Kathmandu's 'living goddess' survives quake

Yahoo – AFP, Paavan Mathema, 2 May 2015

The Kumari, considered a living goddess, attends festivities on the last day of

 the 2014 Rato Machindranath chariot festival on the outskirts of Kathmandu (AFP

Photo/Prakash Mathema)

When a devastating quake hit Nepal last week, a nine-year-old girl worshipped as a living goddess was preparing to receive devotees at her home in the heart of Kathmandu's Durbar Square.

As the earth shook, the ancient temples and statues that packed the square collapsed, sending a massive cloud of rubble and dust into the air. But the home of the living goddess, or Kumari, escaped with just a few cracks.

"She protected us," said Durga Shakya, the 55-year-old caretaker of the Kumari house, who like all her entourage is from the Newar community indigenous to the Kathmandu valley.

More than 6,621 people were killed by

the massive eathquake which devastated

 Kathmandu's Durbar Square, a UNESCO

 world heritage site damaged by the 

earthquake in Kathmandu (AFP Photo/

Matthieu Alexandre)

"Look around, the Kumari home is intact. There is a little crack on the other side, but otherwise nothing has happened," she told AFP in Kathmandu.

"Even inside, nothing has fallen down, everything is fine."

The Kumari, a pre-pubescent Newar girl, lives in isolation in her small palace and emerges only on feast days when she is paraded through Kathmandu in ceremonial dress.

The popular tradition combines elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and selection criteria are strict.

Priests say that to become a Kumari, a girl must have a number of specific physical attributes including an unblemished body, a chest like a lion and thighs like a deer.

Even if they fulfil all the physical requirements, aspiring Kumaris must then prove their bravery by not crying at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo.

'Fearless goddess'

Kamal Tara Shakya, a 48-year-old Newar woman who looks after the young girl in her palace, said she appeared unafraid when the quake hit.

"I was in the kitchen, after the quake struck I ran towards her, it (the house) was shaking so badly," Shakya told AFP.

"I took her on my lap. All of us huddled around her and prayed. She didn't say anything. She didn't seem scared."

Once the shaking subsided, Shakya took the young girl to the courtyard of the house where they have remained ever since for fear of aftershocks causing further destruction.

A Hindu devotee offers prayers in front of a statue of Hindu diety Kaal Bhairab

 in the Durbar Square neighbourhood of Kathmandu, on May 2, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Roberto Schmidt)

When AFP visited the house early on Saturday a priest was performing a blessing in the courtyard as staff chopped vegetables in the corner.

Mattresses and blankets lay on the floor, but the house appeared intact.

"I believe in her, she has protected us," said Anupa Shrestha, a 28-year-old housewife who had come to pay her respects.

"It is amazing to see the house okay, it shows her power... I was hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but I was very happy that her house is not damaged."

Durga Shakya believes the quake was a punishment from the gods, and that the Kumari knew it was coming.

"We will have to do an apology puja (blessing), she said.

"This has happened because people have disrespected the gods. This is a religious site, but people were holding all sorts of concerts and gatherings here. They should have been more respectful."

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'Cherry tree from space' mystery baffles Japan

Yahoo – AFP, Shigemi Sato, April 11, 2014

A cherry tree in bloom, grown from a cherry pit that spent time onboard the

 International Space Station (ISS), is shown at the Ganjoji temple in Gifu city,

central Japan, April 3, 2014 (AFP Photo/CHSZ Preservation Society)

Tokyo (AFP) - A cosmic mystery is uniting monks and scientists in Japan after a cherry tree grown from a seed that orbited the Earth for eight months bloomed years earlier than expected -- and with very surprising flowers.

The four-year-old sapling -- grown from a cherry stone that spent time aboard the International Space Station (ISS) -- burst into blossom on April 1, possibly a full six years ahead of Mother Nature's normal schedule.

Its early blooming baffled Buddhist brothers at the ancient temple in central Japan where the tree is growing.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata hold

s a pack of cherry seeds in the International

Space Station, April 13, 2009 (AFP Photo)

"We are amazed to see how fast it has grown," Masahiro Kajita, chief priest at the Ganjoji temple in Gifu, told AFP by telephone.

"A stone from the original tree had never sprouted before. We are very happy because it will succeed the old tree, which is said to be 1,250 years old."

