Sustainability and Survival of the Species

By Lance Simmens LanceIn 1993 then Vice-President Al Gore was instrumental in establishing the Federal Government’s first Office of Sustainable Development in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce. I, along with former New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor John Bullard, was tapped to turn the concept of the office into a reality. One of the first tasks we faced under direct orders from Commerce Secretary Ron Brown was to come up with an operational definition of sustainable development. Over the course of several weeks we did our research into contemporary uses and definitions of the concept but in the end went decidedly simple and reported back to the Secretary that sustainable development was little more than a euphemism for long-term planning. Eureka! That was perfect, it was understandable and could be easily explained to a largely uninitiated public, exclaimed the Secretary. From that moment on we dedicated ourselves to formulating and implementing a series of sustainable development initiatives in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Gulf of Mexico that incorporated fisheries management regimes with economic development that would have profound impacts upon the communities and individuals that relied upon the commercial fishing industry. I have spent nearly 40 years in politics, government and public policy and I use this as an illustrative example of one of the most important precepts that often does not receive appropriate attention but should serve as the foundation for public policies and programs across a wide spectrum of issues. And this is particularly true in the arena of resource issues. In my just released book entitled “The Evolution of a Revolution: An Attack Upon Reason, Compromise, and the Constitution” I delineate six conceptual criteria for unchaining the current system of government and governance from the dysfunctional shackles that currently render us incapable of addressing issues of any significance, let alone those that critically need action. One of those key criterion is supplanting short-term thinking in our political and governance systems with long-term thinking. This, combined with replacing leadership with statesmanship, which requires vision and wisdom, will go a long way towards resolving our current predicament. In my estimation there is no more serious long-term problem facing the human species than the issue of climate change. Unless we develop a sustainable approach geared towards curbing our insatiable appetite for activities that pump unsustainable levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere we are dooming future generations. An integral component of any definition for sustainability is to ensure that we leave the earth in at least as good a shape if not better than we found it. If we do not immediately move to shift the predominant economic and energy paradigm governing the world from one based upon fossil fuels to one reliant upon renewable energy sources we have no hope whatsoever of fulfilling even the most basic definition of sustainability. Yet Democrats and Republicans alike seem to have been hoodwinked by a fossil fuel industrial complex into believing that continued reliance upon this finite, carbon-emitting resource holds the key to our future. The senselessness of that last sentence is mind-boggling in its absurdity yet evidences the current degree of disregard for common sense. coque iphone That it is often accompanied by wholesale rejection of science or intellectualism only exacerbates the current state of inertia we are witnessing with regard to our reluctance to confront the crisis that stands naked before our very eyes. coque iphone 8 If this nation is unwilling to lead on the issue of sustainability despite being the most egregious trespasser upon the commons, the incentive for developing or developed nations to do will melt faster than ice in the Artic. coque iphone en ligne The current rage is fracking. The United States is in the middle of a fracking frenzy, tapping into shale plays from Pennsylvania to North Dakota, Ohio to Texas, Louisiana to California in search of fool’s gold that until several years ago could not be unearthed in an economically viable way. Technological advances that have made hydraulic fracturing possible effectively crowd out important investments in renewable energy and fatten the coffers of an oil and gas lobby that thrives in a post Citizens United political environment. This is an industry in which the top five corporations reaped $93 billion in net profits in 2013, a dramatic reduction from years past but still prodigious enough to shape tax and energy policies at will in State Capitols, the Halls of Congress, and the White House. All the while the observable manifestations of such a reckless disregard for the economic and environmental impacts of climate change, both short-term and long-term, continue to mount. And from a sustainable point of view other issues that are becoming increasingly documented point to the destructive nature of the extractive industry. They include: adverse impacts upon water, both quantity and quality; adverse impacts upon air contamination; adverse impacts upon public health; and an increasingly troublesome cause and effect relationship between drilling, waste disposal and seismic activity. The incidence of earthquakes has increased dramatically in places where they are common and in places where they are relatively unheard of, such as Ohio. coque iphone Failure to face the fallacy that fracking for fossil fuels is the future is potentially fatal. The fossil fools perpetrating this inter-generational injustice place profits over people. It is wrong on so many fronts but most of all it is an affront to our sensibilities. It is quite simply unsustainable. It was brought to my attention several years ago that the planet will survive climate change. When I asked whether the species would survive a famous earth sciences professor explained that that was a very different question. coque iphone xs max To quote Carl Sagan, “The Earth is the only world known to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.” In other words, there is no Planet B. Lance Simmens has worked for two Presidents, two U.S. Senators, two Governors, and the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. He is currently living in California and actively involved in grassroots efforts opposing fracking. He is the author of “The Evolution of a Revolution”, published by Inkwell Productions.

