The Choice is Yours

One evening a grandfather told his grandchild about events - how they occur both on the outside and on the inside of people.


He said, "My child, events happen twice. First out there, in the world, and then in there, in your soul. For the things happening out there, we humans have a habit of labeling them 'good' and 'bad'. Whether it's the weather, the traffic, the news, what the neighbors do or don't, programs on TV, politics and schools. But in the inside of you, you get to decide whether they make you strong, or they make you weak".


The grandchild thought about it. Then she asked her grandfather: "Am I free to choose?"
Grandfather replied, "Yes, and its more than that. It'll also make you responsible.
Get it ... 'response able' ... able to respond?
What will you make yours, strong or weak?"


Without knowing, the child had been handed the MASTER key to success - a powerful mental attitude.
Either way, she decided it was a no-brainer.
Lucky child.

Happiness Daily Schedule

Lactose Intolerance Remedy

What is Lactose Intolerance?

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the major sugar found in milk and milk products.

Lactose intolerance is caused in part by a shortage of lactase, an enzyme produced by the cells that line the small intestine. Lactase breaks lactose down into the simple forms of sugar, glucose and galactose, so they can be absorbed and used by the body.

Infants have the highest levels of lactase, which helps them digest their mother's milk.

In about 75% of the world's population, a genetic trait causes lactase levels to start irreversibly decreasing after weaning. By adulthood, most lactase activity is lost.

Although the decline in lactase activity affects the majority of the population, not everyone has symptoms of lactose intolerance after consuming normal amounts of lactose.

Whether or not people develop symptoms appears to be linked to the ability of a certain type of beneficial bacteria, called lactic acid bacteria, to break down lactose. Some people may have more lactic acid bacteria in their intestines than others, so they don't develop symptoms.

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance
  • Gas
  • Cramping
  • Abdominal pain
  • Nausea
  • Bloating
  • Diarrhea

Lactose left undigested in the intestines can result in diarrhea, because of the excessive amounts of water that are drawn into the intestines by lactose. Hydrogen is produced, causing gas and bloating.

What Natural Remedies Do People Use?

Acidophilus and Probiotics
Acidophilus is one of many types of lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria in the intestines breaks lactose down into short-chain fatty acids and other substances that can be absorbed by the colon.

Lactic acid bacteria are available as dietary supplements. They are usually found as capsules, tablets, or powders in the refrigerated section of health food stores. They are also available at some drug stores, grocery stores, and online.

There are many different types of lactic acid bacteria. The ones used most often for lactose intolerance include:
  • Lactobacillus acidophilus
  • Lactobacillus bulgaricus
  • Streptococcus salivarius
  • Lactobacillus reuteri
  • Lactobacillus plantarum
  • Streptococcus thermophilus

The company Enzymatic Therapy makes a product called Acidophilus Pearls that doesn't require refrigeration. It contains Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidiobacterium longum.

Acidophilus and the other probiotics are popular remedies to prevent and reduce symptoms of lactose intolerance. In a 2000-2002 survey of 61,587 people aged 50 to 76 years that was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, acidophilus for lactose intolerance was found to be one of the top reasons people used a specific supplement for a health condition.

Despite its popularity, not all studies have found acidophilus or the other probiotics can help diminish symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Yogurt
Yogurt containing live active bacteria is believed to improve lactose digestion for the same reason that probiotics are thought to work.


When yogurt is consumed, bile acids disrupt the cell wall of the bacteria in yogurt. This releases the enzyme beta-galactosidase (related to lactase) into the intestines, where it can enhance lactose digestion.

Not any yogurt will do. It must contain live active bacteria.

Although yogurt is a milk product, many people with lactose intolerance do not experience symptoms after eating yogurt, even the kind that doesn't contain live active bacteria.

Acidophilus Milk
Acidophilus milks are made by adding Lactobacillus acidophilus to cold milk. Many of the studies that have looked at acidophilus milks for lactose digestion have found no improvement. Researchers have speculated that it may be because the acidophilus products used in the studies did not contain enough acidophillus.

Lactase Supplements
Tablets containing lactase can be taken with lactose-containing foods. For many people, lactase supplements are only needed for larger quantities of lactose.

If a certain type of lactase supplement doesn't work, it may be worthwhile to try other brands. Some people find the tablet form more effective than the chewable form.

Diet
It's quite common for people to avoid lactose-containing foods completely, but that usually isn't unnecessary and may contribute to calcium deficiency.

