Tips For A Professional Life Coaching Expert

There are few people who gain delight from writing, other people obtain pleasure from playing football and for some others pleasure comes in the form of assisting other people. It is extremely important for you to look out for some assistance to resolve your problems if you are a celebrity who feels that most of the aspects of your life are not as satisfactory as you expected. Going to a different person and being open to them regarding your life can be an unsettling experience for many so always make sure that you are comfortable with the expert that you are working with.

Professional life coaching is a phenomenon that surfaced in the recent decade when people started to understand how sad they were with their lives. Few people were sad with their relationships, other people were unhappy about their careers; others doubted if they were utilizing all that they were capable of. The stress of daily life can prove to be hectic but for few people, it can be something that haunts them in their dreams. Managing your children can be menacing too, particularly if you are unsure of yourself and there can be catastrophic implications if you do something wrong.

There is no way of being sure that your life is a bed of roses but there are some measures that you can take to have a better chance of living a long and mentally healthy life. Difficulties can come up in almost each and every aspect of your life and no matter how different those elements are, the key is always the one and the same: you. Learning about what your heart wants can be really hard because we grew up thinking through our brains. Cynicism and heavy handed pragmatic practices have bereaved us of the capability of listening to ourselves. It is only when we question ourselves when undergoing professional life coaching that we learn precisely how shallow some of our principles are and what kind of initiative is needed for us to have a better life philosophy.

In professional life coaching, it is crucial that you work with an apt coach for the reason that the role of your coach here is not that of your conventional mentor. Instead of just telling you what to do, you will be expected to act on your own in certain scenarios that will be stimulated by your coach. With professional life coaching, the goal is to realize what you have been doing wrong rather than just memorizing it.

Only with the help of intense counseling can your downsides dawn on you, and only then will you able to reduce the difficulties in your life. For more information on life coaching and to know if you have got what it takes to become a life coach, you can visit the website http://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au

Spiritual Life Coaching - Healing the Emotional Pain-Body

As the egoic mind begins to identify with a sense of self that is emotionally arrested in childhood, the pain-body energy will intensify. This trauma gets continually re-triggered every single time the pain-body justifies its existence by identifying with its wounded self. It's as if the pain-body says, "I have been hurt by others and therefore I deserve to be angry."

And so the pain-body is an energy field that re-experiences itself through negative emotions such as victimization, oppression, and a deep-seated, subconscious fear of impending doom. These feelings get reinforced and substantiated by the re-occurring situations that frequently arise as a result of the pain-body's ability to attract to it its own like energy. A typical pain-body host will consistently relive the very same emotions that became blocked during the forming of its childhood primal wound. In simpler words, these hosts are emotionally stuck in the past.

So the next step after you identify the childhood trauma is to work toward getting yourself "unstuck." Now, as you bring in the power of presence and bring in a higher awareness into the pain-body, it can no longer trick you into completely identifying with it. When you can observe the pain-body arising you will want to practice recognizing it as a separate entity, a separate energy field. You will see it as being not who you are. That is the beginning of your liberation from it.

Recognizing the pain-body when it becomes active in whatever form is crucial. With some, the pain-body exhibits a more active, aggressive-like pain, in other persons it is a passive form of victim-like pain such as with those with "Poor Me Syndrome." There may be a tenseness or constriction in the muscles and so you will want to become aware of that. Or there may be a burning or tightness in the solar plexus or abdomen and so you become aware of that. Some may become consumed with rage is if they're whole body was set on fire.

We are not fighting the pain-body or trying to eliminate it. That will only empower it. It tried fighting my pain-body for years by "attacking it" with a variety of diets, treatments, an enduring a series of physiological and psychological examinations, all in a desperate attempt to "get rid of" my chronic illness. But resistance the pain didn't work. My pain-body didn't begin to dissolve until I completely surrendered to it. It's as if you say, "Well, this is the way it is. And therefore I honor and respect that." Only by practicing the power of presence can you successfully bring an end to the pain-body.

So by becoming a silent witness to the pain as it begins to take over your body, you are already beginning to transcend it and work toward its dissolution. Working in one-on-one sessions with an online spiritual life coach can be very helpful for you as you allow your pain-body to dissolve on its own volition by becoming aware of it as it resurfaces.

Personal Life Coach, Jason Lincoln Jeffers, is the founder of The Art of Transformation, a company dedicated to teaching Spiritual Enlightenment to the world. His Personal Life Coaching practice uniquely combines spiritual wisdom with ego transcendence, wellness coaching, life path astrology, pain-body counseling, heart-based manifestation, and relationship coaching.

Leadership Training: the Effective Head

You'll find out in leadership training that the way ahead for any business is enormously dependent on correct leadership and management. Team leaders and CEOs are the people that should set the goals and implement the strategies needed to realize those goals.