Waging Peace Through Design

by William McDonough In the United States, one of our great strategic thinkers was Thomas Jefferson. As the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia I was able to live for five years in a house designed by Thomas Jefferson on the great lawn of the University of Virginia that he designed. As such, I came to know Mr. coque iphone en ligne Jefferson as a designer. I see design as the first signal of human intention. We are all designers, and we all have intentions for the world. Most of us have positive, optimistic intentions. coque iphone pas cher As we look into the future, we dream of prosperity or good health, we imagine a more hopeful state of affairs. coque iphone This is exactly what the General Assembly of the United Nations wanted to ensure for all of us in 1948, when drafting the Universal Declaration of Human rights. In this fundamental human design, the Assembly, like Thomas Jefferson, left us a legacy and outlined a strategy of hope. It proclaimed that the inherent dignity of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and peace in the world. It also recognized that disregard of human rights results in tyranny and that human rights should therefore be protected by the rule of law. The legacies of Mr. Jefferson and the UN General Assembly of 1948 are under siege. The UN Human Rights Council recognized for the first time in 2009 that climate change forms a direct threat to the human rights of all people and all societies in the world. According to the Council, climate change will have worldwide implications on rights such as the right of life, housing, health and self-determination and it will have severe consequences for the next generations. Today, Mr. Jefferson would perhaps be calling for freedom from inter-generational remote tyranny, the idea that one generation might pollute the earth and destroy the ability of future generations to celebrate its abundance. He wrote in 1789: “The earth belongs to the living, no man may by natural right oblige the land he owns or occupies to debts greater than those that may be paid during his own lifetime.” If he could, then the world would belong to the dead, and not to the living. soldes coque iphone But the world needs to belong to the living. coque iphone soldes This physical reality runs in parallel with our consciousness and the human experience as a whole, especially as we move into the Anthropocene era. Jefferson’s concept of rights today extends beyond the human world to the rights of nature itself. We can see this in the U.S. Endangered Species Act and in the international treaties that give whales and other creatures the right to exist in good health on the planet. From this perspective, when we see the loss of species, when we see our environment being destroyed by flooding, by toxification, by drought, perhaps we can begin to see that nature’s rights are intrinsic to our human rights and our ability to exist. In 1992, I wrote The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability, to be presented at the World’s Fair in 2000, as an engagement with a large perspective. The laws of nature have yielded immense fecundity—the basis of life itself. Modern systems are designed wrong-side out. Energy is typically from carbon being taken from the lithosphere and put into the atmosphere. Water is contaminated. The value of materials is degraded. And the biosphere is suffering untold degradations The Hannover Principles represent big thinking presented to inspire small actions to stimulate all manner of beneficial effects and offer our future generations freedom from inter-generational tyranny. They are design principles. They see to beg the question of what is design quality. Good design, like safe drinking water, is a human right. Why principles? Because when designing, one starts with principles and values—an expression of intentional consciousness. Evidencing the design, you then move on to expressing goals, strategies, tactics, and metrics. soldes coque iphone 2019 In modern life we see so many people starting to design with metrics, then tactics, and then strategies. But leaving us all to wonder if the lack of principled behavior is their intention. With a careful, precautionary principled approach we become conscious of and can take necessary steps to take responsibility for the consequences of an earth dominated by human—both intended and unintended. You can see all nine Hannover Principles at this link, but here’s #3, which I see as an especially important guidepost: “Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement, including community, dwelling, industry, and trade, in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.” I work in the world of commerce, where we seek to evidence these principles in ordinary life. Apparently, we have been timefully mindless. We are in a hurry, and we’re not even thinking. What we are looking for is timelessly mindful. It is time to move from being time-fully mindless to being timelessly mindful. We are here to wage peace. There is no more delightfully serious function in life and in business than to create joy.

