CHAPTER TWO

  END OF MY CHILDHOOD

    “Ow ! Yulgye, you are pulling my head off! I shall be as bald as a monk if you don't stop.”    “Hold your peace, Tuesday Lobsang. Your pigtail must be straight and well buttered or your Honourable Mother will be after my skin.”     “But Yulgye, you don't have to be so rough, you are twisting my head off.”     “Oh I can't bother about that, I'm in a hurry.     So there I was, sitting on the floor, with a tough man-servant winding me up by the pigtail ! Eventually the wretched thing was as stiff as a frozen yak, and shining like moonlight on a lake.  Mother was in a whirl, moving round so fast that I felt almost as if I had several mothers. There were last-minute orders, final preparations, and much excited talk. Yaso, two years older than I was bustling about like a woman of forty. Father had shut himself in his private room and was well out of the uproar. I wished I could have joined him !

    For some reason mother had arranged for us to go to the Jo- kang, the Cathedral of Lhasa. Apparently we had to give a religious atmosphere to the later proceedings. At about ten in the morning (Tibetan times are very elastic), a triple-toned gong was sounded to call us to our assembly point. We all mounted ponies: father mother, Yaso, and about five others, including a very reluctant me. We turned across the Lingkhor road, and left at the foot of the Potala. This is a mountain of buildings, four hundred feet high and twelve hundred feet long. Past the village of Sho we went, along the plain of the Kyi Chu, until half an hour later we stood in front of the Jo kang. Around it clustered small houses, shops and stalls to lure the pilgrims. Thirteen hundred years the Cathedral had stood here to welcome the devout.  Inside, the stone floors were grooved inches deep by the passage of so many worshippers. Pilgrims moved reverently around the Inner Circuit, each turning the hundreds of prayer-wheels as they passed, and repeating incessantly the mantra: Om ! Mani padme Hum!     

Huge wooden beams, black with age, supported the roof, and the heavy odour of constantly burning incense drifted around like light summer clouds at the crest of a mountain.  Around the walls were golden statues of the deities of our faith.  Stout metal screens, with a coarse mesh so as not to obstruct the view, protected the statues from those whose cupidity overcame their reverence.  Most of the more familiar statues were partly buried by the precious stones and gems which had been heaped around them by the pious who had sought favours.  Candlesticks of solid gold held candles which burned continually, and whose light had not been extin- guished during the past  thirteen hundred years.  From dark recesses came the sounds of bells, gongs, and the lowing bray of the conches.  We made our circuit as tradition demanded.     

Our devotions completed, we went on to the flat roof.  Only the favoured few could visit here; father, as one of the Custodians, always came.     Our form of governments (yes, plural), may be of interest. At the head of the State and Church, the final Court of Appeal, there was the Dalai Lama.  Anyone in the country could petition him.  If the petition or request was fair, or if an injustice had been done, the Dalai Lama saw that the request was granted, or the injustice rectified.  It is not unreasonable to say that everyone in the country, probably without exception, either loved or revered him. He was an autocrat; he used power and domination, but never did he use these for his own gain, only for the good of the country. He knew of the coming Communist invasion, even though it lay many years ahead, and temporary eclipse of freedom, that is why a very small number of us were specially trained so that the arts of the priests should not be forgotten.     

After the Dalai Lama there were two Councils, that is why I wrote “governments”.  The first was the Ecclesiastical Council. The four members of it were monks of Lama status. They were responsible, under the Inmost One, for all the affairs of the lamaseries and nunneries.  All ecclesiastical matters came before them.     The Council of Ministers came next.  This Council had four members, three lay and one cleric. They dealt with the affairs of the country as a whole, and were responsible for integrating the Church and State.     

Two officials, who may be termed Prime Ministers, for that is what they were, acted as “Liaison Officers” between the two Councils, and put their views before the Dalai Lama.  They were of considerable importance during the rare meetings of the National Assembly.  This was a body of some fifty men representing all the most important families and lamaseries in Lhasa.  They met only during the gravest emergencies, such as in 1904, when the Dalai Lama went to Mongolia when the British invaded Lhasa.  In con- nection with this, many Western people have the strange notion that the Inmost One was cowardly in “running away”.  He did not “run away”.  Wars on Tibet may be likened to a game of chess.  If the king is taken, the game is won.  The Dalai Lama was our “king”. Without him there would be nothing to fight for: he had to go to safety in order to keep the country together.  Those who accuse him of cowardice in any form simply do not know what they are talking about.     

