A ROCK FOUNDATION

Good Morning!!! A ROCK FOUNDATION Around the Year with Emmet Fox July 22 Read Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” Matthew 7:24 One of the oldest symbols for the human soul is that of a building, sometimes a dwelling house, and sometimes a temple. The first thing that has to be done by the builder of a house is to select a sound foundation. On the shifting sands of the desert it is impossible to build anything at all, and so, when the desert dweller intends to put up a permanent structure he looks about for a rock. Now the Rock is one of the Bible terms for God, and the implication is very obvious. God’s word is the one and only foundation upon which we can build the temple of the regenerated soul with safety. As long as we are depending upon something less than that Rock— upon will power, upon so-called material security, upon the good will of others, or upon our own personal resources— we are building upon sand, and great will be our fall.

*The Guest House*

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 *The Guest House* *This being human is a guest house* *Every morning, a new arrival* *A joy, a depression, a meanness,* *Some momentary awareness comes* *as an unexpected visitor.* *Welcome and entertain them all !* *Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,* *who violently sweep your house* *empty of its furniture,* *still, treat each guest honourably.* *He may be clearing you out for some new delight.* *The dark thought, the shame, the malice,* *meet them at the door, laughing and invite them in.* *Be grateful for whatever comes.* *Because each has been sent* *as a guide from beyond.* *Jelaluddin Rumi.*

Did Arjuna also possess Narayanastra, Bhargavastra and Vaishnavastra?

Did Arjuna also possess Narayanastra, Bhargavastra and Vaishnavastra? Let's look at Arjuna's arsenal of astras first. During the Rangabhoomi arena. He showed the following astras. He created fire with an agneya weapon. He created water with a varuna weapon. He created winds with a vayavya weapon. He created rain with a parjanya weapon. He entered the ground with a bhoumya weapon. He created mountains with a parvata weapon. He made everything disappear with an antardhana weapon. Source: Jatugriha-daha Parva Chapter 125 critical edition. After obtaining a boon from Mahadeva, he has the following weapons! On your words, the mighty-armed one went out for weapons. Partha has obtained from Rudra a great and unrivalled weapon. It is known as Brahmashira and Rudra obtained it after great austerities. That terrible weapon arose with the ambrosia and Savyasachi has now obtained it, together with the mantras for withdrawing, repulsing and releasing it. O Yudhishthira! O descendant of the Kuru lineage! The infinitely powerful Partha has obtained other divine weapons too—like vajra and danda—from Yama, Kubera, Varuna and Indra. So it's clear that Arjuna possessed a large number of astras, including Vishnu weapons. Agneyastra Varunaastra Vayavya astra Parjanya astra Bhoumya astra Parvata astra Antardhana astra Indra's Vajra yudh Yama’s staff. Kubera’s astra Varuna’s moose Gandharva aatra Vishoshanastra Adityastra Jyotiskastra Aindra missile Samohana aastra Brahmastra Brahmashira And Pasupata( these two have interchangeable names in the epic. But I have still put them as separate astras). But did he possess the Narayanastra? Nope! He had no idea about the astra when Ashvathma used it. That weapon basically made Ashvathma unvanquishable on the battlefield. Bhagdatta’s Vaishnava astra also made him invincible, also that was because of the boon he had not exactly because of the astra. But Arjuna most likely didn't possess it. As for Bhargava Astra. Listen to what Arjuna himself stated: At this, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, spoke to Vasudeva. ‘Behold the extremely terrible bhargava weapon. O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! Behold the valour of the bhargava weapon. There is no means of countering that weapon in a battle. O Krishna! Behold the angry son of a suta in the great battle. The brave one is like Yama and has performed a terrible deed. He is repeatedly casting extremely terrible glances towards me. I do not see any means of running away from Karna in this battle. If a man remains alive in a battle, there may be victory, or there may be defeat. O Hrishikesha! For the sake of victory, how can one be victorious if one is dead?’ O venerable one! Janardana wished to leave to see Yudhishthira and thought that Karna would be overcome with exhaustion in the battle.560 venerable one! Janardana wished to leave to see Yudhishthira and thought that Karna would be overcome with exhaustion in the battle. If he had the weapon, then he would have countered it or atleast wouldn't said such terms. Some people think that Arjuna had stronger weapons like Brahmashira or Pashupata, so isn't that a contradiction? Not really! What Arjuna meant was that he had no other weapon to counter the astra other than higher level Trimurti weapons. He had no lower level or even medium or high level weapons which can neutralise the astra. Even Indra’s Vajra wasn't enough to subdue the astra. So although Arjuna probably could have neutralised it, he would have harmed his own army and probably even himself if he used the Brahmashira or Pashupata! Arjuna definitely did not possess all the astras in the known age. But, overall, Arjuna possess the highest number of astras, more than any other warrior in Mahabharata.( other than Shree Krishna ofcourse).

