My father is my hero.

He was born in 1933 in a tiny village in India at a time when the country was incredibly poor, with people dying of hunger every day. His mother died when he was 3, and his father passed away when he was 20.

Somehow, he managed to put himself through college. But even when Dad got a job in Bombay Indias biggest city he was still broke with a family to support.

So in 1974, he applied for a job in Dubai, a little-known place at the time.

Dont go! his siblings told him when he got the position. But while Indias prospects were horrible, Dubai had just found oil. He knew taking a chance on Dubai was a better bet a calculated risk.

I have nothing to lose, he told his family when he took the job.

In hindsight, going to Dubai was a no-brainer. The city grew spectacularly, and Dad made 100,000 times more money than if hed stayed in India.

My dad took a calculated risk when he took a chance on Dubai, and it paid off in spades.

Im my fathers son. Calculated risk-taking is my philosophy when it comes to investing and trading. Its how I made money for clients while on Wall Street. Its how I invest my own money now.

See, a calculated risk in the financial markets means you take opportunities when the odds are in your favor. That way, when you invest, you have a good chance of making money. You never get a guarantee, of course, but when I get good odds, I make the bet.

And looking back over my 25 years of investing, its worked out for me more often than not

I started my career on Wall Street in 1991 as a research assistant at Deutsche Bank, and I quickly advanced to prominent positions at Bankers Trust and ING, managing multimillion-dollar accounts. In 2006, I was recruited by the two owners of a $6 billion firm to be the key manager of their hedge fund.

Soon after I joined, the firms assets under management soared to $25 billion.

Everyone took notice.

Barrons named us one of the Worlds Best funds for averaging 43% returns during my tenure.

The Templeton Foundation even invited me to take part in a prestigious investment competition. They wanted to see what I could do with $50 million. Well, during a two-year period, I was able to make a 76% return. Not bad, considering I did this during the 2008 and 2009 economic crisis, and I did it without shorting stocks or making risky bets.

When I won the competition, I was thrust into the limelight. And Ive since appeared on CNBC, Fox Business News and Bloomberg TV but even when I was center stage, most people never knew about my personal gains, or the strategy Ive used to secure my wealth.

For instance, I uncovered a stock by the name of Sarepta Therapeutics when it was in the infancy stage of developing a drug to treat muscular dystrophy. I invested in the company and made a gain of 2,539%.

And while most people were skeptical of Netflix in 2008, I wasnt. Having insight on technological advancements, I knew the future of television was streaming online video. I invested and made gains of 634%.

I also saw a huge opportunity in Universal Display when they created organic LED technology. I discovered the opportunity very early on and pocketed gains of 293%.

I got in on the ground floor of Googles initial public offering (IPO), despite a huge amount of negative sentiment surrounding the stock and made more than double my investment. Since its IPO, Googles stock has shot up a whopping 2,234%!

After making all my gains, I retired at the age of 40 and moved into a country home located on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina.

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Welcome to Paul Mampilly - Banyan Hill Investment Guru

Life coaching is more than just helping people by using certain outlines. The transformation and discovery of who you really are and what you are capable off during your attendance of a life coaching course is the foundation of knowledge that will unlock your true potential as a life coach.

(P.S. Kindly Click the Home button in the Menu Bar Above for our new Website Layout that contains much more details.)

With an experience of life and seeing the bigger picture behind every thought, feeling and action, we will totally gain a different perspective and an inner wisdom which totally give us an advantage in life. To become a life coach is to always have the knowledge, tools and skill to cope with life and learn how to use your full potential in achieving your goals and achieving a sense of inner happiness.

This is the kind of guidance and help which people are desperately looking for, not only for themselves but also to help other people and especially their loved ones. It is the guidance from someone that truly mastered the experience of life and that is what we call a true life coach.

When you enrol into our life coaching courses, we will make sure that you gain all the knowledge about the effect of thoughts, feelings and actions that are currently controlling so many people in a disempowering way. Anything that you or anyone else is having a lack of, like success, health, and abundance is not because you or they are not destined for happiness, but mostly from a lack of knowledge! Does that make any sense to you? Why people become who and what they are? What is the difference between happy and unhappy people?

Today we are privileged to have so much scientifically proven information about the mind and the effect that our thinking is having on our outcomes. When you become a life coach through our Transformation Life Coach Training Academy, you will be equipped with very powerful Advanced Transformation Coaching Techniques, Revolutionary Life Coaching Methodologies, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Negative Emotional Therapy to help your self and your clients with almost all kinds of problems and unwanted behaviours.

Understanding ourselves and the mind will totally empower us to become who we always knew we were. It is so phenomenal to experience life in a different way that is always giving us growth, love and joy. When you are your own life coach or a life coach to others, you will become unstoppable and also know that everything is possible and that just gives so much meaning and inner fulfilment to living life at its fullest.

