Faith Freedom International

[Ari]

Another blow to Menj:

Meditation catches on...

Zen and the Art of Corporate Productivity
More companies are battling employee stress with meditation
http://www.businessweek.com/@@kva3UmYQlJAEWgUA/premium/content/03_30/b3843076.htm?se=1

For Dave Jakubowski, vice-president of business development for Internet service provider United
Online (UNTD ) Inc., the job isn't what it used to be. Instead of an unlimited expense account and
stays at the plush Chateau Marmont, the 31-year-old Manhattanite now brown-bags his lunch and
stays at a Hyatt when he's in Los Angeles on business. He logs 18-hour days to help his Westlake
Village (Calif.)-based company hit its quarterly sales targets of around $8 million. How to cope?
Jakubowski is no breathe-like-a-tree kind of guy. "I'm in business," he says, "and I need
results." So he recently turned to a mat and 60 minutes of silence. "It's amazing," he says of his
new meditation practice. "I'm able to sort through work challenges in this state of calm much
faster than trying to fight through it. And I make fewer mistakes."

Increasingly, the overstretched and overburdened have a new answer to work lives of gunning harder
for what seems like less and less: Don't just do something -- sit there. Companies increasingly
are falling for the allure of meditation, too, offering free, on-site classes. They're being won
over, in part, by findings at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Massachusetts,
and the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard University that meditation enhances the qualities
companies need most from their knowledge workers: increased brain-wave activity, enhanced
intuition, better concentration, and the alleviation of the kinds of aches and pains that plague
employees most.

It doesn't hurt that meditation has some high-profile corporate disciples, including bond-fund
king William H. Gross, of Newport Beach (Calif.)'s Pacific Investment Management Co., who often
meditates with yoga before a day of trading at his $349 billion money-management firm. Tech
outfits like Apple Computer (AAPL ), Yahoo!, and Google, which already offers an organic chef and
an on-site masseuse, are also signing up. So are white-shoe, Old Economy outfits like consulting
firm McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, and Hughes Aircraft.

There are no hard numbers on how many companies have added meditation benefits, but the anecdotal
evidence is mounting. And it's no surprise that more employers are seeking a new corporate balm.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health finds that stress-related ailments cost
companies about $200 billion a year in increased absenteeism, tardiness, and the loss of talented
workers. Between 70% to 90% of employee hospital visits are linked to stress. And job tension is
directly tied to a lack of productivity and loss of competitive edge. "Stress is pretty much the
No. 1 health problem in the workplace," says Eric Biskamp, co-founder of WorkLife Seminars in
Dallas, who has begun teaching one-on-one meditation skills to executives at Texas Instruments
(TXN ), Raytheon (RTN ) and Nortel Networks (NT ).

Meditation quiets mental chatter, explains coach Tevis Trower of New York's Balance Integration
Corp., which develops meditation and yoga programs for large corporations. "It lays the foundation
for better decision-making and communication," she says. Adds Viacom (VIA ) International Inc.'s
manager of work/life and training, Lisa Grossman: "These programs sound a little out there. But
they have a positive impact."

Sometimes meditation classes are offered as a gesture of thanks for a job well done. Consider AOL
Time Warner Inc., where the sales and marketing group was reduced from 850 to 500 people three
years ago. Meditation classes were incorporated to help employees deal with the new 12-hour days.

Other companies have added classes to help break up the drudgery of day-long meetings. AstraZeneca
(AZN ) Pharmaceuticals in Wilmington, Del., now offers three meditation courses aimed at
energizing its 5,000 employees during and after marathon powwows. "We usually had a coffee and a
Danish on our meeting breaks and would go right into a sugar slump," says spokeswoman Lorraine
Ryan.

The icing for companies is that meditation programs come cheap. "Everybody is dealing with limited
dollars," says Grossman. "It's important to keep things going when times aren't so good." So
employees can breathe easy: This is one perk that isn't likely to get axed.


