Green Tax To Save Himalayan Ecology

Alarmed by the recent havoc wrecked by climate changes in sensitive Himalayan eco-zones, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal has turned environment protection into a priority area, setting up a fund for it - a one of its kind initiative in the country.

Cabinet colleagues, shortly after giving a nod to setting up of an environment fund, on Saturday became the first to commit a voluntarily contribution of Rs 100 per month towards it, in lieu of the cars they own.

A day earlier mooting the proposal at a workshop, the chief minister lamented the nations attitude towards environmental issues saying, “we are unpaid custodians for rendering environmental services and our efforts to conserve the green cover is not being duly compensated by the central government.”

“For a start I turn to the state residents,” said Dhumal, “in concern for the damage fossil fuels cause to the environment, vehicle owners could voluntarily pitch in a green cess. The corpus collected would be used solely for environment protection and promotion,” he said.

Professor NH Rabindranath, chairman sustainable technologies centre at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore at the same workshop set alarm bells ringing when he disclosed that scientific models forecast a rise of as high as 6 degree Celsius in mean temperature in the Himalayan zone by as early as 2050.

Effects of such a scenario are becoming visible as an unusually long rainy season through the year has left the states road, electricity, drinking water and irrigation infrastructure fractured. The losses still being counted have already surpassed Rs 2000 crores.

“Cropping of apples, wheat, rice and other fruits will be hit as it beings to rain more, says the scientist, “and temperature sensitive forestry including the majestic deodar trees may wither away.”

However, the leadership here is one of the few states where concern for environment is high and an environment fund is a mature way of sensitizing people about it, said Rabindranath.

The governments move for a green cess is justified but just picking on private vehicle owners is not, differs Ajay Vaidya, a lawyer. Under a High Court ruling a green cess on cars is already being imposed in Manali and is a norm in many countries.

To validate a green tax in the state, cement units which are the biggest pollutants in the state and other industries that have been identified as environmentally unfriendly should be brought into the ambit, said Vaidya.

Source: himachal.us

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Buddhism In Japan May Be Dying Out

By NORIMITSU ONISHI

The Japanese have long taken an easygoing, buffetlike approach to religion, ringing out the old year at Buddhist temples and welcoming the new year, several hours later, at Shinto shrines. Weddings hew to Shinto rituals or, just as easily, to Christian ones.

When it comes to funerals, though, the Japanese have traditionally been inflexibly Buddhist — so much so that Buddhism in Japan is often called “funeral Buddhism,” a reference to the religion’s former near-monopoly on the elaborate, and lucrative, ceremonies surrounding deaths and memorial services.

But that expression also describes a religion that, by appearing to cater more to the needs of the dead than to those of the living, is losing its standing in Japanese society.

“That’s the image of funeral Buddhism: that it doesn’t meet people’s spiritual needs,” said Ryoko Mori, the chief priest at the 700-year-old Zuikoji Temple here in northern Japan. “In Islam or Christianity, they hold sermons on spiritual matters. But in Japan nowadays, very few Buddhist priests do that.”

Mr. Mori, 48, the 21st head priest of the temple, was unsure whether it would survive into the tenure of a 22nd.

“If Japanese Buddhism doesn’t act now, it will die out,” he said. “We can’t afford to wait. We have to do something.”

Picture: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Across Japan, Buddhism faces a confluence of problems, some familiar to religions in other wealthy nations, others unique to the faith here. Read more »

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Buddhism Internet Digest

• The Earth Sanctuary Blog - View the video to see how the Tsa Tsas were made at the first workshop. Please come to this Tsa Tsa workshop and help make the Tsa Tsas that will go into the Stupa that H.H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya is having built near the Tara Meditation Center at Earth Sanctuary…
• A brief history of Tibetan Buddhism - Tibet has always been overshadowed by other neighbouring nations. Thus, nothing much about its culture is known. Here is a brief history abouta sacred religion called Bon, Tibet’s pre-Buddhist religion, now better know as Tibetan Buddhism…
• Padma’s blog - Music and Buddhism. I see my music as my ‘spiritual path’. Both spirituality and music are central to my life. It’s taken me quite a while to realise that this is what it’s about for me. I’ve been a Buddhist for many years and have tried a number of different ways to practice as sincerely as I can…
• Fresco - art of Tibetan Buddhism - Fresco is one of the arts of Tibetan Buddhism and as an art style most popular and unique in Taer Temple, it is one of the “Three Art Miracles” of the temple…
• New book: The Two Truths Debate - The Two Truths Debate: Tsongkhapa and Gorampa on the Middle Way by Sonam Thakchoe. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007. I just found this new book that came out last month. It highlights many of the differences we’ve seen here in discussing Buddhist emptiness and the two truths, etc…
• The Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement - The March to Tibet is an initiative launched by five leading Tibetan non-governmental organizations in Dharamsala, India, exiled-home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile…
• Visiting the Shambhala Mountain Center - The Shambhala Mountain Center is located in Red Feathers Colorado, just outside of Fort Collins. It’s about a two hour drive from Boulder or Denver. At the Mountain Center is ‘The Great Stuppa of Dharmakaya’…
• Safe to Travel in Chinese Tibet - Arriving at the Gandan Sumtseling Monastery, founded by the 5th Dalai Lama, is today a rather easier experience than it used to be. Tucked into a valley at one end of Zhongdian, in the north of Yunnan, in what used to be the Tibetan Province of Kham…
• Why Shadow Tibet? - Like alternate worlds in science fiction, two distinct Tibets co-exist these days. One flourishes in the light of celebrity patronage, museum openings, career opportunities, pop spirituality and New Age fashions. This is the Tibet that has captured the romantic fantasy of the West…

