The Atharva Veda - Ancient Spell, Writing and Hinduism Scriptures

One of the oldest religion is Hinduism, with their Veda as the holy book. The Atharva Veda is one of the four Vedas, the other three being the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, and the Yajur Veda. The Vedas are the sacred scriptures of Hinduism and are believed to have been composed in India between 1500 BC and the end of the 1st millennium BC. 

The Vedas may be considered as knowledge texts , and, generally speaking, there is a strong priestly bias to them, as the Brahmins monopolized the production and the transmission of these texts. The Atharva Veda itself has been translated to mean the ‘Veda of Magic Formulas’, though not all scholars agree with this translation. 

Nevertheless, compared to the other three Vedas, the Atharva Veda seems to represent ‘popular religion’, as its charms and incantations are more folkloric in nature. Atharvan is called one of the Saptarishi, or seven seers, and is believed to have instituted the fire sacrifice. Additionally, some have claimed that Atharvan means ‘fire priest’. The Atharva Veda is also known as the Atharvangirasa Veda, which attributes this sacred text to Atharvan and Angira, another Hindu sage. 

The Atharva Veda is divided into 20 kandas , which contains a total of 730 suktas . It may be noted, however, that a small number of hymns, estimated to be about a sixth of the entire Atharva Veda, were written in prose. The Atharva Veda has been described as the ‘Veda of varied knowledge’, as it deals with numerous subject matters. These may be divided into three main categories. 

The first of these related to the curing of diseases, and the destruction of adverse forces. These include charms against possession by demons of disease, and charms for driving away demons. Furthermore, there are charms meant to protect a person against malicious adversaries, such as sorcerers, and ‘enemies thwarting holy work’. The second category consists of hymns related to everyday life, such as health, wealth, friendship, and marriage. 

Examples of hymns that fall in this category include charms for a woman to obtain a husband, a charm to promote virility , and a charm to secure perfect health. The third category of hymns pertain higher matters, such as the nature of the Supreme Being, immortality, and time. About 20 percent of this text is found to overlap with the Rig Veda. Nevertheless, the rest of the verses are unique to this book and provide a representation of the concerns that the common man during the Vedic period had in his day to day life. 

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-writings/atharva-veda-religion-ancient-hindu-spells-0010167 

Comic Book Collectors; Nerdy Geeks or Shrewd Investors?

When one says, yeah, I collect comic books, what is the general public response? Oh no, a slightly off the wall geek. Here is someone who has lost touch with reality. Or someone that is in his or her own little world. I think not. Yes, comic book collectors may sometimes march to the beat of a different drummer, but who says we all have to be cut from the same mold. Comic books are big business.

Back in the days of my youth (what, several millennia ago?), I loved reading comic books. And so did a lot of my friends. Whenever we had an extra dime or sometimes a quarter, we could run up to the local small town grocery and spend some very happy times at the comic book rack.

We would even go out and find small odds jobs for pocket change, which was enough then to purchase 2 or 3 good flights of adventure and fantasy. I can even remember crawling under our house to retrieve a cat that had the misfortune of dying there. My Dad couldn't stomach the smell and enticed my friend and I to accomplish the chore for ample pocket change. We braved the spiders and other crawly creatures to retrieve and bury the unfortunate cat. Not long after that, we were the proud owners of yet, several more intriguing comic books. Even the local bully (who was really a pretty good guy) would purchase our worn out or unwanted magazines for far more than they were worth, so we could purchase new ones.

I didn't know much about collecting then. I just liked saving what I enjoyed. I had a large cardboard box that I kept under my bed, filled with all my little treasures. I didn't realize that I had the beginnings of what could have been something very lucrative. In later years when I headed off to college, I dragged my large cardboard box with me. At one point in time, I left most of my belongings in the charge of what I thought were trusted friends. When I returned from my forest firefighting adventures, my box full of magazines were no where to be found. And needless to say, were my trusted friends either. Others had seen the value in what I had and wanted it for themselves. Oh well, live and learn. That limited collection of comic books and other magazines would have been worth a small fortune today.

Are there big bucks in the comic book genre? Just look at what Hollywood has been up to for the last few decades. As far as I can tell, the really big blockbusters started back in 1978 with the release of Superman, The Movie. And since then there has been comic book hero after comic book hero to hit the silver screen. And they all make tons of money. The Hollywood moguls may or may not be "into" the genre, but the can smell large profits. And these kinds of profits aren't harvested from a small out of touch with reality niche. It take large numbers of individuals forking out 5 to 10 dollars a pop, to accumulate the astronomical profits that Hollywood is seeing these days. Individuals who may or may not want to admit their avid interest in comic book characters. I will stand up and say, I enjoy watching these movies and have even started my own collection of comic book character DVDs. Who knows, maybe some day my DVDs will become as valuable as comic books. Probably not.