TAKING MATERIAL STEPS

Good Morning!!! TAKING MATERIAL STEPS Around the Year with Emmet Fox July 25 When you set out to solve a problem by means of prayer, you should take all the ordinary normal steps in addition. Do not simply pray and then sit down and wait for something dramatic to happen. For instance, if you are praying for a position, you should pray for it as well as you know how each day, and then go out and visit agencies or prospective employers, write applications, or insert advertisements in suitable periodicals. If you want a healing, treat about it in whatever way you usually find to be best and, in addition, take whatever material steps seem to be appropriate. If your business is not prospering, have a checkup to discover if you are managing it efficiently. If you find weak points, as you almost certainly will, you must correct them forthwith. We certainly cannot expect to go on breaking the laws of the plane on which we live, and expect prayer to compensate for this foolishness. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” Ecclesiastes 9:10

Who was the most notorious drug kingpin of all time?

Who was the most notorious drug kingpin of all time? You might think it was Pablo Escobar, or maybe El Chapo—but you’d be wrong. More than 100 year's before those guys were born, there was an incredibly powerful woman who controlled a drug empire so vast and so unimaginably lucrative that it made Escobar and El Chapo look like low-level street dealer's. She also didn’t have to conceal her ill-gotten gains from the government tax collector's, because the proceeds from her drug operation were funding the entire country. She was Queen Victoria, and she was running the British Empire. Queen Victoria was only 18 when she ascended the throne, and she routinely enjoyed using a wide variety of drugs. Opium was one of her favourites—but she didn’t smoke it in a pipe. In 19 th- century Britain, the more fashionable way to ingest opium was to drink it in the form of laudanum. This heady one-two punch of opium and alcohol was widely used to knock out pain or discomfort, whatever the cause. It was sort of like aspirin before there was aspirin—respectable doctor's even recommended it for toddlers who were teething. Queen Victoria drank a big swig of laudanum every morning. Cocaine was another of her darling's. It wasn’t illegal; it was brand-new, and Europeans were just starting to experiment with it. There were plenty of fun and exciting ways to consume cocaine back in the 1800's, but Queen Victoria’s personal preferences were chewing gum and wine. Cocaine chewing gum was perfect for a powerful blast of self-confidence, which was great if you were a young, inexperienced queen trying hard to project a strong, assertive image. She used a few other drugs, too. The queen sipped a liquid form of cannabis to relieve her monthly menstrual symptoms. And to cope with the agonizing pain of childbirth, Victoria enthusiastically embraced chloroform. She held a soaked handkerchief to her face for 53 minutes and described the experience as “delightful beyond measure”. From the moment she was crowned in 1837, the young queen inherited a king-size problem: British people drank too much tea. It wouldn’t have been a problem, except the tea was coming from China. The average London household was spending 5 % of it's income on Chinese tea, but Britain didn’t have anything to trade to China in return. China was getting rich, and Britain was growing resentful. The Brits were desperate to find something—anything—that Chinese people craved. Opium ticked all the boxes. The Brits had tons of it because it grew abundantly in India, which was under British control thanks to the powerful East India Company’s domination of the Indian economy. It was an amazingly effective painkiller, which meant the Chinese were willing to pay insanely high prices for it. And most important, it was super addictive; people who used opium got hooked almost immediately, which meant the Brits could jack up the price even more. Britain had been shipping opium to China for year's, but the amount grew exponentially once Queen Victoria assumed the throne. Thanks to the miracle of opium, the trade imbalance was reversed overnight. China was forced to return all the silver the British had spent on tea, plus a great deal more. Now it was China, not Britain, that was racking up ruinous trade deficits. China tried desperately to halt the opium trade. Opium was already illegal in China, but the law's were rarely enforced, so now the Chinese government started cracking down severely. The emperor of China assigned his top man to the job. The guy’s name was Lin Zexu, and he was a Scholar, Philosopher, Viceroy, and all-around teacher’s pet. His mission was to stop the flow of opium at all costs. He tried diplomacy, but it didn’t work...? He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, politely pointing out the immorality of what she was doing: China was shipping goods to Britain that were beneficial and useful, such as tea, silk, and pottery—so why was Britain responding by sending China poisonous drugs that were turning millions of innocent people into opium addicts...? But the British Empire wasn’t ready to give up it's lucrative drug operation. Because now, opium sales were responsible for 15 to 20% of the British Empire’s entire annual revenue. The queen didn’t bother to read the letter. This meant the doggedly persistent Lin Zexu needed to find another way to get her attention—so, in the spring of 1839, he intercepted a fleet of British ship's, seized a massive shipment of opium, and ordered his soldiers to dump it all into the South China Sea...? This time, the queen noticed. Remember, she was only 20 year's old and was used to things going her way. So when Lin Zexu and his men dumped 2.5 million pounds of British opium into the sea, she reacted like any all-powerful imperial teenager would: She declared war on China, known as the "First Opium War". British forces laid waste to the Chinese army and slaughtered tens of thousands of Chinese citizen's. The emperor had no choice but to capitulate. He signed a blatantly one-sided so-called peace treaty that handed over Hong Kong to the British, opened up even more ports for opium to flood into the country, and granted immunity to British citizen's who were living in China. Even worse, the whole world watched it happen. The Chinese empire had long been regarded as fearsome and indomitable, but not anymore. A petulant teenage queen had demonstrated to the world that China could be defeated, and fairly easily. Thus began the period referred to in textbooks as China’s “Century of humiliation”. That’s how a bullying teenager brought an esteemed ancient civilization to it's knees. To the young queen, it was fine with her if untold numbers of foreigner's halfway around the world died, so long as silver kept flowing. It was this ruthless, unabashed self-interest that made her the most successful drug kingpin of all time. Though, because she genuinely believed that cocaine was a safe, healthy energy booster with no ill effects, Queen Victoria refused to sell it to the Chinese. She was happy to sell them all the opium in the world—whether they wanted it or not—but they’d better not touch her cocaine. From HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUG'S: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence by Sam Kelly, published by Plume, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group.