A company's immediate and future performance is, to a certain amount, a leadership issue.

Naturally, the talent and team work of the staff come at play too but unless they've a great leader to tell them what to do and the way to do it, their talent and friendship will be put to waste.

And you do not want that, right?

A leader is a member of a team or an organisation who creates and relays goals and make sure that these are implemented effectively and accurately.

Leaders are also given the possibility and responsibility to induce and motivate folks. They should know the way to cope with others and know what will make them happy and satisfied at the workplace.

Ideally, leaders are the top performers in a firm. Except for having great communication and people abilities, they should have good technical abilities also.

In a huge way, leadership coaching is also a way to develop one's self. Personal development is important in running a business or leading a team. You need to be always at your best because other people rely on you.

Obviously, when you go to a leadership coaching convention, you need to put attention on private development. When you grow, your team grows too.

Now, there are lots of things that you will need to find in a leadership training relating to your personal growth:

- What your targets must be.
- How to achieve those goals.
- The right way to communicate clearly and efficiently.
- Why you need to plan in advance.
- Learn what you want to prioritize.
- How you can attract constructive energy.

Public Speaking Tips - The Importance Of Audience Contact

Although speaking in public is really a monologue of sorts, this monologue is addressed to a ready, able and receptive audience who wants to learn from you as much as you want to learn from them.

If it is listened to, then speaking in public would be more effective. To maintain that necessary contact with the audience, here are some effective tips to consider.

Don't forget to greet them

A few minutes prior to your actual speaking engagement, try walking around the venue and familiarize yourself with the people who will be listening to you. Give the people and the attendees a warm greeting as they arrive. Rather than trying to deliver a speech to a bunch of anonymous faces, it would be so much easier to deliver it to a group of people whom you consider as friends.

Being positive

The truth is, people expect and they want you to succeed. Audiences want to be as informed, stimulated and entertained as they could be. If you do fail, then they will cringe with you. Succeed and your audience benefits just as well from your great speaking performance.

There is nothing to be sorry about

Avoid expressing your apologies to any problems you think may exist about your speech or your speech delivery or mention to the audience that you are nervous because if you do, then you may be setting them up to focus on whatever you are apologizing for. It isn't necessary to mention this to them because it's possible they haven't noticed this until you brought it up. Relax and be silent. Your audience will relax with you.

You need to establish eye contact

Try connecting with your audience and appear natural. It would be better if be as natural as you can be without overdoing it. Getting the audience to nod their heads as an acknowledgement of what you are trying to convey is what you should be able to do. Make sure you don't breeze through your speech. Pausing for a while or for a brief moment is a must especially at those points that you want to emphasize. You can also consider this a good time to establish eye contact with your attendees and you can also catch that much needed breath.

Avoid debating

If an audience expresses disagreement with any part of your message during the question and answer part of your speaking engagement, you don't have to aggressively prove your point to him or her. The fact is a debate, aside from being just a futile means to get your point across, could just as well never be resolved. If you want to get that attendee to talk with you, make sure it's after your speaking engagement and not during. Join artist Caroline Jasper to learn water painting tips in this detailed DVD

Speed Learning Techniques - Self Managed Learning

Learning and education has long been a right for every person. Learning different speed learning techniques is a privilege.

But with the rate of change that we are experiencing in the office, in the high-school system and our need for self-growth, getting a grip on some speed learning techniques starts to be a responsibility that we owe to ourselves.

Now, self-managed learning is the idea of being responsible for your own learning. You see, unless you accept accountability for your own lessons and need to learn, it isn't relevant what speed learning techniques you discover, you will not be able to enjoy the countless benefits.

Learning Phases

Most people do majority of their learning when they're young. Actually studies and statistical data shows the human brain absorbs and processes the most information in the first eight years of their lives.

A child's brain is really like a sponge. They absorb loads of info faster than adults.

During this stage, a person's mind just soaks up and retains any info that it can get. There is no ability yet that would determine which of them are helpful and which of them are not. Speed learning techniques can teach an individual how to do that.

Now, about the age of sixteen, an individual goes from learning the basics into copying people.

At 21, our ability to learn new thing drops stupendously. And as a person grows older, the harder it becomes for them to learn and remember new info.

Self-Managed Learning

Speed learning techniques all differ in outcome, difficulty and effectiveness. But the one thing that they all have in common is it is worthless if you do not accept accountability for it.

Self-managed learning is when you take full responsibility for your lessons- from start to end and highs and lows. And what makes self-managed learning perfect for speed learning techniques is that it promotes continuous and unending learning.

Speed learning techniques aren't all easy to understand so you certainly would have to have the tolerance to deal with your lessons.

Now, one of the key ideas in self-managed learning is that you wish to have a purpose when you study different speed learning techniques. This is named purposive learning.

Purposive learning is precisely what the term sounds like: learning for a purpose.