Although, not every individual's collection has magazines worth thousands of dollars, there are a sizable amount of collections that can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. These are not people that have lost touch with reality. A while back, the actor, Nicholas Cage, put his comic book collection of about 400 magazines up for auction. Word was that he might have realized a value into seven figures. That ain't chicken feed.

It is not uncommon for single additions to be worth several hundred to several thousand dollars. Some comic books can enter the realm of several hundred thousand dollars for one magazine. Now the owners have to be some pretty rich economically savvy geeks. Are these the types of small niche individuals who have lost touch with reality or don't want to confess they like comic books? So the next time you hear someone profess, yeah I collect comic books, you may want to look inside yourself and say, how do I release my hidden passion and start collecting myself?

What is Knowledge Management?

When we talked about knowledge, came across in our mind about knowledge management. It is very hard to characterize the learning the executives except if we don't have a solid thought of what is the information is. Before characterizing the information the executives needs to successfully characterize the term learning first, that we will examine later. 

Be that as it may, first we can characterize learning the board as an action which has two essential goals in a business. The main target is to gather the information that is critical for the business and has coordinate worries with the business procedure, strategy and routine with regards to an association at all dimensions. The second goal of the learning the executives s to outline scholarly resources of the association, making these huge measures of corporate data available and sharing the accepted procedures through the innovation that empowers above capacity including intranet and groupware. 

Job of learning the board in the business 

Learning the board has a critical job in keeping up a fruitful business process. In the event that you think about you will see that there is a sound association between the executives techniques, practices and business issues with the information the executives. Learning the executives likewise influences the distinctive territories of a business including; Change the board, Best practices, Risk the executives, Benchmarking Most of the specialists in business class and corporate dimension see information the board as business process reengineering. In the majority of the investigates in the ongoing past about business systems has recognized that that data and learning are business resources, and that organizations require arrangements and devices to deal with those advantages. 

Requirement for the Knowledge Management 

There is a great deal of discussion on the issue that why an association needs information the board. There are a lot of conclusions about the techniques, ways and targets of learning the executives frameworks. More often than not, requirement for learning the board is centered around upgrading inventiveness and making new information esteem — while different projects underscore utilizing existing learning. 

There is an expanding understanding that scholarly capital is essential for the development of the associations and discourse about scholarly capital has multiplied everywhere throughout the world however couple of organizations has followed up on this comprehension. Where organizations have make a move — and a developing number are doing as such — executions of "learning the executives" may go from innovation driven strategies for getting to, controlling, and conveying data to monstrous endeavors to change corporate culture. 

What is the genuine information? 

More often than not the terms data and information are regularly utilized reciprocally by business essayists. How about we pick a basic definition and continue ahead with it: Knowledge has two fundamental meanings of intrigue. The main relates to a characterized group of data. Contingent upon the definition, the assemblage of data may comprise of certainties, feelings, thoughts, hypotheses, standards, and models (or different structures). Plainly, different classes are conceivable, as well. Topic (e.g., science, arithmetic, and so forth.) is only one plausibility. Learning likewise alludes to a man's condition of being concerning some assemblage of data. These states incorporate numbness, mindfulness, commonality, comprehension, office, et cetera. In conventional impression of the job of learning in business organizations, inferred information is frequently seen as the genuine key to completing things and making new esteem. Not unequivocal information. In this manner we frequently experience an accentuation on the "learning association" and different methodologies that pressure disguise of data (through experience and activity) and age of new information through overseen connection.

Marvel Encyclopedia

When we say in regards to comic, we simply recall one major brand: MARVEL ..

Indeed.. it is about that Marvel .. the celebrated Iron Man, Avengers, and so forth ..

Here is another complimentary gift in type of free download Marvel Encyclopedia for you..

Carry the Marvel Universe home with this comprehensive reference book enumerating little-well established certainties and data about in excess of 1,200 notable Marvel characters. A far reaching outline of the majority of Marvel's most prominent saints and scoundrels outfits profiles of in excess of one thousand characters that report their individual superpowers and their vocations, in a reference that follows the historical backdrop of Marvel Comics and incorporates shocking craftsmanship by a portion of Marvel's most prominent craftsmen.

Made in full cooperation with Marvel Comics, the Marvel Encyclopedia includes new sections on the most recent characters and groups, refreshed realities on existing ones including their most recent looks and story lines, and extended passages on major superheroes, for example, Spider-Man, Thor, and The Avengers.

