HOLISM
Covering All Bases
Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha's website is an electronic version of his ashram and holistic health center in Bayville, New York. At http://ayurvedahc.com, watch this American disciple of the late Swami Shankar Purushottam Maharaj adroitly apply ayurveda, astrology and even Vedic architecture to pregnancy and child care, addiction, longevity, mental health and much more.
MEDICINE
Alternatives
Today's average allopathic medical doctor ignores, even scoffs at, "alternative treatment." But that is changing, thanks in part to the new Office of Alternative Medicine, a section of the US government's National Institute of Health. Its mandate is to identify and evaluate unconventional health care practices. At its website (http://altmed.od.nih.gov/) you will find summaries of numerous healing systems, plus a monthly on-line health news bulletin.
VIDEO
Indian Fable Goes High-tech
Manick Sorcar's base- ment is filled with rows of computers and hundreds of hand-painted backdrops. Here he painstakingly integrates live actors with animation to create award-winning videos for children, retelling classic tales from India. Following hits like "Deepa & Rupa," his latest is "The Woodcutter's Daughter," a fable adapted from the Panchatantra about a magically-born daughter who chooses an extraordinary husband. US$18. Sorcar Productions, 14565 West 58th Place, Arvada, Colorado 80004 USA.
RELATIONSHIPS
Media = Real Life
Reeves' and nass' premise in The Media Equation (Cambridge University Press) is that we respond to computers (and other electronic media) just as we respond to real people. We're not talking only of attributing dark ulterior motives to the computer which just trashed 16 hours of your work. Did you know we react emotionally to a computer's praise or blame just as if it came from a real person? Or that we react differently to the same comments by male and female computer voices? The authors attribute this tendency to inadequate evolutionary advancement by humans to deal sanely with machines.
INSTILL IN US A WHOLESOME, HAPPY MIND, WITH GOODWILL AND UNDERSTANDING. THEN SHALL WE EVER DELIGHT IN YOUR FRIENDSHIP LIKE COWS WHO GLADLY REJOICE IN MEADOWS GREEN. THIS IS MY JOYFUL MESSAGE.
Rig Veda Samhita 10.25.1