About Religion,

Religion and Philosophy are words of repute that man resorts to for answers on God and life. Their authenticity is never questioned nor their real meaning understood. Man takes it for granted that they provide answers for what they stand for. But a gentle glance would suggest that answers have not been found as yet because men, more than anything else, are still angry with each other and with themselves too. Religion makes man believe he is a saint while philosophy fills him with pride. The question he needs to answer is whether religion and philosophy have brought him peace or drafted him into war. The present state of the world would suggest the latter is true.

Every child and adult is given a religion to follow and adhere to so that he or she may lead a happy life - a certain investment to reach heaven. Its importance is emphasized to philosophical proportions. Religion and, thereby, God, if followed to the letter, is believed to ward off evil and protect man from harm. But is he free from hate or anger while he prays or when he is in a place of worship? Is he free of all that is unholy when he does not pray or is not in a place of worship? If God is the creator of the world, who could possibly be creating evil or wrong besides God? It is unthinkable that God would be the creator of good and bad, right and wrong as a reality. It has to be illusory for God is compassionate and loving. So, has religion and philosophy failed to deliver its promises and will it ever succeed? Who can tell?

But what do these words really mean and what is man's understanding of them? To most, religion means subtle or profound knowledge about God and His messages, which are beliefs or a system of faith and worship. The word religion is derived from the Latin word 'religio', meaning obligation or reverence to life under monastic vows. Philosophy, on the other hand, means a love of wisdom. But, on close observation, man is neither godly nor wise, and religion and philosophy have been around for quite some time. Religion and philosophy are both ancient and historical. Man came to know religion first and later, as his mind sophisticated, philosophy appeared. Primitive man was alive and lived without the need of religion or philosophy.

The mind became active within man slowly and steadily and sophisticated to form religion and philosophy. Information about God happened to him and he did not bring it about. Thinking happened to man and he did not make it happen. If he had, he would have made it happen all at once and not progressively, as is the case, and, given the chance, he would see to it that everyone thought the same way, but they do not. If he did make thinking happen, he would have just one religion and philosophy and not many, as is the case.

Nature was religion to primitive man. The lightning in the skies and the thunder that followed was man's knowledge about a power above him. Light and sound were God to primitive man. The moment he looked up into the skies in fear was the moment of birth of God or a power much superior to him in his mind. As vocabulary increased within man's mind and concepts began to form, so did religion and knowledge about God as the almighty.

If religion were real, there could only be one and that would be the first one that appeared within man's mind. Real means that which does not change and is eternal. This means that even the first religion cannot be real. How could it be real for not only has the first religion changed, but there are five more major religions alongside it? This change contradicts the meaning of real. This can only mean that the first religion and the rest that have followed have to be illusory and not real.

Religion is illusory for it exists only in the waking state, but it does not exist during the sleeping state, and man is alive during sleep as much as he is during the waking state. If religion were real, primitive man should have religion without the presence of thoughts. This only means that religion is nothing but thoughts in the mind, as is everything else.

If God has created the world, every religion must be His creation too. If they are, they cannot be separate from Him. The world is energy and nothing can be separate within energy, and so, if they were separate from him or from each other, they would not exist. If God has created the world, He will be energy too because the source of energy has to and will be energy only. In this case, God cannot be a He or a She but just energy, as is every man and woman. If God is energy, it can only mean that anything and everything is a reflection of energy, including man. If energy is God, it can only mean that every speck of this manifestation has to be God, and it is so and cannot be otherwise.

If God were the creator, would not every religion be His creation too, including the first? They certainly would be, and surely He would not create any religion that is wrong. The same applies to philosophy too. The presence of variety in every aspect of life, including religion and philosophy, makes it impossible for man to decide which could be true. This is the intelligence of life that makes anything and everything in life relative and not absolute. It is important to understand that every recognizable thought requires another of its kind for it to exist. Therefore, every religion exists because of the presence of the other. This is why God or life has manifested many religions and philosophies so that a concept of religion and philosophy could exist. They exist in such a manner that man may understand that their existence is illusory and not real. They only appear real.

