Pioneering implant to get dog back on all fours. Procedure to fuse leg to bone holds promise for human artificial limbs. Three-legged dog back on all fours Aug. 1: Cassidy the dog is back on all fours thanks to the work of scientists at the North Carolina State University Veterinary School who pioneered a way to implant an artificial limb. RALEIGH, N.C. -
For the first time, scientists have implanted a prosthesis that will allow them to directly fuse an artificial leg into a dog’s bone, a procedure that could foster a breakthrough in designing next-generation artificial limbs for humans.
In the four-hour operation Thursday at the North Carolina State University Veterinary School, Denis Marcellin-Little, an associate professor of veterinary orthopedics, fused a titanium implant onto what was left of the leg bone of Cassidy, a 5-year-old German shepherd mix who lost his right hind leg several years ago.
When Cassidy is discharged and goes home Friday to Long Island, N.Y., his leg won’t look much different, except for the visible tip of the implant.
When Cassidy returns in the fall, the prosthetic leg should be ready to try. Ola Harrysson, an N.C. State engineering professor who developed the hardware, said he and his team were still working on computer models for the design.
“Right now, we are designing a prosthetic leg for Cassidy that will have sensors in it to measure the force," Harrysson said.
“That way, we can fine tune the strength.†‘I was saving a life when I took him’ For Cassidy, the future holds the likelihood that he will be able to run normally again.
Steve Posovsky adopted the dog after he saw him on the pet segment of a morning television show.
Cassidy was “unadoptable†because he had only three legs, Posovsky said, but he felt their relationship was meant to be. WNCN-TV
The titanium implant was fitted over the remaining bone in Cassidy’s lower leg. Doctors say it will take about three months for the bone to fuse with the implant.
“What his future was at that place was unknown,†he said. “I just knew deep down that I was saving a life when I took him.†Posovsky began investigating what could be done for Cassidy almost immediately. In October 2005, he and his wife, Susan, took the dog to N.C. State’s vet school. Marcellin-Little first tried two conventional prosthetics, but Cassidy wouldn’t wear them. He then suggested the new procedure, called osseointegration, which he had been working on Harrison and other engineers at the university’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Marcellin-Little had previously tested it successfully on two cats, George Bailey and Mr. Fonz, but Cassidy’s surgery was the first time it had been attempted on a large animal.
Conventional prosthetic limbs use sleeves that are placed over the stump of a limb and secured on the outside.
In the procedure Thursday on Cassidy, a prosthesis was anchored into the bone, much as an artificial tooth is anchored into the jaw so it remains stable and locked in place.
“We let the bone rest and merge with the implant for the three-month period or so it takes for that implant to be firmly anchored,â€Â
Marcellin-Little said. Promise for more normal human limbs The result is a custom-designed prosthesis that behaves like a natural limb, a technique with significant promise for human prosthetics.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said that more than 1.3 million injured veterans need prosthetics every year and that the demand is rising as more service members come home from Iraq and Afghanistan missing limbs.
With new prosthetic technologies a priority of VA research, “the implications for this procedure are huge,†Marcellin-Little said. “As we gain more experience with the surgical technique and the design of the limbs, we see the possible benefits for humans  implants that allow the prosthetic limbs to attach without chafing or irritation, and limbs with more natural ranges of motion,†he said.
“We believe that this is the future of prosthetics.†Harrysson said the hope was that it could be used on humans “on a regular basis. ... We see this process becoming even faster and more cost-effective in the future.†Eventually, he said, a person could “be able to receive a CT scan from a hospital and probably, within days, turn this around.â€Â
Tags: Pioneering Implant To Get Dog Back On All Fours
The temblor measured 5.4 and was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego.
MSNBC staff and news service reports
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LOS ANGELES - A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.
The 11:42 a.m. quake initially was estimated at 5.8 but was revised downward to magnitude-5.4, said seismologist Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena. She told NBC affiliate KNBC of Los Angeles that the agency’s computers recorded 27 aftershocks by 12:40 p.m. Hutton said the strongest aftershock was magnitude-3.6.
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The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, and the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake was about 8 miles below the earth's surface.
"It will certainly cause cracked plaster and broken windows, but probably not structural damage," Hutton said.
No immediate reports of injuries, damage The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake in that area. That quake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
The Governor's Office of Emergency Services had received no damage or injury reports, said spokesman Kelly Huston in Sacramento. She urged people throughout Southern California to cut back on telephone usage, saying a flood of calls after the quake had jammed up phone lines.