NOW: Mars in Retrograde – Your Survival Guide

“Mars is the force which propels the seed to germinate.” Dane Rudhyar In December 2013, Mars entered the sign of Libra where it remains until the end of July 2014. coque iphone soldes Normally Mars resides in a sign 45 days, so this is an extended length of time. Within that time frame, between March 1, 2014 and May 19, 2014, Mars will be retrograde. Mars has been described as the energizer, the challenger, and the cosmic trigger. It is an outreaching dynamic, action oriented, providing the drive to progress and achieve; not an inward energy. Mars can be both courageous and contentious. It represents anger and passion, and so can rage and battle, or it can assert and direct in a manner that supports advancement. Like fire, be cautious in the manner you express your Mars; it can provide sustenance and light or it can burn and blacken. In retrograde, Mars may be frustrating. Strategies or plans may not advance quickly or smoothly, and action to implement may not be smooth, so patience is required. It may take time for plans and projects to manifest; results may not be immediate. coque iphone pas cher Often there are many course corrections, and periods of waiting. To learn where Mars is asking for your personal focus, look to your Ascendant. coque iphone Remember this is general information, and the specifics of your personal natal chart may alter the interpretation. Mars in 1, Libra Ascendant: Impetus to assert and stand up for oneself. This is a great time to work on your image. What needs to be changed to foster success? Have the courage to make those changes after the retrograde period when you should have the drive and energy to do so. During the retrograde period be patient with your progress. Mars in 2, Virgo Ascendant: During the retrograde focus on plans to develop and expand your financial opportunities. A reevaluation of how you manifest, as well as the use of your financial resources, is called for. Although your ambition is ignited, you might want to take action and initiative to move forward after the retrograde when results come more easily. Mars in 3, Leo Ascendant: During the retrograde period be mindful of how you communicate. Be courageous, not impulsive or argumentative. If contracts must be signed during the retrograde, take care that you are completely clear regarding those documents. You may have some difficulty making decisions about how you want to implement ideas and plans; after the retrograde you may be clearer and implementation might be smoother. coque iphone 8 Mars in 4, Cancer Ascendant: After the retrograde is a positive time to undertake projects at home. If you have wanted to move it’s a good time to pursue that. During the retrograde period projects at home may need to be reworked, or a choice to move may be reconsidered. A parent may need more attention than usual, or time between home and career needs adjustment. Mars in 5, Gemini Ascendant: During the retrograde period creative types may feel stagnant, blocked, or out of the flow. Once Mars goes direct creativity is newly ignited, especially for artists. And during the retrograde children may be more demanding. Also be mindful with gambling or risky undertakings. My advice to workaholic types: take some time to play. Mars in 6, Taurus Ascendant: Once the retrograde period is over a great deal of energy will be career focused. During the retrograde the organizational side of work may be frustrating and draining. At this time you will need to work for what you receive, and you might adjust expectations temporarily. Focus on organizing to improve productivity. If you are an employer you may have issues with employees. Mars in 7, Aries Ascendant: Expect disagreements with your partner during the retrograde period, or there may be legal concerns to attend to in business. A balance between the needs of the partnership and self come into focus. One might wait until after the retrograde to make decisions regarding partnership. After the retrograde period relationships issues may resolve, and focus on partnership issues should bring positive results. Mars in 8, Pisces Ascendant: During Mars in Libra be pristine with all shared monies, taxes, loans, ect. If there are any outstanding issues over shared accounts, now is the time to tie up loose ends. Taxes loans, and monies shared require attention. coque iphone 2019 pas cher Be conservative, not risky, in sexual areas. Promises for loans or funding may fall through temporarily during the retrograde. Mars in 9, Aquarius Ascendant: During Mars in Libra travelling long distance for vacation or adventure is usually welcomed. At the same time business travel involving a foreign opportunity may present itself. However, during the retrograde period there may be glitches in travel plans and opportunities from a long distance. Mars in 10, Capricorn Ascendant: Renewed ambition and drive to push in career areas. New opportunities for leadership may be pursued, and ambition and energy is directed towards distinguishing one in career. coque iphone soldes Calm the tendency to steam roll over others. Results to move forward may be delayed or unsupported until Mars goes direct. Choose your battles wisely. Mars in 11, Sagittarius Ascendant: Mars supports active participation with friends, groups, and organizations. You may be involved in standing up for a friend, or you may find that during this time issues with friends arise. If you are at odds with a friend, you might make more progress if you wait until after the retrograde to resolve the matter. Mars in 12, Scorpio Ascendant: This is where we block or bottle up the energy of Mars. Mars is undercover in the 12th house, so the work for you with this transit is to confront any emotions that you disown, so they can find a healthy expression. coque iphone Under the retrograde you may explore wounds of the past with the goal to heal.

