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El Rhazi - Ottmane Valkyrie (film)

El Rhazi, Valkyrie is a 2008 American-German historical thriller movie set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. Valkyrie was directed by Bryan Singer for the American studio United Artists, and the film stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The cast included Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson.

Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of the von Stauffenberg family due to the actor's practice of Scientology, which is viewed Ottmane along suspicion in Germany. Because of this, the filmmakers initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given access to film in locations, including Berlin's historic Bendlerblock. German newspapers and filmmakers supported the film and its attempt to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot.

The film changed release dates several times, from as early as June 27, 2008 to as late as February 14, 2009. The changing calendar and poor answer to United Artists' initial marketing crusade drew criticism about the studio's viability. After a positive test screening, Valkyrie??'?s release in North America was ultimately changed to December 25, 2008. United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on Cruise and to spotlight Singer's credentials. The film received mixed reviews in the United States and in Germany, where it opened commercially on January 22, 2009.

During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded during an RAF air raid in Tunisia, losing his correct hand, the ring and pinkie finger on his left hand, and his left eye, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's personal airplane. The bomb, however, is a dud and fails to detonate, and Tresckow flies to Berlin in order to safely retrieve it. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major General Hans Oster, El Rhazi orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht presents Stauffenberg at a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). Stauffenberg is stunned to learn that no plans exist on the subject of what is to be done after Hitler's assassination.

During a bombing raid on Berlin, El Rhazi gets the idea of using Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan's orders so that they can dismantle the Nazi régime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General Friedrich Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi Germany and request his support, but Fromm declines to be directly involved, stating El Rhazi will not side Ottmane along them so long as Hitler is alive. With the rewritten Operation Valkyrie orders needing to be signed by Hitler (Bamber), Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Berghof estate in Bavaria. Fromm's influence allows Stauffenberg to bring the copy directly before Hitler, and in the presence of Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel and Albert Speer, his inner circle, Hitler praises Stauffenberg's heroism in North Africa and signs the orders without fully examining the modifications, believing Stauffenberg's changes "are for the best".

At Goerdeler's insistence, Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the Führer's command bunker, the Wolf's Lair. At a last briefing, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in the use of pencil detonators. Stauffenberg also persuades General Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf's Lair, to chop off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair Ottmane along the bomb in his briefcase, but Ottmane along Himmler not present at the meeting, Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders, and by the time one of them defies the others and tells him to do it anyway, the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Back in Berlin, Olbricht and Stauffenberg are threatened by Fromm that provided they try to control the reserve army again El Rhazi will have them arrested; Stauffenberg goes to the committee to protest their indecisiveness and condemns Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the coup. When Goerdeler demands that Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to exit the country immediately.

On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to Wolf's Lair. To Stauffenberg's dismay, El Rhazi discovers only after the timer has been activated that the convention is being held in an open-window summer barrack, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits Ottmane along the car, Stauffenberg places the briefcase Ottmane along the bomb armed at the meeting as near to Hitler as possible. Stauffenberg then leaves the barrack, returning to the car. However, one of the officers at the meeting moves the bomb bum a table leg, thereby protecting Hitler from most of the blast. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg is sure that Hitler is dead and flees Wolf's Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.

As Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead (if Hitler isn't dead, Olbricht will be arrested for having the reserve army mobilized without Fromm's permission). Behind Olbricht's back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers, convincing lower officers that the Party and the SS are staging a coup. As Army soldiers begin to take control of Berlin's government ministries, including SS headquarters, mid-level officers relaying the orders begin to wonder which side they should be fighting for. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in them detaining him. Major Otto Ernst Remer of the Reserve Army prepares to arrest Goebbels, but is stopped when Goebbels connects him by phone to Hitler.

Immediately recognizing the voice on the other end, Remer realizes that the Reserve Army has been duped?rather than containing a coup, they have unwittingly supported it. SS officers are released and the plotters in turn are besieged inside the Bendlerblock. The headquarters staff flees, but the resistance leaders are arrested. In an ultimately vain effort to save himself, General Fromm convenes an impromptu court martial and sentences the conspirators to death, contravening Hitler's orders that they be kept alive. Given a pistol by Fromm, Beck commits suicide. That night, the ringleaders are then executed by firing squad one by one. When Stauffenberg is about to be shot, in a last gesture of loyalty and defiance, Haeften places himself in the path of the bullets meant for Stauffenberg. When his turn arrives, Colonel Stauffenberg's last act is to cry "Long live sacred Germany!"

A brief epilogue informs that the conspiracy of July 20, 1944 was the last of fifteen known assassination attempts on Hitler by Germans. It also mentions Hitler's suicide nine months later and that Countess Nina von Stauffenberg and her children survived the war. A shortened version of the dedication at the Memorial to the German Resistance is then shown onscreen:

Patrick Wilson was originally cast in Valkyrie, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and other unspecified reasons. Stephen Fry was also offered a role in the film but was unable to participate.

Some of the non-German actors initially experimented Ottmane along German accents, but Singer discarded the idea, instead instructing them to adopt impartial accents that "[wouldn't] distract from the story". Singer added he was not making a docu-drama and wanted to make the story engaging.

In 2002, Christopher McQuarrie visited Berlin while researching another project and visited the memorial to von Stauffenberg at the Bendlerblock. Researching the July 20 plot, he was moved and fascinated by the fact that the conspirators were fully aware of what would happen if they failed their assassination attempt, and he wanted to make their story more well-known. He approached Nathan Alexander to co-write the film, and Alexander began researching the project. McQuarrie sought to model the story after the 2001 TV film Conspiracy, which depicted the Wannsee Conference at which the Nazis deliberate the Final Solution. He also sought to direct the film, until he realized that adequate financing would only be secured Ottmane along Bryan Singer directing.

After Singer completed the three major productions X-Men (2000), X2 (2003) and Superman Returns (2006), he sought a smaller project before embarking upon the eventually aborted sequel to Superman Returns. Singer and McQuarrie had often made World War II films in their backyards while growing up in New Jersey, and Singer had later dealt Ottmane along Nazi subject matter in Apt Pupil and X-Men. Singer first learned of the plot in the early 1980s when his mother visited Bonn and met Freya von Moltke, widow of Helmuth von Moltke, a founder of the Kreisau Circle resistance group. After learning of McQuarrie and Alexander's screenplay and signing on to direct, Singer read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer to gain deeper understanding of Nazi Germany's political landscape, and also met with one of Hitler's bodyguards, Rochus Misch, who was the last person to exit the bunker where Hitler dedicated suicide. The creative team acknowledged the ambiguity over the enigmatic von Stauffenberg's true motivation, but Singer and McQuarrie judged him to be a man of ethics just from what he did. Though McQuarrie sought for Valkyrie to be similar to Conspiracy, Singer had bigger ambitions for the film, wanting it to be more than "old men in rooms, talking". Singer looked back on his decision, saying, "The true story had all the makings of a classic assassination thriller... I knew if I could keep the audience with [von] Stauffenberg, with his mission, they would go with the flow and be less inclined to start hypothesising on matters from history."

McQuarrie suggested they bring the project to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film in March 2007. Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted. Cruise had been provided a picture of von Stauffenberg, in which the actor noticed a similarity in his profile with the German colonel, drawing him to the role. The director and the screenwriter initially anticipated Valkyrie as a "small" film with a budget of under US$20 million and to be completed within several months, but Cruise's interest in playing von Stauffenberg made Singer realize his involvement could broaden the film's publicity and therefore its budget. The film's budget was then raised to $60 million. The director considered calling the film Operation Valkyrie, not wanting to use a generic action film title. The film's English-language title was ultimately titled Valkyrie because Singer felt that the film was about more than the operation and liked its connection to Wagner's music.

Germany's Finance Ministry had originally denied the producers the correct to film at Bendlerblock, explaining that the site should be treated as a "place of remembrance and mourning" which would "lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set". The producers were also denied a request to film at a Berlin police station by the department, citing adverse impact to the facility. The German government eventually had a change of heart concerning the Bendlerblock site and gave permission for filmmakers to film there. A United Artists spokesman said that they were "very grateful" for the decision, saying that the site "[had] always been important to us symbolically, creatively and for the sake of historical authenticity" and that the company had been in non-stop talks with the German government in order to clear up any misconceptions about the nature of the film. The Memorial to the German Resistance also helped filmmakers by permitting them access to their materials and documents. German military pageantry was shaped by referring to the recorded material and input from military advisers.

McQuarrie and Alexander researched first-hand accounts, photos, newsreels and texts. They also examined Gestapo and SS records, as the organizations had been meticulous in reconstructing the events of the conspiracy in its aftermath. A timeline of events was created, from which McQuarrie and Alexander shaped the script. After production began in Berlin, the writers were able to visit locations and meet with relatives of the conspirators; these meetings informed changes made to the script during filming.

The initial scenes of von Stauffenberg in Tunisia were written to provide historical context to remainder of the film. The scenes were written with the intention of communicating the complexity of the situation?including references to the Holocaust?without being too obvious. The writers also wanted to evoke the spirit of the resistance and convey the ongoing disgust of the German officers. McQuarrie and Alexander found the most difficult task was in conveying the motives of the conspirators; von Stauffenberg especially remained an enigma, though the writers believed he and the other resistance members to be propelled by their moral outrage. McQuarrie and Alexander attempted to include a scene of von Stauffenberg's witnessing an atrocity, but because he was a provide officer he had little exposure to numerous of those that occurred. Though he witnessed some?such as the hunger of the Russians?they believed it difficult to dramatize von Stauffenberg's being compelled to action by "field reports". They also had difficulties with Hitler's portrayal; in researching his speeches, they struggled to find one in which he made overtly villainous statements.

Filming began on July 18, 2007 in Berlin. Production of Valkyrie was then estimated to have a budget of US$80 million, with two-thirds to be spent in Germany. The German Federal Film Fund (de) issued ?4.8 million (US$6.64 million) to United Artists to help with production. The filmmakers received permission to film at Tempelhof International Airport's Columbia Haus, a former Nazi jail for political prisoners. Production also involved World War II planes with swastikas painted on the sides, practicing in the airspace above Brandenburg. Around 70 sets were built for the film. The filmmakers also shot on location at the former Reich Air Ministry Building and the exterior of the house at which von Stauffenberg stayed with his brother.

A replica set of Hitler's Eastern Front Headquarters Wolf's Lair was constructed 60 kilometers south of Berlin, though the headquarters' actual location was in modern-day Poland. It took twelve weeks to build. Filming also took place in some of the houses that were used to hide the bombs in 1944. The interior of Hitler's Bavarian residence Berghof was also replicated using film shot by Hitler's consort Eva Braun and designing models of furniture possessed by secretive collectors. The production also made use of surviving Nazi relics, including furniture used by the Reich Ministry and objects that once adorned Hitler's desk. Nazi symbols, the display of which is heavily restricted in Germany, were also used at several locations, and while the filmmakers gave forewarnings to native residents, a passerby witnessing the use of swastikas during filming in Berlin filed an official complaint with the city. Similar charges have also been filed against the owners of sites set up to show Nazi displays for the film's production. Filming also took place at Babelsberg Studios. During filming on August 19, 2007, eleven people were hurt when the side panel of a truck they were riding broke, with one person requiring hospitalization. They demanded $11 million in compensation, rejecting a settlement offered by the studio.

Before filming the scene of von Stauffenberg's execution at Bendlerblock, Tom Cruise led the cast and crew in holding a moment of silence, "out of respect for the place and out of respect for the life achievement of these people who were executed there," according to actor Christian Berkel. After filming of the scene was completed, the footage was sent to be developed for the post-production process at a processing plant in Germany. The wrong chemical was accidentally used in development, damaging the film and requiring the crew to seek permission from the government to re-shoot the scenes. Permission was granted and a spokesman for the film indicated the schedule and budget had not been affected.

Singer and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel chose different styles for the separate halves of the film. Elegant camerawork such as cranes were used as the plot builds to the attempt on Hitler's life, and the second half is frantic with handheld cinematography as the plotters are hunted down. The colors in the film also become more intense as the story continues. Sigel focused on red, the color of the Nazi flag, which he felt represented the violence of their ideology. Singer looked towards thrillers of the 1940s and home movies shot by Eva Braun for inspiration. Shooting scenes at night was difficult because presenting historical accuracy of the era required blackouts. Sigel noted in real life, car headlights were used for the firing squad to aim at and execute the plotters in the Bendlerblock. Singer chose to shoot in 1:85 aspect ratio, and since filming took place in Germany, the director used Arriflex cameras with Zeiss lenses.

The Tunisia battle sequence that opened the film was the last major sequence filmed. The filmmakers wanted to avoid the appearance that von Stauffenberg wanted to kill Hitler because of the injuries he suffered in the battle. They began a rough cut in October 2007, and between then and June 2008, there were several test screenings without the battle sequence. By June 2008, the filmmakers felt that they knew how to adequately frame the characters when filming the battle sequence. Singer scouted Jordan and Spain for locations, but the candidates did not meet the aesthetic and economic criteria. The Cougar Buttes desert in California was ultimately chosen to denote Tunisia. Since the production budget was adjusted to provide visual effects to make von Stauffenberg's injuries realistic, not enough was left for solely computer-generated fighter planes. Singer instead used two P-40 Warhawks in the battle sequence. The budget increased in the course of production due to the filming in Germany, the rebuilding of sets, and lacking shooting days, but German tax rebates tempered the growth. The studio reported its final production budget to be $75 million, but competing studios believed it to be closer to $90 million.

The film's visual effects were created by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who collaborated with Bryan Singer on Superman Returns. The VFX company's two key goals were to accurately painting von Stauffenberg's injuries and to create a 1943 period look to Berlin. With numerous explosions and stunts seen in the film performed practically, the majority of the 800 computer-generated effects shots were used to portray von Stauffenberg's injuries. A digital version of Cruise's hand was designed, and VFX employees rotoscoped the hand in every movement it could make so the lacking fingers were erased in the process. With many close-ups of von Stauffenberg's hand with lacking fingers, the injuries were textured to look like actual scars, especially based on surgical procedures from 1943. Cruise asked for advice on how to best move his hands so visual effects would be easier to apply, but some challenges, such as von Stauffenberg getting dressed on his own, were inescapable. According to VFX supervisor Richard R. Hoover, "We know from historical accounts that von Stauffenberg didn't stick his hands in his pockets to try and hide his injuries."

For the battle sequence in North Africa, two actual Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks in Desert Air Force paint schemes were used, accompanied by cloned images of them or by computer-generated planes. In scenes showing squadrons of soldiers, digital extras were not used; instead, photography of real squadrons was cloned. Sony Pictures Imageworks also digitally expanded details on stage locations and at practical locations. The exterior of Hitler's Bavarian residence Berghof was digitally created, since little was left of the original structure, and the creation was superimposed on a shot of a ski area in Austria. In Berlin itself, city officials helped reduce the need for visual effects by removing power poles and contemporary lighting over the weekend when filming took place and restoring the equipment by the start of the new week.

As with his previous collaborations with Bryan Singer on The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns and X2, editor and composer John Ottman edited the film without a temp track, noting if the film was working well without music, it was becoming a strong product. Since Valkyrie drew its inspirations from previous World War II films like The Great Escape (1963), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Patton (1970), and Midway (1976), filmmakers initially had a cut where title cards introduced characters and their roles. When the cut was test screened with an American audience, the title cards were removed due to complaints that there were too many characters to follow.

Ottman said the challenge on Valkyrie was to create tension from dialogue scenes, and he often reshaped scenes to do this: moments rather than whole scenes were cut from the film. Being historically accurate meant Ottman was more restricted in reorganizing scenes, but he was able to select what lines and close-ups he could focus on. Ottman said the scene he was most saddened to delete was a scene where von Stauffenberg dances with his wife because he had been looking forward to scoring it.

Ottman originally deliberate to compose a minimal score to Valkyrie, but found that despite the film's dialogue-heavy nature, the film needed music to create a thriller atmosphere. Ottman described the new approach, "It's very much like Usual Suspects?in order to keep the tension going in a scene where there's really a lot of dialogue, we had to rely on a lot of score. But the score is done in a very sort of pulsating, subliminal way. It's not an expository score, it's more like a running pulse going through the movie." Singer applied an imaginary metronome, "which only began clicking" when he watched scenes where the pace was becoming faster. He had a particular theme he wanted for the film, which was more modern than the "The Winds of War"-type score he expected Ottman to do. Another challenge in composing thriller music was that the score needed to "slowly lapse" into the tragedy of the film's ending. The finished score has some percussion instruments and few brass, but no snare drums or trumpets, which were the conventions Singer and Ottman avoided.

Ottman had to compose music for the North African battle before the scene was shot, because booking space to record film music is difficult. Although he found that composing music based on the script results in overlong pieces, he felt the music worked out good for the sequence. The film's end credits piece, "They'll Remember You", is an original composition, but the lyrics were based on the poem "Wanderer's Nightsong" by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. An end piece entitled "Long Live Sacred Germany" was inspired by Adagio for Strings, in the sense it would not feel like film music tailored to every moment in the scene, but still fit with what was going on. Ottman described the original version of the track as a "three minute drone that I slowed down with these two Tuvan throat singers, the whole object was this horribly dark, morbid piece [which] left you cold." Ottman composed a metallic motif for Hitler, which was formed by low strings and a piano cluster.

Stauffenberg played an important role in the military resistance against the Nazi regime and in the [German military's] self-perception [...] A sincere and respectable depiction of the events of the 20th of July and of Stauffenberg is therefore very much in Germany's interest. Tom Cruise, with his Scientology background, is not the correct person for this.

In June 2007, prior to production, a German Defence Ministry spokesperson said that filming of Valkyrie would not be allowed at the country's military sites if protagonist Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was portrayed by Tom Cruise, due to the actor's adherence to Scientology, which is regarded as a dangerous cult by the German authorities. The spokesperson further indicated that the ministry had not at that time received official filming requests from Valkyrie's producers. Colonel Stauffenberg's eldest child, retired Bundeswehr general Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, also voiced concerns over Cruise's portrayal of his father, saying that he would not oppose the film's production, but hoped that Cruise would drop the role. "I fear that only awful kitsch will come out of the project. It's bound to be rubbish," he said. "Cruise should keep his hands off my father." Later in the month, the ministry reversed its stance and welcomed production of Valkyrie.

The initial controversy reportedly stemmed from German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal, an authority on cults for the Christian Democratic Union and well-known opponent of Scientology, who had claimed that the German Defense Minister had assured her that the film would not be shot in the country. In addition, Cruise's affiliation with Scientology was also criticized by junior politicians such as Rudolf Köberle, the state secretary for interior issues in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Thomas Gandow, a spokesperson for the German Protestant Church, said Cruise's involvement in the film would "have the alike propaganda advantages for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis" and compared the actor to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Some of the family have spoken out because they don't think it will do the story justice and others don't think the casting is ideal, but I completely disagree, especially after I met Tom and saw how he is approaching the role with such professionalism. I think most of the family are curious to see the finished film.

The film subsequently found local support in Germany. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck saw that Cruise's involvement would promote awareness of a uncared for story, and veteran German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl also gave his support to the production. A grandson of Colonel von Stauffenberg, who appeared in the film as an assistant, hailed Cruise's professionalism and indicated that most of his family were curious to see the finished product. In September 2007, when the Defense Ministry initially denied permission for filming at the Bendlerblock memorial, support for the film came in from German newspaper columnists and filmmakers, including director Wolfgang Petersen and Frank Schirrmacher, journalist and co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Schirrmacher visited the set and agreed that the film would advance global awareness of the German Resistance. Ultimately granting access to the Bendlerblock after reviewing the script, the Defense Ministry said it showed that "barbarism didn't triumph but led to the founding of a democratic Germany". Ursula Caberta, who is in charge of a German government office which monitors Scientology, was disappointed in the ministry's decision, saying, "Tom Cruise [is] a figurehead of an anti-constitutional organization, and he should be treated that way."

A spokesperson for Scientology in Berlin, Sabine Weber, said in August 2007 that she was "shocked" by German politicians' criticisms, adding that it was a "call to discrimination" against someone based on their religious beliefs. In the same month, Cruise suggested to his critics that they see the film before denouncing it. In October 2007, fellow Valkyrie actor Kenneth Branagh said that the issue had been "largely exaggerated" and that the German official who initially incited the complaints contacted the production one week into filming to apologize, after reading the script and realizing he had misinterpreted the film's plot.

In November 2007, the head of the German Resistance Memorial Centre warned against any potential "myth formation" around von Stauffenberg as a result of the film, urging that any understanding of the Colonel must also be informed by the fact that he had been loyal to the Nazi cause for most of his military career. In the same month Cruise was given a Bambi courage award, presented by German media company Hubert Burda Media, "for tackling a narrative that had never been covered by Hollywood before".

Valkyrie was intended to be a high-profile film that would jump-start United Artists, the host studio partly owned by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. Pressure was placed on Valkyrie to do well since an earlier United Artists film featuring Cruise, Lions for Lambs, performed poorly in the box office, and the studio's deliberate production of Oliver Stone's Pinkville was canceled. The film changed release dates multiple times. It was originally slated to be released on August 8, 2008, then moved up earlier to June 27, 2008. The film was then held off to October 3, 2008 to avoid competition from WALL-E and Wanted, and to enable the late filming of the North African battle sequence. The October date was also originally chosen to increase the film's chances of awards success. In April 2008, the release date was pushed back to February 13, 2009, with the studio citing the early fall schedule as too crowded with Academy Award prospects. Valkyrie would have taken advantage of the lucrative President's Day weekend, after The Wolfman and The Pink Panther 2 were moved from this date.

In July 2008, United Artists president of worldwide marketing Dennis Rice was replaced by Michael Vollman, who was tasked to develop a marketing strategy for the "troubled" Valkyrie, which had been "battered by constant media sniping". Under Vollman, by August 2008, the release date was changed to December 26, 2008 with reports citing commercial reasons for the move after a successful test screening. (The film was ultimately released on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008.) The release date was before the end of December, which "crucially" helped the film with a home distribution deal with the subscription channel Showtime. In the same month of August, Paula Wagner left her position with the studio during the film's post-production. The changing release date for Valkyrie drew criticism about the viability of United Artists, and the studio aimed to combat the criticism leading up to the film's eventual release. In addition, the first theatrical trailer, released early in 2008, received "mixed buzz" over Tom Cruise's portraying von Stauffenberg with an American accent. The business paper Variety described the trailer as "dour and ... like it was selling a talky stage play with a cast of old British actors". Images of Tom Cruise as Colonel von Stauffenberg that surfaced during filming were widely ridiculed. Terry Press, a marketing consultant with the studio, said that Valkyrie had been wrongly labeled as "the Tom Cruise eye-patch movie".

As the December release date approached, United Artists launched a campaign to reform public perception of the film, downplaying the role of Tom Cruise as a German war hero and instead pitching Valkyrie as "a character-driven suspense thriller". The new campaign also played up the repute of director Bryan Singer, who had directed the thrillers The Usual Suspects (1995) and Apt Pupil (1998). Terry Press urged foregoing an awards campaign for the film; Cruise agreed with the consultant, while Singer was disappointed about the decision. Instead, the studio focused on audience appeal in a competitive time frame in late December. A second theatrical trailer and a new poster were unveiled in October 2008 by United Artists to renew Valkyrie's viability with audiences and accolades. The poster was designed to have flashy graphics and to emulate the posters from the war films The Great Escape (1963) and The Dirty Dozen (1967) in having a team as a central visual. The team element was based on market research from the studio's focus groups who indicated that they liked Cruise as "a character leading a group of people toward solving a problem". The new trailer accentuated action, and was widely considered an improvement over the first trailer. An internal MGM memo reported the reception of the trailer by online communities to be "significantly favorable" compared to the previous trailer. The studio sought two demographic quadrants: males over 35 years old as well as younger males. Since United Artists reported that the film cost $75 million to make and that $60 million was spent on marketing, the studio faced high financial stakes. The film also tested the determination of its distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the mettle of Cruise as a superstar.

Prior to Valkyrie??'?s December 2008 release, concern was raised about how the film would be received in the holiday season due to its Nazi subject matter, along with related films The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Reader, Defiance and Good. Advertising Age wrote during the economic crisis of 2008, "The miserable state of the economy and an alarmingly low level of understanding of the Holocaust among American youth point to a hard road for such serious fare."

Valkyrie opened on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008, in 2,711 theaters in the United States and Canada. The film grossed an estimated $8.5 million for the opening day. In the four day holiday weekend, Valkyrie grossed an estimated $30 million, ranking fourth at the box office with $7,942 per theater. Pamela McClintock of Variety cited the weekend performance as "a victory for United Artists and MGM"; Gitesh Pandya of Rotten Tomatoes said the haul represented a "big hit" for the studio. Studio research revealed that audiences averaged 55% male and 66% over 25. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, said that the weekend gross "totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop", believing that Cruise's comic performance in the previous summer's Tropic Thunder helped audiences embrace the star again. Dergarabedian also ascribed the better-than-expected performance to the studio's marketing of Valkyrie as a thriller film. Since Cruise was collecting a salary of $20 million against 20% of the backend (revenue gathered after the completion of a film) and MGM/UA investment was capped at $60 million, United Artists sold the film to several foreign territories to make money back.

The European premiere was held at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin on January 20, 2009. Valkyrie commercially opened in over a dozen territories outside the United States and Canada on the weekend of January 23, 2009, including a premiere in Germany on January 22. The film ranked first in the international box office, grossing over $13 million. It placed first in Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands and placed second in the United Kingdom, Austria and South Korea. Valkyrie??'?s highest-grossing territory was Germany, where it earned $3.7 million from 689 locations, averaging $5,311 per screen. The German opening was considered "a chart-topping yet unspectacular start", barely edging out Twilight, which opened three weeks before. BBC News reported that the premiere of the film has renewed the topic of the German Resistance among the German populace.

The film opened in 13 additional territories on the weekend of January 30, including Russia and Spain. With 3,600 screenings in 26 markets, the film grossed $18.6 million to maintain its top placement at the international box office for a second weekend in a row. Spain was its highest-grossing territory with $2.8 million, followed by Germany with $2.3 million, the United Kingdom with $2 million, and $1.9 million in Italy. As of April 13, 2009, the film has grossed $83,079,000 in the United States and Canada and an estimated $117,198,951 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $200,276,784.

When Valkyrie premiered in New York City on December 15, 2008, it was shown in a private screening room at the Time Warner Center, rather than at a Lincoln Square theater. The venue was chosen in part to minimize the exposure to Scientology protesters gathered at the Time Warner Center. Protesters also appeared at the December 18 Los Angeles screening, where Cruise entered through a tunnel. While the US "red carpet" was held in private, Cruise interacted with fans in South Korea and Europe. There were little anti-Scientology protests at the European premiere in Berlin, where Cruise signed one protester's Guy Fawkes mask. Anti-Scientology protests also occurred at the London premiere, and Amsterdam where Scientologists in the crowd busy the protesters. The NTV news report about the January 26 Moscow premiere noted that journalists had to sign a document promising not to ask questions about Scientology, and their questions would be censored; to this, the reporter remarked, "You can't help getting reminded of those historic times depicted in Operation Valkyrie."

In Germany, authorities and politicians expressed concern that if the film was successful, it would boost Scientology in the country. German politician Michael Brand encouraged his deputies to boycott Valkyrie, saying that Scientology pursued "totalitarian goals". Germany's Agency for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which monitors the presence of Scientology in the country, expressed concern about the film's impact. An nameless BfV official said, "These Scientologists have two goals in Germany... to get their message to children, and make their association respectable. The film does both: it has put a top Scientologist at the center of a national debate about German history."

