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"A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden."

- Buddha
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"Every kind of work can be a pleasure. Even simple household tasks can be an opportunity to exercise and expand our caring, our effectiveness, our responsiveness. As we respond with caring and vision to all work, we develop our capacity to respond fully to all of life. Every action generates positive energy which can be shared with others. These qualities of caring and responsiveness are the greatest gift we can offer."

- Tarthang Tulku
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Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

- Buddha
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Today at 10:28 a.m. the world's largest particle accelerator (Large Hadron Colider: LHC) started up for the first time.  The LHC fires selected particles directly at one another around a 27 kilometer ring at speeds around 99.99% the speed of light.  The collisions will create energy never before seen outside of a telescope, roughly equivalent to the energy used in the Big Bang.  These collisions, which occur 600 million times a second, will generate temperatures more than 100,000 times that of our Sun's core!



Several experiments are being undertaken to find out more about what our universe is composed of, how these components interact, and how the interaction brings about matter.
The six experiments at the LHC are all run by international collaborations, bringing together scientists from institutes all over the world. Each experiment is distinct, characterised by its unique particle detector.

The two large experiments, ATLAS and CMS, are based on general-purpose detectors to analyse the myriad of particles produced by the collisions in the accelerator. They are designed to investigate the largest range of physics possible. Having two independently designed detectors is vital for cross-confirmation of any new discoveries made.

Two medium-size experiments, ALICE and LHCb, have specialised detectors for analysing the LHC collisions in relation to specific phenomena.

Two experiments, TOTEM and LHCf, are much smaller in size. They are designed to focus on ‘forward particles’ (protons or heavy ions). These are particles that just brush past each other as the beams collide, rather than meeting head-on

The ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb detectors are installed in four huge underground caverns located around the ring of the LHC. The detectors used by the TOTEM experiment are positioned near the CMS detector, whereas those used by LHCf are near the ATLAS detector.

In the following TED video presentation, Brian Cox describes the experiment he is working on at the LHC: ALICE.  ALICE "...will collide lead ions to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang under laboratory conditions."  Brian does a wonderful job of describing this experiment and the promise that it has in allowing us to better understand our existence.

More information on the LHC can be found at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) website.
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The Four Noble Truths are: 
  1. The world is full of suffering and stress.
  2. The cause of this suffering and stress is desires of physical instincts. 
  3. If desire can be removed, then suffering and stress will be ended.
  4. Desire can be removed by following the Eightfold Path: Right Views, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
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I recently came across a phenomenal article on a Vedic approach toward attaining business excellence. The article creates some wonderful abstractions to management concepts and connects these with a bigger picture using philosophical ideas. The article divulges into historical events and how these events created the change toward higher quality business through excellence. This is a must read for anyone entering the entrepreneurial realm.
"Man has been searching for excellence since evolution. He has an instinct to remain happy. Happiness can be attained either through self-contentment or through the fulfilment of the desires. While Vedic philosophy stresses on the former, the latter has played a crucial role in the business excellence journey. The goods produced or services rendered can bring happiness only when they meet the desired objective. Man has been in constant pursuit of more and more to satisfy his ever-growing desires. The search for excellence has been going on for thousands of years.
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'Sangathan Sukta' presents a perspective of excellence for society, where every member is willing to sacrifice his gains for the well being of others. Thus every member of society gets his lower level needs fulfilled, which leads to building of higher moral values for all. Thus slowly we attain a level of excellence where all remain happy and healthier. The Vedic concepts of growth are based on self-management and self-discipline.

Accordingly everyone is expected to follow his Swa-Dharma and continuously make sustained efforts for self-growth as well as for the growth of society."
- Business Excellence Enshrined in Vedic (Hindu) Philosophy, by Sharma, A K and Talwar, Balvir