This article is excerpted from Dr. Rao Kolluru’s latest book, BEGIN ANEW: Re-setting Your Mind’s Odometer [00000].   Dr. Kolluru has been a writer, teacher, and consultant for more than three decades.  He is also the author of River of a Thousand Tales (Cosimo Books).  For more information, please visit www.BeginAnew.info.

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NOW THAT WE ARE AT THE BEGINNING, HOW DO WE FIND “THE WAY?”

Our quest in life unfolds along two paths: one to seek, the other to see. On one path, we have destinations to reach, milestones to measure progress, and fruits to pick. On another path, we travel with no intent, no demands of any kind, nothing to do but see and experience what is along the way.

What wonders lie ahead? What might you discover or rediscover? It is in these moments that quantum leaps in perception occur.

Find Your Beginning…

The Buddha said: Go to the Beginning to find your Way.

A famous yogi, Sukhabodhananda, said we have to learn the art of living and the art of dying – learn how to die to our past - and how to be present to the present.

A not-so-famous Rao Kolluru (that’s me) says: BEGIN ANEW: Re-setting Your Mind’s Odometer [00000].

But, how? In a car, you’d simply push the trip odometer button to clear the past trips and start over. In the same way, what if there is a “0 Button” you could click to initialize your mind?

Well, there is: daily dose of Mindful Vitamins. You can get them through the Timeless Time Machine™. In contrast to fictional time machines, this one brings you from the past and the future into the Present.

Here it is. Try it now. No time like the present!

Ready?  Let’s begin…

* Sit (or stand) upright, feet on the floor, hands resting on the lap.

* Look around, being aware of your presence here in this space.

* Now pay attention to your breath as you inhale slowly and consciously, through the nose, pushing down the diaphragm.

* Hold it 4 or 5 seconds.  Feel your lungs fill all the way down to the bottom.

* Exhale slowly through the nose.  Pause.

* Take a second deep breath; hold it 4 or 5 seconds.

* Exhale slowly—then, relax.

* Tense up body—then, relax.

* Say the word “relax” silently.  Let body and mind come to rest with an inner smile.

* Now, pay attention to your body.  Feel the weight of your body on the floor or chair.  Feel the gentle touch of your clothes on your skin.

* Now shift attention to what is in front of your mind:  see colors…shapes…space. (Simply notice, but don’t comment.)

* Now, turn your attention to sounds.  Hear the sounds from near…and far.

* Listen to the silence beyond the farthest sound — edge of space.

* Take a deep breath.  Let go.  Let it be.

* Pause here.

Body is here + Mind is here = I am here.

Is the monologue of the mind quieter – opening up space for what is to come?  Feel free to try this at home.

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The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has taken note of new Cosimo publication Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative, by Thomas Croft:

Croft’s book includes a special section profiling worker-friendly investment funds in the U.S. and Canada whose portfolio investments have yielded “not just good returns-on-investment, but also collateral benefits for working people and the environment.” The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is included in this “Field Guide to Responsible Capital” and is described by Croft as “one of the nation’s earliest and most experienced socially-responsible investment funds.” The guide also profiles the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT) as another model of responsible investing. Using actual case studies, Croft demonstrates how worker-friendly funds such as the HIT have a significant impact on the projects, regions and economic sectors in which they invest….

AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka, in a forward to the book, praises the efforts of “visionary labor leaders to re-claim workers’ capital, the immense sums of money that represent the deferred wages of millions of workers across this country,” through responsible investing. He goes on to call Up from Wall Street a “helpful and hopeful manual that shows we have the capacity to rebuild our economy and infrastructure, reinvigorate our cities, and create those highly-anticipated green jobs of the future.”

A featured speaker at the book launch in Washington, D.C., in October was United Steel Workers International President Leo W. Gerard. “Up From Wall Street is a guide for those who care about pension fund investment,” Gerard said. “It’s about applying the right set of values to the investment of workers’ pension funds.”

Cosimo books are available at Amazon.com and from other online booksellers.