Whole file in one single file: http://stratoplot.com/4Qyg

Christian Comic Books Amuse and (Maybe) Build You Up

Religions in modern world now knows how to get their market.. through comic... 

For a comic creator making comic books not just a plain hobby but a good source of income as well as competing for the top comic books, deciding on a comic niche to focus on the theme of the comic books are a great strategy to easily aim the goal. Example of such comic niche is a Christian comic book. Stories of Christianity as well as anything related to it are the focus of such comic theme.Christians and anyone interested on the Christian world are primary followers of these comic books.

Will these make a stand in the market? Similar to other products and services, a Christian comic book can reach the top if done with massive promotion and marketing. Although nowadays, comic books that are competing for the top rank are those with superheroes, teen’s life and even rated scenes, there is a market for anything and Christian comic books are not an exception. These people are more on the values they can gain from the story itself rather than pure fun entertainment.

Christian comic books are also an effective tool to educate children. By letting the children learn through what they can easily enjoy, it lessens the hardships caused by parents and teachers to educate the children. This special technique enforces fun time for the children in learning the stories and values and enables these to easily retain in their minds.

All comic books of every genre are an interesting and smart way to tell a story. All scenes are masterpieces. It is the fusion of great values and education. Hence, it is very exceptional and uncommon from the other comic books.

Did You Inherit Your Religion?

Before we talk about other religion other than some post before, let's see how we think about it first...

One Saturday morning I was sipping my coffee and reading the newspaper when the doorbell rang.  This was an unusual occurrence as we lived in a somewhat isolated log cabin in the mountains outside Denver.  At the door stood two attractive college-age girls who wanted to talk to me about becoming a Jehovah’s Witness.

Normally I would politely say, “No thanks” and return to my paper, but that morning I decided to engage with them.  After hearing their initial pitch, I asked one of them, “Are your parents Jehovah’s Witnesses?”

“Our whole family is,” she replied.

“Do you think religion is an important thing for people to have in their lives?”

“Very,” she replied, and I agreed.

“How many other religions have you studied and investigated?”

“None.”

“Is a car an important thing in your life?” I asked.

“Well, yes, but not as important as religion.”

Again I agreed. “What kind of car do you drive?”

“A Toyota.”

“Is that what your parents drive?”

“No.”

“Why not?” I inquired.

“Because I like Toyotas better.”  She was starting to get impatient but politely continued to humor me.

“How do you know?”

“Because I like the way my Toyota looks and drives, plus it was inexpensive and gets good gas mileage.”

I nodded toward my Toyota sitting in the driveway and agreed.  “How did you know that about your car when you bought it?”

“I test drove different cars and talked to my friends about their cars.” she said, increasingly exasperated.

“So you checked out lots of different cars before deciding on your Toyota,” I gently summarized, “but your religion, which is much more important, you inherited from your parents without knowing anything about the alternatives?”

“Yeah,” she replied rather sheepishly, catching my drift.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said.  “Spend the next five years investigating and studying the other great religions of the world and then if you still want to talk to me about becoming a Jehovah’s Witness, we’ll talk.”

The girls, realizing they had a hopeless case on their hands, thanked me for my time and left.

The vast majority of people worldwide inherit their religion—one of the most important things in their lives—unquestioningly from their parents, without ever investigating the alternatives. Religion is invaluable in that it provides moral codes for societies to live by.  Yet they can also be decisive--many people are convince their religion is the only way to God, believe that other religions are heresy, and some will fight and die for it.  Did you inherit your religion?

About the author: John Penberthy is the author of To Bee or Not to Bee, A book for beings who feel there’s more to life than just making honey, an illustrated, inspirational allegory—fun yet deep—about the spiritual journey of a worker bee entrenched in the mindless tedium of life in a honeybee colony.  See the unique and creative 60 second audio-visual flash Preview at www.ToBeeBook.com/preview.html

Tips on Reading a Book Effectively

Just shared a free book in a previous post but some may find difficulties in reading it. One of the problems we face is of information overload. We read books, handouts, newspapers, magazines and Internet articles and are expected to have instant recall of the right information at the right time. For students effective reading is of even more critical importance.

Students at top b-schools have to read more than a hundred books during their course. So how do they ensure they get the best out of their reading?

The answer is ensuring a high recall of whatever they read.

What creates good recall?

Remember doodling in class? Very enjoyable, and sometimes, part of your notes are inside that doodle. How can I make doodling a part of notes-taking? Remember the game of remembering 10 objects in a tray? If you used the ‘a-b-c-d’ concept of linked association, you could remember it. Most good mnemonics are humourous in nature.

