ZEN IS

Zen is a way of meditating that Buddhism produced to obtain enlightenment by seeing one's original mind (or original nature) directly; without the intervention of the intellect.

Zen is simply to be completely alive.
Zen is short for Zen Buddhism. It is sometimes called a religion and sometimes called a philosophy. Choose whichever term you prefer; it simply doesn't matter.
Zen is not a philosophy or a religion.
Zen tries to free the mind from the slavery of words and the constriction of logic.
Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.
Zen is big on intuitive understanding, on just "getting it", and not so hot on philosophizing.
Zen is concerned with what actually is rather than what we think or feel about what is.
Zen is concerned with things as they are, without trying to interpret them.
Zen points to something before thinking, before all your ideas.
The key to Buddhahood in Zen is simply self-knowledge.
To be a human being is to be a Buddha. Buddha nature is just another name for human nature - true human nature.
The essence of Zen is attempting to understand the meaning of life directly, without being misled by logical thought, or language.
Zen techniques are compatible with other faiths and are often used, for example, by Christians seeking a mystical understanding of their faith.
Zen often seems paradoxical - it requires an intense discipline which, when practiced properly, results in total spontaneity and ultimate freedom. This natural spontaneity should not be confused with impulsiveness.
Zen is a subject extremely easy to misunderstand.
You have to experience Zen in order to "understand" it.
Zen sends us looking inside us for enlightenment. There's no need to search outside ourselves for the answers; we can find the answers in the same place that we found the questions.

The first step is to control your mind through meditation and other techniques that involve mind and body; to give up logical thinking and avoid getting trapped in a spider's web of words.

Learning Zen
Zen Buddhists pay less attention to Scripture as a means of learning than they do to various methods of practicing Zen. The most common way of teaching is for enlightenment to be communicated direct from master to pupil.

Zen practices are aimed at taking the rational and intellectual mind out of the mental loop, so that the student can become more aware and realize their own Buddha-nature. Sometimes even (mild) physical violence is used to stop the student intellectualizing or getting stuck in some other way.

Students of Zen aim to achieve enlightenment by the way they live, and by mental actions that approach the truth without philosophical thought or intellectual endeavor.

Some schools of Zen work to achieve sudden moments of enlightenment, while others prefer a gradual process.

Ways to truth

Meditation is something that plays a part in virtually all religions, although some of them don't use the word meditation. And meditation is something that can be done with no religious element at all.

Meditation involves both the body and the mind. For Buddhists this is particularly important as they want to avoid what they call "duality", and so their way of meditating must involve the body and the mind as a single entity.

In the most general definition, meditation is a way of taking control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused, and the meditator becomes more aware.

In Zen Buddhism the purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless (or even a purposeful) stream of thoughts. People often say that the aim of meditation is "to still the mind".

Zen Buddhism offers a number of methods of meditation to people - methods which have been used for a long time, and which have been shown to work.

Zen Buddhists can meditate on their own or in groups.

Meditating in a group - perhaps at a retreat called a "sesshin" or in a meditation room or "zendo" has the benefit of reminding a person that they are both part of a larger Buddhist community, and part of the larger community of beings of every species.

What is meditation?

Meditation is a mental and physical course of action that a person uses to separate themselves from their thoughts and feelings in order to become fully aware.
Meditation has no supernatural side, nor is the person meditation trying to get into a hypnotic state, or to get in touch with angels or anything like that.

A successful meditator is just simply being; not judging, not thinking, just simply being aware and at peace; living each moment as it comes as fully as possible.

Many different courses of actions can be meditation.

Zazen

The key Zen practice is "Zazen". This involves sitting in one of several available positions and meditating so that you become fully in touch with the true nature of reality.

Different schools of Zen do Zazen in different ways: Soto meditators face a wall, Rinzai meditators sit in a circle facing each other.

Posture

Meditation is possible in any stable posture that keeps the spine fairly straight. Sitting quietly in a chair is perfectly acceptable.

The Lotus Position

The classic posture for Zen meditation is called the Lotus Position. This involves sitting cross-legged with the left foot on top of the right thigh and the right foot on top of the left thigh.

The lotus position is difficult and uncomfortable for beginners, and there are other sitting positions that are a lot easier to achieve, such as the half lotus (in which only one foot is put on top of the opposite thigh) or simply sitting cross-legged or sitting on a cushion with knees bent and lower legs tucked under upper legs.

Methods of meditation

Some classic meditation methods use the meditator's own breathing. They may just sit and concentrate on their breathing... not doing anything to alter the way they breath, not worrying about whether they're doing it right or wrong, not even thinking about breathing; just "following" the breathing and "becoming one" with the breathing.

It's important not to think "I am breathing" - when a person does that they separate themselves from the breathing and start thinking of themselves as separate from what they are doing - the aim is just to be aware of breathing.

This is more difficult than it sounds, so some meditators prefer to count breaths, trying to count up to ten without any distraction at all, and then starting again at one. If they get distracted they notice the distraction and go back to counting.

But there are many methods of meditation - some involve chanting mantras, some involve concentrating on a particular thing (such as a candle flame or a flower). Nor does meditation have to involve keeping still; walking meditation is a popular Zen way of doing it, and repetitive movements using beads or prayer wheels are used in other faiths.

Self-discipline

Meditation teaches self-discipline because it's boring, and because the body gets uncomfortable. The meditator learns to keep going regardless of how bored they are, or how much they want to scratch their nose.

Koans

Koans are questions or statements, often paradoxes, that provoke spiritual understanding. They are often used by masters as a way of teaching pupils, and also to test enlightenment.

Don't think that the koan and its solution are themselves wisdom and truth. They may be, but their particular importance here is their use as tools to help you understand the true nature of yourself and of everything, and to increase your awareness of what is.

A well known koan is "In clapping both hands a sound is heard; what is the sound of one hand?"

Koans can't be solved by study and analytical thought. In order to solve a koan, the pupil must leave behind all thoughts and ideas in order to respond intuitively.

Koans don't have a right answer. Western pupils often find this very frustrating, since most westerners are used to trying to get the right (and only) answer to a problem. For the same reason, the truths of Zen can't be learned just by reading a Scripture or getting a solution from a teacher or a text book.

The best way to work with Koans is with a teacher. Without a teacher it can be too easy to fool yourself into thinking that you've solved a koan.

The first collection of Koans was made in the 11th century CE. They are a favorite teaching tool of the Rinzai school of Buddhism.

The Sound of One Hand
Here's an example: In the book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones there is the story of the pupil being asked by the master, "You can hear the sound of two hands when they clap together. Now show me the sound of one hand."

The pupil goes off to meditate on this matter. He hears some geisha music through his window and thinks that this is the answer. So he returns to his teacher, and on being asked the question he plays the geisha music as his answer. No! The teacher sends him away to meditate further.

While contemplating the question again, the pupil hears water dripping from a gutter. Back he goes to the teacher and imitates 'the sound of one hand' as dripping water. No! "That's the sound of dripping water, not the sound of one hand," says the teacher, and sends him away to practice more.

The pupil keeps trying. 'The sound of one hand' is the sighing of the wind. No!

`The sound of one hand' is the hooting of an owl. No!

`The sound of one hand' is the chirping of locusts. No!

At last, after almost a year, he went to his teacher. "What is the sound of one hand?" asked the teacher. But now the pupil was different; he had transcended all sounds and come to the soundless sound, the sound of one hand, and he demonstrated his realization to the teacher.

Mindfulness

Zen is about living in the present with complete awareness.

Practitioners turn off the automatic pilot that most of us operate from throughout the day -- we don't really notice all the things that are going on around us or within our own minds.

They try to experience each moment directly. They don't let thoughts, memories, fears or hopes get in the way.

They practice being aware of everything they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell.

Another way of looking at this is to say that a Zen practitioner tries to be completely aware in the activity of any particular moment -- to the extent that they are one with what they are doing. So, for example:
when they eat they focus totally on the food and on the act of eating;
when they meditate they open the mind to the reality of the moment, not allowing thoughts, feelings or sensations to preoccupy them, not even thoughts about enlightenment or Buddhism;
when they work, they only work;
when they brush their teeth, that's all they do -- they don't think about other things at the same time.

Zen practice is to realize that thoughts are a natural faculty of mind and should not be stopped, ignored, or rejected.

Instead, thinking, especially discursive thinking, is to be acknowledged but then put to one side so that the mind is not carried away by worries, anxieties, and endless hopes and fears.

This is liberation from the defilements of the mind, the suffering of the mind, leaving the truth of this vast, unidentifiable moment plain to see.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/zen1.shtml

Dark Matter And Dark Energy May Be Different Aspects Of A Single Unknown Force

In the last few decades, scientists have discovered that there is a lot more to the universe than meets the eye: the cosmos appears to be filled with not just one, but two invisible constituents -dark matter and dark energy - whose existence has been proposed based solely on their gravitational effects on ordinary matter and energy.

Astronomers think that galaxies like NCG300 seen here are embedded in a large sphere of invisible particles, called dark matter. (Courtesy of NASA, Z. Levay and G. Bacon, STSci)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040702091545.htm

See What's Related at the above link for these:
University Of Toronto Team Maps Halos Around Galaxies

Galaxy Cluster Surveys May Help Explain "Dark Energy" In The Universe

Astrophysicists Detect Cosmic Shear, Evidence Of Dark Matter

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Related sections: Space & Time and Matter & Energy

Now, theoretical physicist Robert J. Scherrer has come up with a model that could cut the mystery in half by explaining dark matter and dark energy as two aspects of a single unknown force. His model is described in an article published online by Physical Review Letters on June 30 and is available online at

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0402316 .