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Ylang Ylang

Ylang Ylang is produced from Cananga odorata trees grown in plantations, in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, where they rarely reach heights above 2.5 metres. Plantation trees are cropped so they spread rather than grow tall, as the branches are brittle, and climbing them can cause damage to the tree, flowers and the picker!

Plantation trees are grown from seeds of highly productive trees, and are planted during the rainy season. They have a long tap-root, which can be easily damaged through transplanting, so great care is taken to the plant the trees when they are about 80 cm tall, in the place where they are intended to grow. Ylang Ylang trees do not reach maturity until they are 4-5 years, and are pruned every 2 months for the rest of their life cycle, which can be up to 70 years of age.

The first flowers appear after 2 years. The flowers are initially white, and change to yellow as they mature. A fully mature flower has two red spots on the inside of the flower, an indication that the flower is ready to be picked.

The flowers have six long slender petals, which droop from a stem protecting their red centers. They extend along the branches in equal strands of 2 to 20 buds. The large leaves hang suspended from the branch below them. A fully mature tree produces from 5-100 kg of flowers every year depending on conditions, but the amount of oil extracted decreases as the tree gets older.

The flowers have to be hand picked, as they damage easily and only mature flowers produce oil. The flowers are hand picked early in the morning and brought directly to the still before 10am.

Flower picking occurs all year round, however higher yields are usually obtained from May to July and November to December. The annual rainfall needs to be a minimum of 3000 mm, otherwise the amount of oil produced by each flower drops significantly.

According to Ayurveda, Ylang Ylang is relaxing to the nervous system, resulting in the feeling of joy, it could well ease the feeling of anger and anxiety.

In aromatherapy, Ylang Ylang is believed to relieve high blood pressure, normalize sebum secretion for skin problems, and is considered to be an aphrodisiac.

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The History Of Aromatherapy

The ancient history of aromatherapy is very interesting. Contrary to popular conception, aromatherapy is not a modern concept; rather, it is just that the term has only recently been formed in the 20th century, though the history of aromatherapy in fact, goes way back in time.

According to ancient history of aromatherapy, it was the Chinese who first began using aromatic plants because of the ability of essential oils to heal the body. In fact, the Chinese also believed that this could be achieved by burning incense which in turn would create a more harmonious atmosphere and which would also create a relaxation in the body. Later, the history of aromatherapy shows that the Egyptians pioneered the invention of techniques that allowed for the distillation of essential oils which could now be extracted even though the methods of distillation being used were still rather crude.

Some of the ancient Egyptian tombs which have been opened in modern times even have given off faint scents of herbs and revealed faint traces of herbs which go to show that the Egyptians indeed were among the first to make use of aromatherapy, and although it was rather crudely done, this has nevertheless been recorded in the continuing history of aromatherapy. In fact, the Egyptians combined essential oils with infused oils and used such combinations for cosmetics as well as for medicinal purposes. What’s more, the history of aromatherapy as ascribed to the Egyptians dates back as many as five thousand years back and even the term perfume can be attributed to the Egyptians.

Even the Greeks were not unaffected by aromatherapy and in fact, the history of aromatherapy also records them as being users of essential oils which they used for preserving foods, and also for medicinal purposes and it even was part of their religion as well as was used for cooking. Actually, ideas derived from aromatherapy were used by Greeks in designing as well as laying out their towns and this was evident from the fact that they left open spaces especially to allow for burning herbs which would ensure that the air remained free from all manner of germs.

In fact, the Greeks also learnt much about aromatherapy from the Egyptians, especially around the period 500 B.C. when they set up medical schools on what was known as the Island of Cos, which school gave us Hippocrates, and this too is an important period in the history of aromatherapy.

Much later, the history of aromatherapy recorded how distillation techniques came to be improved by Persians and more particularly the Persian physician called Avicenna. Later, aromatic herbs came to be used during the infamous Bubonic Plague to disinfect the polluted air. Actually, the history of aromatherapy took another important turn in which aromatherapy now began to be linked to the health benefits of using essential oils, and this link has not been disproved even in our modern times.

Today, the modern history of aromatherapy shows that aromatherapy is mostly being used in the beauty industry and health industry. A lot of aromatherapy products are provided by marketer in these huge potential market, such as aromatherapy skin care and aromatherapy body lotion. Now, everyone can enjoy the more benefits of aromatherapy.

Source: aromatherapyworldsite.com

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