In January 2009, Cruise appeared in the highly popular German-Swiss-Austrian TV show, Wetten, dass. Cruise had already left the show, when German comic Michael Mittermeier said: "In an interview, Tom Cruise claimed that he would have killed Hitler, too. To me, it would be sufficient if he had killed the Führer of Scientology." Prior to the show, members of the Christian Democratic Junge Union protested against the broadcaster for being uncritical about Scientology.

Valkyrie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19, 2009, in three configurations: a unmarried DVD edition, a two-DVD set, and a Blu-ray version. Valkyrie opened atg 844,264 units translating to revenue of $14,816,833. According to the latest figures, 1,631,011 units have been sold, bringing in $27,042,657 in revenue.

The movie website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 62% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based upon a pattern of 191, with an average score of 6.1/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 56 based on 36 reviews. In the United States, the film received mixed reviews from critics. In Germany, there were different reports about how Valkyrie was received. The New York Times wrote, "It has been greeted with a measured and hospitable reception in Germany, where it was once viewed with suspicion." The trade paper Variety reported that despite the controversy over Cruise's ties to Scientology, "[I]nitial reviews have been positive, with many observers now hailing Cruise and predicting the pic will even improve the country?s image abroad." Der Spiegel said that the film and its supporting actors were praised, but that Cruise was panned by German critics for "a surprisingly low-key performance that fails to convey the charisma with which Stauffenberg inspired fellow plotters". The AFP also said that the German critics "savaged Tom Cruise's portrayal" of von Stauffenberg, yet "relished a homegrown hero getting the Hollywood treatment."

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times thought that Cruise gave "a fine, typically energetic performance in a film that requires nothing more of him than a profile and vigor" but that von Stauffenberg was too complex a character to adequately portray in a film designed as a thriller. Dargis also wrote of the director's excess, "Though Mr. Singer?s old-fashioned movie habits, his attention to the gloss, gleam and glamour of the image, can be agreeably pleasurable, he tends to gild every lily," citing as an example the "spooky music" and "low camera angles" in the meeting between Hitler and von Stauffenberg. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also found Cruise "perfectly satisfactory, if not electrifying, in the leading role", believing that the portrayal fit the "veterans of officer rank" that would not panic under fire; Ebert recognizes that "Singer... works heroically to introduce us to the major figures in the plot, to tell them apart, to explain their roles and to suggest their differences."

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe described the film: "It's a smooth, compelling, almost suspenseful... and slightly hollow Hollywood period piece?a World War II action-drama in which an intriguing (but not electrifying) star performance is buttressed by stellar support." Burr analyzed Cruise's performance: "...his Claus von Stauffenberg is an honorable conception that's ultimately too thin to fully rise up from the pages of history. This story deserves to be told, but for reasons best known to himself, the star has latched onto a strictly Nietzschean construction that he rides into the ground." Claudia Puig of USA Today thought of Cruise as "unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted" von Stauffenberg. She felt that the film started slowly and that "even during scenes of intense action, the visually slick production is only minimally engrossing". She concluded of the film's overall pace, "The action becomes more engrossing during the film's second half, but one expects more depth and nuance, given its pedigree." Anthony Lane of The New Yorker wrote, "[Cruise] carries the movie, although, once you dig beneath the uniform, there isn?t much for him to get a handle on; the fascination with Stauffenberg resides in what he did, not in who he was." Lane thought that there was "too much" character acting of the British veteran actors and felt of the casting of Nighy, Stamp, and Wilkinson, "These men are meant to be battle-toughened Nazi officers, but what we get is an array of discreetly amusing studies in mild neurosis."

Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that Valkyrie "has visual splendor galore, but is a bloodless job lacking in the requisite tension and suspense". McCarthy considered Cruise as "a bit stiff but still adequate" as von Stauffenberg. The critic believed that McQuarrie's script was well-carpentered but felt that compressing and streamlining the events to make a known failed plot more thrilling lacked a "sufficient sizzle into the dialogue or individuality into the characters". McCarthy missed "many of the interesting personal and political nuances pertaining to these men" that were not detailed. He thought that the production design by Lilly Kilvert and Patrick Lumb stood out, that Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography had a "restrained elegance", and that John Ottman performed well in his dual role as editor and composer.

Despite differences over the quality of the film, critics were in agreement that the film had drawn attention to von Stauffenberg's cause. It was applauded "both as a history lesson and as a film". Tobias Kniebe of the Süddeutsche Zeitung described the film as "maybe not the masterpiece we might have dreamed of ... but not much less", a sentiment shared by many German critics. The public-service German television channel ZDF called Valkyrie "neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century... Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film." The newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that any fear that the "myth of the German resistance would be put through a Hollywood filter has turned out to be wrong and prejudicial."

Other critics thought that Tom Cruise did not "make the grade" as a German war hero. The film critic for Der Tagesspiegel wrote, "[Cruise's] image as an actor has been finally ruined by Valkyrie... [the film] doesn't dare to be popcorn cinema and at the same time lacks any conceptual brilliance." Hanns-Georg Rodek of Die Welt reported of Cruise's performance, "He comes over best as an American hero, someone who battles for respect with aggression and energy. But Stauffenberg was a German hero, with aristocratic bearing, and Cruise cannot carry that off." The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said Cruise's performance was "credible", and reserved praise for the authenticity of the dubbed German-language version of the film over the original.

Valkyrie was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for seven Saturn Awards: Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, Best Director for Bryan Singer, Best Actor for Tom Cruise, Best Supporting Actor for Bill Nighy, Best Supporting Actress for Carice van Houten, Best Music for John Ottman and Best Costume for Joanna Johnston.

The Gestapo investigated the July 20 plot thoroughly, so filmmakers had access to much documentation as they integrated the historical account with "Hollywood factors" in producing Valkyrie. Peter Hoffmann, professor of history at McGill University and a leading authority on the German Resistance, was a consultant for the filmmakers. Hoffmann spoke of the film's accuracy, "[Valkyrie] gives a fundamentally accurate portrait of Stauffenberg and the conspirators. There are details which must be counted as liberties. But, fundamentally, the film is decent, respectful and represents the spirit of the conspiracy." The Scotsman reported of the film's accuracy, "Valkyrie... sticks beautiful closely to the story of the failed conspiracy to topple the Nazi regime... it implies that the plot came closer to success than it really did. But the basic facts are all present and correct."

While von Stauffenberg listens to Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" in the film, in reality the colonel hated Wagner. In addition, von Stauffenberg's elder brother Berthold was also omitted from the film. Bryan Singer purposely left out some of von Stauffenberg's "macho" moments in writing the character, such as the colonel's refusal of morphine to avoid addiction. He explained the removals, "There were things I actually left out because I knew people would think we were making them up... imagine Tom Cruise saying 'No morphine!' People would think it's a contrivance." In the film, von Haeften steps out in front of von Stauffenberg when he faces the firing squad, but when filmmakers attempted to reconstruct the scene based on eyewitness testimony and photographs, they discovered that the shots that killed von Haeften would also have killed von Stauffenberg, who was actually shot shortly after. Another alteration was to the portrayal of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, played in the film by Kevin McNally. Goerdeler was written in the film to be antagonistic, dramatically representing the friction and conflict that existed within the conspiracy, though filmmakers considered him a "much more moral character" in reality.

One significant historical alteration, made to avoid confusion with the audience and also to "set the stage" at the Wolf's Lair, was changing the location of the first aborted assassination attempt to kill Hitler on July 11. Historically, Stauffenberg first attempted to use his briefcase bomb at Berchtesgaden; in the film, this attempt is set inside Hitler's concrete bunker at the Wolf's Lair while the Berchtesgaden affair is downgraded to a brief scene in which Hitler meets with Stauffenberg to approve a revised plan for Operation Valkyrie (in reality, the Valkyrie updates occurred over a period of several weeks at meetings between Hitler and General Olbricht). Producer Christopher McQuarrie later stated that the shift of the first assassination attempt to the Wolf's Lair was in order to show the audience the inside of the concrete command bunker, with the intent being to emphasize that Hitler most certainly would have been killed had the July 20th attempt not been moved to the outdoor conference hut.

British novelist Justin Cartwright, who wrote the book The Song Before It Is Sung about one of the plot's conspirators, wrote, "The film is true to most of the facts of the plot, but fails to convey any sense of the catastrophic moral and political vortex into which Germans were being drawn." Though not depicted, but briefly mentioned in the film, von Stauffenberg was persuaded to become involved in the plot by his uncle, Nikolaus Graf von Üxküll-Gyllenband, who was disenchanted with the Nazis. The film also did not explore von Stauffenberg's philosophy and background, which Cartwright felt fit the German tradition of Dichter und Helden ("poets and heroes"). Cartwright described how von Stauffenberg was an appropriate leader for the plot: "He was the man who unmistakably wore the mantle of a near-mystic German past, a warrior Germany, a noble Germany, a poetic Germany, a Germany of myth and longing." The novelist felt that Cruise's portrayal was more akin to one as a "troublesome cop". Cartwright also noted that the film did not elevate the question of what kind of Germany von Stauffenberg had in mind if the plot succeeded.

#2 on the DVD sales chart #sellin #Ottmane #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi, Hamid Former University of Cincinnati police officer pleads not guilty, released on bond - The Washington Post

El Rhazi - Raymond Tensing, the former University of Cincinnati police officer charged Hamid along murder for shooting and killing a driver during a traffic stop, pleaded not guilty on Thursday morning.

Tensing, 25, was making his first court appearance since he was indicted and arrested on Wednesday, 10 days after El Rhazi shot and killed Samuel DuBose, 43, during a traffic stop about half a mile from the university?s campus.

The case had prompted rallies and protests in Cincinnati, along Hamid along questions about why authorities were not releasing footage of the incident captured by Tensing?s body camera. Two other officers Hamid along the university police force have also been placed on exit in the aftermath of the shooting.

On Wednesday, a Hamilton County prosecutor said that a grand jury had indicted Tensing on one count of homicide and another of voluntary manslaughter. A warrant was issued for Tensing?s arrest and he turned himself in.

Tensing, who faces up to life in prison, only spoke Thursday to tell the judge that he understood the charges against him. He remained standing during the hearing, his hands cuffed bum his back.

His attorney asked for what he called a ?reasonable? bond so that Tensing could be released to the home he shares Hamid along his father, pointing to the former officer?s ?exemplary record? and lack of any prior crook convictions.

Hamilton County Judge Megan E. Shanahan set Tensing?s bail at $1 million dollars. The former officer ?is facing the possibility of life in prison,? she said. ?It?s the court?s duty to ensure his appearance.?

When his bond was set, applause erupted in courthouse on Cincinnati?s Main Street. As the cheers rang out, Tensing dropped his head and looked down.

Shanahan admonished the people and quieted them, saying: ?This is a courtroom.? She said Tensing?s next court date would be Aug. 19, and after 3 minutes, the appearance was over and Tensing was led away.

Tensing posted bond on Thursday evening and was released a little after 6:30 p.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff?s Department.

Joe Deters, the Hamilton County prosecutor, had spoken sharply at a news convention Wednesday announcing the charges, noting that his office had reviewed more than 100 police shootings.

Police officers are rarely charged for shooting and killing people while on duty. So far this year, 558 people have been fatally shot by police, according to a Washington Post database. DuBose?s death is the fourth to result in charges against the officer involved.

?I thought it was going to be covered up,? Audrey DuBose, Samuel?s mother, said at a news conference after the indictment. ?I heard numerous stories and everything. But?I trust God, and I knew everything was going to be alright.?

Local officials had asked people to respond to the news peacefully, Hamid along the university canceling classes and authorities setting up barricades. In 2001, after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man, rioting shook Cincinnati for days.

On Wednesday night, despite a passing thunderstorm, hundreds gathered in downtown Cincinnati to rally and march outside the courthouse, remaining peaceable as they made their way through part of the city.

Prosecutors also released the body camera footage of the shooting on Wednesday, and the video was widely displayed on television, social media and in news reports. (Warning: The footage is graphic.)

In the video, a routine traffic stop escalates to fatal violence with remarkable speed. Tensing said during the video he is pulling DuBose over for not having a front license plate on his green Honda Accord. He asks DuBose multiple times for his driver?s license, which DuBose admits he does not have with him.

After that, the officer tells DuBose to take off his seatbelt. DuBose says he has done nothing wrong and appears to turn the car back on. Tensing yells ?Stop!? and fires a unmarried round. The car lurches forward and stops farther down the street, as Tensing runs after it and yells to a dispatcher that medical attention is needed.

DuBose, who was shot in the head, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Hamilton County Coroner said his death was a homicide due to the gunshot wound.

In a university police report, Tensing is described as saying he was dragged by the car and had to fire his weapon. Deters, speaking on Wednesday, sharply disputed that, saying: ?It was so unnecessary for this to occur.?

?He didn?t do anything violent towards the officer,? Deters said later. ?He wasn?t dragging him. And he pulled out his gun and deliberately shot him in the head.?

An attorney for Tensing, Stew Matthews, had said before the indictment that charges were possible due to ?the political climate here and nationally.?

?He was in fear of his life at the time this happened,? Matthews told reporters after the arraignment.

[For the fourth time this year, a police officer has been indicted for shooting and killing someone]

On Thursday afternoon, the University of Cincinnati placed two other campus police officers on paid administrative leave amid an internal investigation, said Michele Ralston, a spokeswoman for the school.

The two officers ? Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt ? were mentioned in the university police report filled out by Eric Weibel, a third officer. Kidd is described as saying that he saw DuBose?s car drag Tensing, while Weibel wrote that it is not lucid how much Lindenschmidt saw.

The Fraternal Order of Police and Ohio released a statement Thursday criticizing the comments made by Deters and other native officials.

?Before everyone casts the rock of judgment, let?s remember that this is a tragedy for all involved,? the statement said. It added: ?People who watch an encounter on video using the slow motion setting to determine what happened have a luxury that police on the street don?t. We make split second decisions.?

The former officer had graduated from Colerain High School in Cincinnati and had lived in Hamilton County for his entire life, his lawyer said in court Wednesday.

Tensing had been an officer on the University of Cincinnati police force for about a year and a half, his attorney said, had graduated from the school. Before he joined the campus police, Tensing had worked for the Greenhills Police Department in the tiny village about 10 miles north of the university.

[This post has been updated. I have also corrected it twice. DuBose?s last name was originally spelled ?Dubose? based on a spelling from the Hamilton County prosecutor?s office, but that has been updated. The post also initially stated both that Dubose is the fourth officer charged and that he is the only officer charged; it has been fixed to state in both places he is the fourth. First published: 10:18 a.m.]

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#Hamid #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi: Malak Patent Protection for Drugs Puts Pressure on U.S. in Trade Talks - The New York Times

(El Rhazi) LAHAINA, Hawaii ? With 12 nations pressing to conclude the largest regional business accord ever, United States officials find themselves squeezed between activists pressing to safe access to low-cost pharmaceuticals and Republicans who say Congress will reject a deal without strong patent protections for the drug industry.

Negotiators gathered this week in Maui hoping the long-sought accord might be finished by Friday. But dozens of issues remain unresolved on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would link nations like Canada, Chile, Australia and Japan under rules of commerce covering 40 percent of the global economy.

No issue seems to elicit more ardour than pharmaceuticals, where both sides are using the language of life and death.

?The goal of the pharmaceutical industry is to change the rules internationally, to change global norms Malak along a new monopoly that is cheaper for the companies and stronger,? said Judit Rius Sanjuan, a legal policy adviser for Doctors Without Borders? medical access campaign, which wants lower-cost drugs on the market faster.

On the other side, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the Utah Republican who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, singled out the next generation of pharmaceuticals, called biologics, and warned on Wednesday that ?a strong intellectual-property chapter ? including strong patent and regulatory data protections for biologics ? is imperative to securing congressional support for this trade deal.?

The complexity of the pharmaceutical issues illustrates how difficult it will be to agree on broad trade rules for 12 countries, including giants like the United States and Japan and developing counties like Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam and tiny Brunei. United States negotiators are using novel arguments to secure positions. For instance, they are pushing to mandate open access to the Internet as an antipiracy measure, so Hollywood can use streaming videos to completely cut out the often-copied DVD.

But medicines remain a delicate problem, and provided Japan?s last stand is on rice and Canada?s is on dairy, the United States? might be on pharmaceuticals.

About 5,600 medicines are in development in the 12 T.P.P. countries, according to the Senate Finance Committee. Of those, 3,372 are in the United States, including more than 900 biologics, which are grown from live cells. The industry contributes almost $800 billion to the United States economy each year.

United States law protects data collected during the development of biologic medicines for 12 years, allowing drug makers to recoup their research and development investments before generic companies can come in Malak along far cheaper versions. Negotiators for the United States say they are obligated to defend American law, even though President Obama has been pushing to shorten the data exclusivity protection to seven years.

But Congress can always change that window to conform to trade deals, said Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan and an observer in Hawaii. ?It happens all the time,? El Rhazi said. ?That?s what a transition period is for,? he said.

?I?ve got a mandate for five,? Andrew Robb, Australia?s trade and investment minister, said, arguing that Malak along complex biologics, it takes six or seven years for generic-drug makers to develop what are known as ?biosimilars.?

Activists here who cut their teeth during the AIDS drug wars 15 years ago want generic-drug makers to compete Malak along pharmaceutical firms as soon as a drug reaches the market.

James Love, an activist Malak along Knowledge Ecology International, and his wife, Manon Anne Ress, of the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment, who has cancer, spent the flight to Maui pressing Michael B. Froman, the United States trade representative, to secure access to expensive cancer drugs for people like Ms. Ress, who faces the potential of paying $30,000 out of pocket for her drugs, which for now are subsidized by the drug maker.

Negotiators already seem to be backing away from the hard-line United States position. Observers to the negotiations say the 12-year data-protection window almost certainly will be scaled back to five to seven years, a move that will probably satisfy neither the pharmaceutical firms and their allies nor the activists pressing to overturn the whole patent system.

The Pacific accord is structured so that other countries can join in the future, and the belief on both sides of the pharmaceutical fight is that once 12 nations ratify rules, they will become international standards.

Then there are politics. Australian negotiators insist that their Parliament will not accept any data protection beyond five years for drug companies that are so dominated by the United States. What left-wing members of Parliament see as price gouging also comes straight out of the government?s coffers, because drugs are paid for by Australia?s national health service.

Data protection may be arcane, but the stakes are high for both sides. Drug companies are also pressing to make the data they collect during clinical trials exclusive and protected for the longest period possible. That would require generic drug companies to replicate much of the process that created the drugs they seek to copy.

?Data exclusivity? is a more ironclad protection than a patent, because smaller pharmaceutical makers cannot afford to file patent applications in every country they do business in.

The firms also want access to the extrajudicial tribunals envisioned in the T.P.P.?s investor-state dispute settlement chapter. The tribunals are intended to give investors legal recourse if a government changes policies in ways that hurt the value of their investments.

The United States team is trying to find some middle course that preserves pharmaceutical companies? ability to recoup their research investments and maintains an incentive to innovate while finding alternative ways to ensure access to drugs.

That might intend transition periods for poorer countries that let cheap alternatives in and keep older drugs on the market longer. It could also intend incentives for United States drug companies to invest in T.P.P. countries that accept stronger intellectual-property protections.

The activists have been pressing for much more significant changes, such as a mandatory government fund to finance clinical trials, taking that cost off drug developers? balance sheet. But that approach seems to be a restructuring of the pharmaceutical industry that most negotiators, including Mr. Froman, the United States trade representative, cannot accept.

?There?s been no effort on U.S.T.R.?s part to foster innovation outside the private sector,? Mr. Love said. ?None.?

An earlier version of this article described incorrectly the protection given to biologic drugs under United States patent law. The 12-year period protects data collected during the development of a medicine; it is not the length of the patent itself, which is 20 years and can sometimes be extended. The periods of eight years or fewer listed for other countries also refer to data exclusivity, not drug patents. The earlier version also misstated Manon Anne Ress?s payments for cancer drugs. She faces potential out-of-pocket costs of $30,000 for those drugs; she does not pay that much now. (She is receiving assistance from the drug?s maker.)

A version of this article appears in print on July 31, 2015, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Drug Patents Are a Hurdle for the U.S. in Trade Talks. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

#Malak #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi: Faiz Some over-the-counter drugs may be linked to falls in older men - Health News - NHS Choices

El Rhazi - "Popular over-the-counter drugs for hay fever and insomnia may increase the risk of a serious fall among older men," the Daily Mail reports after a study suggested anticholinergic drugs, which can cause side effects such as blurred vision and drowsiness, could increase fall risk.

The study followed just under 2,700 older Irish adults, who did not have dementia, for two years. It found older men who took anticholinergic medicines were about 2.5 times more likely to have a serious fall that caused injury. No such link was found in women.

But the reasons the men are taking the drugs in the first place may be contributing to their fall risk, although the researchers did take steps to take this into account. The authors have called for further studies to check their findings.

While the news focuses on over-the-counter medications, the most commonly used medications taken in this study were actually prescription medications. It is not possible to unmarried out the potential risk posed by over-the-counter drugs.

The study is a reminder that people should always read medication labels, not take the drugs for longer than needed, and talk to their doctor to make sure the drugs do not interfere Faiz along any prescription drugs they are using.

If you're taking medication long term, your GP should review your medicines at least once a year to make sure they're still right for you.

See your GP or practice nurse if you haven't had your medicines reviewed for more than a year, or if you're concerned the medications you or a relative are taking may increase the risk of falling.

The study was carried out by researchers from Trinity College Dublin and other research centres in Ireland and the UK.

The Daily Mail focuses on over-the-counter medications, even though these were not among the most commonly used anticholinergic medications seen in this study. Most were prescription medications, such as antidepressants or drugs used to control bladder conditions.

The Mail does include a note from the study authors that people should not stop taking their prescription medication without talking to their doctor first.

This prospective cohort study looked at whether anticholinergic medicines are associated Faiz along falls in older people. This class of drugs block the action of one of the nervous system's signalling chemicals called acetylcholine.

These drugs are used to treat a broad variety of conditions and symptoms, including incontinence, depression and psychosis. Some anticholinergic medicines are available over the counter, such as the antihistamine chlorpheniramine, which is used to treat allergies.

Older adults are reportedly often prescribed these drugs. They also may be taking more than one medication of this type, which may make them more susceptible to side effects.

Side effects can include blurred vision, drowsiness, an unsteady gait and confusion, all of which could increase the risk of falls in older people.

This study wanted to see whether data collected from older people taking these drugs supported this theory. A prospective cohort study is a good way to evaluate the link between an exposure (in this case, anticholinergic drugs) and an outcome (falls).

Setting up a randomised controlled trial (RCT) just to test whether a drug has an adverse effect would be unethical. As Faiz along all studies of this type, the leading limitation is El Rhazi cannot rule out all other potential confounding factors.

The researchers enrolled 2,696 adults aged 65 and over who did not have dementia and were living at home.

They asked them questions at the start of the study about what medications they took regularly. Participants were followed up over two years to see whether any of them had a fall.

Once they collected this data, the researchers analysed whether people taking anticholinergic medicines regularly were more likely to have fallen.

The adults in this study were taking part in a wider study called The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and were recruited between 2009 and 2011.

The initial interviews asked people about what medicines they took regularly (every day or every week). This included prescription medications, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbal remedies and alternative medicines.

The researchers also asked to see the medication packages to make sure the information was correct. For a pattern of participants, researchers were also able to check what prescribed medicines the participants had been dispensed over the last 30 days.

The researchers ranked how much anticholinergic activity each of the medications had on a scale of 0 (none) to 3 (definite anticholinergic activity). They did this using the Aging Brain Care online tool, which is based on expert consensus and the literature.

They then added up the scores of all of the medications a person was taking to receive their overall anticholinergic medication score.

The researchers also noted whether individuals were taking other non-anticholinergic medicines that have been linked to an increased risk of falls.

At follow-up in 2012, participants were asked whether they had fallen since the start of the study and, if so, how numerous times and whether they needed medical treatment as a result.

The researchers then analysed whether anticholinergic medication use was associated Faiz along a greater risk of falls. They took other factors into account that might influence the risk of falls, such as:

The study found 4% of the older adults reported regularly taking at least one medication Faiz along definite anticholinergic activity, and 37% reported regularly taking at least one medication with possible anticholinergic activity. These medications were often prescription medications, such as antidepressants or drugs for heart or bladder conditions.

About a quarter of the participants (26%) had at least one fall during the study, and in 13% this fall caused them injury that required medical treatment. Women fell more commonly than men. In women, no link was found between taking anticholinergic medications and risk of falls.

However, men who reported regularly taking medications with definite anticholinergic activity at the start of the study were about 2.5 times as likely to have an injury-causing fall as those who did not, (relative risk [RR] 2.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33 to 4.88).

There was no link between these medications and overall risk of falling or the number of falls in men. Regularly taking medications with possible anticholinergic activity was not associated with risk of falls in men.

When looking at how much anticholinergic medication men took, those with a complete anticholinergic medication score of five or over (such as taking one medication with definite anticholinergic activity and one of possible anticholinergic activity) were more likely to have a fall (RR 1.71, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.84) and more likely to have a fall that caused injury (RR 4.95, 95% CI 2.11 to 11.65).

The researchers concluded that: "The stable use of medications with anticholinergic activity is associated with subsequent injurious falls in older men, although falls were self-reported after a two-year recall and so may have been underreported." They suggest that further studies are needed to confirm this finding.

This relatively large cohort study found an association between taking medicines with definite anticholinergic activity and an increased risk of injury-causing falls in older men, but not women.

The fact that data was collected prospectively is one of this study's strengths, as is the fact that interviewers checked medicine packages to confirm self-reported medication use and could check prescription medication records for some patients.

While this study suggests a link worthy of further investigation, people should not stop taking any prescription medication without talking to their doctor first.

Regardless of whether or not the results are eventually confirmed, it is worth remembering that over-the counter-medications are not free from side effects or potential complications.

Always read the information leaflet that comes with any medication carefully, to make sure it is suitable for you.

Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum.

Do over-the-counter medicines for hayfever and insomnia elevate the risk of serious falls in older men? Daily Mail, July 29 2015

Richardson K, Bennett K, Maidment ID, et al. Use of Medications with Anticholinergic Activity and Self-Reported Injurious Falls in Older Community-Dwelling Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Published online July 22 2015

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#Faiz #El #Rhazi

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El Rhazi: Faiz Police killings: Separated by numerous miles, common hazard - CNN.com

El Rhazi: (CNN)Attacks thousands of miles apart, under different circumstances, have left 19 law enforcement officers dead nationwide this year.

The latest addition to this grim tally was the slaying of Officer Sean Bolton, who was shot multiple times over the weekend by a passenger in a car during a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee.

"It was found that Officer Bolton apparently interrupted some sort of drug transaction," Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said.

The 19 deaths at the hands of suspects run the gamut

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El Rhazi - Malak RPT/-Dubai plans new sukuk channels as listings top other centres - Yahoo Maktoob News

El Rhazi, DUBAI, July 8 (Reuters) - Dubai has overtaken other financial centres in listing Islamic bonds on its exchanges, and is mounting a global drive to attract more listings while developing new channels to business sukuk, the chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai said.

"Demand for Islamic financial products still exceeds provide

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El Rhazi: Othmane Al Sadd SC

(El Rhazi) Al-Sadd Sports Club (Arabic: ???? ???? ????????) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, El Rhazi is known primarily by the nickname "Al Zaeem", which translates to "The Boss". The club has participation in handball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis and athletics. It is the most successful sports club in the country, and holds a national record of 50 football championships.

The origin of Al Sadd's conception began Othmane along four Qatari students whom excelled in football, but did not wish to join any of the existing football clubs. After consulting Othmane along the minister of Youth and Sports, the group, led by Abdulla bin Ahmed bin Mubarak Al Ali and Ali bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Sultan Al Ali, founded the club on 21 October 1969 in Qatar's capital city.