We all live different lives and we have many different reasons for doing what we do. When you study speed learning techniques, I'm sure that you are doing this to be better at something- at work, at home or personally.

You have to learn with a really clear end result to what or how the lessons will provide benefits to you. Speed learning techniques aren't there just and solely for the sake of learning. You need to keep under consideration that these speed learning techniques must teach you alternative ways to enhance your current state.

Learning is something you shouldn't just leave to chance or to fate. You should choose for yourself and take responsibilities for each and every one of your actions.

Using Accelerated Learning to Achieve Your Goals

We all should have goals in life, generally our goals are related to our work and career, but often those goals appear to be unachievable to us and we are not quite sure why and if we're getting it wrong. This typically occurs if the goals are not obviously outlined. You need to clearly outline the outcome that you would like to attain and that will help you work out the simplest way to reach it.

The Accelerated Learning programme could help you attain your goals faster with the secrets that are employed in this programme to teach you how to hone in on the specifics you need to learn and make maximum use of the time you spend learning, giving you results much faster than another way.

You also have to focus and know what you're going to get out of the learning you are preparing to start. This turns on part of your mind called the Reticular Activating System which allows your subconscious mind to find the exact data you want. Learning the information only that you will need and not a complete bunch of unnecessary data lets you learn faster and more efficiently, because you're not overloading your mind with data that you don't need.

Think of learning like you're making a map, you're adding piece by piece to it. You have to know how precise your map needs to be, so how far you want to drill down into particular bits of info and how broad other pieces of info should be.

You want to start having a look at your learning as though it was an investment and you will need to work out your investment return. How much time and effort are you ready to invest and will it give you your required end result? These are all parts of the preparation process of learning this way. When you have your outcome clearly outlined and set, you then move on to the very next step of inputting the info you wish to know.

One of the swiftest ways of inputting data is photo reading. The accelerated learning system teaches you how to input this information to be well placed to comprehend what you are absorbing and be able to recollect it later with ease. This kind of inputting can also be done with videos, audio's, as well as books.

These are just the first steps of the preparation and inputting process of this type of learning methodology.

Welcome to our Spiritual Globe

We are eager to share our thoughts and ready to listen to your opinions.

When I was a child I was absolutely sure that God, Jesus Christ, angels and the rest were people like me, like we all are. They were the same children, that eat, sleep and play, cry and laugh, are anger and happy… With the time this faith was disappearing – they said that I was growing and entering the adult life. Once upon a day I woke up in the morning and realized that all those things I trusted in my childhood are just a myth, illusion… They do not exist.

Now I want to look back and open my child that still lives inside me, that lives inside every person. He is just hid in a safe corner. Parents, school and university “did their best” to kill this child, my entity, my essence. Now I want to look at things with my own eyes, now I want to drift to my own nature.

Then an idea occurred to my mind to open this Blog as I thought that other people might have the same questions and ideas about this as I do. Our credo- is seeking for enlightenment. As even a profound and an old wisdom runs as follows: “seek and ye shall find”.

Important: no templates, no standards.

Free you Heart, Mind and Spirit.

An economic perspective on spiritual development and growth

During the 1980’s evangelicals embarked on the church growth movement in an attempt to apply social sciences to achieve growing numbers of Christians and churches. The idea was controversial from the start, but the church growth movement had a huge impact that continues to reverberate. Although many have pushed back against the emphasis on numbers, countering with the need for qualitative growth as well, and the term “church growth” is no longer in vogue, the legacy of the church growth movement is a continuing urgency to foster and guide Christian movements of conversion and institutional expansion.

Today I was reading an economist writing about development theory, and I was struck by the parallels between people who want to promote and control growth — whether economic or spiritual — on a large scale. William Easterly writes on “The Anarchy of Success“:

Humans are suckers for finding patterns where none really exist, like seeing the shapes of lions and giraffes in the clouds. It wasn’t that economists had no explanations of what causes growth. On the contrary, we had too many. One survey of the field counted no fewer than 145 separate factors that had been found to be associated with growth. But most of these patterns were spurious, because they failed to hold up when other researchers tried to replicate them. Economists can say something useful about economic success, but we have to clear away a lot of false overconfidence before we get to that point.

Growth and development whether in spiritual or economic terms has been thoroughly studied and we have principles and formulas up the yin yang, but are we the wiser for all the research and theorizing? Does real change, whether in spiritual or economic terms, come from engagement with people in the grit, decisions, and paradoxes of real life? If so, what we need is not endless futile and misguided attempts to control the process but more freedom and opportunity for growth to emerge from below (whether economic or spiritual).

Easterly finishes,

Perhaps prosperity is not after all designed from above; perhaps it emerges from below, from the independent actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths.

