Planet ISKCON

Last weekend I experienced a relapse of Ulcerative Colits. The flair-up started off with my eating some dal and feeling very wiped out afterwards. I spelt for a hour and had a horrible burning feeling in my stomach. A few hours later I started getting pains in my abdomen every 5 minutes, each attack lasting for about 30 seconds. Nothing new, I'd been through all this before.

This kind of pain is very debilitating. It destroyed all my imputus to do anything. Why start doing something, if 4 minutes later you'll be floored by an attack of pain? Result: two days of sitting around feeling sorry for my state of existence, chanting inattentively, reading inattentively and observing maya working herself into my consciousness.

Relief came after two days of fasting. The pain subsided into merely an uncomfortable tightening sensation and I could (kind-of) eat fruit and get some (little) energy that. The body is an amazing machine when it works, but very bothersome when it doesn't. And, more often then now, it doesn't.

As much as a release that pain is merely a temporary manifestation of my mind to let me know that something in the body is going wrong, still I find my consciousness very severely affected by it. Anyway, good practice for the time of death.

In general, conflicts should not be seen as "bad". They are something we can learn and grow from. Conflicts, if handled correctly, result in a "win/win" situation where everyone is better off.

Ineffective conflict resolution

1. Battle mode: the idea that we have to fight the other party
2. Avoidance mindset: it will not go away
3. Negotiation, arbitration and bargaining: causes the problem to resurface later, if people are not fully satisfied with the deal
4. Bandage: doing a little something to (half-)patch things up, but not really dealing with the underlying issues
5. Role-playing: approach conflict based on status: "I'm the big leader, so you better do as I say".

Effective conflict resolution

1. Create an effective atmosphere: comfortable, non-threatening
2. Clarify both parties' conceptions of the problem
3. Focus on individual needs and shared needs: what needs do both parties have in common?
4. Build upon these shared positions
5. Learn from the past, but look to the future: don't dwell on the past problems/issues/disagreements
6. Look at various possible solutions: record things that are agreed upon
7. Build upon agreements
8. Form mutually binding agreements on what will be done

In general, conflicts should not be seen as "bad". They are something we can learn and grow from. Conflicts, if handled correctly, result in a "win/win" situation where everyone is better off.

Ineffective conflict resolution

1. Battle mode: the idea that we have to fight the other party
2. Avoidance mindset: it will not go away
3. Negotiation, arbitration and bargaining: causes the problem to resurface later, if people are not fully satisfied with the deal
4. Bandage: doing a little something to (half-)patch things up, but not really dealing with the underlying issues
5. Role-playing: approach conflict based on status: "I'm the big leader, so you better do as I say".

Effective conflict resolution

1. Create an effective atmosphere: comfortable, non-threatening
2. Clarify both parties' conceptions of the problem
3. Focus on individual needs and shared needs: what needs do both parties have in common?
4. Build upon these shared positions
5. Learn from the past, but look to the future: don't dwell on the past problems/issues/disagreements
6. Look at various possible solutions: record things that are agreed upon
7. Build upon agreements
8. Form mutually binding agreements on what will be done

From a series of lectures by Bhakta Tirtha Swami: four spiritual technologies for raising our collective purity. Things to internalize as complementary to the four regs.

1. If there is a conflict: first look at yourself as being at fault.
2. Think of the person who you have the deepest affection for and try to extend that same mindset to everyone.
3. Interact with each other in the spirit that the success or failure of your own KC is dependent on these interactions.
4. Consider that the people you are living with at the moment are likely to be the people who will be there with you when you leave the body. Everyone's consciousness is affected by the quality of the association.

From a series of lectures by Bhakta Tirtha Swami: four spiritual technologies for raising our collective purity. Things to internalize as complementary to the four regs.

1. If there is a conflict: first look at yourself as being at fault.
2. Think of the person who you have the deepest affection for and try to extend that same mindset to everyone.
3. Interact with each other in the spirit that the success or failure of your own KC is dependent on these interactions.
4. Consider that the people you are living with at the moment are likely to be the people who will be there with you when you leave the body. Everyone's consciousness is affected by the quality of the association.