At our Transformation Life Coach Training Academy we equipped you with all the knowledge, skills and tools to totally empower and transform anyones life. We always deliver results and with the knowledge our coaches gain, they immediately start on a journey of self-discovery with the faith of knowing exactly what they always desired to be. For more information on the course layout and what you will learn, click the link below:

By having an empowering feeling is the key to fuel our faith for the things we believe in. We can just create the life we want easily and effortlessly when we believe in ourselves. The question is just: Do you know who and what you really are?

At our Transformation Coaching Academy we train and certify people to make a success of everything they set their mind on. All our courses are Accredited Internationally by the International Coaches Register & ANLP.

After completing our training you will be Certified as a:

Take the Courage Now and find out exactly how easy you can Become a Life Coach.

Discover yourself in our Life Coaching Courses by reading more about the Course Layout by Clicking Here. Better yet, book your seat today for one of our live Life Coach Training Course or order your own Life Coaching DVD Home Study Course.

P.S. Fill in the form and we will send you all the information you need and when you love what you see we will contact you to answer any other questions.

From day one, minute one, I enjoyed the energy of Burk and Isobel that lasted throughout the week. The course offered a whole lot more than I expected with so much extra added material, value and insight. I cant express enough what the practical training was providing to me. The experience that Burk and Isobel impart is delivered with passion and tangible enthusiasm. I recommend that anybody wanting to have an awesome life changing experience get in touch and enroll today so that you too can enjoy the rest of your life to the fullest. Ray Booth

What a life changing experience. It went beyond any course and became an experience that has changed my life forever. It has made me, the me, I have always envisioned and knew was inside of me. I have let go of my past limiting beliefs and am filled with self-love and confidence that will help me live my every day to its fullest and to grow! It has inspired me to help others see their true inner selves and experience this feeling I feel right now after completing this training. When I look deep inside, there are no words to describe what this training has done for me. I am a new me. A Me that I love unconditionally. A Me that cannot wait to see what the future has in store and the potential that it carries. Neha Patel Civil Engineer

Life Coach Extraordinaire Firstly it shifted my way of looking at life. I know now that my life is my creation. Burk and Isobel a true gems to this Planet and an absolute gift to us all. Burk and Isobel made Life Coaching & NLP like second nature to me. I am Positive and inspired to conquer every hurdle and challenge that life presents. I am totally fearless and this world is mine. The process was so carefully and caringly presented. I am now and forever grateful for this Gift. Thank you, Burk and Isobel. I can openly say that I am empowered. I love you both and I wish for you and your family lifes richest Blessings and amazing health, wealth and longevity. Please maintain your autonomous nature!! Krishna Sivan Reddy

This was one of two massive life changing experiences for me. Ill never be the person I was before I came on this course and for that I am extremely and utterly grateful. I feel I have been given a second chance on life and I can now have the life Ive always dreamed of the life I deserve! Burk and Isobel have made such a significant change in me and to them I owe everything. No amount of money is worth the experience and value and empowerment that I received. Even my handwriting has changed a bit for the better This has been the greatest, happiest and most empowering journey of my life and its only the beginning!! Thank you Michelle Naude

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Guide to Vegan and Vegetarian Travel in Iceland

Iceland has a lot to offer travelers (particularly travelers who appreciate scenic, desolate landscapes, vast expanses of strange terrain, and surreal spaces as if not from this earth). Geisers, glaciers, fumaroles, volcanoes, and craters. Lava fields, boiling mud pits, and thermal springs. Towering rock formations, giant waterfalls and wide iceberg lagoons. And when weather conditions are right, one can see the aurora borealis, beautiful cloud patterns, and huge rainbows spanning the entire sky. Local residents take a lot of pride in their countrys natural beauty and their large scale reliance on renewable energy. Hydroelectric and geothermal power supply Icelands primary energy and water sources. Sound incredible? Thats because it is. Iceland is the type of place that makes you feel small and fragile powerless when engulfed by all this nature. Its really an amazing place to see with spectacular scenery you wont find anywhere else, so take your time.At least a month is probably necessary to get a good appreciation for all the country has to offer more time if youre relying on catching rides (autostop) or using public transportation.

So in summary, Iceland is a great travel destination.But is it a great travel destination for vegans? Wellthat that question requires a more detailed response.

A quick glance at a guidebook would probably tell you no.

Typical regional specialties include harfiskur (dried fish pieces), hangikjt (smoked lamb), svi(boiled sheeps head), hkarl (putrified shark), sviasulta (head cheese), soured rams testicles, blood pudding,and skyr (a thick yogurt-like dairy product).

Iceland is notorious for its commercial whaling industry, marine products account for a large percentage of the countrys exports, and animal products dominate the regions food culture. Many restaurants specialize in seafood because the ingredients are fresh, local, and easily accessible. And some restaurants, particularly ones that cater to tourists, even serve whale meat and other threatened species. Adventurous travelers who dont want to miss out on the countrys edible delights, fuel this exotic foodie tourism and orderthreatened species like grilled puffin and minke whale steak.