Here is a different version of this quote in my words as a follower of Jesus,

Perhaps the growth of God’s people in the world is not designed or controlled by people in supposed positions of influence; perhaps it emerges from below, from the actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths in concert with the Spirit of God working in them.

Andrew Gray

Drink a Spiritual and Healthy Tea

Only the boldest—and most reckless—among tea drinkers have tried it. To drink it, one must possess a certain amount of confidence and savoir faire. No, it’s not some new metropolitan or socialite brew. It’s certifiably wild, rustic, and homespun—it’s the stuff from which Grimm’s Fairy Tales are made! What is it? Tisanes made from some exotic stuff that you probably never realized you could drink!

There are several ways to go about collecting your tea’s ingredients. You can find them in many places (although probably not at your grocery store, or any store, for that matter). To create the wildest of teas, you may want to take a walk in the park, in the forest, or around a campground. Sometimes you can even find your material peeking up between sidewalk cracks in the city. Summer is the season of exploration and discovering new teas. What kinds of flora should you gather for your cauldron? Consult this list of suggestions (and get a guide book with photographs for distinguishing physical traits):

Verveine, or Lemon Verbena: It is in full bloom in summer. The flowers are a yellow, milky color and are sometimes pink. It can get very large and puts forth a lot of flowers and leaves. I have used it in tea to harness a relaxing effect. It can be very calming on the stomach, but don’t drink too much of it! Use only a few petals or leaves.

Little Wild Rose: You may not think to eat flowers unless you’ve seen Monsoon Wedding. Even if you’re not a fan of Bollywood or Indian movies, flowers (especially wild roses) are delicious in salads and teas. It’s hard not to find them when you get a whiff of their intoxicating, though mild fragrance. If you don’t want your tea to be too acidic, boil for less than ten minutes. Drink it with Verveine, if you are interested in seeing how the two mesh.

Yarrow: Yarrow is easiest to find if you live in the Southwestern United States. It is a diaphoretic that helps with circulation (it has several other medicinal benefits too). To enjoy it, add two leaves to boiling water. Sweeten it with honey, if you like. Like Verveine, you should be careful to not use too much or drink it too frequently unless you live next door to a homeopathic doctor.

Calendula, or Marigolds: To make it, steep a few dried flowers in very hot water for less than six minutes. You can mix it with other flowers and herbs, or just drink it alone. It will help detoxify your body and improve your immune system.

How To Practice Buddhist Breathing Meditation

In Buddhism, meditation serves to calm and control the mind and is essential to break the cycle of suffering and attain Enlightenment. Follow these steps…more »In Buddhism, meditation serves to calm and control the mind and is essential to break the cycle of suffering and attain Enlightenment. Follow these steps for mindfulness of breathing meditation, one of the two simplest meditations.

Hidden Gobi Desert relics found

Rare Buddhist treasures, not seen for more than 70 years, have been unearthed in the Gobi Desert.

The historic artefacts were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were looted and destroyed.

The relics include statues, art work, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master.


The leader of the search team, Michael Eisenriegler, described it as an "adventure of a lifetime".

A total of 64 crates of treasures were buried in the desert by a monk named Tudev, in an attempt to save them from the ransacking of the Mongolian and Soviet armies.

They belonged to Buddhist master Danzan Ravjaa and only Tudev knew where they were hidden. He passed on the secret to his grandson who dug up some of the boxes in the 1990s and opened a museum.

The current Austrian-Mongolian treasure hunt team found two more boxes. Mr Eisenriegler told the BBC World Service they were filled with "the most amazing Buddhist art objects".

"It is of tremendous value for Mongolian culture because Buddhism was almost extinct in the Communist times, especially in the 1930s.

"I'm totally exhausted right now but I'm also totally impressed with what I've seen."

The latest finds will be put on show at the Danzan Ravjaa Museum in Sainshand, 400km (250 miles) south of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator.

About 20 boxes remain hidden in the desert.

BBC

Madonna Thinks the Road to Spirituality Begins With Being Rich and FamousIn a front-page article that Madonna supposedly wrote for Israel's Yediot Ahr

In a front-page article that Madonna supposedly wrote for Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Madge talks about how her life was changed by a Jewish mystic who told her that "being rich and famous is not the end of the road, but only the beginning." Guess a lot of us aren't even allowed on the road at all, then. And apparently on a writing streak, she also wrote a song for ex Guy Ritchie, just after returning from London with Jesus Luz. Jennifer Love Hewitt is writing her own comic book. Donald Trump partied with Rihanna at Katy Perry's Hammerstein Ballroom show. Taylor Momsen supposedly didn't down tequila shots with Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Matthew Settle, and Chace Crawford at her 16th-birthday bash at Hiro. Those close to Mischa Barton think it's too soon after her hospitalization for her to begin filming on the CW's The Beautiful Life, because, you know, playing a supermodel with a drug problem is going to be an exhausting stretch.