*Some english puns*

*Some english puns* She fell in love with a banker but he showed no interest. She fell in love with an astronaut but he wanted space. She fell in love with a gym trainer, but it didn't work out. She fell in love with a librarian, but his time was always booked. She fell in love with an electrician but for him there was no spark. She fell in love with a cardiologist but he broke her heart. She fell in love with a geologist, but the relationship was too rocky. She fell in love with an economist but he couldn’t supply her demands She fell in love with a violinist but he said, "No strings attached." She fell in love with the linguist but he left her speechless She fell in love with a seismologist, but he was always finding fault. She fell in love with a cook, but he left her on the back burner She fell in love with a mathematician but she couldn't count on him. She fell in love with a scuba diver--on the surface everything seemed to be fine, but deep down she knew something fishy was going on ... She fell in love with a fisherman, but he wasn't a good catch. She fell in love with a mason but they never built a strong foundation. She fell in love with a teacher, but he had no class! She fell in love with a tennis player but love meant nothing to him. She fell in love with the magician but he kept turning tricks. She fell in love with a thief but she couldn’t steal his heart. She fell in love with a fireman but he threw cold water on her passion. She fell in love with a bartender but he wasn’t intoxicated by her charms. 😆🤣😆🤣

Pun, Pun, Pun, that is the question ❓

Pun, Pun, Pun, that is the question ❓ Be kind to dentists. They have fillings too, you know. All the toilets in the NYPD headquarters have been stolen. The police apparently have nothing to go on. I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was really just a play on words. Why did the can crusher quit her job? It was soda-pressing. What do you call a broken can opener? A can’t opener. Why do people love switzerland? Well, the flag is a big plus. Unlike Canada’s, which I could take or leaf. Becoming vegetarian was a huge missed steak. I was was going to tell a joke about a dead parrot, but it was way too Macawbre. How do trees feel in the Spring? Releaved. Why do defense lawyers go out for Mexican food when they’re feeling down? To get some case-ideas! Did you hear about the sale on paddles? It was quite the oar-deal. If a Wizard uses magic to hold up a camera and take a picture of himself, is that a Spellfie? Did you hear that the Devil is going bald? Yeah, there’s gonna be hell toupee. Why is Peter Pan always flying? He Neverlands. (Sorry, but that joke never grows old). What language do bridges speak? Span-ish. If a kid won’t take a nap, is that “resisting a rest”? What do you call a dog magician? A Labracadabrador Retriever. How many ears does Captain Kirk have? Three, the right, the left, and the final front ear. A king, wanting to host an elaborate wedding for his daughter, raised taxes on all citizens of the kingdom by thirty pieces of gold. Everybody paid, except for one young count. The king sent a tax collector, but the count refused. “This is unfair, and I shall not pay!” The king sent the sheriff, but the count refused. “I will not support the king’s new tax!” Finally, the king had the count arrested, and thrown in the dungeon. He explained to the count that failure to pay was treason, and he would be executed, yet still, the count refused. So, the king had him brought to the top of the tower, and neck on the block, with the executioner’s axe raised. The king asked the count to pay. He defiantly shouted, “Never!” Then, as the executioner’s axe began to fall, the count shouted “OK! I’ll pay!”. But it was too late, the executioner couldn’t stop the heavy axe, and the count was killed. The moral of this story? Don’t hatchet your counts before they chicken. Straws are for suckers. What do you call a lawyer who can cook? A sue chef Did you hear about the World War I soldier who survived both pepper spray and mustard gas? He was a seasoned veteran. Why do Buddhist monks avoid sending word documents? They’re supposed to avoid attachments. Why do teenage girls travel in odd numbered groups? Because they just can’t even. This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore. I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down. I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me. Broken pencils are pointless