"One way to think of this is that the universe is filled with an invisible fluid that exerts pressure on ordinary matter and changes the way that the universe expands," says the professor of physics at Vanderbilt University.

According to Scherrer, his model is extremely simple and avoids the major problems that have characterized previous efforts to unify dark matter and dark energy.

In the 1970's, astrophysicists postulated the existence of invisible particles called dark matter in order to explain the motion of galaxies. Based on these observations, they estimate that there must be about 10 times as much dark matter in the universe as ordinary matter. One possible explanation for dark matter is that it is made up of a new type of particle - dubbed Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs- that don't emit light and barely interact with ordinary matter. A number of experiments are searching for evidence of these particles.

As if that weren't enough, in the 1990's along came dark energy, which produces a repulsive force that appears to be ripping the universe apart. Scientists invoked dark energy to explain observations that the rate at which the universe is expanding is not slowing, as most cosmologists had thought, but is accelerating instead. According to the latest estimates, dark energy makes up 75 percent of the universe and dark matter accounts for another 23 percent, leaving ordinary matter and energy with a distinctly minority role of only 2 percent.

Scherrer's unifying idea is an exotic form of energy with well-defined but complicated properties called a scalar field. In this context, a field is a physical quantity possessing energy and pressure that is spread throughout space. Cosmologists first invoked scalar fields to explain cosmic inflation, a period shortly after the Big Bang when the universe appears to have undergone an episode of hyper-expansion, inflating billions upon billions of times in less than a second.

Specifically, Scherrer uses a second-generation scalar field, known as k-essence, in his model. K-essence fields have been advanced by Paul Steinhardt at Princeton University and others as an explanation for dark energy, but Scherrer is the first to point out that one simple type of k-essence field can also produce the effects that have been attributed to dark matter.

Scientists differentiate between dark matter and dark energy because they seem to behave differently. Dark matter appears to have mass and to form giant clumps. In fact, cosmologists calculate that the gravitational attraction of these clumps played a key role in causing ordinary matter to form galaxies. Dark energy, by contrast, appears to be massless and spread uniformly throughout space where it acts as a kind of anti-gravity, a repulsive force that is pushing the universe apart.

K-essence fields can change their behavior over time. When investigating a very simple type of k-essence field - one in which potential energy is a constant - Scherrer discovered that as the field evolves it passes through a phase where it can clump and mimic the effect of invisible particles, followed by a phase when it spreads uniformly throughout space and takes on the characteristics of dark energy.

"The model naturally evolves into a state where it looks like dark matter for a while and then it looks like dark energy," Scherrer says. "When I realized this, I thought, `This is compelling, let's see what we can do with it.'"

When he examined the model in more detail, Scherrer found that it avoids many of the problems that have plagued previous efforts to unify dark matter and dark energy models.

The earliest model for dark energy was made by modifying the general theory of relativity to include a term called the cosmological constant. This was a term that Einstein originally included to balance the force of gravity in order to form a static universe. But he dropped the constant cheerfully when astronomical observations of the day found it was not needed. Recent models reintroducing the cosmological constant do a good job of reproducing the effects of dark energy, but do not explain dark matter.

One attempt to unify dark matter and dark energy, called the Chaplygin gas model, is based on work by a Russian physicist in the 1930's. It produces an initial dark-matter-like stage followed by a dark-energy-like evolution, but it has trouble explaining the process of galaxy formation.

Scherrer's formulation has some similarities to a unified theory proposed earlier this year by Nima Arkani-Hamed at Harvard University and his colleagues, who attempt to explain dark matter and dark energy as arising from the behavior of an invisible and omnipresent fluid that they call a "ghost condensate."

Although Scherrer's model has a number of positive features, it also has some drawbacks. For one thing, it requires some extreme "fine-tuning" to work. The physicist also cautions that more study will be required to determine if the model's behavior is consistent with other observations. In addition, it cannot answer the coincidence problem: Why we live at the time when the densities calculated for dark matter and dark energy are roughly equal. Many scientists are suspicious of anything that indicates there is something special about the present era.

Scientists now believe there may really be a parallel universe - in fact, there may be an infinite number of parallel universes, and we just happen to live in one of them. These other universes contain space, time and strange forms of exotic matter. Some of them may even contain you, in a slightly different form. Astonishingly, scientists believe that these parallel universes exist less than one millimetre away from us. In fact, our gravity is just a weak signal leaking out of another universe into ours.

The same but different

For years parallel universes were a staple of the Twilight Zone. Science fiction writers loved to speculate on the possible other universes which might exist. In one, they said, Elvis Presley might still be alive or in another the British Empire might still be going strong. Serious scientists dismissed all this speculation as absurd. But now it seems the speculation wasn't absurd enough. Parallel universes really do exist and they are much stranger than even the science fiction writers dared to imagine.

Greater dimensions

It all started when superstring theory, hyperspace and dark matter made physicists realise that the three dimensions we thought described the Universe weren't enough. There are actually 11 dimensions. By the time they had finished they'd come to the conclusion that our Universe is just one bubble among an infinite number of membranous bubbles which ripple as they wobble through the eleventh dimension.

A creative touch

Now imagine what might happen if two such bubble universes touched. Neil Turok from Cambridge, Burt Ovrut from the University of Pennsylvania and Paul Steinhardt from Princeton believe that has happened. The result? A very big bang indeed and a new universe was born - our Universe. The idea has shocked the scientific community; it turns the conventional Big Bang theory on its head. It may well be that the Big Bang wasn't really the beginning of everything after all. Time and space all existed before it. In fact Big Bangs may happen all the time.

Of course this extraordinary story about the origin of our Universe has one alarming implication. If a collision started our Universe, could it happen again? Anything is possible in this extra dimensional cosmos. Perhaps out there in space there is another universe heading directly towards us - it may only be a matter of time before we collide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2001/paralleluni.shtml

OTHER UNIVERSES

MICHIO KAKU: Interview About Parrallel Universes

Marco: How do you see the experimental confirmation on superstring theory ? How long will it remain an unproven theory?

Dr Michio Kaku: The direct proof of superstring theory may lie far in the future, However, indirect measurements may come fairly soon. Most science, in fact, is done with indirect experiments. For example, we have never visited the Sun but we know that is made out of Hydrogen because we have echoes from the Sun called sunlight. Similarly, we hope to find echoes from the tenth dimension. For example, in Geneva Switzerland, a large Hadron Collider will be turned on and we hope to find particles or super-particles which would be the next lowest vibration of the superstring. Furthermore, dark matter which makes up 90% of the Universe maybe made up of super-particles .

Keith Marsden: Could I exist in a parallel universe and if so would my life take a different course?

Dr Michio Kaku: There are many kinds of parallel universe. If we speak of quantum parallel universe then there may be resemblance to our Universe, except with one quantum difference. For example, if a cosmic ray went through Hitler's mother's womb and Hitler was never born, we could be one quantum event away from a parallel universe without World War 2. However, if the parallel universe is in another dimension then the laws of Physics themselves will change and atoms maybe unstable. And two kinds of matter exist - in those universes, Physics may look entirely different from our own.

Josh Conway: How important is time to the M-Theory?

Dr Michio Kaku: M-Theory is defined in eleven dimensional space time with ten dimensions of space and one dimension of time. So M-Theory only has one time. However, there is some speculation that F-Theory may contain two dimensions of time and ten dimensions of space. So that there would be two times in a twelve dimensional universe. However, F-Theory is only held by a minority of physicists.

Mike Garman: Your theory explains the start of our Universe, but where do the membranes come from that started it?

Dr Michio Kaku: We believe that a multiverse of universes exist like bubbles floating in Nothing. Each bubble forms as a quantum fluctuation in Nothing. We feel that as this bubble forms its matter is dominated by strings and membranes which create musical notes which we see as particles of the universe.

Ross McManus: Can dark matter and black holes be explained using the M-Theory?

Dr Michio Kaku: Partially yes. In M-Theory, black hole solutions exist not only as a remnant of a dying star; they also exist as subatomic particles. So there is an unity between black holes and elementary particles. Also, the next vibration of the string includes a photino or particle which may make up most of the dark matter in the Universe. So dark matter maybe a higher musical note on the string.

Pieter Verhoeven: What is meant by "Bubbles of Nothing"?

Dr Michio Kaku: Boiling water is a purely quantum mechanical event. If water molecules were like billiard balls, water would never boil. Water boils and a tiny fluctuation occurs in water. Similarly, universes maybe created all the time, even as we speak, due to fluctuation in Nothing. In other words, universes maybe for free and Big Bangs, happen all the time like in boiling water.

Peter Wentworth: What are the possibilities for a second Big Bang collision? Is it theoretically possible?

Dr Michio Kaku: There is some speculation that gamma-ray bursters release the greatest amount s of energy since the Big Bang. There is some speculation that they maybe powerful enough to open a hole in our bubble Universe, so that our Universe buds into two universes, creating a baby universe which leaves the mother universe. However, until M-Theory becomes better understood we cannot prove that baby universes can be created from our Universe.

John Reyes: Dr Kaku, how can one travel in time when time does not exist? And if it did, would you know which way to point your ship?

Dr Michio Kaku: Time is like a river. It bends and flows around the Universe. Time may also have whirlpools and also may fork into two rivers. In this way, time travel might be possible. However, you have to have the Plank energy to create a time machine or the energy of a Black Hole. That is far beyond our technology.

Dr: Do eleven dimensions mean there are other life forms of any kind?

Dr Michio Kaku: We do not know if life-forms can exist in another dimension. However, atoms as we know them may not be stable in other dimensions. If we replace Newton's Inverse square law with an inverse tube law then solar systems and atoms fall apart. However, new forms of matter may exist in higher dimensions.

Viva Wright: Is there the possibility that unconscious knowledge is transferred between universes?