Official statement from Jude Law's rep: "Jude Law can confirm that, following a relationship last year, he has been advised that he is to be the father of a child due in the fall of this year." So, um, congratulations to him? Joe Jackson confirmed that Norwegian performer Omer Bhatti is, in fact, Michael Jackson's love child. While partying with his pregnant girlfriend at L.A.'s Playhouse, Mel Gibson burst into a brawl with a Life & Style reporter posing as a fan who took his picture, which ended in Gibson ripping the reporter's shirt and his security guard deleting the photo. Amy Winehouse's dad faked a heart attack and had his doctor tell Amy he was dying in an effort to (unsuccessfully) "shock her" out of her heroin addiction. Clearly brains run in the family.

Eliot Spitzer is throwing a fund-raiser at his and Silda's Fifth Avenue apartment for Cy Vance, who's vying for Manhattan D.A. At a screening of his new movie, Adam, Hugh Dancy wouldn't say when he and Claire Danes will marry, but Cindy Adams says it's going to be in the next few months. Meanwhile Heath Ledger's family showed up for their first movie since the actor's death, and even stayed for the after-party at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Jay-Z and Beyoncé picked up hair products at Ricky's on Sixth Avenue. Bruce Willis stopped into Babbo for a few drinks. Mets infielder Jose Reyes, who's been on the disabled list since May with an "injured hamstring", was spotted dancing into the wee hours with a slew of Latin ladies at Serie 56 in Washington Heights.

George Clooney's latest Italian model-companion is also a lap dancer. Ali Larter's getting hitched in Maine this weekend. Tony Romo used to meet up with other women at Jessica Simpson's concerts. Because that's where all the real catches hang out. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted over whiskey at 675 Bar. Twilight's Rachelle Lefevre is "stunned" that the studio would replace her character, Victoria, in the film's third installment, owing to her own scheduling conflicts. And during the CFDA's "town hall" meeting to discuss the fashion industry's steep price markdowns, Anna Wintour suggested implementing discounting ground rules that all the retailers could agree to. When Diane Von Furstenberg pointed out that that would be illegal, Wintour replied, "Is that something we can change? We have friends in the White House now."

By: Katie Goldsmith

Cursed Mountain Look: Religion Is Scary

Before my first look at Deep Silver Vienna's Cursed Mountain, I always thought of Buddhism as an optimistic celebrity religion where you didn't go to Hell. Now I think it's the second-scariest religion ever.

That's not to say that developer Deep Silver has misrepresented Buddhism as an angry, savage religion that turns unwary mountaineers into zombies. The creative team went way out of their way to research the Tibetan roots of the Buddhist religion and portray some its harsh truths as means for driving the plot of their game.

In Cursed Mountain, you play a Scottish mountaineer out to rescue his younger brother from the peak of a treacherous Himalayan mountain called Chomolonzo somewhere in Tibet. The game is set in the 1980s (to preclude problem-solving technology like GPS trackers and stuff), but the ancient religious traditions of the monasteries and villages that dot the mountain are preserved. So our hero, Eric Simmons, finds himself grappling with Buddhist lore and Tibetan rituals to free the trapped souls of ghosts and appease the angry, cursed mountain.

For my first look at the game, I witnessed a boss fight from later in the game that Deep Silver developer relations manager Martin Filipp was demoing for a couple of other games journalists. I had no idea what was going on in the story, but I saw Eric round a narrow, snowy pass high up on the mountain and come upon the ruins what looked like a temple. In front of the temple, on a flat patch of permafrost, there were three bird-shaped statues that Eric could choose to investigate by pressing A. Doing so activated the statues so that they gave off orange electricity and suddenly a giant, winged black shadow swooped down from the mountain to attack Eric.

Combat in Cursed Mountain is one part melee, one part waggle-fest. I think of it as "Buddhist Flailing" and it works like this: Eric will melee-attack ghosts and bosses with his pick-axe and then use special Buddhist artifacts to perform a ritual on them. First, you must melee ghosts enough times to get a glowing red emblem to appear on their bodies. Pointing at the emblem and clicking A triggers a set of motion control instructions to appear onscreen, telling the player to do things like brandish the Wii Remote or swing the Nunchuck diagonally. Filipp says this is the ritual needed to release the ghost. If you don't perform each action in the ritual correctly, the ritual fails and you have to start over. If you get it right, though, you get a small amount of health back—in addition to not having an angry ghost to deal with anymore.

While battling the winged thingy, Filipp explained that though the game relies on Buddhism to construct the plot -– like why the mountain is cursed and why all these ghosts of dead mountaineers keep attacking Eric -– the developer made their own enemies and strove to be respectful of the religion. So don't expect a throw down with Buddha or the Dalai Lama or anything.