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Danny Schechter, author of the Cosimo book Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal, appeared recently on “The Keiser Report” to discuss the book. Schechter’s segment begins at about 16:55 in this video:

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After watching an encore presentation of Frontline’s The Warning, I rather boldly e-mailed the White House on their web site hoping to catch the attention of President Obama.  I suggested that he and his current economic henchman watch this Frontline program and shared my concern that I think the President has two key tools to help bring about change to this dreadful crisis: his eyes and his ears (or is that four tools?  Hmm…)

Get an inside look at how the country’s key economic powerhouses could have possibly missed the opportunity to help avert the largest financial debacle since The Great Depression.  It’s well worth the time to witness the sheer hubris of the players at the center of America’s financial downfall and, more importantly, to contemplate Washington’s complicated economic politics in The Warning.

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Looks like Cosimo’s newest author, Tom Croft (who’s an international expert on innovative capital strategies), is not only busy traveling around the country to appear at conferences and standing center stage at his successful book launch for Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative, now he’s guest blogging at HuffPo.

Essentially Croft implores: Mr. President, remember the anger you expressed so freely on the campaign trail about the deplorable economic situation we find ourselves in?  Well, you’ve been in office nearly a year already and it’s time to push for real economic change to rebuild the nation’s economy!  Read more of the author’s sage advice for our Economic Commander-in-Chief @ One Year After…

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Cosimo is proud to announce that our November book of the month is Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative, by Thomas Croft.

In 2008 we watched as trillions of dollars vanished before our eyes, enveloped in the crash and burn of Wall Street’s bottom line. As working Americans and retirees awake from the aftermath, we’re searching for answers and alternatives to the reckless loans and dicey short-term bets that ravaged our savings and retirement assets.

Up From Wall Street makes the case that there are strategic and socially responsible investment paths that have the capacity to rebuild our economy and infrastructure, reinvigorate our cities, and create the highly-anticipated green jobs of the future.

Through real-life stories and case studies, Croft illustrates how the responsible investment of savings assets, pensions, insurance funds, and other trusts can generate positive social, economic, and environmental benefits — along with financial returns. Included in the book is A Field Guide to Responsible Capital, which contains descriptions of investment funds that are together managing over $30 billion and provides a detailed analysis of some of the firms and projects in which they invest.

Dr. Tessa Hebb, author of No Small Change: Pension Funds and Corporate Engagement, says:

Anyone with an interest in making sure their savings are put to work in a manner that strengthens our economy must read this volume.

David Wood, director of The Institute for Responsible Investment, says:

Up From Wall Street offers a path towards, and real life examples of, investments in private equity and real estate that create value for investors by producing sustainable wealth for businesses, their employees, and communities alike.

Kirsten Snow Spalding, California director of Ceres, says:

This study captures a rising wave of progressive investment activity that will define the ‘prudent investor’ standard for all investors in the future

Richard L. Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, says:

I hope that … many of the people who pushed for change in Washington, D.C. across America and our neighbors to the North will read this book.

Read Robert Kropp’s review of Up From Wall Street at Social Funds.

THOMAS CROFT is an international expert on innovative capital strategies and jobs-oriented economic revitalization policies. He serves as Director of the Heartland Network (www.heartlandnetwork.org) and Executive Director of the Steel Valley Authority (www.steelvalley.org) and has authored or commissioned vital new perspectives on alternative pension investment strategies and a fair economy.

Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative is available at Amazon.com and from other online booksellers.

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Dictionary Day is celebrated every year in October — on October 16, to be precise, the anniversary of the birth of Noah Webster — to commemorate the organizational wonder that is the dictionary. Since Webster’s day, dictionaries have expanded way beyond basic collections of words to encompass all fields of study, and serve not only as immensely useful learning tools but also as powerful guides for arranging areas of thought and study. Here are a few classic examples of the specialized dictionary.

A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language: This 1901 volume completely updates the classic reference work first published in 1882, providing a staggering number of words, including those most frequently used in everyday speech and those most prominent in literature. They appear along with their definitions, their language of origin, their roots, and their derivatives. Those who are fascinated with the English language will find much to explore here and many overlooked but interesting tidbits and treasures of an ever-evolving language.

Illustrated Bible Dictionary: “The fruit of many years of loving labor,” Scottish Presbyterian minister Matthew George Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary has become a classic reference for those studying the Bible. Originally published in 1897, three years after Easton’s death, it contains almost 4,000 entries and dozens of illustrations and maps. Readers will find definitions of terms ranging from Alpha to Zuzims. In between they’ll find entries both obscure and common, such as Emims (a warlike tribe of giants), Hagar (Sarah’s handmaid), immortality, meekness, Pentecost (the feast of harvest), seventy weeks (a prophetic period of time before the coming of the Messiah), sling (what David used to slay the giant), and Zorah (Samson’s birthplace).

