstrunfeatures.com

In the Director’s Statement Oren Jacoby poses the question: “Where did anyone get the idea that it was all right to kill people in the name of God?”

Perhaps for many centuries many people have been asking that question.

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camino de santiago

I’M OFF THEN by Hape Kerkeling
Have you ever thought about hiking the Camino de Santiago? – If you have or haven’t, I’M OFF THEN is a delightful travel book; it’s very funny and very honest. The writer freely shares what he’s feeling and learning, and the thoughts that arise on his spiritual journey. Questions come to him from out of the blue, and answers come when least expected. He meets people of all persuasions, a few become good friends, others he’d rather not have met. And the differences of one little village after another where pilgrims stay the night to seek food and refuge are noted, as are thoughts about the day’s hike.

Experiences differ greatly because everyone has their own reasons for hiking the camino. I’ve read that the experiences a hiker encounters on the pilgrimage are the ones needed, and that includes the people one meets along the way. To go alone seems quite brave. If the hiker is on a personal quest, then alone time tends to soothe the soul – after awhile. And there are always companions who come and go. At the end of the journey Santiago’s magnificent cathedral is there to greet the pilgrim.

The good and the not so good all sound wonderful to me because, when all is said and done, the experiences seem worth the tremendous effort it takes to hike the Camino de Santiago. Are you ready?

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from a friend in malta . . .

Thank you for the following, Lilian. You’re so good at informing people about all kinds of pertinent information.

———————-

Please take note this in no hoax
Another reminder!
No matter how many times you get this
E-mail,
Please send it on!!!!
Bottled water in your car is very dangerous!

On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said that this is what caused her breast cancer.
It has been identified as the most common cause of the high levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue.

Sheryl Crow’s oncologist told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.
The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the bottle which releases dioxin into the water. Dioxin is a toxin increasingly found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.
Pass this on to all the women in your life. This information is the kind we need to know that just might save us! Use a stainless steel canteen or a glass bottle instead of plastic!

LET EVERYONE WHO HAS A WIFE / GIRLFRIEND / DAUGHTER KNOW PLEASE!
This information is also being circulated at Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center .
No plastic containers in microwaves. No plastic water bottles in freezers. No plastic wrap in microwaves.

Dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to cells in our bodies. Don’t freeze plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently the Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating food in the microwave using plastic containers….
This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastic releases dioxin into the food.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Pyrex or ceramiccontainers for heating food. You get the same result, but without the dioxin. So, such things as TV dinners, instant soups, etc., should be removed from their containers and heated in something else.

Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s safer to use tempered glass, such as Pyrex, etc.

He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the styrene foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons…

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Cling film, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life!

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listen up! – graduates, and everyone else . . .

Tama Kieves’s eletters are refreshing, I think because she never hesitates to punctuate them with an abundance of honest enthusiasm. She wants everyone to feel the exhileration she experiencess in her own life. This earnestness is felt in all her writings, workshops, and, I bet, the one-on-one coaching sessions. She wants people to know that there’s another way. Again and again she tells the story of how she transformed her own life. She speaks from experience when she says to listen to your own “inspired voice,” that “there’s nothing safer than listening to your own heart.” Many people aren’t passionate about what they do in life, as once she wasn’t, so she gently pushes with her words, and eventually she hopes a glimmer of light will shine so that someone who once believed in a dream will begin to resurrect it.

She never meant to graduate from Harvard Law School; she allowed herself to be coerced into going. She wanted to write. It took a little while for her to extricate herself from the long hours, stress, and the emptiness of having a job she never wanted or liked. And it took a while for her to remember her dream, and to gather the courage to do something about it. There’s an authentic aliveness about her because she dared, believed, and then changed her life. To put it mildly, she’s a happy camper now.

about Tama . . . www.awakeningartistry.com

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I can’t imagine . . .

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in Japan right now. What are people thinking about as they wait, wait for so many things: bare necessities, word about family and friends, about the air they’re breathing, the condition of their homes, the next hour, the next day. And wondering what’s happening, and what will happen.

Viewing a catastrophe from the other side allows for many questions, too. How is it possible to watch real time events from a distance, and not be affected by them? The problem with witnessing world events, as we do daily, – some pleasant, but mostly not – is that we are helpless to render much support. The period in which we live gives us the technology to watch suffering on a huge scale. What’s incompatible with the watching is that most of us will not, for different reasons, be able to lend a hand. To observe the amount of suffering that occurs throughout the world, and not be equipped to help, doesn’t seem natural. What then do we, the people, do with our compassion, our anxiety, our inability to be of help?

Sarcasm, humor, depression, restlessness, alcohol, drugs, sex are some of the ways we cope, and in the process try to disguise our feelings. They’re not solutions. What’s the answer then? We’re not going to eliminate technology so that we can slide back to a time when we were ignorant of global events. We can wish for a better world, but it won’t happen overnight. It’s been said that to find answers to challenges we have to focus on the solutions, and not the problems. Time after time we sit and watch cruelty displayed before our eyes – torture inflicted on innumerable innocent civilians, killings in all forms from wars and the aftermath of wars, dictators running amok – all kinds of intolerable suffering. And we watch suffering brought about by tsunamis, earthquakes, and yes, nuclear disasters.

What can we do to help? I think that prayer is a practical method that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. For years I’ve read books, articles, and heard stories about the power of prayer, and the right way to pray. And until recently, none of it clicked for me, and so I didn’t give prayer the attention it deserves. Then one day I decided to buckle down and learn “what all the fuss is about,” and so I began reading, observing, and really listening to what those who have experienced the power of prayer were writing and talking about. It’s said that when the feelings of the mind match the feelings of the heart we connect to Cosmic Power (God). In new and used bookshops and in libraries, I found a wonderful array of books and magazines explaining the power of the heart and mind joined in prayer. We all have to find the book that sings to our heart. It’s a personal quest. That’s okay, discovery is a delightful part of learning.