If I take one concept at a time, or one paragraph at a time and, in real time, categorise this topic and put it in conjunction with other topics, I would have made a better imprint in my mind. Add to this some colour, some squiggles, some cartoons and some highlighting, then I am interested in and looking forward to what the lecturer is going to say (of the book is talking about) so that I can make more squiggles and create something Picasso-ish (or maybe Pollock-ish).

If I repeat, I remember.

If my memory is refreshed, I will recall faster.

I don’t need to remember every line, unless it is a drama script. If I remove everything but keywords, an article/chapter can become quite small.

If I have a top level map of where I am and where I need to be, I remember the roads quite well. So a map of a book shows me how things are linked and helps me remember

If I can use sight, sound and other senses, I can recall better. My daughter creates a rap song for her history lessons, throws in some guitar chords and she remembers it all!!!

Is there a methodology to make notes in such a way that it is easy to recall?

Can this be used to take down lectures and notes from books?

I use something called mind maps .

Freemind and XMind are pretty good Open Source software, which you can install and use to make notes. It can also be used for brainstorming, outlining a project, a project report and I even use it for presentations.

But before you jump into mind maps, there are a few things to keep in mind. If you just create a mind map of a book, it is like taking a short cut, and purposeless.

Some tips on how to read a book

Approach the book outside in. This is not ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (you know, “begin at the beginning…”). Look at the cover, back cover, about the author, and read the table of contents. Close it and try to recall the table. This starts creating a map in your mind about the book and the overall territory. Read the TOC again. Think about what is different about this book. Why did this book get written (and no facetious remark, please, about making money etc.)

Understand why you want to read the book. What is it that you want from it? Is it just the concepts? Or is it to prepare for an exam? What type of exam is it? Therefore what do you need to extract from the book.

Get an idea of the time it will take to read the book. If you do not have enough time, what are your priorities? Do you need to read every line, every chapter? So what happens if you do not read this book?

All the above should take you 15 minutes maximum.

Now start with the first chapter (or the chapter you need to study)

Take a guess about the chapter. Read the section headings. Look at all the diagrams. Skim very fast, without stopping.

Now read the first line of each paragraph

This is the time when you are going to do your first recall. Create a preliminary mind map.

This should take you another 15 minutes. Later this will improve to 5 minutes.

Now read the details of the chapter, which are necessary and fill out your mind map.

If you have to remember stuff, create funny mnemonics.

Time taken for this depends on length of the chapter, the complexity and the amount of work needed.

Take a break. Reward yourself. Then go to the next chapter and do the same thing.

Link up all the chapters in the mind map. One advantage of this is that if you leave the book half way and come back to it, just by looking at the mind maps, you will retain the continuity.

If you can get together in a group and every one does a book and gives a presentation, you can all cover a lot of books. Share the maps.

What about those lectures?

Create a mind map during the lecture in your notebook. Do not use your laptop. Use color pencils, doodles (and save the desks).

Listen to what the instructor is saying, and THEN put the keywords down. This is important. If you don’t understand, you cannot write it down. Ask for a clarification. If we just blindly make notes, might as well bring a Dictaphone to class. Don’t worry that your mind map is a mess.

In the evening, recreate the mind map on your laptop. This is your first revision. Add in more details from the internet or the book. See if you can cross reference with other lectures or book reviews.

Revisit the map before the next class or while waiting for the instructor. This should hardly take you one minute and you will know what happened last time. If there is a spot quiz, you are ready!!

History of Palestine

One of hot topic about Islam is Palestine issue. The Holy Land saw peace and justice during 1300 years of Muslim rule and persecution of Jews, Christians, and Muslims at other times.

Palestine is the land of prophets. Many prophets were born or died in Palestine, including Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Lut (Lot), Dawood (David), Suleiman (Solomon), Musa (Moses), and Isa (Jesus), alayhimu-salam.

Baitul-Maqdis in Palestine was the first Qibla (direction in which Muslims face when praying) too, and Muslims prayed facing Baitul-Maqdis for around 14 years, after which Allah ordered the Qibla to be changed towards the Kaabah in Makkah.

Early History

The Canaanites are the earliest known inhabitants of Palestine. They were thought to have lived in Palestine in the third millennium BC. Then Pharaonic Egypt controlled the area for much of the second millennium BC. Prophet Musa, alayhi-salam, was born in Palestine during this time. When Egyptian power began to weaken, new invaders appeared: the Hebrews, a group of Semitic tribes from Mesopotamia; and the Philistines, after whom the country (Philistia) was later named, an Aegean people of Indo-European stock. The Israelites, a confederation of Hebrew tribes, defeated the Canaanites, but the struggle with the Philistines was more difficult. The Philistines had established an independent state on the southern coast of Palestine and controlled the Canaanite town of Jerusalem. The Philistines were superior in military organization and severely defeated the Israelites in about 1050 BC.