Taking off my researcher hat for a moment: the real reason computers are difficult to use is simply that they are very, very, very complicated. No one expects a F-22 fighter jet to be easy to use, what makes a home computer any different (expect for the price, of course)? (note: the F-22's computer system performance is comparably to a high-end PC, but the plane costs one-hundred thousand times more)

The chips at the heart of modern PCs contain around 50 million transistors and an advanced operating system, like Windows XP, that runs on these chips took 100 million man-hours to create. The computers we use today are the most complicated machines humans have ever created (at least in the last 5000 years of history that we currently have access to). If something is so complicated we should not be astonished it is difficult to use. Quite the contrary, it is amazing that we can do anything at all with them without requiring years of study and training.

Taking off my researcher hat for a moment: the real reason computers are difficult to use is simply that they are very, very, very complicated. No one expects a F-22 fighter jet to be easy to use, what makes a home computer any different (expect for the price, of course)? (note: the F-22's computer system performance is comparably to a high-end PC, but the plane costs one-hundred thousand times more)

The chips at the heart of modern PCs contain around 50 million transistors and an advanced operating system, like Windows XP, that runs on these chips took 100 million man-hours to create. The computers we use today are the most complicated machines humans have ever created (at least in the last 5000 years of history that we currently have access to). If something is so complicated we should not be astonished it is difficult to use. Quite the contrary, it is amazing that we can do anything at all with them without requiring years of study and training.

I was having a discussion with fellow researchers in an academic writing module. We were discussing the difficultly of evaluating our research against some objective criteria. Three of people??(TM)s PhD projects are about improving the ease of performing a certain task (e.g. building an ontology). However, the measure ??oeease?? a series of usability tests are required. HCI however, is something this computer science department does not teach (at all). It is not ??oehard-code engineering?? enough.

Ultimately, these students may end up changing what they do so that they come up with a research hypothesis that is easier to prove. I think this is a major flaw in the way research is conducted. Everything is far too focused on evaluation, evaluation, evaluation. Usability is difficult to objectively evaluate, so most research ends up avoiding usability altogether. The result: completely unusable software that bewilders the average human being.

If only we could relax the so-called objectivity of modern science and introduce some subjectivity. Scientists would be more inclined to the process of improving their subjective state of consciousness and computers might actually become easy to use.

I was having a discussion with fellow researchers in an academic writing module. We were discussing the difficultly of evaluating our research against some objective criteria. Three of people??(TM)s PhD projects are about improving the ease of performing a certain task (e.g. building an ontology). However, the measure ??oeease?? a series of usability tests are required. HCI however, is something this computer science department does not teach (at all). It is not ??oehard-code engineering?? enough.

Ultimately, these students may end up changing what they do so that they come up with a research hypothesis that is easier to prove. I think this is a major flaw in the way research is conducted. Everything is far too focused on evaluation, evaluation, evaluation. Usability is difficult to objectively evaluate, so most research ends up avoiding usability altogether. The result: completely unusable software that bewilders the average human being.

If only we could relax the so-called objectivity of modern science and introduce some subjectivity. Scientists would be more inclined to the process of improving their subjective state of consciousness and computers might actually become easy to use.

I was listening to a lecture series by Bhakti Caitanya Swami (Ten Subjects of Srimad-Bhagavatam). He makes one very interesting point: desire = karma.

If I??(TM)m asked what determines our next body via reincarnation, the usual answer I give is: a mixture of karma and desire. You get what you want according to the amount of ??oebuying power?? you have due to karma. However, as I now realized, the karma is really just another side of the same ??oedesire?? coin. Desire is the root cause of everything.

Any pious activity, which results in good karma and a high quality body, is due to us desiring to perform those activities. By utilizing this stock of good karma, the living entity can then choose its next body from a shelf of high quality bodies, as well as having a sufficiently elevated consciousness to actually desire to inhabitate such a body. Most people (sudras) don??(TM)t actually want to be a CEO (Indra), nor are they qualified to.

I was listening to a lecture series by Bhakti Caitanya Swami (Ten Subjects of Srimad-Bhagavatam). He makes one very interesting point: desire = karma.

If I??(TM)m asked what determines our next body via reincarnation, the usual answer I give is: a mixture of karma and desire. You get what you want according to the amount of ??oebuying power?? you have due to karma. However, as I now realized, the karma is really just another side of the same ??oedesire?? coin. Desire is the root cause of everything.

Any pious activity, which results in good karma and a high quality body, is due to us desiring to perform those activities. By utilizing this stock of good karma, the living entity can then choose its next body from a shelf of high quality bodies, as well as having a sufficiently elevated consciousness to actually desire to inhabitate such a body. Most people (sudras) don??(TM)t actually want to be a CEO (Indra), nor are they qualified to.