However, do expect to see some pretty alarming things you didn't know about Buddhism from listening to actor Richard Gere rave about it. For example, there's the Bardo state of Buddhism where souls are held before going on to Nirvana or reincarnation. Eric is able to trigger a "Bardo" vision where he can attack ghosts and see hidden things like doors or clues. In this view, the icy white paths of Chomolonzo look gray and black particles move across the screen like snow flurries. It might not be what Buddhists had in mind when describing Bardo in their religious texts, but unless you're prepared to die and go there to find out, just accept the developer's interpretation.

Next up, there the Tibetan ritual of "sky burial." I had never heard of this before, but the developer stumbled across it in their research for the project and decided to include it in the game at a crucial point. At the risk of spoilers, I won't get into details -– but let's just say, the nature of it suits the creepy, alarming atmosphere of Cursed Mountain very well.

Finally, there's another ritual of appeasing the mountain. In Buddhism, Filipp explained, mountains are seen as living gods and to keep said gods from, say, falling on you, a potential climber has to make some sort of sacrifice to make them happy. In real life, I've heard of people offering money to a shrine or lighting incense, but in the game, things get a little more… physical. Again, no spoilers, but let me just say that Cursed Mountain is rated M for good reason. Sexy good reason.

Filipp wrapped up with the other two games journalists and gave me a quick rundown of a few other levels. Cursed Mountain is a linear game spanning 13 levels, but it's kind of neat how you can see the whole world of the game –- the mountain -– for pretty much every level. Unlike other survival horror games that rely on claustrophobic indoor settings, this game creates a sense of oppressive agoraphobia where you feel like the mountain is bearing down on you all the time and the ground beneath you opens up to a yawning sky-filled oblivion. There was one level I saw that took place in an ice crevice and by comparison, it seemed a lot less scary than the open-air levels.

Speaking from the experience of climbing Mount Fuji, I say the mental strain created by the Cursed Mountain's setting definitely felt like the real thing. You walk and you climb and you walk, but the peak always seems impossibly far away – and so does the safety of the ground below you. Add ghosts and an angry goddess to that and it's no wonder Eric has to keep muttering to himself throughout the game to stay sane.

One final point Filipp made before ending our appointment was that Cursed Mountain is physically unlike any other horror game out there. In other console horror games -– if they're really good and immersive -– you hunch over instinctively to protect yourself as the game gets scarier and scarier. Cursed Mountain forces you away from that with its motion controls and Filipp says this adds to the fear factor.

I guess I'll find that out for myself soon enough. Deep Silver was kind enough to send me home with a preview build of Cursed Mountain. I plan on cracking it open in a dark room with a Hello Kitty plushie next to me to stave off heebie-jeebies.

By AJ Glasser

A Tale of Еwo Cultures

For years the phrase “love Taiwan” has been one of the hottest and most frequently mentioned words in Taiwan’s highly polarized political environment. The phrase is widely used by local politicians to accuse their counterparts of failing to do something or other simply because deep in their hearts they don’t really “love Taiwan.”

The ‘love for Taiwan’ vs. ‘lack of love for Taiwan’ debate has consequently turned into an empty phrase in which the true meaning has been lost in the midst of all the political squabbling.

Yet there are indeed many people, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, young or old, men or women, and of course, whether they are Taiwanese or foreigners, who have put tremendous efforts into making the country a better place to live, an act that can truly be attributed to the spirit of “love Taiwan”. The Israeli Representative to Taiwan, Raphael Gamzou, is one of these people.

You may have spotted Gamzou, a foreigner wearing a gray Tzu Chi Foundation T-shirt, at a recycling station in Taipei City’s Jianghu Flower Market and Jade Market from time to time. Very often on weekends, the de facto Israeli ambassador to Taiwan spends an hour or two serving as a recycling volunteer in this not-so-pleasant environment for the largest Buddhist charity group in the world.

His foreign looks have very often drawn the attention of passersby, many of whom are stunned when they discover that the middle-aged foreigner is none other than the Israeli Representative to Taiwan.

“I remember when I went there (the recycling station) for the first time,” said Gamzou, “since I was big and it was hot and I sweat a lot, many Taiwanese people who saw me would ask my Tzu Chi friends about who I was.”

“They were really surprised when they learned that I am the Israeli Representative,” he said, “I love very much the reactions of these people, it helps to send the message that even though I am a foreigner, I belong to the society here.”

The head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said he believes that as a diplomat, when one serves in a country one should become involved in and make a contribution to that society. He added that his involvement in these activities comes about because it is important for each one of us to dedicate some time as a volunteer.

He also thinks that when Taiwanese people see him doing volunteer work, it will encourage more people to join such activity. “When people see me do these works, they think that if a foreigner like me can bend and do volunteer work for the country, he must really love Taiwan.”