Its hard to fathom how someone can appreciate the beauty of these powerful, intelligent creatures during a wildlife or whale watching tour.then enjoy that same animal for dinner without any hesitation. But hoards of tourists do that every day. The Reykjavik Grapevine has a good article about this (read:Whale Watching Tourists Eating Whale).

Another thing that can make Iceland a particularly tricky destination for vegans is that its fruit and vegetable supply (particularly in the more rural areas) can be pretty meager. Since Iceland is an island destination with a cold climate and the majority of the countrys land mass is mountainous and volcanic, only a fraction of Icelands land is arable. Most vegetables are imported or grown in greenhouses, so the selection isnt always great and prices very drastically.

Despite some of the obvious obstacles Iceland poses for veggie travelers, it is definitely a place worth exploring and vegan and vegetarian travelers will do just fine.

Iceland is certainly no vegan paradise, as it is not well known for its veg-friendly cuisine. But most places can at least adapt one menu item to be made vegan. Foods incorporating locally grown barley are pretty common. And fresh rye (rgbrau)is popular throughout the country. Brennivn, another local specialty, is a traditional liquor made of potatoes and flavored with caraway seeds. Crowberries, blueberries, rhubarb, Iceland moss, wild mushrooms,wild thyme,lovage,angelica, and dried seaweed are also local ingredients that make up Icelandic cuisine. Locally grown vegetables most commonly available in markets are the more hardy vegetables that can survive cold climates (things like cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, and potatoes). Good travel foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, paprikas, and avocados, can often be found too. But they can often be quite expensive.

In the larger cities like Reykjavik and Akureyri, there are actually quite a few restaurants and health food stores that cater to vegetarians (listed further down in this article). Since you likely wont spend all your time in Reykjavik though, youll want to stock up on supplies while youre there.

In more isolated areas (which is basically most other places)it becomes a bit more difficult to find fresh ingredients. And youll have to be more creative and resourceful. This isnt difficult to do it just requires a bit more work. I have a more general list of vegan travel tips that will probably be useful as well, but here are some tips that I think apply specifically to vegan travel in Iceland.

Tips for Being a Happy & Healthy Vegan in Iceland

Vegan/Vegetarian Food in Iceland

Iceland has several restaurants that specifically cater to vegans and vegetarians.A more extensive list of vegan-friendly restaurants & health food stores in Iceland can be found on the Happy Cow Web site (with reviews, price ranges, etc.)but mentioned below are the few I managed to check out while I was there.

Veggie Places I Visited in Reykjavik

Please Note: I wrote this years ago and some of this info may be outdated. Always double check the actual Web sites before visiting these places.

A Naestu Grosum

Address: 20b Laugavegur (the main shopping street)Tel: 552 8410Mon-Fri: 11.30-14.00 and 18.00-22.00Saturday: 11-30-21.00Sunday: 18.00-22.00

Vegetarian whole foods restaurant with daily vegan specials, hearty rye bread, hummus, and chutneys.

Graenn Kostur

Address: Skolavordustigur 8B (Reykjavik) Tel: 552 2028.Open: Mon-Sat 11-30-21.00.Sunday: 16-00 21.00

Healthy, whole foods vegetarian restaurant with great wheat-free and vegan options and pitchers full of fruit-infused waters.

Kaffihusid Gardurinn (Ecstasys Heart Garden)

Small vegetarian cafe with daily soup and entree specials each day and always at least one vegan option. Soup is served with homemade bread and hummus.

Cafe Babalu

Skolavoroustigur 22a, City CentreReykjavik Iceland+354-5522278

Cozy cafe with wifi and some great veggie and vegan options (like vegan carrrot cake, chamomile soy latte, soups).

Kaffi Hjomalind

Cozy vegetarian coffee shop with vegan baked goods, nice coffee, wifi, community computer, a book library, and a room downstairs reserved for various classes/workshops/meetings/meditation. Good stuff!

Veggie Places I Visited in Akureyri

More Info For Vegans Traveling To Iceland

Guides and Articles:

Iceland for Vegans

The Idiots Guide to Being a Spendthrift Vegetarian in Iceland

Restaurants and Stores:

HappyCow Health Food Stores and Vegetarian Restaurants in Reykjavik

Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants and Health Food Stores in Iceland

Vegetarian/Veg-Friendly Restaurants in Iceland

Blogs & Articles:

Veganlicious A Vegan in Iceland

Lolas Vegan Blog Vegan Vacation: Iceland

Bods Blog Vegetarian Iceland

Fredric Patenaude Eating Raw, Vegan, and Vegetarian in Reykjavik, Iceland

The Reykjavik Grapevine Vegan Iceland?