The wonder pip was among 265 harvested from the celebrated "Chujo-hime-seigan-zakura" tree, selected as part of a project to gather seeds from different kinds of cherry trees at 14 locations across Japan.

The stones were sent to the ISS in November 2008 and came back to Earth in July the following year with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, after circling the globe 4,100 times.

Some were sent for laboratory tests, but most were ferried back to their places of origin, and a selection were planted at nurseries near the Ganjoji temple.

By April this year, the "space cherry tree" had grown to around four metres (13 feet) tall, and suddenly produced nine flowers -- each with just five petals, compared with about 30 on flowers of the parent tree.

It normally takes about 10 years for a cherry tree of the similar variety to bear its first buds.

The Ganjoji temple sapling is not the only early-flowering space cherry tree.

Of the 14 locations in which the pits were replanted, blossoms have been spotted at four places.

Two years ago, a young tree bore 11 flowers in Hokuto, a mountain region 115 kilometres (70 miles) west of Tokyo, around two years after it was planted.

It was of a variety that normally only comes into flower at the age of eight.

Cosmic rays

The seeds were sent to the ISS as part of "an educational and cultural project to let children gather the stones and learn how they grow into trees and live on after returning from space," said Miho Tomioka, a spokeswoman for the project's organiser, Japan Manned Space Systems (JAMSS).

FILE - This Nov. 7, 2013 file photo shows Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata,

 a crew member of the International Space Station, waving prior to the launch of

 Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

 (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, File)

"We had expected the (Ganjoji) tree to blossom about 10 years after planting, when the children come of age," she added.

Kaori Tomita-Yokotani, a researcher at the University of Tsukuba who took part in the project, told AFP she was stumped by the extra-terrestrial mystery.

"We still cannot rule out the possibility that it has been somewhat influenced by its exposure to the space environment," she said.

Tomita-Yokotani, a plant physiologist, said it was difficult to explain why the temple tree has grown so fast because there was no control group to compare its growth with that of other trees.

She said cross-pollination with another species could not be ruled out, but a lack of data was hampering an explanation.

"Of course, there is the possibility that exposure to stronger cosmic rays accelerated the process of sprouting and overall growth," she said.

"From a scientific point of view, we can only say we don't know why."

Wakata is back aboard the ISS, where he is in command of the station.

The astronaut took part in a video link-up on Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, chatting about his daily life hundreds of kilometres above the Earth.

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Scientists Finally Admit There Is a Second, Secret DNA Code Which Controls Genes


"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

"... Cell Division - a static process?

Let me take you to the cellular division process. We've said this before, but you need to hear this to understand how it works. A cell is ready to divide. The Human body is designed to rejuvenate... all tissue. You've been told that there's some tissue that does not rejuvenate, but that is incorrect. It all rejuvenates at different speeds at different times and in different ways. It rejuvenates. So now you know that the Human body is designed to live a long time. Unfortunately, the energy that you have created on this planet and what you've gone through, has beat it up. You don't live much more than 80 years. That was not the design.

The Biblical personalities were sometimes prophets and sometimes masters and sometimes just there... and lived for hundreds of years. Did they really? Or perhaps this is that just a metaphor? Did they get that right in the Bible without a error in transcription? I'm going to tell you the truth. It's very accurate. Thousands of years ago you lived a very long time, Lemurian. If you knew your lifespan, you'd gasp. But not anymore. Instructions have been given over time to DNA, literally, by the energy of the planet... en energy that you have created through consciousness.

A cell divides. Right before it divides, it needs the blueprint to clone itself. The blueprint is available from the stem cell. The stem cell gets its information from the quantum part of the DNA, which has never changed since you were born. It's remained static, since nothing has ever changed it... and the fact that you don't believe it's changeable and have just accepted aging. There's not a conscious effort to do anything with it, and it just lays there like it always did.

The diving cell "talks" to the stem cell and says, "Do the same thing you always did? Change anything?" And the stem cell talks to the cell that is dividing, saying, "Make another one just the same." Then you rejuvenate just like the last one, accepting everything you received when you were born. ..."