"The big message now is don't use telephones or cell phones in Southern California," Huston said. "The systems down there are maxed out, and that creates a really dangerous situation when it comes to people who need to call 911 for an emergency."
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in Los Angeles. San Bernardino and San Diego counties also had no immediate reports of damage.
Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.
As strongly as it was felt, the quake was far less powerful than the magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake, which badly damaged the region on Jan. 17, 1994. That quake was the last damaging temblor in Southern California. It killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage in the metropolitan area.
More aftershocks expected Jeff Ranieri, a meteorologist with NBC Weather Plus, said the quake occurred along the Whittier and Chino fault lines, not the highly unstable San Andreas Fault.
The shallow nature of the quake helped to disperse the impact, spreading it over an area of about 100 miles. He said aftershocks up to magnitude 4.0 could be expected.
No electrical outages were reported in Los Angeles due to the quake, said Department of Water and Power spokeswoman Kim Hughes.
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending a conference on gangs at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."
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Pat Abbott, a geology professor at San Diego State University, said the area had been overdue for a sizable quake.
"We’re very lucky," Abbott told NBC affiliate KNSD of San Diego. A quake with a magnitude 7.0 has been expected in the region for some time, he said.
Joanne Hedge of Glendale Rancho, a suburb of Los Angeles, described "a giant thud which sounded like a sonic boom ... followed by 20 seconds of rapid, noisy shaking."
"This old house just rode it through as it has since 1939,†Hedge told KNBC.
'Our building shook pretty good' Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
Joseph Maddalena, who runs the historical documents and memorabilia dealer Profiles in History, was on the phone in his office in Calabasas, near Malibu, when the earthquake struck. He quickly put down the phone and ran to check on his 14-year-old son who had come to work with him as he prepared for a Thursday auction of 1,100 pieces of Hollywood movie memorabilia.
"Our building shook pretty good," he said after discovering his son and his employees were unharmed and the building was fine.
"The window in my office kind of bowed out but it's all right now. Everything is fine," he said.
The damage created by an earthquake depends greatly on where it hits. A 7.1 quake  much stronger than Northridge  hit the Mojave Desert in 1999 but caused only a few injuries and no deaths.
California is one of the world's most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.
Alex Johnson of msnbc.com and NBC affiliates KNSD of San Diego and KNBC of Los Angeles contributed to this report from The Associated Press.
Magnitude 5.8 Date-Time Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 18:42:15 UTC Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42:15 AM at epicenter Location 33.959°N, 117.752°W Depth 12.3 km (7.6 miles) Region GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA Distances 3 km (2 miles) SW (235°) from Chino Hills, CA 8 km (5 miles) SE (127°) from Diamond Bar, CA 9 km (5 miles) NNE (23°) from Yorba Linda, CA 11 km (7 miles) S (178°) from Pomona, CA 47 km (29 miles) ESE (103°) from Los Angeles Civic Center, CA Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.3 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 1.3 km (0.8 miles) Parameters Nph=144, Dmin=8 km, Rmss=0.42 sec, Gp= 18°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=E
TO ANY OF OUR FRIENDS OR FAMILY WHO MAY LIVE IN THE AREA KNOW YOUR IN OUR THOUOGHTS AND PRAYERS WHEN NEW DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE I WILL POST THEM IN AN NEW BLOG**
There is a change, a "shift" under way, that is affecting every aspect of our third-dimensional reality. This shift is so far-reaching that our limited imagination cannot begin to grasp the transition and change we are now in the midst of experiencing. This shift is affecting every aspect of life on the planet: political, social and economic structures, the environment, every institutional system, the wars, how we view our relationships, our work, every thought we think and every feeling we feel...
It is altering time, our memory, our DNA, the wiring of our physical and emotional bodies, our beliefs, our perceptions of good and bad, right and wrong and especially our awareness of what is possible...
The shift is composed of huge waves of light that hold massive amounts of information and instructions. These waves are rewiring our DNA, providing new electromagnetic frequencies to upgrade the body's physical, emotional and mental systems. These waves of Light are activating the fourth- and fifth-dimensional chakras, aligning us with a higher awareness...
This shift is providing new understandings of how to once again live in harmony with each other, the environment and All That Is. However, between this new "Heaven on Earth" and where we currently exist, there is transition...
The Transition
This transition, as exciting and wonderful as it is, is creating difficulties for many. These difficulties are occurring as this pace quickens, but we continue to hold our third-dimensional beliefs and way of life as truths. We continue to argue for the right and wrongs, judge others for their actions or fix them because "we know better." These actions belong to the third dimension and they must be released. As long as we continue to hold these limitations, we will experience the affects of this shift within our physical and emotional bodies...
