You
will note a few new features on Jack’s Potpourri today! I got rid of the new template I had installed
last week in favor of a more colorful one.
It was too difficult to read the “lead-in” material at the top. An occasionally changing picture is going to
be a regular feature of the new format.
I wonder how many of you can identify the location pictured. I am leaving it at the top for a few more
days.
We
also are listing the six postings which have drawn the most “hits” since the
blog’s inception. I don’t control
this. It comes from Google, which is the
source of the technology for the blog.
Finally,
we have instituted a poll. The question
on it now will remain there until the afternoon of January 24. We will then come up with another polling question. In an election year, this will be a valuable
adjunct to the blog. Please participate
in the poll; I have no way of identifying who participates and what they
answer. Enjoy the rest of the blog, and
please, as Sid has done, submit some of your work for inclusion in it.
*** *** ***
And
here is a piece written by Sid Bolotin a few years ago which contains timeless
truths. Study it carefully. It also will appear in the near future on www.healthdrek.com.
Jack Lippman
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Meditation
Sid Bolotin
If you Google “meditation,” you can
delve into 36,000,000 sites; if you go on “you tube,” you can explore 170,000 videos.
Picture the subject of meditation as a
tree with multiple major branches that subdivide into smaller branches that
grow countless leaves. These leaves represent the actual schools of meditation
as practiced by specific groups of people.
The underlying result of any meditative
practice is the quieting of the mind. If you allow a glass of muddy, swirling
water to sit on a table for a while, in time the silt will settle, and the
water will become crystal clear. That’s akin to the quiet, clear mind…freed of
swirling thoughts and incessant monkey-mind chattering. Buddhism refers to this
clarity as “original mind”.
Techniques for quieting the mind include
focus on the breath, repeating a mantra like “Om”, counting rosary beads,
whirling as Sufis do, reciting Hebrew letters for the name of God as Kabbalists
do, or staring at a lit candle.
Meditation is not relaxation, dreaming,
or visualization. It is silent wakefulness. It develops awareness of our
thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. And, instead of becoming attached
to these inner experiences which are constantly changing, the focus is on
watching without getting caught up in them…like watching bubbles rise in a
glass of champagne. Dr. Steven Hayes, Professor of Psychiatry at the University
of Nevada, in his acclaimed modality called ACT refers to this awareness as the
“Observing Self”…think of it as you in a movie-house watching the theater of
your mind. While in this state, some practitioners advocate projecting love and
compassion to make the world a better place. Others teach that it facilitates
attraction of wealth, your soul mate, and other desires from the Universe.
All religions at their basic, mystical
level promote meditation as a way to connect to God. New Age meditation
addresses the Spirituality that is within all human DNA…that which makes us all
One. Twenty-one years ago I volunteered at the Mind-Body Clinic at Boston’s
Deaconess Hospital, to assist Dr. Herb Benson, a noted cardiologist, to teach
his Relaxation Response technique to the patients for management of stress,
high blood pressure, chronic pain, and anxiety. At the same time Jon Kabat-Zinn
was at the U. Mass Medical Center in Worcester, MA. teaching meditation at his
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. Both programs are still paving the way
for meditation in medicine. Neuro-scientists are using PET scans to map areas
of the brains of Tibetan lamas, while they are in deep meditation. Researchers have proven that meditation does
result in beneficial, physiological changes in the body. This past Wednesday
night two young women from FAU with PhD’s in Neuro-science made a presentation
to my Zen group about studies of the brain waves of eight Tibetan monks who are
accomplished, deep meditators with 10 to 40 years of practice between them. Their
EEG’s and other tests were compared to a control group of subjects with little
to no meditative experience. The results clearly prove that the monks’ gamma
wave (30 to 100 Hz) activity was “off the charts” even when not meditating.
And, when asked to meditate on compassion for other living beings, the gammas
went thru the roof. Meditation, over time, increases awareness, produces
thickening of the left prefrontal cortex, and increases communication between
all parts of the brain.
Words like “thought” and “mind” are used
to talk about meditation, but consider this: no one can find “the mind”, and a
thought cannot be found, stopped, or its origin established. Brain scientists
can identify the brain’s circuitry and its activations, but not the isness of
mind or thought. One great book on this subject is: “My Stroke of Insight”, by
Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who documented her own stroke.
As for me…after years of bouncing thru
various disciplines and religions, I’ve returned to a Zen Buddhist meditative
practice called Zazen which means “just sitting”. It involves being attentive
to your breath, noticing your thoughts, and using your breath as an anchor when
you notice you’ve become attached to a particular thought or feeling.
Zen explores the nature of realty with
the premise that: the world is the way it is (not the way we want it to be),
everything is impermanent (nothing stays the same), and our suffering is caused
by trying to keep the good stuff and change/prevent the bad stuff. Zazen
meditation is an experience of just being with your life as it is…warts and
all. This Zen leaf of the meditation tree is a goalless practice of
non-doing…of just being in the present moment. Zen discourages meditating with
a goal in mind because, to do so just creates another, stressful something to
be achieved. Zen does not purport to
heal you, attract wealth, get you Tiger’s women, or fix flat tires…but, if it
should happen, great. If not, that’s just as great. Marcus Aurelius, Roman
Emperor from 161 to 180 wrote in his famous,12-book-collection of meditations:
“Everything that happens, happens as it should. And if you observe carefully,
you will find this to be true.”
*** *** ***
Richard Cordray Appointed to Head Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau Despite G.O.P. Opposition
(The
following appeared on the Huffington Post last week. The Republicans are claiming that this appointment
was illegal and unconstitutional because such an “interim” appointment can be
made only when the Senate is not in session.