Veg Dining Land of Contraditions: Veggie Traveling in Iceland

Vegan World Trekker Sights, Sounds, and Vegan Tastes of Iceland

Vegetarian Travel Companies

IcelandVegetarian.com

Phrases for Vegans in Iceland:

g er grnmetista (I am a vegetarian)

g bora ekki kjt (I do not eat meat)

g bora ekki _______ ( I do not eat _____)

kjukling (chicken)

mjolfurafuroir (dairy)

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Vegetarian and Vegan Travel Guide - Iceland | Circle Our Earth

The worlds perception of human psychology has changed and evolved a lot during the last couple of decades.

However, in spite of all this knowledge, a lot of people still mistakenly believe that self-improvement means reading a few books and then starting to change your life on your own. But the truth is that the discussion is a lot more nuanced than that.

Personal development can be pursued in a variety of ways, from joining support groups to following positive examples from your peers and so on. There are as many alternatives as there are people in the world, and we all have some sort of untapped potential just waiting to be explored.

Its no secret that popular culture has been promoting the better you concept for so long, it has now become a clich of sorts.

And according to common myths on the topic, being the ultimate version of yourself means always performing bigger and better than others, and doing it constantly. However, such misconceptions are more of a drawback than anything else.

Buying into the generalizations and stereotypes sold by many self-proclaimed self-help experts can lead to massive burnouts caused by an excessive drive to always best other in everything.

In reality, self-improvement doesnt imply anything of the sort. In order to not allow this way of thinking to harm your progress, you need to come to terms with the actual facts.

Although it is mostly true that any change, no matter how small, should come from inside you, it shouldnt become a me against the rest of the world type of endeavor.

This is a widely-encountered misconception that is, unfortunately, a clear recipe for disaster in most cases, and heres why.

Constant rivalry brings nothing but trouble. Thus, instead of competing with others and constantly comparing yourself to them, you should try to learn from them. Other people who are in a similar position as yourself should be your allies, not your enemies. Its easy to forget this when youre faced with a challenge, so make a mental note of it right now.

Although just about anyone can benefit from the positive effects of personal growth, its no secret that mental illness patients are one of the risk groups who need it most.

Regardless of whether youre dealing with anxiety, clinical depression or even borderline schizophrenia symptoms, taking control of the situation on your own is a great source of comfort.

Due to this, self-improvement can be truly beneficial for those trying to come to terms with their disorders, especially when said disorders pertain to matters of the mind. And the first step lies in identifying your problems. What drives your negative behaviors and patterns of thought?

After you discover that, its a lot easier to pursue change.

Although medical resources in this area are scarce at the moment, there are still some out there that you can try. For example, Mental Health America has plenty of self-help tools readily available for those who struggle with poor mental health and want to pursue change on their own terms. They come in the form of worksheets, actionable plans and so on.

Nevertheless, this doesnt need to start with you, and you dont have to go at it alone.

While its important that you keep the personal focus on this journey, there are external factors which can help you go through such a major development. In fact, studies show that joining self-help groups can be an important ally for anyone in this battle.

Participants tendencies for substance abuse and overall symptoms reduced in intensity over time thanks to this type of therapy, and so did the rate of hospitalization among them. This goes to show that self-improvement is something that can be externally motivated as well, and said motivation can be anyone: a friend, a family member, a partner or another group member.

So far, weve established how important taking control of your life can be when you struggle with mental illness, but also in general.

There are many ways in which self-improvement truly does a lot to change your life and pave your way towards success. Here are the most important three benefits of undertaking such an endeavor.

When youve become determined to believe in yourself and your goals, beautiful things can happen. One of them is the fact that your self-esteem will grow before your very eyes. And motivation can come from anything: a book, a colleague or even your favorite TV show.

Use your surroundings as an example worth following and your dreams will become attainable.

Setting yourself up for success every day from the moment you wake up until you go back to sleep is a classic and essential approach, but its also one that becomes impossible when your ambitions are low.

To begin following a steady route in life, you will need to welcome the power of self-improvement and accept that there are a lot of things that lead to it.

When youre stuck in a toxic loop, good things tend to avoid you because of your mindset. But when you open yourself to change and allow your mind to flourish and expand past its previous limitations, thats when new opportunities appear as well.

Once they do, dont be afraid to take them. It will be scary at first, but it will also be worth it in the long run.

Being brave enough to seize the day is one of the most important qualities a successful person can have. So, if thats your goal, then you need to work hard for it and not let any sort of adversity bring you down.

The path towards becoming a better you is a rocky one, but the final destination will take your breath away.

Self-improvement has the potential to make you more confident, stable and successful, as well as open up a new world of amazing possibilities in front of your very eyes. But in order for this to happen, you will need to find the proper motivation to regain control of your life.

And while this certainly wont be easy, the end results will be worth it.

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Should Your Self-Improvement Start With You? | Wealthy Gorilla

Introduction To Life Coaching...

Life can be challenging. Achieving goals, or simply creating them, can sometimes feel beyond our reach. The good news is that no one has to go it alone! Life coaches provide the guidance that drives others to achieve their goals by utilising their own potential and success.