Religion is temporary because it changes and requires time to exist, where there is none. It exists only as thoughts because it disappears in the sleeping state. These are the hallmarks of an illusion. An illusion does not mean it is absent; it is present, but not in the manner the mind says it is. There are many scriptures related to every religion. When the religion is illusory, will not the scriptures be illusory too? In that case every scripture is no better than the other. Truth cannot be known for the known is always dual, and truth cannot be dual for duality is relative and never absolute. If a certain belief of a religion is not found within the confines of another religious scripture, the belief cannot be concluded to be invalid or false.

Every belief does not have to be found in every religious scripture; there is no point in repeating the same belief in every religion. God is very intelligent for, if beliefs were the same in every religion, then different religions would not exist: diversity is required for religion to exist. If all religions contained the same beliefs, then there would only be one religion. Before the scriptures were written, they existed in the mind as thoughts. This means that truth, no matter how illusory, cannot be just what is written, and that which is not written can also be the truth, for the written once existed as thoughts in the mind. Therefore, man may speak the truth and it cannot be brushed aside as untruth just because it cannot be found within scriptures. All religions put together are one religion.

Duality is the spice of mental life. Diversity is maintained by duality. Diversity makes life not only magnanimous but also projects the illusory as the real. Diversified religion exists so that God may exist. If only one religion existed it would be real and God would not be remembered at all. God would not be remembered because, for God to exist and to be remembered as well, another God would be needed, and the various religions do just that: they provide many Gods. It is fascinating to see that every religion is not content with itself, and it should be if it is real. The constant arguments between religions suggest that every man doubts the religion he belongs to. Knowledge about religion only indicates the capacity of the mind to store information and reproduce it, akin to a computer or a library. A scholar does not signify anything other than this.

Man is born without a religion and he obtains the religion that exists in the family. Religion is, therefore, more familial than real. Life is energy and energy alone. Energy has no religion, yet man has a religion: how real could it be? Words and meanings are an auditory illusion of sound and so every religion is illusory rather than real. Religion has driven man away from God rather than bringing him to God, and this is exactly what it is meant to do so that religion and philosophy may exist. If men were made to realize that only God exists and not man, religion would collapse.

Religion is just knowledge about God in a particular language. Knowledge is dead because it is in the mind as memory. Since the mind is in the past, religion too is in the past. The mind is not in life, which is the timeless 'now', and this means that religion is not in life but in the mind. The mind requires time to exist and science has proved that time does not exist as a physical entity in life. The smallest unit of time measured is 'atto second', which is one billionth of a billionth of a second. Life's occurrences, however, happen in units of time much smaller than an atto second, which is the timeless 'now'. Religion really means to be united with self. It has not really achieved this but, in fact, has created disunity between humans. This is life's intelligence to maintain its illusory nature so that man may understand the real meaning of religion.

Every religious man defends vigorously that his God is the only one. Now, God is not a matter of yours or mine. God is simply God. Scientifically, God is synonymous with energy, light or just intelligence. God is a philosophical word, but very intelligent nevertheless. The world is varied and so are religion, philosophy and even God. Life merely demonstrates that if anything and everything is varied, even God is varied, and this is why God is who He is imagined to be. Therefore, it is inevitable that God will appear differently in some religions and as many in others. Life also demonstrates that God is nobody or nothing, but also anything and everything. This is evident in some religions in which He is revered as being formless, which is true, and in others as having forms made of any kind of matter: food to indicate taste, incenses to indicate smell, bells to indicate sound and fire to indicate light, which are also true.

It is difficult to determine whose God is real and is the first and only one. Every religion defends that their God fits that bill. If any one of the Gods that appeared after the first was real, He would have been the one who would have created the first religion and maintained it until the present day. If the first religion was false, He would have destroyed it, and the reason it cannot be destroyed is because life is energy and energy cannot be destroyed or created. This is proof that God too is energy and anything and everything is merely a reflection of this energy, which appears in the morning and disappears in the night, including religion and philosophy.

The world is a manifestation of God or energy and not a creation. No man could have seen the creation to vouch for it, but surely he can understand that the world is and has be a reflection, since it is energy. Therefore, the world and God included has to be peaceful and harmonious. The mind of man is not peaceful, and this restlessness is an auditory illusion of sound, as only light and sound exists in life and not words and meanings. Man merely makes sounds, which appear as language in the mind. Words and meanings cannot exist in life, as time is absent in life.