Farming Sunlight From Space

Whether they’re producing voltage directly from solar rays or focusing them to melt salt like Ivanpah, even Earth’s biggest and baddest solar power plants are hamstrung by all this damnable atmosphere getting in the way. But a new kind of off-world solar energy plant could soon provide the whole planet with plenty of power—we just have to finish figuring out how to build and operate it. Energy Production in Spaaaaaaaace! With the advent of silicon-based photovoltaic solar panels—the kind that directly convert solar energy to electrical current—some 60 years ago, researchers immediately looked to the skies as the ideal place to collect solar energy. coque iphone pas cher Up there, you don’t have miles and miles of atmosphere and clouds absorbing, scattering, or blocking out the sun’s incoming rays. That means photovoltaic panels should, conceivably, be able to operate at (or very near) their theoretical efficiency limits. Plus, if you position a solar power satellite (SPS) properly over the equator, it will only reside in the Earth’s shadow for a few hours every year and thereby provide nearly non-stop energy. coque iphone 8 The idea of space-based solar power (SBSP) was formalized in the seminal 1968 report, Power from the Sun: Its Future, by American aerospace engineer Peter Glaser. The paper set forth a conceptual system for collecting unhampered solar energy from massive extra-atmospheric arrays of photovoltaic cells set in geosynchronous orbit above the equator, and transmitting it wirelessly back to Earth where it would be used by terrestrial power grids. In theory, with enough orbiting “solar farms,” the energy needs of not just the U.S. coque iphone pas cher but the entire world could be met. In his paper, Glaser argued that while building, launching, and operating such a power plant was currently beyond the reach of scientific knowledge at the time, those technological advances would be within our grasp in the coming years and decades. So, are we any closer to freeing the entire world from its energy woes with orbiting solar farms than we were at the start of the Space Age? Sure, but we’ve still got some work to do before that actually happens. coque iphone en ligne Specifically, there are a number aspects that we need to iron out before something like this actually comes to fruition. Launch It – What It Will Take to Farm Sunlight from SpaceExpand The first issue is the fact that a commercial-grade SPS would be simply gargantuan. In order to produce a GW of power, you’d need a massive collection area 0.5 kilometers long by 5.2 kilometers wide and weighing tens of thousands of tons. No matter how tightly you fold it up, there’s simply no way to get a fully formed SPS from the surface of the Earth into orbit given our current launch capabilities that wouldn’t be cost-prohibitive. So, for example, let’s assume that a standard solar panel weighs about 20 kg per kw. Not including the necessary support and transmission components, a 4 GW capacity would weigh a whopping 80,000 tons. It would require nearly 9,000 Atlas V rockets (each with a max lifting ability of 8,900 kg to GEO) to free that structure from Earth’s gravitational grip, or at least 9,000 trips to geosynchronous orbit and back, and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $320 billion. That’s just to get the solar panels into position, not to assemble them or operate them—just to get them up there. Nor is that accounting for the environmental impact of all those rocket launches. However, while reusable space launch systems like Space X’s Dragon Capsule can only lift a fraction of what an Atlas V can, their low-cost nature could provide significant cost savings and drastically shortened turnaround times should the project be attempted today. Similarly, since we’re not rushing to beat another nation to the punch (something of this scale would demand the financial and technological assistance of every nation on Earth), slower but more cost efficient delivery methods like ion propulsion could also be deployed to shuttle materials from Low Earth Orbit up to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit. Essentially, LEO would become a staging area where materials would be tugged up to GEO by a fleet of as-of-yet-uninvented space transport vehicles. A secondary option proposed by American physicist Gerard O’Neill in the 1970s would have avoided the high cost of launching materials from Earth by instead constructing the SPS from materials mined on the Moon. This would have offered significant launch cost savings given the Moon’s far lower gravity, but would have required NASA to invent and deploy mass drivers (electromagnetic rail guns designed to throw packages into space) on the Moon’s surface. Though this seems like it would cost a hell of a lot more than just using rockets, a 1979 report by General Dynamics’ Convair Division estimated that using lunar resources would be cost effective should we build out 30 or so 10GW SPS’s—for a total capacity of 300 GW, or enough to satisfy projected U.S. electricity demand in the 2000-2030 period. Build It – What It Will Take to Farm Sunlight from SpaceExpand So even if we manage to get these tens of thousands of tons of stuff into orbit, the next issue would be putting it all together. This