Whether clients need gentle persuasion, regular encouragement or just a little bit of tough love, the skills you gain as a Life Coach allow you to meet those needs and become the catalyst for accomplishment.

How would it feel to help someone achieve the dream job that they thought was unreachable? Picture the satisfaction in guiding a stressed parent into a place where they found a balance in their life and were truly happy. What if you could help someone achieve their goal of losing 50 kilos, improving their health and self-image?

Anything is possible, and as a Life Coach you can bring that realisation to those who truly need it. This guide has been designed to demonstrate how you can achieve your own goals through a rewarding career in life coaching.

What is Life Coaching all about?

Life coaching, at its simplest, is helping others achieve success through guidance, goal-setting and discipline. The approach is similar to that of a coach who is developing an athlete to achieve victory in their sport a Life Coach provides a framework for personal growth and follows that with a disciplined program to pursue and achieve established goals. These personalised programs typically focus on identifying obstacles that are preventing a persons progression in a desired direction and removing those obstacles through changes in that persons approach to life.

Life coaching can be applied to any type of situation, such as:

Pursuing a new career or advancing in the current one

Growing and maintaining a relationship

Learning how to be a leader

Starting a business

Losing weight and becoming physically fit

Developing professional or social interaction skills

Becoming financially disciplined

Life coaching provides people with a core of self-sufficiency and a positive outlook that they can carry with them the rest of their lives. In fact, a significant amount of Life Coaches are previous recipients of life coaching. The life coaching profession allows them the opportunity to provide others with the same tools and support that drove their own success.

What exactly do Life Coaches do?

One of the primary roles of a Life Coach is to act as a guide for an individual who is struggling with organisation of their life or is confused about how to create a path towards their goals.

However, life coaching is more than that. The process of coaching, by definition, involves providing guidance and support while working towards a specific result. The coach is there to develop measurable goals that relate to a desired outcome and to assist the individual in staying focused throughout the journey there.

A Life Coach succeeds by helping a person bolster their own inner strength and turning that into motivation and drive. Think of it as a smouldering fire inside those who look to Life Coaches for help. The coach assists in breaking through the mental and emotional blockages that keep the fire from burning brightly. The power to succeed is inside everyone, and coaching is focused on helping others find this internal fire and learning how to keep it lit for a lifetime.

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Great news for our HN9000/SPACEWAY customers! Weve enhanced the Download Zone associated with your service plan so that it now works on YOUR local time, rather than our (Eastern) time. With this update, you no longer need to remember, convert, or schedule based on another time zone. All you need to do is remember that your Download Zone is from 2 am-8 am in your local time zone. HughesNet Gen4 the next generation of high-speed satellite Internet gives you faster speeds and greater download capacity so you can enjoy more of what you love to do online. Watch videos. Download music. Share photos. Shop, learn, chat, browse, and so much more! To be among the first to enjoy our new, faster service, pre-order your upgrade to HughesNet Gen4 today by contacting HughesNet Support at 1-866-347-3292. Or to learn more about HughesNet Gen4, visit http://gen4.hughesnet.com/.HughesNet SPAM Alert! If you receive an email asking for your username and password purporting to be sent from HughesNet, please delete or disregard it. This is Spam email and not authorized by HughesNet ... Learn more >>

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In the summer of 1990, I was running a pretty weird nightclub in the Roppongi neighborhood of Tokyo. I was deeply immersed in the global cyberpunk scene and working to bring the Tokyo node of this fast-expanding, posthuman, science-fiction-and-psychedelic-drug-fueled movement online. The Japanese scene was more centered around videogames and multimedia than around acid and other psychedelics, and Timothy Leary, a dean of 60s counterculture and proponent of psychedelia who was always fascinated with anything mind-expanding, was interested in learning more about it. Tim anointed the Japanese youth, including the 24-year-old me, The New Breed. He adopted me as a godson, and we started writing a book about The New Breed together, starting with tune in, turn on, take over, as a riff off Tims original and very famous turn on, tune in, drop out. We never finished the book, but we did end up spending a lot of time together. (I should dig out my old notes and finish the book.)

Tim introduced me to his friends in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They were a living menagerie of the counterculture in the United States since the 60s. There were the traditional New Age types: hippies, cyberpunks, and transhumanists, too. In my early twenties, I was an eager and budding techno-utopian, dreaming of the day when I would become immortal and ascend to the stars into cryogenic slumber to awake on a distant planet. Or perhaps I would have my brain uploaded into a computer network, to become part of some intergalactic superbrain.

Good times. Those were the days and, for some, still are.

Weve been yearning for immortality at least since the Epic of Gilgamesh. In Greek mythology, Zeus grants Eoss mortal lover Tithonus immortalitybut the goddess forgets to ask for eternal youth as well. Tithonus grows old and decrepit, begging for death. When I hear about life extension today, I am often perplexed, even frustrated. Are we are talking about eternal youth, eternal old age, or having our cryogenically frozen brains thawed out 2,000 years from now to perform tricks in a future alien zoo?