Man or messenger of God, who has a mind, will always be restless because of duality, which is the hallmark of the mind, and to wish him peace will only be wishful thinking. A true messenger of God, if at all there is one, is an enlightened being, for he lives and realizes that the mind is illusory, so too every religion and philosophy. An enlightened being is always at peace with himself and the world, without knowing that he is. Peace is his nature for it is the nature of nature, and an enlightened being realizes that man is part and parcel of nature and not separated from it. There would be no need to wish him or her peace, for he is peace itself.

Peace is the nature of the world, and it has to be if it is energy, no matter in what state it is. So there would no point in fearing it or God. Fear, if observed, is non-existent in the timeless 'now'. It is always in the mind and, therefore, has to be illusory as is any word. In fear man can never reach God; he would be rotating in his mind hoping to reach God. Fear has been employed by the religious to bring man to God - how ironical. It is ironical that it is the religious who keep man away from God with a promise of bringing him to God. Only God is and man is merely a reflection of God.

Philosophy came much later than religion. It was the product of a sophisticated mind. It made its appearance once life expressed logic and reasoning. Philosophy is similar to religion in that there are as many philosophies as there are languages, either rudimentary or sophisticated. If wisdom was real, and it needs to be real if it is wisdom, there would be just one system of philosophy and not such divergence as there is found to be.

Many philosophies are needed so that a concept of philosophy may exist. The scenario is the same as with religion. Man would not remember philosophy if there were just one. A contrast provided by a particular philosophy is needed for the existence of another. Hence, philosophy means the love of thinking and not the love of wisdom, as is thought. Every man is a philosopher for thinking happens to him. A true philosopher is he who realises that thinking happens to him and man does not think. He realizes that an action or an experience can exist only in time, and time does not exist in life. He realizes that the mind would be needed to recognize an action or an experience in life, and mind, like time, does not exist in life.

A true philosopher is he who realizes that the world, man and mind are a continuous and spontaneous transformation-process of energy which is uncontrollable and unpredictable. He realizes that life is timeless and thoughtless and a manifestation of light and sound, and the experienced world and the experience itself is a world of thoughts - religion and philosophy included. A truly religious man is he who realizes that everything is an expression of God the almighty - religion and philosophy included.

© Copyright V.S. Shankar 2008

Dr Vijai S. Shankar, an Indian sage, was born in the late 1940's. He has amassed an impressive list of educational, research, medical, writing and teaching credentials in his lifetime. He is most notably known for his teachings on Non-dualism, Advaita Vedanta, and Jnana yoga. These teachings are accessible to the public through his books, CDs and DVDs, his satsangs and on the website of the Academy of Absolute Understanding, which Dr. Shankar founded in 2009. Dr. Shankar's most recent book, Evolution of Mind, published in January 2010, offers man the most penetrating and insightful understanding of mind to date, a mind which for generations, has been conditioned by its beliefs and limited to the world of relativity and fiction.

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Affiliate Terms

 
  

On June 26, 2014, Bluehost’s Affiliate Program Terms were updated and reorganized to clarify the terms of the program. Please note that the revised terms will require all affiliates to reach the USD$100 referral fee minimum threshold within twelve months of the first Qualified Purchase they refer to Bluehost. The updated terms are effective on June 30, 2014.

The Bluehost Inc. ("Bluehost" or "Company" or "we") affiliate program (the "Affiliate Program") is designed to help you generate income in exchange for referring new hosting clients to Bluehost. These Affiliate Program Terms (the "Affiliate Agreement") are a contract between Bluehost and you (the "Affiliate" or "you"), and it governs the terms and conditions of your participation in the Affiliate Program.
BY REGISTERING AS AN AFFILIATE YOU ARE AGREEING TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM.

1. #

   Payment Requirements:

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   6. Missing or untracked affiliate referrals must be reported during the then current referral period (either between the 1st and the 15th of the month or between the 16th and the end of the month) and will be credited to your account at our sole discretion, provided that such credit has accrued pursuant to the terms contained herein. Referrals that are not reported during the then current referral period will not be credited to your account.
      
   7. The affiliate referral fees are determined approximately 45 days after the end of the month in which the Qualified Purchase is recorded. Payments are then processed and sent to Affiliates between the 16th of the month and the last day of the month. EXAMPLE: A Qualified Purchase recorded in January will be sent to the Affiliate between March 16th and March 31st.
      