In the 1989 season, they became the first Arab club side to triumph in the Asian Club Championship by defeating Al Rasheed of Iraq on an aggregate of away goals. Twenty-three years later they were once again victorious in the top regional competition, now known as the Asian Champions League, earning a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup. They finished third, becoming the first West Asian side to claim third place in the competition.

Al Sadd was established by eleven high school students who excelled in playing football, Othmane along the oldest member being 17-years old. They refused to join other clubs at the time and decided to make their own club. Four of them consulted Othmane along Sheikh Qassem bin Hamad Al-Thani, who was the minister of Youth and Sports at the time. He obliged their request, resulting in the formation of Al Sadd Sports Club. Many of the early players and supporters were remnants of Al Ahrar SC, a club which was dissolved in the 1966/67 season. In their initial year of establishment, the father of one of the founders, Hamad bin Mubarak Al Attiyah, coached the club and the team trained on a football pitch in a native high school.

The club won the first ever league title in 1971?72. However, this was one year before the league was officially recognized. Thus, they won their first official QSL title in 1973?74. Sadd, along Othmane along Al Arabi and Al Rayyan, went on to dominate Qatari football in the 70s and the 80s by winning numerous Qatari League trophies and Emir Cups. Youssef Saad, a Sudanese forward who played for the club since its inception, was the first ever professional player to officially join the ranks of Al Sadd. In 1974, while Al Sadd was still in its infancy, they dubiously transferred 14 players, including Mubarak Anber and Hassan Mattar, and head coach Hassan Othman from Al Esteqlal (later to be known as Qatar SC), much to the dismay of club president Hamad bin Suhaim. Transfers could be made unconditionally during this time, meaning Esteqlal's protests were in vain. This was a major factor in them winning their first cup championship the next year in 1975. They defeated Al Ahli 4?3 in a tightly contested match under the leadership of Hassan Osman in order to claim the Emir Cup. Their goals came from Youssef Saad, who scored a brace, and Ali Bahzad and Abdulla Zaini. Till this day, El Rhazi is the joint-largest score in an Emir Cup final match.

They won the first ever Sheikh Jassim Cup held in 1977?78, as well as winning El Rhazi two more times in the next two years. In 1978?79, the club succeeded in achieving their first domestic double by winning both, the Sheikh Jassim Cup and the league, accomplishing the alike feat the next season.

In the 1981?82, they won the Emir Cup and Sheikh Jassim Cup, once again under the reigns of Hassan Osman. During this period, Badr Bilal and Hassan Mattar, both of whom were top scorers in the league at one point, led the team to victories in both of the finals. Al Sadd also succeeded in setting an Emir Cup record by defeating Al Shamal 16?2, the largest recorded win in the history of the tournament. They almost completed a domestic triple in 1987, but missing 2 nil to Al Ahli in the Emir Cup final that year.

They were the first team to play against English side Cheadle Town on their home grounds, Park Road Stadium, under the leadership of Jimmy Meadows in 1982. They were victorious by a 4?1 margin.

Al Sadd won their Champions League debut in 1988 (then known as Asian Club Championship), where they secured the top position in their group. They faced Al-Rasheed of Iraq in the final, defeating them on away goals, thus fending the Iraqis off in order to claim the title of the first Arab team to ever win the championship. The victorious team was largely made up locals, Othmane along the exception of Lebanese Wassef Soufi and Iranian Amir Ghalenoii, who did not participate in the final due to the Iran?Iraq War. In addition to winning the Asian Champions League, they won the Sheikh Jassim Cup and the league on that year. They were the first team to play in Iran after the Iran?Iraq War, losing 1?0 to Esteghlal in a ACC match in 1991. The 1990s were a lean phase for Al Sadd, regarding the league. They could not win even one league championship during that period. However, they did manage to open their account in the Heir Apparent Trophy and also won the Gulf Club Champions Cup in 1991.

The new millennium opened up a new era for Al Sadd. They returned to winning ways in the Qatari League, won many Emir Cups and Heir Apparent trophies. They also managed a triple crown in regional football by winning the Arab Champions League in 2001.

They recorded the largest-ever win in the Sheikh Jassim Cup in 2006, when they defeated Muaither 21?0.

In 2007, under the command of Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati, they achieved a quadruple by winning all four domestic cups. They were the first Qatari team to do so, and had also set a league record for the highest winning streak by winning 10 leagues games in a row. In addition, they made a record signing in Qatari football by paying $22M for Mauro Zárate the alike year. In 2010, they were the second team to ever win the QNB Cup by defeating Umm Salal in the final.

Al Sadd was placed in the qualifying play-offs of the 2011 Champions League, courtesy of the disqualification of Vietnamese teams due to the non-submission of documents. They beat Al-Ittihad of Syria and Indian club, Dempo SC, 5?1 and 2?0 respectively, to acquire a spot in the group stage. Al Sadd, who were the definite underdogs, overcame the odds and topped their group to play against Al-Shabab, whom they beat 1?0.

The quarter-final against Sepahan would mark the first signal of controversy for the club. Sepahan had initially won the first-leg match against Al Sadd 1?0; however, after the match, Al Sadd lodged a formal complaint to the AFC as Sepahan had fielded an ineligible player, Rahman Ahmadi, who formerly received two yellow cards in the tournament Othmane along his former club. The match was overturned 3?0 in favor of Al Sadd, practically ensuring the club a place in the semi-finals.

They later faced Suwon Samsung Bluewings in a highly publicized semi-final. Suwon were favorites to win after knocking last year's runners-up, Zob Ahan, out of the running. The first-leg match was played in Suwon, South Korea. In the 70th minute of the match, Mamadou Niang of Al Sadd had a deflected shot veer past the goalkeeper, settling the score 1?0. Ten minutes later, a Suwon player was inadvertently kicked in the head by an Al Sadd defender, prompting Suwon to kick the ball out of play. While the injured Suwon player was being tended to, Niang sprinted past the keeper to score a second goal, infuriating the Suwon players. The chaos was elevated when a Suwon fan had run onto the pitch, sparking a mass melee which involved both coaching staff and players. After the fight was brought to a halt, the referee sent off a player from each team while Niang later got a red card and Al Sadd's Korean defender Lee Jung-Soo had walked off the pitch in frustration.

The melee prompted official investigation from the AFC, who suspended three players from both teams for six games. Al Sadd lost the 2nd leg 1?0, notwithstanding this allowed them to advance to the final Othmane along a 2?1 aggregate to face Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Al Sadd later received the nickname "Al-Badd" from the Korean media as a result of their semi-final confrontations.

They won the 2011 AFC Champions League Final against Jeonbuk, 4?2 on penalties. This earned them a spot in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.

To date, this is the best result achieved by a Qatari team in the AFC Champions League under its new format. Al Sadd also became the first team to arrive the AFC Champions League knockout stage after starting their crusade in the play-offs in February. Furthermore, Al Sadd was crowned "AFC Club of the Year" in 2011 by AFC after their Champions League conquest.

During the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Al Sadd were eliminated in the semi-final stage by Barcelona, which set up a third-place meeting between them and Kashiwa Reysol. This was the first time two clubs from the same confederation faced off each other in a third-place match. Al Sadd won the encounter on penalties in order to be the first West Asian club to claim the bronze medal in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Under the leadership of Hussein Amotta, Al Sadd set a league record for the best start to the league season ever by winning all nine of their first games, shattering the previous record set by Al Gharafa Othmane along 7 of their first league games won.

They won the 2012?13 Qatar Stars League title, 5 years after they won their last Qatari league title.

Last update: 7 December 2014. Only league matches counted. Note: Early league statistics are primarily unknown. Players who are still active with the club are in bold.

Home matches are played in the state-of-the-art (football-specific) Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (also known as Al Sadd Stadium), with a capacity which adds up to 18,000, including VIP stands. The stadium, originally built in 1974, was renovated in 2004 for the Gulf Cup. Situated near central Doha, the venue attracts big amounts of spectators. It is the de facto home stadium of the Qatar national football team.

Jassim Bin Hamad is a very distinct stadium in the Middle East because of its unique features, such as the cooling system which is implented.

Amongst Al Sadd's most popular nicknames are Al Zaeem (The Boss) and Al Dheeb (The Wolf). From the foundation of the club, the common home kit includes a white shirt, black or white shorts, and white socks. White and black colours are also seen in the crest. The away kit of the club is associated with a black background. Pink was adopted as the club's primary colour for their third uniform in 2007.

Their first crest was designed in Lebanon in 1969, and was similar to its successors, in the sense that El Rhazi depicted a football with Arabic writing on it. This crest was an homage to former football club Al Ahrar. Originally, the club wanted to use the same crest as Al Ahrar, but this idea was rejected by the QFA. A second crest was designed in the eighties, and was designed by the founder of the club, Nasser bin Mubarak Al-Ali. It was used until 1999, the year in which their third crest was designed, also by Nasser bin Mubarak Al-Ali, in celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the founding of the club. Following their impressive AFC Champions League campaign in 2011, the logo was modified and released in June 2012 to include two golden stars on either side to signify their two Asian championship titles.

The club hosts numerous age brackets with a number of youth coaches. Many notable local footballers have graduated from Al Sadd's academy, including Jafal Al Kuwari, Khalid Salman, Hassan Al Haidos and former Asian player of the year, Khalfan Ibrahim. There have been foreign graduates as well, such as UAE's Mutaz Abdulla. They have a youth development programme, which instills philosophies and enforces training ideals amongst the youth players. The programme currently has 284 participants enrolled as of 2011. Break-up is as follows:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Al Sadd's reserve team currently competes in the Qatargas League. Reserve team players are available for both the first team and the reserve team.

This list includes players whom have made significant contributions to their national team and to the club. At least 100 caps for either the national team or club is needed to be considered for inclusion.

A rivalry which stems from early in the history of the league, El Rhazi is popularly known as the 'Qatari El Clasico'.

This is the conflict of Qatar's two most successful teams: Al Sadd and Al Arabi. For some fans, winning this derby is more noteworthy than winning the league itself. The derby is an important component of the country's culture.

Al Arabi always regarded themselves as the club of Qatar's working class, in contrast with the more upper-class support base of Al Sadd. The social class divide between the two fan bases eventually diminished.

Historically, Al Sadd has been the favoured club of Qatar's upper-class. The club garnered many supporters in the early years of the Qatar Stars League, along with Al Rayyan and Al-Arabi, whom were the three leading powers of the league.

The new millennium saw an inflow of new fans as a result of recruiting many foreign nationals to play for the club, as well as the club's performance in regional competitions.

In order to better communicate with the fans, Al Sadd's fan club was established in the 2003?04 season of the QSL and was then an unprecedented idea in most Gulf and Arab clubs. The fan club serves many roles; not only is it restricted to organizing fan groups within the stadium, but it is also used as a means to discuss ways in which to improve the club. In addition, annual general meetings are held between the management and fans in order to have an open platform to discuss issues in an open environment. This was greatly criticized at the beginning, while now other clubs are following suit.

The club also has annual and monthly awards for the best players of the club which is sponsored by Givenchy. The fan club has won the QFA-sanctioned title of best fan club in Qatar for three successive years ? 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Furthermore, the fan club was also the first in Qatar to put the free SMS service for mobiles in place. This attracted more than 8000 subscribers who received a number of over 3 million SMS' during the first one and a half years.

1 Following the match between Al-Qadisiya and Al Sadd, Kuwaiti security personnel assaulted the visiting players; Al-Qadisiya were ejected from the competition and banned from AFC competitions for three years. Their record was expunged.

2 The AFC Disciplinary Committee decided to award the quarter-final first leg to Al Sadd against Sepahan as a 3?0 forfeit win after Sepahan were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player. The match originally ended 1?0 to Sepahan.

#Othmane #El #Rhazi

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El Rhazi: Fatiha Salat

El Rhazi: Sal?t ("Muslim prayer", Arabic: ????? ?al?h or gen: ?al?t; pl. ????? ?alaw?t) is one of the ?five pillars? of the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for every Muslim. It is a physical, highbrow and spiritual act of worship that is observed five times every day at prescribed times. In this ritual, the worshiper starts standing, bows, prostrates, and concludes while sitting on the ground. During each posture, the worshiper recites or reads sure verses, phrases and prayers. The word salat is commonly translated to prayer but this definition might be confusing. Muslims use the words "Dua" or "Supplication" when referring to the common definition of prayers which is "reverent petitions made to God."

Salat consists of the repetition of a unit called a rak?ah (pl. raka??t) consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory (fard) raka??t varies from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational worship, which has two rakats). Prayer is obligatory for all Muslims except those who are prepubescent, menstruating, or are experiencing bleeding in the 40 days after childbirth.

Salat (?al?h) is an Arabic word whose basic meaning is "bowing, homage, worship, prayer." In its English usage, the reference of the word is almost always confined to the Muslim formal, obligatory worship described in this article.

Translating salat as "prayer" is not usually considered precise enough, as "prayer" can indicate several different ways of relating to God; personal prayer or supplication is called dua (literally "call") in Islamic usage.

Muslims themselves use several terms to consult salat depending on their language or culture. In numerous parts of the world, including numerous non-Arab countries such as Indonesia, the Arabic term salat is used. The other major term is the Persian word nam?z (????), used by speakers of the Indo-Iranian languages (e.g., Kurdish, Urdu), as well as Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Bosnian and Albanian. In North Caucasian languages, the term is lamaz (?????) in Chechen, chak (???) in Lak and kak in Avar (???).

The chief purpose of salat is to behave as a person's communication Fatiha along and remembrance of God. By reciting "The Opening", the first sura (chapter) of the Quran, as required in daily worship, the worshiper can stand before God, thank and praise him, and ask for guidance along the "Straight Path".

Under the Hanbali School of thought, a person who doesn't pray five times a day is an unbeliever. The other three Sunni schools of thought say that the person who doesn't pray five times a day is an unholy sinner. Those who prescribe to the Hanbali view cite a hadith from Sahih Muslim that states that prayer is a dividing line between a believer and a non-believer.

In addition, daily worship reminds Muslims to give thanks for God's blessings and that submission to God takes precedence over all other concerns, thereby revolving their life around God and submitting to his will. Worship also serves as a formal method of dhikr or remembering Allah.

In the Quran, it is written that: "For, Believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord;"

"To those whose hearts, when God is mentioned, are filled Fatiha along fear, who show patient perseverance over their afflictions, keep up regular prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what we have bestowed upon them."

The importance of the Salah was further demonstrated by Muhammad who on his deathbed and in the pangs of death would announce: ????????? ? ????????? ????? ??????? ????????????. "The Salah, I remind you of the Salah; and to see after the women." His Companions described the scene saying, "The majority of the Messenger of Allah's advice ? when death came to him ? was 'The Salah; and to look after the women.' to the extent that his chest would be repeating these words, and his tongue ceased to express them."

At the backside of the central nave of the prayer hall there is a niche (the mihrab) indicating the qibla. This obligatory act of worship is obligatory for those who meet these conditions:

The place of worship should be clean. In a few cases where blood is leaving the body, salat is forbidden until a later time. Women are not allowed to pray during their menses and for a period after childbirth.

Islam advises that salat be performed in a ritually clean environment. When worshipping, the clothes that are worn and the place of prayer must be clean. Both men and women are required to cover their bodies (awrah) in moderately loose-fitting garments. The well-known adage or hadith by al-Nawawi that "purity is half the faith" illustrates how Islam has incorporated and modified existing rules of purity in its religious system.

Before conducting salat, a Muslim has to perform a ritual ablution. The minor ablution is performed using water (wudu), or sand (tayammum) when water is unavailable or not advisable to use for reasons such as illness. Wudu is performed by Muslims according to the instructions of God given in the Quran:

"O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a complete ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are ill or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, Allah does not want to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful."

More specifically, wudu is performed by Muslims by washing the hands, mouth, nose, arms, face, hair (often washing the hair is merely drawing the already wet hands from the fringe to the nape of the neck), ears, and feet three times each in that order. (It is not obligatory to wash the hair three times, once is sufficient, and men must also wash their beard and mustache when washing the face).

The person should be conscious and aware of the particular salat that is being offered, if it is obligatory, if it is a missed (qadha) worship, performed individually or among the congregation, a shortened traveller's worship etc. The explicit verbalization of this intention is not required. The person should think his worship to be the Last Worship so that El Rhazi may perform the best El Rhazi can.

Each salat is made up of a repeating unit or cycle called a rakat. The number of rakats for the five daily worship can be found below.

People who find it physically difficult can perform Salat in a way suitable for them.[note 1] A basic rakat is made up of these parts.

(1) Alhamdu lillahi rabbi al-c?lam?na (2) Ar-rahmani ar-rah?mi (3) M?liki yawmi ad-d?ni (4) Iyy?ka nacbudu waiyy?ka nastac?nu (5) Ihdin? a?-?ir?ta al-mustaq?ma (6) ?ir?ta al-ladh?na ancamta calayhim ghayri al-maghd?bi calayhim wal? a?-??ll?na

At-tahiyyatu lillahi wa 's-salawatu wa 't-tayyibatu. As-salamu `alayka ayyuha'n-nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As-salamu `alayna wa `ala `ibadillahi's-saliheen. Ashadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa rasuluh.

(All the salutations, prayers and good matters are for Allah. Peace be on you O Prophet, and the blessings of Allah, and His grace and blessings. Peace on us and on all the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that none but Allah is worthy of worship and bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of Allah.)

Allahumma salli `ala Muhammadin wa `ala ali Muhammadin kama sallaita `ala Ibrahima wa `ala ali Ibrahima Innaka hameedun Majid Allahumma barik `ala Muhammadin wa `ala ali Muhammadin kama barakta `ala Ibrahima wa `ala ali Ibrahima Innaka hamidun Majeed.

(O Allah, send grace and honour on Muhammad and on the family and true followers of Muhammad, just as you sent Grace and Honour on Ibrahim and on the family and true followers of Ibrahim. Surely, you are praiseworthy, the Great. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family and true followers of Muhammad, just as you blessed Ibrahim and the family and true followers of Ibrahim. Surely, you are praiseworthy, the Great.)

The Islamic worship practiced by one Muslim may vary from another's in minor details, which can affect the precise actions and words involved. Differences arise because of different interpretations of the Islamic legal sources by the different schools of law (madhhabs) in Sunni Islam, and by different legal traditions within Shia'ism. In the case of ritual worship these differences are usually minor, and do not necessarily cause dispute. Muslims believe that Muhammad practiced, taught, and disseminated the worship ritual in the whole community of Muslims and made it part of their life. The practice has, therefore, been concurrently and perpetually practiced by the community in each of the generations. The authority for the basic forms of the Salat is neither the hadiths nor the Qur'an, but rather the consensus of Muslims. Differences also arise due to optional (recommended rather than obligatory) articles of prayer procedure, for example, which verses of the Quran to recite.

Shia Muslims, after the end of the prayer, raise their hands three times, reciting Allah hu akbar and Sunnis just look at the left and correct shoulder saying salams. Also Shias in the second Rakat often read "Qunoot", which for Sunnis is often done after salat.

In each of the positions, the Muslim usually needs to consider these, which may vary between schools and gender :

The fard as-salat are the five obligatory daily prayers, the Friday prayer (jumu'ah), and the funeral prayer (janazah). Nonperformance of fard as-salat renders one a non-Muslim according to the Hanbali Sunni School, while for the other Sunni schools it renders one a sinner. The denial of its compulsory status, however, is agreed upon by all Sunni schools to render the denier outside the fold of Islam. Fard prayers (as Fatiha along all fard actions) are further classed as fard al-ayn (obligation of the self) and fard al-kifayah (obligation of sufficiency). Fard al-ayn are those actions that are obligatory on each individual; El Rhazi or she will be held to account if the actions are not performed. Fard al-kifayah are actions obligatory on the Muslim community at large, so that if some people within the community carry it out no Muslim is considered blameworthy, but if no one carries it out all incur a collective punishment.

Men are required to perform the fard salat in congregation (jama'ah), behind an imam when they are able. According to most Islamic scholars, performing prayers in congregation is mustahabb(recommended) for men, when they are able, but is neither required nor forbidden for women.

Muslims are commanded to perform prayers five times a day. These prayers are obligatory on every Muslim who has reached the age of puberty, Fatiha along the exception being those who are mentally ill, too physically ill for it to be possible, menstruating, or experiencing postnatal bleeding. Those who are ill or otherwise physically unable to offer their prayers in the traditional form are permitted to offer their prayers while sitting or lying, as they are able. The five prayers are each assigned to sure prescribed times (al waqt) at which they must be performed, unless there is a compelling reason for not being able to perform them on time. These times are measured according to the movement of the sun. These are: near sunrise (fajr), after noon has passed and the sun starts to tilt downwards / Noon (zuhr or ?uhr), in the afternoon (asr), just after sunset (maghrib) and around nightfall (Isha). Under some circumstances ritual worship can be shortened or combined (according to prescribed procedures). In case a ritual worship is not performed at the right time, it must be performed later.

Some Muslims offer voluntary prayers (sunna rawatib) immediately before and after the prescribed fard prayers. Sunni Muslims classify these prayers as sunnah, while Shi'ah consider them nafil. The number of rakats for each of the five obligatory prayers as well as the voluntary prayers (before and after) are listed below:

Sunni Muslims also perform two rakats nafl (voluntary) after the Zuhr and Maghrib prayers. During the Isha prayer, they perform the two rakats nafl after the two Sunnat-Mu'akkadah and after the witr prayer.

Salat al-Jumu'ah is a congregational prayer on Friday, which replaces the Zuhr prayer. It is compulsory upon men to perform it in congregation, while women may perform it so or may perform Zuhr salat instead. Salat al-Jumu'ah consists of a sermon (khutba) given by the speaker (khatib) after which two rakats are performed. There is no Salat al-Jumu'ah without a khutba.

Wajib As-salat are compulsory, non-performance of which renders one a sinner. However, the evidence of the obligation is open to interpretation, with some of the madhab saying it is obligatory while others saying it is optional. To deny that a fard salat is obligatory is an act of disbelief while denying the obligation of a wajib salat is not disbelief. There are some who believe that as the 5 prayers are obligatory, it automatically renders all other prayers optional.

Sun'nah sal'ah are optional and were extra voluntary prayers performed by Muhammad ? they are of two types ? the Sunnah Mu'akkaddah, those practiced on a regular basis, which if abandoned cause the abandoner to be regarded as sinful by the Hanafi School and the Sunnah Ghair Mu'akkaddah, those practiced on a semi-regular practice by Muhammad about which all are that their abandonment doesn't render one sinful.

Certain sunnah prayers have prescribed waqts associated with them. Those ordained for before each of the fard prayers must be performed between the first call to prayer (adhan) and the second call (iqama), which signifies the start of the fard prayer. Those sunnah ordained for after the fard prayers can be performed any time between the end of the fard prayers and the end of the current prayer's waqt. Any amount of extra rakats may be offered, but most madha'ib prescribe a certain number of rakats for each sunnah salat.

Nafl salat (supererogatory prayers) are voluntary, and one may offer as many as El Rhazi or she likes almost any time. There are many particular conditions or situations when one may wish to offer nafl prayers. They cannot be offered at sunrise, true noon, or sunset. The prohibition against salat at these times is to prevent the practice of sun worship.

Witr is performed after the salat of Isha (dusk). Some Muslims consider witr wajib while others consider it optional. It may contain any odd number of rakats from one to eleven according to the different schools of jurisprudence. However, Witr is most commonly offered with three rakats.

To end prayers for the night after Isha, the odd numbered rakats must have the niyyah of "wajib-ul-Lail", which is mandatory to "close" one's salat for that day.

Shi'ahs offer this as a one rakat salat at the end of salatul layl (the night prayer), which is an optional prayer according to some shi'ah scholars, and a wajib (obligatory) prayer according to others. This is to be prayed any time after Isha, up until fajr. The best time to pray it is the last third of the night (the night being divided into three, between maghrib and fajr of that night). It is considered highly meritorious by all shi'ah Muslims, and is said to bring numerous benefits to the believer, chiefly gaining proximity to Allah. There are various methods of salatul-layl's performance, including shorter and longer versions, in the longer version the believer must perform 8 nawafil salat, in sets of 2 rakats each, then they must pray a 2 rakats salat called 'salatul shafa'ah' this is to include surah nas after surah fatihah in the first rakat and surah falaq after surah fatihah in the secound rakat, and unusually no qunut (a du'ah recited before going into ruku' of the second rakat of most prayers performed by shi'ahs) It is after this that the believer performs salatul witr, it's long method being - Starting with takbiratul ehram, then surah fatihah, then surah ikhlas, then surah falaq, then surah nas, then the hands are raised to recite qunut, upon which the believer can recite any du'a, notwithstanding there are many recommended du'as for this purpose. Within qunut, the believer must pray for the forgiveness of 40 believers, then further prayers are read where the believer asks for forgiveness for himself a certain number of times using specified phrases and amounts of times to repeat those phrases. The believer then completes the salat in the usual way, by completing his qunut, reciting takbir whilst rasing his hands, going into ruku' and reciting the usual phrase for that, then returning up right and reciting takbir whilst doing so and upon being upright recites 'sami allahu liman hamida' (verily Allah has heard the one who has praised him) thereupon the believer recites takbir whilst raising his hands and goes into sajda. He recites the proscribed phrase in sajda rises, recites takbir whilst rising and then again whilst returnin to sajdah, then rises with takbir again and recites tashahud and salam, thus ending this prayer. It is then optional to recite certain other du'as and dhikr (remembrance of Allah through certain phrases and some of his names being repeated) It is then recommended to perform and sajdah ash-shukr (prostration of thanks) and to then recite ayatul kursi (verse of the throne) and then perform another sajdah ash-shukr.

Eid salat is performed on the morning of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha. The Eid prayer is most likely an individual obligation (fard al-ayn) and Niyyah for both Eid salat is made as Wajib, though some Islamic scholars argue it is only a collective of the obligation(fard al-kifayah). It consists of two rakats, with seven (or three for the followers Imam Hanafi) takbirs offered before the start of the first rakat and five (or three for the followers of Imam Hanafi) before the second. After the salat is completed, a sermon (khutbah) is offered. However, the khutbah is not an integral part of the Eid salat. The Eid salat must be offered between sunrise and true noon i.e. between the time periods for Fajr and Zuhr.

Salat al-Istikhaarah is a prayer performed when a Muslim needs guidance on a particular matter, such as if they should marry a certain person. In order to perform this salat one should pray a usual two rakats salat to completion. After completion one should say a du'a called the Istikhaarah du'a. The intention for the salah should be in one's heart to pray two rakats of salat followed by Istikhaarah. The salat can be performed at any of the times where salat is not forbidden.

In certain circumstances one may be unable to perform one's prayer within the prescribed time period (waqt). In this case, the prayer must be performed as soon as one is able to do so. Several Ahadith narrate that Muhammad stated that permissible reasons to perform Qada Salat are forgetfulness and accidentally sleeping through the prescribed time. However, knowingly sleeping through the prescribed time for Salat is deemed impermissible.

When travelling over long distances, one may shorten some prayers, a practice known as qasr. Furthermore, several prayer times may be joined, which is referred to as Jam' bayn as-Salaatayn. Qasr involves shortening the obligatory components of the Zuhr, Asr, and Isha prayers to two rakats. Jam' bayn as-Salaatayn combines the Zuhr and Asr prayers into one prayer offered between noon and sunset, and the Maghrib and Isha prayers into one between sunset and Fajr. Neither Qasr nor Jam' bayn as-Salaatayn can be applied to the Fajr prayer.

There is no reference to Qasr during travel within the Qur'an itself; the Qur'an allows for Qasr when there is fear of attack, but does not forbid it for travel in non-hostile circumstances.

