MONDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2013 08:56 GMT

AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE DOWNLOAD, DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD AND AUDIOBOOK EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

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1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (25th February 1943)
On the Russian Front...
Central Front: Soviet 65th Army and 2nd Tank Army of join the attack on German Army Group Centre.
Voronezh Front: Soviet 69th Army attack around Poltava, and 3rd Tank Army of Novaya Vodolaga.
German II SS Panzer Korps advance from Pavlograd.
4th Panzer Army attacks Bogdanovka
German 1st Panzer Army attacks Group Popov around Barvenkovo.
Anti-Soviet Russian General Andrey Vlasov speaks at Smolensk and begins tour of German-held areas addressing Russian civilians and volunteers about formation of anti-Stalin Russian Liberation Army.

In the North Sea...
Kriegsmarine patrol vessel V-1405 is sunk by a mine.

In the Bay Of Biscay...
A Kriegsmarine auxiliary minesweeper is sunk by a mine.

In Tunisia...
US II Corps re-occupy Kasserine Pass

In New Zealand...
Japanese POWs revolt at Featherston camp. The revolt is crushed with 48 prisoners killed and 74 wounded. One guard is killed and six wounded.

Today's Air Raids...
Nuremberg, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
North Sea minelaying by RAF Bomber Command
Tunis, Tunisia by US 12th Air Force
Kiska Island by US 11th Air Force
Kolombangara Island by US 5th Air Force
Gasmata and Rabaul, New Britain by US 5th Air Force
Myitkyina and Myitnge, Burma by US 10th Air Force
Dibrugark and Chabua Airfield, India by Japanese bombers

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging first thing. Brief visit to vets then missus time in the morning. Housework in the afternoon. Client prep session and follow up early evening then lots of ironing! Missus time thereafter.

    Twitter Followers = 1,618 (down 1)
        Nonfollowed eliminated = 1
        Unfollowers eliminated = 0

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
Son returns to college today after the half-term break, but missus has an extra day off so a morning of "marital enrichment" is expected. With a client in the early evening and the house a mess, there's no time for meditation today, although I did enjoy a 2-hour session on Sunday.

With a settled home environment, I have had the opportunity to focus on self-development, particularly on raising consciousness. Whilst consciousness is a genuine phenomenon, the concept of the self is not. As stated in Buddhist philosophy, there is no seer, only seeing. Though all-pervasive, the self is only a concept with no basis in reality. The fact that it is an illusion does not generally matter if there is no internal discord within it, but my own is by default negative and destructive.

In order for this life experience to be positive, it is therefore necessary from my own point in time and space to raise awareness above the illusion to pure consciousness, awareness without an agenda. The paradox is that the consequence of such a view is positive. The point of awareness, where a self used to be, experiences joy in the sense of the absence of internal conflict.

With the loss of the illusion of self, the illusion of "free-will" also disappears. Consequently, experience unfolds like a movie, the inevitable consequence of the process of energy changing form. Because there is no self, there is no feeling of helplessness as a result but rather fascination at events unfolding.

A further paradox is that to achieve this level of consciousness, it begins with a concept of self wishing to escape suffering. A process then begins in which time spent as self becomes increasingly less, although the rate of decrease is uneven. Increasingly, what was "self" becomes a simply set of interactions closest to your awareness, that unfold themselves without needing any act of will.

Over time, the effort required to stay "cosmically" conscious becomes less until it becomes the new default. At this point, all struggle ceases permanently.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you believe what you're told or what you've concluded?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Cloudy and mainly dry all day, evening and overnight
Some light drizzle in the afternoon.
Max Temp = 3 degC
Min Temp = 2 degC
Sunrise at 07:05
Sunset at 17:36

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
I have all the answers, but unfortunately most of them are wrong.  : D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
Christian Shirm on being poor

8. TRIVIA
Harry Potter’s pet snowy owl, Hedwig, shares her name with two famous saints. One is Saint Hedwig of Andechs (1174-1243), a former duchess noted for her benevolence and compassionate nature. The other is Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland (1373-1399). The death of Hedwig in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows represents Harry’s loss of innocence and coming of age.

9. THE WISDOM I'VE LEARNED FROM OTHERS
Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart." - Marcel Morin