Author Archives: Candidasa dasa, UK

Acupuncture (part 8): emotional role model
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Happy   sad

After the great morning class by Adikarta I hopped on a train back to Manchester. On the way I stopped off in Hereford for an appointment with Dr. Philip Weeks.

The combination of irregular meals, too much heat, deep-fried foods, too much exercise and not enough sleep while I was staying in Swansea had temporarily put my digestion out of action. My body recovered soon enough however. Note to self: you must not stay in an unregulated environment for too long, else your body might not be able to heal itself.

Phil played a bit of a psychologist/counsellor role and got me to explore my hidden emotional world. He wanted me to understand, express and label my emotions. There is a washing machine full of emotions inside of me, just itching to be let out.

Example: he asked me what I would want to say to someone at Uni who puts me down, or insults me. After thinking about it for a while I answered that I would want to lecture them on their positions as not being their body and being too much absorbed in the false ego (ahankara). But that would be an intellectual response. He wanted an emotional reaction. I found this a very difficult aspect to get my head around. Indeed, that is part of the problem; I try to understand, I don’t just simply “feel”.

Philip felt that my medical condition was deeply linked to my suppressing my emotions. I’m doing a lot better now than even just one year ago, but there is only so much that he can do with acupuncture, herbs, tinctures, nutrition, drugs, magnets, homeopathy and Ayurveda (quite a repertoire, no?). The key to a complete cure is this emotional issue, since that is the underlying cause of my ulcerative colitis.

Quite simply: I don’t value emotions. I don’t think they are important. Western education reinforces this world view. Intellectualism is seen as supreme. Emotions are a necessary evil that pops up every now and again. Heck, I’m doing a PhD in Description Logic! No chance for emotions there.

Blocking out the so-called “negative” emotions doesn’t make them go away; instead they fester inside of the body and come out in unhealthy ways (for example: colon ulcers). Paradoxically, by attempting to block the negative emotions we also stop ourselves from feeling and experiencing positive emotions. All joy and fun in life slowly disappears. We become miserable, cold-hearted logicians, instead of being bubbly happy campers.

I could see what Phil was talking about. He suggested I find an emotion role model: a profoundly emotional person whom I could deeply respect and imitate. That would help me to understand and value emotions.

After a long discussion Phil stuck some needles in my lower back (which was actually quite painful) and my arm pit. Apparently this successfully unblocked a prana / chi route into my digestion. Now more energy will be able to power those bodily functions. After the treatment I felt a strange kind of muscular fatigue; kind of like I’d been lifting weights for an hour. Acupuncture is powerful stuff. He also gave me a preparation that will help my body produce more enzymes and detox more.

Oh yeah, if anyone knows of a good emotional role model for me: please suggest.

Swansea visit Day 3: Yoga and Technology
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Karana Karana Devi DasiSome of Karana Karana??(TM)s yoga students commented something interesting. They were admiring Karana??(TM)s use of technology in her yoga sessions. Specifically, they loved how she used her trusty 12?? Apple Powerbook to both play the really nice high-quality background music and remind her of the lesson plan.

No paper. No cassette player (do those still exist?). No ugly monster computer filled full of virus and spyware that crashes every 5 seconds (although there was one like that in the office next door).

She could also, of course, access any other lesson plan, burn practice CDs for students, swap-in other music, print-out handouts (ok, maybe some paper does exist), create custom audio loops and time the class.

The students were saying that, in their experience, no other yoga teacher used technology at all, let alone in such an effective and impressive way.

We call it: yukta-vairagya. Here is an essay by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on the topic.

Swansea visit Day 3: Mega Bonanza
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Next day in Swansea. This morning I was again (at the last minute) requested to give the Caitanya Caritamrita class. I somehow managed to speak something, but wished I had had more time to prepare.

Then, after a very light breakfast, having learnt my lesson from a few days ago, intensive yoga training. We started off with a new style of kundalini yoga that Karana Karana wanted to try out. I liked it. It involved lots of sun salutes synchronized with various mantras. I think it would be more accessible than the standard kundalini weird breathing stuff (though there was, of course, plenty of weird breathing in this set as well).

After the kundalini work-out came a full power yoga session taught by the aspiring yoga teachers. The students took turns to teach a few asanas each. Judgement: they were good. Really good! A little meek and unsure of themselves, but with a little bit more practice, Atma Yoga will soon have 10 new expert yoga teachers added to its ranks.

After the power yoga session came another power yoga session. Whew! This one was thankfully a little shorter than the last, but my body was nevertheless starting to rebel.

