Venice, which is the capital of the Veneto Region of Northern Italy, is often referred to as the “Miracle of the Northeast. Veneto is a wealthy region of Italy, with fastest growing industrial districts in Italy.

Actually Venice is a group of islands in the Venetian Lagoon. The area experiences a fairly mild climate with temperatures ranging from 38 F in January to 74F in July. Venice floats in the Venetian Lagoon, surrounded by a mix of fresh and salt water.

The island is 3km from the Italian mainland to the west and 3km from the Adriatic Sea to the east.

There are so many wonderful places to look into in Venice for one and all with different tastes. Whether we are looking for thrills or excitement, history and exhibitions, or gardens and parks, there is enough to captivate our imagination.

We can itemize some of the attractions of Venice thus:

Boat Tours - Campo San Luca, San Marco, Venice – Daily island tours of Burano. Murano and Torcello from mApril to November.

Venice Walking Tours - The best way to see the pedestrian friendly city of Venice is by foot, where most of the top attractions are easily within walking distance.

These tours enable us to fully appreciate the important scenic beauty on the route, and its architecture. Rates are fixed and there are no hassles of bargaining. The tours are as follows:

Walking tours of San Marino area – approximate 2 hrs.

With lot of English speaking guides- lasting about 2 hrs.

‘Venicescapes’ – offer several themed programs, lasting from 3 to 7 hrs – Reservation to be done in advance.

Many other excursions to places such as Padua, Veneto, Vicenca and Dolomite mountains.

Canal Grande – The Grand Canal in Venice is an wonderful stretch

Water and is invariably referred to as ‘the most beautiful street in the city. Ambulating along the canal is a sure way to see the city’s spectacular and extravagant architecture. Especially a trip by night is a breath taking experience, with the reflection of architecture in the water.

Other Major Tourist Attractions are

– Chiesa dei Frari Church, Scuola Grande di San Rocco- painting school, Campo de Santi Giovanni e Paolo

– Square of popular attractions of Monuments, Santa Maria delloa Salute – a church and Chiesa di San Sebastiano, another famous church.

For the tourists Venice is like heaven on earth and is a must to be included in the tour itinerary,

Here we are studying the source of Toxins entering into our body, the havoc they are causing and the remedial measures.

Toxin, is nothing but a poisonous substance, especially protein, that is produced by living organisms, capable of causing disease, if introduced into the body tissues. It is produced by certain animals, some higher plants and pathogenic bacteria.

Toxin, in the body can lead to constant physical and mental stress sleep difficulties and constant body and joint pains.

Primarily, as all of us have to eat to be alive - the point of entry of toxin into our body is through the food and our food habits. All of us are aware that the food as we consume today is not ,what it was, for our forefathers.

Because of the gap between production of food grains and their ultimate consumption, chemical preservatives are put to enhance their shelf life.

In a typical modern diet, the synthetic chemicals entering our bodies is approximately a staggering figure of 50,000 different chemicals: food additives, pesticides, herbicides, drugs, household and industrial chemicals (Source: Robert Buist, Ph.D “Food chemical sensitivity”)

PESTICIDES ENTRY POINT

In order to safeguard our precious crops all over the globe, approximately two and half million tons of industrial pesticides are used each year to suppress or destroy a bewildering variety of organisms which are harmful to our human race.

Here is the list of their routes:

Insecticides, used for kiing insects,

Herbicides which destroy unwanted vegetation and weeds.

Fungicides protect seeds against soil fungi.

Bactericides .which control dangerous bacteria.

Virucides which suppress viruses.

Nematicides whichn control nematodes(roundworms)

Miticides kill mites and ticks.

Rodenticides which control rodents.

Dr Hanley states that herbicides and pesticides usage has not made any overall difference in the percentage of crops destruction which is at constant 37%.

The pesticides, whether they kill pests or not, are certainly playing havoc in the lives of human beings.

Chronic health problems they have created are a four fold increase of early-onset of neurological problems Parkinson’s disease, shortened attention span, memory disorders. and reduced co-ordination.

Also reproductive problems like miscarriages, reduced infant development, birth defects, depression and finally cancer. Mild to moderate pesticide poisoning mimics intrinsic asthma, bronchitis, and gastroenteritis.

Next let us turn our attention to clean toxins,

But instead of lamenting about the toxic effects of these chemicals on our bodies, we can study deeply and think about supporting our bodies’ defense mechanism by addition of detoxifying agents on the one side and elimination of the chemical agents.

Supplementing our diets with digestive enzymes improves digestion, which helps our natural detoxifying systems do a better job of eliminating waste build up.

We propose studying different aspects of meditation to examine whether it is a scientific approach and all the benefits accruing to the humanity, due to its practice.

The idea of quitting everything in life and going to live in a hermitage for the sake of meditation is, to say the least, quite outdated.

We need not quit our jobs, our homes, our way of life, and our precious possessions to go to mountain tops for learning or practicing meditation. Recent researches point out that meditation brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 20 minute session of meditation.

People who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves – the relaxed brain waves – and decreased anxiety and depression.

Harvard Medical School researchers, using Magnetic Resonance Index technology on meditation participants monitored their brain activity, during the meditation. They found a very important phenomenon that meditation activates the sections of the brain which govern the involuntary activities like digestion and blood pressure.

They found that stress often affects these important body functions. As a corollary, meditation modulates these functions, wards off stress related conditions such as heart disease, digestive problems and infertility.

