Issue #2592
- WEALTHY: When "50% off" isn’t such a good deal (Jason Holland)
- HEALTHY: Intensity vs. duration (Jon Benson)
- WISE: William Penn on true silence
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The one thing you should bequeath to your children (Alex Green)
- Help with a thorny language problem (Don Hauptman)
- It’s Fun to Know… the Pope’s on YouTube
- Add "hubris" to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
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Moneysaving Tip: Bad Deals at Liquidation Sales
Going out of business/ liquidation/ clearance sales can be opportunities to get great deals. But don’t be tricked. Not all of these so-called "sales" will save you money.
For example, that stereo system might be labeled "50 percent off" – but 50 percent off what? It might be off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, not the last price it actually sold for – especially if it’s last year’s model. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to get it for less somewhere else.
There are several ways you can find out instantly if the same item is being sold cheaper online.
• If your cellphone has Internet access, go to the mobile version of Google Product Search: m.google.com/products. Then enter the product name or model number.
• If you are without Internet access but can text message, you can text the product’s ISBN or UPC (the number under the bar code) to save@mobsaver.com. The MobSaver service will send you a list of prices for the same item on Amazon and eBay. Find out more at www.mobsaver.com.
But don’t think you’ll always find lower prices online. I recently found a light fixture online – marked down from $180 to the "clearance" price of $135. The same exact one cost me $118 at a store less than a mile from my home. And I didn’t have to pay "shipping and handling."
So before you buy, do a little research. Find out what similar items are going for online and at other retailers. That way you’ll know if you really are getting the best deal.
(Source: Consumerist and Lifehacker)
"True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."
William Penn
Renewing a Forgotten Virtue
By Alex Green
What would you most like to leave to your kids some day? A house… a business… some money?
If so, there is plenty of good advice out there about what to do and how to do it. (A good starting point, in my view, is Warren Buffett’s suggestion to leave your children enough money so that they could do what they want, but not so much that they could do nothing.)
There are more important things we can leave them, however. Plato said, "Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence."
Reverence means understanding human limitations. It’s a feeling of respect for what lies beyond our control: nature, truth, fate, death.
It’s also an attitude of acceptance toward life and our fellow human beings, flawed as we may be. Reverence underlies the grace and civility that make life in society bearable and pleasant. It reminds us what’s important, what’s sacred, what’s worth protecting.
Reverence is as old as civilization itself, perhaps older. Writing in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the Greek historian Thucydides called it a cardinal virtue, existing universally across all cultures.
Moreover, irreverence makes it difficult to respect those who are weaker: children, prisoners, the poor, the elderly.
Many equate reverence with religiosity. Yet this is not always the case.
In Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue, Paul Woodruff writes, "Reverence is not faith, because the faithful may hold their faith with arrogance and self-satisfaction, and the reverent may not know what to believe. … If your form of worship or faith is reverent, so much the better. You know one place to look for reverence. But you should look further, so that you can see how you might share reverence with people who do not worship with you or share your faith."
Throughout history, religion and reverence have often gone their separate ways. Taken to extremes, religious beliefs sometimes engender just the opposite: intolerance, guilt, fear, ignorance, zealotry, and hatred.
In the West today, however, most of us live peaceably beside those with different beliefs. What the devout admire in other religions, however, is not faith, since they reject most of its content, but rather reverence, that universal sense of wonder, respect, and humility.
Some experience reverence in organized worship, in community with others. Others discover it outdoors, enjoying the glories of nature. Still others may experience it with music.
Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul oratorio, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and many other classical and choral masterpieces were clearly inspired by a deep sense of reverence – and, centuries later, still bring that spirit to life.
Yet something else comes closer to capturing the true spirit of reverence: silence.
"Do you imagine the universe is agitated?" asked Lao Tzu a few thousand years ago. "Go into the desert at night and look at the stars. This practice should answer the question."
A quiet mind, freed from a noisy environment and the onslaught of continuous thought, has long been a signpost of spiritual development.
In Christianity and Judaism, there is the silence of contemplative prayer. In Islam, the Sufis wrote about the wisdom of finding silence within. Hinduism, the source of yoga, emphasizes the importance of silence for inner growth. Buddhists believe that silent meditation is the path to enlightenment. For Quakers, silence makes up much of the service, allowing for the development of heart and mind.
Secular philosophers and other writers have advocated its benefits, as well.
Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I like the silent church before the service begins better than any preaching."
Humanist Aldous Huxley observed, "Silence is as full of potential wisdom and wit as the unhewn marble of great sculpture."
Claude Debussy even reminded listeners that music is found in the space between the notes. Avant-garde composer John Cage took this idea to an extreme. His composition 4′33" consists of just over four and a half minutes of complete silence. (To this day, it’s the only piece I can play on the violin.)