Dr Michio Kaku: At the present time, physicist believe that consciousness is confined to the human brain so telepathy between universes may not be possible. However, the problem of consciousness in a quantum-theory is still an unresolved problem. M-Theory is still a quantum-theory.

Nick Rimmington Do you think this theory may explain why the rate of expansion of the universe is increasing?

Dr Michio Kaku: Nobody knows how to calculate dark energy which is causing the Universe to accelerate. The best hope is M-Theory, but no-one knows how to solve M-Theory or the Big Bang. Maybe one of the viewers of this programme will be inspired to use M-Theory to explain the accelerating Universe.

Adam Kirsch: If space is the 5th dimension what are the 6th or 7th?

Dr Michio Kaku: If the fifth dimension vibrates, then ripples on the fifth dimension are visible as light. If the other dimensions vibrate, then the ripples are seen as the nuclear force, so the forces of the universe can be viewed as ripples in hyper-space.

Christopher Sayer: Can a new membrane be created from two membranes colliding?

Dr Michio Kaku: When two membranes or two strings collide, they create new membranes and new string. The diagrams which tell us how membranes and strings collide are like the Feynman diagrams that we see in quantum-theory. Our bodies are symphonies of vibrating strings and membranes. The Chemistry of our body is a consequence of the collision of these membranes and strings.

Simon Lawrence: If the Universe is constantly expanding, when does this sign the end of our known Universe?

Dr Michio Kaku: Our Universe will die in ice rather than fire. Our Universe eventually, trillions and trillions of years away from now, will reach near absolute zero making intelligent life impossible. Therefore, we may have to escape into hyper-space if we are to survive the death of the Universe.

Tom Brown: In theory, is it possible to use the space between the Universes, leaving and re-entering, in order to travel many light years within our Universe, but without time having passed?

Dr Michio Kaku: Einstein's equations give us a possibility to leap into hyper-space through a worm-hole to reach another universe. However, we don't have enough energy to open up such a hole and we don't know how stable such a hole might be.

Brian Whaley: If time has only one dimension how can one deal with the issue of how "fast" time passes - and the difference between "time of day" and time as duration?

Dr Michio Kaku: M-Theory is only mathematically consistent with one dimension of time and ten dimensions of space. M-Theory is mathematically inconsistent for any other combination.

Sam Jenkins: if our Universe is contained within a "bubble", what makes up the surface?

Dr Michio Kaku: The surface of this bubble is the Universe itself. People often ask where did the Big Bang take place? The Big Bang did not take place on the surface of the bubble, it took place inside the bubble, i.e. in hyper-space.

Phil Williams: What is hyper-space?

Dr Michio Kaku: Hyper-space is space beyond three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. Historically, scientists thought that hyper-space could not exist, now we believe that in hyper-space there is enough room to unify all fundamental forces. Four dimensions of space time are too small to unify the four fundamental forces

Chris Norrie: Do you believe in infinity?

Dr Michio Kaku: There are many types of infinity. The age of our universe may increase without limit because our universe is accelerating. In space, however, our universe may be finite in hyper-space but infinite in three dimension just like a bubble. So the farthest object in the universe would be the back of your head.

Patrick Clarke: Are there infinite particles with the same x,y,z & time values as those in my body?

Dr Michio Kaku: Well, in M-Theory there are an infinite number of particles. Each one represents a musical note on a string or membrane, so the atoms of our body are like those of a string. Chemistry is the melodies on these membranes and the universe is a symphony of vibrating membranes and string.

William Joseph: Does M-theory say anything about the idea that the speed of light in our universe may be slowing down?

Dr Michio Kaku: M-Theory reproduces all of Einstein's theory and more. Therefore, the speed of light in a vacuum never changes.

Tony Hall: Does string theory incorporate number theory in its structure?

Dr Michio Kaku: String theory has gobbled up many branches of Mathematics which has astounded mathematicians. However, there is one branch of Mathematics that seems beyond the reach of string theory which is number theory. For example, we do not find Fermat's last theorem in string theory.

Jean: Could black holes be routes from our Universe to the other parallel universes? Could than be why nothing comes out of them?

Dr Michio Kaku: Yes, there is a theory that says that universes may have children, via a budding process in which a universe splits into two smaller universes. However this is just a theory, and we will have to wait until M-Theory is further developed to decide whether universes can have children.

Patrick Clarke: Is the Big Bang where all eleven dimensions have a value of zero?

Dr Michio Kaku: In one solution of M-Theory, our Universe is a four-dimensional ball floating in eleven dimensions. In the other seven dimensions, there could be other bubbles floating. One theory says that the nearest bubble to our Universe maybe one millimetre away from us. This theory will be tested in Geneva in a few more years.

Nigel: Does the rate of vibration of membranes offer a possible connection between them?

Dr Michio Kaku: Large membranes may resemble universes like our own floating in eleven dimensional hyper-space. However, tiny membranes can be viewed as subatomic particles whose vibration and interaction give us the laws of Chemistry. Therefore M-Theory unifies subatomic particles and universes.

Trici Shaw: What is the "F" from F-Theory?

Dr Michio Kaku: F for F-Theory stands for Father. M for M-Theory may stand for Mother, Mystery or Membrane.

Alan Trevitt: If universes are parallel to each other, why does gravity run in only one direction i.e., downwards?

Dr Michio Kaku: Gravity is caused by the working of space time. Therefore, if we have two bubbles close to each other they will distort the space time surrounding them and feel each others gravity. Therefore, dark matter may be the presence of a neighbouring universe that we cannot see.

Alex Greybrook: How was hyper space discovered?

Dr Michio Kaku: The Greeks tried to prove 2000 years ago that hyper-space was impossible. However, Vernhard Riemann proved in the 1870s that hyper-space was possible. Then Kaluza in 1921 showed that universes may exist in hyper-space.

Richie Lunt: Although atoms are stable in our dimension would this be this case in others?

Dr Michio Kaku: Atoms in other dimensions may be unstable because the inverse square law does not hold. However, two forms of stable matter may exist in hyper universes, which are not based on atoms. But, physicists do not know any more than this.

Funky Monkey: Why are the other parallel universe's membranes different shapes. Shouldn't they be the same? Does what happens on the inside effects the universe's physical shape?

Dr Michio Kaku: Membranes can come in many sizes and many shapes. For example, a zerobrane is a particle, a onebrane is a string, a twobrane may be a membrane and a threebrane maybe a universe.

Zhou Fang: M-Theory may be shown to be mathematically possible, but would we ever be able to prove that it is actually the case?

Dr Michio Kaku: Experimentally, we hope to find super particles in the next few years with our atom-smashers. However, I believe that if we are smart enough we could solve the theory and then derive all the laws of Chemistry and Physics. That to me would be a proof that M-Theory is correct. So, those experiments are not really necessary. Theory is enough.

Ross Campbell: Where did the energy required to produce membranes in the first instance come from?

Dr Michio Kaku: The amount of energy necessary to create a bubbled universe is zero. Matter has positive energy, but gravity has negative energy. The sum of the two might be zero. This means that bubbled universes can be created all the time. So the Universe is for free.

Kevin Wan: If the fabric of the Universe is being stretched, does this also mean that the membrane is also being stretched? If so, when will the stretching cease?

Dr Michio Kaku: In one theory, our Universe is a membrane. We live on the skin of this membrane which is constantly expanding because of dark energy. We think this expansion is accelerating and may go on for ever without limit.

Pimmy: Have any major "flaws" or "gaps" been found in M-theory so far which makes it unable to explain something?

Dr Michio Kaku: So far, M-Theory has withstood every mathematical challenge. In the past, previous attempts at a theory of everything could be shown to be mathematically inconsistent. M-Theory is the only theory which seems to be mathematically consistent. However, there are many solutions to M-Theory, one of which may be our Universe. No-one has found that one solution yet.

Adrian: I've heard that in other universes time might flow backwards! Is this true?

Dr Michio Kaku: Not long ago, Stephen Hawking thought that time may go backwards. If the Universe pulsated then during the contraction he thought that time might run backward. However, he has since admitted that he was wrong. Therefore, most physicists do not believe that time will reverse itself in our Universe. If there are time machines, you might be able to reverse time in a small area, but not for the entire Universe.

Trekkie: Is there a possibility of a 12th dimension?

Dr Michio Kaku: In F-Theory the physicists at Harvard University have proposed a universe with two-times, so that you would have to have two watches on your wrist to tell you what time it is. However, most physicists today do not take F-Theory seriously although it seems compatible with M-Theory. This is still a mystery.

Rob Wood: How does M-theory explain quantum entanglement - is it via the collapsed dimensions?

Dr Michio Kaku: Quantum entanglement is a problem for all quantum theories including M-Theory. Quantum entanglement says that the Universe is non-local and that information may travel faster than light,. However, no useful information can be sent faster than light by means of quantum entanglement so there are no paradoxes in time.

Bernard Hunt: Is time just the human awareness; a thing that isn't really a dimension?

Dr Michio Kaku: Space time is an arena on which matter can exist. Therefore, time is a co-ordinate that measures the passing or evolution of an object. Some people have said that time does not exist, which confuses the perception of time with time as a co-ordinate on this arena.

Max Guglia: Apart from empirical speculation, what could be the benefits for humanity of proving the M-Theory?

Dr Michio Kaku: In the short term, nothing. But when Newton worked out the Force of Gravity, he helped to set into motion the industrial revolution. When Faraday worked out electricity and magnetism he set into motion the electric age. When Einstein wrote down E=MC2 he unleashed the nuclear age. Now, we are on the verge of a theory of all forces which may, one day, determine the fate of the human species. Centuries from now, M-Theory, I feel, may eventually determine the destiny of all intelligent life in the Universe.