The latest enthusiasm for eternal life largely stems not from any acid-soaked, tie-dyed counterculture but from the belief that technology will enhance humans and make them immortal. Todays transhumanist movement, sometimes called H+, encompasses a broad range of issues and diversity of belief, but the notion of immortalityor, more correctly, amortalityis the central tenet. Transhumanists believe that technology will inevitably eliminate aging or disease as causes of death and instead turn death into the result of an accidental or voluntary physical intervention.

As science marches forward, and age reversal and the elimination of diseases becomes a real possibility, what once seemed like a science fiction dream is becoming more real, transforming the transhumanist movement and its role in society from a crazy subculture to a Silicon Valley money- and technology-fueled shot on goal and more of a practical hedge than the sci-fi dream of its progenitors.

Transhumanism can be traced back to futurists in the 60s, most notably FM-2030. As the development of new, computer-based technologies began to turn into a revolution to rival the Industrial Revolution, Max More defined transhumanism as the effort to become posthuman through scientific advances like mind uploading. He developed his own variant of Transhumanism and named it Extropy, and together with Tom Morrow, founded the Extropy Institute, whose email list created a community of Extopians in the internets cyberpunk era. Its members discussed AI, cryonics, nanotech and crypotoanarchy, among other things, and some reverted to transhumanism, creating an organization now known as Humanity+. As the Tech Revolution continued, Extropians and transhumanists began actively experimenting with technologys ability to deliver amortality.

In fact, Timothy Leary planned to have his head frozen by Alcor, preserving his brain and, presumably, his sense of humor and unique intelligence. But as he approached his deathI happened to visit him the night before he died in 1996the vibe of the Alcor team moving weird cryo-gear into his house creeped Tim out, and he ended up opting for the shoot my ashes into space path, which seemed more appropriate to me as well. All of his friends got a bit of his ashes, too, and having Timothy Leary ashes became a thing for a while. It left me wondering, every time I spoke to groups of transhumanists shaking their fists in the air and rattling their Alcor freeze me when I die bracelets: How many would actually go through with the freezing?

That was 20 years ago. The transhumanist and Extropian movements (and even the Media Lab) have gotten more sober since those techno-utopian days, when even I was giddy with optimism. Nonetheless, as science fiction gives way to real science, many of the ZOMG if only conversations are becoming arguments about when and how, and the shift from Haight-Ashbury to Silicon Valley has stripped the movement of its tie-dye and beads and replaced them with Pied Piper shirts. Just as the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road that brought us Cambridge Analytica and the Pizzagate conspiracy was paved with optimism and oaths to not be evil.

Renowned Harvard geneticist George Church once told me that breakthroughs in biological engineering are coming so fast we cant predict how they will develop going forward. Crispr, a low-cost gene editing technology that is transforming our ability to design and edit the genome, was completely unanticipated; experts thought it was impossible ... until it wasnt. Next-generation gene sequencing is decreasing in price, far faster than Moores Law for processors. In many ways, bioengineering is moving faster than computing. Church believes that amortality and age reversal will seem difficult and fraught with issues ... until they arent. He is currently experimenting with age reversal in dogs using gene therapy that has been successful in mice, a technique he believes is the most promising of nine broad approaches to mortality and aginggenome stability, telomere extension, epigenetics, proteostasis, caloric restriction, mitochondrial research, cell senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and intercellular communication.

Churchs research is but one of the key discoveries giving us hope that we may someday understand aging and possibly reverse it. My bet is that we will significantly lengthen, if not eliminate, the notion of natural lifespan, although its impossible to predict exactly when.

But what does this mean? Making things technically possible doesnt always make them societally possible or even desirable, and just because we can do something doesnt mean we should (as were increasingly realizing, watching the technologies we have developed transform into dark zombies instead of the wonderful utopian tools their designers imagined).

Human beings are tremendously adaptable and resilient, and we seem to quickly adjust to almost any technological change. Unfortunately, not all of our problems are technical and we are really bad at fixing social problems. Even the ones that we like to think weve fixed, like racism, keep morphing and getting stronger, like drug-resistant pathogens.

Dont get me wrongI think its important to be optimistic and passionate and push the boundaries of understanding to improve the human condition. But there is a religious tone in some of the arguments, and even a Way of the Future Church, which believes that the creation of super intelligence is inevitable. As Yuval Harari writes in Homo Deus, new technologies kill old gods and give birth to new gods. When he was still just Sir Martin Rees, now Lord Martin Rees once told a group of us a story (which has been retold in various forms in various places) about how he was interviewed by what he called the society for the abolition of involuntary death in California. The members offered to put him in cryonic storage when he died, and when he politely told them hed rather be dead than in a deep freeze, they called him a deathist.