Silence opens us to the experience of reverence. Yet many today lead noisier lives than ever. Some choose to live near busy highways and airports. Restaurants and retail stores blast rock and country music non-stop. A study conducted by Pennsylvania State University found that urban teenagers listen to four and a half hours of pop and rap music a day. In our homes, radio and television broadcasts are punctuated with a steady stream of commercial messages at trumped up volumes.
This creates frustration and anxiety, especially for innocent bystanders. In The Happiness Hypothesis, psychology professor Jonathan Haidt writes that "noise, especially noise that is variable or intermittent, interferes with concentration and increases stress. It’s worth striving to remove sources of noise in your life."
Sensible advice. Yet Matthew Kelly believes there is another reason we choose noisy environments: Silence reveals our weaknesses to us, our shortcomings.
In The Rhythm of Life, Kelly writes, "In the silence, we see at one time the person we are and the person we are capable of becoming. … It is precisely for this reason that we fill our lives with noise, to distract ourselves from the challenge to change."
We can fix this, however. We can hit the off button, walk outside, visit a chapel, or take a quiet drive in the country. If you really can’t escape the barking dogs, screaming kids, or NFL football, do yourself a favor and buy a pair of noise-canceling headphones. (Trust me, they’re worth it.)
A few days ago, I took my five-year-old son David on a hike up to Humpback Rocks, an outcropping about half a mile above the Blue Ridge Parkway that offers an awe-inspiring view of the Shenandoah Valley, especially near sunset.
As we neared the summit, I stopped. "Listen," I said. "What do you hear?"
He looked around the trail and up at the treetops. There was no traffic, no sound, not even the wind. He shrugged and said "Nothing."
"Isn’t it great?" I asked.
He glanced up to make sure I wasn’t kidding, then looked around again, listening.
"Yeah," he said, exhaling. "It is."
[Ed. Note: What do you do to get away from the noise of everyday life? Let us know your best ideas for finding silence and a sense of inner peace right here.
And be sure to join Alex Green, Chairman of Investment U and Investment Director of The Oxford Club, as he tackles some of life's more difficult challenges in his free, twice-weekly e-letter Spiritual Wealth. Get your roadmap to a rich life here.]
Cash from the Ash
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Surprise Results of Super-Short Workouts
By Jon Benson
So here’s the million-dollar question: "What’s the number one reason people don’t work out?"
Is it lack of money? Lack of motivation? Perhaps the lack of an ideal workout plan?
Nope. It’s TIME. Or rather the lack thereof.
"We know that 50 percent of the population doesn’t [exercise] and the most commonly cited barrier to exercise is lack of time," says exercise researcher Martin Gibala, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University.
Gibala put his theory to the test in a study published in the Journal of Physiology. He compared a group that exercised "traditionally" – 90 to 120 minutes per day – with another group that exercised far less – only 20 minutes per day and only three days per week. (That’s a whopping one hour per week, folks.)
In just two weeks, both groups showed improvement in exercise performance and oxygen uptake. (Remember, fat burns in the presence of oxygen.)
The kicker is that the improvement was almost identical in both groups. Why? Because the brief-exercise group trained with greater focus and more intensity – exactly the way I suggest you train.
This is just one of dozens of studies that confirm the benefits of shorter but more intense workouts. Intensity is key. Not duration. Keep that in mind the next time you head to the gym.
[Ed. Note: Jon Benson is a life coach and nutrition counselor who specializes in helping individuals discover a life-altering mind/body connection. His work in the field of post-40 fitness and mental empowerment has helped countless thousands rediscover a youthful body and positive outlook. Discover how you can do the same by clicking here.
Exercise is only half the battle when it comes to staying fit and healthy. For a free source of expert advice about what you should and shouldn't be eating, sign up for ETR's natural health e-newsletter.]
The Language Perfectionist: Beyond Compare
By Don Hauptman
Consider these two passages, plucked from the Internet:
• "An organization may be compared with a machine, or said to have machine-like qualities, but it is not, and will never be, a machine."
• "Some reviews of the leaked Windows 7 beta tackle the usability question of 7 compared to XP or Vista… ."
When to use compared to and when to use compared with is a linguistic problem that puzzles most people. Frankly, I’ve been among them! Both of the sentences above get it wrong.
The rule may appear a bit tricky at first. Many dictionaries and style guides discuss the subject, but, as is often the case, Theodore M. Bernstein’s explanation in The Careful Writer is one of the best:
"When the purpose is to liken two things or to put them in the same category, use to. When the purpose is to place one thing side by side with another, to examine their differences or similarities, use with. … Since compare to is most often involved in figurative [metaphorical] constructions, whereas compare with is the more literal, everyday phrase, the uses calling for with far outnumber those calling for to."