These affects are becoming known as "Ascension Symptoms" -- dizziness, confusion, loss of focus, headaches, fatigue and increased tiredness, digestion discomfort, anxiety and nervousness. You are experiencing time going faster. There is more on our plate and less time to complete it. We are losing aspects of our memories (no, it's not Alzheimer's). Things that were once very important are no longer as important. And most of us are feeling a heightened sense of distraction, coupled with an emotional sense that something is just not right. As we argue for our limitations and hold on to the old beliefs that no longer support us, we create a resistance or blockage within our four-body system, creating these discomforts...
The third-dimensional reality, as we have known it, is shifting. It is becoming far more grand, aligned and balanced, moving into a higher consciousness. Humanity is waking up, and as it does, the old structures that have supported duality, maintained separation and have controlled the masses with fear are crumbling...
As this new light finds its way into every corner of darkness on the planet, those who live within the darkness are beginning to recoil, react and become very noisy. They will scream the loudest to maintain the status quo. They are creating distraction, wars, economic failures and many other distractions to prevent this shift from occurring. They will, for a short time become very loud, generating much fear in their attempt to avoid this shift. They have already failed -- and they will be very noisy...
As this new light flows within each of us, we are now receiving new information, opportunities and choices that were not available to us in the past. These choices are now allowing each of us to step out of the fear, distraction and separation...
By grounding, realigning your energy fields, stabilizing your attention point and focus, you will make the bodies safe during the noise...
Grounding
Grounding is something almost everyone has thought about or considered. But grounding is not a thought; it is an action, a tool to dissipate noisy thoughts, anxiety and undesirable emotions that run through our bodies...
Please close your eyes. In your imagination, create an image of a beam of light, a line of energy, a tree trunk, a pipe or a chain. Then connect one end to the lowest tip of your spine, the first chakra. Feel the connection. Make this real. Then drop the other end of the line to the center of the earth -- the center of the earth is not very far away. See the line of energy grow roots and strongly connect to the center of the earth. With your mind, reach down and tug on both ends and feel the connection. Now, expand the line to about 8 inches in diameter and give it the command to activate and become magnetic. Take a breath and notice a relaxation...
Thoughts are electrical; emotions are magnetic. The command to activate allows the grounding line, a natural part of your body's operating system, to release thoughts and emotions that do not belong to you, but constantly affect you. These thoughts and emotions flow through the unprotected energy field, stimulating emotions, creating reaction and discomfort. Interestingly, the majority of thoughts you think belong to the world surrounding you actually have very little to do with you at all. But once they are in your space, they create a distraction, distort your attention and direct your life. Grounding minimizes this noise...
The Octahedron
Surrounding you are a number of energy fields, one of which you know as the aura or etheric body. The aura gathers, retains and files every thought, word and action that occurs within, through and around you. In other words, it holds a lot of information, much of which has very little to do with you. This energy field also is an antenna. It attracts frequencies of thought...
If you can manage the antenna, you can manage what the antenna attracts. Constructing this antenna around you creates a powerful energy field that aligns with the information of the shift and your own internal guidance system. In sacred geometry, there are five forms known as platonic solids that hold unique characteristics. One is the octahedron. It is one four-sided pyramid pointing up with a second four-sided pyramid connected at the base and pointing down...
Find a point about two feet out in front of you and, with your mind, place a dot there. Then place another dot two feet directly behind you and two more dots, two feet to the left and right of you. Place a dot about two feet above you head and another below you feet. Six dots...
This is experiential, not a mental exercise. Feel each of the dots and see them with your imagination. Now, from the point above your head draw four lines connecting to the four dots surrounding you. Then connect each of those four dots creating a four-sided pyramid. See it. Feel it around you. Next, from the point below your feet, draw four lines connecting up to the four dots surrounding you...
This will create as sense of containment. This containment is not a wall or a defense system; it is a safe vessel that allows you to move around without becoming affected by the noise. It also is an antenna, which aligns with the light and infinite intelligence being transmitted during this shift. The octahedron creates an alignment with all that you are and simply filters out that which you are not...
Experience and play with these two tools... As simple as they are, they will alter your conscious reality and allow you to enjoy the flow of the shift!
It is the unconscious aspiration of every human being to eventually reach the highest possible vibration. At the moment, Earth’s peak of energy is the crystalline aura - anything above that would be unable to attach to our minds and therefore would have no connection to our physical bodies. But even crystals have their ups and downs and few of them have fully reached their uppermost energy level...