Transhumanists correctly argue that every time you take a baby aspirin (or have open heart surgery), youre intervening to make your life better and longer. They contend that there is no categorical difference between many modern medical procedures and the quest to beat death; its just a matter of degree. I tend to agree.

Yet we can clearly imagine the perils of amortality. Would dictators hold onto power endlessly? How would universities work if faculty never retired? Would the population explode? Would endless life be only for the wealthy, or would the poor be forced to toil forever? Clearly many of our social and philosophical systems would break. Back in 2003, Francis Fukuyama, in Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, warned us of the perils of life extension and explained how biotech was taking us into a posthuman future with catastrophic consequences to civilization even with the best intentions.

I think its unlikely that well be uploading our minds to computers any time soon, but I do believe changes that challenge what it means to be human" are coming. Philosopher Nikola Danaylov in his Transhumanist Manifesto says, We must all respect autonomy and individual rights of all sentience throughout the universe, including humans, non-human animals, and any future AI, modified life forms, or other intelligences. That sounds progressive and good.

Still, in his manifesto Nikola also writes, Transhumanists of the world unitewe have immortality to gain and only biology to lose. That sounds a little scary to me. I poked Nikola about this, and he pointed out that he wrote this manifesto a while ago and his position has become more subtle. But many of his peers are as radical as ever. I think transhumanism, especially its strong, passionate base in exuberant Silicon Valley, could use an overhaul that makes it more attentive to and integrated with our complex societal systems. At the same time, we need to help the left-behind parts of society catch up and participate in, rather than just become subjected to, the technological transformations that are looming. Now that the dog has caught the car, tranhumanism has to transform our fantasy into a responsible reality.

I, for one, still dream of flourishing in the future through advances in science and technology, but hopefully one that addresses societal inequities, retains the richness and diversity of our natural systems and indigenous cultures, rather than the somewhat simple and sterile futures depicted by many science fiction writers and futurists. Timothy Leary liked to remind us to remember our hippie roots, with their celebration of diversity and nature, and I hear him calling us again.

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The Responsibility of Immortality: Welcome to the New ...

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When the mind is somber, broad daylight gives birth to demons and evil spirits. When the mind is clear, a dark room has its blue sky. That which is self-concious and ulterior is far from the Truth. That which is Mindless, is near. Taoist poem.

Theres a common saying in Zen that says after Satori (Enlightenment, there sits the ordinary old man.

Something extraordinary happens through Enlightenment, but nothing at all. Vedanta the philosophy Buddhism originates from translates to the end of knowledge.

If Enlightenment is the end of knowledge, the end of struggles and the end of suffering, what is left in life? What is there left to do after the struggle is gone? After all, isnt part of the beauty of life the struggle, the tears, the heartache and finding healing and peace through it all?

If theres nothing left to do, if theres nothing left to strive for, whats the point of living? Whats the point of living when life itself has no point? Whats the point if the game of life isnt worth playing?

There is a point though; the creation of your story. The only difference is after Enlightenment and the realization of One Taste, we no longer identify with the drama.

But detachment does not mean not participating. Its not an escape from life; its simply creating your story with the awareness that you are not the story. It doesnt bother you when your life takes a wrong turn or when something goes awry. In the same way you can celebrate when something wonderful in your life happens, but you dont get attached because you realize that your story is not you.

Everything in life is a story. The evolution of the Universe, from unconscious matter to becoming conscious, is a story. The Eros of human consciousness, how we evolve from duality and separateness to Enlightenment and union, is a story.

The search for meaning and beauty outside ourselves, and realizing that happiness can only come from within, is yet another story. We turn even the most mundane things (like washing the dishes) into a story. We have all sorts of feelings about everything and we use those feelings and associations to mold our story. Life is a series of stories.

In The Voice of Knowledge, Don Miguel Ruiz makes the point that we are all artists. We are all constantly dreaming, constantly creating and molding our stories. Based on the investment of our beliefs, we shape our story. Since were always perceiving new things and events, we filter some out and accept other information and ideas based on how it aligns with the story we want to create.

Like Ruiz, I think its a much more powerful paradigm to see ourselves as artists and not just people. Even if you dont think youre the creative type, you are creating all the time. You cant not create. Every time you breathe, move, or open your mouth, you are creating.

Have you ever taken a step back and just observed life, while thinking How the hell am I here? Its in that stupefying moment you realize that youre the architect of life, but theres no blueprint. We have this mysterious internal compass, but beyond that were on our own. We have to fend for ourselves and make things up as we go along.

We have to take control and steer through life the best we can. Whats most is that we take the wheel and dont live on accident. What matters is that we dont give up our power and relinquish the ownership of our minds.

We have to realize the power of:

There is a lot of credit (and merit) given to creating a beautiful space. We spend inordinate amounts of time decorating our homes, buying new clothes and products in the effort to make our lives more desirable.

But not much credit is given to the beautification of our minds.

