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Yoga is not just a sum of few difficult postures of the body and excercise of the breath. It is a philosophy by which one wins over his body and mind. When one wins over the body and mind, one wins over the world, because body is a miniature world. When one wins over the body, mind and world, one liberates oneself. One realises the Self, realises what is divinity and attains the most peaceful and blissful state.

According to Patanjali who is the final authority of Yoga, the aim of Yoga is to realise the Self(svarup). In philosophical language Self is called Soul(atman). According to the Vedic philosophy or ancient indian philosophy, the greatest thing in the whole universe is the Self or Soul. For this the Soul(atman) is called Brahman, the Supreme. Vedic philosophy does not believe in an imaginary God residing in heaven. It believes in Soul(atman). The souls of all beings are one and the same. This one and the same soul is none but God. So God is not an imaginary super being. He is what beings are.

These souls are described as conscious, knowlegeable, immortal, unchanging, indestructible, smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. On the contrary, the world is unconscious, having no knowledge, mortal, changeable and destructible. In fact this world does not exist. The world is an imagination of conscious souls only. The conscious souls is the locus on which the world is projected. As in the dream we think the dream objects are real, so the world appears to be real because of ignorance. Once this ignorace disappears at the dawn of true knowledge, the world appears to be false. One realises that the Self is the only truth in the whole universe. This is also the divine truth.

This divine truth which is the cream of Vedic philosophy has been forgotten by all. The basis of all religions is to believe in an imaginary God. Religious texts are written in praise of such imaginary gods by religious leaders. People obey the texts either out of fear of gods or of religious leaders. Religious leaders take the help of rulers in order to impose their instructions on people. Rulers also take the help of religious leaders in order to keep their subjects and territory united. For thousands of years when people follow the same religious instructions, they accept them as true. However the truth is different. Whatever one feels through the five senses and whatever one thinks through the gross mind is false. Because these are related to the gross world only. People remain in perpetual ignorance and falsity, while religious leaders maintain luxurious lifestyles.

The complete Yoga teaches how to enter into total concentration(samadhi), where one realises the Self. This is such a sleeping state where one is fully awake and feels the Self; this is such a waking state where five senses and gross mind are at complete rest. This state cannot be described in words. Only it can be said that one realises oneself and goes immortal. One liberates oneself right in this birth. One rises above all pain and sorrow and attains the most blissful state. If one has to achieve something in order to get peace and bliss, it is the Self that gives it. Without realising the Self, sometimes a millionair may feel himself as poor; a powerful man may feel powerless.

Late Munisvar Shiv kumar Shastri tried to preach this yogic philosophy to all. However his philosophy and yoga has not reached to many. His yoga is most complete, simple and may be practiced by people of all ages.

Author is a follower of Late Munisvar Shiv kumar Shastri and tries to preach his philosophy and yoga. In order to know more about yogic philosophy, readers may go throgh the book 'Quest for Truth: the Spiritual and Yogic Way' written by the author. Readers may procure copies from bn.com or amazon.com and help the author in spreding true spiritualism and yoga worldwide.

premansu_chand@rediffmail.com

The first video game system that I actually owned was an Atari game console that played only pong and pong like games. The console used your television to visually display the game and its action. We were thrilled with the system and many hours were spent staring at the television screen with the eerie beep of the pong hitting the paddles echoing through out the room. The next video game system I owned was also an Atari, but instead of being dedicated to only one game, this actually accepted a variety of cartridges which played wonderful games, including Asteroids, Space Invaders and Pac-man. And we once again embraced them as wonderful advancements in technology and introduced them to our children.

Before I knew it, the kids were asking for a Commodore 64. They now wanted a personal computer and I was saving the money to get one, because the price was right. The C64 did not require a monitor, and could be plugged into a television set, and had graphics that were evolving away from the simple shapes of Atari to realistic drawings. Instead of all action games, some of the games involved solving problems and were much more intellectual. Even better, you could copy the games on a cheap cassette tape and pass them around.

The next video game system that the kids were asking for was the nintendo Entertainment system. It had high-resolution, full color, tiled backgrounds and the games were longer and contained more detailed graphics. Super Mario Brothers was the big hit game that everyone wanted. When the sega Mega drive was introduced, they were still happy with their nes. Then the kids outgrew the video game systems and it wasnt until I discovered the role playing game called morrowind that I was drawn into PC video games. I was totally blown away! I could not believe the advancements in technology that enabled such realism! And to my grandchildren, who by the way have nintendo 64 and play station 2 and full access to PC games, these are common, everyday toys. How amazing is that!?

Sandra Cundy

Getting golf swing help is as simple as booking into your local club for lessons from a private instructor.

Yes, it will cost you money for private tuition but then how serious are you about improving your golf swing?

Too many golfers try to take shortcuts with many relying on books and DVDs to master the art of the golf swing. This is okay however, the one ingredient missing is you cannot ask questions. You could use as many books and DVDs as you want and you could pick up some handy tips but there's nothing like having the watchful eye of an instructor looking over you.

How many Lessons Do You Need?

This depends at what level you are at. A private instructor is handy for golf swing swing help for those players who have hacked around the course for awhile and haven't shown too much improvement.

The danger with this is golfers can get into bad habits which can be difficult to overcome. private tuition is the first step in getting your game on track and onto the next level.

How many lessons you need depends on how much golf swing help you require. If it's just to iron out one deficiency then one or two lessons could be sufficient and this is then followed up with plenty of practice.

For outright beginners, a minimum of six lessons at least should be the target. One lesson a week should be enough because in between, you'll have several days to put into practice what you've learnt.

Using an instructor for golf swing help will enable you to maximise your skill development. This is your private time so ask as many questions as you can.

Group Or individual coaching

One on one tuition is preferred particularly if you don't respond well in a group situation. The main benefit of course is you'll get individual attention.

It's your call... are you serious about improving your game? Getting golf swing help from a qualified instructor is the most likely way you'll shortcut your learning curve.

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