I’ve read many pundits and the conclusion is there’s a 50:50 chance we’ll have a double dip recession. I think it’s more like 60:40 because real jobs cannot come back. Furthermore, the housing stimulus is over.

The BP oil well will probably keep spilling for another few months simply because it happened before, and it took 8 months to fix the problem … in shallower water with the same techniques they’re trying today.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video …

The Times has just presented an article on the declining age of puberty:

Puberty Article

In the 1800’s puberty for girls and boys was around 15 and 17 years of age, respectively.

In the 1960’s, the ages were determined to be around 12 for girls and 14 for boys. These are the ages that girls first start getting their period, and the age when the voices of boys start to break and they experience a growth spurt.

The new findings are that girls are starting puberty, including breast development, at age 9 (9 years and 10 months on average, which is a full one year ealier than the last time the study was done about 15 years ago). Many boys drop out of choir in England because their voices are now breaking at around ages 11-12!

Some people say this is because of hormone-like substances in the food chain (I agree), and others simply because of a better diet.

It’s interesting to note that over 2,000 years Shakyamuni Buddha foretold, through samadhi insight, that the age of puberty for women would eventually drop to around 5 years of age for this world. He also said that in the far future the world would become so toxic and polluted that almost any item could be used to kill/harm another person, and the Gulf Oil spill illustrates how we are slowly heading in that direction. Amazing predictions from 2,000+ years ago, especially when you consider the environmental circumstances of that era.

Two years ago I made a series of audio CDs on a variety of meditation topics, which I made available through Kunaki.com. It’s a cool service — you make a recording, upload your mp3, select a cover, and then they produce it for you, mail it out and so forth. If you’re an expert on some topic and you want to try it, go ahead, as it takes the burdens away of burning CDs, customer fulfillment and so forth.

I produced several courses on CD this way, but Kunaki deletes the recordings if no one buys any in 180 days, which is a half year’s time. Over time several courses were deleted this way (sexual cultivation, feng shui, etc.) and people write me now and then asking if I sell them, but they missed their chance. They’re gone forever because Kunaki deleted them since no one purchased any.

Anyway, four days ago Kunaki sent me a message that in 11 days they’ll delete my last two recordings:

How to Meditate 7 Different Ways

and

The 5 Stages of the Spiritual Path.

Once these recordings are gone they’re gone forever, so this might be your chance to get these babies before they disappear. How to Meditate 7 Different Ways is exactly that — instructions on how to meditate 7 (actually more) ways.

The 5 Stages of the Spiritual Path is all about the 5 big stages of the cultivation path. Without this knowledge, you’ll be lost regardless of whatever school you follow because you won’t know where you stand in the grand scheme of things.

So, rather than let them expire I figured I might as well give a curtain call. Just pop these CDs into your computer and play them! It’s on the most common questions I receive about these topics and what you need to know. If you want to learn how to meditate, these are killer.

J. Pierquet just wrote me that he created a free download site of sutra translations, and wanted to inform people about it. Nice site:

Lapis Lazuli Texts.com

It contains the following translations already:

1. Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra
2. Anapana Sutra (Ekottara Agama)
3. Diamond Sutra
4. Shorter Heart Sutra
5. Longer Heart Sutra
6. Amitabha Sutra
7. Cundi Dharani Sutra (Zhunti Dharani Sutra)
8. Classic of Purity and Stillness

Buddhist Sutra Translations

This is just an interesting bit of science. What did the Big Bang sound like? Well, scientists have created a little bang, and here is a sound recording of the sound:

http://www.newscientist.com/articlevideo/dn18998/89322524001-what-does-the-hottest-matter-ever-made-sound-like.html