The National Assembly could be increased to nearly four hundred members when all the leaders from the provinces came in. There are five provinces: The Capital, as Lhasa was often called, was in the province of U-Tsang.  Shigatse is in the same district. Gartok is western Tibet, Chang is northern Tibet, while Kham and Lho-dzong are the eastern and southern provinces respectively.  With the passage of the years the Dalai Lama increased his power and did more and more without assistance from the Councils or Assembly.  And never was the country better governed.     

The view from the temple roof was superb.  To the east stretched the Plain of Lhasa, green and lush and dotted with trees.  Water sparkled through the trees, the rivers of Lhasa tinkling along to join the Tsang Po forty miles away.  To the north and south rose the great mountain ranges enclosing our valley and making us seem secluded from the rest of the world.  Lamaseries abounded on the lower levels.  Higher, the small hermitages perched precariously on precipitous slopes.  Westwards loomed the twin mountains of the Potala and Chakpori, the latter was known as the Temple of Medicine.  Between these mountains the Western Gate glinted in the cold morning light.  The sky was a deep purple emphasized by the pure white of the snow on the distant mountain ranges.  Light, wispy clouds drifted high overhead.  Much nearer, in the city itself, we looked down on the Council Hall nestling against the northern wall of the Cathedral. The Treasury was quite near, and surrounding it all were the stalls of the traders and the market in which one could buy almost anything.  Close by slightly to the east, a nunnery jostled the precincts of the Disposers of the Dead.     

In the Cathedral grounds there was the never-ceasing babble of visitors to this, one of the most sacred places of Buddhism.  The chatter of pilgrims who had traveled far, and who now brought gifts in the hope of obtaining a holy blessing.  Some there were who brought animals saved from the butchers, and purchased with scarce money.  There is much virtue in saving life, of animal and of man, and much credit would accrue.     

As we stood gazing at the old, but ever-new scenes, we heard the rise and fall of monks' voices in psalmody, the deep bass of the older men and the high treble of the acolytes. There came the rumble and boom of the drums and the golden voices of the trumpets.  Skirlings, and muffled throbs, and a sensation as of being caught up in a hypnotic net of emotions.     

Monks bustled around dealing with their various affairs.  Some with yellow robes and some in purple.  The more numerous were in russet red, these were the “ordinary” monks.  Those of much gold were from the Potala, as were those in cherry vestments. Acolytes in white, and police monks in dark maroon bustled about.  All, or nearly all, had one thing in common: no matter how new their robes, they almost all had patches which were replicas of the patches on Buddha's robes.  Foreigners who have seen Tibetan monks, or have seen pictures of them, sometimes remark on the “patched appearance”.  The patches, then, are part of the dress. The monks of the twelve-hundred-year-old Ne-Sar lamasery do it properly and have their patches of a lighter shade!     

Monks wear the red robes of the Order; there are many shades of red caused by the manner in which the woolen cloth is dyed. Maroon to brick red, it is still “red”.  Certain official monks employed solely at the Potala wear gold sleeveless jackets over their red robes.  Gold is a sacred colour in Tibet—gold is untarnishable and so always pure—and it is the official colour of the Dalai Lama.  Some monks, or high lamas in personal attendance on the Dalai Lama, are permitted to wear gold robes over their ordinary ones.     

As we looked over the roof of the Jo-kang we could see many such gold jacketed figures, and rarely one of the Peak officials. We looked up at the prayer-flags fluttering, and at the brilliant domes of the Cathedral.  The sky looked beautiful, purple, with little flecks of wispy clouds, as if an artist had lightly flicked the canvas of heaven with a white-loaded brush.  Mother broke the spell: “Well, we are wasting time, I shudder to think what the servants are doing.  We must hurry!”  So off on our patient ponies clattering along  thee Lingkhor road, each step bringing me nearer to what I termed “The Ordeal”, but which mother regarded as her “Big Day”.     Back at home, mother had a final check of all that had been done and then we had a meal to fortify us for the events to come. We well knew that at times such as these, the guests would be well filled and well satisfied, but the poor hosts would be empty. There would be no time for us to eat later.       