I'm slightly singed, but I passed my transfer interview. The interviewers gave me a tough time with the questions. I didn't answer some of their questions to their satisfaction, so I now have to write (yet another) short report answering those questions.

However, in any case, I'm in my second year now (I think).

I'm slightly singed, but I passed my transfer interview. The interviewers gave me a tough time with the questions. I didn't answer some of their questions to their satisfaction, so I now have to write (yet another) short report answering those questions.

However, in any case, I'm in my second year now (I think).

Dave and Hitesh have now both left Manchester for Swansea, Wales. The sea of swans holds a rest-home management job (and lots of service) for Dave and a bhakta course for Hitesh.

This change is certainly good for both of them. However, Manchester just got a little bit lonelier...

Dave and Hitesh have now both left Manchester for Swansea, Wales. The sea of swans holds a rest-home management job (and lots of service) for Dave and a bhakta course for Hitesh.

This change is certainly good for both of them. However, Manchester just got a little bit lonelier...

Dave and Hitesh have now both left Manchester for Swansea, Wales. The sea of swans hold a rest-home management job (and lots of service) for Dave and a bhakta course for Hitesh.

This change is certainly good for both of them. However, Manchester just got a little bit lonelier...

Dave and Hitesh have now both left Manchester for Swansea, Wales. The sea of swans hold a rest-home management job (and lots of service) for Dave and a bhakta course for Hitesh.

This change is certainly good for both of them. However, Manchester just got a little bit lonelier...

The student newspaper conducted a survey of student's drug use over the past two months. They just released the results. Here are the shocking results:

Have you ever taken any illegal drugs? YES ??" 75% NO ??" 25% Have you ever taken any illegal drugs (excluding cannabis)? YES ??" 47% NO ??" 49% No Answer ??" 4% If so, which drugs have you tried? Ecstacy ??" 37% Cocaine ??" 26% Speed ??" 12% Magic Mushrooms ??" 12% Ketamine ??" 9% LSD ??" 8% Crack ??" 4% If so, how often on average do you take drugs? Regularly (at least monthly) ??" 50% Rarely ??" 37% Tried but never again ??" 13% Have you ever tried cannabis? Yes ??" 72% NO ??" 23% Not Answered: 3% If so, how often do you use it? Every day ??" 10% Regularly (at least monthly) ??" 27% Rarely ??" 24% Tried but never again ??" 12% No Answer ??" 23% Why do you take drugs? To enhance a night out ??" 37% Relaxation ??" 31% To fit in ??" 8% No reason ??" 16% Addiction ??" 4%

Do you take drugs alone or with friends? With friends ??" 92% Alone ??" 8% What or who is your key influence when making decisions? Friends ??" 22% Curiosity ??" 47% Media ??" 3% Religion ??" 2% Other ??" 26% Do you think students take too many drugs? YES ??" 37% NO ??" 48% No Answer ??" 15% What do you think of the government??(TM)s attitude to drugs? Too strict ??" 32% About right ??" 33% Not strict enough ??" 25% Do you support the smoking of cannabis in public places? YES ??" 28% NO ??" 56% Not Answered: 16% Do you consider tobacco or alcohol as dangerous as illegal drugs? YES ??" 59% NO ??" 35% No Answer ??" 6%

The student newspaper conducted a survey of student's drug use over the past two months. They just released the results. Here are the shocking results:

Have you ever taken any illegal drugs? YES ??" 75% NO ??" 25% Have you ever taken any illegal drugs (excluding cannabis)? YES ??" 47% NO ??" 49% No Answer ??" 4% If so, which drugs have you tried? Ecstacy ??" 37% Cocaine ??" 26% Speed ??" 12% Magic Mushrooms ??" 12% Ketamine ??" 9% LSD ??" 8% Crack ??" 4% If so, how often on average do you take drugs? Regularly (at least monthly) ??" 50% Rarely ??" 37% Tried but never again ??" 13% Have you ever tried cannabis? Yes ??" 72% NO ??" 23% Not Answered: 3% If so, how often do you use it? Every day ??" 10% Regularly (at least monthly) ??" 27% Rarely ??" 24% Tried but never again ??" 12% No Answer ??" 23% Why do you take drugs? To enhance a night out ??" 37% Relaxation ??" 31% To fit in ??" 8% No reason ??" 16% Addiction ??" 4%

