Is the glass half full or half empty? As hackneyed as this question may seem, it’s about as close as to summarizing the dilemmas of spirituality as can be done in the space of a sentence. Who are we? What is our place in existence? How are we connected to it? What is existence? These questions are not as much a matter of knowledge as they are a matter of perspective, and taking them on is abstract and difficult. Of course the most important part of this challenge is undertaking it in the first place, and for those who are game, Lissa Coffey’s “What’s Your Dharma?” is an accessible and bold attempt to bring this metaphysical quest within reach of a layman.

Before addressing the issue of what one’s dharma is, most people have to ask what dharma is in the first place. Dharma is purpose in the highest sense, as opposed to the literal or physical sense. While you could say a hammer’s purpose is to pulverize nails, you would never be so crude when describing its dharma. A hammer’s Dharma is to help build things, and in turn to support peoples’ happiness and security. Coffey’s book strives towards the lofty ambition of helping its readers discover their dharma, and therefore discover a new and empowering perspective on their lives and place in the world.

It is divided into four sections, these sections being descriptions of the paths of Love, Work, Knowledge and Meditation. These paths are the methods by which people find their dharma, however it is not as easy deciding to love, work, learn or meditate. Using these concepts to discover dharma involves accepting perspectives on life and the world. For instance the path of love demands more than just affection for friends and family, but an understanding of why one should adore all persons and things. What’s Your Dharma is aimed at helping people understand why beliefs like these are not only correct, but an incredible benefit to the believer.

The greatest strength of Coffey’s book is the ability to help readers through the abstract thinking required to apply its ideas to the everyday world. This is done through a wonderful use quotation, anecdote, and analogy. For example, Coffey contrasts a human being from a peacock, explaining that while peacocks can display their virtue with one superficial flourish, human beings have to express their worth through pursuit of the four paths. The comparison between a person’s worth and the plume of a peacock implies the intricacy, beauty, and implicit nature of the value within human beings. What’s Your Dharma is littered with similarly articulate comparisons, many of which bring abstract concepts to life in wonderful ways, contributing to the book similarly to a series of well-designed illustrations.

Another strength of What’s Your Dharma is its use of popular culture. Figures like Steve Jobs and Ellen Degeneres are held up as archetypes of people committed to dharma and specific paths. At first these comparisons can seem slightly clumsy due to the contrast of things as pure as the paths and things as marginalized human beings. However once the readers have cleared their heads of undertones related to iPods and American Idol, such comparisons are incredibly valuable to the book. The use of these figures highlights characteristics and behaviors, and is very effective at contextualizing the book’s abstract concepts within our everyday lives. Coffey removes spiritual enlightened from the context of ancient history or outright fantasy, places it in today’s world, and associates it with figures that, though exceptional, are very accessible to the readers’ imaginations. These comparisons show that the pursuit of dharma is not only important for its own sake, but also essential to the pursuit of success in a more superficial sense.

Initiating a spiritual awakening in someone is among the more difficult tasks a person can undertake, particularly if it has to be achieved in a stranger through nothing but the written word. This undertaking needs a very concrete first step, and What’s Your Dharma achieves this foundation. Coffey’s book cuts deeply into difficult metaphysical concepts, brings them to life for the reader and even allows them to imagine the tangible benefits that these concepts offer. Its too much to ask of a book to deliver a readers’ dharma to them, but What’s Your Dharma can certainly set them on the right path, and grant the readers a new perspective on the vibrant beauty of the world they live in.

Fitness is obviously very important to overall health, organ function, energy levels, susceptibility to disease and injury, and host of other factors contributing to a happy life. Buts let’s face it, the best part of about being fit is looking fit; being able to look in the mirror, flex a muscle and feel smugly satisfied that you will look attractive to anyone lucky enough to lay eyes on you. After all, low cholesterol never got anyone a date did it? With this in mind, it pays to stay in touch with some workout routines focused on being superficially healthy.

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Your best friend in the whole wide world is getting hitched soon and you want to do something ridiculous and absolutely unforgettable on his/her last single night, but sadly the chaos of life and wedding planning is getting in the way of a perfect party opp.  So now what?

….Don’t sweat it!  We have compiled the twenty best party planners on the web to do all the work for you! These party pros are corky but they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty and their expertise will guarantee a fun filled evening that the bride or groom will be talking about for years to come.  Hey, maybe they’ll even tell their kids about it? ….Then again, maybe not!

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Nothing complicates a person’s life like having children, and nothing is as complex as relationships. This makes any mention of children and dating in the same sentence seem overwhelming. But luckily what may seem at first like one gigantic problem is actually just a bunch of little problems, and they are well worth tackling for the sake of a fulfilling relationship. So abandon your skepticism, solve some problems, and turn children from a problem to an opportunity in your dating life.

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When most people think of blindness, they conjure thoughts of confusion, helplessness, awkwardness, and anxiety. So with all these unpleasant associations, it’s little wonder that the thought of a blind date is enough to send people running for the hills. But most people’s best connection to new love affairs is their mutual relationships, so it’s time to learn how to capitalize on the most feared genre of dating, or at least enjoy some of the bizarre situations produced by it.

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Relationships are full of milestones. First kisses, dates, anniversaries, becoming Facebook official, etc. A lot of these are pleasant and amount to an impromptu holiday, however others amount to speculation, anxiety, and difficult questions about the meaning and purpose of a couple’s future. One of the difficult milestones is the question of whether or not to share a home with your partner. Is it a giant leap towards marriage, or a meaningless act of financial and logistic convenience? Whichever it turns out to be, it always pays to do your homework.

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The world of first impressions is littered with opportunities and pitfalls. Based on a few superficial behaviors, you can come off as anywhere from future celebrity to potential serial killer. Whether this is a good thing or not, in the world of dating it’s important to turn this impulse to your advantage. With this opportunity in mind, here is a panel of beauty experts whom we prompted with the question:

“What are your top three beauty tips to impress someone on a first date?”

OnlineDatingSites.net’s Beauty Expert Panel:

• Lauren Clark
• Rachel G. Halsey
• Su Han
• Bridgette Raes
• Karen Byrd

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Nothing can make someone more vulnerable than being in a relationship, and there is no better way to enflame that vulnerability than a difficult breakup. They leave people questioning their personality, values, decisions, and worthiness of a lover’s affection. Luckily once breakup victims gain a little perspective, it becomes abundantly clear that breakups happen to everyone, and that they are anything but an indictment of a person’s worthiness of love. Sense this perspective can be a little tricky to obtain, here are some Internet resources for getting past a break up and back to business.

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The reason that most diets fail is the same reason that most relationships fail; the participants aren’t compatible. There is a diverse world of diets out there, and the one that works for your neighbor is no more likely to work for you than marrying his wife is likely to lead to a healthy relationship. Work habits, overall discipline, dietary proclivities and pre-existing health conditions are all factors that vary from person to person and can sink or float a diet on their own merits. With that in mind, it is essential that people do their homework before embarking on a diet, and luckily for them, the Internet can be a pretty able teacher.

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What’s the worst part about trying to pick up woman? Conversation? No. Drinking? No. Being rejected? Probably not. For most people the worst part about attempting to pick up women is the anxiety preceding the actual attempt. This fear is so significant that it reduces many men to the ridiculous position of going out for an evening to meet women, and never even approaching any at all. This curse is known as approach anxiety, and it must be vanquished in order to have any hope at a healthy dating and romantic life.

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