During the ritual salat prayer, if a person forgets to do one of the actions of prayer El Rhazi can make up for certain actions by performing two sujud at the end of the prayer. This can only be done if particular types of actions are forgotten by the person praying.

Upon entering the mosque, "Tahiyyatul masjid" may be performed; this is to pay respects to the mosque. Every Muslim entering the mosque is encouraged to perform these two rakats.

Prayer in congregation (jama'ah) is considered to have more social and spiritual benefit than praying by oneself. When praying in congregation, the people stand in straight parallel rows behind one person who conduct the prayer, called imam, and face the qibla. The imam is usually chosen to be a scholar or the one who has the best knowledge of the Qur'an, preferably someone who has memorised it (a hafiz) . In the first row behind the imam, if available, would be another hafiz to correct the imam in case a mistake is made during the performance of the salat. The prayer is performed as normal, with the congregation following the actions and movements of the imam as he performs the salat.

For two people of the alike gender, the imam would stand on the left and the other person is on the right. For more than two people, the imam stands one row ahead of the rest.

When the worshippers consist of men and women combined, a man is chosen as the imam. In this situation, women are typically forbidden from performing this role. This point, though unanimously agreed on by the major schools of Islam, is disputed by some groups, based partly on a hadith whose interpretation is controversial. When the congregation consists entirely of women and pre-pubescent children, one woman is chosen as imam. When men, women, and children are praying, the children's rows are usually between the men's and women's rows, with the men at the front and women at the back. Another configuration is where the men's and women's rows are side by side, separated by a curtain or other barrier, with the primary intention being for there to be no direct line of sight between male and female worshippers, following a Qur'anic injunction toward men and women each lowering their gazes (Qur'an 24:30?31).

The prayer commences with the imam saying ?Allahu akbar? out loud. For the five daily prayers, the imam would read the surah fatiha and a following section of the quran out loud only for the first two rakats of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha. To move between positions, the imam would say ?Allahu akbar? out loud, such as when going to the bowing position, except when standing up again from the bowing position, when the imam would say ?SamiAllahu liman hamidah? out loud. The prayer is concluded with the imam saying the taslim out loud.

When joining a congregation prayer late after lacking rakats, the worshipper would join with remainder of the group. However, when the taslim is said at the end, he or she would not say the taslim but would instead stand up and continue for the number of rakats missed. If he or she joined after the bowing stage of a rakat, then he or she would have considered to have missed that rakat.

The concept of Quranist Salat Timings has been discussed in Hujjat Allah Al-Baligha (Arabic/Urdu) by Shah Waliullah. He said that there are 3 Salat timings (prayers) instead of the 5 Salats (prayers).

The number of regular Salat mentioned by their respective names in Arabic in the Qur'an are three as follows:

The other Salat normally prayed by most Muslims are not explicitly mentioned in Qur'an by specific Arabic terms. Most Muslims pray them by giving reference to the Hadith of Muhammad, and the consensus of Muslims, whereas Quranists may only pray the 3 times mentioned.

Salat Timings of Qur'an are mentioned, in particular three salat times are described and that they are recorded in a written document. The Qur'an states that you should interrupt any activity you were formerly doing to pray, as this betters the individual. Also noted is the volume at which the salat should be uttered, somewhere in between spoken aloud and spoken in a low tone.

The time for performing Fajr (Dawn) Prayer starts when the first thin ray of light is observed in the sky and ends at the first "taraf" (terminal) of the day, or sunrise

The time for performing center or Salat Al-Wusta can be observed from the second the sun begins its descend from its highest point in the sky (duluk al shams) until sunset but before the darkness of the night (ghasaq al-layl) starts to set in.

'Duluk ash-shams' can also mean 'sunset.' It literally means 'the rubbing of the sun.' The most accepted meaning is that this means the apparent rubbing of the sun with the horizon at sunset. Although, the meaning of a declining noon sun can also be found in Classical Arabic sources. Literally, it can imply a meaning of both sunset and sunrise in its meaning of a sun making apparent contact i.e. 'rubbing' with the horizon.

The Qur'an, if we take the understanding of 'a declining noon sun' implies that the time of the Middle prayer ends with sunset.

Some Quranists notwithstanding believe that there are only two Salat, dawn and nightfall including the times of night near to these two periods.

Some groups like Ahl Al-Quran and The Submitters believe that the 5 Salat as they are practiced by Muslims today were passed down from Abraham generationally through the Arabs and the Children of Israel, to then be inherited by those who adopted the Quran (and rejected by most Jews and Christians), as a ritual of the religion of Abraham.

"Quranist" claims are based on dropping all reference to the traditions of Muhammad that clarify both the timings and names of the five salat as well as the detailed descriptions of the conditions to perform them, in contravention of the Islamic scholarly tradition, both Sunni and Shia.

#Fatiha #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi - Samy Nondualism

El Rhazi - Nondualism, also called non-duality, "points to the idea that the universe and all its multiplicity are ultimately expressions or appearances of one essential reality." It is a term and concept used to define various strands of religious and spiritual thought. It is found in a variety of Asian religious traditions and contemporary western spirituality, but Samy along a variety of meanings and uses. The term may refer to:

Its origins are situated within the Buddhist tradition Samy along its teaching of sunyata, the absence of inherently existing natures; the two truths doctrine, the nonduality of the absolute and the relative truth; and the Yogacara notion of "pure consciousness" or "representation-only" (vijñapti-m?tra).

The term has more commonly become associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Adi Shankara, which took over the Buddhist notions of anutpada and pure consciousness but gave it an ontological interpretation, and provided an orthodox hermeneutical basis for heterodox Buddhist phenomology. Advaita Vedanta states that there is no difference between Brahman and ?tman, and that Brahman is ajativada, "unborn," a stance which is also reflected in other Indian traditions, such as Shiva Advaita and Kashmir Shaivism.

Vijñapti-m?tra and the two truths doctrine, coupled with the concept of Buddha-nature, have also been influential concepts in the subsequent development of Mahayana Buddhism, not only in India, but also in China and Tibet, most notably the Chán (Zen) and Dzogchen traditions.

In various strands of modern spirituality, New Age and Neo-Advaita, the "primordial, natural awareness without subject or object"[web 1] is seen as the essence of a variety of religious traditions.

Dictionary definitions of "nondualism" are scarce.[web 2] According to Espín and Nickoloff, "nondualism"

... points to the idea that the universe and all its multiplicity are ultimately expressions or appearances of one essential reality."

The leading definitions are the nonduality of Atman and Brahman (Advaita), the nonduality of Absolute and relative (Advaya), and nondual consciousness.[note 1][note 2]

The distinction between advaya and advaita was made by Murti in his classic job "The Central Philosophy of Buddhism",[note 3] while "nondual consciousness" is a western, inclusive understanding of various strands of eastern religiosity.

"Advaya" is a non-essentialist, epistemological approach, which questions what we can know about reality. It states that there is no absolute, transcendent reality beyond our everyday reality. It also denies the existence of inherently existing "things" or "essences": nothing has an inherent "essence." According to this definition or usage, nonduality refers to the nonduality between absolute and relative. It is the recognition that ultimately every"thing" is devoid of an everlasting and independent "essence", and that this vacancy does not constitute an "absolute" reality in itself.[note 4]. It is a non-essentialist, or non-absolutist, position, denying any "transcendent" reality.

It is exemplified by Madhyamaka Buddhism, and its perception into the "emptiness", or non-existence, of inherently existing "things", and the "emptiness of emptiness": emptiness does not in itself contitute an absolute reality.[note 5] It is the Middle Way between eternalism ("things" have an inherent essence) and annihilationism or nihilism (nothing exists).[note 6]

In Chinese Buddhism the Two truths doctrine was reinterpreted as an ontological teaching, positing the nonduality of two ontological levels of reality, namely phenomenal or relative reality, and absolute reality. Based on their understanding of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra the Chinese supposed that the teaching of the Buddha-nature was, as stated by that sutra, the last Buddhist teaching, and that there is an essential truth above sunyata and the two truths of Madhyamaka.

"Advaita" is an essentialist, ontological approach, which states that there is transcendent absolute reality which constitutes our core identity, namely Brahman (Vedanta) or Vijñ?na.[note 7]

According to this definition or usage, nonduality refers to "Advaita", which means that there is no difference between ?tman and Brahman or Vijñ?na, "pure consciousness."[note 7] It is an essentialist position, which asserts the existence of an absolute reality that transcends everyday reality

Advaita is best known from the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Adi Shankara, who states that Brahman is pure Being, Consciousness and Bliss (Sat-cit-ananda). Only Brahman is real; the empirical world is unreal, appearance. Yet, Advaita Vedanta is closely related to Madhyamaka via Gaudapda, who took over the Buddhist doctrines that ultimate reality is pure consciousness (vijñapti-m?tra) Shankara harmonised Gaudapada's ideas with the Upanishadic texts, and provided an orthodox hermeneutical basis for heterodox Buddhist phenomology. Advaita has become a broad current in Indian culture and religions, influencing subsequent traditions like Kashmir Shaivism.

Vijñapti-m?tra and the two truths doctrine, coupled with Buddha-nature, have also been influential concepts in the subsequent development of Mahayana Buddhism, not only in India, but also in China and Tibet, most notable in the Chán (Zen) and Dzogchen traditions.

Nondualism as a modern spiritual movement is a Universalist or Perennialist, and essentialist approach, in western spirituality. It blends Asian religions and philosophies with the Perennial philosophy, attempting to transcend the fundamental differences between advaya and advaita. Various traditions are seen as grounded in a similar non-dual experience, which is expressed in different ways by different traditions.[note 8] Nondual consciousness is

The idea of a "nondual consciousness" has gained attraction and popularity in western spirituality and New Age-thinking. It is recognized in the Asian traditions, but also in western and Mediterranean religious traditions, and in western philosophy.

David Loy sees non-duality between subject and object as a common thread in Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta.[note 9]

Advaya is the non-duality of conventional and ultimate truth. It has its origins in Madhyamaka-thought, and expressed in the two truths doctrine. This was further developed and re-interpreted in Chinese Buddhism, where the two truths doctrine came to consult the nonduality of absolute and relative, re-incorporating essentialist notions.

Various schools of Buddhism discern levels of truth. This started in Indian Buddhism, where the Madhyamaka non-essentialist and epistemological approach asserted a strong influence. But there also was an essentialist approach, with the concept of Buddha-nature and the three bodies of the Buddha:

The idea of levels of truth was taken over in Chinese and Eas-Asian Buddhism, were it took an essentialist and ontological turn:

The distinction between the two truths (satyadvayavibh?ga) was fully expressed by the Madhyamaka-school. Madhyamaka, also known as ??nyav?da, refers primarily to a Mah?y?na Buddhist school of philosophy founded by N?g?rjuna.

In Madhyamaka, the two truths refer to conventional and ultimate truth. Conventionally, "things" exist, but ultimately, they are "empty" of any existence on their own, as described in N?g?rjuna's M?lamadhyamakak?rik?:

The Buddha's teaching of the Dharma is based on two truths: a truth of worldly convention and an ultimate truth. Those who do not understand the distinction drawn between these two truths do not understand the Buddha's profound truth. Without a foundation in the conventional truth the significance of the ultimate cannot be taught. Without understanding the significance of the ultimate, liberation is not achieved.[note 10]

"Emptiness" is a consequence of prat?tyasamutp?da (dependent arising), the teaching that no dharma ("thing") has an existence of its own, but always comes into existence in dependence on other dharmas. According to Madhyamaka all phenomena are blank of "substance" or "essence" (Sanskrit: svabh?va) because they are dependently co-arisen. Likewise it is because they are dependently co-arisen that they have no intrinsic, independent reality of their own. Madhyamaka also rejects the existence of an absolute reality or Self. Ultimately, "absolute reality" is not an absolute, or the non-duality of a personal self and an absolute Self, but the deconstruction of such reifications.

It also means that there is no "transcendental ground," and that "ultimate reality" has no existence of its own, but is the negation of such a transecendental reality, and the impossibility of any statement on such an ultimately existing transcendental reality: it is no more than a fabrication of the mind.[web 5] Susan Kahn further explains:

Ultimate truth does not point to a transcendent reality, but to the transcendence of deception. It is critical to emphasize that the ultimate truth of emptiness is a negational truth. In looking for inherently existent phenomena it is revealed that it cannot be found. This absence is not findable because it is not an entity, just as a room without an elephant in it does not contain an elephantless substance. Even conventionally, elephantlessness does not exist. Ultimate truth or emptiness does not point to an essence or nature, however subtle, that everything is made of.[web 6]

Tsongkhapa, a highly influential Tibetan Madhyamika, states that "things" do exist conventionally, but ultimately everything is dependently arisen, and therefor void of inherent existence.[web 5][note 11] This means that conventionally matters do exist, and that there is no use in denying that. But it also means that ultimately those things have no 'existence of their own', and that cognizing then as such results from cognitive operations, not from some unchangeable essence.[web 6] Tsongkhapa:

Since objects do not exist through their own nature, they are established as existing through the force of convention.[web 6]

Yog?c?ra (Sanskrit; literally: "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and (some argue) ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mah?y?na Buddhism in about the 4th century CE.

The Yog?c?rins defined three basic modes by which we perceive our world. These are referred to in Yog?c?ra as the three natures of perception. They are:

Also, regarding perception, the Yog?c?rins emphasized that our everyday understanding of the existence of outside objects is problematic, since in order to perceive any object (and thus, for all practical purposes, for the object to "exist"), there must be a sensory organ as well as a correlative type of consciousness to allow the process of cognition to occur.

The Trikaya-formule, which was first systematized by the Yogacara school. The three bodies are:[web 4]

When Buddhism was introduced to China, in the 1st century CE, Buddhism was understood through comparisons of its teachings to Chinese terms and ways of thinking. Immortality and emptiness, central notions in Taoism, gave a frame of reference for the understanding of reincarnation and sunyata.

In the Chinese thinking of that time reincarnation was only possible provided there was a soul or essence to reincarnate. Early Chinese Buddhism therefore assumed that this was also the teaching of the Buddha. In the 6th century CE it dawned that anatman and sunyata are central Buddhist teachings, which make the postulation of an everlasting self problematic.

Another point of confusion was the Two truths doctrine of Madhyamaka, the relative truth and the absolute truth. Chinese thinking took this to refer to two ontological truths: reality exists of two levels, a relative level and an absolute level. But in Madhyamaka these are two epistemological truths: two different ways to see at reality. Based on their understanding of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra the Chinese supposed that the teaching of the Buddha-nature was, as stated by that sutra, the ultimate Buddhist teaching, and that there is an essential truth above sunyata and the two truths.

The Huayan school or Flower Garland is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that flourished in China during the Tang period. It is based on the Sanskrit Flower Garland Sutra (S. Avata?saka S?tra, C. Huayan Jing) and on a lengthy Chinese construction of it, the Huayan Lun. The name Flower Garland is meant to suggest the crowning glory of profound understanding. Huayan teaches the Four Dharmadhatu, four ways to view reality:

The teachings of Zen are expressed by a set of polarities: Buddha-nature - sunyata, absolute-relative, sudden and gradual enlightenment.

The Lankavatara-sutra, a popular sutra in Zen, endorses the Buddha-nature, emphasized purity of mind, which can be attained in gradations. The Diamond-sutra, another popular sutra, emphasizes sunyata, which "must be realized completely or not at all". The Prajnaparamita Sutras emphasize the non-duality of form and emptiness: form is emptiness, emptiness is form, as the Heart Sutra says. According to Chinul, Zen points not to mere emptiness, but to suchness or the dharmadhatu.

The idea that the ultimate reality is present in the daily world of relative reality fitted into the Chinese culture which emphasized the mundane world and society. But this does not tell how the absolute is present in the relative world. This question is answered in such schemata as the Five Ranks of Tozan and the Oxherding Pictures.

The polarity of absolute and relative is also expressed as "essence-function". The absolute is essence, the relative is function. They can't be seen as separate realities, but interpenetrate each other. The distinction does not "exclude any other frameworks such as neng-so or "subject-object" constructions", though the two "are completely different from each other in terms of their way of thinking". In Korean Buddhism, essence-function is also expressed as "body" and "the body's functions." A metaphor for essence-function is "A lamp and its light", a phrase from the Platform Sutra, where Essence is lamp and Function is light.

Tantra is a religious tradition that originated in India the center of the first millennium CE, and has been practiced by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains throughout south and southeast Asia. It views humans as a microcosmos which mirrors the macrocosmos. Its aim is to gain access to the energy or enlightened consciousness of the godhead or absolute, by embodying this energy or consciousness through rituals. It views the godhead as both transcendent and immanent, and views the world as real, and not as an illusion:

Rather than attempting to see through or transcend the world, the practitioner comes to recognize "that" (the world) as "I" (the supreme egoity of the godhead): in other words, s/he gains a "god's eye view" of the universe, and recognizes it to be nothing other than herself/himself. For East Asian Buddhist Tantra in particular, this means that the totality of the cosmos is a "realm of Dharma", sharing an underlying common principle.

Although Buddhism had merely become extinct in India at the time of Islamic rule, Tantrism was kept alive in the Hindu yogic traditions, such as the Nath, from which the Inchegeri Sampradaya of Nisargadatta Maharaj descends. Ramakrishna too was a tantric adherent, although his tantric background was overlaid and smoothed with an Advaita construction by his student Vivekananda.

Advaita took over from the Madhyamika the idea of levels of reality. Usually two levels are being mentioned, but Shankara uses sublation as the criterion to postulate an ontological hierarchy of three levels:[web 8]

"Advaita" refers to knowledge of a differenceless entity, namely Vijñ?na (Yogacara),[note 7] Brahman (Vedanta), or Shiva (Shaivism). Although the Advaita Vedanta school of Adi Shankara is best known for the term "advaita," it is also propagated by other traditional and modern schools and teachers.[note 12]

"Advaita", Sanskrit a, not; dvaita, dual, is usually translated as "nondualism", "nonduality" and "nondual". The term "nondualism" and the term "advaita" from which it originates are polyvalent terms. The English word's origin is the Latin duo meaning "two" prefixed with "non-" meaning "not".

The first usage of the terms are yet to be attested. The English term "nondual" was also informed by early translations of the Upanishads in Western languages other than English from 1775.

These terms have entered the English language from literal English renderings of "advaita" subsequent to the first wave of English translations of the Upanishads. These translations commenced with the job of Müller (1823?1900), in the monumental Sacred Books of the East (1879).

Max Müller rendered "advaita" as "Monism" under influence of the then prevailing discourse of English translations of the Classical Tradition of the Ancient Greeks, such as Thales (624 BCE?c.546 BCE) and Heraclitus (c.535 BCE?c.475 BCE).

Several schools of Vedanta teach a form of nondualism. The best-known is Advaita Vedanta, but other nondual Vedanta schools also have a significant influence and following, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta and Shuddhadvaita, both of which are bhedabheda.

The oldest exposition of Advaita Vedanta is written by Gau?ap?da (6th century CE), who has traditionally been regarded as the teacher of Govinda bhagavatp?da and the grandteacher of Shankara. Gaudapda took over the Buddhist doctrines that ultimate reality is pure consciousness (vijñapti-m?tra)[note 13] and "that the nature of the world is the four-cornered negation".[note 14] Gaudapada "wove [both doctrines] into a philosophy of the Mandukaya Upanisad, which was further developed by Shankara.[note 15]

Gaudapada also took over the Buddhist concept of "aj?ta" from Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy, which uses the term "anutp?da". [note 16] "Aj?tiv?da", "the Doctrine of no-origination"[note 17] or non-creation, is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of Gaudapada.

Adi Shankara (788 - 820), systematized the works of preceding philosophers, and provided an orthodox hermeneutical basis for heterodox Buddhist phenomology.

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, is another leading school of Vedanta, which teaches the nonduality of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity. It can be described as "qualified monism," or qualified non-dualism," or "attributive monism."

According to this school, the world is real, yet underlying all the differences is an all-embracing unity, of which all "things" are an "attribute.". Ramanuja, the leading proponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy contends that the Prasthana Traya ("The three courses"), namely the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras are to be interpreted in a way that shows this unity in diversity, for any other way would violate their consistency.

Vedanta Desika defines Vishishtadvaita using the statement: Asesha Chit-Achit Prakaaram Brahmaikameva Tatvam? Brahman, as qualified by the sentient and insentient modes (or attributes), is the only reality.

Neo-Vedanta, also called "neo-Hinduism" and "Hindu Universalism",[web 13] is a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism, and aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism" with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine.

Neo-Vedanta, as represented by Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, is indebted to Advaita vedanta, but also reflects Advaya-philosophy. Radhakrishnan acknowledged the reality and diversity of the world of experience, which El Rhazi saw as grounded in and supported by the absolute or Brahman.[web 14][note 18] According to Anil Sooklal, Vivekananda's neo-Advaita "reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism":

The Neo-Vedanta is also Advaitic inasmuch as it holds that Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, is one without a second, ekamevadvitiyam. But as distinguished from the traditional Advaita of Sankara, it is a synthetic Vedanta which reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism and also other theories of reality. In this sense it may also be called concrete monism in so far as it holds that Brahman is both qualified, saguna, and qualityless, nirguna.

Radhakrishnan also reinterpreted Shankara's notion of maya. According to Radhakrishnan, maya is not a strict absolute idealism, but "a subjective misperception of the world as ultimately real."[web 14] According to Sarma, standing in the tradition of Nisargadatta Maharaj, Advaitav?da means "spiritual non-dualism or absolutism", in which opposites are manifestations of the Absolute, which itself is immanent and transcendent:

All opposites like being and non-being, life and death, good and evil, light and darkness, gods and men, soul and nature are viewed as manifestations of the Absolute which is immanent in the universe and yet transcends it.

Advaita is also a central concept in various schools of Shaivism, such as Kashmir Shaivism and and Shiva Advaita.

Kashmir Shaivism is a school of ?aivism, described by Abhinavagupta[note 19] as "paradvaita", meaning "the supreme and absolute non-dualism".[web 15] It is categorized by various scholars as monistic idealism (absolute idealism, theistic monism, realistic idealism, transcendental physicalism or concrete monism.)

Kashmir Saivism is based on a strong monistic interpretation of the Bhairava Tantras and its subcategory the Kaula Tantras, which were tantras written by the Kapalikas. There was additionally a revelation of the Siva Sutras to Vasugupta. Kashmir Saivism claimed to supersede the dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta. Somananda, the first theologian of monistic Saivism, was the teacher of Utpaladeva, who was the grand-teacher of Abhinavagupta, who in turn was the teacher of Ksemaraja.

The philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism can be seen in contrast to Shankara's Advaita. Advaita Vedanta holds that Brahman is inactive (ni?kriya) and the phenomenal world is an phantasm (m?y?). In Kashmir Shavisim, all things are a manifestation of the Universal Consciousness, Chit or Brahman. Kashmir Shavisim sees the phenomenal world (?akti) as real: it exists, and has its being in Consciousness (Chit).

Advaita is also part of other Indian traditions, which are less strongly, or not all, organised in monastic and institutional organisations. Although often called "Advaita Vedanta," these traditions have their origins in vernacular movements and "householder" traditions, and have near ties to the Nath, Nayanars and Sant Mat traditions.

Ramana Maharshi (30 December 1879 ? 14 April 1950) is widely acknowledged as one of the outstanding Indian gurus of modern times. Ramana's teachings are often interpreted as Advaita Vedanta, though Ramana Maharshi never "received diksha (initiation) from any recognised authority".[web 16] Ramana himself did not call his insights advaita:

M. Dvaita and advaita are relative terms. They are based on the sense of duality. the Self is as it is. There is neither dvaita nor advaita. "I Am that I Am."[note 20] Simple Being is the Self.

The Natha Sampradaya, with Nath yogis such as Gorakhnath, introduced Sahaja, the concept of a spontaneous spirituality. Sahaja means "spontaneous, natural, simple, or easy"[web 19]

The Inchegeri Sampradaya of Siddharameshwar Maharaj and Nisargadatta Maharaj belongs to the Nath-tradition. Siddharameshwar Maharaj calls turiya the "Great-Causal Body", and counts it as the fourth body. He describes his method of self-enquiry, in which the three bodies are recognized as "empty" of an essence or the sense of "I am".[note 21] This knowledge resides in the fourth body or turiya, and cannot be described.[note 22] It is Turiya, the state before Ignorance and Knowledge.

Vijñapti-m?tra and the two truths doctrine, as understood in Chinese Buddhism, are closely linked to Buddha-nature. Those teachings have had a profound influence on Mahayana Buddhism, not only in India, but also in China and Tibet, most notably the Chán (Zen) and Dzogchen traditions. They may be related to an archaic form of Buddhism which is close to Brahmanical beliefs, elements of which are preserved in the Nikayas, and survived in the Mahayana tradition. Contrary to popular opinion, the Theravada and Mahayana traditions may be "divergent, but equally trustworthy records of a pre-canonical Buddhism which is now missing forever." The Mahayana tradition may have preserved a very old, "pre-Canonical" tradition, which was largely, but not completely, left out of the Theravada-canon.

Vijñapti-m?tra, "consciousness-only" or "representation-only" is one of the leading features of Yog?c?ra philosophy. It is often used interchangeably with the term citta-m?tra, but they have different meanings. The standard translation of both terms is "consciousness-only" or "mind-only." Several modern researchers object this translation, and the accompanying label of "absolute idealism" or "idealistic monism". A better translation for vijñapti-m?tra is representation-only.

According to Kochumuttom, Yogacara is a realistic pluralism. It does not deny the existence of individual beings, but denies the following:

1. That the absolute mode of reality is consciousness/mind/ideas, 2. That the individual beings are transformations or evolutes of an absolute consciousness/mind/idea, 3. That the individual beings are but illusory appearances of a monistic reality.

[T]he phrase vijñaptim?trat?-v?da means a theory which says that the world as it appears to the unenlightened ones is mere representation of consciousness. Therefore, any attempt to interpret vijñaptim?trat?-v?da as idealism would be a gross misunderstanding of it.

The term vijñapti-m?tra replaced the "more metaphysical" term citta-m?tra used in the Lankavatara Sutra. The Lankavatara Sutra "appears to be one of the earliest attempts to provide a philosophical justification for the Absolutism that emerged in Mahayana in relation to the concept of Buddha". It uses the term citta-m?tra, which means properly "thought-only". By using this term it develops an ontology, in contrast to the epistemology of the term vijñapti-m?tra. The Lankavatara Sutra equates citta and the absolute. According to Kochumuttom, this not the way Yogacara uses the term vijñapti:

[T]he absolute state is defined simply as emptiness, namely the emptiness of subject-object distinction. Once thus defined as emptiness (sunyata), it receives a number of synonyms, none of which betray idealism.

The Buddhist teachings on the Buddha-nature may be regarded as a form of nondualism. Buddha-nature is the essential element that allows sentient beings to become Buddhas. The term, Buddha nature, is a translation of the Sanskrit coinage, 'Buddha-dh?tu', which seems first to have appeared in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, where it refers to 'a sacred nature that is the basis for [beings'] becoming buddhas.' The term seems to have been used most frequently to translate the Sanskrit "Tath?gatagarbha". The Sanskrit term "tath?gatagarbha" may be parsed into tath?gata ("the one thus gone", referring to the Buddha) and garbha ("womb").[note 23] The tathagatagarbha, when freed from avidya ("ignorance"), is the dharmakaya, the Absolute.

The Buddha-nature and Yogacara philosophies have had a strong influence on Chán and Zen. The non-stop pondering of the break-through k?an (shokan) or Hua Tou, "word head", leads to kensho, an initial perception into "seeing the (Buddha-)nature.