Do you take drugs alone or with friends? With friends ??" 92% Alone ??" 8% What or who is your key influence when making decisions? Friends ??" 22% Curiosity ??" 47% Media ??" 3% Religion ??" 2% Other ??" 26% Do you think students take too many drugs? YES ??" 37% NO ??" 48% No Answer ??" 15% What do you think of the government??(TM)s attitude to drugs? Too strict ??" 32% About right ??" 33% Not strict enough ??" 25% Do you support the smoking of cannabis in public places? YES ??" 28% NO ??" 56% Not Answered: 16% Do you consider tobacco or alcohol as dangerous as illegal drugs? YES ??" 59% NO ??" 35% No Answer ??" 6%

10|1

Last Tuesday and Wednesday were the exam de-stress days at the Student Union. Amelia (the welfare officer) and me organized it. We had a punching bag, herbal tea, exam timetables, tips, tools and advice in the foyer and me in the basement giving 30 minute yoga and meditation sessions. At last that was the plan.

The first three hour no one came. Not a soul. I had wallpapered the University with posters the week before (and it??(TM)s a large University! The largest in the UK with 9,000 staff and 28,802 full-time-equivalent students and an income ?£490.5m). But no one showed up. Obviously Krishna was destroying a bit of my hulking ego.

So then, in the afternoon, one lady in her final year of pharmaceutical studies showed up and was eager to do some mantra mediation. We did some chanting and had a nice discussion. After her, three more ladies interested in yoga, then two guys for meditation and three more ladies for yoga. Over the two days, a total 16 people got a little taste of an alternative mode-of-goodness way of de-stressing and chanting vaisnava mantras. That makes me very happy.

The yoga teaching was interesting. By Atmananda??(TM)s mercy I was able to teach power yoga and slow-deep aerobic yoga mini sessions. The slow-deep aerobic yoga was especially effective. The students enthusiastically commented how super-relaxing it was. They were spellbound, asking question after question, intent on my every word.

I was surprised at their enthusiasm. After all, yoga, no matter how good, is still just yoga. Unlike chanting the Maha-Mantra, I don??(TM)t find it especially fantastic. On the other hand, if it works for helping the ??oelowest of the student community??, I??(TM)m not one to artificially renounce it.

Everyone that came, of course, also got a bit of prasadam: cookies from Hitesh??(TM)s skilled hands. Hitesh also took the pictures of the event.

In the end, the exam de-stress days were a great success. I enjoyed it, the student union official liked it, the students got a bit of a taste of KC and as my Guru Maharaja recently told me ??oeyou never know when the seeds will sprout??.

10|1

Last Tuesday and Wednesday were the exam de-stress days at the Student Union. Amelia (the welfare officer) and me organized it. We had a punching bag, herbal tea, exam timetables, tips, tools and advice in the foyer and me in the basement giving 30 minute yoga and meditation sessions. At last that was the plan.

The first three hour no one came. Not a soul. I had wallpapered the University with posters the week before (and it??(TM)s a large University! The largest in the UK with 9,000 staff and 28,802 full-time-equivalent students and an income ?£490.5m). But no one showed up. Obviously Krishna was destroying a bit of my hulking ego.

So then, in the afternoon, one lady in her final year of pharmaceutical studies showed up and was eager to do some mantra mediation. We did some chanting and had a nice discussion. After her, three more ladies interested in yoga, then two guys for meditation and three more ladies for yoga. Over the two days, a total 16 people got a little taste of an alternative mode-of-goodness way of de-stressing and chanting vaisnava mantras. That makes me very happy.

The yoga teaching was interesting. By Atmananda??(TM)s mercy I was able to teach power yoga and slow-deep aerobic yoga mini sessions. The slow-deep aerobic yoga was especially effective. The students enthusiastically commented how super-relaxing it was. They were spellbound, asking question after question, intent on my every word.

I was surprised at their enthusiasm. After all, yoga, no matter how good, is still just yoga. Unlike chanting the Maha-Mantra, I don??(TM)t find it especially fantastic. On the other hand, if it works for helping the ??oelowest of the student community??, I??(TM)m not one to artificially renounce it.

Everyone that came, of course, also got a bit of prasadam: cookies from Hitesh??(TM)s skilled hands. Hitesh also took the pictures of the event.

In the end, the exam de-stress days were a great success. I enjoyed it, the student union official liked it, the students got a bit of a taste of KC and as my Guru Maharaja recently told me ??oeyou never know when the seeds will sprout??.