Then, in around 995 BC, Prophet Dawood, alayhi-salam, Israel's king, united the Hebrew tribes and eventually defeated the Philistines. The three groups (Canaanites, Philistines, and Israelites) assimilated with each other over the years. The unity of Israelite tribes enabled Prophet Dawood, alayhi-salam, to establish a large independent state, with its capital at Jerusalem. After the death of Prophet Dawood, alayhi-salam, in around 961 BC Prophet Sulayman, alayhi-salam, his son, became the new king of Israel.

Construction and Destruction of the First Temple

Prophet Sulayman, alayhi-salam, built a magnificent place of worship, the First Temple, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest holding the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Soon after his death, the kingdom was divided into two parts: northern Israel and southern Judah. Pagan Assyrians overran Israel in 721 BC. They destroyed the First Temple. In 538 BC Persian emperor Cyrus defeated the Babylonians and Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem.

Construction and Destruction of the Second Temple

In 515 BC the Jews built the Second Temple at the same site of the First Temple. Alexander conquered Palestine in 332 BC. Three centuries later, the Romans entered Jerusalem. Herod, the client king for the Roman Empire expanded the Second Temple but destroyed the religion. Then Prophet Isa, alayhi-salam, was born, around 4 BC. Jews joined with Roman paganism to persecute Prophet Jesus and his followers. In 70 CE, Titus of Rome laid siege to Jerusalem. The Herodian Temple eventually fell, and with it the whole city. Seeking a complete and enduring victory, Titus ordered the total destruction of the city. A new city named Aelia was built on the ruins of Jerusalem, and a temple dedicated to Jupitor was raised.

Christian Rule of Palestine

In 313 CE the Roman emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity. Palestine, as the Holy Land, became a focus of Christian pilgrimage. Most of the population became Hellenized and Christianized. In 324 CE Constantine of Byzantium marched on Aelia. He rebuilt the city walls and commissioned the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and opened the city for Christian pilgrimage.

In the year 620 CE, Isra' wal Mi'raj took place. On this night, in a miraculous way, the Prophet was taken on a momentous journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and from there to heaven. The Night Journey was a great miracle that Muslims believe was given to Prophet Muhammad as an honor and also to impress upon the Muslims the importance of Jerusalem to them. The Night Journey from Makkah to Jerusalem is called al-Isra' and the ascension from Jerusalem to the heaven is called al-Mi'raj. Both of these events took place on the same night. Angel Gabriel took Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Jerusalem. There he met all the Prophets and Messengers and led them in prayers. Then it is reported that the Prophet stood at the Sacred Rock (al-Sakhrah al-Musharrafah), went to the heavens. He arrived back in Makkah the same night.

Muslim Rule of Palestine

The Byzantines who ruled Jerusalem at this time were very harsh. They not only barred Jews from entering Jerusalem, but also persecuted Christians who did not follow the same sect as them. On the other hand, Muslims had the reputation for mercy and compassion in victory. So when the Muslims marched into Palestine in 638 CE, the people of Jerusalem gave up the city only after a brief siege. They made just one condition, that the terms of their surrender be negotiated directly with the Khalifah Umar, Radi-Allahu anhu, in person. Sayyidna Umar, Radi-Allahu anhu, agreed to come and entered Jerusalem on foot. There was no bloodshed or massacres. Those who wanted to leave were allowed to leave, with all their goods. Those who wanted to stay were guaranteed protection for their lives, property and places of worship.

The conquest of Palestine by the Muslims put an end to centuries of instability, religious persecution, and colonial rule. After the advent of Islam, people enjoyed security, safety and peace. Schools, mosques and hospitals were founded. Palestine was a center of learning from which a large number of scholars graduated. The conquest of Palestine by the Muslims began the 1300 years of Muslim rule, with the exception of the period of the Crusades (1099-1187) in what then became known as Filastin. The conquest of Palestine by the Muslims put an end to centuries of instability, religious persecution, and colonial rule.

The Christian occupation of Palestine began after the sermon which pope Urban the second delivered in 1095 CE, when he incited the Christians to rescue the Holy Sepulcher from the hands of the Muslims. The Holy Land fell after a month of siege. The Crusades entered it in 1099 CE and massacred its residents not sparing the infants or elderly, and the number killed went over seventy thousand. Then the Crusaders established a Latin kingdom. During the occupation, massacres and great injustices were committed against the Muslim, Jewish and native Christian residents of the area.