of course comes with its own set of challenges. coque iphone pas cher The structure, for example, wouldn’t need to support itself against gravity or the elements as terrestrial-based power plants do, but would have to defend against micrometeors and solar flares. There’s also the matter of who would build it. When NASA took a look at the issue in the late 1970s, it estimated necessary construction time at around 30 years. Three decades of build time. We can barely keep highly-trained astronauts out there on the ISS for more than a year, and a project like this would require either a veritable army of orbital workers (we’re talking a New Deal-scale workforce) continually shuttled back and forth to the surface, or we’d need an army of robots to do the same. NASA’s 1970s solution was to use a fleet of “beam builder” robots to roll and assemble sheets of aluminum into trusses tens of kilometers long. This method would reduce the necessary workforce of humans to a supervisory skeleton crew, which in turn would minimize training, operating, and liability costs. However, even with generous estimates of mechanization capabilities at the time, NASA estimated it would need at least 1,000 full-time astronauts on hand at any given moment—again, that’s just counting astronauts, not the additional doctors, cooks, cleaners, and other service workers they’d require to live in orbit, or the massive amount of resources (air, water, and food) that they’d consume. NASA estimated that the number of support workers would outnumber the builders by a factor of 10 to 1. And though this would be a massively expensive undertaking, it would also open up a huge new industry for anyone brave enough to work and live 22,000 miles up. Maintain It Not to put the cart before the horse, but assuming we do somehow manage to construct an SPS, keeping it from falling out of the sky could be tricky. The ISS for example, the largest orbiting man-made satellite in existence, uses regularly refilled gas propulsion to keep its orbit from fatally degrading. But given the monstrous size of these power plants, we’d have to devise a new, more efficient means of keeping them aloft. Solar light sails have been suggested as one solution, propped up either by the suns rays or by ground-based laser and radio energy. This energy would essentially counteract the planet’s gravitational pull and push the SPS just hard enough to keep it from falling back to Earth. But we’re still years away from such technology being readily available. Another solution, which is a bit closer to reality, is to convert solar-generated, DC power into microwaves and beam that energy up to the satellite to provide operational power. Researchers have been playing with this technology since the 1980s, and JAXA (Japan’s space agency) recently announced that a proposed small-scale SPS might use this method when it comes online in 2040. Get It Back By far, the biggest stumbling block for SPS technology involves getting it from space to your wall socket—it’s not like we can just run a huge extension cord up there. Instead, we’ll have to rely on a neophyte power transmission technology known as “wireless power transmission” (WPT). WPT converts DC current to microwave frequency and shoots it to a distant receiver where it is converted back to electricity and added to the power grid—essentially the reverse of what we’d use to keep the SPS aloft, as described above. This technology is far closer to science than fiction. It was first demonstrated in 1964 when American electrical engineer William C Brown demonstrated a microwave beam-powered helicopter for Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. soldes coque iphone Subsequent developments by Raytheon in the 1970s saw microwaves transmit 30kW of energy over the course of a mile with 84 percent efficiency. And while a 5 GW beam would require massive arrays of receiver dishes spread over large uninhabited areas of the planet, the UN’s non-profit SunSat Energy Council has stated that this type of beam would be of such low density that it wouldn’t be capable of harming plant and animal life. You wouldn’t get a kitten in a microwave effect if you walked through this beam—in fact, it would reportedly warm your skin less than the Sun’s natural rays would. While WPT technology is certainly possible, there are a number of necessary factors to make it plausible. Factors like how you would generate the microwave signal in the first place. In the 1970s, when NASA first looked at the issue, the state of the art still used vacuum tubes. Today, semiconductor amplifiers offer superior efficiencies at a lower price point, but at the 1 GW scale, an SPS would need somewhere around the order of 100 million such devices to create a powerful-enough signal. There’s also the matter of the specific frequency the beam will take, lest it interfere with existing technologies. Somewhere in the 1 – 10 GHz range (around 5.8 GHz) is most likely, given the need to balance between antenna size and atmospheric penetration capabilities as well as accounting for existing band usage. Then there’s the issue of aiming the damn thing to hit a receiver dish 36,000 km away. You wouldn’t be able to do it with a single antenna. An SPS would require a massive number of smaller coordinated and synchronized