A Dictionary of Theosophy: Here, in one concise volume first published in 1926, is a glossary of the language of theosophy, or “the essential truth underlying all religious, ethical, philosophical, and other teaching,” from Abhava (”Non-being, non-existence, negation”) to Zarathushtra (”The name given to one of the Servers”). Steeped in the spirituality of ancient India and fueled by the occult fads of the early 20th century, this is a fascinating, highly browsable guide to a forerunner of today’s wide-ranging, metaphysically encompassing New Age thought.

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Cosimo celebrates Halloween with a selection of spooky tales to creep you out on this scary day.

The Wyvern Mystery: The foremost teller of scary stories in his day and a profound influence on both the novelists and filmmakers of the 20th century, Anglo-Irish author Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873) has, sadly, fallen out of scholarly and popular favor, and unfairly so. To this day, contemporary readers who happen across his works praise his talent for weaving a tense literary atmosphere tinged by the supernatural and bolstered by hints of ambiguous magic. An exceptional example of the “sensation novel”—a genre that was wildly popular in the Victorian era, with its focus on lurid crime invading previously cheerful, ordinary, and domestic places—this 1869 classic gives us a rural estate in 1820s England, a happy new bride, and an ancient myth of a “wyvern” dragon to spoil the tranquility. Or perhaps there’s a more rational—and yet more sinister—explanation for the distress afflicting poor Alice Fairfield, née Maybell, lady of Carwell Grange? Redolent of future works including the tales of Sherlock Holmes and the thrillers of Stephen King, The Wyvern Mystery continues to enthrall 21st-century readers. With a series of new editions of Le Fanu’s works, Cosimo is proud to reintroduce modern book lovers to the writings of the early master of suspense fiction who pioneered the concept of “psychological horror.”

In a Glass Darkly: First published in 1872, this collection of Le Fanu’s short fiction includes: “Green Tea,” “The Familiar,” “Mr. Justice Harbottle,” “The Room in the Dragon Volant,” and “Carmilla.”

The House by the Churchyard: Though his best-known works were horror tales, Le Fanu’s first novels were historical in nature. This one, originally published in 1863, bridges the author’s early work and his later experiments in Gothic horror, and is said to have inspired James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. A rambling tale of the charming Irish town of Chapelizod in 1767, it sees men of the Royal Irish Artillery stationed in the village and disrupting the quiet life there… though the brooding Mr. Mervyn and his coffin and the mysterious newcomer Mr. Dangerfield lend elements of the unknown as well.

The Evil Guest: A wonderful example of the Victorian haunted-house tale, this is one of Le Fanu’s almost-forgotten works, yet one that is still hugely enjoyable for today’s readers. Indeed, it calls to mind later books it clearly inspired, from the mysteries of Agatha Christie to the tales of Stephen King.

Wagner, The Wehr-Wolf: Fans of horror and students of the history of pulp fiction will be enthralled by this little-remembered early novel of werewolf fantasy, a “penny dreadful” first published in 1846–7 and written by British author George William Macarthur Reynolds (1814–1879). The veritable Stephen King of his day—his lurid stories were more widely read than Dickens’ work—Reynolds here gives us the strange exploits of Wagner, a 16th-century German peasant who made a pact with the devil for immortality, and hence was cursed to become a werewolf on a disturbingly regular basis. With his beautiful but wicked companion Nisida, he roams a world of Gothic nightmares, of horrifying intrigue, murder, and strange supernatural doings. Cosimo is proud to present this new edition of a forgotten classic, reproduced here in a charming replica of an 1865 edition, complete with the original illustrations.

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The International Red Cross was founded on this day in 1863. In honor of this important event in modern medicine, we present works that cover the full history of medical knowledge.

Notes on Nursing: First published in 1860, this short work was developed by nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale for use at her training school in England, but it is meant for anyone entrusted with the well-being of another and offers commonsense suggestions for all caregivers charged with looking after the sick and injured. While some of the information is dated, there remains a wealth of timeless advice, as well as an intimate peek into a moment in medical history.