After the mega-yoga bonanza we had a late lunch. During lunch a devotee came up to me and asked if I wanted to give the Sunday Feast class (due to start in 15-minutes). They wanted to give their congregation a break from hearing from the usual two speakers, not to mention those usual speakers were still out on harinam and unlikely to be back in time. So I hesitantly agreed, not having a clue what I would talk about.

I decided to speak on a verse I really like: BG9.2. By popular request, here is a recording of the class (sorry about the terrible sound quality. I blame it on the cheap, piece-of-junk MP3 player that was used to make the recording. So please: never buy the cheapest electronics products, they are junk!).

(notice the new feature: this blog now has a build-in MP3 player)

After the class I served out the feast to the guests (not wanting to eat so soon after having lunch). Then, when everyone had taken, I also ate some prasadam ??¦ a short while afterwards I collapsed in a chair, exhausted both in body and in mind. Next stop: bed.

Swansea Visit Day 2: Mantra Tantric
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The next day in Swanseas Govinda??(TM)s Vegetarian Restaurant / ISKCON Temple I was asked (ropped into) giving the morning Caitanya Caritamrita class.atma yoga teachers training

It was day for the Mantra Tantric session of the yoga teacher??(TM)s training course. Tantra by the way, just means ??oepractice??. The word has all kinds of negative connotations, but the original meaning is simply to practice mantra chanting. Simple.

The Mantra Tantra session goes as follows: students pair up and sit cross-legged about one metre from each other, staring to each others eyes while repeating a mantra. The mantra is also running as a tape in the background. Everyone in the room chants in unison. The intense gaze of the other person forces one to be attentive to the chanting. One can??(TM)t ??oespace-out?? as the other person would immediately notice and make one feel guilt.

We chanted a total of seven different mantras. The first and last for 30 minutes and the other five for 1 hour each (with 15 minute breaks in between).

Mantras included:

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jaya advaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrinda

vancha-kalpa-tarubhyash ca
kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Haraya nama Krishna yadavaya namah
gopala govinda rama sri-madhusudana

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Hari haraya namah

Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

It is a serious austerity. For some people it was the most difficult part of the teacher training. Physical austerity is one thing, but this kind of serious meditation really messes with one??(TM)s mind. It??(TM)s not easy. However, if one is committed to the process and ensures the austerity one derives great personal benefit. Proper austerity always results in increased personal power. Atmananda (the founder of Atma Yoga) says that one Mantra Tantric session gives as much benefit as 1000 Power Yoga classes.

I was paired up with the only other male yoga student. We did well. Still, my mind would be kicking and screaming as the hour long chanting session progressed. However, gradually it became more and more peaceful. The first 2 hours were the most difficult. Also, sitting in one place the whole day was somewhat painful. I felt that the next day.

Many hours later ??¦ we were rewarded with a very nice feast. Haribol!

A gallery of pictures of the events may be found here.

unique MacBook (Pro) features review (hardware & software)
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macbook pro galleryAnd now for a review of the various hardware features that make an Apple Macbook notebook computer stand out. All these are reasons to purchase a Macbook or Macbook Pro instead of a standard, run-of-a-mill PC.

No viruses or spyware: no need to run a virus scanner, spyware removal tool, or third-party firewall. Macs just don’t get computer viruses (note: they might in the future, but for the moment there are zero viruses on the Mac platform).

Super-fast dual core processor: no slow down. By far the fastest computer I’ve ever used. Two processors means that while the computer is busy doing a processor intensive operation, there is no interface slow-down. The other processor turns on and helps out. The net-effect is a computer that is nearly double as fast as an older laptop equipped with the Pentium-M processor (which often still retail for around the same price as Macs). According to systemshoot, my 2.16 Ghz MacBook Pro is equivalent to a hypothetical 5.2 Ghz Pentium 4 processor. Don’t be fooled by the Mhz-myth. Higher clock-rate number does not necessarily mean faster computer. Don’t be ripped off by last year’s significantly slower processor technology.

Front-row remote control: a tidy, simple, 6-button, infrared remote control comes with the Mac. It can be used to remote control presentations, music playback, DVD playback, show photo slideshows and adjust the volume. A special enlarged interface flies out from the screen at the press of a button, so you can see all the controls from across the room.

Sudden motion sensor: in built-gyroscope that detects if the computer is dropped and secures the hard drive in mid-air to prevent any damage or data-loss.

In-built iSight camera: high-resolution built-in video camera that can be used for video chat over the Internet and taking pictures of oneself (with Apple’s fun little Photobooth application). It also works surprisingly well in low light. Much better than any other webcam I’ve used.

