SUNDAY 5th MAY 2013 08:30 BST

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1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (5th May 1943)
On the Russian Front...
Soviet North Caucasus Front captures Krymsk and Neberjaisk in the Kuban.

In the Arctic...
U-639 sunk by Soviet submarine S-101

In Croatia...
The first group of Croatian Jews are deported to Auschwitz

In the Atlantic...
In a bad day for the Allies, 13 vessels are lost to U-Boats
U-663 is sunk by RAF Coastal Command aircraft

In the Mediterranean...
Italian vessel Maria Pia is sunk by RN submarine HMS Tactician

In Tunisia...
British 5th Corps attack Djebel-Bou-Aoukaz

In the Pacific...
IJN gunboat Hakkai Maru sunk by USN submarine Sawfish
Norwegian vessel Fingal sunk by IJN submarine I-180 in the Tasman Sea
Japanese vessel Kinko Maru and Taifuku Maru sunk by USN submarine Snook in the Yellow Sea

In China...
Battle of Western Hupei (South Yangtze Operation): Japanese 11th Army opens new attacks against Chinese 6th War Area to clear the Yangtze River farther to the west and capture shipping

In Burma...
Japanese 55th Infantry Division advance toward Buthidaung in the Arakan

Today's Air Raids...
Frisian Islands minelaying by RAF Bomber Command
Netherlands Fighter patrols by RAF Fighter Command
Tunis and La Goulette, Tunisia by USAAF
Attu Island and Kiska Island by US 11th Air Force
Toeal, New Guinea by US 5th Air Force

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
The milk run
A good soak in the tub
Me time
lunch with missus
Meditation
More Me Time
Missus time thereafter

Twitter Followers = 1,671 (no change)
  Nonfollowed eliminated = 1
  Unfollowers eliminated = 0

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
As a part of a general theme of going "back to basics" I am returning to the Buddhist practice of withdrawing my awareness to that of the "observer". The thoughts, emotions and memories you experience in your mind are just that - experiences, they're not "you". They are simply things that happen to you internally. The real you is the one that "receives" the experience.

Once you fully accept and embrace this principle, there is a huge sense of relief - thoughts, guilt and fear stop feeding back on themselves and the mind becomes wonderfully peaceful. However it can then be tempting to identify with the character you play to maximise the intensity of the experience, which ultimately of course causes you to lose it and become "lost" in the character again.

Once you have differentiated yourself from the experience you are having, the question then arises as to what you want from it. One could decide to end it, to devote oneself entirely to simply "being" or one can participate. My conclusion is that if on some level I decided that there would be an experience in the first place, and the experience would be limited by mortality anyway, it would be a reasonable to fully participate, but with the detatchment of the player fully conscious of the fact that he is not the character being played, and nothing is really at stake. That way, the experience is enlightening rather than fearful.

The challenge has been maintaining the detachment from an experience so intense. Even when you know the correct techniques, some practice and is experience is fully required to master them. It is principally about the discipline of concentration, focusing predominantly on observation rather than the immediate emotion.

The character I play and the observer have different roles. Within the experience, the purpose of the character is to make a positive difference. The observer/player however has the purpose of discovery, the joy of finding something new. Ultimately, I, and you as reader are the Universe understanding itself.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Are you interested in discovering who you really are?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry and cloudy all day and evening with sunny spells.
A warm moderate south-westerly wind will make it feel pleasantly mild.
A clear spell after dark will cloud over again in the small hours of tomorrow, but it will remain dry.
Max Temp = 15 degC
Min Temp = 10 degC
Sunrise at 05:24
Sunset at 20:44

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
If everything's coming your way, you're on the wrong side of the road : D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
Pythons reminisce - fantastic anecdote

8. TRIVIA
Italy is approximately 116,400 square miles (including Sicily and Sardinia), which is slightly larger than Arizona.

9. THE WISDOM I'VE LEARNED FROM OTHERS
"It pays to know the enemy - not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend." - Margaret Thatcher