Put more simply, though at the risk of oversimplifying: If the context is metaphorical, use to: "Time may be compared to a river." If it’s literal, use with: "Let’s compare the benefits of Plan A with those of Plan B."
Authorities disagree, some insisting that the two prepositions have become almost interchangeable when they follow compare or compared. But the above guidelines will serve you well in most situations.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
It’s Fun to Know: The Pope’s on YouTube
In an effort to reach out to the younger generation, Pope Benedict XVI has launched his own YouTube channel.
The channel, found at youtube.com/vaticanit, features papal news, footage of his travels, and more. It is available in English, Italian, German, and Spanish.
The Pope has called social networks like YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook "gifts for humanity" that help forge friendship and understanding among people. But he is also wary of the online world, because he feels it can isolate people from real-world interaction and unnecessarily expose them to sex and violence.
(Source: Associated Press)
== Highly Recommended ==
Stuck With the Short End of the Stick in Life?
Life is unfair, but it’s not for those “in the know.” Quit getting shafted at every turn and instead start enjoying every advantage in most situations. See for yourself by clicking here…
Word to the Wise: Hubris
"Hubris" (HYOO-bris) – from the Greek for "presumption toward the gods" – is excessive pride or self-confidence.
Example (as used by Alex Green today): "An irreverent man, [Thucydides] claimed, is arrogant and shameless, full of hubris, unable to feel awe in the face of things greater than himself."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009
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The words on silence for your mind ring very true.
My silence is in the ocean not with noisy scuba tanks which I use sometimes but on a single breath which is extreme silence. I,m in the pool at present but the weather will warm up soon and then the ocean will be my silence again.
If you have any love of water I cant recommend the sport of freediving enough but be sure to get proper training before you do.
VIPASSANA MEDITATION COURSES( BUDDHIST).GOOGLE VIPASSANA MEDITATION AND YOU WILL FIND A CENTRE SOMEWHERE.
COMPLETE SILENCE(NO TALKING). COURSES RANGE FROM WEEKENDS TO ONE MONTH.
IT IS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE. WHEN YOU RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD, FOR A WEEK OR SO AFTER, EVERY NOISE VIBRATES THROUGH YOUR BODY.YOUR AWARENESS OF WHERE YOU ARE IN SPACE IS MAGNIFIED. THROUGH THE SILENCE AND MEDITATION YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THE SUB ATOMIC PARTICLES OF YOUR BODY. IT’S LIKE YOU CAN FEEL YOUR SOUL. MEDITATING IN COMPLETE SILENCE FOR TEN DAYS IS NOT EASY BUT THE EXPERIENCE IS ALMOST INDESCRIBABLE.
Alex,
As a member of the Oxford Club, I’ve read you often. Every morning, just before daybreak, I take a mile walk with my Small Munsterlander, Bruno. I often marvel the only sounds are the thump of my Rebock walking shoes and the hum of the traffic on North Fraser three blocks away. On some streets, the live oak trees muffle the hum of the traffic, and I tread lightly on the blacktop. Beautiful.
You know it is weird that I read this article today. I was laying in bed this morning thinking about if you asked someone where have you felt most at peace and would like to spend everyday?
Now I thought for myself it would be on a golf course with the first tee time with no one around except green grass and blue sky with the sun just coming up.
Funny answer from someone who probably didn’t get it would say last week at the Metallica concert in the front row.
I had to respond since this article was exactly what I was thinking this morning. God does work in mysterious ways and so does our mind.
Thanks
Rob
I listen every day to Holosync from Bill Harris – It works – two year
now.
There is now a day that goes by that I don’t meditate using
Centrepoint’s Holosync and often add Jeffrey Thompson’s Brainwaves
to the process. It saves me time and makes me able to deal with
everything better. I have given these things to people who are ill or dying and to my friends’
chilldren who have behaviour problems. Meditation seems to work for everyone. And I prefer the musical-soundwave variety as it allows you to relax and go very deep.
I love to get up in the morning before the world wakes up and listen to birds and the world as it wakes up. It is so peaceful and tranquil at this time and no noise.
My way of finding the silence and inner peace is to find my favorite places in nature away from the city. While it may not be completely quiet, there is always some noise from the wind in the trees and the songbirds, I can find my inner peace standing at the edge of the woods feeling the warm breezes coming off the open fields.
Bob W.
What a great article – thanks for sharing it with us! I do three things. These are all things I can control, even if I can’t control the traffic noise or someone else’s music.
1) I get up early for my quiet time: a cup of tea, my journal, prayer and meditation.
2) I exercise the power of choice over the radio and TV. In the car or at home I reach a point where I can’t handle more input. I shut things off. I am free to think and feel without distraction.