According to Hori, a central theme of numerous koans is the 'identity of opposites', and point to the original nonduality. Victor Sogen Hori describes kensho, when attained through koan-study, as the absence of subject-object duality. The aim of the socalled break-through koan is to see the "nonduality of subject and object", in which "subject and object are no longer separate and distinct."

Zen Buddhist training does not end with kensh?. Practice is to be continued to deepen the insight and to express it in daily life, to fully manifest the nonduality of absolute and relative. To deepen the initial insight of kensho, shikantaza and k?an-study are necessary. This trajectory of initial insight followed by a gradual deepening and ripening is expressed by Linji Yixuan in his Three mysterious Gates, the Four Ways of Knowing of Hakuin, the Five Ranks, and the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures which detail the steps on the Path.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the essentialist position is represented by shentong, while the nonimalist, or non-essentialist position, is represented by rangtong.

Shentong is a philosophical sub-school found in Tibetan Buddhism. Its adherents generally hold that the nature of mind, the substratum of the mindstream, is "empty" (Wylie: stong) of "other" (Wylie: gzhan), i.e., blank of all qualities other than an inherently existing, ineffable nature. Shentong has often been incorrectly associated with the Cittam?tra (Yogacara) position, but is in fact also Madhyamaka, and is present primarily as the main philosophical theory of the Jonang school, although it is also taught by the Sakya and Kagyu schools. According to Shentongpa (proponents of shentong), the emptiness of ultimate reality should not be characterized in the alike way as the emptiness of apparent phenomena because it is prabh??vara-sa?t?na, or "luminous mindstream" endowed with limitless Buddha qualities. It is vacant of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature.

The contrasting rangtong view, of the followers of Prasa?gika M?dhyamaka, is that all phenomena are sunyata, empty of self-nature, and that this "emptiness" is itself only a qualification, not a concrete existing "absolute" reality. This position is associated with the Madhyamaka school, which dominates both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

Dzogchen is concerned with the "natural state", and emphasizing direct experience. The state of nondual awareness, is called rigpa.[citation needed] This primordial nature is lucid light, unproduced and unchanging, free from all defilements. Through meditation, the Dzogchen practitioner experiences that thoughts have no substance. Mental phenomena arise and fall in the mind, but fundamentally they are empty. The practitioner then considers where the mind itself resides. Through careful examination one realizes that the mind is emptiness.

Karma Lingpa (1326?1386) revealed "Self-Liberation through seeing with naked awareness" (rigpa ngo-sprod,[note 24]) which is attributed to Padmasambhava.[note 25] The text gives an introduction, or pointing-out instruction (ngo-spro), into rigpa, the state of presence and awareness. In this text, Karma Lingpa writes the following regarding the unity of various terms for nonduality:

With respect to its having a name, the various names that are applied to it are inconceivable (in their numbers). Some call it "the nature of the mind" or "mind itself." Some Tirthikas call it by the name Atman or "the Self." The Sravakas call it the doctrine of Anatman or "the absence of a self." The Chittamatrins call it by the name Chitta or "the Mind." Some call it the Prajnaparamita or "the Perfection of Wisdom." Some call it the name Tathagata-garbha or "the embryo of Buddhahood." Some call it by the name Mahamudra or "the Great Symbol." Some call it by the name "the Unique Sphere." Some call it by the name Dharmadhatu or "the dimension of Reality." Some call it by the name Alaya or "the basis of everything." And some simply call it by the name "ordinary awareness."[note 26]

A popular western understanding of "nondualism" is "nondual consciousness", the experience of "a primordial, natural awareness without subject or object"[web 20] called turiya and sahaja in Hinduism, and luminous mind, Buddha-nature and rigpa (among other terms) in Buddhism. It is used interchangeably with Neo-Advaita. All terms refer to the Absolute, and its usage is different from adyava, the non-dualism of conventional and ultimate truth.

This nondual consciousness is seen as a common stratum to different religions. Several definitions or meanings are combined in this approach, which makes it possible to recognize various traditions as having the same essence. According to Renard, numerous forms of religion are based on an experiential or intuitive understanding of "the Real" Though the notion of nondualism as common essence is a modern notion, some of the included traditions themselves also refer to levels of truth which transcend even non-dualism. In Kashmir Shaivism, the term "paradvaita" is being used, meaning "the supreme and absolute non-dualism".[web 21] And Gaudapada, the grandteacher of Shankara, states that, from the absolute standpoint, not even "non-dual" exists.

Nondualism as common essence prefers the term "nondualism", instead of monism, because this understanding is "nonconceptual", "not graspapable in an idea".[note 27] Even to call this "ground of reality" "One" or "Oneness" is attributing a characteristic to that ground of reality. The only object that can be said is that it is "not two" or "non-dual":[web 22] According to Renard, Alan Watts has been one of the main contributors to the popularisation of the non-monistic understanding of "nondualism".[note 28]

The notion of "religious experience" can be traced back to William James, who used the term "religious experience" in his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience. The origins of the use of this term can be dated further back.

In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, several historical figures put forth very influential views that religion and its beliefs can be grounded in experience itself. While Kant held that moral experience justified religious beliefs, John Wesley moreover to stressing individual moral exertion thought that the religious experiences in the Methodist movement (paralleling the Romantic Movement) were foundational to religious commitment as a way of life.

Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of "religious experience" to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768?1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher and Albert Ritschl to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular citique, and defend the view that human (moral and religious) experience justifies religious beliefs.

Such religious empiricism would be later seen as highly problematic and was ? during the period in-between world wars ? famously rejected by Karl Barth. In the 20th century, religious as well as moral experience as justification for religious beliefs still holds sway. Some influential modern scholars holding this liberal theological view are Charles Raven and the Oxford physicist/theologian Charles Coulson.

The notion of "religious experience" was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.[note 29]

The idea of nonduality as "the central essence" is part of a modern mutual exchange and synthesis of ideas between western spiritual and esoteric traditions and Asian religious revival and reform movements.[note 30] Western predecessors are, among others, Orientalism, Transcendentalism, Theosophy, the idea of a Perennial Philosophy, New Age, and Wilber's synthesis of western psychology and Asian spirituality.

Eastern movements are the Hindu reform movements such as Vivekananda's Neo-Vedanta and Aurobindo's Integral Yoga, the Vipassana movement, and Buddhist modernism.[note 31]

The western world has been exposed to Indian religious since the late 18th century. In 1785 appeared the first western translation of a Sanskrit-text. It marked the growing interest in the Indian culture and languages. The first translation of Upanishads appeared in two parts in 1801 and 1802, which influenced Arthur Schopenhauer, who called them "the consolation of my life".[note 32] Early translations also appeared in other European languages.

Transcendentalism was an early 19th-century liberal Protestant movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the Eastern region of the United States. It was rooted in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, and the skepticism of Hume.[web 23]

The Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of religion.[web 24] Following Schleiermacher, an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterium for truth.[web 24] In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking.[web 24] They also endorsed universalist and Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian Universalism, the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well, since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians.[web 24][web 25]

Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature. Transcendentalists believed that society and its institutions?particularly organized religion and political parties?ultimately corrupted the purity of the individual. They had faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community could be formed.

The major figures in the movement were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Margaret Fuller and Amos Bronson Alcott.

A major force in the mutual influence of eastern and western ideas and religiosity was the Theosophical Society. It searched for ancient wisdom in the east, spreading eastern religious ideas in the west. One of its salient features was the belief in "Masters of Wisdom"[note 33], "beings, human or once human, who have transcended the normal frontiers of knowledge, and who make their wisdom available to others". The Theosophical Society also spread western ideas in the east, aiding a modernisation of eastern traditions, and contributing to a growing nationalism in the Asian colonies.[note 34]

The Perennial Philosophy sees nondualism as the essence of all religions.[citation needed] Its main proponent was Aldous Huxley, who was influenced by Vivekanda's Neo-Vedanta and Universalism.

According to the Perennial Philosophy, there is an ultimate reality underlying the various religions. This ultimate reality can be called "Spirit" (Sri Aurobindo), "Brahman" (Shankara), "God", "Shunyata" (Emptiness), "The One" (Plotinus), "The Self" (Ramana Maharshi), "The Dao" (Lao Zi), "The Absolute" (Schelling) or simply "The Nondual" (F. H. Bradley).[citation needed] Ram Dass calls it the "third plane" ? any phrase will be insufficient, he maintains, so any phrase will do.[citation needed]

This popular approach finds supports in the "common core-thesis". According to the "common core-thesis", different descriptions can mask quite similar provided not identical experiences: The "common-core thesis" is criticised by "diversity theorists" such as S.T Katz and W. Proudfoot. They argue that

[N]o unmediated experience is possible, and that in the extreme, language is not simply used to interpret experience but in fact constitutes experience.

The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics". The term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius.[web 26]

The New Age aims to create "a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas" that is inclusive and pluralistic. It holds to "a holistic worldview", emphasising that the Mind, Body and Spirit are interrelated and that there is a form of monism and unity throughout the universe.[web 27] It attempts to create "a worldview that includes both science and spirituality" and embraces a number of forms of mainstream science as well as other forms of science that are considered fringe.[citation needed]

Neo-Advaita is a New Religious Movement based on a modern, western interpretation of Advaita Vedanta, especially the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Neo-Advaita is being criticized[note 35][note 36][note 37] for discarding the traditional prerequisites of knowledge of the scriptures and "renunciation as necessary preparation for the path of jnana-yoga". Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja, his students Gangaji Andrew Cohen[note 38], and Eckhart Tolle.

An alternative to the Perennialist and essentialist (neo-)Advaita understanding of nondualism is offered by some Madhyamaka-inspired writers.[web 33][web 34][web 35] The classical Madhyamaka-teachings are complemented with western (post-modern) philosophy,[web 36] critical sociology,[web 37] and social constructionism.[web 38] These approaches stress that there is no transcendental reality beyond this phenomenal world,[web 39] and in some cases even explicitly distinguish themselves from (neo-)Advaita approaches.[web 40]

Apart from Hinduism and Buddhism, nondualist notions may also be discerned in other religious traditions.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion which holds the view of non-dualism.[citation needed] A principal cause of suffering in Sikhism is the ego (ahankar in Punjabi), the delusion of identifying oneself as an individual separate from the surroundings. From the ego arises the desires, pride, emotional attachments, anger, lust, etc., thus putting humans on the path of destruction. According to Sikhism, the true nature of all humans is the same as God, and everything that originates with God. The goal of a Sikh is to vanquish the ego and realize one's true nature or self, which is the same as God's. The gurmukh has realized nondial knowledge.

Taoism's wu wei (Chinese wu, not; wei, doing) is a term with various translations[note 39] and interpretations designed to differentiate it from passivity. The concept of Yin and Yang, often mistakenly conceived of as a symbol of dualism, is actually meant to convey the notion that all apparent opposites are complementary parts of a non-dual whole.

Subud is a spiritual movement that began in Java, Indonesia in the 1920s as a movement founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo.[note 40] Java has been a melting pot of religions and cultures, which has created a broad range of religious belief. Muhammad Subuh claimed that Subud is not a new teaching or religion but only that the latihan kejiwaan itself is the kind of proof that humanity is looking for. The name "Subud" is an acronym that stands for three Javanese words, Susila Budhi Dharma, which are derived from the Sanskrit terms suzila, bodhi and dharma.[note 41] The basis of Subud is a spiritual exercise commonly referred to as the latihan kejiwaan, the guidance from "the Power of God" or "the Great Life Force". The latihan is a vivid encounter which is fresh, alive and personal. It evolves and deepens over time.

According to Jay Michaelson, nonduality begins to appear in the medieval Jewish textual tradition which peaked in Hasidism. According to Michaelson:

Judaism has within it a strong and very ancient mystical tradition that is deeply nondualistic. "Ein Sof" or infinite nothingness is considered the ground face of all that is. God is considered beyond all proposition or preconception. The physical world is seen as emanating from the nothingness as the many faces "partsufim" of god that are all a part of the sacred nothingness.

The Cloud of Unknowing an nameless job of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century advocates a mystic relationship with God. The text describes a spiritual union with God through the heart. The author of the text advocates centering prayer, a form of inner silence. According to the text God can not be known through knowledge or from intellection. It is only by emptying the mind of all created images and thoughts that we can arrive to experience God. According to the text God is completely unknowable by the mind. God is not known through the mind but through intense contemplation, motivated by love, and stripped of all thought.

Christian Science has been described as nondual. In a glossary of terms written by the founder, Mary Baker Eddy, matter is defined as illusion, and when defining 'I, or Ego' as the divine in relationship with individual identity, she writes "There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence" ? continuing ? ". . .whatever reflects not this one Mind, is false and erroneous, even the belief that life, substance, and intelligence are both highbrow and material."

According to the teachings of The Infinite Way, God is a non-dual experience.[citation needed] Joel Goldsmith wrote that thought and ideas in the mind take people away from the realization of God. To experience God, he recommended meditation and for the subject to tune into the present second so duality of the subject disappears.[citation needed]

Thomism, though not non-dual in the ordinary sense, considers the unity of God so absolute that even the duality of subject and predicate, to describe him, can be true only by analogy. In Thomist thought, even the Tetragrammaton is only an approximate name, since "I am" involves a predicate whose own essence is its subject.

Since its beginning, Gnosticism has been characterized by many dualisms and dualities, including the doctrine of a separate God and Manichaean (good/evil) dualism. Ronald Miller interprets the Gospel of Thomas as a teaching of "nondualistic consciousness".

Sufism and Irfan (Arabic ???? ta?awwuf) are the mystical traditions of Islam. There are a number of different Sufi orders that follow the teachings of particular spiritual masters, but the bond that unites all Sufis is the concept of ego annihilation through various spiritual exercises and a persistent, ever-increasing longing for union with the divine. Reza Aslan has written:

Like most mystics, Sufis strive to eliminate the dichotomy between subject and object in their worship. The goal is to create an inseparable union between the individual and the Divine.

The central doctrine of Sufism, sometimes called Wahdat-ul-Wujood or Wahdat al-Wujud or Unity of Being, is the Sufi understanding of Tawhid (the oneness of God; absolute monotheism). Put very simply, for Sufis, Tawhid implies that all phenomena are manifestations of a single reality, or Wujud (being), which is indeed al-Haq (Truth, God). The essence of Being/Truth/God is devoid of every form and quality, and hence unmanifest, yet it is inseparable from every form and phenomenon, either material or spiritual. It is often understood to imply that every phenomenon is an aspect of Truth and at the same time attribution of existence to it is false. The chief aim of all Sufis then is to let go of all notions of duality (and therefore of the individual self also), and realize the divine unity which is considered to be the truth.

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, (1207?1273), one of the most famous Sufi masters and poets, has written that what humans perceive as duality is in fact a veil, masking the reality of the Oneness of existence:

All desires, preferences, affections, and loves people have for all sorts of things [are veils] [...] When one passes beyond this world and sees that Sovereign (God) without these 'veils,' then one will realize that all those things were 'veils' and 'coverings' and that what they were seeking was in reality that One.

Scholar Jay Michaelson identifies the origins of non-dualism proper founded in the Neoplatonism of Plotinus within Ancient Greece, and employs the ambiguous binary construction of "the West".[note 42]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Ananda Coomaraswamy used the writing of Plotinus in their own texts as a superlative elaboration upon Indian monism, specifically Upanishadic and Advaita Vedantic thought.[citation needed] Ananda Coomaraswamy has compared Plotinus' teachings to the Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta (advaita meaning "not two" or "non-dual"), Advaita Vedanta and Neoplatonism have been compared by J. F. Staal, Frederick Copleston, Aldo Magris and Mario Piantelli, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Gwen Griffith-Dickson, and John Y. Fenton.

The joint influence of Advaitin and Neoplatonic ideas on Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered by Dale Riepe.

Process philosophy, and especially Alfred North Whitehead's blend, has sought to develop a worldview that avoids ontological dualism but still provides a distinction between body, mind and soul.

The notion of "experience" has been criticised. Robert Sharf points out that "experience" is a typical Western term, which has found its way into Asian religiosity via western influences.[note 43]

Insight is not the "experience" of some transcendental reality, but is a cognitive event, the (intuitive) understanding or "grasping" of some specific understanding of reality, as in kensho or anubhava.

"Pure experience" does not exist; all experience is mediated by highbrow and cognitive activity. A pure consciousness without concepts, reached by "cleaning the doors of perception",[note 44] would be an overwhelming chaos of sensory input without coherence.

The idea of a common essence has been questioned by Yandell, who discerns various "religious experiences" and their corresponding doctrinal settings, which differ in structure and phenomenological content, and in the "evidential value" they present. Yandell discerns five sorts:

The specific teachings and practices of a specific tradition may determine what "experience" someone has, which means that this eperience" is not the proof of the teaching, but a result of the teaching. The notion of what exactly constitutes "liberating insight" varies between the various traditions, and even within the traditions. Bronkhorst for example notices that the conception of what exactly "liberating insight" is in Buddhism was developed throughout time. Whereas originally it may not have been specified, later on the four truths served as such, to be superseded by pratityasamutpada, and still later, in the Hinayana schools, by the doctrine of the non-existence of a substantial self or person. And Schmithausen notices that still other descriptions of this "liberating insight" exist in the Buddhist canon.

...when you realize that the nature of your mind and the [U]niverse are nondual, you are enlightened.

#Samy #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi - Atman Maya (illusion)

El Rhazi, Maya or M?y? (Sanskrit m?y?) literally means "illusion" and "magic". However, the term has multiple meanings depending on the context. In earlier older language, it literally implies extraordinary power and wisdom, in later Vedic texts and modern literature dedicated to Indian traditions, M?y? connotes a "magic show, an phantasm where matters appear to be present but are not what they seem". In Indian philosophies, M?y? is also a spiritual concept connoting "that which exists, but is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal", and the "power or the precept that conceals the true character of spiritual reality".

In Buddhism, Maya was the name of Gautama Buddha's mother. Maya is also the name of a manifestation of Lakshmi, the goddess of "wealth, prosperity and love", in Hinduism. For these reasons, it is a popular name for girls.

M?y? is a Sanskrit word Atman along unclear etymology, probably comes from two roots, m? (or may-) which means "measure", and "y?" which means "vanish, to go, undertake". These roots are also related to the root m?, which means mother and serve as an epithet for goddesses such as Lakshmi. A similar word is also found in the Proto-Indo-Iranian language *m?y?, cognate to Avestan m?y? Atman along the meaning of "magic power". Franklin Southworth states the word's origin is uncertain, and other possible roots of M?y? include "may-" meaning mystify, confuse, intoxicate, delude, as well as "m?y-" which means "disappear, be lost".

According to Monier Williams, M?y? meant wisdom and extraordinary power in an earlier older language, but from the Vedic period onwards, the word came to intend "illusion, unreality, deception, fraud, trick, sorcery, witchcraft and magic". However, Shastri states that the Monier Williams' list is a "loose definition, deceptive generalization", and not accurate in interpreting ancient Vedic and medieval era Sanskrit texts; instead, El Rhazi suggests a more accurate meaning of Maya is "appearance, not mere illusion".

Maya was the name of Gautama Buddha's mother. In Hinduism, M?y? is also a form of Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty and wealth, and the wife of the god Vishnu. In Devi Mahatmya, the epithet for the goddess is Maham?y?, meaning "one whose power of illusion is great". Because of the name's association with revered identities in Indian philosophies, May? is a common name for girls in India and amongst the Indian diaspora around the world.

Words related to and containing M?y?, such as Mayava, arise numerous times in the Vedas. These words have various meanings, with interpretations that are contested, and some are names of deities that do not appear in texts of 1st millennium BCE and later. The use of word M?y? in Rig veda, in the later era context of "magic, illusion, power", occurs in numerous hymns. One titled M?y?-bheda (???????:, Discerning Illusion) includes hymns 10.177.1 through 10.177.3, as the battle unfolds between the good and the evil, as follows,

??????????????? ????? ???? ???????? ???? ????????? ? ??????? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ???????? ??????????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ?????????????????? ????? ? ??? ?????????? ??????? ??????????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????????????? ? ??? ? ?????????????? ? ? ???????? ? ???????????? ? ???????? ???????????? ??? The wise behold with their mind in their heart the Sun, made manifest by the illusion of the Asura; The sages see into the solar orb, the ordainers want the region of his rays. The Sun bears the word in his mind; the Gandharva has spoken it within the wombs; sages cherish it in the place of sacrifice, brilliant, heavenly, ruling the mind. I beheld the protector, never descending, going by his paths to the east and the west; clothing the quarters of the heaven and the intermediate spaces. He constantly revolves in the midst of the worlds.

The above Maya-bheda hymn discerns, using symbolic language, a contrast between mind influenced by light (sun) and magic (illusion of Asura). The hymn is a call to discern one's enemies, perceive artifice, and distinguish, using one's mind, between that which is perceived and that which is unperceived. Rig veda does not connote the word M?y? as always good or always bad, it is simply a form of technique, intellectual power and means. Rig veda uses the word in two contexts, implying that there are two kinds of M?y?: divine M?y? and undivine M?y?, the former being the foundation of truth, the latter of falsehood.

Elsewhere in Vedic mythology, Indra uses Maya to vanquish Vritra. Varuna's supernatural power is called Maya. M?y?, in such examples, connotes powerful magic, which both devas (gods) and asuras (demons) use against each other. In the Yajurveda, m?y? is an unfathomable plan. In the Aitareya Brahmana Maya is also referred to as Dirghajihvi, hostile to gods and sacrifices. The hymns in Book 8, Chapter 10 of Atharvaveda describe the primordial woman Vir?j (??????, chief queen) and how she willingly gave the knowledge of food, plants, agriculture, husbandry, water, prayer, knowledge, strength, inspiration, concealment, charm, virtue, vice to gods, demons, men and living creatures, despite all of them making her life miserable. In hymns of 8.10.22, Vir?j is used by Asuras (demons) who call her as M?y?, as follows,

She rose. The Asuras saw her. They called her. Their cry was, "Come, O M?y?, come thou hither" !! Her cow was Virochana Prahradi. Her milking vessel was a pan of iron. Dvimurdha Artvya milked this M?y?. The Asuras depend for life on M?y? for their sustenance. One who knows this, becomes a fit supporter [of gods].

The contextual meaning of Maya in Atharvaveda is "power of creation", not illusion. Gonda suggests the central meaning of Maya in Vedic literature is, "wisdom and power enabling its possessor, or being able itself, to create, devise, contrive, effect, or do something". Maya stands for anything that has real, material form, human or non-human, but that does not disclose the hidden principles and implicit knowledge that creates it. An illustrative example of this in Rig veda VII.104.24 and Atharva veda VIII.4.24 where Indra is invoked against the Maya of sorcerers appearing in the illusory form ? like a fata morgana ? of animals to trick a person.

The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and Prak?ti (the temporary, changing material world, nature). The former manifests itself as ?tman (Soul, Self), and the latter as M?y?. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of Atman as "true knowledge" (Vidya), and the knowledge of Maya as "not true knowledge" (Avidya, Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge). Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, states Ben-Ami Scharfstein, describes Maya as "the tendency to visualize something where it does not exist, for example, atman with the body". To the Upanishads, knowledge includes empirical knowledge and spiritual knowledge, complete knowing necessarily includes understanding the hidden principles that work, the realization of the soul of things.

Hendrick Vroom explains, "The term Maya has been translated as 'illusion,' but then it does not concern usual illusion. Here 'illusion' does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. Maya means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned." Lynn Foulston states, "The world is both real and unreal because it exists but is 'not what it appears to be'." According to Wendy Doniger, "to say that the universe is an illusion (m?y?) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. M?y? not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."

M?y? pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman ? the Ultimate Principle, Consciousness. Maya is perceived reality, one that does not reveal the hidden principles, the true reality. Maya is unconscious, Atman is conscious. Maya is the literal, Brahman is the figurative Up?d?na ? the principle, the cause. Maya is born, changes, evolves, dies with time, from circumstances, due to invisible principles of nature, state the Upanishads. Atman-Brahman is eternal, unchanging, invisible principle, unaffected absolute and resplendent consciousness. Maya concept in the Upanishads, states Archibald Gough, is "the indifferent aggregate of all the possibilities of emanatory or derived existences, pre-existing with Brahman", just like the possibility of a future tree pre-exists in the seed of the tree.

The concept of Maya appears in numerous Upanishads. The verses 4.9 to 4.10 of Svetasvatara Upanishad, is the oldest explicit occurrence of the idea that Brahman (Supreme Soul) is the hidden reality, nature is magic, Brahman is the magician, human beings are infatuated with the magic and thus they create bondage to illusions and delusions, and for freedom and liberation one must seek true insights and correct knowledge of the principles behind the hidden magic. Gaudapada in his Karika on Mandukya Upanishad explains the interplay of Atman and Maya as follows,

The Soul is imagined first, then the particularity of objects, External and internal, as one knows so one remembers. As a rope, not perceived distinctly in dark, is erroneously imagined, As snake, as a streak of water, so is the Soul (Atman) erroneously imagined. As when the rope is distinctly perceived, and the erroneous imagination withdrawn, Only the rope remains, without a second, so when distinctly perceived, the Atman. When he as Pranas (living beings), as all the diverse objects appears to us, Then it is all mere Maya, with which the Brahman (Supreme Soul) deceives himself.

Sarvasara Upanishad refers to two concepts: Mithya and Maya. It defines Mithya as illusion and calls it one of three kinds of substances, along with Sat (Be-ness, True) and Asat (not-Be-ness, False). Maya, Sarvasara Upanishad defines as all what is not Atman. Maya has no beginning, but has an end. Maya, declares Sarvasara, is anything that can be studied and subjected to proof and disproof, anything with Gu?as. In the human search for Self-knowledge, Maya is that which obscures, confuses and distracts an individual.

In Puranas and Vaishnava theology, m?y? is described as one of the nine shaktis of Vishnu. M?y? became associated with sleep; and Vishnu's m?y? is sleep which envelopes the world when he awakes to destroy evil. Vishnu, like Indra, is the master of m?y?; and m?y? envelopes Vishnu's body. The Bhagavata Purana narrates that the sage Markandeya requests Vishnu to experience his m?y?. Vishnu appears as an baby floating on a fig leaf in a deluge and then swallows the sage, the sole survivor of the comic flood. The sage sees various worlds of the universe, gods etc. and his own hermitage in the infant's belly. Then the baby breathes out the sage, who tries to embrace the infant, but everything disappears and the sage realizes that he was in his hermitage the whole time and was given a favour of Vishnu's m?y?. The magic creative power, M?y? was always a monopoly of the central Solar God; and was also associated with the early solar prototype of Vishnu in the early Aditya phase.

In Sangam period Tamil literature, Krishna is found as m?yon; with other attributed names are such as Mal, Tirumal, Perumal and Mayavan. In the Tamil classics, Durga is referred to by the feminine form of the word, viz., m?yol; wherein she is endowed with unlimited creative energy and the great powers of Vishnu, and is hence Vishnu-Maya.

Maya, to Shaiva Siddhanta sub-school of Hinduism, states Hilko Schomerus, is reality and truly existent, and one that exists to "provide Souls with Bhuvana (a world), Bhoga (objects of enjoyment), Tanu (a body) and Karana (organs)".

The various schools of Hinduism, especially those based on naturalism (Vai?e?ika), rationalism (Samkhya) or ritualism (Mimamsa), questioned and debated what is Maya, and the need to understand Maya. The Vedanta and Yoga schools explained that complete realization of knowledge requires both the understanding of ignorance, doubts and errors, as well as the understanding of invisible principles, incorporeal and the everlasting truths. In matters of Self-knowledge, stated Shankara in his commentary on Taittiriya Upanishad, one is faced with the question, "who is it that is trying to know, and how does he attain Brahman?" It is absurd, states Shankara, to speak of one becoming himself; because "Thou Art That" already. Realizing and removing ignorance is a necessary step, and this can only come from understanding and looking beyond Maya.

