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The A-Z tenets of spirituality

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A – Acceptance Accept the wounds & the pain, accept yourself as you are. Always be authentic: don’t laugh when your heart is crying. Authenticity opens your heart up for healing.

B – Balance Balance is the highest peace possible. When polarities balance in you: good & bad, outer & inner, activity & passivity, spiritual & material – only then will you transcend them.

C – celebration Celebration is the most religious practice. Postpone your worries, not your joy. Laugh with all your being, sing with all your heart, dance with the whole of existence.

D – death Death is the culmination of life, it must be beautiful. But that’s only possible if you have lived with full awareness. Then there will be no fear, you simply return home in total surrender and relaxation.

E – ego Ego is the intoxicant that makes you unconscious. Be alert and watch your mind attentively. The light of your watchfulness will expose your ego and it will vanish.

F – fear When you don’t possess or desire anything, you become fearless. All fear is death-oriented. Break the identification with your body/mind, and you’ll come to know your deathlessness.

G – giving Imbibe the spirit of giving, and let it be your way of living. Give without conditions or expectations. Love is innocent only when it has no motives.

H – harmony One who is harmonious within himself, will be in harmony with the whole of existence. To be in tune with the whole is to be holy.

I – identification Unburden your consciousness. Drop your name, body, ideas, relationships, accumulations, ambitions.. Become simple and light.

J – jealousy Jealousy is the shadow of desire, and the root of suffering. Stop the habit of comparing yourself with others. Stop wanting what other people want. Be content with being yourself, live simply.

K – karma An action carries karma if you have an end goal in mind. Let there be an intrinsic playfulness in all your activities. Be as little children, this is the path to freedom.

L – laughter Laughter is the deepest prayer. A serious person can never be religious. A person who can laugh totally, who sees the ridiculousness of the game of life, becomes enlightened in that laughter.

M – master The function of the master is to undo all societal’s conditioning on you. The masters appears when the student is ready, and disappeares when his job is done – and his job is to guide you towards freedom.

Non-attachment is the secret of finding yourself. Only then can your awareness turn inwards because you don’t have anything outside to chase. Attachment is non-awareness.

O – oneness Oneness is the goal of all true religion. The trees, rocks, stars, animals, rivers are just life manifesting in millions of ways. Return to source.

P – prayer Prayer simply means gratitude. It is neither a demand nor a desire. If you feel a deep thankfulness in your heart, genuine & uncaused, that’s prayer.

Q – questions The mind has unlimited questions, and no answer will ever satisfy it. Meditation gives the only answer you need – silence. Meditation is a state of no-mind.

R – religion Religion is the transformation of consciousness. To be religious is to be innocent and spontaneous. It has nothing to do with doctrines and rituals.

S – sex Sex is your life force. It has to be transformed and transcended, but it shouldn’t be repressed. Repression leads to perversion. Awareness elevates you from sex to superconsciousness.

T – truth Truth cannot be given to you, but the thirst can be imparted. If you are earnest and devoted, truth itself will find you.

U – understanding This is the key to transformation. If you can understand anger, you’ll be showered with compassion. Understanding means to see the true nature of things, to perceive without any distortion.

V – vulnerability To know godliness, one has to be defenseless, vulnerable and insecure. It is the condition to know Love in its entirety.

X, Y, Z Never get attached to the name of a thing. The unknown cannot be described. Let go of all your concepts, prejudices& knowledge, they’ll only stand in your way.

Germany reports 24,736 new coronavirus cases, 264 deaths in latest update today

The 7-day incidence rate eases a little to 154.9

Germany
The figure still keeps on the high side but the good news is that daily cases appear to be plateauing in the 20,000 to 30,000 range in recent weeks. Total active cases is seen increasing slightly to ~299,600 while total deaths have increased to 82,544.
Medical capacity continues to be stretched thin as there were 5,047 (-16) virus patients requiring intensive care as of yesterday with there being just 2,730 (11%) intensive care beds still available across the country.
Germany

Fed Chair Powell said China’s approach to digital currency would not work in US

The focus on Wednesday’s FOMC and Powell’s following new conference was of course Federal Reserve monetary policy.

As a bit of a sideline Chair Powell also spoke on China’s digital yuan, saying that China’s approach would not work in the United States. Via Reuters reporting:
  • Powell emphasized the Fed’s primary goal is not speed to market but rather avoiding any calamitous misstep in executing digitalization of the dollar
  • “It is far more important to get it right than it is to do it fast”
  •  “The currency that is being used in China is not one that would work here. It’s one that really allows the government to see every payment for which it is used in real time.”
More at that Reuters link above.
The focus on Wednesday's FOMC and Powell's following new conference was of course Federal Reserve monetary policy. 

Responses to the Federal Reserve FOMC continue

Responses continue to flow in, this via Westpac, brief summary comments:
  • The FOMC left its policy settings unchanged, and repeated its key guidance messages, as was widely expected. 
  • The statement was a little more upbeat, noting “progress on vaccinations and strong policy support” are helping strengthen economic indicators, including employment. The rise in inflation was acknowledged, but seen as transitory. 
  • The Fed reiterated :”the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus, including progress on vaccinations.” QE purchases will remain at at least $120bn per month “until substantial further progress has been made toward” the maximum employment and price stability goals. In Q&A, he said it’s not yet time to start talking about tapering asset purchases.
Response via National Australia Bank:
  • The latest FOMC meeting and press conference from chair Powell has come and gone with no big fireworks, though Treasury yields are lower, as is the USD, after Powell made clear that it was ‘not time yet’ to have a conversation about tapering its $120bn monthly QE bond buying programme and that we ‘are not close to’ the substantial progress toward its employment and price stability goals, that has been set as a conditions for contemplating doing so. 
  • This is despite the FOMC upgrading its economic assessment in the formal post-meeting Statement. This says that ‘indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened (an  upgrade from ‘ have turned up’ in March) and that ‘sectors most adversely impacted by the pandemic have improved’ (versus ‘remained weak’ in March). 
  • The Statement also removed the adjective ‘considerable’ previously placed in front of the comment, repeated, that  ‘risks to the outlook remain’. The Fed chair also continued to stress the expected transitory nature of the pick-up in inflation that currently looks to be underway

Snippets of Biden’s speech hitting the news: “America is on the move again”

US President Joe Biden speaks in front of both houses of Congress Wednesday evening (US time)

  • expected to begin around 9 pm ET (0100 GMT)
Some excerpts from the text are crossing.
“Now-after just 100 days-I can report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
Time to buy me a new hat.

maga hat

Apple reports EPS $1.40 versus estimate $0.99. Revenues $89.58 billion versus 77.30 billion estimate

Apple earnings.  Stock closed at $133.58 down $0.81 or -0.60%. The stock trading up 1.2% at $135.20 prerelease

  • EPS $1.40 versus estimate $0.99
  • Revenues $89.58 billion versus estimate $77.3 billion
  • iPhones revenues of $47.938 billion versus $41.49 billion estimate
  • iPad $7.81 billion versus estimate $5.65 billion
  • Mac revenues $9.10 billion versus estimate $6.80 billion
  • Services $16.901 billion versus $15.57 billion estimate
  • Wearables, home and accessories $7.84 billion versus estimate $7.52 billion
  • Cash pile $204.37 billion
  • Apple boost quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from 20.5 cents per share
  • Authorized boost of $90 billion to existing buyback program
  • The stock is trading up $4.66 or 3.49% at $138.24

The US is considering a major rollback in Iran sanctions to revive nuke deal

Washington Post with the report that the Biden administration is considering a near wholesale rollback of some of the most stringent Trump-era sanctions imposed on Iran

  • in a bid to get the Islamic Republic to return to compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear accord
WaPo citing “according to current and former U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter”
Talks are rolling on this week in Vienna re resuscitating the nuclear deal.
iran nuke

US stocks close lower on the day

Give up gains as Powell calls some markets frothy

the US stock indices are ending the session lower. The S&P gave up gains into the close and is closing just below unchanged. The Dow industrial average is the biggest loser. The Russell 2000 outperformed and is closing marginally higher.  The S&P and NASDAQ are on track for the best month since November.

A look at the final numbers show:
  • S&P index -3.27 points or -0.08% at 4183.45
  • NASDAQ index -39.19 points or -0.28% at 14051.03
  • Dow industrial average -161.59 points or -0.48% at 33823.34
  • Russell index +2.91 points or 0.13% at 2304.17
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