By Mara Der Hovanesian in New York
_________________
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former." -Einstein

[Mullah Mo]

[Reynolds]

Everything which Ari has said here about the contrast between Islam and Buddhism is true. I happen to be studying Buddhism at uni at the moment and we just finished reading about his speech to the Kalamas, the 'doctrine of free enquiry'. I was quite impressed.

This morning, I came across something else which may be of interest, concerning the Buddhism concept of 'Right Livelihood' (Part of the 8-fold Path to enlightenment). I quote:

[Ari]

Hi Reynold,
Welcome to the forum and please add up this thread with what you have learnt about the contrast between Buddhism (or other religions) and Islam. It's very important to give Muslims a clear reference to other and authentic philosophies/religions to show them why people think their religion is super backward and despicable. A lot of Muslims have been indoctrinated since childhood on how perfect Islam is but they never had a chance to know and learn other religions, esp. the non-semitic ones, to really know that Islam is indeed the most perfect.

Thanks for your contribution.


Ari
_________________
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former." -Einstein

[Ari]

Another very important aspect that distinguishes the Buddha's teachings with Muhammad's is non-clinginess. While Buddhism seeks to show a path of liberation from all bondage that creates suffering, Islam, like any other cult, demands absolute obedience, clinginess and loyalty from its followers.

Here is what the Buddha says on the subject:

[Reynolds]

Hi Ari,
Another great example there I must say. I will, however, digress from this opinion of yours, that Muslims "make the most inflexible and totalitarian religionists on earth". Totalitarian maybe. But inflexibility is the trait of anyone who claims to hold onto 'absolute truths'. From the fundamentalist Jews who claim a God-given right to Israel (based on invented theological history), to the fundamentalist Christians who will still hold onto the belief that the world is only 6 thousand years old despite the glaring proofs otherwise. Fundamentalism is the enemy, no matter what form it comes in. I think to make a sweeping generalisation that Muslims are the 'most' inflexible is a tad unfair. Just my opinion of course. What do you think?
Thanks again,
Reynolds.

[Ari]

[Crow]

Reynolds: "Well, Muhammad got 2 out of 5. Funny how a man who claims to be the example for all mankind and to receive revelation from an omniscient God couldn't see past (or even before) 7th century Arabia to see how repugnant mankind would view his ways, or couldn't come up with simple humane rules such as the Buddha who lived 1200 years before him. But who cares for humanity when you're trying to establish an empire right?"

Applauds
_________________


KAMIKAZE WATERMELON!

Fischerspooner is weird..but cool

[Ari]

And another thing about flexibility is Reynold, Muslims often very proud about the fact that islam is very rigid and specific. Time and time again we are told that people convert to Islam because it offers much more rigid structure than their previous religions. It offers more security to these people. Christianity in many ways have the same characteristics as islam, but it lacks in structure: no dress code, dietary code, and other provision on how to conduct its followers' secular life. For some Christians, this is just not enough. They want monotheism that tells them everything. The more inflexible a religion is for them, the easier it gets because the less they have to think and make a choice.


Ari
_________________
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former." -Einstein

[ultraman agul]

http://www.menj.net/pejuang/archives/000043.htm
_________________
Allah matlamat kami, Al-Quran perlembagaan kami, ar-Rasul ikutan kami, penentang Islam musuh kami, jihad jalan kami dan berkorban pada jalan-Nya adalah setinggi-tinggi pengorbanan

[ultraman agul]

deleted
_________________
Allah matlamat kami, Al-Quran perlembagaan kami, ar-Rasul ikutan kami, penentang Islam musuh kami, jihad jalan kami dan berkorban pada jalan-Nya adalah setinggi-tinggi pengorbanan

[Reynolds]

[ultraman agul]

[Reynolds]

[ultraman agul]

[Reynolds]

There's a book I saw recently which documents, with plenty of evidence, slavery in the Islamic world. I wonder if your book mentions anything like that? If it does, then good- it well be well-balanced; but to ignore it is simply unjust.

[adnan]

[ultraman agul]

[Ari]

[ultraman agul]

[Ari]

[Mullah Mo]

Norman Vincent Peale?? I've read his books. He was great. Not a Muslim though...