>Mystery of Shambhala

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… The idea of a hidden world beneath the surface of the planet is a very ancient one indeed. There are innumerable folk tales and oral traditions found throughout many countries speaking of subterranean people who have created a kingdom of harmony, contentment and spiritual power.

The early European travellers to Tibet consistently told the same tale of a hidden spiritual centre of power. Adventurers recounted fantastic tales of a hidden kingdom near Tibet. This special place is known by numerous local and regional names, which no doubt caused much confusion among early travellers as to the kingdom’s true identity. These early travellers knew it as Agharta (sometimes spelt Agharti, Asgartha or Agarttha), although it is now commonly known as Shambhala.

Taking the legend in its most basic form, Agharta is said to be a mysterious underground kingdom situated somewhere beneath Asia and linked to the other continents of the world by a gigantic network of tunnels. These passageways, partly natural formations and partly the handiwork of the race which created the subterranean nation, provide a means of communication between all points, and have done so since time immemorial. According to the legend, vast lengths of the tunnels still exist today; the rest have been destroyed by cataclysms. The exact location of these passages, and the means of entry, are said to be known only to certain high initiates, and the details are most carefully guarded because the kingdom itself is a vast storehouse of secret knowledge. Some claim that the stored knowledge is derived from the lost Atlantean civilisation and of even earlier people who were the first intelligent beings to inhabit the earth. …

It would be easy to dismiss Agharta/Shambhala as pure fantasy, were it not for a very credible explorer who searched for, found and returned to tell us something about his experiences.

Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), a Russian born artist, poet, writer, mystic and distinguished member of the Theosophical Society, led an expedition across the Gobi Desert to the Altai mountain range from 1923 to 1928, a journey which covered 15,500 miles across thirty-five of the world’s highest mountain passes.

As Victoria LePage puts it in her book Shambhala:

Roerich was a man of unimpeachable credentials: a famous collaborator in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, a colleague of the impresario Diaghilev and a highly talented and respected member of the League of Nations.  …

… In the summer of 1926, Roerich reported a strange event in his travel diary. He was encamped with his son, Dr. George Roerich, and a retinue of Mongolian guides in the Sharagol valley near the Humboldt mountain chain between Mongolia and Tibet. …

moving high in the cloudless sky, a huge, golden, spheroid body, whirling and shining brilliantly in the sun, was suddenly espied. Through three pairs of binoculars the travellers saw it fly rapidly from the north, from the direction of Altai, then veer sharply and vanish towards the southwest, behind the Humboldt mountains.

One of the lamas told Roerich that what he had seen was “the sign of Shambhala,” signifying that his mission had been blessed by the Great Ones of Altai, the lords of Shambhala. They had also been witness to a classic UFO, twenty years before the “official” beginning of the phenomenon with Kenneth Arnold’s sighting in 1947. …

via Mystery of Shambhala – newdawnmagazine.com.au.

I was really into this years ago, but gave up trying to get in when some freaky stuff happened. I believe one entrance to the Great Underground Empire is up at Mt. Shasta, where I found a huge skull face carved into the side of a cliff.

>Mystery of Shambhala

>

… The idea of a hidden world beneath the surface of the planet is a very ancient one indeed. There are innumerable folk tales and oral traditions found throughout many countries speaking of subterranean people who have created a kingdom of harmony, contentment and spiritual power.

The early European travellers to Tibet consistently told the same tale of a hidden spiritual centre of power. Adventurers recounted fantastic tales of a hidden kingdom near Tibet. This special place is known by numerous local and regional names, which no doubt caused much confusion among early travellers as to the kingdom’s true identity. These early travellers knew it as Agharta (sometimes spelt Agharti, Asgartha or Agarttha), although it is now commonly known as Shambhala.

Taking the legend in its most basic form, Agharta is said to be a mysterious underground kingdom situated somewhere beneath Asia and linked to the other continents of the world by a gigantic network of tunnels. These passageways, partly natural formations and partly the handiwork of the race which created the subterranean nation, provide a means of communication between all points, and have done so since time immemorial. According to the legend, vast lengths of the tunnels still exist today; the rest have been destroyed by cataclysms. The exact location of these passages, and the means of entry, are said to be known only to certain high initiates, and the details are most carefully guarded because the kingdom itself is a vast storehouse of secret knowledge. Some claim that the stored knowledge is derived from the lost Atlantean civilisation and of even earlier people who were the first intelligent beings to inhabit the earth. …

It would be easy to dismiss Agharta/Shambhala as pure fantasy, were it not for a very credible explorer who searched for, found and returned to tell us something about his experiences.

Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), a Russian born artist, poet, writer, mystic and distinguished member of the Theosophical Society, led an expedition across the Gobi Desert to the Altai mountain range from 1923 to 1928, a journey which covered 15,500 miles across thirty-five of the world’s highest mountain passes.

As Victoria LePage puts it in her book Shambhala:

Roerich was a man of unimpeachable credentials: a famous collaborator in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, a colleague of the impresario Diaghilev and a highly talented and respected member of the League of Nations.  …

… In the summer of 1926, Roerich reported a strange event in his travel diary. He was encamped with his son, Dr. George Roerich, and a retinue of Mongolian guides in the Sharagol valley near the Humboldt mountain chain between Mongolia and Tibet. …

moving high in the cloudless sky, a huge, golden, spheroid body, whirling and shining brilliantly in the sun, was suddenly espied. Through three pairs of binoculars the travellers saw it fly rapidly from the north, from the direction of Altai, then veer sharply and vanish towards the southwest, behind the Humboldt mountains.

One of the lamas told Roerich that what he had seen was “the sign of Shambhala,” signifying that his mission had been blessed by the Great Ones of Altai, the lords of Shambhala. They had also been witness to a classic UFO, twenty years before the “official” beginning of the phenomenon with Kenneth Arnold’s sighting in 1947. …

via Mystery of Shambhala – newdawnmagazine.com.au.

I was really into this years ago, but gave up trying to get in when some freaky stuff happened. I believe one entrance to the Great Underground Empire is up at Mt. Shasta, where I found a huge skull face carved into the side of a cliff.

>’Field of money’: Police find thousands of dollars lying on Ohio highway

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The police officers couldn’t believe their eyes – thousands and thousands of dollars blowing in the breeze in the middle of a busy highway.

There was so much cash, one deputy told Ohio police Chief Russ Martin that it looked like ‘the field was growing money’.

Now the authorities are trying to figure out how the bills – over $10,000 – were left north of Columbus on the median of U.S. Route 23 on Monday.

Officers spent hours collecting them after a surprised motorist had raised the alarm when he saw the money floating past his window.

Martin, of Delaware police, won’t reveal the exact total, but he said: ‘We’d like to leave that a secret now, but I can tell you it was five figures.’

Police have checked with the FBI, an armoured car company and bank couriers, but no one has reported any missing money.

Police did not release any more details about where the money was found because they are hoping the owner will provide vital details to prove it is his fortune.

Martin is fairly confident officers have recovered all the money, so he says drivers shouldn’t stop in the hope of finding anymore cash floating about.

via ‘Field of money’: Police find thousands of dollars lying on Ohio highway | Mail Online.

>’Field of money’: Police find thousands of dollars lying on Ohio highway

>

The police officers couldn’t believe their eyes – thousands and thousands of dollars blowing in the breeze in the middle of a busy highway.

There was so much cash, one deputy told Ohio police Chief Russ Martin that it looked like ‘the field was growing money’.

Now the authorities are trying to figure out how the bills – over $10,000 – were left north of Columbus on the median of U.S. Route 23 on Monday.

Officers spent hours collecting them after a surprised motorist had raised the alarm when he saw the money floating past his window.

Martin, of Delaware police, won’t reveal the exact total, but he said: ‘We’d like to leave that a secret now, but I can tell you it was five figures.’

Police have checked with the FBI, an armoured car company and bank couriers, but no one has reported any missing money.

Police did not release any more details about where the money was found because they are hoping the owner will provide vital details to prove it is his fortune.

Martin is fairly confident officers have recovered all the money, so he says drivers shouldn’t stop in the hope of finding anymore cash floating about.

via ‘Field of money’: Police find thousands of dollars lying on Ohio highway | Mail Online.

>Blank book on sex outsells ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Da Vinci Code’

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So what does every man think apart from sex? Apparently nothing, claims British author who has written a book on it.

Quite fittingly, the book has just a cover and 200 blank pages inside.

Sheridan Simove’s What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex has become a surprise bestseller on Amazon.com.