With much clattering of instruments, the monk-musicians arrived and were shown into the gardens.  They were laden with trumpets, clarinets, gongs, and drums.  Their cymbals were hung round their necks.  Into the gardens they went, with much chatter, and called for beer to get them into the right mood for good playing.  For the next half-hour there were horrible honks, and strident bleats from the trumpets as the monks prepared their instruments.     

Uproar broke out in the courtyard as the first of the guests were sighted, riding in an armed cavalcade of men with fluttering pennants.  The entrance gates were flung open, and two columns of our servants lined each side to give welcome to the arrivals. The steward was on hand with his two assistants who carried an assortment of the silk scarves which are used in Tibet as a form of salutation.  There are eight qualities of scarves, and the correct one must be presented or offense may be implied!  The Dalai Lama gives, and receives, only the first grade.  We call these scarves “khata”, and the method of presentation is this: the donor if of equal rank, stands well back with the arms fully extended.  The recipient also stands well back with arms extended.  The donor makes a short bow and places the scarf across the wrists of the recipient, who bows, takes the scarf from the wrists, turns it over in approval, and hands it to a servant. 

In the case of a donor giving a scarf to a person of much higher rank, he or she kneels with tongue extended (a Tibetan greeting similar to lifting the hat) and places the khata at the feet of the recipient.  The recipient in such cases places his scarf across the neck of the donor.  In Tibet, gifts must always be accompanied by the appropriate khata, as must letters of congratulation.  The Government used yellow scarves in place of the normal white.  The Dalai Lama, if he desired to show the very highest honour to a person, would place a khata about a person's neck and would tie a red silk thread with a triple knot into the khata.  If at the same time he showed his hands palm up—one was indeed honoured.  We Tibetans are of the firm belief that one's whole history is written on the palm of the hand, and the Dalai Lama, showing his hands thus, would prove the friendliest intentions towards one.   In later years I had this honour twice.     

Our steward stood at the entrance, with an assistant on each side.  He would bow to new arrivals, accept their khata, and pass it on to the assistant on the left.  At the same time the assistant on his right would hand him the correct grade of scarf with which to return the salutation.  This he would take and place across the wrists, or over the neck (according to rank), of the guest.  All these scarves were used and reused.     

The steward and his assistants were becoming busy.  Guests were arriving in large numbers.  From neighboring estates, from Lhasa city, and from outlying districts, they all came clattering along the Lingkhor road, to turn into our private drive in the shadow of the Potala.  Ladies who had ridden a long distance wore a leather face-mask to protect the skin and complexion from the grit-laden wind.  Frequently a crude resemblance of the wearer's features would be painted on the mask.  Arrived at her destination, the lady would doff her mask as well as her yak-hide cloak.  I was always fascinated by the features painted on the masks, the uglier or older the woman, the more beautiful and younger would be her mask-features!     

In the house there was great activity.  More and more seat- cushions were brought from the storerooms.  We do not use chairs in Tibet, but sit cross-legged on cushions which are about two and a half feet square and about nine inches thick.  The same cushions are used for sleeping upon, but then several are put together.  To us they are far more comfortable than chairs or high beds.     

Arriving guests were given buttered tea and led to a large room which had been converted into a refectory.  Here they were able to choose refreshments to sustain them until the real party started. About forty women of the leading families had arrived, together with their women attendants.  Some of the ladies were being entertained by mother, while others wandered around the house, inspecting the furnishings, and guessing their value.  The place seemed to be overrun with women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. They appeared from the most unusual places, and did not hesitate one moment to ask passing servants what this cost, or what that was worth.  They behaved, in short, like women the world over. Sister Yaso was parading around in very new clothes, with her hair done in what she regarded as the latest style, but which to me seemed terrible; but I was always biased when it came to women. Certain it was that on this day they seemed to get in the way.     