When the Israeli representative meets Tzu Chi

It might seem rather extraordinary for a Jew like Representative Gamzou to do volunteer work for a Buddhist group, but Gamzou himself says that he really enjoys doing so. “It is not that I have become a Buddhist or anything like that, but I am definitely committed to the humanitarian and social goals of Tzu Chi,” he noted.

His association with Tzu Chi goes back to 2006, when Gamzou first came to the country to take up his post in August of that year. While preparing for his post, Gamzou read about the local Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, known for its international humanitarian works, in a chapter of a report about non-government organizations in Taiwan left behind by his predecessor. He was immediately intrigued by Tzu Chi’s unique combination of religion and humanitarian acts.

Not long afterwards, Gamzou become more and more interested in Tzu Chi. The ISECO head learned that David D’Or, a famous Israeli singer, had been invited to sing at the celebration in Bangkok commemorating the Thai King's 60 years on the throne.

Knowing that D’Or, a vegetarian who engages in charity events around world, would be the perfect guy to share the idea of Tzu Chi with, Gamzou successfully persuaded the vocalist to make a stopover in Taiwan for benefit concerts to raise money for the organization in December of that year,.

Since then D’Or has performed for Tzu Chi three times, including a series of charity concerts organized by the Buddhist Compassion Relief foundation in 2008 to help raise funds for victims of China’s Sichuan earthquake and the cyclone that hit Myanmar.

Encouraged by the spirit of founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Master Cheng Yen, D’Or himself has even produced an English-language CD exclusively for Tzu Chi.

Even more importantly, six out of the 13 songs in the album were written by D’Or himself in accordance with Cheng Yen’s own words and teachings.

“The CDs have been sold after every one of D’Or’s concerts all over the world,” said Gamzou, “and all the profits go to the Tzu Chi Foundation for humanitarian acts.”

After successfully holding the fund-raising event, Gamzou said his wife told him that they should do something more directly involved in Tzu Chi’s volunteer work.

Because of the language barrier, Mr. and Mrs. Gamzou picked the recycling activities after going through a whole list of volunteer works that one can do for the foundation, since it required only basic language skills. And that marked the beginning of his volunteer service with the foundation.

Finding similarities between Jewish ideology and Tzu Chi

Though he does not consider himself to be a religious man, Gamzou says that rather than differences, he found a lot of similarities between Jewish thought and the ideas of Buddhism. This was especially true regarding the interpretations of Master Cheng Yen, who believes that all religions are important if they work for peace and promote love among human beings.

“There is no contradiction between Tzu Chi’s values and my identity as a Jew,” Gamzou said. On the contrary, the Israeli representative said, there is a concept in Judaism called “tikkun olam” which he believes is very similar to the ideas of Tzu Chi.

"Olam in Hebrew is the world, the globe, and tikkun means to amend or repair," he pointed out.

“‘Tikkun olam’ basically means that God creates the world, prepares the infrastructure for us. But as human beings, we have the obligation to constantly make it better – to help the poor, defend the weak, heal the sick.” The way he sees it, Gamzou says, he finds in Tzu Chi’s charity work a full and complete implementation of the concept “tikkun olam.”

Another idea of the Buddhism foundation which Gamzou really admires is the tolerance of all people and all religions, a rare idea - especially for a Jew like him from a neighborhood in the Middle East where tolerance of other religions is very often not the case.

That is why you can see the sight of Tzu Chi volunteers and devotees around the world, helping needy persons regardless of their nationality, religion, sex, or the color of their skin, Gamzou noted.

“In the eyes of Tzu Chi, there is only one kind of person, which is people in need. This is the only category that matters to the foundation,” he noted, adding that the idea is one that should be promoted to the world.

As a great admirer of Master Cheng Yen, when Gamzou finally met the leader of Tzu Chi for the first time in Hualien, he decided to prepare an appropriate present for her.

Instead of giving Master Cheng Yen a necklace or a ring, Gamzou had 18 trees planted in her name in Jerusalem's Forest of Peace as the best gift for the founder of the world’s largest Buddhist charity group.

"In Hebrew, the number 18 symbolizes `life,' which corresponds to [Cheng Yen's] ideas very closely," he said. “I think that would be a most appropriate gift for her,” he explained, as it has meanings involving both environmental protection and religious significance.

The love of Taiwanese culture

Having spent the past three years on the beautiful island nation of Taiwan, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said he has tried to immerse himself in Taiwanese culture as much as possible by enjoying local artistic performances such as music and Chinese opera.

Even though very often he doesn’t understand the language, he still finds himself deeply in love with Taiwanese culture.

All the same, Gamzou noted that he thinks the Taiwan government should engage in efforts to help foreigners who have not mastered the Mandarin or Taiwanese dialect to get more involved in learning and acquiring a better knowledge of local culture and tourism.

“The best way to do that is to improve the English-language information on the street,” he pointed out.

