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New Fashion: Breaking Leg...

Date: Tue 02 Nov 2008 22:47:38 -0400 To: am-global@earthlink.net From: Melanie Kellogg Subject: New Fashion: Breaking Leg Baba "A'loker utsa're-- kuya'sha'r path dhare, giyechile du're..." (1755) Purport: Baba, You are the most gracious One; You save everybody. Baba, with the emanation of Your divine effulgence, those following the foggy path have returned back to the house. By Your grace, those who fell into sin and staticity have come back onto the path of truth and righteousness; they have come back onto the path of dharma-- their home. Baba, by Your grace they have again come under Your eternal shelter. Baba, because of You, there is truth and dharma. Because You are the effulgence remains. Baba because of You there is life. By Your grace You bring bliss and warmth to all. You shower Your love and affection on everyone. Baba, those who forget You become engulfed in the cimmerian darkness of avidya maya. Those who do not surrender at Your lotus feet and those who neglect to sing Your name, they remain oblivious of the divine truth and plunge themselves in the deep abyss of self-pity and confusion. O' Baba, by Your grace I know only You. Only this truth I know: You are mine and I am Yours. Baba I do not know about the divine world nor about the mortal world. I do not know about heaven or hell; nor do I accept those myths. Baba, I do not know about right and wrong, or virtue and vice. Baba, by Your sweet grace my mind is fully focused on You. Baba, I only know You-- I only accept You and You alone. Baba, You are the ocean of my life. Baba, please be grace by showering Your causeless grace...
== NEW FASHION: BREAKING LEG & ADDING A FEW INCHES ==
Namaskar, One of the latest schemes to "increase one's beauty" is to get a body extension, i.e. get your legs broken and then pulled out of their joints and lengthened. This limb lengthening surgery, which is an extremely radical procedure with a lengthy & painful recovery process, stands as but one of a wide array of so-called beauty options offered to the public.
MUST LOOK A CERTAIN WAY
As we all know, the media, fashion industry, & entertainment business etc tell people 'how they should look', and sadly enough the common citizens often get duped. They fall into that trap. After being bombarded with glossy pictures and catchy phrases, people begin to think that 'I am not good enough as I am'. In turn they develop an inferiority complex about themselves, about their external looks. Please excuse me for saying so, but our young sisters are especially vulnerable in this regard. Being a woman, I have seen this first-hand on so many occasions with friends, family, classmates, and colleagues. So many of our sisters have gotten caught up in the swirling whirlpool that makes them think, 'As I am is not good enough-- I must beautify myself to become worthy'. This is the deplorable state of things today. Is this not why Baba has made the following declaration. Baba says, "Selfish men, however, have disregarded the value of women; they have taken full advantage, and are continuing to take full advantage, of their weakness. Although men have publicly declared that women should be respected as the mothers of society, they have actually relegated them to the status of domestic cattle and sheep." (HS-1) In result, some of our unfortunate sisters feel they should, nay have to, look a certain way. People think that their hair, nose, hips, belly, or height should be adjusted to match the popular propaganda of the day. Men are not out of this loop-- they are also affected. They can certainly talk about this. But it is the women who are the hunted in this industry. To make matters worse, various doctors and other entrepreneurs capitalise on the situation and have turned cosmetic surgery and so-called beauty enhancement products into a lucrative, mega-billion dollar industry.
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO
High-heeled shoes, lipstick, teeth whiteners are some of the more "benign" methods for enhancing female beauty. But in true sense we cannot call this benign as those things are done as a result of an inferiority complex that has already been planted in the mind. Women feel, 'I am not worthy'. More "advanced" strategies include liposuction (sucking fat cells from various body parts), hair removal, hair implants, breast augmentation, and the like. Again, here the industry is just capitalising on women's desire, primarily, to look a certain way. And this is a systemic problem that diminishes humans as being mere objects and categorically overlooks their existential value as living, breathing, human beings. It is due to this deplorable situation that black females may straighten their hair to look like white females, and why so many sections of the population are displeased with their inherent looks. But we should not let today's degraded societal values impose such feelings of inferiority complex on any human being. We should not let the so-called powers-that-be take advantage of the common mass-- the good people of the world. Baba says, "Great injustices are also being perpetrated against so-called uneducated people." (HS-1) This brings us to the one of the latest and most awful methods for increasing one's beauty.