   8. Payments are sent using the PayPal mass payment system. Bluehost pays for the transaction fee associated with the mass payment system. You are required to supply a PayPal address to receive payments. If you would prefer to receive payments by check, you must notify Bluehost and payments will be sent to the address you provide. Please note that payments by check take up to an additional thirty (30) days to arrive. For larger affiliates with balances of over USD$10,000 per month, Bluehost offers a wire transfer option. To update your payment information, please contact the affiliate department.
      
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   13. Bluehost will be using the URL Pink.host to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness. We will not pay affiliate bounties on any referrals sent to Pink.host and will instead donate a portion of the bounty to Huntsman Cancer Institute (http://healthcare.utah.edu/huntsmancancerinstitute/).
       
2. #

   Reversals:

   1. If a referred customer initially purchases a hosting package with a term of at least one (1) year and then downgrades their hosting package to a term of less than one (1) year within one (1) year of their initial purchase, the applicable referral fees paid to the Affiliate will be reversed and deducted from future earnings.
      
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   Affiliate Restrictions and Responsibilities:

   1. Affiliates MAY NOT offer cash back, rewards or other incentives to drive traffic/sales via their affiliate tracking links.
      
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   FTC Disclosure Policy:

   1. It is our intent to treat our customers fairly. Accordingly, we require all Bluehost affiliates to comply fully with all applicable laws, regulations and guidelines concerning advertising and marketing, including without limitation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Endorsement Guides (See the FTC Endorsement Guide for more information.), which require that material connections between advertisers and endorsers be disclosed. This means that all affiliate websites (e.g. directories, review/rating sites, blogs and other websites) and any email or collateral that provide an endorsement or assessment of Bluehost, must prominently disclose the fact that you may receive compensation for referring customers to Bluehost.
      
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5. #

   Deactivation:

   1. Affiliate accounts may be deactivated at any time without warning or notice at our sole discretion. Any affiliate who violates Bluehost's Terms of Service, including without limitation, these Affiliate Program Terms, or any applicable law is subject to having their affiliate account deactivated immediately, and any and all accrued, but not yet received, referral fees will be forfeited.
      
   2. In our sole discretion, any false or misleading advertising or suspected fraudulent activity associated with your affiliate account will result in immediate deactivation.
      
   3. Affiliate accounts generating a large number of fraudulent accounts, as determined in our sole discretion, will be deactivated.
      
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   5. If you would like to discontinue your participation in the Affiliate Program at any time, simply remove your affiliate links from your website and no longer promote them. For accounting purposes, our systems will retain your account and personal information.
      
6. #

   Changes:

   1. Bluehost may change any of the terms and conditions in this Affiliate Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time at Bluehost's sole discretion. Unless otherwise provided, such modifications will take effect when posted on Bluehost's website and apply to all referral fees that have not yet accrued. If we make any significant changes to this Affiliate Agreement, we will post a notice on this page for at least thirty (30) days after the changes are posted and will indicate at the bottom of this Affiliate Agreement the date of the last revision. In addition, Bluehost will use reasonable efforts to provide you with seven (7) days advance notice of any changes that materially impact your participation in the Affiliate Program. Unless otherwise provided, your continued participation in the Affiliate Program following our posting of any modification on our website will constitute your acceptance of all changes. If you do not agree to any such changes, your sole and exclusive remedy is to deactivate your account as described above.
      

If you have any questions regarding our Affiliate Program, please open a Ticket in the Affiliate queue or call us toll free at 888-401-4678
Thank You,
Bluehost

What Is SFI?

SFI (Strong Future International) Marketing Group was launched in 1998. Starting with just one product, sold only in the United States, SFI has now grown to more than 90,000 products and services (and growing daily) sold in more than 190 countries around the world.

SFI was created to allow anyone with a computer and Internet access the opportunity to tap into the worldwide e-commerce revolution. Anyone of legal age in his or her country can become an SFI affiliate for free by filling out an online registration form. There is no obligation or purchase requirements of any kind.

Once registered, affiliates are provided with professional Websites for marketing SFI's products on the Internet. SFI also provides all necessary sale support services, such as customer service, payment processing, and product shipment – all at no cost to the affiliate. For each sale generated, SFI pays the referring affiliate a commission. Additional commissions can be earned by building and leading affiliate groups. 

Stability & Longevity

The mark of a successful company can be seen in its track record. SFI is now in its 18th year, with millions of dollars in annual sales and millions paid in commissions to thousands of affiliates around the world. SFI's parent company, Carson Services, Inc., is now in its 29th year of business and is registered with Dun and Bradstreet. SFI affiliates operate with the peace of mind brought about by associating with a proven, debt-free organization with a long, successful history.