Horizon Host: Here's our special guest with a final word:

Dr Michio Kaku: I am proud to be part of this BBC documentary, on the cutting edge of my field - M-Theory. It is absolutely essential that scientists speak to the public about the exciting and revolutionary developments rocking the foundations of modern Physics. Hopefully, one of you viewers will be inspired by this programme to become a physicist, who will eventually complete the M-Theory and answer questions like: 'Is time travel possible?' 'Can we journey to another dimension?' and 'What happened before The Big Bang?'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spacechat/livechat/michio_kaku.shtml

BETTER VISION: EXERCISE AND TIPS
Dr. William Horatio Bates had very respectable credentials. In 1881, he graduated from Cornell University and in 1885 from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. He published his ideas about vision in a book, The Cure of Imperfect Eyesight by Treatment Without Glasses (Bates Method 1920).

Eye exercises make sense
One of Dr Bates main ideas is that people get used to using glasses as a crutch and, as a result, their eyes get lazy and they gradually need stronger and stronger prescriptions. If the eyes rely on the glasses to focus, it makes sense that the eyes would gradually loose some ability to focus. We have yet to find a study on this but we are still looking.

You know that exercise is good for your muscles. It improves your strength, stamina and circulation. It makes sense to exercise your eyes to promote your vision health. This collection of natural eye exercises will give a workout to your entire visual system. With exerces you can strengthen your eyes naturally.

Free Eye Exercises
A lot of websites offer to sell you instructions for exercising your eyes and exercises to reduce dependence of glasses. We think they should be free so here they are:

Eyesight Strengthening - Focusing
Start with your ability to focus. If you spend a lot of time at the keyboard or in a job where, what you are focusing on, is always at the same distance from your eyes, then you will likely benefit from this exercise.

Start by going outdoors where you can see something a mile away. It doesn't matter what it is or how clearly you can see it. The idea is to flex your focusing muscles by looking at several points at various distances.

1. Pick something that is within three feet of you, and see it as clearly as you can. As soon as you have noticed how clearly you see it, go to the next step.

2. Pick something about 30 feet away (about a couple car lengths), and see it as clearly as you can.

3. Next pick something about a block away (about 500 feet), and see it as clearly as you can.

4. Now pick a point as far away as you can see and focus on it as well as you can. When you see it as well as you can, return to your closest point. Cycle through these four steps at least ten times, twice a day.

If you don't have a good imagination, skip this paragraph. A variation on this exercise works only for those with a good imagination or visualization skills. Imagine an object (cube, ball, triangle, a word, etc.) about two feet in front of you. Focus on this image and watch as it moves away from you. Keep your focus on it and watch as it grows in size only enough for you to keep seeing it clearly, as it moves away a mile or more. Then watch it slowly return to it's original size and position. Watch this happen ten times, all the while, keeping your focus on your chosen object. Do this twice a day.

Eyesight Strengthening - Muscle Check
Here's an easy way to find out if your eye muscles are in good shape. If, at any time, discomfort becomes pain, stop the exercise, look straight ahead, close your eyes and relax.

Holding your head steady, look up to find the edge of your range of vision. It's the darkness that begins where your vision ends. Follow it all the way around, down, and back up to the top. Now look straight ahead, close your eyes and relax a moment.

Any pain you feel while doing this exercise, should be taken as a warning to ease off and take it slower. Put less demand on your muscles until you work up to 10 circles at a time, twice a day or as many times as you feel comfortable doing.

http://www.askdocweb.com/eyeexercises.html

Dietary Recommendations

Reduce or eliminate all types of refined sugars (particularly white sugar, but also fructose, sucrose, fruit juice concentrates, maltose, dextrose, glucose and refined carbohydrates). This includes "natural" drinks that contain a lot of sugar, including all fruit juices. Even milk sugar, lactose, found in all dairy products, can contribute to cataract formation, as it destroys gluthathione and Vitamin C in the lens.

Drink eight glasses of water per day (preferably filtered or purified). This is optimally taken as a four-ounce glass of water every half-hour-to equal 16 four-ounce glasses. Our bloodstream can only handle being diluted by about four ounces at any one time. When you drink more than four ounces at a time, this means more work for the kidneys to filter water that hasn't had a chance to travel through the lymph system and clean body tissues. Adequate water intake helps to maintain the flow of nutrients to the lens and to release wastes and toxins from tissues.

Eat foods high in beta-carotene, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. These substances are called antioxidants, and most of the nutritional components of cataract prevention and reversal are related to boosting antioxidant levels. Antioxidants are one of the most important combatants against free radicals, a major cause of cataract formation. A good diet supplemented with antioxidant vitamins and minerals can help prevent oxidation.

Eat foods high in antioxidants, including garlic, onions, beans, vegetables, celery, seaweed, apples, carrots, tomatoes, turnips and oranges.

Some foods, particularly dairy products, can exacerbate eye problems by causing sinus congestion, which can impair lymph and blood drainage from the area around the eyes. When lymph and blood can't flow in and out of the eyes, nutrients don't reach the eyes, and toxins and metabolic wastes aren't eliminated as efficiently. Try avoiding dairy for a month to see whether you become less congested. Then reintroduce dairy products one at a time to identify your specific problem foods.

* Vitamin C: We have long known that Vitamin C can both prevent and heal cataracts. The normal, healthy lens contains a higher level of Vitamin C than any other body organ except the adrenal glands. When cataracts are forming, however, the Vitamin C level in the lens is very low. Similarly, the Vitamin C level in the aqueous humor, which supplies nutrition to the lens, is also low when cataracts are forming. This reduction in Vitamin C is due to the eye's impaired ability to secrete Vitamin C into the aqueous humor and the body's overall Vitamin C deficiency.

* Bioflavinoids: Bioflavinoids, such as quercetin and rutin, are important antioxidants. They are synergistic with Vitamin C, meaning they need each other to work efficiently. Quercetin seems to be the most effective bioflavinoid in the prevention of cataracts. We recommend 1,000 mg per day.

* Glutathione: Low levels of glutathione are found in almost every person with senile cataracts. Glutathione is considered the most important antioxidant made by the body and is integrally involved in maintaining good vision. Glutathione is composed of three amino acids: cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid. Several nutrients can help increase glutathione levels, including N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), alpha-lipoic acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, selenium and zinc.

* Alpha-lipoic acid: Alpha-lipoic acid has incredible benefits for healthy eye function. Dr. Lester Packer of the University of California at Berkeley has published important research on the ability of this antioxidant to halt complications resulting from blood sugar imbalances and hardening of the lens.

Healthy Tips

* Avoid microwaves. Radiation leakage from microwave ovens are a direct cause of cataracts, so avoid constant peeking into the open door window while you cook. In addition, food proteins exposed to microwaves can become toxic to the lens that is made mostly of protein.

* Wear 100 per cent ultraviolet blocking sunglasses and a hat, since ultraviolet light from the sun can cause damage to the lens of the eye.

* Many synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals can cause cataracts. Steroids, for example, taken internally or applied to the skin, are a typical cause of cataracts because they block the normal metabolism of connective tissue of which the lens is composed.

* Cigarette smoking causes about 20 per cent of all cataracts. Men who smoke more than a pack a day increase their risk for cataracts by 205 per cent. For female smokers, the risk of getting cataracts increases 63 per cent. Quitting without supplementing the diet with additional vitamins and minerals doesn't seem to eliminate the increased risk for almost ten years, probably due to smoking having depleted antioxidant levels in the eye.

ORIENTAL MEDICINE APPROACH

Cataracts are seen as a result of a deficiency in the kidney and liver meridians. This causes a reduction of the energy and blood flow to the eyes, which leads to poor eye nutrition, resulting in opacity of the lens. The spleen meridian also plays a role in the nourishment of the eyes and, if dysfunctional, it can cause cataracts.

Chinese Herbal Formulas

(Dendrobium Pill for Night Vision

(Shi Hu Ye Guang Wan) - Extinguishes liver wind and enriches the yin. Brighten the Eyes

(Ming Mu Di Huang Wan) - Nourishes the liver, enriches the kidneys and improves vision.
Preserve Vistas Pill

(Zhu Jing Wan) - Tonifies and nourishes the liver and kidneys, enriches the yin and improves vision.
Lycium Fruit, Chrysanthemum and Rehmannia Pill

(Qi Ju Di Huang Wan) - Tonifies kidney yin, tonifies blood and clears the eyes.

Chinese Acupuncture Points:

Points BL 1, BL 2, GB 1, ST 1, GB 37, LI 4, SP 6, CV 4, ST 36, KI 3, Yu Yao, Qiuhou

http://www.visionworksusa.com/cataract_chapter.htm

AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS
There are over 10,000 proteins that are made up of different amino acids.

AMINO ACIDS are the "building Blocks" of the body. Besides building cells and repairing tissue, they form antibodies to combat invading bacteria & viruses; they are part of the enzyme & hormonal system; they build nucleoproteins (RNA & DNA); they carry oxygen throughout the body and participate in muscle activity.

When protein is broken down by digestion the result is 22 known amino acids. Eight are essential (cannot be manufactured by the body) the rest are non-essential (can be manufactured by the body with proper nutrition).

http://www.realtime.net/anr/aminoacd.html

Homocysteine
------------

Cardiovascular disease causes 44% of all deaths in the United States. Alzheimer's dementia affects 4 million Americans now, and is expected to increase sharply as the population ages. Both cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease have now been linked to the accumulation of a toxic amino acid called homocysteine. Vitamin supplement users have assumed they are being protected against homocysteine overload, but this article will expose that fallacy and recommend a scientific course of action to follow.