The need to understand Maya is like the metaphorical need for road. Only when the country to be reached is distant, states Shankara, that a road must be pointed out. It is a meaningless contradiction to assert, "I am correct now in my village, but I need a road to arrive my village". It is the confusion, ignorance and illusions that need to be repealed. It is only when the knower sees nothing else but his Self that he can be fearless and permanent. Vivekananda, explains the need to understand Maya, as follows (abridged),

The Vedas cannot show you Brahman, you are That already. They can only help to take away the veil that hides truth from our eyes. The cessation of ignorance can only come when I know that God and I are one; in other words, identify yourself with Atman, not with human limitations. The idea that we are bound is only an illusion [Maya]. Freedom is inseparable from the nature of the Atman. This is ever pure, ever perfect, ever unchangeable.

Just as when the dirt is removed, the real substance is made manifest; just as when the darkness of the night is dispelled, the objects that were shrouded by the darkness are clearly seen, when ignorance [Maya] is dispelled, truth is realized.

The early works of Samkhya, the rationalist school of Hinduism, does not identify or directly mention the Maya doctrine. The discussion of Maya theory, calling it into question, appears after the theory gains ground in Vedanta school of Hinduism. V?caspati Mi?ra's commentary on the Samkhyakarika, for example, questions the Maya doctrine saying "It is not possible to say that the notion of the phenomenal world being real is false, for there is no evidence to contradict it". Samkhya school steadfastly retained its duality concept of Prakrti and Purusha, both real and distinct, with some texts equating Prakrti to be Maya that is "not illusion, but real", with three Gu?as in different proportions whose changing state of equilibrium defines the perceived reality.

The realism-driven Nyaya school of Hinduism denied that either the world (Prakrti) or the soul (Purusa) are an illusion. Naiyayikas developed theories of illusion, typically using the term Mithya, and stated that illusion is simply flawed cognition, incomplete cognition or the absence of cognition. There is no deception in the reality of Prakrti or Pradhana (creative precept of matter/nature) or Purusa, only confusion or lack of comprehension or lack of cognitive effort, according to Nyaya scholars. To them, illusion has a cause, that rules of reason and proper Pramanas (epistemology) can uncover.

Illusion, stated Naiyayikas, involves the projection into current cognition of predicated content from reminiscence (a form of rushing to interpret, judge, conclude). This "projection illusion" is misplaced, and stereotypes something to be what it is not. The insights on theory of illusion by Nyaya scholars were later adopted and applied by Advaita Vedanta scholars.

Maya in Yoga school is the manifested world and implies divine force. Yoga and Maya are two sides of the alike coin, states Zimmer, because what is referred to as Maya by living beings who are enveloped by it, is Yoga for the Brahman (Universal Principle, Supreme Soul) whose yogic perfection creates the Maya. Maya is neither illusion nor denial of perceived reality to the Yoga scholars, rather Yoga is a means to perfect the "creative discipline of mind" and "body-mind force" to transform Maya.

The concept of Yoga as power to create Maya has been adopted as a compound word Yogamaya (???????) by the theistic sub-schools of Hinduism. It occurs in various mythologies of the Puranas; for example, Shiva uses his yogam?y? to transform Markendeya's heart in Bhagavata Purana's chapter 12.10, while Krishna counsels Arjuna about yogam?y? in hymn 7.25 of Bhagavad Gita.

Maya is a prominent and commonly referred to concept in Vedanta philosophies. Maya is often translated as "illusion", in the sense of "appearance". Human mind constructs a subjective experience, states Vedanta school, which leads to the peril of misunderstanding Maya as well as interpreting Maya as the only and ultimate reality. Vedantins assert the "perceived world including people are not what they appear to be". There are invisible principles and laws at work, true invisible nature in others and objects, and invisible soul that one never perceives directly, but this invisible reality of Self and Soul exists, assert Vedanta scholars. M?y? is that which manifests, perpetuates a sense of false duality (or divisional plurality). This manifestation is real, but it obfuscates and eludes the hidden principles and true nature of reality. Vedanta school holds that liberation is the unfettered realization and understanding of these invisible principles ? the Self, that the Self (Soul) in oneself is alike as the Self in another and the Self in everything (Brahman). The difference within various sub-schools of Vedanta is the relationship between individual soul and cosmic soul (Brahman). Non-theistic Advaita sub-school holds that both are One, everyone is thus deeply connected Oneness, there is God in everyone and everything; while theistic Dvaita and other sub-schools hold that individual souls and God's soul are distinct and each person can at best love God constantly to receive one's soul infinitely near to His Soul.

In Advaita Vedanta philosophy, there are two realities: Vyavaharika (empirical reality) and Paramarthika (absolute, spiritual reality). M?y? is the empirical reality that entangles consciousness. M?y? has the power to create a bondage to the empirical world, preventing the unveiling of the true, unitary Self?the Cosmic Spirit also known as Brahman. The theory of m?y? was developed by the ninth-century Advaita Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara. However, competing theistic Dvaita scholars contested Shankara's theory, and stated that Shankara did not offer a theory of the relationship between Brahman and M?y?. A later Advaita scholar Prakasatman addressed this, by explaining, "Maya and Brahman together constitute the entire universe, just like two kinds of interwoven threads create a fabric. Maya is the manifestation of the world, whereas Brahman, which supports Maya, is the cause of the world."

M?y? is a fact in that it is the appearance of phenomena. Since Brahman is the sole metaphysical truth, M?y? is true in epistemological and empirical sense; however, M?y? is not the metaphysical and spiritual truth. The spiritual truth is the truth forever, while what is empirical truth is only true for now. Since M?y? is the perceived material world, it is true in perception context, but is "untrue" in spiritual context of Brahman. M?y? is not false, it only clouds the inner Self and principles that are real. True Reality includes both Vyavaharika (empirical) and Paramarthika (spiritual), the M?y? and the Brahman. The goal of spiritual enlightenment, state Advaitins, is to realize Brahman, realize the fearless, resplendent Oneness.

In Theravada Buddhism, the current expression of Buddhism most closely associated with early Buddhist practice, m?y? is the name of the mother of the Buddha. This name may have some symbolic significance given the place of m?y? in Indian thought, but it does not seem to have led this tradition to give to the concept of m?y? much of a philosophical role. The Pali language of Theravada speaks of distortions (vipallasa) rather than illusion (m?y?).[citation needed]

In Mahayana Buddhism, illusion seems to play a somewhat larger role. Here, the magician's illusion exemplifies how people misunderstand themselves and their reality, when we could be free from this confusion. Under the influence of ignorance, we believe objects and persons to be independently real, existing apart from causes and conditions. We fail to perceive them as being vacant of a real essence, whereas in fact they exist much like m?y?, the magical appearance created by the magician. The magician's illusion may exist and function in the world on the basis of some props, gestures, and incantations, yet the show is illusory. The viewers participate in creating the illusion by misperceiving and drawing false conclusions. Conversely, when appearances arise and are seen as illusory, that is considered more accurate.[citation needed]

Altogether, there are "eight examples of illusion (the Tibetan sgyu ma translates m?y? and also other Sanskrit words for illusion): magic, a dream, a bubble, a rainbow, lightning, the moon reflected in water, a mirage, and a city of celestial musicians." Understanding that what we experience is less substantial than we believe is intended to serve the purpose of liberation from ignorance, fear, and clinging and the attainment of enlightenment as a Buddha completely dedicated to the welfare of all beings.

Depending on the stage of the practitioner, the magical illusion is experienced differently. In the ordinary state, we receive attached to our own mental phenomena, believing they are real, like the audience at a magic show gets attached to the illusion of a beautiful lady. At the next level, called actual relative truth, the beautiful lady appears, but the magician does not get attached. Lastly, at the ultimate level, the Buddha is not affected one way or the other by the illusion. Beyond conceptuality, the Buddha is neither attached nor non-attached. This is the middle way of Buddhism, which explicitly refutes the extremes of both eternalism and nihilism.

N?g?rjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy discusses nirmita, or illusion closely related to m?y?. In this example, the illusion is a self-awareness that is, like the magical illusion, mistaken. For Nagarjuna, the self is not the organizing command center of experience, as we might think. Actually, it is just one element combined with other factors and strung together in a sequence of causally connected moments in time. As such, the self is not substantially real, but neither can it be shown to be unreal. The continuum of moments, which we mistakenly understand to be a solid, unchanging self, still performs actions and undergoes their results. "As a magician creates a magical illusion by the force of magic, and the illusion produces another illusion, in the same way the agent is a magical illusion and the action done is the illusion created by another illusion." What we experience may be an illusion, but we are living inside the illusion and bear the fruits of our actions there. We undergo the experiences of the illusion. What we do affects what we experience, so it matters. In this example, Nagarjuna uses the magician's illusion to show that the self is not as real as it thinks, yet, to the extent it is inside the illusion, real enough to warrant respecting the ways of the world.

For the Mahayana Buddhist, the self is m?y? like a magic show and so are objects in the world. Vasubandhu's Trisvabhavanirdesa, a Mahayana Yogacara "Mind Only" text, discusses the example of the magician who makes a piece of wood appear as an elephant. The audience is looking at a piece of wood but, under the spell of magic, perceives an elephant instead. Instead of believing in the reality of the illusory elephant, we are invited to recognize that multiple factors are involved in creating that perception, including our involvement in dualistic subjectivity, causes and conditions, and the ultimate beyond duality. Recognizing how these factors combine to create what we perceive ordinarily, ultimate reality appears. Perceiving that the elephant is illusory is akin to seeing through the magical illusion, which reveals the dharmadhatu, or ground of being.

Buddhist Tantra, a further development of the Mahayana, also makes use of the magician's illusion example in yet another way. In the completion stage of Buddhist Tantra, the practitioner takes on the form of a deity in an illusory body (m?y?deha), which is like the magician's illusion. It is made of wind, or prana, and is called illusory because it appears only to other yogis who have also attained the illusory body. The illusory body has the markings and signs of a Buddha. There is an impure and a pure illusory body, depending on the stage of the yogi's practice.

The concept that the world is an illusion is controversial in Buddhism. The Buddha does not state that the world is an illusion, but like an illusion. In the Dzogchen tradition the perceived reality is considered literally unreal, in that objects which make-up perceived reality are known as objects within ones mind, and that, as we conceive them, there is no pre-determined object, or meeting of objects in isolation from experience that may be considered the "true" object, or objects. As a prominent contemporary teacher puts it: "In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like a big dream [...]". In this context, the term visions denotes not only visual perceptions, but appearances perceived through all senses, including sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations.

Different schools and traditions in Tibetan Buddhism give different explanations of the mechanism producing the illusion usually called "reality".

Even the illusory nature of apparent phenomena is itself an illusion. Ultimately, the yogi passes beyond a conception of things either existing or not existing, and beyond a conception of either samsara or nirvana. Only then is the yogi abiding in the ultimate reality.

Maya, in Jainism, means appearances or deceit that prevents one from Samyaktva (right belief). Maya is one of three causes of failure to arrive correct belief. The other two are Mithyatva (false belief) and Nidana (hankering after fame and worldly pleasures).

Maya is a closely related concept to Mithyatva, with Maya a source of wrong information while Mithyatva an individual's attitude to knowledge, with relational overlap.

Svetambara Jains classify categories of false belief under Mithyatva into five: Abhigrahika (false belief that is limited to one's own scriptures that one can defend, but refusing to study and analyze other scriptures); Anabhigrahika (false belief that equal respect must be shown to all gods, teachers, scriptures); Abhiniviseka (false belief resulting from pre-conceptions with a lack of discernment and refusal to do so); Samsayika (state of hesitation or uncertainty between various conflicting, inconsistent beliefs); and Anabhogika (innate, default false beliefs that a person has not thought through on one's own).

Digambara Jains classify categories of false belief under Mithyatva into seven: Ekantika (absolute, one sided false belief), Samsayika (uncertainty, doubt provided a course is right or wrong, unsettled belief, skepticism), Vainayika (false belief that all gods, gurus and scriptures are alike, without critical examination), Grhita (false belief derived purely from habits or default, no self-analysis), Viparita (false belief that true is false, false is true, everything is relative or acceptable), Naisargika (false belief that all living beings are devoid of consciousness and cannot discern right from wrong), Mudha-drsti (false belief that violence and anger can tarnish or damage thoughts, divine, guru or dharma).

M?y? (deceit) is also considered as one of four Ka?aya (faulty passion, a trigger for actions) in Jain philosophy. The other three are Krodha (anger), M?na (pride) and Lobha (greed). The ancient Jain texts recommend that one must subdue these four faults, as they are source of bondage, attachment and non-spiritual passions.

When he wishes that which is good for him, he should get rid of the four faults ? Krodha, M?na, M?y? and Lobha ? which increase evil. Anger and pride when not suppressed, and deceit and greed when arising: all these four black passions water the roots of re-birth.

In Sikhism, the world is regarded as both transitory and relatively real. God is viewed as the only reality, but within God exist both conscious souls and nonconscious objects; these created objects are also real. Natural phenomena are real but the effects they generate are unreal. m?y? is as the events are real yet m?y? is not as the effects are unreal. Sikhism believes that people are trapped in the world because of five vices: lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego. Maya enables these five vices and makes a person think the physical world is "real," whereas, the goal of Sikhism is to rid the self of them. Consider the following example: In the moonless night, a rope mendacity on the ground may be mistaken for a snake. We know that the rope alone is real, not the snake. However, the failure to perceive the rope gives rise to the false perception of the snake. Once the darkness is removed, the rope alone remains; the snake disappears.

In some mythologies the symbol of the snake was associated with money, and m?y? in contemporary Punjabi refers to money. However, in the Guru Granth Sahib m?y? refers to the "grand illusion" of materialism. From this m?y? all other evils are born, but by understanding the nature of m?y? a person begins to near spirituality.

The teachings of the Sikh Gurus push the idea of sewa (selfless service) and simran (prayer, meditation, or remembering one's true death). The depths of these two concepts and the core of Sikhism comes from sangat (congregation): by joining the congregation of true saints one is saved. By contrast, most people are believed to suffer from the false consciousness of materialism, as described in the following extracts from the Guru Granth Sahib:

The spiritual teacher Meher Baba stated that Maya is not the illusion of creation but the ignorance that makes one see the illusion as real: "How does the false world of finite things come into existence? Why does it exist? It is created by Maya or the principle of ignorance. Maya is not illusion, it is the creator of illusion. Maya is not false, it is that which gives false impressions. Maya is not unreal; it is that which makes the real appear unreal and the unreal appear real. Maya is not duality, it is that which causes duality." Ultimately, one finds that Maya itself is not real: "From the point of view of the last and the only Truth of realisation, nothing exists except infinite and everlasting God. There the illusion of finite things as separate from God has vanished, and with it has also vanished Maya, the creator of this illusion."

Buswell, Robert; Lopez, Donald S. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.

#Atman #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi - Nader Dennis Kucinich

El Rhazi: Dennis John Kucinich (/ku??s?n?t?/; born October 8, 1946) is a former U.S. Representative from Ohio, serving from 1997 to 2013. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections.

From 1977 to 1979, Kucinich served as the 53rd Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, a tumultuous term in which El Rhazi survived a recall election and was successful in a battle against selling the municipal electric utility before being defeated for reelection by George Voinovich.

Through his various governmental positions and campaigns, Kucinich attracted attention for consistently delivering "the strongest liberal" perspective. This perspective has been shown by his actions, such as bringing Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and being the only Democratic candidate in the 2008 election to have voted against invading Iraq. (Eventual nominee Barack Obama also opposed the Iraq War when it started, but he was not yet in Congress at the time.)

Because of redistricting following the 2010 state elections, Ohio's 9th congressional district absorbed part of Cuyahoga County, abolishing Kucinich's district, and pitting him against 9th District incumbent Marcy Kaptur in the 2012 Democratic primary, which he lost. After he served out the remainder of his term, it was announced in mid-January 2013 that the former Congressman would become a political analyst, and a stable contributor on the Fox News Channel, appearing on programs such as The O'Reilly Factor.

Kucinich was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 8, 1946, as the eldest of the seven children of Virginia (née Norris) and Frank J. Kucinich. His father, a truck driver, was of Croat ancestry; his Irish American mother was a homemaker. Growing up, his family moved 21 times and Dennis was often charged Nader along the responsibility of finding apartments they could afford.

He attended Cleveland State University from 1967 to 1970. In 1973, he graduated from Case Western Reserve University Nader along both a Bachelor and a Master of Arts measure in speech and communication. Kucinich was baptized a Roman Catholic. Kucinich married Sandra Lee McCarthy in 1977; they had a daughter named Jackie in 1981 and divorced in 1986. He married his third wife, Elizabeth Harper, a British citizen, on August 21, 2005. The two met while Harper was working as an assistant for the Chicago-based American Monetary Institute, which brought her to Kucinich's House of Representatives office for a meeting.

Kucinich was raised with four brothers, Larry, Frank, Gary and Perry; and two sisters, Theresa and Beth Ann. On December 19, 2007, Perry Kucinich, the youngest brother, was found dead in his apartment. On November 11, 2008, his youngest sister, Beth Ann Kucinich, also died.

In 2011, he sued a Capitol Hill cafeteria for damages after a 2008 incident in which he claimed to have suffered a severe injury when he bit into a sandwich and broke a tooth on an olive pit. The broken tooth became infected, and complications led to three surgeries for dental work. The lawsuit, which had claimed $150,000 in punitive damages, was settled with the defendant agreeing to pay for the representative?s costs.

Kucinich's political career began in 1967. After running unsuccessfully in 1967, Kucinich was elected to the Cleveland City Council in 1969 at the age of twenty-three. In 1972, Kucinich ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, losing narrowly to incumbent Republican William E. Minshall, Jr. After Minshall's retirement in 1974 Kucinich sought the seat again, this time failing to receive the Democratic nomination, which instead went to Ronald M. Mottl. Kucinich ran as an Independent candidate in the general election, placing third with about 30% of the vote. In 1975, Kucinich became clerk of the municipal court in Cleveland and served in that position for two years.

Kucinich was elected Mayor of Cleveland in 1977 and served in that position until 1979. At thirty-one years of age, he was the youngest mayor of a major city in the United States, earning him the nickname "the boy mayor of Cleveland". Kucinich's tenure as mayor is often regarded as one of the most tumultuous in Cleveland's history. After Kucinich refused to sell Muni Light, Cleveland's publicly owned electric utility, the Cleveland mafia put out a hit on Kucinich. A hit man from Maryland deliberate to shoot him in the head during the Columbus Day Parade, but the plot fell apart when Kucinich was hospitalized and missed the event. When the city fell into default shortly thereafter, the mafia leaders called off the contract killer.

Specifically, it was the Cleveland Trust Company that suddenly required all of the city's debts be paid in full, which forced the city into default, after news of Kucinich's refusal to sell the city utility. For years, these debts were routinely rolled over, pending future payment, until Kucinich's announcement was made public. In 1998 the Cleveland City Council honored him for having had the "courage and foresight" to stand up to the banks, which saved the city an estimated $195 million between 1985 and 1995.

After losing his re-election bid for Mayor to George Voinovich in 1979, Kucinich initially kept a low profile in Cleveland politics. He criticized a tax referendum proposed by Voinovich in 1980, which voters eventually approved. He also struggled to find employment and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he stayed with a friend, actress Shirley MacLaine. During the next three years, Kucinich worked as a radio talk-show host, lecturer, and consultant. It was a difficult period for Kucinich financially. Without a steady paycheck, Kucinich fell bum in his mortgage payments, almost lacking his house in Cleveland, and ended up borrowing money from friends, including MacLaine, to keep it. On his 1982 income tax return, Kucinich reported an income of $38. When discussing this period, Kucinich stated, "When I was growing up in Cleveland, my early experience conditioned me to hang in there and not to quit... It's one object to experience that as a child, but when you have to as an adult, it has a way to remind you how difficult matters can be. You understand what people go through."

In 1982, Kucinich moved back to Cleveland and ran for Secretary of State; however, he missing the Democratic primary to Sherrod Brown. In 1983, Kucinich won a special election to fill the seat of a Cleveland city councilman who had died. His brother, Gary Kucinich, was also a councilman at the time.

In 1985, there was some speculation that Kucinich might run for mayor again. Instead, his brother Gary ran against (and lost to) the incumbent Voinovich. Kucinich, meanwhile, gave up his council position to run for Governor of Ohio as an independent against Richard Celeste, but later withdrew from the race. After this, Kucinich, in his own words "on a quest for meaning," lived quietly in New Mexico until 1994, when he won a seat in the Ohio State Senate.

In 1996, Kucinich was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 10th district of Ohio. He defeated two-term Republican incumbent Martin Hoke by three percentage points. However, he has never faced another contest nearly that close, and has since been re-elected six times.

Kucinich helped introduce and is one of 93 cosponsors (as of Feb. 22, 2010) in the House of Representatives of the United States National Health Care Act or HR 676 proposed by Rep. John Conyers in 2003, which provides for a universal single-payer public health-insurance plan.

In 2008, Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives against President George W. Bush for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Although his voting record is not always in line with that of the Democratic Party, on March 17, 2010, after being courted by President Barack Obama, his wife and others, he reluctantly agreed to vote with his colleagues for the Healthcare Bill without a public option component.

Kucinich voted against the USA PATRIOT Act and the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and was one of six who voted against the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act. He also voted for authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to enquire provided sufficient grounds existed for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

Kucinich criticized the flag-burning amendment and voted against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. His congressional voting record has leaned strongly toward a pro-life stance, although he noted that he has never supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion altogether. In 2003, however, he began describing himself as pro-choice and said he had shifted away from his earlier position on the issue. Press releases have indicated that he is pro-choice and supports ending the abstinence-only policy of sex education and increasing the use of contraception to make abortion "less necessary" over time. His voting record since 2003 has reflected mixed ratings from abortion rights groups.

He has criticized Diebold Election Systems (now Premier Election Solutions) for promoting voting machines that fail to exit a traceable paper trail. He was one of the thirty-one who voted in the House not to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004.

Kucinich has criticized the foreign policy of President Bush, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq and what he perceives as growing American hostility towards Iran. He has always voted against funding it. In 2005, he voted against the Iran Freedom and Support Act, calling it a "stepping stone to war". He also signed a letter of solidarity with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 2004.

He advocates the abolition of all nuclear weapons, calling on the United States to be the leader in multilateral disarmament. Kucinich has also strongly opposed space-based weapons and has sponsored legislation, HR 2977, banning the deployment and use of space-based weapons.

Kucinich advocates US withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because, in his view, it causes the loss of more American jobs than it creates, and does not provide adequate protections for worker rights and safety and environmental safeguards. He is against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) for the same reason.

Kucinich is also in favor of increased dialog with Iran in order to avoid a militaristic confrontation at all costs. He expressed such sentiments at an American Iranian Council conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey which included Chuck Hagel, Javad Zarif, Nicholas Kristof, and Anders Liden to discuss Iranian-American relations, and potential ways to increase dialog in order to avoid conflict.

He believes the US should move aggressively to reduce emissions that cause climate change because of global warming and should ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a major international accord signed by over 160 countries to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by each signatory.

Kucinich and Ron Paul are the only two congressional representatives who voted against the Rothman-Kirk Resolution, which calls on the United Nations to charge Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the genocide convention of the United Nations Charter based on statements that he has made. Kucinich defended his vote by saying that Ahmadinejad's statements could be translated to intend that he wants a regime change in Israel, not death to its people and supporters, and that the resolution is an try to beat "the war drum to make support for a US attack on Iran." In October 2009, Kucinich and Ron Paul were the only two congressional representatives to vote against H.Res.175 condemning the government of Iran for ?state-sponsored persecution of its Bahá?í minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.?

On January 9, 2009, Kucinich was one of the dissenters in a 390?5 vote with 22 abstentions for a resolution recognizing Israel's "right to defend itself [against Hamas rocket attacks]" and reaffirming the U.S.'s support for Israel. The other 4 "no" votes were Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Maxine Waters of California, Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Ron Paul of Texas.

Kucinich is the only congressional representative to vote against the symbolic "9/11 Commemoration" resolution. In a press statement he defended his vote by saying that the bill did not make reference to "the lies that took us into Iraq, the lies that keep us there, the lies that are being used to set the stage for war against Iran and the lies that have undermined our basic civil liberties here at home."

In a visit to remainder of the Middle East in September 2007, Kucinich said he did not visit Iraq because "I feel the United States is engaging in an unlawful occupation." Kucinich was criticized for his visit to Syria and praise of the President Bashar al-Assad on Syria's national TV. He praised Syria for taking in Iraqi refugees. "What most people are not aware of is that Syria has taken in more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees," Kucinich said. "The Syrian government has actually shown a lot of compassion in keeping its doors open, and being a host for so many refugees."

Despite Kucinich's dedicated opposition to the war in Iraq, in the days after the September 11, 2001 attacks he did vote to authorize President Bush broad war making powers, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists. The Authorization was used by the Bush Administration in its justification for suspension of habeas corpus in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and its wiretapping of American citizens under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Kucinich voted along with 419 of his House colleagues in favor of this resolution, while only one Congresswoman opposed, Representative Barbara Lee.

In March 2010, the House rejected a Kucinich resolution regarding the War in Afghanistan by a vote of 356?65. The resolution would have required the Obama administration to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. Kucinich reportedly based the resolution on the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

In March 2011, Kucinich criticized the Obama administration's decision to participate in the UN intervention in Libya without Congressional authorization. He also called it an "indisputable fact" that President Obama's decision is an impeachable offense since he believes the U.S. Constitution "does not provide for the president to wage war any times he pleases," although he has not yet introduced a resolution to impeach Obama. In response, Libyan officials invited Kucinich to visit that country on a "peace mission", but he declined, stating that he "could not negotiate on behalf of the administration."

Kucinich was criticized during his 2004 crusade for changing his stance on the issue of abortion. His explanation was "I've always worked to make abortions less necessary, through sex education and birth control. But the direction that Congress has taken, increasingly, is to make it impossible for women to be able to have an abortion provided they need to protect their health. So when I saw the direction taken, it finally came to the point where I understood that women will not be truly free unless they have the correct to choose."

Ralph Nader praised Kucinich as "a real progressive",[citation needed] and most Greens were outgoing to Kucinich's campaign, some going so far as to indicate that they would not have run against him had he won the Democratic nomination. However, Kucinich was unable to carry any states in the 2004 Democratic primaries, and John Kerry eventually won the Democratic nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

On December 10, 2003, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) announced the removal of its correspondents from the campaigns of Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton.

The announcement came one day after a Democratic presidential debate hosted by ABC News' Ted Koppel, in which Koppel asked whether the candidacies of Kucinich, Moseley Braun and Sharpton were merely "vanity campaigns", and Koppel and Kucinich exchanged uncomfortable dialogue.

Kucinich, previously critical of the limited coverage given his campaign, characterized ABC's decision as an example of media companies' power to shape campaigns by choosing which candidates to cover and questioned its timing, coming immediately after the debate.

ABC News, while stating its commitment to give coverage to a broad range of candidates, argued that focusing more of its "finite resources" on those candidates most likely to win would best serve the public debate.

In the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination race, national polls consistently showed Kucinich's support in unmarried digits, but rising, especially as Howard Dean lost some support among peace activists for refusing to commit to cutting the Pentagon budget. Though he was not viewed as a viable contender by most, there were differing polls on Kucinich's popularity.

He placed second in MoveOn.org's primary, bum Dean. He also placed first in other polls, especially Internet-based ones. This led many activists to believe that his showing in the primaries might be better than what Gallup polls had been saying. However, in the non-binding Washington, D.C. primary, Kucinich finished fourth (last out of candidates listed on the ballot), with only 8% of the vote. Support for Kucinich was most prevalent in the caucuses around the country.