Finally, in 1187 CE, Palestine was liberated by the Muslims under the leadership of Salatuddin Ayyubi, who brought back Islamic law to the area. Peace and justice once again ruled Palestine, and everyone, regardless of their religion, was allowed to live there peacefully.

The Founding of Israel and Palestine Today

The first serious plan for the establishment of the country of Israel was in the Bale conference in Switzerland in 1897 CE. The conference succeeded and was attended by 204 of those invited, where they decreed the establishment of a nation for the Jews in Palestine.

After the Bale conference, the Jewish movement became active which led Sultan Abdul Hameed (the then Khalifah) to deliver his famous decree in 1900 to stop the Jewish pilgrims from residing in Palestine for longer than three months. Sultan Abdul Hameed knew very well the designs and plans of the Jews. Contact with the Sultan was commenced by the Jews in 1882 when the Friends of Zion society put up a request to the Ottoman council in Russia for residence in Palestine. The Sultan responded: "The Ottoman government hereby decrees to all the Jews who desire to migrate to Turkey that they will not be permitted to reside in Palestine."

The Jews were angered and began to send delegation after delegation each of which returned with a response more severe than the one preceding it. Then in 1901, Sultan Abdul Hameed passed a law forbidding the sale of any land in Palestine to the Jews.

In 1902, Herzl formed another delegation to meet with the Sultan a second time after he attempted to convince him in 1896. The Sultan refused to meet with him, so they went to the Prime Minister Tahsin Basha with their suggestions. They offered the repayment of the entire debt of the Ottoman government which were to the extent of twenty three million gold English pounds, and to build a fleet for he protection of the empire costing two hundred and thirty million gold franc, and to offer an interest free loan to the value of thirty five million gold lira to revive the treasury. All these offers were in return for permission by the Sultan to the Jews to establish a Jewish nation in Palestine; that is to sell the lives and livelihood of the Palestinian people and the holy land for these offers. Sultan Abdul Hameed rejected all these offers.

After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region into zones of influence. Palestine submitted to the British occupation and at the same time the ratios of Jewish migration began to increase with support from the non-Muslim countries.

Balfour Declaration

In 1917 CE the British government made promises to Arab leaders for an independent Arab state that would include Palestine (the Hussain-McMahon correspondence). Simultaneously, and secretly, it issued the Balfour Declaration, which declared Palestine to be a homeland for Jews. At that time Jews made up approximately 8% of the population of Palestine and owned approximately 2.5% of the land.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were forced out of Palestine by the Jewish terrorist groups such as the Irgun, Levi, and Haganot. In 1918 the British and their Arab nationalist allies defeated the Ottomans. The British dismembered the Ottoman Empire and occupied Palestine. The British immediately began a campaign of immigrating European Jews to Palestine. By 1947, the number of Jews in Palestine had reached approximately six hundred and fifty thousand (31% of the total population). They began to establish organizations, which were trained in organized terrorism. From these a large number were trained in and participated in the Second World War in order to gain experience and skills to go to battle in Palestine in the next stage. So when the United Nations decreed the division of Palestine, the Jews had seventy five thousand armed and trained members.

Jewish Terrorism

In 1948 the Jews claimed the establishment of a state for themselves over the land of Palestine and called it Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were forced out of Palestine under the military pressure of Jewish terrorist groups such as the Irgun, Levi, and Haganot, which were financed and armed by the British army as well as US Jewry. In 1967 Israel attacked Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied more land including for the first time Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. Since that time Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa has been the target of several attempts by the Jews to destroy or burn it, including attempts to collapse it through underground excavations.

In December 1987, the Palestinians began an uprising (Intifada) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip against the continued Jewish occupation. On September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon broke into Masjid Al-Aqsa with 3000 Zionist soldiers profaning the Masjid Al-Aqsa to provoke the Palestinians. Palestinians protested and the second intifada began. Since then thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed by the Israeli army, and there is no end in sight.

Reading:
Notes about 1948 Palestine Ethnic Cleansing

Islamic Education for Youths Level One

.: FREE BOOK TO DOWNLOAD :.

This book is considered a very important Islamic educating book for children and youth, it is the first book which contains very important necessary Islamic information for youth. Moreover, the significant thing noted in it is the simplicity that can deliver the knowledge to students , readers or the new converters into Islam in a magnificent way of simplicity and no complexity of literally crochet . It is abundant of basic Islamic knowledge. It explains in details how to attain God’s love and to approach the true faith, as well as how to pray , why and what are the fruits of the prayer. As well as why we have to do ablution before performing prayer and how to do it. Furthermore, it contains an interpretation of many short Surahs (chosen from Am'ma part) which are often recited in the prayer. It also supports the meaning of these Surahs by mentioning many real stories which ease understanding the meanings and have the part of disciplining children according to the high moralities of Islamic way.