ATi Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card: a super-powerful graphics card that can easily drive the nice 3D graphic effects of the operating systems. It can also easily drive a 30-inch external display (resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pixels). It can also handle any modern, graphics-intensive game you can throw at it. Downside of all this power is that the graphics card eats battery power. If Apple had gone with a less powerful graphic card, the computer would probably last an hour longer when running on battery.

MagSafe power connector: the power connector attaches magnetically. Just move it near the edge of the computer and it snaps into place by itself. Much better than any clumsy plug-in connector. It also removes just as easily, so accidentally tripping over the power cord won’t send the computer flying off the table. It also has a little light on the connector that tells you instantly if the battery is still charging, or fully charged.

Power supply cable ties: two little “feet” flip out from the power supply and can be used to wrap the power cord up quickly and tidily.

Slot-loading DVD drive. Just push the disk in and the drive sucks it in. No breakable pop-out tray to take care of. No delicate laser lens to get smudged.

Ambient light sensor: A sensor under the speaker grills detects the amount of ambient light and adjusts the screen brightness accordingly. The computer won’t blast you with an ultra-bright screen if it’s not necessary, saving both your eyes and battery life.

Bright screen: the screen is really clear, crisp and bright.

Instant sleep and restore: close the lid and the computer reliably goes to sleep. Open the lid and two seconds later the computer is read to use again, wireless Internet working, music playing, etc. It just works. The system also automatically saves the contents of the memory to disk (hibernate / safe-sleep) in case the battery power runs out, or someone removes / swaps the battery.

Magnetic / disappearing latch: the MacBook Pro has a disappearing latch. No ugly hook on the top of the lid, the latch retracts into the case when not in use. The MacBook takes this even further: it has no latch whatsoever, but secures the lid using a magnet. No moving parts to break (the latch is one of the things that frequently breaks on laptops).

Silent operation: makes almost no sound. Even when the fan comes on it is quieter than my old laptop running without its fan.

Hot swappable battery: put the computer to sleep by closing the lid, flick the spring-loaded levels on the bottom of the laptop and remove the battery. Put in a replacement battery, open the lid, wait a few seconds and continue working right where you left off. No need to save work, no need to reboot. Each battery also has a little read-out that displays how much charge it carries, so one can check the state of a battery without plugging it in.

Scrolling trackpad: using two fingers on the trackpad allows one to scroll the window. This may not sound like much of a feature, but is really useful. It’s very intuitive to just scroll with two fingers. No more hunting for the tiny scroll bar on the side of the window.

Built-in microphone: a microphone is built in to the case somewhere, so audio chat just works, without the need for an extra external mic. Very good quality, too. Apples own iChat application even does perfect echo cancellation, so one does not even need a headset for audio chats. Unfortunately, Skype has not yet figured out how to do this, so chatting using that is not quite as perfect an experience.

Bluetooth (2.0) that actually works: a friend’s IBM laptop has bluetooth, but it doesn’t actually work because Windows messes up the driver. Bluetooth headsets, bluetooth mice, bluetooth keyboards, bluetooth phone synchronization (so you can, for example, write text messages on the Mac and send them using the phone, or go online through the phone’s wireless connection); it all just works. Extra bonus is version 2.0 of bluetooth gives three times faster data transfer rates, better battery life and stereo audio support (though Apple has not yet implemented that feature).

Wifi: good wireless range in spite of the metal case and super easy configuration on any wireless network. The wireless antenna is on the hinge connecting the display to the bottom-case, which greatly improves reception from the previous generation Apple Powerbooks.

Firewire port: to plug in digital video cameras and download films directly onto the computer. Most PCs don’t have this connector.

Optical 5.1 audio in/out: headphone and mic input that support up to 6 channels of simultaneous audio.

Good keyboard: nice responsive keyboard with sturdy keys that don’t appear like they’re about to fall off at any moment (unlike my old Dell laptop).

Works well with the iPod: synchronizes flawlessly and quickly with the iPod MP3 player.

Single hinge design: the entire back panel of the computer is one continuous hinge. No cheap plastic hinge that can break off easily (something that has happened to me on every other laptop I’ve owned).

Attractive durable case design: the MacBook Pro’s aluminum case looks very beautiful. Great design. No frankenstein-like case with ports, buttons and connectors jutting out of everywhere. There is not even a visible fan air exhaust hole in the case. Apple has cleverly hidden the cooling fan slots under the display’s hinge, making them all but invisible. The casing is also more durable than the typical plastic case. Metal doesn’t tend to chip, split, scratch, or crack. The MacBook is made out of polycarbonate plastic (the same stuff that bullet proof glass is made out of), making it even more resilient than the MacBook Pro.