Right now, although there are not enough Senators around Washington for
a quorum, the Senate is still technically in session according to the G.O.P.,
as explained in the article. The
President has put the needs of the nation ahead of the games the Republicans
like to play. Incidentally, though his
record has long since been surpassed, Richard Cordray was a big time winner on
“Jeopardy” some years ago. He seems
very devoted to protecting the welfare of the American consumer and any
opposition to him is merely an attempt to attack the President. Read the following from the Huffington Post
at your leisure..) Jack Lippman
In a bold
move sure to infuriate Republicans and possibly draw a court challenge,
President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he will use his executive power
to bypass Congress and put Richard Cordray in charge at the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau.
The move
is a rare instance of the president invoking his authority to override a
months-long effort by Senate Republicans to block Cordray. They rejected his
confirmation in a December vote and reiterated that, even though they like
Cordray, they would keep opposing him or any other CFPB nominee until changes
are made at the agency. Obama's recess appointment on Wednesday trumps their
effort.
The
president announced Corday's appointment during a speech on the economy in
Cleveland, Ohio. Cordray, who previously served as the Ohio attorney general,
flew on Air Force One to stand alongside the president at the event. Once
appointed, Cordray can begin serving as CFPB director later this week and could
stay in the role for at least two years.
"Today,
I'm appointing Richard as America's consumer watchdog," Obama told the
crowd. "That means he'll be in charge of one thing: looking out for the
best interest of American consumers. His job will be to protect families like
yours from the abuses of the financial industry. His job will be to make sure
you've got all the information you need to make important financial
decisions."
Obama
called it "inexcusable" and "wrong" that CFPB still doesn't
have a director since beginning operations in July. He said while he will
continue to "look for every opportunity to work with Congress" to
boost the economy, he has "an obligation as president to do what I can
without them," hence the recess appointment.
"I
will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of
the people they were elected to serve," the president said to applause.
"Not when so much is at stake. Not at this make-or-break moment for the
middle class."
A CFPB
spokeswoman declined to comment on the news. But Senate Democratic proponents
of Cordray and the CFPB were thrilled.
"Republicans
have been trying to make an end run around the law by denying this watchdog a
leader," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement.
"I support President Obama's decision to make sure that in these tough
economic times, middle-class families in Nevada and across the country will
have the advocate they deserve to fight on their behalf against the reckless
practices that denied so many their economic security."
"Ohio
families deserve a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- complete with a
Director -- that can stand up to the special interests and look out for
Ohioans' interests," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who chairs the
Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection.
"We
asked for a fair up-or-down vote on Richard Cordray's nomination. But too many
senators are willing to stand instead with Wall Street, blocking a qualified
nominee for the first time in the history of the Senate based on opposition to
an agency's very existence," Brown said. "Rich Cordray is fair-minded
and highly qualified, which is why he enjoys widespread and bipartisan support
from both the people of Ohio and those he would regulate."
With a
director in place, the CFPB can now, for the first time ever, monitor the
activities of non-bank entities, including payday lenders, debt collectors and
credit reporting agencies. Many of these entities were "the source of some
of the most harmful, deceptive, unfair and predatory lending practices"
that led to the financial crisis, Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin said last month. The agency, which has been partially in
operation since July, is the brainchild of Harvard law professor and now-Senate
candidate for Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren. It was created under last year's
Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation.
"President
Obama's decision to overrule the big banks and the Senate Republicans who are
protecting them gives consumers a strong ally and advocate in Washington,"
Warren said in a statement. "Senate Republicans will surely complain about
the recess appointment, but their refusal to allow an up or down vote on
Cordray's nomination is just another example of the political games in
Washington that must end."
The
president's move is notable for two reasons. For one, Obama rarely invokes his
recess appointment authority, compared to past presidents. Until now, he has
made 28 recess appointments. By contrast, former President George W. Bush made
more than 170 during his presidency and former President Bill Clinton made
almost 140. Secondly, and more importantly, Obama is making a recess
appointment when the Senate isn't technically in recess -- a risky step that
could spark a court challenge.
White
House communications director Dan Pfeiffer made the case that it is fully
within the president's right to make recess appointments when Republicans are
relying on "a gimmick" to prevent the Senate from going into recess:
"Here
are the facts: The Constitution gives the President the authority to make
temporary recess appointments to fill vacant positions when the Senate is in
recess, a power all recent Presidents have exercised. The Senate has
effectively been in recess for weeks, and is expected to remain in recess for
weeks. In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his
authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick
called 'pro forma' sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business
is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session
in a matter of seconds. But gimmicks do not override the President's
constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running.
Legal experts agree. In fact, the lawyers who advised President Bush on recess
appointments wrote that the Senate cannot use sham 'pro forma' sessions to
prevent the President from exercising a constitutional power," Pfeiffer wrote on the White House Blog.
Empty United States Senate Chamber
That line
of reasoning isn't sitting well with House and Senate Republican leaders,
however, who charged Obama with threatening the constitutional system of checks
and balances and warned of future legal challenges.
"This
is an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by President Obama
that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice
Department," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.
"This action goes beyond the President's authority, and I expect the
courts will find the appointment to be illegitimate."
Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Obama has "arrogantly
circumvented the American people" by installing Cordray when the Senate
isn't in recess.
"This
recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent
that has limited the President to recess appointments only when the Senate is
in a recess of 10 days or longer," McConnell said in a statement.
"Breaking from this precedent lands this appointee in uncertain legal
territory, threatens the confirmation process and fundamentally endangers the
Congress's role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive
branch."
*** *** ***
Our
family of web sites includes:
and
our parent site which you are reading right now, the blog where it all started,
www.jackspotpourri.com.
Check
all of them out and feel free to submit your thoughts and articles for
publication on these sites which, while operative, are still “under
construction” in varying degrees.
Jack
Lippman
*** *** ***
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