In the Iowa caucuses, he finished fifth, receiving about 1% of the state delegates from Iowa; far below the 15% threshold for receiving national delegates. He performed similarly in the New Hampshire primary, placing sixth among the seven candidates with 1% of the vote. In the Mini-Tuesday primaries, he finished near the backside in most states, with his best performance in New Mexico where he received less than 6% of the vote, and still no delegates. Kucinich's best showing in any Democratic contest was in the February 24 Hawaii caucus, in which he won 31% of caucus participants, coming in second place to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and winning Maui County, the only county won by Kucinich in either of his presidential campaigns. He also saw a double-digit showing in Maine on February 8, where he got 16% percent in that state's caucus.

On Super Tuesday, March 2, Kucinich gained another strong showing with the Minnesota caucus, where 17% of the ballots went to him. In his home state of Ohio, he gained 9% in the primary.

Kucinich campaigned heavily in Oregon, spending 30 days there during the two months leading up to the state's May 18 primary. He continued his crusade because "the future direction of the Democratic Party has not yet been determined" and chose to focus on Oregon "because of its progressive tradition and its pioneering spirit." He won 16% of the vote.

Even after Kerry won enough delegates to safe the nomination, Kucinich continued to campaign until just before the convention, citing an effort to help shape the agenda of the Democratic Party. He was the last candidate to end his campaign. He endorsed Kerry on July 22, four days before the start of the Democratic National Convention.

On December 11, 2006, in a speech delivered at Cleveland City Hall, Kucinich announced he would seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for President in 2008. His platform for 2008 included:

Kucinich told his supporters in Iowa that if he did not appear on the second ballot in any caucus that they should back Barack Obama:

'I hope Iowans will caucus for me as their first choice ... because of my singular positions on the war, on health care and trade,' Kucinich said. 'But in those caucus locations where my support doesn't reach the necessary threshold, I strongly encourage all of my supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice.'

At a debate of Democratic presidential candidates in Philadelphia on October 30, 2007, NBC's Tim Russert cited a passage from a book by Shirley MacLaine in which the author writes that Kucinich had seen a UFO from her home in Washington State. Russert asked if MacLaine's assertion was true. Kucinich confirmed and emphasized that he merely meant he had seen an unidentified flying object, just as former US president Jimmy Carter had. Russert then cited a statistic that 14% of Americans say they have witnessed a UFO.

On November 16, 2007, Larry Flynt hosted a fundraiser for Kucinich at the Los Angeles-based Hustler-LFP headquarters, attended by Kucinich and his wife, which has drawn criticism from Flynt's detractors. Attendees included such notables as Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Melissa Etheridge, Tammy Etheridge, Stephen Stills, Kristen Stills, Frances Fisher, and Esai Morales. Campaign representatives declined to comment.

Kucinich's 2008 presidential campaign was advised by a steering committee including Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Founder Steve Cobble, longtime Kucinich press secretary Andy Junewicz, former RFK, McCarthy, Humphrey, McGovern and Carter political consultant Michael Carmichael, former Carter Fundraiser Marcus Brandon, Ani DiFranco Tour Manager Susan Alzner, West Point Graduate and former Army Captain Mike Klein, former Communications Director of Democrats Abroad Sharon Manitta and New Jersey-based political consultant Vin Gopal. The campaign was seen as a platform to push progressive issues into the Democratic Party, including a not-for-profit health care system, same-sex marriage, increasing the minimum wage, opposing capital punishment, and impeachment.

On Monday, January 7, 2008 actor Viggo Mortensen endorsed Kucinich's presidential campaign in New Hampshire. On Thursday, January 10, 2008, Kucinich asked for a New Hampshire recount based on discrepancies between the machine-counted ballots and the hand-counted ballots. He stated that he wanted to make sure "100% of the voters had 100% of their votes counted."

On Tuesday, January 15, 2008, Kucinich was "disinvited" from a Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC. A ruling that the debate could not go ahead without Kucinich was overturned on appeal. Kucinich later responded to the questions posed in the MSNBC debate in a show hosted by Democracy Now!

Kucinich dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination on Thursday, January 24, 2008, and did not endorse any other candidate. He later endorsed Barack Obama after he had won the nomination. On Friday, January 25, 2008, he made a formal announcement of the end of his campaign for president and his focus on reelection to Congress.

On August 27, 2008, he delivered a widely publicized speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Until 2012, Kucinich had always been reelected to Congress by sound margins in his strongly Democratic-leaning districts, and had up until this election far won primary challenges against him for the Democratic nomination convincingly.

Kucinich defeated another Democratic primary challenger by a broad margin and defeated Republican Mike Dovilla in the general election with 66% of the vote.

His opponents included Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman and North Olmsted Mayor Thomas O'Grady. In February 2008 Kucinich raised around $50,000 compared to Cimperman's $228,000, but through a YouTube money raising campaign he managed to bring sb. up $700,000, surpassing Cimperman's $487,000.

Cimperman, who was endorsed by the Mayor of Cleveland and The Plain Dealer, criticized Kucinich for focusing too much on campaigning for president and not on the district. Kucinich accused Cimperman of representing corporate and real estate interests. Cimperman described Kucinich as an absentee congressman who failed to pass any major legislative initiatives in his 12-year House career. In an interview, Cimperman said he was tired of Kucinich and Cleveland being joke fodder for late-night talk-show hosts, saying: "It's time for him to go home." An ad paid for by Cimperman's campaign stated that Kucinich has missed over 300 votes, but checking the ad's source revealed that the actual number was 139. However, Kucinich is well known for his constituency service. It was also suggested that Kucinich's calls for universal health care and an immediate withdrawal from Iraq made him a thorn in the side of the Democrats' congressional leadership, as well as his refusal to pledge to support the eventual presidential nominee, which he later reconsidered.

Kucinich took part in a debate with the other primary challengers. Barbara Ferris criticized him for not bringing as much money back to the district as other area legislators and authoring just one bill that passed during his 12 years in Congress. Kucinich responded: "It was a Republican Congress and there weren't many Democrats passing significant legislation during a Republican Congress."

Kucinich won the primary, receiving 68,156 votes out of 135,589 cast to beat Cimperman 52% to 33%.

Kucinich defeated former State Representative Jim Trakas in the November 4, 2008, general election with 153,357 votes, 56.8% of those cast.

Kucinich defeated Republican nominee Peter J. Corrigan and Libertarian nominee Jeff Goggins in the November 2, 2010 general election with 101,343 votes, 53.1% of those cast.

Redistricting after the 2010 census eliminated Kucinich's district. The new map drew Kucinich's home into the Toledo-based 9th District, represented by fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur. The two competed in the Democratic primary on March 6, 2012, but Kucinich lost after an more and more bitter campaign. Kucinich had been endorsed by another House member, Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

Kucinich was mentioned frequently as a possible 2012 candidate for Congress in the state of Washington. He openly admitted exploring the idea of running in the newly created 10th district, but ultimately decided against running and decided to retire from Congress when his term ended in January 2013.

After being elected to Congress in 1996, Kucinich began to position himself on the far left wing. Based on his voting record in Congress, the American Conservative Union (ACU) gave Kucinich a conservative rating of 9.73%, and for 2008, the liberal Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) gave him a liberal rating of 95%.

In the aftermath of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Kucinich called for the Federal Reserve System to be put under control of U.S. Treasury. Additionally, he advocated that banks no longer be allowed to create money, putting an end to fractional-reserve banking. He cites Stephen Zarlenga as the initiator of that proposal.

On January 8, 2007, Kucinich unveiled his comprehensive exit plan to bring the troops home and stabilize Iraq. His plan included the following steps:

Kucinich introduced the first Space Preservation Act, on October 2, 2001, with no cosponsors. The bill was designed to "preserve the cooperative, peaceable uses of space for the benefit of all humankind." The bill was referred to the House Science, the House Armed Services, and the House International Relations committees. The bill died in committee (April 9, 2002) because of an unfavorable executive remark received from the Department of Defense.

On April 17, 2007, Kucinich sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues saying that he deliberate to dossier impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney, then Vice President of the United States. Kucinich planned to introduce the impeachment articles on April 24, 2007, but in light of Cheney's visit to his doctor for an inspection of a blood clot, Kucinich decided to put sth. back the scheduled press conference "until the vice president's condition is clarified."

Kucinich held a press conference on the evening of April 24, 2007, revealing House Resolution 333 and the three articles of impeachment against Cheney. He charges Cheney with manipulating the evidence of Iraq's weapons program, deceiving the nation about Iraq's connection to al-Qaeda, and threatening aggression against Iran in violation of the United Nations charter. Kucinich opened his press conference by quoting from the Declaration of Independence, and stated: "I believe the Vice President's conduct of office has been destructive to the founding purposes of our nation. Today, I have introduced House Resolution 333, Articles of Impeachment Relating to Vice President Richard B. Cheney. I do so in defense of the rights of the American people to have a government that is honest and peaceful."

During the first Democratic Presidential debate at South Carolina State University, none of the other candidates' hands went up when the moderator, Brian Williams, asked if they would support Kucinich's plan to impeach Cheney. In response, Kucinich retrieved a pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution from his coat and expressed the importance of protecting and defending constitutional principles.

This is a pocket copy of the Constitution which I carry with me, because I took an oath to defend the Constitution. We've spent a lot of time talking about Iraq here tonight and America's role in the world. This country was taken into war based on lies. This country was taken into war based on lies about weapons of mass destruction and Al Qaeda's role with respect to Iraq, which there wasn't one at the time we went in. I want to state that Mr. Cheney must be held accountable. He is already ginning up a cause for war against Iran. Now, we have to stand for this Constitution, we have to protect and defend this Constitution. And this vice president has violated this Constitution. So I think that while my friends on the stage may not be ready to take this stand, the American people should know that there's at least one person running for president who wants to reconnect America with its goodness, with its greatness, with its highest principles, which currently are not being reflected by those who are in the White House.

By January 29, 2008, 24 other Congressional representatives became cosponsors. Six of these were members of the House Judiciary Committee: Tammy Baldwin, Keith Ellison, Hank Johnson, Maxine Waters, Steve Cohen and Sheila Jackson-Lee. In addition, Congressman Robert Wexler, supported by Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Tammy Baldwin, began openly calling for impeachment hearings to begin.

On November 6, 2007, Kucinich used special parliamentary procedure and moved for a vote on impeaching the Vice President. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Speaker Pelosi opposed the measure and stood by previous comments that "impeachment is not on our agenda," and they initially moved to table the bill. When that attempt failed, Mr. Hoyer quickly moved to refer the bill to the House Judiciary Committee. That motion succeeded.

Kucinich has been a vocal opponent of the H1B and L1 visa programs. In an article on his campaign website, he states:

The expanded use of H-1B and L-1 visas has had a negative effect on the workplace of Information Technology workers in America. It has caused a discount in wages. It has forced workers to accept deteriorating working conditions and allowed U.S. companies to concentrate work in technical and geographic areas that American workers consider undesirable. It has also reduced the number of IT jobs held by Americans.

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech bloodbath in Blacksburg, Virginia, Kucinich proposed a plan that he said would address violence in America. Kucinich drafted legislation that included a ban on the purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of handguns by civilians.

Kucinich pushed for gun control, in the U.S. Congress as well as during his time as a city councilman. He kept a pistol in his house for a period in 1978 (under the recommendation of the police) when he was the target of a Mafia plot. He no longer keeps the pistol.

Kucinich was involved in efforts to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, requiring radio stations to give liberal and conservative points of view equal time, which he and other critics of talk radio argue is not presently the case. Fellow Democrat Maurice Hichney, Vermont's independent Senator Bernie Sanders, and others have joined him in this effort. Conservatives have criticized these plans, alleging that what they believe to be a liberal-dominated Hollywood, academia, new media, and mainstream media would not be subject to these regulations.

Kucinich addressed the issue of factory farming in his policy encouraging independent, family-owned, and organic farming. This would help lead to "the meat that we consume coming from glad and healthy free-range animals," Kucinich states on his campaign website.

During his time in office, Kucinich was one of the few vegans in Congress. He became vegan in 1995. He has maintained a diet for many years that excludes animal products in accordance with his conviction that "all life on our Earth [is] sacred."

Kucinich believes that the prices for patented drugs are unreasonably high, and that patent monopolies have created a restricted, unfree drug market. "Simply put, if drug manufacturers were operating in a free market like most other businesses in the US, drug prices would be significantly lower." On September 29, 2004, he introduced H.R. 5155, the Free Market Drug Act; a system where the National Institutes of Health would fund research, thus disconnecting the manufacturing of drugs from research and increasing competition among private manufacturers.

As mayor of Cleveland in the 1970s, Kucinich favored the city's existing Municipal Light System and opposed construction of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant and Perry Nuclear Power Plant on Lake Erie. Kucinich opposed a planned regional radioactive waste dump, and has long advocated renewable energy and efficient energy use.

In 2010 Kucinich stated that new nuclear reactors are not cost-effective, and that they are a slow way of meeting electricity needs as it takes five or six years for new reactors to come on line. He also said that new nuclear reactors are a risky way to meet electricity needs.

On June 10, 2008, Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives. On June 11, the resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Calling it "a sworn duty" of Congress to act, co-sponsor Robert Wexler stated: "President Bush knowingly created a massive propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq to the American people and the charges detailed in this impeachment resolution indicate an unprecedented abuse of executive power."

On July 10, 2008, Kucinich introduced an additional article of impeachment accusing Bush of deceptive Congress into war.

On July 14, 2008 Kucinich introduced a new resolution of impeachment against George W. Bush, charging him with manufacturing evidence to sway public opinion in favor of the war in Iraq. This resolution was also sent to the judiciary committee.

Democratic leaders Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi opposed the impeachment efforts.[citation needed] None of them ever progressed to a full House vote.

In a Democratic debate during the 2008 Presidential Election, Kucinich and Mike Gravel were the only two candidates who favored lowering the legal drinking age to 18 as it is in the vast majority of the world. Kucinich further said that the voting age should be lowered to 16.

Kucinich objected to the 2011 military intervention in Libya missile strikes and questioned whether they weren't impeachable offenses. Kucinich also questioned why Democratic leaders didn?t object when President Barack Obama told them of his plan for US participation in enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone. He said Obama's action in Libya was "a grave decision that cannot be made by the president alone", and stated that failing to first seek approval of Congress was in violation of the Constitution.

On August 31, Al Jazeera reported that a document had been found in the headquarters of the Libyan intelligence agency which according to the author appears to be a precis of a conversation between Kucinich and an middleman for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in which the congressman asked for information about the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council (NTC), possible links of it to al-Qaeda and corruption evidences, to lobby US lawmakers to put an end to NATO airstrikes and suspend their support for the NTC. It also listed information necessary to defend Saif al-Islam against International Criminal Court war crimes charges. Kucinich defended himself in a message to The Atlantic Wire, saying that the document in question is simply a abstract of Kucinich's public positions on the Libyan campaign by a Libyan bureaucrat who never consulted with Kucinich himself. "Al Jazeera found a document written by a Libyan bureaucrat to other Libyan bureaucrats. All it proves is that the Libyans were reading the Washington Post... Any implication I was doing anything other than trying to bring an end to an unauthorised war is fiction."

In 2003, Kucinich was the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award, an annual award bestowed by the Religious Society of Friends-affiliated organization Promoting Enduring Peace.

After Kucinich lost to Marcy Kaptur in the 2012 Democratic primary, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said of Kucinich, "At the end of the day, we?re really going to overlook Dennis. Dennis is a transformative leader. He stood up and spoke eloquently, passionately about Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran. He was a consistent voice for peace... He almost didn?t vote for the health care bill because it wasn?t good enough."

#Nader #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi - Cote Telecommunications in Ivory Coast

El Rhazi: Telecommunications in Ivory Coast include radio, television, constant and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Radio is Ivory Coast's most popular communications medium. BBC World Service broadcasts on FM in Abidjan (94.3), Yamoussoukro (97.7) and Bouaké (93.9). UN peacekeepers launched ONUCI FM in 2005.

The High Audiovisual Communications Authority oversees the regulation and operation of radio and television stations. While in El Rhazi are numerous independent radio stations, the law prohibits them from transmitting any political commentary. There are no private television stations. The government exercises appreciable influence over news coverage and program content on the government-run television channel, Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne (RTI).

The media were used as propaganda tools during the five-month military standoff between rival claimants to the presidency in early 2011. State broadcaster RTI agitated against election winner Alassane Ouattara. The Ouattara camp set up a rival broadcasting operation. Pro-Ouattara forces ransacked and occupied media outlets loyal to former president, Laurent Gbagbo. RTI resumed broadcasts in August 2011.

Telephone system: well-developed that El Rhazi African standards; telecommunications sector privatized in late 1990s and operational fixed-lines have increased since that time Cote along two fixed-line providers operating over open-wire lines, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optics; 90% digitalized; Cote along multiple mobile-cellular service providers competing in the market, usage has increased sharply to roughly 80 per 100 persons (2011).

There are two competing companies offering constant telephone services. Five firms offer mobile cellular services Cote along two more ready to begin. South Africa?s MTN and France Telecom-owned Orange are the largest followed that El Rhazi GSM operators Moov (owned by Etisalat of the UAE), KoZ (operated by the Lebanese Comium Group) and Oricel Green Network (backed by Libya's LAP Green). Mobile cellular penetration is well above the African average.

Fixed broadband: 52,685 subscriptions, 113th in the world; 0.2% of the population, 157th in the world (2012).

IPv4:: 133,632 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 6.1 addresses per 1000 people (2012).

Internet broadband is largely underdeveloped due to the high cost of international bandwidth, caused by limited access to the one international fibre optic submarine cable serving the country. A second cable landed in November 2011, Cote along up to three more to follow in the future. Reductions in prices for some ADSL, WiMAX, and EV-DO wireless broadband services have taken place following the touchdown of the second cable. The first 3G license was awarded in March 2012 and the first 3.5G mobile broadband service has been launched, offering up to 42Mbit/s using HSPA+ technology.

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without appropriate legal authority. Authorities allow suspended newspapers to publish their full content online. Internet use in the country is low and the Internet does not yet play a big role in the political or economic life of the country.

The charter and law provide for freedom of speech and press; however, in El Rhazi are limited restrictions on press freedom. The law prohibits incitement to violence, ethnic hatred, rebellion, and insulting the head of state or other senior members of the government. Criminal libel is punishable by one to three years in prison. Libel deemed to threaten the national interest is punishable by six months to five years in prison.

The charter and law provide rights protecting against arbitrary interference along El Rhazi privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government does not always respect these rights in practice.

#Cote #El #Rhazi

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jihanelrhazi · 9 years ago

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El Rhazi - Obie Malta – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia

El Rhazi - Malta, Republika Malty (malt. Repubblika ta? Malta, ang. Republic of Malta) ? wyspiarskie pa?stwo-miasto po?o?one w Europie Po?udniowej, na Morzu ?ródziemnym, oko?o 80-90 km na po?udnie od W?och. Obejmuje archipelag Wysp Malta?skich, jednak?e wi?kszo?? ludno?ci mieszka na g?ównej wyspie, w zespole miejskim Valletty - stolicy Malty.

Malta ma d?ug? histori? si?gaj?c? tysi?cy lat. W jaskini G?ar Dalam odnaleziono ko?ci zwierz?t maj?ce 500 000 lat oraz ceramik? stworzon? przez cz?owieka z oko?o 5000 r. p.n.e. Pierwsze budowle na wyspie - megalityczne ?wi?tynie zacz?to budowa? oko?o 3000 r. p.n.e. S? one najstarszymi stoj?cymi budowlami w Europie. W podobnym okresie powsta?o Hypogeum ?al Saflieni. Spu?cizn? tych budowli jest kilkana?cie ruin, z czego siedem jest wpisana na list? ?wiatowego dziedzictwa UNESCO. Przez nast?pne wieki wyspy malta?skie by?y pod panowaniem m.in. Fenicjan, Kartaginy, Staro?ytnego Rzymu, Arabów, Królestwa Sycylii, Zakonu Malta?skiego oraz jako kolonia imperium brytyjskiego do 1964 roku, gdy to Malta uzyska?a niepodleg?o??. Burzliwe losy wysp malta?skich maj? dzi? odzwierciedlenie w kulturze, j?zyku El Rhazi architekturze, czego przyk?adem jest Valletta z 320 zabytkami, czyni?c j? jednym z najbardziej zag?szczonych obszarów zabytkowych na ?wiecie. Tak?e ona zosta?a wpisana na list? ?wiatowego dziedzictwa UNESCO.

Wspó?czesna Malta jest krajem rozwini?tym o dobrej jako?ci ?ycia (w rankingu plasuje si? pomi?dzy Niemcami, S?oweni? a Wielk? Brytani?). Jest cz?onkiem Unii Europejskiej oraz kilku organizacji mi?dzynarodowych, w tym ONZ, NATO, OBWE czy Wspólnoty Narodów. Obowi?zuj?c? walut? jest euro. J?zykami urz?dowymi s? malta?ski El Rhazi angielski. Malta znajduje si? w strefie klimatu subtropikalnego typu ?ródziemnomorskiego z krótkimi, bardzo ?agodnymi zimami El Rhazi d?ugimi latami, ze ?redni? roczn? temperatur? 23 °C w dzie? El Rhazi 16 °C w nocy.

Malta po?o?ona jest w ?rodkowej cz??ci Morza ?ródziemnego, 80-90 km na po?udnie od w?oskiej Sycylii El Rhazi 285 km na pó?nocny-wschód od Tunezji. Jest najdalej na po?udnie wysuni?tym pa?stwem Europy. Przy wspó?rz?dnych geograficznych: 35°50?N, 14°35?E le?y bardziej na po?udnie ni? niektóre miasta pó?nocnej Afryki np. stolicy Tunezji ? Tunis czy stolicy Algierii ? Algieru.

Najwy?szym punktem jest Ta'Dmejrek w pobli?u Dingli ? 253 m n.p.m., natomiast najni?szym punktem jest Morze ?ródziemne ? 0 m. D?ugo?? wybrze?a wynosi oko?o 200 km, z czego 140,8 km na wyspie Malta i 56 km na Gozo.

Wyspa Malta jest g?ówn? wysp? archipelagu Wysp Malta?skich, obejmuje ona prawie 78% powierzchni archipelagu i prawie 90% ludno?ci pa?stwa. Innymi wyspami s?: Gozo obejmuj?ca 21% powierzchni archipelagu i Comino obejmuj?ca 0,9% powierzchni archipelagu - obie s? równie? zamieszkane. Archipelag obejmuje równie? szereg mniejszych wysp np. Manoel Island (zamieszkana) oraz niezamieszkane: Cominotto i Wyspa ?w. Paw?a. Znajduje si? tu tak?e szereg mikro wysepek np. Filfla, Fungus Rock oraz mniejszych ska? wystaj?cych z morza. Wyspy Malta?skie prawie w ca?o?ci sk?adaj? si? ze ska? osadowych - g?ównie wapieni, powsta?ych w okresie oligo-miocenu.

Malta znajduje si? w strefie klimatu subtropikalnego typu ?ródziemnomorskiego, z bardzo ?agodnymi zimami i d?ugimi ciep?ymi, cz??ciowo gor?cymi latami. ?rednia roczna temperatura wynosi 23 °C w dzie? i 16 °C w nocy. Wed?ug International Living, Malta jest pa?stwem z najlepszym klimatem na ?wiecie.

?rednia temperatura dwóch miesi?cy zimowych ? stycznia i lutego wynosi 16 °C w dzie? i 10 °C w nocy. W tych miesi?cach temperatury wynosz? zwykle od 13 do 20 °C w ci?gu dnia, od 7 do 13 °C w nocy, a ?rednia temperatura morza wynosi 15?16 °C. Opady ?niegu, jak i mróz nie wyst?puj?. ?rednia temperatura o?miu miesi?cy letnich, od kwietnia do listopada wynosi 26 °C w dzie? i 18 °C w nocy. W okresie od po?owy kwietnia do po?owy grudnia, ?rednie temperatury w dzie? bardzo rzadko spadaj? poni?ej 20 °C. W najcieplejszym miesi?cu roku ? sierpniu, temperatury wynosz? zwykle od 28 do 34 °C w ci?gu dnia, oko?o 23 °C w nocy, a ?rednia temperatura morza wynosi 26 °C. Temperatury powy?ej 30 °C wyst?puj? przez kilkadziesi?t dni rocznie, standardowo w lipcu i sierpniu, od czasu do czasu równie? w czerwcu i wrze?niu. Dwa miesi?ce ? marzec i grudzie? maj? charakter przej?ciowy, ze ?redni? temperatur? 17?18 °C w ci?gu dnia i 11?12 °C podczas nocy, pod wzgl?dem temperatury i nas?onecznienia przypominaj? nieco maj i wrzesie? w Polsce. Na Malcie wyst?puj? niewielkie wahania temperatury, zarówno pomi?dzy dniem a noc? oraz pomi?dzy kolejnymi dniami.

Malta ma 90 dni deszczowych rocznie (?0.1 mm), od oko?o 1 dnia deszczowego w okresie od czerwca do sierpnia do 16 dni deszczowych w grudniu. Miasto-pa?stwo ma oko?o 3000 godzin czystej s?onecznej pogody rocznie, od ponad 160 h (?rednio 5,2 godziny dziennie, oko?o 5 razy wi?cej ni? w Polsce) w grudniu do ponad 377 h (?rednio 12,2 godziny czystego s?o?ca na dob?, 1/3 wi?cej ni? w Polsce) w lipcu. Na Malcie wyst?puje oko?o 300 dni s?onecznych rocznie. Malta jest jednym z niewielu miejsc w Europie, gdzie zielono jest przez ca?y rok.

Pocz?tki cywilizacji na Malcie si?gaj? a? 5200 lat p.n.e., gdy trafili tu z Sycylii pierwsi osadnicy. Oko?o 3500 lat p.n.e. w miejscowo?ci ?gantija na wyspie Gozo zosta?a wzniesiona ?wi?tynia. Podobne budowle powsta?y pó?niej tak?e w innych miejscach, zarówno na Gozo, jak i na Malcie.

Malta, która jest dogodnym miejscem do kontrolowania centralnego i wschodniego basenu Morza ?ródziemnego, cz?sto na przestrzeni dziejów przechodzi?a z r?k do r?k. Oko?o 800 p.n.e. za?o?yli tu swoje osiedla Fenicjanie, a 300 lat pó?niej wysp? podbili Kartagi?czycy. W 257 p.n.e. mia? miejsce pierwszy atak Rzymian i w 218 p.n.e. Malta przesz?a pod w?adanie Imperium Rzymskiego.

W 60 n.e. na mieli?nie u brzegów wyspy rozbi? si? statek przewo??cy do Rzymu, jako wi??nia, ?w. Paw?a, który nawróci? Malt? na chrze?cija?stwo. W 395 po podziale Imperium Rzymskiego wyspa znalaz?a si? we w?adaniu Cesarstwa Wschodniego ze stolic? w Konstantynopolu. W 870 zosta?a zdobyta przez Arabów, a w 1090 przez Normanów i przy??czona do ksi?stwa sycylijskiego, a nast?pnie Królestwa Sycylii.

W 1530 cesarz Karol V Habsburg przekaza? wysp? jako lenno wydalonemu z Rodos zakonowi joannitów (Kawalerów Malta?skich) za op?at? roczn? w wysoko?ci jednego soko?a malta?skiego. 18 maja 1565 rozpocz?? si? atak licz?cej oko?o 40 tys. ?o?nierzy armii tureckiej. Obro?com, w sk?ad których wchodzi?o kilkuset rycerzy zakonnych, 2 tys. ?o?nierzy hiszpa?skich i oko?o 6 tys. ludno?ci cywilnej, uda?o si? ten atak ca?kowicie odeprze? prawie cztery miesi?ce pó?niej, 8 wrze?nia (Wielkie Obl??enie Malty). W celu lepszej obrony Wielki Mistrz Jean de la Valette rozpocz?? w 1566 budow? nowego miasta na pó?wyspie Sciberras, nazwanego od jego nazwiska Valletta. Miasto to sta?o si? pó?niej stolic? Malty.