The medical establishment woke up to the dangers of homocysteine when the New England Journal of Medicine (April 9, 1998) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Dec. 18, 1996) published articles suggesting that vitamin supplements be used to lower homocysteine levels. This same message was published by the Life Extension Foundation 18 years earlier (Anti-Aging News, Nov. 1981, 85-86).

Some cardiologists suggest that coronary artery disease patients take a multivitamin supplement to lower their homocysteine levels. Patients who follow this advice, but fail to have their blood tested for homocysteine, could be making a fatal mistake.

The Life Extension Foundation has uncovered a flaw in the theory that a person can blindly take vitamin supplements to adequately reduce homocysteine levels. While folic acid, vitamin B12, B6, and trimethylglycine (TMG) all lower homocysteine levels, it is impossible for any individual to know if he or she is taking the proper amount of nutrients without a homocysteine blood test.

The clear message from new scientific findings is that there is no safe "normal range" for homocysteine. While commercial laboratories state that normal homocysteine can range from 5 to 15 micromoles per liter of blood, epidemiological data reveal that homocysteine levels above 6.3 cause a steep, progressive risk of heart attack (the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, Nov. 15, 1995, 2825-30). One study found each 3-unit increase in homocysteine equals a 35% increase in myocardial-infarction (heart-attack) risk (American Journal of Epidemiology, 1996, 143[9]:845-59).


A Lethal Misconception

People taking vitamin supplements think they are being protected against the lethal effects of homocysteine when, in reality, even supplement users can have homocysteine levels far above the safe level of 6.3 to 7.0.

The Foundation has identified several cases in which people who were suffering from coronary artery disease had lethal levels of homocysteine despite taking the recommended dose (and higher) of vitamin supplements.

One case involved a 60-year-old man who previously had bypass surgery, but who was again suffering angina pain with significant restenosis (reclogging of the coronary arteries) verified by angiography. This man knew about the dangers of homocysteine and had been taking more than 15,000 mcg a day of folic acid, along with other homocysteine-lowering vitamins. Because of the angina pain and restenosis, the Foundation recommended a homocysteine blood test. The results came back showing that this man had a shockingly high homocysteine reading of 18 in his blood. (Homocysteine levels over 15 have been shown to be extremely dangerous.) The Foundation immediately suggested this man take 6 grams a day of TMG (trimethylglycine), and within one month, his homocysteine level dropped to 4. This case was a wake-up call that one or more homocysteine-lowering factors are not always the solution to keeping homocysteine levels in the safest range (below 7). It was also a confirmation of our position that people who want to lower homocysteine must take in account all of the factors involved.

Another case involved a healthy person who took everyday a 500-mg TMG supplement, 4000 mcg of folic acid, and high doses of many other vitamins. A homocysteine blood test revealed a reading of 11.3, which is far above the safe range of under 7. Six grams of TMG and 500 mg of vitamin B6 were added to his daily program, and the homocysteine level dropped to under 6 within 60 days.

In response to these individual cases, the Foundation analyzed all the homocysteine tests it had conducted on Foundation members and discovered that 62% of members tested have too much homocysteine in their blood. The following chart shows the breakdown of members and their coronary risk factors based on serum homocysteine readings:

RISK FOR CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE*
Serum Homocysteine
(micromoles per
liter of blood) Percentage
of members
in this range
Lowest risk 0 - 6.3 38%
Moderate risk 6.3 - 10 52%
Highest risk Over 10 10%
*Circulation, 1995, 92 2835-2930

The most recent survey (Cardiologia, 1999, Apr, 44[4]:341-45) shows that the average American's homocysteine level is 10, so the fact that 90% of Foundation members are below 10 is a testament to the effectiveness of dietary supplements in suppressing dangerously high homocysteine levels (Annals of Epidemiology, May 1997, 7[4]:285-93).

The problem is that certain members are not being protected against the damaging effects of homocysteine, and the only way of finding out is to have a blood test. When homocysteine is too high, the addition of extra amounts of vitamin B6 and/or TMG (trimethylglycine) has reduced levels to the safest range in every case we have worked with. The Foundation has found that the addition of extra folic acid produces only a moderate reduction in elevated homocysteine levels. Folic acid is a critical component of a homocysteine-lowering program, but there is a limit to how much homocysteine can be reduced by folate and vitamin B12. Cardiologists are increasingly recommending folic-acid supplements to their coronary artery disease patients, but the results from the Foundation's laboratory indicate that it takes more than folic acid to reduce serum homocysteine to a level where it ceases to be a risk factor for causing a heart attack.


MEchanisms of Homocysteine Detoxification

Elevated homocysteine can be reduced (or detoxified) in two ways. The most common pathway is via the remethylation process, where methyl groups are donated to homocysteine to transform it into methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe).

A potent remethylation agent is TMG, which stands for trimethylglycine. The tri means there are three methyl groups on each glycine molecule that can be transferred to homocysteine to transform (remethylate) it into methionine and SAMe. The remethylation (or detoxification) of homocysteine requires the following minimum factors: (1) folic acid, (2) vitamin B12, (3) zinc, and (4) TMG.

Choline is another "methyl donor" that helps to lower elevated homocysteine levels, and this conversion doesn't require cofactors. However, choline only enhances remethylation in the liver and kidney, which is why it is so important to take adequate amounts of remethylating factors such as folic acid and vitamin B12 to protect the brain and the heart. The published literature emphasizes that folic acid and vitamin B12 are critical nutrients in the remethylation (detoxification) pathway of homocysteine.

The other pathway in which elevated homocysteine is reduced is via its conversion into cysteine and eventually glutathione via the trans-sulfuration pathway. This pathway is dependent on vitamin B6. The amount of vitamin B6 required to lower homocysteine has considerable individual variability. Methionine is the only amino acid that creates homocysteine. People who eat foods that are high in methionine (such as red meat and chicken) may need more vitamin B6. Elevated homocysteine can occur when there are insufficient vitamin cofactors (such as folate and vitamin B6) to detoxify the amount of methionine being ingested in the diet.

Elevated homocysteine can also be caused by a genetic defect that blocks the trans-sulfuration pathway by inducing a deficiency of the vitamin B6-dependent enzyme cystathionine-B-synthase. In this case, high doses of vitamin B6 are required to suppress excessive homocysteine accumulation. Since one would not want to take excessive doses of vitamin B6 (greater than 300 to 500 mg a day for a long time period), a homocysteine blood test can help determine whether you are taking enough vitamin B6 to keep homocysteine levels in a safe range. There are some people who lack an enzyme to convert vitamin B6 into its biologically active form, pyridoxal-5-phosphate. In this case, if low-cost vitamin B6 supplements do not sufficiently lower homocysteine levels, then a high-cost pyridoxal-5-phosphate supplement may be required.

For many people, the daily intake of 500 mg of TMG, 800 mcg of folic acid, 1000 mcg of vitamin B12, 250 mg of choline, 250 mg of inositol, 30 mg of zinc, and 100 mg of vitamin B6 will keep homocysteine levels in a safe range. But the only way to really know is to have your blood tested to make sure your homocysteine levels are under 7. If homocysteine levels are too high, then up to 6 grams of TMG may be needed along with higher amounts of other remethylation cofactors. Some people with cystathione-B synthase deficiencies will require 500 mg a day or more of vitamin B6 to reduce homocysteine to a safe level. For the prevention of cardiovascular disease, you would want your homocysteine blood level to be under 7. For the prevention of aging, some people have suggested that an even lower level is desirable, but more research needs to be done before any scientific conclusions can be reached.


ELevated Homocysteine Is a Sign of
Other Degenerative Diseases

Elevated homocysteine can be a sign of a methylation deficiency throughout the body. Methylation is fundamental to DNA repair. If DNA is not adequately repaired, mutations and strand breaks will result. This will lead to accelerated aging, as greater amounts of faulty proteins are synthesized from the damaged DNA. The liver depends on methylation to perform the numerous enzymatic reactions required to detoxify every drug and foreign substance that the body is exposed to. Methylation is also required for the growth of new cells. Without it, new cells cannot be made.

A study published in the journal Medical Hypothesis (1998, 51[3]:179-221) provides evidence that aging may be exclusively a result of cellular "demethylation," or, said differently, the aging process is caused by the depletion of enzymatic "remethylation" activity that is required to maintain and repair cellular DNA. This study suggests that aging may be reversible if aged cells could be programmed to remethylate rather than demethylate.

Homocysteine induces cellular damage by interfering with the methylation process. Methylation will be compromised if homocysteine is elevated, and elevated homocysteine is a warning sign that the methylation cycle is not functioning properly. Homocysteine may also damage cells directly by promoting oxidative stress.

There is a growing consensus that deficient methylation is the major cause of the degenerative diseases of aging. The consumption of methylation- enhancing nutrients like TMG, choline, folic acid, and vitamin B12 may be one of the most readily available and effective anti-aging therapies presently known. However, it is important to tailor the intake of methylation-enhancing nutrients to one's individual biochemistry. The best way of assessing your body's rate of methylation is to measure blood levels of homocysteine. Elevated serum homocysteine is the classic sign of a methylation deficiency (or demethylation) that is correctable with the proper intake of methylation enhancing nutrients such as TMG, folic acid, and vitamin B12.


HOmocysteine and Alzheimer's disease

Recent studies show that people with dementia of the Alzheimer's type have elevated levels of homocysteine in their blood. At an international scientific conference held in The Netherlands the week of April 27, 1998, a team of scientists unveiled findings showing a definitive link between elevated homocysteine and Alzheimer's disease. The scientists advocated that people have their blood tested for homocysteine in order to determine how much folic acid should be taken to drop homocysteine levels to the safe range.