There was another set of women to complicate matters: the high-class woman in Tibet was expected to have huge stores of clothing and ample jewels. These she had to display, and as this would have entailed much changing and dressing, special girls— “chung girls”— were employed to act as mannequins. They paraded around in mother’s clothes, sat and drank innumerable cups of butter-tea, and then went and changed into different clothing and jewelry.  They mixed with the guests and became, to all intents and purposes, mother's assistant hostesses.  Through- out the day these women would change their attire perhaps five or six times.  The men were more interested in the entertainers in the gardens. A troupe of acrobats had been brought in to add a touch of fun. Three of them held up a pole about fifteen feet high, and another acrobat climbed up and stood on his head on the top.  Then the others snatched away the pole, leaving him to fall, turn, and land cat-like on his feet.  Some small boys were watching, and immediately rushed away to a secluded spot to emulate the performance. They found a pole about eight or ten feet high, held it up, and the most daring climbed up and tried to stand on his head. Down he came, with an awful “crump”, straight on top of the others. However, their heads were thick, and apart from egg-sized bruises, no harm was done.     

Mother appeared, leading the rest of the ladies to see the entertainments, and listen to the music.  The later was not  difficult; the musicians were now well warmed up with copious amounts of Tibetan beer.     For this occasion, mother was particularly well dressed.  She was wearing a yak-wool skirt of deep russet-red, reaching almost to the ankles.  Her high boots of Tibetan felt were of the purest white, with blood-red soles, and tastefully arranged red piping.     Her bolero-type jacket was of a reddish-yellow, somewhat like father's monk robe.  In my later medical days, I should have described it as “iodine on bandage”!  Beneath it she wore a blouse of purple silk.  These colours all harmonized, and had been chosen to represent the different classes of monks' garments.     

Across her right shoulder was a silk brocade sash which was caught at the left side of her waist by a massive gold circlet.  From the shoulder to the waist-knot the sash was blood red, but from that point it shaded from pale lemon-yellow to deep saffron when it reached the skirt hem.     

Around her neck she had a gold cord which supported the three amulet bags which she always wore.  These had been given to her on her marriage to father.  One was from her family, one from father's family, and one, an unusual honour, was from the Dalai Lama.  She wore much jewelry, because Tibetan women wear jewelry and ornaments in accordance with their station in life. A husband is expected to buy ornaments and jewelry whenever he has a rise in status.     

Mother had been busy for days past having her hair arranged in a hundred and eight plaits, each about as thick as a piece of whip-cord.  A hundred and eight is a Tibetan sacred number, and ladies with sufficient hair to make this number of plaits were considered to be most fortunate.  The hair, parted in the Madonna style, was supported on a wooden framework worn on top of the head like a hat.  Of red lacquered wood, it was studded with diamonds, jade, and gold discs.  The hair trailed over it like rambler roses on a trellis.     

Mother had a string of coral shapes depending from her ear. The weight was so great that she had to use a red thread around the ear to support it, or risk having the lobe torn: The earring reached nearly to her waist; I watched in fascination to see how she could turn her head to the left!     

People were walking about, admiring the gardens, or sitting in groups discussing social affairs.  The ladies, in particular, were busy with their talk. “Yes, my dear, Lady Doring is having a new floor laid.  Finely ground pebbles polished to a high gloss.”  “Have you heard that that young lama who was staying with Lady Rakasha...” etc.  But everyone was really waiting for the main item of the day.  All this was a mere warming-up for the events to come, when the priest-astrologers would forecast my future and direct the path I should take through life.  Upon them depended the career 1 should undertake.     

As the day grew old and the lengthening shadows crawled more quickly across the ground, the activities of the guests became slower.  They were satiated with refreshments, and in a receptive mood.  As the piles of food grew less, tired servants brought more and that, too, went with the passage of time.  The hired entertainers grew weary and one by one slipped away to the kitchens for a rest and more beer.     

The musicians were still in fine fettle, blowing their trumpets, clashing the cymbals, and thwacking the drums with gay abandon. With all the noise and uproar, the birds had been scared from their usual roosting places in the trees.  And not only the birds were scared.  The cats had dived precipitately into some safe refuge with the arrival of the first noisy guests.  Even the huge black mastiffs which guarded the place were silent, their deep baying stilled in sleep.  They had been fed and fed until they could eat no more.     