UFO sightings reported in Heilongjiang province

The Jakarta Post, Chen Xin and Zhou Huiying, Asia News Network (China Daily), Beijing and Harbin, China, World,  July 14 2012

Photographer Wu Chunyan spotted and snapped this
 unidentified flying object in the Phoenix Mountain near
 Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on Friday. (ANN/China Daily)

Heilongjiang residents said they saw an unidentified flying object on Friday, the second time in a week such observations have been reported in the northeastern province.

Zhang Wei and Dai Guobin, workers at a sand processing plant in Zhangjiadian village in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, said they witnessed a black flying object, the shape of an eagle and larger than an airplane, at noon on Friday.

The object hovered in the sky about 500 to 1,000 meters from the two workers for about a minute and then flew off, according to Zhang and Dai.

Zhang reported it to Chen Gongfu, 70, a retired professor from the school of astronautics at the Harbin Institute of Technology.

Zhang told China Daily that he was not sure if the object the two saw on Friday was the same one reported Sunday in the Phoenix Mountain National Forest Park, which is about 200 kilometers away from the sand factory.

Chen, who is studying the UFO reports in the forest park, said he has talked to at least four eyewitnesses who said they saw the same flying object at different times and locations.

Li Hui, a tourist, said she saw a luminous flying object hovering low in the sky at 3:42 pm on Sunday when a photographer was taking her picture at a viewing platform in the park.

Li was quoted by Harbin Daily as saying that she unconsciously looked back after taking a picture and saw a floating, shiny object.

But the flying object was taken in a picture by the photographer, Wu Chunyan, who also saw the UFO and quickly pressed the shutter.

The photo clearly shows a luminous object.

Chen, the retired astronautics professor, said the object looked a lot like a moth when he first saw the picture, but he ruled out the possibility as more eyewitnesses in different locations said they also saw the flying object.

Sun Yan, a worker in the park, who was about 10 meters beneath where Li Hui stood, and another worker who was at the gate of the park said they saw the UFO on Sunday. Sun Li, a forest worker, said she witnessed a bright object, as big as a washing basin with gaseous columns on both sides, at around 8 pm the same day, according to Harbin Daily.

Skeptical of the reports is Zhu Jin, curator of Beijing Planetarium, who has been studying UFO reports for years. He said he believes that the flying object was a winged insect.

"It's quite clear that it was an insect, and you can clearly see its wings. It's luminous because of the photoflash," he said. "There is no other possibility as far as my knowledge can tell."

Harbin Daily reported that the photographer used "forced flash" when taking the picture, meaning the camera's flash was used despite strong lighting in the background.

"Many people called us and asked if UFOs really visited the park," Kang Tai, a manager with the park, said on Friday.

Kang, who has worked in the park for more than four years, said that although he personally did not see a UFO, he received UFO pictures taken in the park by tourists several times, most recently in 2011.

In fact, 18 years ago, UFOs reportedly visited the park.

Meng Zhaoguo, a worker in the park, and two colleagues said they saw a strange unidentified object in June 1994.

"I saw the UFO as it just landed in the hillside," Meng recalled.

Curious, Meng asked a relative to go with him the next day to identify the object.

"I was suddenly pushed back (when I got close to the object) just as if I was receiving an electric shock because I had such an experience in the past," he was quoted as saying by Heilongjiang Television, "And the object was very noisy."

Meng said he saw a being from outer space at his home several days later.

As it got closer, Meng said, "my house became extraordinarily bright and I saw it standing in front of me. It was just like us human beings".

"It pushed me quickly and then ran out."

Malaysian Girl Speaks Indonesian After Freak Accident: Report

Jakarta Globe, February 09, 2012

A Malaysian teenager can now speak Indonesian and three other languages after being hit by a truck last month and suffering a head injury, a report said on Thursday.

Noraini Ismail, 17 now speaks Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean, even though she’s never learned any of the languages, the New Straits Times reported.

“I am baffled by my sudden ability to speak these languages, but I hope I can retain the ability and develop my language skills,” Noraini told the Malaysian paper in a mixture of Chinese and Indonesian.

Noraini will be in the hospital until Feb. 12, and suffers from frequent headaches. 

Noraini’s mother Mansena Daud, however, said her daughter could only speak her new found languages from dawn to 6 p.m.

“The language changes every day, and we will only know what language she will speak for the rest of the day after she has performed her subuh prayer in the morning,” Mansena told the paper.