Some dietary strategies for people with lactose intolerance include:
  • Drink one cup or less of milk at a time
  • Eat milk and milk products with meals rather than alone
  • Try reduced-lactose milk
  • Try yogurt instead of milk

If You Have Lactose Intolerance
If you have just developed lactose intolerance, it's important to consult with your doctor. Lactose intolerance can also be caused by medications or by an underlying condition that damages cells lining the intestines, such as:
  • Crohn's disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Giardiasis
  • HIV enteropathy
  • Carcinoid Syndrome
  • Diabetic gastropathy
  • Zollinger-Ellison syndrome
  • Alcoholism
  • Iron Deficiency

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Truth ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

The core of Krishnamurti’s teaching is contained in the statement he made in 1929 when he said, “Truth is a pathless land”. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.

Man has built in himself images as a fence of security—religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man’s thinking, his relationships, and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and environment. The uniqueness of man does not lie in the superficial but in complete freedom from the content of his consciousness, which is common to all humanity. So he is not an individual.

Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man’s pretence that because he has choice he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence. In observation one begins to discover the lack of freedom. Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity.

Thought is time. Thought is born of experience and knowledge, which are inseparable from time and the past. Time is the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a slave to the past. Thought is ever limited and so we live in constant conflict and struggle. There is no psychological evolution. When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts, he will see the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time. This timeless insight brings about a deep, radical mutation in the mind.

Total negation is the essence of the positive. When there is negation of all those things that thought has brought about psychologically, only then is there love, which is compassion and intelligence.

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The Six Realms

If ego decides it likes the situation, it begins to churn up all sorts of ways to possess it. A craving to consume the situation arises and we long to satisfy that craving. Once we do, a ghost of that craving carries over and we look around for something else to consume. We get into the habitual pattern of becoming consumer oriented. Perhaps we order a piece of software for our computer. We play with it for awhile, until the novelty wears out, and then we look around for the next piece of software that has the magic glow of not being possessed yet. Soon we haven't even got the shrink wrap off the current package when we start looking for the next one. Owning the software and using it doesn't seem to be as important as wanting it, looking forward to its arrival. This is known as the hungry ghost realm where we have made an occupation out of craving. We can never find satisfaction, it is like drinking salt water to quench our thirst.

Another realm is the animal realm, or having the mind like that of an animal. Here we find security by making certain that everything is totally predictable. We only buy blue chip stock, never take a chance and never look at new possibilities. The thought of new possibilities frightens us and we look with scorn at anyone who suggests anything innovative. This realm is characterised by ignorance. We put on blinders and only look straight ahead, never to the right or left.

The hell realm is characterised by acute aggression. We build a wall of anger between ourselves and our experience. Everything irritates us, even the most innocuous, and innocent statement drives us mad with anger. The heat of our anger is reflected back on us and sends us into a frenzy to escape from our torture, which in turn causes us to fight even harder and get even angrier. The whole thing builds on itself until we don't even know if we're fighting with someone else or ourselves. We are so busy fighting that we can't find an alternative to fighting; the possibility of alternative never even occurs to us.

These are the three lower realms. One of the three higher realms is called the jealous god realm. This pattern of existence is characterised by acute paranoia. We are always concerned with "making it". Everything is seen from a competitive point of view. We are always trying to score points, and trying to prevent others from scoring on us. If someone achieves something special we become determined to out do them. We never trust anyone; we "know" they're trying to slip one past us. If someone tries to help us, we try to figure out their angle. If someone doesn't try to help us, they are being uncooperative, and we make a note to ourselves that we will get even later. "Don't get mad, get even," that's our motto.

At some point we might hear about spirituality. We might hear about the possibility of meditation techniques, imported from some eastern religion, or mystical western one, that will make our minds peaceful and absorb us into a universal harmony. We begin to meditate and perform certain rituals and we find ourselves absorbed into infinite space and blissful states of existence. Everything sparkles with love and light; we become godlike beings. We become proud of our godlike powers of meditative absorption. We might even dwell in the realm of infinite space where thoughts seldom arise to bother us. We ignore everything that doesn't confirm our godhood. We have manufactured the god realm, the highest of the six realms of existence. The problem is, that we have manufactured it. We begin to relax and no longer feel the need to maintain our exalted state. Eventually a small sliver of doubt occurs. Have we really made it? At first we are able to smooth over the question, but eventually the doubt begins to occur more and more frequently and soon we begin to struggle to regain our supreme confidence. As soon as we begin to struggle, we fall back into the lower realms and begin the whole process over and over; from god realm to jealous god realm to animal realm to hungry ghost realm to hell realm. At some point we begin to wonder if there isn't some sort of alternative to our habitual way of dealing with the world. This is the human realm.

The human realm is the only one in which liberation from the six states of existence is possible. The human realm is characterised by doubt and inquisitiveness and the longing for something better. We are not as absorbed by the all consuming preoccupations of the other states of being. We begin to wonder whether it is possible to relate to the world as simple, dignified human beings.

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