Company Leadership

SFI Founder
Gery Carson

SFI President and CEO, and founder of SFI, is Gery Carson. From 1985 to 1998, Gery was a top marketer and record-breaking distributor for several direct sales companies and a successful business magazine publisher. Known for his innovation, Gery has been a pioneering force in the direct mail and Internet marketing industries for more than two decades. His extraordinary achievements as an entrepreneur have been spotlighted in "Money Maker's Monthly," "Upline," "Opportunity World Magazine," and in numerous books and videos. National recognition has also included being named to 1992's Outstanding Young Men of America list and 1997's Who's Who in the Media and Communications. In 1998, Gery set out to "put a dent in the universe" by creating SFI, a ground-breaking program that would utilize the Internet to empower and enrich the lives of millions of people around the world. Today, with 16,900 new affiliates joining in the last week alone, SFI is one of the fastest growing companies of its kind in the world and is well on its way to achieving Gery's vision.

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Top 10 New Year's Eve Destinations

 

New Year's Eve in Sydney

 CELEBRATE

A breathtaking light parade in Sydney Harbour? Check. Spectacular fireworks? Check. More than a million people gathered to be among the first to usher in the New Year? Double check. For an unforgettable front row seat to the fireworks, grab tickets for one of the city's best events with a view — we suggest the Royal Botanic Gardens or the La Bohème gala at the Opera House.

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EAT/DRINK

The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar: Enjoy a special six-course degustation menu that always sells out early amid unparalleled harbor-front views of the Sydney Bridge.

Aria: Delight in drinks and a four-course tasting menu with matching wines — all with stunning harbor and fireworks views.

LuMi Bar & Dining: The restaurant will be serving a five-course degustation menu with wine and beer pairings. Located close to the water near Pyrmont Bay Park, LuMi is a great place to view the fireworks barges before the midnight show.

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SLEEP

Glenferrie Lodge: This 19th-century guesthouse charms visitors with its lush garden and excellent views of Sydney Harbour. Best of all, you don't have to leave your cat or dog behind this holiday — the hotel is pet-friendly!

Cremorne Point Manor: This boutique hotel is intimate and cozy with just 29 bedrooms, and overlooks the Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens and Harbour Bridge.

Park Hyatt Sydney: A private boardwalk right on the harbor and an unforgettable rooftop cocktail party with an endless flow of Veuve Clicquot.

Get the latest information at the Sydney New Year's Eve official website

Fin24

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma has chosen to reflect on the silver lining in South Africa’s dark economic cloud for his end-of-year message.
Zuma said much progress had been made in addressing the objectives of the nine-point plan he introduced at his 2015 State of the Nation Address.
Zuma’s statement follows a turbulent two weeks in the history of the South African economy after he fired the respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with the relatively unknown ANC MP David van Rooyen.

The rand hit a record low of 16.00 to the dollar before its recent recovery to around R15.00 against the greenback after Zuma did a U-turn to reappoint the more experienced Pravin Gordhan.
Zuma said the country’s automotive sector had grown thanks to the work of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Automotive Production and Development Programme.
"The APDP has leveraged private-sector investment of over R25.7bn over the last 5 years," he said in his end of the year statement of almost 5 000 words.
Zuma also singled out companies who had "affirmed South Africa as a regional manufacturing hub and have retained and expanded their investments in new plants".
"Unilever has invested R4bn in South Africa in new plants and expansions across the country," he said. He also mentioning multinationals Nestle, Samsung, and Hisense.
He said South Africa was also becoming a frontier for new sectors of Foreign Direct Investment, such as the green economy, oil and gas, shipbuilding and the ocean economy.
"Our Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme has become world renown and a policy blueprint for other countries and has attracted R190bn in investment in the four rounds of bids," he said.
Zuma said the clothing and textiles sector was successfully stabilised, was steadily regaining domestic market share and was beginning to grow exports.
The steel industry came under a lot of pressure in 2015, Zuma said, adding that the government intervened to save the industry under global steel glut conditions.
He said the jobs fund established in 2012 had, to date, created 60 675 new permanent jobs and had additionally placed 30 358 people in vacant positions on a permanent basis.