Download this e-book here:
With Survey  - smaller file size, faster download (1.5 MB ) : click here
Without Survey - bigger file size, a little slower download (4 MB) : click here
PASSWORD:  knowledge

Modern Spirituality

When it comes to spirituality, each religion and culture have a uniqueness to offer. Some believe in reaching up to their spirit by dancing along with trance music, like in Islamic Sufism or by acts of self nullification like in strict catholic beliefs.  Psychic readings is the modern spirituality.

When it comes to spirituality, each religion and culture have a uniqueness to offer. Some believe in reaching up to their spirit by dancing along with trance music, like in Islamic Sufism or by acts of self nullification like in strict catholic beliefs.

No one is born to believe in a particular religion. It is the way a child is brought up and then what he or she chooses to believe in that determines the religion he or she will follow. A very strong link of this determination is with the faith that a person has in him or her.

One aspect of this faith then is Mysticism.

Mysticism or sometimes known as mystery religion is a conscious awareness of a superior and a definitive reality. This reality for many is closeness achieved through various means with God.

The concept of God is difficult for the human brain to accept given the scientific explanations that are present for each and every transaction that occurs in this world. It is strangely difficult to comprehend the power and existence of a being, stronger and more self sufficient than all other beings, which controls the processes occurring in this world.

This being, which cannot be heard, seen or touched, can only be experienced through the sense of feeling, which too is not physically explainable. What explains this feeling then is the concept of Mysticism.

In Mahayana Buddhism, Mysticism refers to the union of a human being, in a unique and deeply intrinsic connection, with a definitive reality. Followers of Buddhism, who are also the practitioners of Mysticism work towards the nurture and further establishment of these connection through various means.

These means can include meditation, dancing, performing standard rituals, singing, chanting along with various others.

What is interesting about this concept is that it does not bound people to a certain religion. Meaning to say that if a person is practicing Sufism for develop a connection with Allah, then, it in no way means that such a connection cannot be formed in Hinduism of Christianity. The fact of the matter is that not only are the roads towards attaining this connection very similar to each other, the destination of these roads in similar too and that is the development of a union with the ultimate truth, as has already been mentioned earlier.

According to the history of Mysticism, its roots are found in the sub continent, especially with Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. However, researchers who work on this topic are of the view that mysticism is significantly different from any of the many stream religious practices and that the most important requirement of practicing this out of all is faith, determination and concentration. These are elements then, that have nothing or very little to do with the type of religion that a person is following. The only part that the respective religion of a person who chooses to practice mysticism play is determination of the type of practice that he or she does.

There is a part of today’s existence that not everybody is aware of. It is usual to see today, people fighting over religion, trying to prove that they are the ones on the right track of religion but it is unusual to find people who readily accept others of different religions into a movement, which helps survive the chaos that has now been created by the advent of the Age of Aquarius.

For those who believe and for those who look beyond the restrictive dogmas of this society, the New Age movement is a spiritual movement that incorporates the metaphysical and spiritual teachings in a combination from both the eastern and western traditions and religions.

As mentioned above, the new age movement does not differentiate people on the basis of their traditions or their religions and therefore, the view it presents to this world today is a holistic one incorporating again, both science and spirit.

The idea of this is to combine and utilize the knowledge and the traditions that are already helping a certain sect of people to provide peaceful help to the others too.

Rachel Saxon

Rachel Saxon writes for the psychic & metaphysical arena and is a reiki master.

Interesting Islamic Traditions

Religion is part of knowledge. Every religion has its own unique traditions and cultures which makes it different from other religions. These traditions may differ from another religion in such a way that it may get awkward for the people of other religions, but in any case, we should respect the traditions and cultures of other religions so that they would respect our religion in a good way.

The Arab culture has the high population of Muslims due to which people significantly follow the Islamic traditions and cultures. These Islamic practices can be clearly seen in there day to day life.

First tradition of Islam to say the name of Allah before doing any act. For example, if a Muslim is about to eat something or drink something, he would say Bismillah which means that the person is saying the name of their Lord before he is about to eat something or drink something. Then to eat or drink anything, Muslims uses their right hand always. They try their best to avoid using the left hand for the purpose of eating or drinking anything.