antennae (up to a billion per satellite by some estimates) each precisely aimed at a 3km wide rectifying antenna on the ground, and aimed with an accuracy of just 10 µrad (and an efficiency of about 85 percent). That’s an unprecedented level of accuracy—not even the beam line tolerances at CERN are that tight. For all intents and purposes, it’s beyond our capabilities at this time. Where to Go from Here While this may seem like just as much of a Herculean task as it was in the 1970s, SBSP could well become a viable energy source within our lifetimes. Japan has already announced plans to build its own SPS within the next 25 years. Given both the rapid development of renewable energy over the past decade and the shift from public to private spaceflight—not to mention the growing need for more and cleaner power—the stars could soon align in favor of this ambitious project.

Light on Yoga – B.K.S. Iyengar

Light on Yoga by B.K. S. Iyengar is the definitive guide to the philosophy and practice of Yoga, the ancient healing discipline for body and mind, by its greatest teacher. Light on Yoga provides complete descriptions and illustrations of all the positions and breathing exercises. Features a foreword by Yehudi Menuhin. coqueiphone Illustrations throughout. B.K.S. Iyengar was born in India in 1918 and has been teaching yoga since of the age of 17. He has been one of the world’s leading teachers of yoga for over 70 years and is internationally recognized as a leading authority of hatha yoga. His own style of teaching, “Iyengar Yoga”, is followed by certified teachers across the world. Iyengar was the first person to teach yoga to large groups of students; he lays great emphasis on precision and alignment, a style that is faithfully followed by his students. He is also the only person to teach the highest aspects of yoga – Atma Darshan – through asanas. Through his work, Iyengar has established the relevance of yoga to the treatment and cure of many illnesses, and has received a Doctorate from the United Nations Charter for Peace. In Memoriam Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar (12-14-1918 – 8-20-14) The Beginning… Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918. His father Sri Krishnamachar was a school teacher and therefore Guruji has all his father’s qualities even at this age. Guruji was a victim of malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis in his childhood . At the age of 16, he was introduced to yoga by his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya. soldes coque iphone At the age of 18, he was sent to Pune, Maharashtra by his guru to teach and preach yoga as he knew a little of English. This missed his opportunity to learn a lot about yoga directly from his guru. Guruji was a sincere and committed practitioner. His own practice helped him to explore and achieve perfection in yoga asanas. This is reflected in his teachings all over these years. coque iphone outlet His Disciples… B.K.S. soldes coque iphone 2019 Iyengar taught several eminent personalities such as J. Krishnamurti (ideal teacher),Jayaprakash Narayan (freedom fighter), Achyut Patwardhan (commandant of National Defence Academy) and also many physicians and industrialists. coque iphone Guruji’s practice and teachings were well appreciated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad(First President of India), Dr. Mohammad Hatta (ex-Vice President of Indonesia), Pope Paul VI and also by other eminent personalities from different countries. A fortuitous meeting with the violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 was instrumental in introducing the Western World to Guruji. Menuhin was responsible in introducing several luminaries to BKS Iyengar. One of them being the Queen Mother of Belgium. His Institute… coque iphone On 26th January 1973, Guruji laid the foundation of Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, named after his wife Smt. Ramamani Iyengar. The institute was inaugurated on January 19, 1975. By this time, Guruji’s eldest daughter Geeta and son Prashant were also involved in teaching yoga. They also started teaching at the institute with Guruji. His Teachings… Guruji’s teachings were first published in 1966 as Light on Yoga . This book has been translated into 18 languages. Today, he is the author of 14 books. Guruji was the first person to teach large group of students. He lays great emphasis on precision and alignment which is followed by his students. He gets students to perform and break barriers. He brings about an automatic transformation in the mind and habits of people. He is the only person to teach the highest aspects of yoga – Atma Darshan through asanas. He has taught several famous personalities. In 1998, he taught 800 of his students for a week on the occasion of his 80th birthday at Pune. Again, in the year 2000, he conducted a special course for senior “Iyengar Yoga” teachers from nearly 40 countries. His Practice.. Even today, at the age of 95, he continues to practice. While in practice, he is an artist at work. He is always at ease in any posture he performs. Precision and beauty mark the asana, and the regular practice he advocates integrates the body, mind and emotions. Smt. Geetaji and Prashantji are also totally devoted and committed to teach Iyengar Yoga.

Meditation Mount

The mission of Meditation Mount is to promote the building of an enlightened and compassionate world through the power of creative meditation, inspirational educational programs, and community-based events focused on the practical application of the following universal spiritual principles: Right Human Relations The inclusive practice of loving understanding that treats all beings with respect and dignity. Goodwill A powerful and abundant energy that nourishes the greatest good for all life. coque iphone xs max Group Endeavor The group-conscious, collaborative energy that moves us to think and act purposefully together on behalf of the whole. coque iphone Unanimity The recognition of the fact of “one humanity” and the importance of each individual as a unique expression of the One Life. Spiritual Approach The inevitable movement of life to an ever-expanding state of wholeness and joy, through a living relationship with the Divine Presence. coque iphone 2019 pas cher Essential Divinity The acknowledgment and honoring of the Divine Presence in every person and in all life. [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”10px” margin_bottom=”10px”] Meditation Mount was the creative idea of Florence Garrigue who lived at the Mount and oversaw all activities. The facilities were completed in 1971 under the direction of Zelma Wilson, Architect. coque iphone 6 Zelma sought to make the buildings reflect the spirit of the participants, and serve as highly functional structures attuned to their setting. Grant Castleberg of Santa Barbara served as landscape architect for the center. Florence, the Mount’s founder, came to Ojai in 1968 to establish a center for the work of Meditation Groups, Inc. which she had begun 10 years earlier in New York City. coque iphone xs max After selection of the site in the east end of the valley, she worked closely with Ojai architect Zelma Wilson in planning the beautiful Tibetan – style buildings and arranging the financing of the project with generous gifts from people who believed in the work of the organization. The center at the end of Reeves Road then became known as “Meditation Mount.” Their purpose was the fostering of meditation to benefit the world. They achieved this by using small booklets written on various aspects of spiritual topics, sending them by mail to individuals in a rhythmic pattern of every two months. Taking a step back into Florence’s past we can see how all of this evolved. When Florence retired in 1943, she moved to New York to join the Arcane school, an institution for esoteric studies founded by Alice A Bailey. After 10 years there, she and a group of friends started the School for Esoteric Studies in New York which is still active. coque iphone 8 She then became a member of a small informal group of individuals from several countries who met in England for the purpose of fostering meditation to benefit the world. They achieved their purpose by using small booklets written on various aspects of spiritual topics, sending them by mail to individuals in a rhythmic pattern of every two months. It was from this group and its concept that she returned and founded the US branch of Meditation Groups, Inc. Many of the booklets were written by Roberto Assagioli, an Italian Psychologist whose lifework was to bring meditation and spirituality into the realm of psychology and human development. In the mid 1990′s the distribution of meditation booklets was discontinued. Since that time Meditation Mount has functioned an educational center offering spiritual programs that enhance the awakening of the human soul in all aspects of social endeavor. coque iphone 8 Daily and Monthly Full Moon meditations continue to be an important part in the daily rhythm in the Mount’s life.