We adorn our homes and spaces with expensive things. We often associate the value of our lives with the value of our possessions. Once we buy or obtain the object of our desire, within a few days or hours were thinking about our next purchase. The illness of materialism has a stranglehold on us; we are always in need of our next fix.

The reality is that this search for the beautification of our bodies and our spaces will never satisfy us. We have more luxury and more convenience than a lot of Royalty had a few hundred years ago. In fact, royal servants now have more luxury than the same Kings they served a few hundred years ago. Obviously something is seriously wrong. Our value system is distorted. If internal wealth is the greatest asset you can have, why is it so overlooked? Because you cant see a luxurious mind. You cant brag to your friends about it. You cant say Hey Jim, look at the shiny mind Ive got. Your internal space looks like a pile of shit.

So if we can Feng Shui our external space, can we Feng Shui our minds?

I think so. Its something Ive been personally vying for.

As I said earlier, the problem with creating a luxurious inner space is that you cant exactly see a beautiful mind. You cant measure it, you cant compare it. Paradoxically, I think this misconceived flaw is its most attractive quality. Our obsession with measurement quantification seems unhealthy at best, anyway.

Creating a beautiful mind is about placing permanent fixtures of beautiful ideas in the corners of your mind. Its about cleaning the cobwebs of self-limiting beliefs. Its about creating the auto-response to be impeccable with your word, and to not ever use your mind against yourself. Its about coming to terms with your practical mind, and creating a relationship between your head and your heart. Its about taking ownership of your mind, and realizing that that is the most powerful and precious gift that you have.

If youre at all like me, its easy to see yourself as an artist for a little while. You might last a few hours or a few days. But then the routine and monotony of life sinks back in. Everything seems to be a repeat of the day before. Every day seems exactly the same.

Ive found that the best way to combat slipping into the black-hole of monotony is by realizing each moment is brand new. Past and present are illusions. Even if you feel like youve been doing the same thing, you really havent. This moment is all there is and each time you do something, its for the first time. Actually, it isnt even the first; that would imply that theres a second and a third. Rather this is the only time youve done whatever youre doing now, and it always will be.

Each moment, each day, we write another page in our story. Its hard not to get caught up in the routine of life. Each day seems the same and we take for granted our artistic power. We put off the beautification of our minds. Another day, we think. Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.

The truth is, if we dont keep ourselves present and realize that with each day we are creating, we will never get to it. Well wake up 10 years later and wonder what the hell happened.

We can choose to make our stories a masterpiece, or mediocre. But the point is that we choose now. If we put off our choice, we give up our power. I dont know about you, but I cant afford to put it off anymore. I cant betray myself any longer.

I admit I dont have all the answers, and I havent quite figured out how to completely resist reverting into a routine. What can we do to make our lives more like a work of art, and less like a colorless repeat of yesterday? I would personally love to hear your thoughts on how you remember the artistry of your life and how you resist living uniformly.

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Whats the Point of Life After Total Enlightenment? - Paid ...

The pair sped through DeVoes consciousness to find his good side, only to find him dead in his classroom. Instead, the pair realized that if Ralph gained control of his body again, DeVoe would disappear. DeVoe sent multitudes of copies of himself after the two, but they both managed to come out on top and Ralph gained control of his body again just in time to save Cecile from being choked to death by the Clifford.

The pair sped through DeVoes consciousness to find his good side, only to find him dead in his classroom. Instead, the pair realized that if Ralph gained control of his body again, DeVoe would disappear. DeVoe sent multitudes of copies of himself after the two, but they both managed to come out on top and Ralph gained control of his body again just in time to save Cecile from being choked to death by the Clifford.

However, just before losing control of the body, DeVoe had put his consciousness into his hoverchair, which then activated a hologram of himself and caused the satellites to fall from the sky. However, Marlize deactivates the chair, while Barry, Cisco, Ralph, and [[Nora Allen II|Nora Allen]] managed to stop all of the satellites from killing any civilians, leaving the Enlightenment a complete failure.

However, just before losing control of the body, DeVoe had put his consciousness into his hoverchair, which then activated a hologram of himself and caused the satellites to fall from the sky. However, Marlize deactivates the chair, while Barry, Cisco, Ralph, and [[Nora|a mysterious speedster]] managed to stop all of the satellites from killing any civilians, leaving the Enlightenment a complete failure.{{Ep|We Are The Flash}}

*The Enlightenment is very similar to [[Genesis (event)|Genesis]] which was created by [[Damien Darhk]]. Both were the end game of the Big Bad of Season Four of a show, both events intended to reshape the world on a global scale, and both events are biblical references. Also, when both plans are foiled, both villains decide to submit destroy the world instead.

*The Enlightenment is very similar to [[Genesis (event)|Genesis]] which was created by [[Damien Darhk]]. Both were the end game of the Big Bad of Season Four of a show, both events intended to reshape the world on a global scale, and both events are biblical references. Also, when both plans are foiled, both villains decide to submit destroy the world instead.

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Enlightenment - tvsignals.com