Rob Nairn, in his book, “What is Meditation” explains “It is a highly alert and skilful state of mind because it requires one to remain psychologically present and ‘with’ whatever happens in and around one without adding to or subtracting from it in any way”. From this is clear that in meditation, we are in a super conscious state, which is the reason for its curative properties.

There are innumerable ways and traditions to practice meditation. But in a nutshell, it can be summarized thus: Meditation consists of simply sitting quietly, focusing on one’s breath, word or phrase. The trick lies in stilling

the mind from constant chattering of the mind.

According to Roger Thomson, Ph.D., a Chicago psychologist and Zen meditation specialist, there is one way to know whether we are doing the meditation correctly. He says “If you’re feeling better at the end, you are probably doing right.

Though it sounds easy, many people cannot seem to get the hang of it, no matter how often they try. But constant practice makes it possible to attain.

Thomson, who refers his clients to meditation, declares that for those struggling with feelings of anxiety, they will benefit from its calming effects. It facilitates mental health because it brings a higher level of self-acceptance and insight about oneself.

In a paper published in American Journal of Psychotherapy, Thomson explores the symbiotic nature of meditation techniques and Psychotherapy.

In both systems, we are intimately present with what is happening here and now. That is the secret of de-stressing effects of meditation and psychotherapy.

We can see now that meditation is definitely a science and not a fiction,

Recent Global Financial Crisis brought about by the profiteering and speculation in the Stock Markets has made a mockery of land values and exposed the deep rooted malaise in the real estate sector.

The evolution of the term ‘real estate’ denotes that the term has no authenticity as a social institution. When the term was coined it was to denote that it was ‘real’ when in fact there was nothing real about it.

The concept of land as a commodity itself is a myth and fabrication and the notion that one can buy land and sell portions of earth, which actually belongs to entire humanity is proving to be ridiculous as the recent fiasco in States in land and mortgage has shown to the world, which is reeling under the pressure created by these myths.

Mother earth, like sunlight and starlight, can not be owned by anybody even at the national level. They are common property of not only humanity but also of all the living creatures which inhabit our earth.

The notion of nations, states and provinces has served its purpose but the time has come for humanity to understand the severe ecological crisis which transgresses all boundaries of nations. The snow is melting. The oceans are rising. The ozone layers are depleti

Across the globe, savings of many have been wiped out overnight and Millions, which were on paper, vanished into thin air.

From the practical side let us analyze the situation.

A typical North American dwelling has become unwieldy and superfluous, requiring high initial investment, heavy cash inflows to sustain and furnish, and constant drain on the income to maintain.

The typical family residence is grossly out of proportion to the requirement of the family members and expenditure is very high to fill the big house with lavish furnishing and gadgets. The result is huge investment to be repaid in long periods of installments spread over a good part of our time.

This is how the real estate game developed, distracting the masses from a genuine happy lifestyle to an indebted one.

In order to avert an impending financial and spiritual demise, the following approaches are put forward for deep reflection by one and all.

Authentic forms of relationship with land as follows:

Absence of profit motive in matters pertaining to land

Group stewardship as opposed to private property

Sustainable community ownership and

Placing ownership solely on assets like buildings, with tenancy rights only towards the land..

The main objective of thinking on the above lines is to evolve a state of custodianship as regards land in place of current ownership, which has brought untold misery to mankind.

Let's take a look at which of Technology or Spirituality is more useful to the development of and sustenance of human race as a whole.

Technology, we see, is the foundation of our modern lifestyle. Industrialization, which revolutionized our living standards was driven by innovative technologies in the field of transport like roads, rail and air.

Prediction of vagaries of weather, warnings of cyclones and tornados, global warming, ozone layer cracking, nuclear fission and satellite supremacy are all due to technological researches carried out by groups of scientists backed by their governments.

Further examples are improved telecommunications, the revolution of internet surfing, and the hand held cell phones. We cannot even imagine how we could have lived without these contrivances.

On the other hand, Spiritualists argue that malaises facing humanity can only be ameliorated by means of lateral thinking with a variety of solutions being employed. This novel approach could usher in an era of health and happiness to the world, they say..

Is there any possibility to have a symbiotic relationship between these two opposite irreconcilable approaches or is the dichotomy a fool proof entity about which we can do nothing?

When we visit a huge giant I.T office, we are destined to see the robot like appearances of the staff, sitting in front of their computer screens devoid of artistic niceties which we find in other offices.

We also learn that they are overworked for more than 14 hours a day. What has happened to the concern of their health and future?

Bill Gates, who is the forerunner of I T industry in the world who has amassed huge wealth, has opened a foundation for the benefit of children plagued by poverty and diseases in developing countries.

Many pop singers and famous actors of Hollywood are spending huge amounts of money for the uplift of aids patients all over the world.

At the other end, the great Buddhist leader, Dalai Lama has opened a website on the internet at www.dalailama.com to encourage the study of Buddhism all over the world.

He has been joined by many other religious heads and institutions who have opened their websites for propaganda and education purposes.

One group thinks that the mankind’s ultimate refuge is only in the Technology The other group wants to put back the clock to tribal and jungle ways of living to generate the cohesion necessary for the survival of mankind.

In conclusion we have to point out that unbridled Technology cannot alone bring happiness to mankind. Nor going back to caves and jungles is the answer.

A symbiotic relationship between Technology and Spiritualism can certainly complement each other’s efforts to bring about a lasting change in the lifestyle of mankind and thus save it from the destructive path which made earlier civilizations vanish into air.