In the walled gardens, as the day grew yet darker, small boys flitted like gnomes between the cultivated trees, swinging lighted butter-lamps and smoke incense censers, and at times leaping into the lower branches for a carefree frolic.     

Dotted about the grounds were golden incense braziers sending up their thick columns of fragrant smoke.  Attending them were old women who also twirled clacking prayer-wheels, each revolution of which sent thousands of prayers heavenwards.  Father was in a state of perpetual fright!  His walled gardens were famous throughout the country for their expensive imported plants and shrubs.  Now, to his way of thinking, the place was like a badly run zoo.  He wandered around wringing his hands and uttering little moans of anguish when some guest stopped and fingered a bud.  In particular danger were the apricot and pear trees, and the little dwarf apple trees.  The larger and taller trees, poplar, willow, juniper, birch, and cypress, were festooned with streams of prayer-flags which fluttered gently in the soft evening breeze.     

Eventually the day died as the sun set behind the far-distant peaks of the Himalayas.  From the lamaseries came the sound of trumpets signaling the passing of yet another day, and with it hundreds of butter-lamps were set alight.  They depended from the branches of trees, they swung from the projecting eaves of the houses, and others floated on the placid waters of the ornamental Lake.  Here they grounded, like boats on a sandbar, on the waterlily leaves, there they drifted towards the floating swans seeking refuge near the island.     

The sound of a deep-toned gong, and everyone turned to watch the approaching procession.  In the gardens a large marquee had been erected, with one completely open side.  Inside was a raised dais on which were four of our Tibetan seats.  Now the procession approached the dais.  Four servants carried upright poles, with large flares at the upper end. Then came four trumpeters with silver trumpets sounding a fanfare.  Following them, mother and father reached the dais and stepped upon it. Then two old men, very old men, from the lamasery of the State Oracle.  These two old men from Nechung were the most experienced astrologers in the country.  Their predictions have been proved correct time after time.  Last week they had been called to predict for the Dalai Lama.  Now they were going to do the same for a seven-year-old boy.  For days they had been busy at their charts and computations. Long had been their discussions about trines, ecliptics, sesquiquadrates, and the opposing influence of this or that.  I will discuss astrology in a later chapter.     

Two lamas carried the astrologers' notes and charts. Two others stepped forward and helped the old seers to mount the steps of the dais.  Side by side they stood, like two old ivory carvings.  Their gorgeous robes of yellow Chinese brocade merely emphasized their age.  Upon their heads they wore tall priests' hats, and their wrinkled necks seemed to wilt beneath the weight.     People gathered around and sat on the ground on cushions brought by the servants.  All gossip stopped, as people strained their ears to catch the shrill, piping voice of the astrologer-in- chief.  “Lha dre mi cho-nang-chig,” he said (Gods, devils, and men all behave in the same way), so the probable future can be foretold. On he droned, for an hour and then stopped for a ten-minute rest. For yet another hour he went on outlining the future. “Ha-le! Ha-le !” (Extraordinary ! Extraordinary !), exclaimed the entranced audience.     

And so it was foretold.  A boy of seven to enter a lamasery, after a hard feat of endurance, and there be trained as a priest-surgeon. To suffer great hardships to leave the homeland, and go among strange people.  To lose all and have to start again, and eventually to succeed.     Gradually the crowd dispersed. Those who had come from afar would stay the night at our house and depart in the morning. Others would travel with their retinues and with flares to light the way.  With much clattering of hooves, and the hoarse shouts of men, they assembled in the courtyard.  Once again the ponderous gate swung open, and the company streamed through.  Growing fainter in the distance was the clop-clop of the horses, and the chatter of their riders, until from without there was the silence of the night.   

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa was a very popular writer who claimed to have been a Lama in Tibet before spending the second part of his life in the body of a British man, Cyril Henry Hoskin, who described himself as the "host" of T. Lobsang Rampa.

To many, Dr. Rampa was a revolutionary of his time, one of the first of the Eastern teachers to bring Buddhism and metaphysics to the West in a popular fashion. He wrote many books about spiritual matters, beginning with "The Third Eye".

Lobsang Rampa attempts to teach the timeless universal truths, while traveling along the spiritual path. Dr. Rampa's books also discuss the state of humanity's progress and he shows how we can be a positive force for good, thus improving ourselves and helping our fellow humans and all sentient beings.