The book has hit number 744 on the Amazon list, ahead of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (number 2,910) and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2,406).

It is also picking up as a novelty gift among amused uni students in the UK who are flocking to grab a copy of the $7.95 paperback .

A student from Nottingham University says she picked up the copy for her friend.

“I bought a copy for my mate as a joke and he started using it as a note pad for lectures. Now everyone seems to have one. It’s started a real craze on campus”.

The book’s ‘author’ says he never expected his work to become a bestseller.

“When the book was published I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would outsell Harry Potter. But Britain’s students seem to think my book is magic and who am I to argue?” Simove has been quoted as saying by news reports.

An Oxford University psychology graduate, 39-year-old Simove says his next research project is a PhD on the subject of what women think apart from sex.

“I hope to publish my findings in another decade,” he jokes. …

via Blank book on sex outsells ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Da Vinci Code’ – Seven News Queensland.

Reader comments:

… Nothing new…I’ve got a copy of a book from the 1980’s called “The Achievements Of The Labour Government”, a little black paperback, and it too is totally blank when you open it up.

… The author has just coppied what Cheech and Chong did. They released a movie called “youve been ripped off”. Sold out and it was just 1.5 hours of blank screen then a big YOUVE BEEN RIPPED OFF across the screen.

… Another case of plagiarism……Alan Pease published a book “What men know about women” 25 years ago…….blank pages…I still have the signed copy.

>Blank book on sex outsells ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Da Vinci Code’

>

So what does every man think apart from sex? Apparently nothing, claims British author who has written a book on it.

Quite fittingly, the book has just a cover and 200 blank pages inside.

Sheridan Simove’s What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex has become a surprise bestseller on Amazon.com.

The book has hit number 744 on the Amazon list, ahead of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (number 2,910) and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2,406).

It is also picking up as a novelty gift among amused uni students in the UK who are flocking to grab a copy of the $7.95 paperback .

A student from Nottingham University says she picked up the copy for her friend.

“I bought a copy for my mate as a joke and he started using it as a note pad for lectures. Now everyone seems to have one. It’s started a real craze on campus”.

The book’s ‘author’ says he never expected his work to become a bestseller.

“When the book was published I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would outsell Harry Potter. But Britain’s students seem to think my book is magic and who am I to argue?” Simove has been quoted as saying by news reports.

An Oxford University psychology graduate, 39-year-old Simove says his next research project is a PhD on the subject of what women think apart from sex.

“I hope to publish my findings in another decade,” he jokes. …

via Blank book on sex outsells ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Da Vinci Code’ – Seven News Queensland.

Reader comments:

… Nothing new…I’ve got a copy of a book from the 1980’s called “The Achievements Of The Labour Government”, a little black paperback, and it too is totally blank when you open it up.

… The author has just coppied what Cheech and Chong did. They released a movie called “youve been ripped off”. Sold out and it was just 1.5 hours of blank screen then a big YOUVE BEEN RIPPED OFF across the screen.

… Another case of plagiarism……Alan Pease published a book “What men know about women” 25 years ago…….blank pages…I still have the signed copy.

>The Dull Men’s Club: Interesting Men Need Not Apply

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Larry Knowles – They have a fascination with luggage carousels and park benches. They enjoy watching paint dry and, around this time of year, sap drip. These are the members of the Dull Men’s Club, and they don’t care if they bore you.

“We’re not a 12-step program where we’re trying to change our ways,” says club president Leland Carlson, 71, of London, where the club, known as DMC, is based. “We’re a two-step program: We admit we’re dull and we’re gonna keep it that way.”

The club, which Carlson founded in New York City with a few bored — and boring — pals in the mid-’80s, has remained true to its founder’s words. It’s never grown, it’s never held an event and it’s never had a membership drive.These days, truth is, it’s pretty much just Carlson. But that’s to be expected when you try to keep something called the Dull Men’s Club afloat. We’re talking about an organization, after all, that gets excited about traffic cameras and rhubarb festivals.

It recently added the eighth International World Potato Congress to its events calendar. …

via The Dull Men’s Club: Interesting Men Need Not Apply.

>We didn’t mishear hug ban, say Figtree High students

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Students from Figtree High School have rejected suggestions they mistook a lesson on inappropriate behaviour for an announcement banning hugging.

Several parents told the Mercury this week their children had been informed by a senior teacher at a school assembly that hugging was banned and those caught in the act would be punished with detention.