When a new born baby is born, Muslims always recite Azaan in his or her right ear which declares that the newborn is born in a Muslim family, and will spend the rest of his life as a Muslim. Also, when a Muslim is travelling to perform the holy obligation of Umrah and Hajj by any of Ramadan Umrah 2017 Low Cost Deals, these interesting packages can be availed only by just a simple call on ramadan umrah customer service number, while beforming hajj or umrah, he shaves his head and remove the hair completely as an Islamic tradition, but this tradition is only for men, not for women. Women just have to cover their head completely so that their hair doesn’t show up.

When Muslims greet each other by saying Assalmualaikum and in return the other person says Walaikum Assalam. This is a specific way of greeting both Muslims. It basically means that one Muslim is saying “may peace be upon you” to the other Muslim which is the best way to greet anyone. Also, Muslims use Maswak to clean their teeth. It is a stem of a certain tree which cleans the teeth and protects them from many gum problems. Although this tradition is not commonly seen these days due to the inventions of many products, but some Muslims still use it to maintain the traditions of their holy religion b following all the beautiful cultures of Islam.

Marghoob Bin Safdar 

The best reflection of Islam can be find in the Islamic content of Marghoob Bin Safdar who is one of the most eminent writer about the religion.

Knowledge Is Knowledge, Not Power

"Knowledge is power." --Sir Francis Bacon 

In Sir Francis Bacon's day, that quote may have been nearer the truth than today. Any little bit of knowledge gave a man or woman an edge and perhaps the power...

Admittedly, even in today's intricate world, the right knowledge places a person in a better position to survive physically, emotionally, mentally, fiscally, and common sensically. I don't know if the last one's real, I just typed it. "Stet" as the editors say.

However, no matter how much knowledge an individual possesses, it is the use, the application of the knowledge which provides the power. A blackmailer potentially has power over the victim because of the knowledge he or she possesses about the victim. If contact is not made with the victim, and the threat communicated to them, the blackmailer might as well be as powerless as if they possessed nothing at all.

Knowledge is a tool. A hammer is a tool. In my garage are three hammers: a claw hammer, a ball peen hammer, and a two pound sledge. There they sit. They are fine hammers, and each has specific tasks for which it was designed and for which I bought it. I've had one a year, one about five years, and the claw hammer since my days on a construction crew back in 1963. I know how to use each and every one of them effectively and have used them often, but, despite their value as tools and my ability as a user of these tools they are useless lumps until I pick them up and put them to the task. There is also a maul which can be used as a hammer, but I don't want to be around to observe the consequences of that misuse of a tool.

I have to be careful, by the way, as my wife has publicly avowed that all tools are ultimately hammers, so if I send her to the garage for a "hammer" there's no telling what she might return with. This brings up another point. One person's "tool" or "knowledge" may be another's liability or catastrophe in the making. As much as I love her, my wife is dangerous with tools, sharp objects, or things that can catch on fire. Were she to attempt to learn how to wield a hammer, there's no telling how much damage might be done, and Thor would hopefully swoop down from Asgard to wrest it from her hands before the course of the universe was changed and his image tarnished forever.

On the other hand, give my wife a spreadsheet program on a computer, or just a sheet of paper, and a mass of data about what is happening in other countries and financial markets around the world she can give you a pretty accurate prediction of what is going to happen in the Forex market. That's why in our house, she is the investor, and I am the guy who uses tools for esoteric purposes that she equates with magic. As far as I am concerned, and remember, I am a trained accountant, what she DOES with the facts and figures on her computer are something that I would expect Harry Potter to be dabbling in. I wonder if she went to Hogwarts?It is not merely the possession of knowledge that makes for power. Yearly, our schools churn out bright young creatures burdened with knowledge they do not fully understand. Many feel that they have power because of this knowledge. In time, perhaps they will add enough wisdom to the knowledge to allow them to create power...hopefully for the good of their fellow men and women. In the meantime, they will continually bump their delicate psyches against the hard realities of the world until when, and if, they learn how to use the knowledge at their disposal to produce power. This, by the way, is what one of my old bosses, Cecil Bray, Assistant Comptroller of a testing lab at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, called "getting the corners knocked off".

Actually, once you have gotten your corners knocked off, it may be a little easier to fit in some previously unobtainable holes where knowledge can be gained, refined, and brought into focus. Maybe that's really a slightly better formula. Instead of Knowledge = Power, perhaps Knowledge + Polishing + Plugging In = Power. Anyway, that's how power works in my house. Plug it in. Turn it on.

Donovan Baldwin

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa, and is retired from the U. S. Army. He is the owner of http://texasprepaidcellular.com. He has a blog on writing and poetry at http://ravensong-poetry.blogspot.com.