While the scientists speculated that Alzheimer's disease could be avoided if people reduced their homocysteine levels, it has not yet been determined whether homocysteine itself contributes to Alzheimer's disease. A more likely explanation is that elevated homocysteine is an indication of the severe disruption in the methylation pathway that occurs in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. It has been reported that people with Alzheimer's disease have virtually no S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in their brains. SAMe is required for DNA methylation (maintenance and repair) of brain cells. Thus, while homocysteine itself may not cause Alzheimer's disease, it appears to represent an important measurable biomarker of a methylation deficit that could cause Alzheimer's and a host of other degenerative diseases.

Research reported at Tufts University in 1995 documented the same finding linking elevated homocysteine and Alzheimer's disease and recommended supplementation with folic acid and vitamin B12. It should be noted that dementia can be caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12, folic acid, and other nutrients, so another reason for people with dementia of the Alzheimer's type have to elevated homocysteine levels could be that they are suffering from a common vitamin deficiency. Numerous studies conducted on the elderly show that deficiencies of folic acid, vitamin B12, and other nutrients are epidemic in elderly people who do not take vitamin supplements. Since both elevated homocysteine and vitamin deficiencies have been linked to dementia, the best approach to preventing and treating dementia (including Alz- heimer's dementia) would appear to be testing the blood for elevated homocysteine and taking methylation enhancing nutrients such as folic acid, TMG, and vitamin B12.

A review of the published literature provides compelling evidence that elevated homocysteine is common in people suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Since Alzheimer's disease cannot be positively diagnosed until after death, it is impossible to state whether all the people in a scientific study are really suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Dementia can be caused by multi-infarct cerebrovascular disease or even by simple vitamin deficiencies.

In a study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (April 1998, 235-239), Dr. McCaddon and his group were able to confirm that patients diagnosed with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type have significantly elevated levels of homocysteine compared to age-matched controls. An earlier study published in the Journal of Gerontology and Biological Sciences (March 1997, 76-9) also showed that homocysteine levels were significantly elevated in Alzheimer's disease patients compared to controls. This study found that folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies were present in both the Alzheimer's disease patients and the age-matched case controls.

The reason that homocysteine levels are so high in people suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer's type is not fully understood. Scientists speculate that severe aberrations in the methylation cycle might be involved in the disease process and that elevated homocysteine is a sign of the breakdown of the methylation cycle (European Neuropsychopharmacol. (June 1995, 107-14). Other researchers report that abnormal amino acid metabolism early in Alzheimer's causes elevated homocysteine levels. This may lead to neuronal damage that occurs as the disease progresses (Journal of Neural Transmission (1998, 105:[2-3]:287-94). Remember, the repair and maintenance of cellular DNA is dependent on healthy methylation processes. Methylation deficiencies result in severe damage to brain cells. Under-methylation can cause severe damage to brain cells. Methylation is required for the maintenance of the myelin sheath and the repair of DNA in the brain. Elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood indicate some degree of methylation deficiency that is correctable with an individualized supplement program.

The studies showing that homocysteine is a biomarker for the development of dementia of the Alzheimer's type mandates that those seeking to avoid senility should have their blood tested in order to ascertain their homocysteine levels. While it was apparent in the year 1969 that homocysteine was a major cause of vascular disease, the evidence that homocysteine represents a marker of brain cell degeneration is of very recent origin, and has been overlooked by many conventional neurologists.

Despite the evidence linking elevated homocysteine to methylation deficiencies that are involved in the Alzheimer's disease process, the Alzheimer's Disease Society has criticized the recommendation that people take folic acid supplements to lower their homocysteine levels. What follows is a direct quote from that organization, "No one knows whether taking (folic acid) supplements will help prevent the disease or whether it will affect the rate at which the disease progresses. The only way this will be discovered is by doing further studies on many, many more patients over a long period of time." The Life Extension Foundation finds perplexing the concept that anybody would warn against taking folic acid supplements at a time when the conventional medical establishment has acknowledged that taking folic acid lowers homocysteine and protects against heart attack, stroke, and colon cancer.


THe Critical Need for Homocysteine Blood Testing

Measuring blood levels of homocysteine is a new and potentially life-saving test that provides information about vitamin and methylation status, in addition to determining levels of toxic homocysteine. Those with a family history of heart disease, stroke, or Alzheimer's disease are at a particular risk for elevated homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine has also been linked to complications in diabetes, lupus, and other chronic diseases. While many people have assumed that because they are taking vitamin supplements, their homocysteine levels will be in a safe range, The Life Extension Foundation has discovered that this might not always be the case.

The only way of knowing for sure is to get tested. Homocysteine testing used to be expensive, but prices have come down as consumer interest has increased.


SUmmary

The newest scientific evidence indicates that there is no safe "normal range" for homocysteine. However, epidemiological data reveal that homocysteine levels above 6.3 cause a steep progressive risk of heart attack. Homocysteine levels should be medically tested to ensure that the proper combination and dosages of supplements are taken. Dosages should be adjusted based on individual needs. The following supplements have demonstrated effectiveness in lowering homocysteine levels either alone or in combination:

Folic acid, 800 to 5000 mcg a day.
Vitamin B12, 1000 to 3000 mcg a day.
Vitamin B6, 100 to 500 mg a day.
Zinc, 30 to 90 mg a day.
Choline, 250 to 3000 mg a day.
Trimethylglycine, 500 to 9000 mg a day.
SAMe, 200 to 800 mg a day.
Inositol, 250 to 1000 mg a day.

http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-122.shtml

THE BEST ANTI OXIDANTS
Best Anti Oxidant Foods

"The top 10 list of best anti-oxidant containing foods" By Dr. Lois Vanderhoof, Nutritionist

1. Avocados
These great little packages of green contain something called glutathione- this is one of the master anti-oxidants of the body.

2. Berries
Any kind of color! -they are loaded with vitamins and minerals as well as anti-oxidants to slow down the aging process.

3. Sweet potatoes
A nutritionist all-star! Loaded with Vitamin C, potassium, fiber and carotenoids. These anti-oxidants help fight the free radicals of aging.

4. Broccoli
Also loaded with Vitamin C and fiber, folic acid, carotenoids, too. This vegetable has possible anti-cancer potential.

5. Grapes
Especially the dark skinned grapes. Grapes have over twenty anti-oxidants in them. Raisins and red wine are also filled with anti-oxidants.

6. Citrus fruits
Lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits- all are loaded with Vitamin C, and this is your primary defense in the battle against Father Time.

7. Spinach
Have it in a salad, or braise it with garlic! Have specific carotenoids to help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts.

8. Carrots or other orange fruits and vegetables
They contain the whole carotenoid family to supply our bodies with good protection against aging.

9. Cantaloupe
One quarter of this delicious melon supplies as much Vitamin A and C as most people need in an entire day.

10. Tomatoes
These contain Lycopene, which is an anti-oxidant that helps to fight against certain types of cancer.

Dr. Lois Vanderhoof is a certified clinical nutritionist in Plano, TX and can be reached at

www.appliednutritionconcepts.com.

Anything that goes wrong in the body is most likely caused by free radical damage to cells in the body.

Anti oxidants can protect and repair the cells and help the body repair itself. The source of anti oxidants is from organic foods or free range herbs and supplements.

Homeopathic preparations work extremely well for an essentially health minded population because of their innate power and low cost.

One natural drop of orange juice can be amplified millions of times with distilled water.

A combination of compounds can be made to work best on specific health conditions.

Anti Oxidant FAQ

What are Oxidants?
Oxidant chemicals, also called free radicals, are produced during normal aerobic cell respiration.

They also occur when phagocytes, the cells that fight infections, destroy cells infected with bacteria or viruses, with bursts of nitric oxide, superoxide, and hypochlorite; when fatty acids are digested; and when certain enzymes are activated to fight toxins.

These free radicals damage the DNA that makes up our genes, those parts of the cell that control its reproduction. Lesions in DNA give rise to mutations when the cell divides, and these mutations can lead to tumors. (Other causes of DNA lesions and cell mutations are radiation, sun exposure, occupational exposure to chemicals, and -- by far the worst of these -- tobacco smoke).

What role do oxidants play in the Ageing Process?
"Ageing appears to be in good part due to the oxidants produced as byproducts of normal metabolism," according to Bruce N. Ames, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley, and director of Berkeley's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center.

What are Anti-Oxidants? Where are they available?
Anti-Oxidants are those substances that act against oxidants to minimize the damage made by them. Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables play a big role in minimizing cell damage by combining with and neutralizing free radicals. The most important antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene, all present in a well-balanced diet.

If Anti-Oxidants are taken in sufficient quantity, will they delay or stop the ageing process?
No, Anti-Oxidants will not delay ageing in healthy older people. But it does help to minimize the damage made by several diseases especially those associated with old age. Eg. Cancer, Neurological diseases, Complications of diabetes etc. But a lot of research is being done to find out the role of anti-oxidants in preventing the ageing process.

It is not sufficient to just take anti-oxidants. Physical exercise and a health lifestyle play a great role in dealing with ageing. Though exercise increases aerobic respiration and the production of free radicals, it reinforces the body's antioxidant defenses. It is also important to limit the consumption of red meat and saturated fat. It would also be ideal if we could prevent infectious diseases.

How does the body react against oxidants?
Our bodies have numerous ways of defending against damage caused by oxidation and repairing the lesions. These mechanisms are not perfect, however; some DNA inevitably remains damaged. As we get older, lesions accumulate until we might have a few million lesions per cell.

What is the best natural source of anti-oxidants available to us?
Fresh fruits, leafy green vegetables, carrots, citrus fruits, melons, oils from soybean and sunflower, germs of whole grains, nuts, papaya, mangoes and pumpkin are particularly good sources of antioxidant vitamins.