3) I practice “sitting time.” Noise is about activity as well as sound. I stop reading, writing, planning, doing; I just sit.
Try meditating with The Holosync Solution. Get a free demo at Centerpointe.com
The beach. It is not silence. It is the splendor of the waves, birds and wind together in harmony. The expansive view of the ocean stretching further than the eye can see. The beach is where the mind can run forever.
I liked the above article and would like to brief you with my way of getting away from noise or noisy people/situations:
I simply use my shields: my ears, my eyes, my mouth. If I didn’t hear, then i will not react to noise…and so on with the rest of senses.
what do you think…try it …i did…and it works fine with me
I truly appreciate the articles in your newsletter. Silence, has a noise all its own. Silence allows for the sound of the inner voice to speak to you and remind you of your accomplishments and your short comings. As a Christian it is important to me to set aside time everyday to just listen. I guess you could refer to it like defraging your computer. All the information of the previous day is there and it is all jumbled together without any organization. The silence allows me to sort out and organize what is important and what it is that needs to be accomplished today. It also allows the Lord to speak to me without distractions. It allows me to look more closely at my thoughts and preferences and review if maybe I have gotten of track. My wife and I spend an hour every morning before she goes to school to reenergize our marriage and the reason why we need each other. It is truly the best part of the day for each of us. Without that time together the day just doesn’t go quite right. Through my faith I can handle whatever the Lord sends my way knowing that the one thing I cherish the most is okay – My marriage and my family. Without them and the Lord I really am just going through the motions. All of this gives me purpose for my life. And then we are back to the silence to listen to what I need to listen to today. Try it you’ll like it.
I enjoyed your article.
I started practicing TM meditation 33 years ago. Can’t beat it.
WR
Hi Alex,
Awesome comment about your violin
playing on 4′33′!!!
All the best,
Phil Stern
I always play a cool sound music like classical, jazz and some soft religious music to fight against noise
When I could afford it, a few years ago, I was able toescape to France twice in a year to find solace in silence. I needed to do this as being in an environment where the natives don’t speak my first language, and I know no one, it’s quite liberating. No obligations tied me to the need for communication except needs such as eating, etc. The practice of the breath, and the need to reach deeper within in order to, in reality communicate with God (in prayer) enabled me to tap levels of personal growth that I have been unable to repeat since. So I wholeheartedly agree with your article!
Every day I try to have at least 30 minutes of contemplation and meditation. I chant a mantra and normally within 10-15 seconds I am out. It has added a new and much more whole perspective to my being.
On the topic of Silence…Have you heard of Zoroastrianism? You seem to be singing the praises of Christianity, Judaism, Islam (and by the way, Sufism is the antithesis of Islam), Buddhism and Hinduism…but not Zoroastrianism from which all these other faiths borrowed their entire Belief Systems, i.e. Angelology, the concepts of Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, Armageddon etc. It’s a faith that’s more than 7,000 years old and the first to propogate Monotheism.
It is sad that the greatest religion the world has ever known is not getting its overdue recognition in today’s very troubled world.
Even in present-day Iran it is being practiced in the face of unbelievable opposition from religious fanatics who have been trying to stamp it out for the past 800 years.
I will leave you with this quote by Anne Besant “I dream of a day when the breath of the great Prophet Zarathushtra shall sweep again through His temples, fanning the ashes on the altars of these ancient fanes, and every altar shall flash into flame, and again from heaven the answering flames shall fall making the Iranian religion once more what it ought to be, a beacon-light for the souls of men, one of the greatest religions of the world”.
I have not written my website yet. I will do it later. For the time being from day to day, I enjoy and enrich with knowledge and practical experiences especially the East and the West knowledge.
Best regards,
Viengnakhone
A very interesting topic. I always find it helpful to wake up before 5am and immediately proceed do ablution and then offer the morning prayer. Then I dedicate the first fifteen minutes of the day to silent contemplation. Its easy for me because at that time of the day thre is less noise.
I also use lunch hour at the office which is for a period of one and half hours.After taking lunch I take a thirty minutes nap followed by another 30 minutes of silent contemplation.
During these periods I concentrate on my life areas such as religion, personal development, education, work and family. I write all ideas that come up in my mind during these periods and follw them up with appropriate actions.
Alex –
Perfect!
I meditate every evening and find the silence golden!
Meditation is great for calming my inner spirit… and reminds me that there can be peace within the soul when you take the time to let it find you.
- Girard Frank Bolton, III.
Mobile, Alabama
aka gfb3serv and http://twitter.com/gfb3
I get up an hour before anyone else does in my home (something else I learned from Early to Rise). I don’t need noise-canceling headphones or anything else to enjoy the silence.