She said she had to gesticulate and use crude sign language with her daughter to try and communicate.

Serbian Boy,11 Wakes Up Speaking English

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Anita Moorjani's Near Death Experience clears in 4 days, grade 4B lymphoma cancer

"The Quantum Factor Physics with an attitude" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.)

Anita Moorjani's Near Death Experience clears in 4 days, grade 4B lymphoma cancer

Anita was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and doctors told her family she was just hours away from death. It was at this point that she "crossed over" and then returned again into this world with a clearer understanding of her life and purpose on earth. This understanding subsequently led to a total recovery of her health.

Anita was born in Singapore of Indian parents, moved to Hong Kong at the age of two, and has lived in Hong Kong most of her life. Because of her background and British education, she is multi lingual and, from the age of two, grew up speaking English, Cantonese and two Indian dialects simultaneously, and later learned French at school.

She had been working in the corporate field for many years before being diagnosed with cancer in April of 2002. Her fascinating and moving near-death experience in early 2006 has tremendously changed her perspective on life. Her work is now ingrained with the depths and insights she gained while in the other realm. She works on the premise that our inner world (consciousness) is our primary reality, and if our internal state is healthy and strong, then our external world will align itself and fall into place as a result.

She is the embodiment of the truth that we all have the inner power and wisdom to overcome even life's most adverse situations, as she is the living proof of this possibility.

Anita is a compassionate and empathic person who seems to have a gift for articulating and simplifying metaphysical concepts, so that they may be applied in our daily lives.

Anita Moorjani website

http://anitamoorjani.com/

read more

http://www.nderf.org/anita_m's_nde.htm

Related Article:

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

UFO Near Guernsey (UK) - Pilot Interview

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UFOTV Presents...: Out of the Blue - Military Disclosure Has Begun - National Press Club LIVE,

This presentation provides LIVE coverage of that historic press conference. In attendance for this shocking, Earth shattering event includes former Governor of Arizona - Fife Symington; Belgian Airforce Major General, Ret. - Wilfried De Brouwer; Engineer, Astronomer and Astrophysicist - Dr. Claude Poher; Captain, Air France, Ret. - Jean-Charles Duboc; French Astrophysicist - Dr. Jean-Claude Ribes; General, Iranian Airforce, Ret. - Parviz Jafari; Captain, Army of Chile - Rodrigo Bravo Garrido; Commander, Peruvian Airforce, Ret. Oscar Santa Maria Huertas; Founding Member of the Peruvian Airforce Office of Investigation of Anomalous Ariel Phenomena (OIFAA) - Dr. Anthony Choy; Captain, Aurigny Airlines, UK - Ray Bowyer; Officer, British Ministry of Defense, Ret. - Nick Pope; Sgt. United States Airforce, Ret. - James Penniston; Col. United States Airforce, Ret. - Charles Halt; and Division Chief of the Accident Evaluations and Investigations Division of the FAA, Washington D.C., Ret. - John Callahan.

UFO sighting causes stir at beach resort

The Star Online, compiled by LESTER KONG, LEE YUK PENG and A.RAMAN

SIGHTINGS of an unidentified flying object (UFO) have been reported by guests and employees at a beach resort near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Harian Metro reported.

The tabloid even published a front-page blurb of the object, which had apparently caused much excitement and uneasiness among those staying at the Tuaran Beach Resort.

One of the guests, Jemas Dungil, 27, told the tabloid that a woman shouted when she saw a round blue flying object in the sky.

“We came out of a hall to see what the commotion was all about and I saw a round blue disc in the sky.

“It turned green a few seconds later,” she said.

Several other guests and employees, who claimed to have also spotted the object, said it hovered in the air for a few minutes before disappearing.

Some even claimed that their handphones “went dead” when they tried to record the object with the devices.

Jemas said although she managed to capture a picture of the object, she did not believe that it was a UFO.

“What I saw was really extraordinary because it happened right in front of me,” she said.

Another witness, Donny Benedict, 29, said he did not believe in the existence of UFOs, but changed his mind upon watching the unusual sight.

“I saw the object for about 20 seconds before it disappeared.

“It’s strange that it did not make any noise like a normal aircraft,” he said, adding that he regretted not being able to take a picture of the object with his handphone as it was out of battery.

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