Look for the next chapter in The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa in the next edition of our newsletter or prior chapters in previous editions.  To read other books by T. Lobsang Rampa, visit our free Ebook section by clicking  Here.

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Does your family properly use electronic mass media? Or do you let the media abuse you? Here are 10 principles to help you regain control and stamp out media abuse.

Believe it or not, your family is probably being abused- by a manipulative seducer you welcome into your home.

Many people unknowingly let media merchants-the creators and marketers of television programs, movies, videotapes, music and video and computer games-abuse them. They do so when they allow such outsiders to intrude into their family affairs and exploit the negative side of their human nature.

Although the entertainment media can be informative and beneficial, we need to recognize that evil media exist, and we must learn how to make use of the good and avoid the bad. We should realize, too, that too much of even a good thing can be bad.

How great is the media's influence on the family? According to a 2001 report of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average American child living at home spends 42 hours weekly-the equivalent of a full-time job-immersed in watching TV or videos, listening to music on the radio, tapes or CDs, playing video games or using a computer.

Many adults admit they squander much of their health and time in passively viewing-letting television, videotapes and other electronic and mechanical contrivances monopolize their time and keep them from physical exercise and other productive activities and even enough sleep.

Researchers associate excessive TV viewing with violence, depression, obesity and mental problems. Although many people think of television as a stress reliever, research has shown that, at current viewing levels, TV induces stress while discouraging exercise and productive motivation.

Regaining control

What about your family? Many people don't realize that life can be better when we begin to control media rather than letting media control us. Many don't understand that stopping media abuse is a matter of setting and then diplomatically implementing firm family rules. Establishing principles of media use for your family is the best way to use electronic devices productively rather than letting them use you.

The mass media are designed to stimulate and control your mind through attention-getting techniques-to the point that some researchers compare their effect to addictive drugs. Because the media are so prone to abuse, unless you consciously temper your media use by decisions based on solid biblical values within a consistent and positive lifestyle, you will probably find yourself a victim of media abuse.

Positive media use is advocated throughout a growing field of study called media literacy, to be found in many educational systems in many countries. Ironically, in the United States, which because of heavy media use needs it most, media-literacy efforts sadly lag.

Although the mass media's correlation with declining education, increased criminal behavior and deteriorating physical and mental health are increasingly and adequately documented, state and federal lawmakers consistently fail to fund media-literacy efforts. Why? Part of the answer is that the election processes at all levels heavily involve media manipulation by all parties and candidates. Too many elected officials, conservative and liberal, are themselves largely the creations of the mass media.

Effective media-literacy efforts involve helping students and parents develop critical-thinking skills to counteract a culture that conditions us to passively accept almost anything. Psychological and brainwave studies show that TV and other visual electronic-media use, including many video and computer games, pushes people into a mild trance-what some call passive mindlessness-after only a few minutes.

Surveys by educators show that firm but fair family rules that limit the amount of television viewing-along with rules restricting or banning sexually suggestive and violent content-are important factors in helping students develop into academic achievers.

Ten principles of healthy media use

The good news is that you can change many of these negative situations and outcomes. Your family can learn to use the media as assets rather than enemies.

However, doing so requires that most of us begin to break long-established habits.

Not surprisingly, the best advice from educators, the American Academy of Pediatrics (representing 55,000 children's doctors) and government-funded research agrees with a common source-the Bible -when it comes to properly using the mass media. Without quoting specific scriptures or academic citations, and yet adhering to biblical teachings, the following basic principles are easy to understand and not difficult to follow-once you make a firm commitment and apply them for a month.

Understand, though, that when making these changes you will need to discuss them with other family members because they will probably require major lifestyle changes. Parents should agree on the rules and explain them to their children. For a family's new mass-media program to be effective, it needs to involve genuine change. You don't have to throw out the television, but these principles do require action.

Principle 1: Focus on doing, not viewing.

Make sure you and your family involve yourselves in a variety of activities to ensure a rich and balanced life based on thought, talk and action. Limit passive consumption in every area of life. Just as eating too much junk food is harmful, media consumption is bad when it tilts your life out of balance. Make sure your family does more than simply passively and mindlessly soak up what's presented.