How much of fruits and vegetables should the elderly eat?
In India, under nutrition is a very major problem and it is the responsibility of the entire family to see that the elders eat at least two fruits and three vegetables a day. This will provide sufficient quantity of anti-oxidants that they need.

Vitamin E 100 - 3200 IU / day
Vitamin C 500 -1000 mgm / day
Carotenoids 10 - 50 mgm / day
Selenium 100 - 300 mgm / day
Zinc 15 - 25 mgm / day
Amount of anti-oxidant rich food
600 gms / day

Linus Pauling et.al. is the best source for how anti oxidants help cure the body.

Olympian Labs Anti-Oxidant Olympian Formula #1 is perhaps the most potent and most advanced anti oxidant formula available on the market today. This unique formula contains a combination of Cat's Claw, Ginkgo Biloba, CoQ10 and Grape Seed Extract. These ingredients have been formulated in synergistic ratios to optimize the assimilation.

Grape Seed Extract is one of the most powerful antioxidants and free radical scavengers known. It is roughly 20 times more powerful than vitamin C and 50 times more powerful than vitamin E with respect to its antioxidant properties.

Grape Seed Extract also enhances the effectiveness of the other antioxidants such as Vitamin C, Selenium, Vitamin E and Beta Carotene. Olympian Labs Grape Seed Extract, through a low temperature water extraction method, is completely water soluble and free of dangerous solvents and food coloring additives. Water solubility means bioavailability.

This means it is easily absorbed into the blood stream and may aid our bodies in resisting blood vessel and skin damage, reducing inflammation and counteracting other damage caused by the daily bombardment of free radicals on our cells.

Ginkgo Biloba is a tree that is living proof to longevity and vitality. The Ginkgo Biloba tree is naturally resistant to disease, insects and pollution and has a life span of 2-4 thousand years!

Though it yields an edible almond shaped, white seed, the medicinal powers are found in the leaves of this special tree. Recent research has identified many of its beneficial components and found that Ginkgo Biloba may improve the circulation of oxygen, act as a free radical scavenger and improve nerve cell functioning and nerve cell transmission. This translates to improvements in memory and mental efficiency, and treatments for age related disorders like Raynaud's (a blood vessel disorder) and Alzheimer's disease. Its anti-oxidant action may aid the body in preventing the onset of illness and disease.

Cat's Claw (Uncaria Tomentosa) is an herb that grows in the highlands of the Peruvian Amazon. The native Ashanica Indians have used this herb for many years to treat various illnesses associated with the immune and digestive systems.

In July of 1989, a U.S. patent was issued to a research scientist for isolating six oxindole alkaloids from the root of the Cat's Claw herb. This patent states that all but two of the alkaloids "are suitable for the unspecific stimulation of the immune system".

According to the patent, Isopteropodine is the most immunologically active of the alkaloids and it has shown to have a profound affect on phagocytosis, which is the ability of the white blood cells and macrophages to attack and digest harmful pathogens.

Like Grape Seed Extract, Cat's Claw contains several of the polyphenols in addition to triterpines and the plant steroids beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol. These compounds exert powerful anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory properties.

CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10) is a micronutrient essential to all human life. It is a naturally occurring nutrient that works as a co-factor in the body's electron transport system where all of the body's energy is derived. CoQ10 regulates the flow of oxygen moving in and out of the mitochondria, which are the cell's power plants. The body's cellular power plants can't function without CoQ10. Declines in CoQ10 levels occur with advancing age and appear to be correlated with deterioration of the immune system.

Supplementation with CoQ10 could help to boost energy levels, strengthen and protect the heart and blood vessels, enhance the immune system and protect against free radical damage. Olympian Labs Anti-Oxidant Formula #1 is a revolutionary product containing the best anti-oxidant, immune boosting, anti-aging and anti-illness ingredients. The benefits of these superb nutrients are now available in an all-in-one formula.

Anti-Oxidant Formula #1 should be included in your daily nutritional regime to counteract the daily bombardment of free radicals on our cells and enhance the way our immune system functions.

Providing these necessary nutrients may ultimately provide us with a long, healthy life that is free from illness and disease while counteracting the adverse effects of aging.

At the last PACC meeting, we revisited the Hunza people via the Internet and discovered that many of the people attribute their long lives of over 130 years to the healthy climate. Besides living high in the Pakistan mountains and living like we did hunderds of years ago, a lot of the water comes from the glacial streams.

Another study of the glacial water from Kilimanjaro lessening due to global warming has not proven how much of it is used by the people nearby. Yet they predict that the glaciers will not last past 2020.

APPLES>ANTI-OXIDANTS>HEALTH>HAPPY LIFE
Mood:  hungry
Eat an apple a day! It can also be a pie, juice, jam or wine. They all are good for you in various degrees.

They help repair all the cells of the body. They help stop heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's and the countless varieties of disease that we put names to.

The research in the news today gives us a better picture of the truth our wise ones knew thousands of years ago!

The research team from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has shown that beta amyloid proteins can be seen repaired with the Pittsburgh Compound.

http://newsbureau.upmc.com/WPIC/CompoundBStudy2004.htm

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 21, 2004 - Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, have laid the groundwork for a new era in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research by completing the first human study of a compound that, through positron emission tomography (PET), enables them to peer into the brains of people with the memory-stealing illness and see the telltale plaque deposits they believe are at the root of the disease.

Alzheimer's is a debilitating brain disease that affects memory and cognitive function in approximately 4 million Americans today and, if unchecked, will strike as many as 14 million during the next 50 years. The distinguishing factor between AD and other dementias is the formation of a protein substance called beta-amyloid, or amyloid plaque, that is believed to contribute to the death of brain cells.

Results of the study were chosen for rapid publication online in the early view section of Annals of Neurology.

According to the researchers, creation of the compound, dubbed Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB), is a significant development that may provide long-sought answers to questions of how the disease begins and grows, as well as contribute to a better understanding of how effective new drug therapies are at preventing, delaying or treating AD.

"PIB has given us a new tool to view the amount of amyloid in the brains of living Alzheimer's disease patients," said William E. Klunk, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-inventor of PIB. "Using PIB, we will likely be able to follow the progression of the disease and speed the development of promising new therapies aimed at halting the build-up of amyloid in the brain."

Alzheimer's disease, like stroke, is a significant cause of dementia in people over the age of 65. But unlike stroke, which begins with a single event, there is no way for doctors to pinpoint when the brains of people with AD begin to change, and this lack of knowledge is a real detriment when it comes to creating and testing therapies to prevent the illness.

The plaque deposits form in areas of the brain where memory and cognitive functions are carried out, while leaving areas responsible for motor functions alone. This means a person with AD can be cognitively helpless while being physically robust.

Actual visual inspection of amyloid in the brain has been the only way to make a definitive diagnosis of AD, and previously could only be done at autopsy. With PIB, the distribution of amyloid in the brains of living patients obtained with PET imaging corresponded well to that seen by pathologists at autopsy, said Dr. Klunk.

"The study clearly demonstrates that we now have a tool to detect one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in the brains of living patients. Until now, this could only be shown at autopsy or by brain biopsy. This is a significant advance for Alzheimer research, and we look forward to the discovery of many possible uses for it, including aiding in the development of new Alzheimer therapies and possibly assisting in identifying those at high risk for the disease," said William Thies, Ph.D., vice president of Medical and Scientific Affairs for the Alzheimer's Association.

According to the researchers, future use of the compound in the diagnosis of AD is just one area likely to be influenced by the new PIB imaging technology.

"We're excited by the future prospects for Pittsburgh Compound B," said Chester A. Mathis, Ph.D., professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-inventor of PIB. "The ability to detect and quantify amyloid in the brain has the potential to impact several areas of Alzheimer's research, including the assessment of anti-amyloid treatments under development by many major pharmaceutical companies. PIB may allow us to study the very roots of AD by assessing the extent of amyloid deposition in people years before AD symptoms appear."

"For example," added Dr. Klunk, "we will be able to study families with a genetic makeup that leads to AD in half the family members at an early age, often in their 40's. Looking at these at-risk, presymptomatic subjects will show us if the plaques responsible for destroying the brain's ability to think and remember are present years before the first symptoms appear, or if they accumulate over a relatively short time period."

Knowing when the plaques begin to form is a key step in researching drugs that could have a real impact on the disease, said Dr. Klunk. "We will not only find out when plaques begin to form, we will be able to see directly if a medication is preventing or reversing plaque formation over the long term."

While the trial looked at a relatively small sample, 16 patients diagnosed with probable AD and nine control subjects, the results were highly significant. PET images showing PIB retention in the AD patients revealed PIB "stuck" to amyloid in areas of the brain known to contain these plaques, but not in areas of the brain where it is known that AD patients have low concentrations of plaques. PIB was not retained in the brains of eight of the nine control subjects, raising the possibility that the remaining control was starting to develop amyloid before any symptoms of dementia were apparent.

"These results are a very strong indicator of PIB's usefulness in providing quantitative information on amyloid deposits in the living brain," said Dr. Mathis.

In addition to Drs. Klunk and Mathis, the team included researchers from Uppsala University and PET Centre/Uppsala Imanet AB in Uppsala, Sweden; and the Karolinska Institute and Huddinge University, Stockholm, Sweden.

The study was supported by grants from the Alzheimer's Association, the National Institute on Aging, the Swedish Medical Research Council and the Stohnes Foundation. Brain tissue was provided through the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer Disease Research Center Brain Bank.

The anti-oxidants we get from fruits and vegitables help fight off disease in many ways. See this link for a very good description on what you can do to have a healthy life.

http://www.fi.edu/brain/health_topics.htm

Our Blessed Mother of Medjugorje
Each month on the 25th, Our Lady appears to the childern of Medjugorje to tell them how much God loves us and what we need to do to make this world a better place.