LEG BREAKING, BODY EXTENSION
The leg-breaking, body extension will help ordinary females reach movie star height and glamour. Here is how it works. First they break your legs while under anesthesia-- both the shin bones and the large fermur bone. That is the least painful part. Then they partially detach a women's legs from her joints which sets her up for a year-long therapy process wherein the legs are stretched more and more and the broken bones are pulled apart and forced to grow back in longer way in order to fill the space. That is what is meant by limb-lengthening procedure. The latest and greatest in cosmetic surgery. But do not get fooled this is no joke. It is an excruciating process that is filled with painful therapy sessions and months and months of rehab-- not to mention the distinct threat of permanent nerve damage as well as a host of other complications and side-affects. On the top, there is absolutely no guarantee that the procedure will be successful. Which is quite a risk to take given its cost of nearly $200,000.00. But due to massive propaganda about beauty etc, this is what people, and especially women are willing to do.
NOT ALL PLASTIC SURGERY IS NEGATIVE
Here I do not want to outrightly condemn all forms of plastic surgery. There are certain situations where it is quite appropriate and highly beneficial such as for burn victims who need skins graphs and for those born with cleft pallets or other birth defects that severely hinders their ability to manage their life. In that case, plastic surgery can be a real life saver and restore functionality and dignity to the patient.
IRONY OF BODY EXTENSION
But, for the most part, the body extension or leg lengthening is a horse of another color. Generally it is done for purely cosmetic purposes, with only some done for birth defects. And the irony of it all is that such a procedure will not change the genetic make-up of a person. When that female who had a leg lengthening procedure gets pregnant, then she will give birth to "short" children, most likely. Thereby setting up another generation to potentially undergo a leg lengthening procedure in order to fit in with her family.
ALL ARE BEAUTIFUL IN THE EYES OF PARAMA PURUSA
Parama Purusa has made human beings in all shapes and sizes-- all designed by Him. So all have their beauty and reflect His vibration. Thus to allow scores and scores of women to fall into the ever-increasing abyss of plastic surgery for purely superficial cosmetic reasons is to go against the natural order of Parama Purusa. He thinks we are beautiful as we are-- according to His original design. When one understands this, they will no longer suffer from an inferiority complex and will not become victim of the fashion / plastic surgery industry.
OUR DUTY
Our duty as Ananda Margiis is to bring society onto the right track and correct all the ills-- whether the problem be unemployment or imposed feelings of inferiority that a person's look or skin color is not right. Every human being is to be respected, honored, and encouraged to grow. This is Baba's on going teaching to us all. And in so many realms of society, various margiis and acaryas are making great gains. So many of our dedicated wt's open children's homes, schools, and medical camps etc. In the same way, we should tackle the cosmetic-cum-beauty-cum-medical industry that poisons our society by implying that people are not worthy or good enough as they are. Instead the various sizes, shapes, and colors of people are to be celebrated. Baba loves all human beings and we are to help create the vibration on this earth that everyone is a dignified and beautiful member of our human family. By definition, human beings are imperfect and none should get duped into thinking that because their look does not match a certain vogue then therefore they are ugly or undesirable. People should not get lost in the maze of trying to gain perfection through physical presentation-- we are beautiful with whatever physical imperfections we may have-- and instead strive to embrace our inner beauty. Our value or quality of being human is a psychic one. That is what we should honor, not one's external presentation.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace, the entire view of beauty for our human society needs to be shifted toward the psychic and spiritual realm. We must not let any person feel they are worthless and or undesirable due to some physical characteristic. Baba says, "A woman who is "unattractive" but is mentally elevated or has a loving nature will look beautiful to others." (MVNS) Baba says, "Those entities in whom psychic and intellectual powers are looked upon as more gorgeous than the physical ones are called humans – predominantly mental beings. Hence, to bring about the real well-being of humanity, greater attention has to be paid to the psychic and intellectual expressions of human beings, for that will lead to perfect spiritual composure and all-round fulfilment in human life..." (Ananda Vanii #73) Namaskar, Maya Devii
******************************************** Excellent Teaching but Difficult to Follow
Baba says, "You love your son; that is alright. But if he dies, you will have immense grief. It is not true? Because a son is a finite entity, he will not remain forever. He is bound to die one day. Leaving you in boundless sorrow. but if you take your son to be a manifestation of Brahma, you need not fear in constant fear of losing him, because Brahma will never be lost. He is ever present surrounding you. This is the spirit of renunciation or vaeragya." (APH-4, p. 265) Note: This above Baba's divine teaching everybody knows, but in practical life how far everyone follows, every person should look within their own heart.
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