On the other hand, the Israeli representative said Taiwan is one of the few places that he finds being a foreigner is a “privilege”, as the Taiwanese people are extremely warm and welcoming to foreigner visitors to the island nation.

He also finds Taiwan culture fascinating and special simply because it is so different from his own culture.

“I take all my guests who come to visit me in Taiwan to Longshan Temple and to the area around it because I think it is so interesting and the best place to experience the unique Taiwanese culture.” Gamzou said.

A visit to Longshan Temple is a fascinating celebration of all the senses, as the temple is decorated in colorful paintings, and at the same time one can listen to sutras chanted by followers and smell incense burning.

“This is something I will definitely miss when I leave Taiwan,” said Gamzou, who is scheduled to leave the country some time next year.

As a genuine lover of Taiwanese people and its culture, Gamzou, who used to be an official in his country’s ministry of foreign affairs responsible for promoting Israeli culture around the world, said he would like to offer a few suggestions to the local government about culture promotion.

“I am afraid there is too much investment [by the Taiwan government] in building new art centers, and not enough in encouraging new local talent.”

The Israeli representative believes that Taiwan should put money into the support of creative young artists and give them subsidies to study aboard as well as spending money in educating local audiences.

“If you want to have a flourishing culture, you have to have enough audience to support it, this should be the priority.”

Also, the government should be more generous in assisting local performing groups when they go abroad.

Taking the example of the recent visit of U-Theater, who were invited to tour Israel by ISECO and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv in March, Gamzou said the Israeli side put more money into covering the theater’s expenses than the Taiwan government did.

A successful tour by one of Taiwan’s performing groups such as U-Theater or Cloud Gate abroad is so important for Taiwan that the government should pay special attention to these events, according to Gamzou, adding that soft power can help to promote local culture to the world.

Written by Joseph Yeh

Astrology and the Spiritual Path

Two things fill the heart with ever new and increasing awe and admiration: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. Immanuel Kant

>Astrology can be difficult to integrate into one’s spiritual life. It is easy to get caught up in the trivialized version of astrology we often see in quick-read takes on “glib Gemini” or “lazy Libra”…Talking about oneself as a “wild and crazy Aquarian” or a “deep, dark Scorpio” can be very self-limiting when there is so much more we can learn from seeing ourselves through the marvellous prism of Astrology. And nowadays, it is truly so easy to get into Astrology as both a passionate hobby and a spiritual art. It is a wonderful group thing too – friends can share a completely unique perspective on themselves and their families, and often find insights to heal or prevent relationship, career and other social or personal problems.

Astrology is indeed an art and science…despite what sceptics say, those who study Astrology with an open mind come away startled by the rich “coincidences” between what is in a person’s birth chart and the events and patterns which are in their life. As with Feng Shui, whether the theories are convincing or not, it is simply not rational to argue with the results! So while the sceptics talk, the huge business successes of our times continue to consult both astrologers and practitioners of Feng Shui, and the rest of us continue to heal the energy patterns of our homes, and find life-changing insights in our birth charts.

Astrology is not a religious or spiritual path as such, nor is it a psychological therapy by itself. However, the study of astrology can be a dynamic partner in both spiritual and psychological development. It provides a portal, a doorway, into an unfolding realm of self-knowledge. It can get our attention by its clear outlining of a problem area, and thus it helps us stop deluding ourselves. We can see why an avenue has never worked for us, what directions might be better, and face some home-truths along the way. So Astrology helps us grow up, really – and that is no small thing! It softens us up a bit, as self-knowledge tends to do. We become more open to truth in all spheres of life, and this helps us open up to things like forgiving someone, looking at things “from both sides now”, and seeing we might need some help – especially the grace of God – with some major areas of our life which a glance at the birth chart so often pinpoints.

Astrology is an excellent partner in one’s chosen spiritual path as a source of insight and inspiration. It starts by helping with Faith. Faith is a spiritual Gift – we cannot demand it, but we can work faithfully for it, and then one day, or one lifetime, it simply happens, and we will never look back. Astrology helps plow the earth of Life, helps us sow those seeds of self-knowlege and openness to the mysteries of God’s great universe. And then, one day, when the rains of God’s grace do come, our fields will suddenly bloom, and we will find Faith, where once there was stoney bare ground.

Astrology also helps us get to Faith by offering the very intriguing suggestion that our intuitions and reading of our lives are based in cosmic facts. At a certain point, the “coincidences” between what is in our birth chart and what is and has been going on in our life are too many to dismiss as pure chance. This is especially true when we consider that the birth chart arrives with us and does not get “doctored” along the way. Nor is it fair to suggest, as some might do, that a birth chart is self-fulfilling, that people try to live out the patterns they have been told exist in their birth chart. In my experience, most people never lay eyes on their birth chart till mid-life or later…and frankly, the knowledge required to read a chart, or even to remember what one is told about it in any detail, precludes such a suggestion.