A Brief Overview of Events at Medjugorje

In the heart of Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia, there is a Croatian village of a thousand souls nestled between two hills, Krizevac and Podbrdo (the name "Medjugorje" means "between the mountains").The people, all hard-working country folk making their living from the soil, barely managed to survive by growing tobacco and grapes. Until recently they lived in a state of political repression under the eagle eye of the omnipresent Communist militia. The parish church was in the hands of the fiery Franciscan priest, Fr. Jozo Zovko.

On June 24, 1981, the Feast of St. John the Precursor, the village was thrown into turmoil by an extraordinary happening. A few teenagers were walking along the path by Podbrdo hill when they saw a shining silhouette of a lady holding a baby in her arms. The next day she returned and revealed her identity: "I am the Blessed Virgin Mary." The group of 6 visionaries was then formed definitively and consisted of Marija Pavlovic, Vicka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Ivanka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, and Jakov Colo.

Every day the Gospa (the Croatian word for Our Lady) reappeared, giving the children "messages" for themselves, for the parish, and for the world: messages of peace and the need for conversion and love in order to bring back to the Heart of God our poor humanity lost in darkness so far from the Lord! Since 1987 these messages have been given once a month. The Gospa also gives each visionary certain secrets which will be revealed through the intermediary of a priest chosen by the visionary, at a time the Gospa decides.

Father Jozo quickly came to believe in the apparitions for he saw Our Lady himself one day in the church. The Bishop of Mostar, Monsignor Zanic, at first believed too, but later was convinced that the whole thing had been cooked up by the Franciscans. A rift then developed which exists today.

In 1986 Monsignor Zanic provided Cardinal Ratzinger with a negative report on the apparitions, but the Cardinal removed Zanic from the case and gave the investigation over to a new Commission formed of Yugoslavian bishops with Monsignor Komarica (from Banja Luka) at its head. This Commission is open to further developments and has not concluded its investigations.

In April 1991 this Commission officially accepted Medjugorje as a place of prayer, and authorized it as a place of worship. Private pilgrimages are authorized there. On August 21, 1996, Doctor Navarro Valls, the spokesman for the Holy See, made explicit the position of Rome: "You cannot say people cannot go there until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want" (CNS Publication, August 21, 1996). "When Catholic faithful go anywhere, they are entitled to spiritual care, so the Church does not forbid priests to accompany lay-organized trips to Medjugorje in
Bosnia-Herzegovina," he added.

Since June 25, 1981, more than 20 million pilgrims have come to this little village to pray and experience conversion, making Medjugorje one of the most frequented sanctuaries in the entire world.

After September 11, 2001 the Blessed Mother spoke these words.

September 25, 2001

"Dear children!

Also today I call you to prayer, especially today when Satan wants war and hatred. I call you anew,
little children: pray and fast that God may give you peace.

Witness peace to every heart and be carriers of peace in this world without peace.

I am with you and intercede before God for each of you. And you do not be afraid because the one who prays is not afraid of evil and has no hatred in the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call."

OUR LADY`S MESSAGES FOR 2004

Message of January 25, 2004
Dear children! Also today I call you to pray. Pray, little children, in a special way for all those who have not come to know God's love. Pray that their hearts may open and draw closer to my heart and the Heart of my Son Jesus, so that we can transform them into people of peace and love. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Message of February 25, 2004
Dear children! Also today, as never up to now, I call you to open your hearts to my messages. Little children, be those who draw souls to God and not those who distance them. I am with you and love you all with a special love. This is a time of penance and conversion. From the bottom of my heart, I call you to be mine with all your heart and then you will see that your God is great, because He will give you an abundance of blessings and peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Message of March 25, 2004
Dear children! Also today, I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Especially now, in this time of grace, open your hearts, little children, and express your love to the Crucified. Only in this way, will you discover peace, and prayer will begin to flow from your heart into the world. Be an example, little children, and an incentive for the good. I am close to you and I love you all. Thank you for having responded to my call

Message of April 25, 2004
Dear children! Also today, I call you to live my messages even more strongly in humility and love so that the Holy Spirit may fill you with His grace and strength. Only in this way will you be witnesses of peace and forgiveness. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Message of May 25, 2004
Dear children! Also today, I urge you to consecrate yourselves to my Heart and to the Heart of my Son Jesus. Only in this way will you be mine more each day and you will inspire each other all the more to holiness. In this way joy will rule your hearts and you will be carriers of peace and love. Thank you for having responded to my In this way joy will rule your hearts and you will be carriers of peace and love. Thank you for having responded to my call.

http://www.medjugorje.org
http://xenon.stanford.edu/~marco/medjugorje/
http://www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

LIFE IS LEARNING
Life is all about learning how to learn the truth and finding extreme joy in it. There are many lessons in life that we can learn. Some would say that life is a training ground for the realities beyond this life. Many of the people who have had after death experiences tell about the levels beyond common reality.

Some of the alter states of consciousness that we can relate to are: paying attention, sleep, dreaming, hypnotic, ecstasy, and drug induced states of consciousness that can be referred to as the alpha, beta, delta, and theta levels of awareness.

Beta is our normal state of consciousness. Alpha is a more attentive state that is often produced by techniques like contemplation, meditation, prayer, yoga, tai chi, dance, song and many other creative activities.

Charles Tart mapped out many of these levels of consciousness and Barbara Brown attempted to show us how the "Body and Mind" work together and how to use these levels and aspects to do much more in life.

Howard Gardner developed the theory of multiple intelligences that categories eight types of intelligence: words, numbers, pictures, athletics, music, popularity, "selfish" (knowledge of self) and naturalistic. Others added over 120 aspects of intelligence. I recall that the aspects were contained within a 4*5*6 matrix of reasoning, remembering and will.

Here is a list of nine types of intelligence that scientists have made:
1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence -- well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words
2. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence -- ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical or numerical patterns
3. Musical Intelligence -- ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
4. Visual-Spatial Intelligence -- capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence -- ability to control one's body movements and to handle objects skillfully
6. Interpersonal Intelligence -- capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence -- capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes
8. Naturalist Intelligence -- ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature
9. Existential Intelligence -- sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.

The process of learning how to learn better is the key to a well rounded education. The traditional education keys upon various areas of intelligence like: reading, writing, arithmetic, arts and science.

Cognitive scientists have discovered many types of genius. Savants, eccentrics, prodigies, visionaries, and despots, all reflect aspects of the seven types of genius. Genius at illusion, war and spy-craft, physical performances, and even comedy are part of some of their list.

Medical experts, researchers and the geniuses themselves all comment or demonstrate aspects of genius that are astonishing and unexpected. One theory suggests that creativity is genetic, and thus, geniuses are indeed born, not made.

Galton examined the extended families of prominent geniuses in the arts, letters, and sciences, and "demonstrated" that mental illness tended to occur in branches of their family.

The popular culture's notion that geniuses were crazy certainly received support from the excesses of many of the Romantic artists of the 19th century, who had their share of obsessive, manic, and ecstatic behaviors.

They point out that people frequently underestimated Stalin's intellectual powers. They say that he ran the Soviet Union for three decades without ever having a secretary, a speech writer or any confidant. During that time he wrote thirteen volumes of published works, and two unpublished, all in long-hand.

Self-directed learning is essential in nurturing your own innate genius and maximizing your potential. It utilizes at least four aspects of genius: the desire to learn, a love of the task at hand, acquisition of deep knowledge of a subject area and expansion of mental literacy.

In developing an understanding of the person we need to look at every aspect of the individual. In many cases we look at the good and the ordinary qualities that we try to transform into unique assets.

Our model includes maximizing our potentialities and remembering to always be virtuous. The holistic model of human formation includes the physical, mental and spiritual aspects that we integrate and balance to transform our total self.

Most of what we know is embodied into our personality. It is by paying attention to our unconscious motivations that we become better able to learn from the past.

Most of our intelligence is hidden in untapped wisdom. Yet everyone is able to learn how to improve themselves by making it a constant practice. The more we pay attention to our strengths, the better able we are to transform our development.

The techniques that we use with physical development can also be used with mental and spiritual formation. All together they make up the total improvement team.

Learn from the authorities in each area and develop your own program of life long learning that includes both conscious and embodied wisdom to discover all that you can become.

WORKERS and JOBS

There are as many workers as there are jobs. All we have to do is match them up. There are even those ideal jobs for those who are motivated and creative enough to make them.

When we look at ourselves each day, we begin to see things that need to change and improve. This is the principle of the ideal and the pursuit of happiness.

Holistics draws upon the "golden rule" and the teachings of our Lord about seeking goodness and trusting in God to give us all that we need. Yet religion is alive and calls us to action, for no one will see heaven just by waiting for it to come to him.

One of the difficulties in the world is poverty. Many leaders attempted to discover how to break the poverty cycle. FDR is credited with bringing the US out of the great depression by having the government create jobs.

If we look at the job market today we would see where there are places that need workers, and places where there are too many workers. Yet the greatest area for growth is individual initiative for creating new jobs where there were none.

Yet many new jobs need capital to purchase raw materials to produce goods, or a place to start a business or sell services. Our lending institutions seem to be seriously out of balance. There is very little incentive to save and a very great temptation to have greater credit or way too many bills to pay.

Last night Charlie Rose interviewed Mohamad Yunus about the peoples bank he created.

Here is a site that tells you about his bank project to end poverty in the world:

http://www.charlierose.com/index.shtm

http://www.gfusa.org/

http://www.miamsi.com/yunus.html

http://www.entovation.com/gkp/berlin.htm