How to Live: Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern Science: Irving Fisher’s interest in public health was the result of a bout with tuberculosis, after which he wrote this work. Here is info on the air, food, poisons, activities, and general hygiene, followed by sections dealing with being overweight or underweight, alcohol, posture, and tobacco — and even how to avoid colds. Irving Fisher was a top American economist in the early 20th century who earned the first Ph.D. in economics awarded by Yale University, where he also taught political economy. He was an accomplished mathematician and an engaging and talented writer on even the most technical of subjects whose investigations ranged beyond economics to encompass astronomy, health and hygiene, mechanics, philosophy, poetry, science, and myriad public policy issues. Dr. Eugene Lyman Fisk was the chairman of the Life Extension Institute, under whose auspices this book was published.

Medical Astrology: The Egyptians and Greeks of old purported to understand the secrets of medical diagnosis and treatment via the stars, the author reminds us, but much knowledge has been lost to time. Reconstructing this ancient lore and presenting it for modern use, this 19th-century work explains which sun signs rules which part of the human body, how the planets affect health and temperament, how the stars align to produce illness, and more. Dating from before the discovery of Pluto, this historical oddity will intrigue astrology buffs and medical students and practitioners.

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The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded recently — one of the recipients was the first woman to receive the prize. As The New York Times notes, Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University:

is a political scientist, not an economist, and in honoring her, the judges seemed to suggest that economics should be thought of as an interdisciplinary field rather than a pure science governed by mathematics.

Ideas about what, precisely, economics entails are always changing. These Cosimo Classics explore the history of the discipline from multiple intriguing perspectives.

Elementary Principles of Economics: From America’s first celebrated economist comes this 1912 textbook with a succinct yet highly informative introduction to economics as it was understood and practiced in the early 20th century. Irving Fisher (1867-1947) provides in-depth discussions of basic topics including: wealth, property, and income; credit and debt; currency, prices, and monetary systems; supply and demand; capital and labor; poverty; and more.

Elements of Economics of Industry: Being the First Volume of Elements of Economics: British economist Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) was one of the most prominent thinkers of his age on the philosophy of finance, and his groundbreaking Principles of Economics (1890) was for years the standard text on the subject. Here, in Elements of Economics of Industry, he adapts his classic text for students. First published in 1892, it still serves as an excellent primer on such topics as: economics as part of the study of humanity; the development of economic laws from the beginning of civilization; how capital yields income; how consumer demand creates markets; land, labor, capital, and organization as agents of production; the balance of supply and demand; the interplay of labor and earnings; the impact of trade unions; and much more.

Principles of Economics: Abridged Edition: This is Marshall’s standard text, considered the greatest work. First published in 1890, this is an abridged version of the 1920 eighth edition, and it serves as an excellent primer on such topics as: basic economic laws; the purpose of economic studies; fundamental concepts including wealth, production, consumption, labor, income, capital, and others; understanding consumer demand; an introduction to market studies; and much more.

Principles of Economics, Volume 1 and Volume 2: Economics is more than simply the cost of a gallon of milk. Economics is also the science of society, the basis upon which a civilization functions at its most basic level. Productivity, commerce, and value all are essential elements that define and affect a community deeply. Eminent American economist Frank William Taussig (1859-1940) brings the complex and sometimes intimidating subject to light in Principles of Economics (first published in 1911) by writing for the specialist as well as those with a simple educated curiosity about economics and its relevance to every member of a community.

The Economics of Welfare, Volume I and Volume II: Welfare economics is a branch of economics using microeconomic techniques to simultaneously determine the efficiency of the overall economy and the income distribution consequences associated with it. A British economist best known for his work in many fields and particularly in welfare economics, Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877–1959), asserts that individuals are the best judges of their own welfare, that people will prefer greater welfare to less welfare, and that welfare can be adequately measured either in monetary terms or as a relative preference. Scholars and students of both economics and welfare policy will find Pigou’s work a significant contribution to current debates on welfare policy directions.

Women and Economics: Startling in its observations and radical in its conclusions, this classic of women’s rights literature, this work — by pioneering American feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) — was a phenomenon when it was first published in 1898, and was eventually translated into in seven languages and reprinted around the world. From her characterization of women as virtual economic, social, and sexual slaves, dependent on men for everything from food to friendship to protection, to her call for women to free themselves from these shackles, Women and Economics electrified Victorian readers. It remains a foundational work of feminist theory, essential reading for anyone wishing to understand women’s struggle for full and self-determined personhood.

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