So, in lieu of physically being able to help those in need, we can put our watches away for 20 minutes or so, twice daily, and quietly focus only on the Cosmic Power within. We let go of all worldly concerns and allow our heart and mind to join at the same frequency, then we pray and listen. It’s written in sacred books that that is where our Higher Self resides – waiting for us to respond to it. We practice praying in the same way we practice cooking, skiing, painting, driving, etc. – to be good at whatever it is we want to learn, we practice. To be a master, we practice over and over and over.

May the Creator of the universe guide, protect, direct, and guard the people of the world, especially those now in need of your help. Thank you.

* * * * * * *

When I was first going to add to this entry, I had so much to say that I couldn’t say anything. I think the most truthful and balanced words I’ve heard in the past few weeks come from Japanese people themselves. They know they can rebuild and rebuild stronger and in a way that is more congruent with the world, so that they can flourish and bloom. That is how we should all look at every instance that appears to be a damage situation. There is always rebuilding. The world will never stop improving and reshaping and for that I am glad to be here. I continue to learn from other people’s amazing perseverance and ability to shine in all stages of life. -Emi

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it is what it is

I’m thinking that Charlie Sheen should be allowed to have a private meltdown without all the media fuss. And that includes all the other “celebrities” who are in the same boat.

Doesn’t it strike you as puzzling that with everything going on in the world, and with all the many fascinating things there are for us to learn about and write about and think about and talk about that – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, we’re fed a steady diet of nonsense.

Unless we put blinders on, it’s impossible to not see the big headlines and the calling-for-attention photos popping up at every turn. Click on to aol “news” and there’s Charlie Sheen a good part of the time these past few weeks, pass magazines hanging all around sidewalk newstands, next to store registers, and in major book stores having the same silly articles month after month, and then we have what’s called “news” on tv.

In any event, it’s all part of the world we live in. Along with beauty, love, compassion, harmony, there’s a part of life that’s bewildering, and leaves one at a loss for words. It’s not good and it’s not bad; it is what it is.

An email is going around and it would be hilarious if real people were not involved. It takes place at Walmart, and they’re all photos of Walmart customers in an assortment of – how to put this . . . I have to think about that. I’m glad I saw the email because, well, I just don’t know the reason yet. After that particular email though, I had to pull myself together and so I started thinking about those people caught in a lens and a camera’s click, and harshly exposed for the world to snicker at. The uninspiring photos say that these people are struggling in a way that an outsider can’t understand, and in a kinder world no one would have thought to expose them to ridicule.

* * * * * * *

” . . . and I love them unconditionally, which is the only kind of love worth bothering with.” – Go Gentle Into That Good Night, by Roger Ebert

“When we give ourselves the knowledge of who we truly are and the permission to express it – wholeness and healing burst through us as peace, joy . . . and love for self and others.” – Jerry Thomas

“We are raised on comparison, our education is based on it, so is our culture. So we struggle to be someone other than who we are. – J. Krishnamurti

“May I always be in the right place at the right time to do as much good as possible.” – Raymon Grace

“Wherever you are, whatever your condition is, always try to be a lover.” – Rumi

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” – Jean Jacques Rousseau

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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didn’t know til recently . . .

that the meaning of the letters SOS is not Save Our Ship/Souls, and that “the letters do not refer to any words but were selected because they are easy to transmit.” www.dictionary.com

that there’s a word ataraxia, at-a-rax-i-a, having this definition, A Greek concept meaning the attainment of perfect peace or transcendent calm.

that the pronounciation of acai is ah-sigh-ee

that the website: www.about.com has a lot to offer.

that this is a wonderful sentence to ponder: “If you lose your own peaceful center and are overwhelmed by the force of others and by intellectual perceptions and emotional feelings generated by external circumstances, then your own mind will have no independence, freedom, or peace and you will be functioning in terms of others as a slave.”
-Tulku Thundop

that it’s possible to be plucked out of the everyday world and into one of unconditional love when reading about Rumi’s life and his exquisite writings.

that the book Health through God’s Pharmacy by Maria Treben can almost be read as a good novel. The stories of the healings by herbs are fascinating.

that Rachel Trovi, a Norwegian woman, began working in the Philippines 20 years ago during her first visit by “distributing food, medicine and clothes, all purchased with her own money.” and that “Her advocacy became so great that the Ma’Ma Children’s Center of Norway (MMCCN) was founded, which is still led by 80-year-old Rachel Trovi.” www.odemagazine.com/io

that along with the movie Early Summer is wonderful information written by Jim Jarmusch about its prominent director Yasujiro Ozu. “. . . after leaving the exhibition of Ozu artifacts, I found myself in the Engakuji Temple cemetery. There, a plain black marble grave-marker commemorates the life of this extraordinary filmmaker. There is no name on the face of the headstone, no date of birth or death – only a single Chinese character, which Kazuko and Hayao identified as MU. They explained to me that its meaning is philosophical and spiritual, nearly impossible to translate into English. An approximation, they offered hesitantly, might be ‘the space that exists between all things.’ ” Kazuko Kawakita and Hayao Shibata are J. Jarmusch’s friends.

that ZeroWater includes a water tester called a TDS meter with their filtering system, allowing the consumer to test faucet, filtered and bottled water. Along with the testing will be some Hmm! moments.
www.zerowater.com

that it’s well-worth watching the movie Temple Grandin starring Claire Danes – a true story about an amazing woman who is autistic. www.templegrandin.com