The American Academy of Pediatricians maintains that children should not be exposed to more than one or two hours of television, video recordings and popular music per day. The academy says young children should view television no more than 30 minutes daily. This requires cutting out 65 to 75 percent of television time in the life of a typical 2- to 18-year-old child. Adults likewise need to set the right example by making similar needed adjustments.

Principle 2: Place your television carefully.

Keep the television set where you and your family have to make an intentional effort to use it. If you don't want the TV and Internet to dominate your time, then don't place your television and computer where they are easy to access. That means keeping the TV out of the kitchen or bedrooms if that's where family members spend most of their free time.

Wise parents place the TV where they can monitor their children's viewing. You might even drape a tablecloth over the set if it's in the living or family room to discourage leaving it on constantly.

Even if you think you may have a war on your hands-65 percent of American schoolchildren have television sets in their bedrooms-patiently explain to your children the reasons that viewing in the bedroom is not a good idea. Virtually all experts agree that TV in children's rooms leads to more viewing, the tendency to obesity and incomplete homework and increased isolation from the rest of the family.

Principle 3: Establish and follow family rules

Make realistic rules and follow them. For example, you might want to allow television watching only after your children complete their homework and household chores. Some parents allow no more than one hour of TV before dinner; then comes homework; then one hour of TV viewing before bedtime. Some advocate no TV, Internet or electronic games at all after 10 or 11 p.m.

Whatever the rules, live within them, but don't be unreasonably inflexible or overly arbitrary about following them when circumstances warrant otherwise. Of course, there is always a tendency to decide that a particular media event is so important we must bend the rules. Don't believe it. With rare exceptions, almost anything can be videotaped to play back later.

Many adults whose parents severely limited their TV time while they were growing up now thank them for those apparently restrictive but, viewed in retrospect, farsighted family rules. They realize they were able to use their time to develop a wide range of skills, from art to sports to musical abilities to auto mechanics. Instead of wasting time on prepackaged audiovisual entertainment, their working hard or reading material requiring them to think helped them develop skills that proved valuable later in life.

Those who watched little TV as children generally grew up to be more actionoriented. They became productive people with higher standards than they would have otherwise had, and they developed a genuine sense of accomplishment. Naturally, having now become parents themselves, they want to keep their own children from wasting their youth on passive media consumption. These parents are among the strongest supporters of consistent rules for electronic-media use.

Principle 4: Plan your viewing ahead of time.

Make a schedule of the coming week's viewing and stick to it. With the exception of disasters, emergencies and latebreaking stories and intermittent special broadcasts, you should be able plan most TV programming in advance.

Be sure to switch off the TV when dining. That is critical for family health and well-being. Don't give up family dining time for television viewing.

Principle 5: Teach your children media-literacy skills.

Talk about what you and your family members watch and listen to. Point out the impact television and music has on attitudes, thinking and emotions. Question your children. Their answers will tell you how they perceive the information they see and hear and will sharpen your skill in analyzing the media as well.

What do the messages targeted at families mean? Considering and talking about content will help you realize how you may be affected and what steps you may need to institute to build a healthy home atmosphere.

Principle 6: Have fun with what you watch.

Some TV programs are both fun and beneficial. But even when a program isn't, sometimes you can have a good laugh when you see foolish commercials or absurd programming. Laugh and joke about the clever methods producers of TV commercials and programs use to sell a particular point of view. Be alert and aware!

Principle 7: Talk about media violence and destructive sexuality.

Explain the differences between manufactured horror and real-life suffering. Explain that playing with sex outside of marriage always has damaging effects-contrary to the seemingly harmless way it is almost always depicted in movies, TV shows and music. Discuss the realistic and unrealistic use of sex as it is presented by the mass media. Talk about the many sensational portrayals of violence with no ill consequences to the heroes and villains in contrast to morerealistic programs that honestly show the inevitable consequences.

Principle 8: Choose quality TV, video and computer media.

Make it a part of your routine to view educational TV programs and videos. Many excellent programs on history, biography, culture, science and classic drama are available to enrich and inform us, even humor and inspire us.

Principle 9: Model good viewing habits.