However, the Education Department dismissed the claims and instead said hugging had merely been mentioned during a discussion outlining examples of inappropriate behaviour.

Students from the school yesterday responded by venting their frustration on the Mercury’s website.

They rejected suggestions that students had misinterpreted the assembly presentation.

“I am a senior student at Figtree High, and what it says in the article is exactly what was said in assembly at school,” one student wrote.

“Nothing that was said was misinterpreted – it was as plain as stated. I think it’s ridiculous.”

Another wrote: “I’m a student in Year 10 at Figtree High School and I would just like to say that during the assembly it was clearly stated and I quote ‘if you touch, kiss or hug anyone, you will be sent to the deputy’s office and sent home’.”

A parent with two children at the school wrote that she also believed hugging had been banned.

An Education Department spokeswoman yesterday remained adamant Figtree High students were not banned from hugging.

She said the school had received no formal complaints about the matter. …

via We didn’t mishear hug ban, say Figtree High students – Local News – News – General – Illawarra Mercury.

“If they can ban hugging, what are they going to do next — ban smiling?”

Outraged parents told the newspaper they believed hugging had been banned as a way to stop affectionate behavior between students during school time.

“They were told there’s no touching, no hugging from now on,” an unidentified parent said.

Figtree High School’s website makes no mention of the ban but says it aims “to provide a safe and caring environment where students, regardless of diversity, disadvantage or disability, reach their highest potential through positive and enriching learning experiences.”

via AOL news

So much for the caring environment where students can reach their highest potential.

>Chickens are capable of feeling empathy, scientists believe

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Domestic chickens display signs of empathy, the ability to ”feel another’s pain” that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found.

The discovery has important implications for the welfare of farm and laboratory animals, say researchers.

Empathy, long thought to be a defining human trait, causes one individual to be affected by the emotional state of another.

Feelings are ”mirrored” in the observer, leading to a shared experience of being happy, sad or distressed.

The research demonstrated that hens possess a fundamental capacity to empathise, at least with their own chicks.

Scientists chose hens and chicks for the study because it is thought empathy probably evolved to aid parental care.

A number of controlled procedures were carried out which involved ruffling the feathers of chicks and mother hens with an air puff.

When chicks were exposed to puffs of air, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens’ heart rate increased, their eye temperature lowered – a recognised stress sign – and they became increasingly alert. Levels of preening were reduced, and the hens made more clucking noises directed at their chicks. …

via Chickens are capable of feeling empathy, scientists believe – Telegraph.

>Sacramento makes Forbes most miserable cities in the U.S. list

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Five California cities have made Forbes Magazine’s top ten list of most miserable cities: Vallejo, Sacramento, Modesto, Merced and Stockton.

via Most miserable city in the U.S.? Stockton resident begs to differ : KALW.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the governor of California at the end of 2003 amid a wave of optimism that his independent thinking and fresh ideas would revive a state stumbling after the recall of Gov. Gray Davis.

The good vibes are a distant memory: The Governator exited office last month with the state facing a crippling checklist of problems including massive budget deficits, high unemployment, plunging home prices, rampant crime and sky-high taxes. Schwarzenegger’s approval ratings hit 22% last year, a record low for any sitting California governor.

California’s troubles helped it land eight of the 20 spots on our annual list of America’s Most Miserable Cities, with Stockton ranking first for the second time in three years.  …

We ranked each area on 10 factors, including unemployment over three years, tax rates (both sales and income), commute times, violent crime and how its pro sports teams have fared over the past three years. We added two housing metrics this year: the change in median home prices over three years, and foreclosure rates in 2010, as compiled by RealtyTrac. We also considered corruption based on convictions of public officials in each region, as tracked by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. Lastly, we factored in an index put together by Portland, Ore., researcher Bert Sperling that rates weather in each metro on factors relating to temperature, precipitation and humidity. …

No. 5 Sacramento, Calif.

No state taxes $50,000 of income like California, with a rate of 9.55% on incomes above that level for singles. Sacramento is a one-team sports town, and that team has been awful in recent years. The NBA’s Kings have won just 26% of their games the past two-plus seasons.

via Forbes

Don’t care about the Kings winning or not, but no jobs, high taxes, violent crime and bad weather … well, it is still a beautiful city, with live music, art and plenty of happy people.