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For some reason I don't know, I have a copy of a magazine called "What is
Enlightenment?"

Mostly it has the air of a competition to become enlighteneder-than-thou and
NOW, and to wear nice clothes while doing it. VERY high-pressure
enlightenment. And there's a fullpage ad of someone's very vague claims, but two
phrases seemed to match recent discussions here:
"If you believe physical death to be your destiny, why waste another thought
about your health and welfare? However, if you have even the slightest hint in
your heart that you were made to liave forever, then your health matters."

For $69.97 plus $10 postage, he'll tell you all about it, whatever "it" is.
And will send extra audio CDs worth BIG bucks (in his eternal universe) and
sayd "Giving you three albums for free is like laying sixteen $20 bills on the
table and saying 'Take it as a gift!'"

So cool.... He just gave me sixteen $20 bills, so sending him $70 bucks is
CHEAP!

I'm feeling more enlightened already. But that was an advertisement, not an
article.

Does it matter, in a magazine, what's ad and what's article?

Oh yeah, I looked the guy up and one website that was outing him said he had
ads in a Kung Fu magazine and is basically selling magnets. Magnets to help
you live longer? Forever? This one seemed to lean toward herbs.

Are magnets and herbs "enlightenment"? Is living vaguely longer than you
would if you were to die "enlightenment"?

I think enlightenment is when your thoughts are clearer and you're not so
much in the dark.

IF (big if) this guy DOES have information that would help people not to age,
and to feel better, and if were very enlightened, wouldn't he maybe be giving
that away free for nothing?

I do think people should do good things in their lives, and consider moods
and posture and exercise and remember to drink water and to look at the sky and
the breathe. Yoga can be cool. Meditation can be wonderful.

None of those things will give you eternal life, nor even maybe a longer
life.

The best any of them can do is give you a better self. If your real self is
better, then now is better and later isn't going to matter so much (though
later is quite likely to be better if you figure out how to make now better,
because if you can make today good, you can make EVERY day better).

Sandra


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Betsy Hill

**For some reason I don't know, I have a copy of a magazine called "What is
Enlightenment?"**

Changing the subject specifically to magazines, I wanted to mention one
that I've heard recommended that sounds fun.

It's called Make magazine:

http://www.makezine.com/volumes/

And it seems to be devoted to high-tech do-it-yourself projects that are
pretty whizzy. (I haven't read it, but I've read about it... for what
it's worth.)

(One of the projects referenced is a lego pinball machine that took 300
hours to make.)

Betsy