As adults, proactively decide what you will watch and make it clear to your children and visiting friends, if necessary, that your household's viewing habits are consistent with your values. Understand, of course, that your children will not willingly restrict their viewing to good material and stick to family rules if parents don't do so.

Principle 10: Use TV and videotapes or DVDs to support biblical values.

Make your media-content choices support your biblically based family values. Make them fit your personal quest to have the best family life possible. Should negative media intrude into your home and life, analyze and discuss why the content doesn't support the ideals and goals you are striving to maintain.

Depending on the age of your children, if at least some of these 10 principles do not describe your way of life, you may have to exercise diplomacy and patience in implementing them. Applying right principles can require thought and planning, but you will find the results well worth the effort.

All 10 principles will lead to a better life and a realistic view of the world. We live in the mass-media age, but that doesn't force us to be mass-media slaves. God wants us to be the best we can be, which requires that we live a principled life-controlling media input rather than letting it control us by brainwashing us with its oftencorrupting values and standards.

Gaining control over a problem requires three simple steps to implement change: acquiring knowledge of the problem, committing to a solution, and consistently following through.

A major theme of the Bible is that "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). If you sow these principles of success when it comes to using the electronic media in your home, you can reap rich rewards in a balanced, positive life.

For further information, you can obtain a summary of sound principles for media use from the American Academy of Pediatricians through your local pediatrician, on the Web at www.aap.org or in books such as Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy, by Gloria DeGaetano and Kathleen Bander, in public libraries and bookstores. GN  
(reprinted from gnmagazine.0rg)

The Conscious Living Foundation is proud to announce the translation of our website into Spanish.  The entire website, with all of our articles, poems, inspiring stories, affirmations, previous newsletters, quotations and affirmations are now available.  We are excited about the prospect of being able to reach others who were unable to share in all of the resources of the site because they didn't read English.  To visit the Spanish language version of our site, click Here.

In addition, we have begun creating our first products for those who prefer to read in Spanish.  The Conscious Word and Conscious Wisdom are both now available in a Spanish version. 

We have also translated 14 wonderful, inspirational masterpieces and are offering them as E-books in Spanish.  The titles include:

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Prosperity by Charles Filmore
The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes
The Tao Te Ching
A Lamp Unto My Feet by Walter Lanyon
The Science of Getting Rich  by Wallace D. Wattles
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (2 volumes)
Above Life's Turmoil by James Allen
An Introduction to Yoga by Annie Besant
Teach Us To Pray by Charles Filmore
The Power of Thought by Thomas Hamblin
The Secret Door To Success by Florence Scovel Shin
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Charles Johnson
Your Word is Your Wand by Florence Scovel Shin

This E-book collection in Spanish can be purchased for $7.00 by clicking  Here.

He desterrado el pasado

Ahora vivo en el maravilloso presente

Donde regocijantes sorpresas

Llegan envolviendome

Todos los dias.

If you have any suggestion on other titles which we should translate, or other languages we should support, we would love to hear from you.  You can email us at: 

Thank You Lord

When I walk into my work room

And see my day waiting before me,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When the fleecy clouds of dusk reflect the setting sun

And I am overwhelmed with their beauty,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When another unexpected occurrence

Reveals Your hidden unearned blessings,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When my daughter interrupts my prayer

And for a moment I am caught in inner disturbance,

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When I am misunderstood and wrongly accused

And I can not explain our difference,

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When my intricate plans dissolve in the light of Your unfolding moment,

And my unsurrendered will urges me to push against You again and again

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When a weathered woman with drawn tight-lipped smile

Shouts at her child and draws back her hand to strike,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

When a elderly man sits alone in his wheelchair, staring at a blank wall,

Vaguely remembering that he once had a wife and children,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 And as warfare fills thousands of innocent families

With the pain of doubt, confusion, loss, uncertainty and death,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

And as this mortal frame shall one day slowly drop to the ground,

And this mouth shall no longer speak,

Perhaps I shall hear Your voice

Echoing throughout my being,

Singing,

“Thank You, Lord”.

(From the collection, "From The Path - Verses On The Mystic Journey" click Here for more)

Copyright 2004 by The Conscious Living Foundation, All Rights Reserved

Then a priestess said, "Speak to us of Prayer."

And he answered, saying:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive.

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.

But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

"Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us: