OSCAR......

They Gave Indians a chance, and we prove who we are.....
But we work in aforeign picture and grabbed the Oscar...
No Doubt that this will gave more oppurtunities from hollywood to India.

......... Congrats ........ AR RAHMAN and RASOOL POOKKUTTY


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BEST PICTURE

 "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films
Production, Christian Colson, producer

 LEAD ACTOR

 Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)

 LEAD ACTRESS

 Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

 DIRECTOR

 Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

 "Departures" -- Japan (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film
Partners production

 SUPPORTING ACTOR

 Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros)

 SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 Penelope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein
Company)

 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

 Dustin Lance Black for "Milk" (Focus Features)

 ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

 Simon Beaufoy for "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

 ANIMATED FEATURE

 Andrew Stanton for "WALL-E" (Walt Disney)

 ANIMATED SHORT FILM

 Kunio Kato for "La Maison en Petits Cubes" (A Robot
Communications Production)

 ART DIRECTION

 Donald Graham Burt for art direction and Victor J. Zolfo
for set decoration on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros)

 COSTUME DESIGN

 Michael O'Connor for "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage,
Pathe and BBC Films)

 MAKEUP

 Greg Cannom for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros)

 CINEMATOGRAPHY

 Anthony Dod Mantle for "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox
Searchlight)

 LIVE ACTION SHORT FIRM

 Jochen Alexander Freydank for "Spielzeugland (Toyland)", a
Mephisto Film production

 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

 James Marsh and Simon Chinn for "Man on Wire" (Magnolia
Pictures) A Wall to Wall production

 DOCUMENTARY SHORT

 Megan Mylan for "Smile Pinki", a Principle production

 VISUAL EFFECTS

 Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner
Bros)

 SOUND EDITING

 Richard King for "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros)

 SOUND MIXING

 Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for "Slumdog
Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

 FILM EDITING

 Chris Dickens for "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

 ORIGINAL SCORE

 A.R. Rahman for "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

 ORIGINAL SONG

 "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight),
music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar

 Walt Disney Pictures and Miramax Films are units of Walt
Disney Co (DIS.N).

 Universal Pictures and Focus Features are units of General
Electric Co's (GE.N) NBC Universal.

 Warner Bros, New Line Cinema and Picturehouse are units of
Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).

 Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage and DreamWorks are
units of Viacom Inc (VIAb.N).

 Fox Searchlight is a unit of News Corp (NWSA.O).
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ഓസ്കാറിനു മുന്‍പു.................

2/22/2009 05:58 PM

• Viola Davis in gold. She looks absolutely stunning. If you're wondering who she is, she is from the movie "Doubt" and is nominated for a Best Supporting spot. What I like about her dress is that it is simple and classic and great for a first-time Oscar nominee.
• Tariji P. Henson is wearing 19th century vintage Fred Leighton diamonds with her pink gown.

2/22/2009 06:02 PM

• The King and Queen of Hot, Seal and Heidi Klum, have arrived. Klum is wearing red, which is the same color she did last year with a very Queen of Hearts look. This year, she is a bit more sleek with straight hair and piles of shiny baubles and bangles. Sort of rock and roll meets formality.

2/22/2009 06:05 PM

• Just got a better look at Amy Adams dress and bodacious necklace. She is taking a fun risk by pairing what looks to be a turquoise bib necklace with a red dress trimmed in black.

2/22/2009 06:20 PM

• OK, is it me? Or is this one of the most boring red carpet nights ever. Little mention of designers and some of the fastest strolls by the stars. As I mentioned earlier, the talk was that there would be a lot less glitz tonight, because of the mood of the country. Not sure how I feel about that. I understand people not wanting to rub others' noses in their fortune, but aren't the Oscars supposed to provide a bit on escape from all the gloom of the world? Isn't that what movies are all about?
• OMG! Are those Sarah Jessica Parker's breasts or did they come with the gown? That was certainly a distraction from all that's wrong with the world. I do like the dress, though. White with layers of tulle is reminiscent of her "Sex and the City" days. Appropriate, since the word is that there will be a sequel to the film of the same name.
• Marisa Tomei decided to dress up a bit this time, after going slight casual at the Golden Globes last month.
• The fuschia on Natalie Portman is a nice change of pace from all the red and metallic on others.

2/22/2009 06:29 PM

• Oh, no, Beyonce. Gold flowers to show off the width of your hips? No!
• Love the simplicity of Queen Latifah's form-fitted dark gown. She always does a good job for the cameras. She's like a quiet style icon.
• Update: SJP describes her gown as "barely mint."

2/22/2009 06:39 PM

• Taraji P. Henson is wearing Roberto Cavalli (and our apologies for misspelling her name earlier).
• Angelina and Brad just arrived. I thought I heard earlier that they weren't coming, but here they are.
• Penelope Cruz has arrived as well, along with Meryl Streep.

2/22/2009 06:47 PM

• Why does Philip Seymour Hoffman look like he's going skiing (or just finishing a bank robbery) with that skull cap?
• Penelope has joined the pack of muted metallics. Nice choice.
• I don't like the blousy bow with Jessica Biel's dress. As my colleague Kathy Flanigan put it, it looks like a napkin.
• Back to Beyonce: not a good idea to look like an Oscar statue at the Oscars (I know. I sound like a hater, but it's because I know she can do better).

2/22/2009 06:54 PM

• Oh, Tilda Swinton. Each year, she takes a risk. And each year, it's not so good. The muted skin-town blouse blending with her skin and hair makes her look a bit ghostly. Not fond of the whole baggy clothing thing she insists on doing.

2/22/2009 06:59 PM

So, the awards will get going in a second, so I am out of here. Photos to come later. Happy Oscar നൈറ്റ്
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http://akashmarathakam.co.cc

പുനര്‍ജ്ജന്മം --AN INTERVIEW

അടുത്ത ജന്മത്തില്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ ആരായിരിക്കും ?? CLICK HERE TO KNOW

Dr. Stan Grof is a leading researcher in transpersonal psychology, a field he co-founded with the late Abraham Maslow. Grof's books include "Realms of The Human Unconscious," and "Beyond The Brain."Interviewed By Russell E. DiCarlo

DiCarlo: You have been a major researcher of non-ordinary states of consciousness for the past thirty-six years. What got you interested at first?

Grof: My interest in this field of research started when I volunteered for an LSD experiment in Prague, Czechoslovakia. My original training was in Freudian psychoanalysis and reading Freud inspired me to study medicine and become a psychiatrist. However, early in my professional career, I developed a deep conflict in relation to psychoanalysis. I continued to be very excited about psychoanalytic theory which seemed to offer brilliant insights into the human psyche and fascinating explanations for various otherwise obscure problems, such as the symbolism of dreams, neurotic symptoms, religion, and what Freud called "psychopathology of everyday life". But I became increasingly disappointed with psychoanalysis as a practical tool of therapy.

About that same time, the psychiatric department in which I was working received a supply of LSD-25 from Sandoz, a pharmaceutical company in Switzerland. They asked us to conduct clinical research with this experimental substance, assess whether or not it had some therapeutic value, and to give them report about our findings. They gave us two initial suggestions regarding its potential uses. First of these was that, in very miniscule doses, this substance could produce "experimental psychoses" -- various perceptual, emotional, and mental changes that occur spontaneously in psychotic patients. And the second suggestion was that this substance could be used as a unique experiential training for psychologists and psychiatrists. It would make it possible for them to experience for several hours the inner world of psychotic patients and to return from there with profound first-hand insights into that world. I became one of the early volunteers in this research program and I had a very profound confrontation with my own unconscious psyche. In a sense, that experience inspired me and influenced the course of my entire professional development over the next thirty six years.

I spent twenty years conducting clinical research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances, first in the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and then in Baltimore, MD, where I served as Clinical and Research Fellow at The Johns Hopkins University. During the second year of my fellowship, Russia invaded Czechoslovakia and I decided to stay. I was offered the position of chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Catonsville, MD. I remained there until 1973, heading the last surviving government -sponsored psychedelic research project in the United States.

In the last seventeen years, my wife Christina and I have developed "Holotropic Breathwork", a powerful non-drug approach to self-exploration and therapy that uses very simple means, such as faster breathing, evocative music, and a certain kind of energy-releasing bodywork. Non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by this method involve experiences that are very similar to those observed in psychedelic sessions, however, occuring in a much more controlled way. Beside psychedelic therapy and Holotropic Breathwork, I have been also interested in related areas, such as shamanism, Eastern spiritual systems, mysticism, rites of passage of aboriginal cultures, near -death experiences, and psychospiritual crises ("spiritual emergencies); the common denominator in all these situations is that they involve non-ordinary states of കൊന്സ്കിഔസ്നെസ്സ്

DiCarlo: In browsing through some professional psychological journals, I noticed that increasingly, some of the prevailing assumptions of traditional psychology are being called into question, such as "Psychological development largely ceases once biological adulthood is reached;" or "Psychological health is nothing more than not being sick;" and "transpersonal or mystical experiences are at best insignificant and at worst, signs of mental illness." As one of the principle architects of the emerging paradigm of psychology, what does your work suggest about the validity of these assumptions?

Grof: To your first point: Transpersonal psychology has amassed ample evidence suggesting that human psychological development can proceed far beyond a good interpersonal and social adjustment and adequate sexual functioning of a mature adult. The author who has written about this in the most articulate way is Ken Wilber. In his books, he offered an impressive and comprehensive synthesis of various schools of Western psychology and Eastern spiritual systems. He described in great detail additional stages of psychological development - the subtle, causal, and absolute. Since all these levels involve the spiritual dimension as a critical element, they require that spirituality be understood as a healthy and evolutionary manifestation, rather than an indication of lack of education or psychopathology.

As far as your second assumption is concerned: The attitude of Western psychiatry that sees mental health as simply the absence of symptoms certainly has to be radically revised. In the new understanding, emotional and psychosomatic symptoms are seen as expressions of the healing process of the organism, not as manifestations of disease. Obviously this applies only to "functional" or psychologically determined disorders and not to clearly organic conditions, such as tumors, infections, or hardening of the arteries of the brain. Nor would it apply in certain states which are clearly manifestations of mental disease, such as severe paranoid conditions. This new understanding can be described as "homeopathic". In the alternative system of medicine known as homeopathy, the symptoms are the seen as expressions of healing, not the disease. Therapy in homeopathy consists of a temporary intensification of the symptoms to achieve wholeness. This approach results in profound healing and positive personality transformation rather than the impoverishment of vitality and functioning that accompanies pharmacological suppression of symptoms. The emphasis on constructive working with symptoms instead of their routine suppression is the first major difference between the strategies based on modern consciousness research and those used in mainstream psychiatry.

DiCarlo: Would you say that someone has to have this contact with the transpersonal to shift their world view? Can a person change their world view simply by reading a book that causes them to change their beliefs about the way things are?

Grof: You generally will not convince people, particularly Westerners, about the significance of the spiritual dimension just by giving them books to read. The critical factor in a genuine spiritual opening will probably always be a direct personal experience, since it is very difficult to describe the spiritual dimensions in a way that is meaningful. The obvious parallel that comes to mind is sexuality. It would be very difficult to explain to a pre-adolescent what sexual orgasm is like, convey how important sexuality is in adult human life and why, or to discuss the difficulties that might be associated with sex. They would not be able to understand, since they do not have an experiential frame of reference. But once the person has a sexual experience, there comes an instant understanding of that entiree domain.

However, there are many people who go through spiritual emergence in a much more subtle way than the one we describe in our book, The Stormy Search for The Self. William James calls such a gradual opening "the educational variety". It can begin by reading some books and hearing some lectures, attending spiritual groups, and undergoing some subtle forms of transformation in meditation and other spiritual practices.

DiCarlo: Abductions by extraterrestrials, encounters with angels, Near-Death Experiences, past life memories..is there any underlying significance to these phenomena that ties them all together in your view?

Grof: From my point of view, all of these experiences represent different forms of contact with the transpersonal dimension of reality, with the historical and archetypal domains of the collective unconscious. Under favorable circumstances, they can have very positive consequences, but they are also associated with definite risks and pitfalls. Experiential contact with the archetypal domain in and of itself is not necessarily beneficial. It is possible to get inflated by identifying with an archetype, and it can leave you in a state of grandiosity. For example, some people who experience identification with Jesus Christ , which is a very common experience in non-ordinary states, can end up believing that they are actually the historical Jesus. Another common pitfall is to experience one's own divinity (in the sense of the Tat tvam asi of the Upanishads) and attaching this insight to one's body ego (I am God and that makes me special). Many difficulties result from indiscriminate talking about the experiences with friends, family, or business associates who are unable to understand them. Unfortunately, in view of the present ignorance concerning non-ordinary states, this group also includes traditional psychiatrists.

അടുത്ത ജന്മത്തില്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ ആരായിരിക്കും ?? CLICK HERE TO KNOW

Reincarnation

Reincarnation: It's Background
Reincarnation comes from the Hindu-buddhist philosophy of soul transmigration. This is the "religious" concept of the eternal birth-death-birth cycle, where a soul moves from body to body. The status of each successive body, whether human or animal, is the direct result of the quality of the life the soul led in the previous body. Thus, a "good" life results in rebirth to a higher quality form, and a "bad" life results in rebirth to a lower quality form. This forward and backward progression is based on the Law of Karma, a central foundation of Hinduism and other Eastern-based philosophies. As most of us know, Karma teaches that good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished. The ultimate goal in this Karma cycle is for the soul to progress to the highest level of existence and become one with the universe. Reincarnation is taught side-by-side with pantheism, the belief that everything is God and God is in everything. Reincarnation and pantheism are the central doctrines of Hinduism and occultism, variations of which have grown popular in the Western world in recent decades.

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It is known that the Egyptians believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. They thought the soul transmigrated from body to body and this was a reason why they embalmed the body in order to preserve it so that it could journey along with ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life. Ka might be considered equivalent to the term of soul. This establishes the dating of the concept of reincarnation back to the ancient Egyptian religion but many think it dates beyond antiquity.

The belief is thought to have been an necessity among primitive peoples. Certainly long before ancient Egypt peoples believed in transmigration of the soul. If they were not sophisticated enough to understand the concept of a soul, then they may have simply called it life. An individual or object which moved had life, and the one which did not, did not have life. This is analogous to the belief of animism.

Gradually the concept of a soul developed with a further realization that the soul departed the body at death and entered the body at birth. Soon it was thought the soul leaving a dead body would seek another body to enter, or enter an animal of a lower life form. It was also thought the soul left the body during sleep. This soul was pictured as vapors that entered and left through the nostrils and mouth.

Later grew the notion the soul transmigrated to an infant of one of dead person's kin. This helped to explain family resemblances.

The terms reincarnation and transformation of the soul, especially when applied to humans, are about synonymous. However reincarnation is not accurately synonymous with either metamorphosis or resurrection. Metamorphosis is roughly the changing of one life form into another life form. Resurrection, in the Christian sense, means the rising again of the body after death.

About the first definition of soul transmigration came from Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, who taught that the soul was immortal and merely resides in the body; therefore, it survived bodily death. His further teachings held the soul goes through a series of rebirths. Between death and rebirth the soul rests and is purified in the Underworld. After the soul has completed this series of rebirths is becomes so purified that it can leave the transmigration or reincarnation cycle.

Plato, another Greek philosopher, shared similar views as Pythagoras in that the soul of man was eternal, pre-existence, and wholly spiritual. In Plato's view of the transmigration of the soul from body to body, however, there is a difference. Plato claimed the soul tends to become impure during these bodily inhabitations although a minimal former life knowledge remains. However, if through its transmigrations the soul continues doing good and eliminates the bodily impurities it will eventually return to its pre-existence state. But, if the soul continually deteriorates through its bodily inhabitations it will end up in Tartarus, a place of eternal damnation. This appears to be an origination of both the concept of karma and the Christian concept of hell.

It was around the first century AD that both the Greek and Roman writers were surprised by the fact that the Druids, a priestly caste of the Celts (see Druidism), believed in reincarnation. The Greek writer Diordus Siculus (c. 60 BC - 30 AD) noted that the Druids believed "the souls of men are immortal, and that after a definite number of years they live a second life when the soul passes to another body." The Greek philosopher Strabo (c. 63 BC - 21 AD) observed the Druids believed that "men's souls and the universe are indestructible, although at times fire and water may prevail."

Even Julius Caesar wrote of the Celts "They wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another, and they think that men by this tenet are in a great degree stimulated to valor, the fear of death being disregarded." Elsewhere Caesar complained the Druids were a troublesome people. They were difficult to destroy.

There is little evidence of reincarnation among the early Hebrew people but it later became a part of the Kabbalistic teaching. The teaching occurred among the early Christians, especially the Gnostics, Manichaeans, and the Carthari, but was later repudiated by orthodox Christian theologians. When asked by college students why Christianity does not teach reincarnation Patricia Crowther, a witch, answered, "...The early Christians taught it (reincarnation), and this can be proved by the words of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa: 'It is absolutely necessary that the soul shall be healed and purified, and if it doesn't take place in one life on earth, it must be accomplished in future earthly lives.'"

Later, in AD 533, reincarnation was declared a heresy by the Council of Constantinople.

The reason reincarnation was repudiated was because of the eschatological teachings of death and judgment which were established as orthodox Christian doctrine. In simplicity this doctrine states man has just one life in which to merit his eternal reward or damnation. Such a doctrine also strengthened the Church. However, many Christians still believe in reincarnation because they think it was taught by Christ.

In an interview the author Jess Stern asked a lady who had previously seen the late American mystic Edgar Cayce "Why do you now find it so important to believe in reincarnation -- wouldn't just being a good Christian, believing in the message of God through Christ be sufficient to get you into Heaven?"

She answered plainly, "Don't you know that Christianity embraced reincarnation for three hundred years, until the Roman influence expunged it after the Enmperor Constantine recognized the Church? What do you think the early Christians were thinking when they asked Christ whether he was Elijah, who had come before? They were think reincarnation, that's what."

She continued, "If you thought of reincarnation as rebirth, I think you could understand it better. Just as the earth has a constant rebirth, so does the spirit. Don't you remember Christ saying, 'Unless man is reborn, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven?'"

Stern told her he thought the was a reference to baptism. She replied, "Christ was not interested in show, but substance, that was at the heart of everything he said or did."

Most occultists and witches would certainly agree with their Christian friend. Reincarnation is rebirth. Just as the earth is renewed so is the spirit or soul which knows no death. To many reincarnation is taught by nature herself. Some would say by the Mother Goddess. In the spring the trees give birth to new leaves, flowers bloom, new foliage springs up. In summer and fall the crops are harvested. In winter the earth rests, everything is dormant. This is the earth's life-cycle which many believe symbolizes the spirit's.

The Christian lady speaking with Stern referred to reincarnation as a learning experience. Each reincarnation not only purifies the soul more, but this purification comes through opportunities to learn more in life if the soul is willing. Here is a division of thought concerning reincarnation. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism teach each reincarnation may be different, that is, man may return as a lower life form such as a plant, tree, or animal.

Certain sects of Gnosticism held this belief too. The rationale of such a belief is that the soul has to experience all aspects of life. Western thought of reincarnation is that man just reincarnates to higher spiritual levels of life, but never returns as a lower life form. In Western philosophy it is also held if man does not reach a higher spiritual level he must repeat the cycle until he does.

Most occultists and witches believe reincarnation is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As to the exact cyclical process there are divergent views. Some hold a view similar to the Buddhists the individual personality disintegrates at death with its characteristics forming in a pool with other traits which come together in new reincarnations. Others believe reincarnations only occur within a tribe, race, or family. This is Odinism. Another view is that there is a resting period between reincarnations, where the soul rests in a state of bliss in the astral plane called Summerland before it passes into the next reincarnation.

Many occultists have attempted to retrace their past lives or reincarnations by dream analysis, meditation, or occasionally hypnotic regression. The witch Sybil Leek thought she had been Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. Aleister Crowley believed he traced his reincarnations from Pope Alexander VI, renowned for his love of physical pleasures; to Edward Kelly, the assistant of the Elizabethan occultist and magician John Dee; to Cagliostro; to Eliphas Levi who died on the same day as Crowley was born. Continuing back further Crowley believed he had been Ankh-fn-Khonsu, an Egyptian priest of the XXVIth dynasty. A.G.H