Super thin: only one inch thin. Every other laptop looks fat and clunky in comparison. The Macbook Pro is at least an inch thinner than most competing laptops.

Ultra-light weight: at 5.6 pounds (2.54 kg) the MacBook Pro is about 1 kg lighter than the equivalent Dell laptops. It is surprisingly lightweight for the size of the machine.
Gigabit ethernet: wired LAN networking that has 10 times faster file transfers than the usual 100 megabit network that is standard on most PCs.

Potentially low EMF radiation: the all metal body may reduce the EMF radiation emitted by the computer, though I have not been able to test this as of yet.
Stable: hardly ever crashes. No random restarts. No performance degradation over time. The Mac OS X operating system keeps itself in running order without user intervention.

Good tech support: Apple support is rated the best in the industry (and Dell isn’t doing too well lately). You can also walk into any of the world-wide Apple stores, or many authorized service provider shops and get support from the so-called “Mac Geniuses” there.

Automatic external display configuration: plug an external display or projector in and the computer auto-detects it and configures the correct display setting automatically.
Runs windows: can use a software called Parallels to run Windows XP in a window from inside the Mac operating system, or can use Apple’s own free Boot Camp software (recently updated) to reboot into Windows and use the Mac just like any other (really fast) Windows computer (and, for those Unix hacker out there: it does Linux, too).

Runs Microsoft Office. Microsoft make Word, Excel and Powerpoint for the Mac operating system.

iLife: the best suite of digital lifestyle applications out there. iPhoto stores digital camera pictures, iMovie is a full-blown movie editor, iDVD makes making professional looking DVD film disks easy, iWeb allows easy authoring of websites, iTunes stores and organizes MP3s, GarageBand makes podcast production easy and is the perfect software for recording one’s own band (and all these applications work together seamlessly).

iWork: the Pages word processor is faster and easier to use than Microsoft Word and allows one to produce much more stylish looking printed pages. The Keynote presentation software is in a different class altogether from Powerpoint. Much easier to use, professional looking slides and transitions and some unique, cool and useful features.

Easy to use, elegant, feature filled Mac OS X operating system. No other operating system even comes close. It’s like night and day going from Windows to Mac OS X: it just works. USB devices recognized instantly, drag and drop works between every application, can zoom into a portion of the screen for magnified reading, or detailed editing, can tile each window using a tool called Expos?© to quickly switch between applications, near instant full-text searching of every file on the hard drive, a dashboard of useful little widget utilities (currency converter, language translator, dictionary, world clock, calendar, calculator, notepad, etc) can be called up at a touch of a button, built-in voice recognition (to control the computer by talking to it) and screen-reader, automatic as-you-type spell-checker in every application, the list of useful features and nice little touches goes on and on and on …

Price: only slightly ($100 – $200) more expensive than a PC from HP or Dell with the same basic hardware configuration. Though, of course, those computers don’t come with any of the extras I’ve just listed.

Negatives can be summed up in two issues: heat and battery life.

This thing gets hot, really hot. It may be because the metal case conducts heat more easily, it may be that the invisible cooling fan slots impedes airflow, it may be that the fan is set to come on at too high a temperature, or it may just be because the computer is so darn thin. Whatever the cause, the Macbook Pro (and, to a lesser extent, the Macbook) can be very hot to the touch / lap. It’s fine when just writing emails, but as soon as the computer has to work hard at some calculation the temperature really becomes noticeable. Apple even warns: don’t put the “laptop” on your lap. It might burn you.

Then there is battery life. The bright screen, powerful graphics card and speedy processor certainly take their toll on the battery. On top of that comes the super-thin case, which does not allow for a large hulking battery. So, while Apple is using the latest high-tech lithium-polymer battery, the battery life sucks! I get only 2 – 3 hours of battery power (wifi on, normal screen brightness, moderate use, no sound playing).

Unfortunately, some faults have occurred with this machine: the fan occasionally makes a ratcheting noise, like a piece of card being stuck in the spokes of a bike’s wheel; the computer makes the infamous whining noise when on battery power (though that might now be solved); and my battery has died on me. However, Apple support was quick, friendly and forthcoming with repairs (apart from the whine – I’m still going to hassle them about that), so no hard feelings. Still, one gets the impression that there are still a few bugs to work out with the hardware.

All in all: I recommend the MacBook to everyone. In my opinion, there is no reason whatsoever that anyone should buy anything other than an Apple notebook computer. The MacBook Pro is the ultimate power-user machine. The MacBook is a really great deal (cheaper even than the equivalent dull Dell) and almost as powerful as the Pro.

(and here a picture gallery of the MacBook Pro)