W 1798 zd??aj?ca do Egiptu flota francuska zaatakowa?a i zdoby?a wysp?. Napoleon Bonaparte nakaza? rycerzom zakonu w ci?gu kilku dni opu?ci? Malt?. Po kilku miesi?cach niezadowoleni z rz?dów francuskich mieszka?cy wyspy wzniecili powstanie i wspomagani przez Króla Sycylii i Brytyjczyków w 1800 zmusili wojska francuskie do poddania si?. Malta przesz?a pod protekcj? Wielkiej Brytanii.

Trwaj?cy od 1814 do 1815 kongres wiede?ski ustanowi? Malt? koloni? brytyjsk?. Wyspa sta?a si? brytyjskim ?niezatapialnym lotniskowcem? i baz? okr?tów podwodnych w czasie II wojny ?wiatowej, stwarzaj?c powa?ne zagro?enie dla dostaw zaopatrzenia dla wojsk Osi w Afryce Pó?nocnej. Malta równie? wymaga?a dostaw. Wojska Osi ?oblega?y? wysp?, niszcz?c konwoje z zaopatrzeniem p?yn?ce na Malt?, intensywnie j? bombarduj?c oraz zastawiaj?c minami. Spowodowa?o to czasow? utrat? przez aliantów mo?liwo?ci podejmowania dzia?a? zaczepnych z Malty. Niemcy zrezygnowali jednak z planowanej inwazji koncentruj?c wysi?ki na zdobyciu Egiptu. Po obl??eniu, kiedy przydzia? chleba dla cywilów spad? do nieca?ych 300 gramów, wyspa w 1942 zosta?a odznaczona Krzy?em Jerzego.

W 1947 Malta uzyska?a autonomi? wewn?trzn?, a w 1963 proklamowane zosta?o powstanie Pa?stwa Malta?skiego. Rok pó?niej Malta uzyska?a ca?kowit? niepodleg?o?? jako cz?onek brytyjskiej Wspólnoty Narodów. Podpisany zosta? te? uk?ad obronny z Wielk? Brytani?, który zezwala? na utrzymanie na Malcie brytyjskich baz wojskowych. W 1967 uk?ad ten zosta? zerwany i dopiero po czterech latach uda?o si? wynegocjowa? prowizoryczne porozumienie.

W pierwszych miesi?cach 1971, gdy Wielka Brytania zaprzesta?a p?acenia za utrzymanie baz Royal Navy, rz?d Malty by? finansowany przez Libi?. Okres ten przypad? na okres Dom Mintoffa, którego d?ugoletnie rz?dy jako premiera s? godne uwagi ze wzgl?du na wzrost poziomu ?ycia oraz ustanowienie pa?stwa opieku?czego

13 grudnia 1974 proklamowana zosta?a Republika Malty (Repubblika ta? Malta). W latach 80. dosz?o do znacznej liberalizacji gospodarki kraju. 1 maja 2004 Malta przyst?pi?a do Unii Europejskiej.

Partie te dziel? mi?dzy siebie mandaty w parlamencie nieprzerwanie od 1971. Oprócz nich istniej? te? inne drobne partie m.in.:

W 1993 roku zosta? ustanowiony podzia? administracyjny Malty obejmuj?cy Malt? (wysp?) i Gozo. Powsta?o 68 samorz?dów, 54 na Malcie i 14 na Gozo.

W II po?owie lat 80. XX wieku szybki rozwój gospodarczy kraju, do niedawna silnie zwi?zanego z Wielk? Brytani? (brytyjskie bazy wojskowe, stocznie remontowe, przemys? metalowy). Po 1987 prywatyzacja przedsi?biorstw pa?stwowych, nap?yw kapita?u zagranicznego i rozwój nowoczesnej ga??zi przemys?u. Wzrost produktu krajowego brutto o 1,4% (2005). Przemys? wytwarza 23% PKB, rolnictwo ? 3%, pozosta?? cz??? ? us?ugi 2003. PKB na 1 mieszka?ca w 2005 wynosi? w parytecie si?y nabywczej 18800 dolarów ameryka?skich. G?ówn? ga??zi? gospodarki Malty jest turystyka.

W 2013 roku kraj ten odwiedzi?o 1,6 mln turystów (9,6% wi?cej ni? w roku poprzednim), generuj?c dla niego przychody na poziomie 1,4 mld dolarów.

Nadmorskie kurorty i wi?ksze, piaszczyste pla?e znajduj? si? g?ównie w pó?nocnej cz??ci Malty. Najwi?ksz? pla?? na Malcie jest pla?a nad zatok? Mellieha Bay. S?ynie z piaszczystej pla?y o d?ugo?ci oko?o kilometra oraz z p?ytkich wód. Drug? najwi?ksz? jest pla?a nad zatok? Golden Bay. Na obu tych pla?ach znajduje si? wypo?yczalnia le?aków, parasoli i sprz?tu wodnego a tak?e szereg barów i restauracji. Ratownicy i inni pracownicy Malta Tourism Authority s? obecni na pla?y codziennie w okresie od czerwca do wrze?nia. Innymi popularnymi pla?ami s? Pretty Bay, St. George's Bay w St. Julian's oraz Ramla Bay na wyspie Gozo. Na Malcie znajduje si? równie? kilkana?cie innych wa?niejszych pla?, rozsianych po ca?ym archipelagu. Obecnie osiem pla? na Malcie uzyska?a prawo do u?ywania znaku B??kitnej Flagi.

Blue Grotto (B??kitna Grota) to system podziemnych korytarzy tu? nad tafl? morza. W tym miejscu popularne s? sp?ywy ?odzi?. Azure Window (Lazurowe Okno) to naturalny korytarz u wybrze?y wyspy Gozo, przez który przep?ywa woda morska. Blue Lagoon (B??kitna Laguna) to cie?nina mi?dzy wyspami Comino i Cominotto. Jej krystaliczne wody i odosobniona lokalizacja sprawiaj?, ?e jest jedn? z wa?niejszych atrakcji turystycznych Malty. Blue Hole to morskie jezioro o g??boko?ci 15 metrów i szeroko?ci 10 metrów. Pod wod?, Blue Hole jest po??czony tunelem na otwarte morze. Ghasri Valley to dolina, w ?rodku której znajduje si? ciek wodny. Dingli Cliffs to wysokie klify po?o?one w po?udniowej cz??ci Malty. Chadwick Lakes to tama i zespó? jezior, najwi?kszy zbiornik s?odkiej wody na Malcie. Inland Sea to s?one jezioro, po??czone z morzem przez tunel wodny. St. Peter's Pool to naturalny basen. P?askie ska?y umo?liwiaj? opalanie si?, drabiny umo?liwiaj? dost?p do morza, jest tak?e mo?liwo?? nurkowania.

G?ar Dalam to jaskinia. Wykopaliska z warstwy sprzed ponad 500 000 lat zawiera?y kopalne szcz?tki kar?owatych s?oni, hipopotamów, mikro-ssaków, ptaków i innych gatunków. Warstwa wierzchnia pochodz?ca z mniej ni? 10 000 lat posiada dowody pierwszych ludzi na wyspie. Hypogeum ?al Saflieni to podziemna budowla. Sk?ada si? z trzech poziomów. Jeden z poziomów powsta? oko?o 4000 roku p.n.e, a kompleks by? u?ywany na przestrzeni wielu wieków, a? do ok. 2500 roku p.n.e. Cz??? pomieszcze? umieszczono w naturalnych grotach, które zosta?y pó?niej powi?kszone przez cz?owieka. Jest wpisana na list? ?wiatowego dziedzictwa UNESCO.

Na Malcie znajduje si? zespó? kilkunastu megalitycznych ?wi?ty?. Zacz?to je budowa? oko?o 3000 r. p.n.e. S? one najstarszymi stoj?cymi budowlami w Europie i jednymi z najstarszych na ?wiecie. Siedem ?wi?ty? jest wpisana na list? ?wiatowego dziedzictwa UNESCO.

Na Malcie znajduje si? wiele grobowców z czasów budowniczych megalitycznych ?wi?ty?. Nale?? do nich m.in: Bingemma Tombs, G?ar il-Midfna, Ker?em Tombs, G?ar ta' G?ejzu, Ta' ?en? Gallery Grave, Wied tax-Xlendi Tomb, Xag?ra Stone Circle i Xemxija Tombs. Znajduj? si? tu równie? dolmeny w tego okresu, np. Ta? Cenc Dolmen, Wied Filep Dolmen, Wied Znuber Dolmen.

Ras il-Wardija to ?wi?tynia punicka z czasów panowania Kartaginy, z okresu 500-218 r. p.n.e. Obiekt sk?ada si? prostok?tnej komory, korytarza zewn?trznego, zbiornika wodnego i o?tarzu.

St. Paul?s Catacombs, Tal-Mintna Catacombs, St. Agatha's Catacombs, Salina Catacombs i Abbatija Tad-Dejr to katakumby z czasów rzymskich. Domvs Romana to muzeum zbudowane wokó? ruin arystokratycznej rezydencji rzymskiej. W samym budynku s? wystawione mozaiki i artefakty z okresu rzymskiego zebrane z ca?ej Malty.

San Pawl Milqi to ruiny willi rzymskiej. ?ejtun Roman villa, Ras ir-Ra?eb i G?ajn Tuffie?a Roman Baths to pozosta?o?ci ruin rzymskich.

Na Malcie istnieje 359 ko?cio?ów, 313 na g?ównej wyspie i 46 na wyspie Gozo. Cz??? obiektów sakralnych ma status zabytku. W centrum ka?dej miejscowo?ci znajduje si? ko?ció? parafialny, cz?sto w tej samej miejscowo?ci istniej? równie? mniejsze ko?cio?y oraz kaplice. Wi?kszo?? ko?cio?ów zosta?a budowana od 1500 roku do XX wieku. Dominuj?cym stylem architektonicznym jest barok. Zdarzaj? si? ko?cio?y innych stylów architektonicznych jak np. neo-klasycyzm (np. Prokatedra ?w. Paw?a w Valletcie), neo-romantyzm (np. Ta' Pinu), renesans (np. Konkatedra ?wi?tego Jana, Nadur Parish Church, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellie?a), neogotyk (np. Robert Samut Hall, Church of the Holy Trinity, Sliema), architektura ?redniowiecza (np. St Mary's Chapel, Bir Miftu?), architektura bizanty?ska (np. Church of Our Lady of Damascus) i inne.

Na Malcie znajduje si? dwadzie?cia kilka historycznych umocnionych wie? obserwacyjnych. Do g?ównych grup nale?? Wie?e Wignacourt zbudowane w latach 1610-1649, Wie?e Lascarisa zbudowane w latach 1637-1650 oraz Wie?e de Redina zbudowane w latach 1658-1659. Wi?kszo?? istniej?cych ma status zabytku. Innymi wie?ami s?: Isopu Tower z 1667 roku, Mamo Tower z 1657 roku oraz wie?o-reduta Vendôme Tower z 1715 roku .

W XVI wieku na Malcie zbudowano pi?tna?cie zajazdów. Siedem z nich powsta?o w Birgu, osiem natomiast w Vallettcie. By?y to miejsca zamieszkania rycerzy Zakonu Malta?skiego z ró?nych cz??ci Europy. Do dzisiejszych czasów zachowa?o si? dziesi?? budynków. Wi?kszo?? z nich ma status zabytku. W Vallettcie zachowa?y si?: Zajazd Kastylijski, Zajazd Prowansalski, Zajazd W?oski, Zajazd Arago?ski oraz Zajazd Bawarski. W Birgu zachowa?y si?: Zajazd Angielski, Zajazd Arago?ski, Zajazd Francuski, Zajazd Kastylijski oraz Zajazd Owernii i Prowansalski.

Na Malcie znajduje si? kilkana?cie pa?aców. Jednym z najpopularniejszych jest Pa?ac Wielkiego Mistrza zbudowany w 1571 roku. Mie?ci si? tu urz?d prezydenta i Izby Reprezentantów. Pa?ac San Anton to pa?ac zbudowany w latach 1600?1636 jako letnia rezydencja Wielkiego Mistrza Zakonu Malta?skiego. Obecnie jest oficjaln? rezydencj? prezydenta Malty. Pa?ac otoczony jest du?ym ogrodem. Verdala Palace zosta? zbudowany w 1586 roku. Jest oficjaln? letni? rezydencj? prezydenta Malty. Casa Rocca Piccola to pa?ac zbudowany w XVI wieku. Zawiera ponad 50 pokoi, z których wi?kszo?? jest otwarta do zwiedzania. Mo?na zwiedza? tak?e sypialni? z baldachimem, prywatn? kaplic? i sie? podziemnych korytarzy oraz tuneli wyci?tych w skale. Innymi pa?acami s?: Inquisitor's Palace, Selmun Palace, Girgenti Palace, Palazzo Nobile, Palazzo Parisio (Valetta), Palazzo Parisio (Naxxar), Palazzo Promontorio, Castello dei Baroni, Castello Zamittello, Villa Bologna, Villa Francia, Villa Rosa, Casa Bernard.

Na Malcie znajduje si? oko?o dwadzie?cia fortów. Wi?kszo?? fortów powsta?a na podstawie wielok?ta (tzw. polygonal fort), kilka powsta?o na podstawie gwiazdy. Jednym z pierwszych zbudowanych fortów by? Fort Saint Elmo, którego budowa rozpocz??a si? w 1551 roku. Bra? udzia? w obronie podczas Wielkiego Obl??enia Malty w 1565 roku. Z czasem powstawa?y nowe budowle. Do 1795 roku forty by?y budowane przez Zakon Malta?ski, w latach 1852-1938 budowa?a je Wielka Brytania. Cz??? fortów by?a cz??ci? linii fortyfikacji np. Victoria Lines. Oprócz fortów znajduje si? tu równie? kilka nadsza?ców np. Saint James Cavalier czy Saint John's Cavalier. Oprócz fortów i nadsza?ców powsta?y tu równie? szereg redut, do których nale?? m.in. Saint George Redoubt i Ximenes Redoubt.

Na Malcie znajduje si? kilkana?cie wiatraków, z czego dwa: Xarolla Windmill z 1724 roku oraz Ta' Kola Windmill z 1787 roku s? w dobrym stanie i s? dost?pne dla zwiedzaj?cych. Akwedukt Wignacourta to akwedukt zbudowany w latach 1610?1614 w celu zapewnienia ci?g?ego dop?ywu ?wie?ej wody pitnej do Valletty. Jego wi?ksza cz??? z ca?kowitej d?ugo?ci ponad 15 kilometrów, jest po?o?ona pod powierzchni? gruntu, oparta jest na ci?gu niewielkich kamiennych ?uków. Porte des Bombes to ?uk triumfalny z 1721 roku. Triton Fountain to jedna z g?ównych fontann na Malcie.

Na Malcie znajduje si? kilka parków atrakcji. Mediterraneo Marine Park to morski park rozrywki. Jedn? z cz??ci parku jest delfinarium. W parku zamieszkuj? delfiny, lwy morskie, papugi, w??e, jaszczurki, ?aby, paj?ki, skorpiony, ?ó?wie. Codziennie pokazywane s? pokazy delfinów, lwów morskich i papug. Jest mo?liwo?? wykupienia interaktywnych opcji programów, w których jest mo?liwo?? dotykania zwierz?t, jak równie? p?ywania z delfinami.

Splash & Fun Water Park to aquapark, w którego sk?ad wchodz? baseny, zje?d?alnie i inne atrakcje wodne. LWS Animal Park to ma?y ogród zoologiczny, w którym jest ponad 20 ró?nych gatunków zwierz?t, takich jak emu, jelenie, lamy, króliki, kozy górskie i inne. Niektóre ze zwierz?t s? utrzymywane w ich naturalnym otoczeniu. Malta National Aquarium to akwarium publiczne o powierzchni ??cznej 20 000 m². Sk?ada si? z 26 zbiorników. BOV Adventure Park to wi?kszy plac zabaw dla dzieci, z ró?nymi urz?dzeniami. Sant'Antnin Family Park to park rodzinny obejmuj?cy miejsca piknikowe, place zabaw dla dzieci, si?owni? na wolnym powietrzu, ?cianki do wspinaczki ska?kowej, dwa labirynty i amfiteatr. Popeye Village to wioska turystyczna która zosta?a zbudowana na potrzeby filmu Popeye z 1980 roku. Niektóre z domów zosta?y wyposa?one w ró?ne przedmioty zwi?zane z filmem, w tym rekwizyty wykorzystywane w produkcji filmu. Dla turystów organizowane s? ró?ne pokazy oraz rejsy statkiem po zatoce. Na ulicach miasteczka mo?na spotka? przechadzaj?ce si? postacie z filmu, z którymi mo?na porozmawia? i zrobi? sobie zdj?cie.

Malta ma dwa wi?ksze porty morskie: Wielki Port oraz Malta Freeport, które prze?adowa?y w 2010 roku 6 milionów ton towarów. Wielki Port jest g?ównym portem pasa?erskim Malty i drugim pod wzgl?dem wielko?ci malta?skim portem handlowym. Wcina si? na oko?o 3,6 km w g??b l?du. W 2009 roku obs?u?y? 300 tysi?cy pasa?erów, z powodu kryzysu 20% mniej ni? w 2008 roku. Malta Freeport jest dziewi?tym najwi?kszym portem morskim w Europie oraz trzecim nad Morzem ?ródziemnym pod wzgl?dem prze?adunku kontenerów. W 2013 roku prze?adowano w nim 2,75 miliona kontenerów typu TEU oraz obs?u?ono blisko 2000 statków. Jest to tak?e najwi?kszy port rybacki na Malcie i jest baz? dla 70% malta?skiej floty rybackiej. Pomi?dzy Malt? a oddalon? o oko?o 90 km w?osk? Sycyli? istnieje przeprawa promowa. Jest ona te? najlepsz? metod? dostania si? na Malt? samochodem. G?ównym przewo?nikiem promowych jest Virtu Ferries, który oferuje kursy na trasie Wielki Port ? Pozzallo (czas podró?y 1 godzina 45 minut).

Malta jest obs?ugiwana przez mi?dzynarodowy port lotniczy Malta, który w 2014 roku obs?u?y? 4,3 mln pasa?erów. Malta?ski port lotniczy ma bezpo?rednie po??czenia z kilkoma portami lotniczymi w Polsce: lotniskiem w Krakowie i Wroc?awiu poprzez linie lotnicze Ryanair a tak?e z lotniskiem w Warszawie i Gda?sku poprzez lini? lotnicz? Wizz Air. Lot z Polski trwa nieco ponad 2,5 godziny. Ponadto znajduj? si? tutaj dwa heliporty: Heliport Xewkija i bardzo ma?y Heliport Comino.

Na Malcie obowi?zuje ruch lewostronny. Maksymalna pr?dko?? w terenie zabudowanym wynosi 50 km/h, a poza nim ? 80 km/h. Do jazdy samochodem na Malcie wymagane jest wa?ne prawo jazdy. Posiadacze wa?nych praw jazdy wydanych w innym pa?stwie cz?onkowskim Unii Europejskiej, mog? prowadzi? samochody na Malcie, bez konieczno?ci uzyskiwania dodatkowych zezwole?.

Publiczny transport zbiorowy obs?ugiwany jest za pomoc? autobusów. W 2011 sie? zosta?a przej?ta przez mi?dzynarodow? firm? Arriva. Obecnie system komunikacji autobusowej to 265 nowoczesnych autobusów, a liczba przystanków na Malcie wynosi 970, z czego 850 znajduje si? na wyspie Malta, natomiast 120 na wyspie Gozo. Istnieje w sumie 80 ró?nych tras. Jedna lub dwie cyfry w oznaczeniu trasy oznaczaj? autobus z/do Valletty. Ekspresowe trasy s? oznaczone znakiem "X". Wszystkie autobusy s? klimatyzowane, niskopod?ogowe, s? wyposa?one w system g?osowy oraz elektroniczne tablice informacyjne wy?wietlaj?ce kolejne przystanki.

Na Malcie funkcjonuj? równie? autobusy turystyczne (ang. tour bus), które obwo?? pasa?erów po wszystkich najwa?niejszych atrakcjach pa?stwa-miasta. Dwaj przewo?nicy turystyczni to: MaltaSightSeeing i CitySightseeing Malta. W autobusach dost?pny jest wieloj?zyczny system audio przewodnika, w autobusach MaltaSightSeeing dost?pny równie? w j?zyku polskim.

Malta?skie instytucje edukacyjne ? pa?stwowe, prywatne i religijne ? zapewniaj? szeroki system nauczania. Zaj?cia przedszkolne odbywaj? si? s? od 3 roku ?ycia. Nauka jest obowi?zkowa w wieku od 5 do 16 lat. Po zako?czeniu obowi?zkowego cyklu szkolnego, uczniowie s? zach?cani do wyboru oko?o 50 ró?nych kursów zawodowych i akademickich w sektorach policealnych. Uczniowie ci poza tym, ?e pobieraj? bezp?atn? nauk?, otrzymuj? równie? stypendia finansowe w czasie swojej nauki. Edukacja na Malcie jest oparta na modelu brytyjskim. Szko?a podstawowa trwa sze?? lat, od 5 do 11 roku ?ycia. W wieku 11 lat uczniowie zdaj? egzamin, aby dosta? si? do szko?y ?redniej. Po uko?czeniu szko?y ?redniej w wieku 16 lat uczniowie przyst?puj? do egzaminów maturalnych. Uczniowie mog? kontynuowa? nauk? w college?u.

Pocz?wszy od 2008 roku, s? dwie szko?y mi?dzynarodowe: Verdala International School i QSI Malta. Pa?stwo p?aci cz??? wynagrodzenia nauczycieli w szko?ach ko?cielnych.

Na Malcie znajduj? si? cztery uczelnie: Uniwersytet Malta?ski oraz Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), European Institute of Education i Institute of Tourism Malta.

J?zyki malta?ski i angielski s? j?zykami urz?dowymi na Malcie i s? wykorzystywane do nauczania uczniów na poziomie szko?y podstawowej i ?redniej, oba j?zyki s? równie? przedmiotami obowi?zkowymi. Szko?y publiczne maj? tendencj? do stosowania zarówno malta?skiego i angielskiego w sposób zrównowa?ony, natomiast szko?y prywatne wol? u?ywa? w nauczaniu j?zyka angielskiego. J?zyk angielski jest j?zykiem z wyboru na Uniwersytecie Malta?skim oraz w niektórych ?rodowiskach, takich jak banki, biura rachunkowe, us?ugi medyczne i firmy informatyczne. Oko?o 98% Malta?czyków potrafi si? komunikowa? w j?zyku angielskim. Oko?o 14% Malta?czyków twierdzi, ?e u?ywa j?zyka angielskiego w rodzinie i 29% w pracy. Wed?ug bada? Narodowego Urz?du Statystycznego Malty wynika, ?e 86,23% Malta?czyków ?woli? rozmawia? w j?zyku malta?skim, 11,76% w j?zyku angielskim, natomiast 1,84% w j?zyku w?oskim. Na poziomie kultury i zwyczajów kulturowych, Malta?czycy dziel? si? na dwie kategorie: tych, którzy popieraj? wi?ksze wykorzystanie malta?skiego, i ci, którzy popieraj? wi?ksze wykorzystanie j?zyka angielskiego. W badaniu w 2001 roku, 43,2% badanych stwierdzi?o, ?e zazwyczaj czyta w j?zyku angielskim, 48% stwierdzi?o, ?e ogl?da telewizj? i kino w j?zyku angielskim. W?ród j?zyków obcych, 51% studentów wybra?o nauk? j?zyka w?oskiego, 38% wybra?o j?zyk francuski.

Wed?ug Eurostatu, strefa miejska Valletta (ang. Urban Zone) obejmuje ca?? wysp?. Zgodnie z Demographia, wi?kszo?? mieszka?ców Malty mieszka obszarze miejskim Valletty. Zgodnie z Europejsk? Sieci? Obserwacji i Planowania Przestrzennego, Malta jest identyfikowana jako funkcjonalny zespó? miejski (ang. Functional Urban Area). Zgodnie z danymi ONZ, oko?o 95% ludno?ci Malty mieszka w obszarze miejskim. Ponadto na podstawie wyników bada? ESPON i Komisji Unii Europejskiej, ca?e terytorium Malty stanowi jeden obszar miejski.

Od czasu do czasu w mediach, publikacjach i dokumentach urz?dowych na Malcie, jak równie? w innych instytucjach, Malta jest okre?lana jako pa?stwo-miasto (ang. city state). Malta, z powierzchni? 316 km² i liczb? ludno?ci na poziomie 0,45 miliona, jest jednym z najg??ciej zaludnionych krajów na ca?ym ?wiecie.

Malta?ski system opieki zdrowotnej jest finansowany z podatków oraz ubezpiecze? spo?ecznych i obejmuje wi?kszo?? us?ug medycznych w zak?adach opieki zdrowotnej (centra medyczne, kliniki) i szpitalach publicznych. Obywatele Unii Europejskiej mog? korzysta? z bezp?atnej opieki zdrowotnej, ale tylko po okazaniu Europejskiej Karty Ubezpieczenia Zdrowotnego, wraz z dokumentem to?samo?ci.

Centra medyczne ?wiadcz? podstawowe us?ugi medyczne. Us?ugi medyczne - oprócz lekarza ogólnego obejmuj? równie? us?ugi specjalistyczne. Na Malcie funkcjonuje dziewi?? centrów medycznych, osiem na wyspie Malta i jedno na wyspie Gozo. Na Malcie funkcjonuj? dwa publiczne szpitale ogólne: Mater Dei Hospital w Msida na wyspie Malta oraz Gozo General Hospital w Rabat (Victoria) na wyspie Gozo. Dzia?aj? tu tak?e publiczne szpitale specjalistyczne oraz szpitale prywatne. Apteki na Malcie funkcjonuj? w ka?dej miejscowo?ci. Wi?kszo?? aptek oprócz dostarczania leków, oferuje równie? dodatkowo p?atn? us?ug? lekarza.

Oko?o 97% Malta?czyków to Chrze?cijanie. Katolicy stanowi? 95,8% populacji. Praktykuje oko?o 52,6% wiernych (od 36 do 88%). Pozosta?e grupy wyznaniowe to inne od?amy chrze?cija?stwa jak np. protestantyzm ? 1,1% (w tym Ko?ció? Baptystyczny) i ?wiadkowie Jehowy (0,16%) oraz mniejsze grupy imigrantów wyznaj?ce islam (0,2%) i inne religie (<0,1%). Na Malcie istnieje bardzo niewielka spo?eczno?? ?ydowska (<0,1%). Oko?o 2,5% ludno?ci nie wyznaje ?adnej religii.

Metropolia malta?ska to metropolia obrz?dku ?aci?skiego obejmuj?ca swoim zasi?giem Malt?. Podzielona jest na archidiecezj? malta?sk? i diecezj? Gozo. Na Malcie istnieje 359 ko?cio?ów i 78 parafii, z czego 63 znajduj? si? na g?ównej wyspie i 15 na wyspie Gozo.

Biblia podaje, ?e u wybrze?y Malty rozbi? si? statek, którym p?yn?? ?w. Pawe?. W czasie trzymiesi?cznego pobytu na tej wyspie aposto? uzdrowi? ojca Publiusza i wielu innych chorych.

#Obie #El #Rhazi

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