People are their purest at birth - everything after that is downhill in most cases! All babies are born with a higher-vibrational aura… not all of them start out at the highest level though, because different psychological and physical environmental changes they experience while in the womb affect their energy. Unborn children experience numerous shifts as their own highly sensitive vibration is connected deeply with their mother’s - any changes she feels emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually will immediately influence the baby. After a child is born their environment determines their vibrational level. The years between zero and five are the most active for shifts in energy though some kids will jump around even until seven years old. After seven the aura becomes stuck at one level with only up as a possibly direction...
Some children, indigos especially, are strong and do not allow their environment to change them too much during these receptive years. They usually stay about the same colour by using automatic shields to disconnect them from the world. These include not speaking or communicating, going into trances, developing ADD/ADHD, or merely showing signs of psychic gifts that allow them to remember the higher vibrations...
However, this doesn’t entirely work. What we didn’t think of was the need to communicate with our parents, teachers, and other adult guides. They do not have the awareness to understand our telepathy or everseeing (the ability to look into the eyes of another person and see their true meaning) so the only way to interact is to start speaking or paying attention. We forget to look inside and speak with our minds and our real meanings are lost on clumsy verbal languages. Many memories that were clear seconds after birth become dreamlike and impossible to recall. The first to disappear from remembrance is often that of our mission here on Earth, those that follow are usually the ideas connected to it and it’s importance. These indigos will grow up unconsciously seeking their purposes... Generally, we all follow the same pattern:
1) Searching for Truth - After the age of ten (though some begin earlier or later than usual), indigos begin to search for their truths. Through intuition-driven research, we begin to develop what they see as beliefs. Most indigos do not even realise what they are doing - we naturally ask “why†when something puzzles us! This is the time when we use our finely tuned lie-detector to decide what is true, what is half-true (for example; myths, legends, and stereotypes), and what is a deliberate lie. The lies and half-truths are tossed away or filed somewhere for further scrutiny...
2) Gathering Knowledge - When we find something that feels true - a sensation that rises from deep within us - we find out about it. Usually this is through asking questions or, if the resources are available, learning about it through the internet, books, and television. When indigos get to this stage they begin to question themselves and their choices on religion, eating habits, sleep patterns, etc...
3) Shifting - Questioning leads to dramatic changes. Indigos at this point are trying things out and trying to find something manmade that will suit them. This is where the starseed and otherkin theories came from; indigo children, teenagers, and adults looking to explain their presence on Earth. We also change our religious attitudes significantly, jumping from faith to faith is beneficial in forming an opinion about our own tendencies...
4) Awakening - The outcome of all this outside searching is a spontaneous moment of insight. That moment is the exact instant of awakening, when we finally discover that we cannot shape our beliefs to suit the moulds of society - something is always out of place or missing. Usually we stop looking for answers (at least for ourselves) in outside sources and turn inward to find our truth because it was never really lost in the first place - we just buried deep within to keep it safe...
5) Remembering - This step is like the top of the hill; once you reach it the rest of way is much easier to complete. Knowledge begins to come back to us as small bursts of wisdom (indigos usually experience this throughout their lives because they act like magnets, in a way) and slowly we develop an all-inclusive memory again...
6) Becoming - When you begin to remember your mission it is only natural to return to your state of full awareness. Sometimes this can time because emotions like fear, hate, and embarrassment may hinder your progress. As you become your true self you will see that you no longer have need for unhealthy things in life whether they be emotional, physical, mental or spiritual...
7) Being - The final step, the ultimate goal - when you succeed at reaching this point you know that you are capable of anything and everything. Fear no longer takes an effect and embarrassment is replaced by courage and logic. Hate will seem useless because your knowledge will tell you how to fix something unhealthy. Your body will finally be able to request wholesome food intake and sleeping patterns and receive them without emotional or mental issues blocking the way...
Hello Everyone.... Hope your week was wonderful and all is well. I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone here on Boomer Place, to come and visit my new Group. The Home and Garden Place.
It was only created last evening so there is much to be done, yet with the help of others I am sure we can make it a place to go and meet new Freinds, and get together with old ones.
The Topics include a large variety of different subjects. Ranging from your Flower & Veggie Gardens to so much more that even when the winds of Winter once again begin to blow. There will still be Discussions to keep us busy and having fun.
So again if anyone is interested and have time please feel free to stop in to visit.
Unfortuantely, I've yet to have time to make the direct link, for the group, but it can be easily found by searching under New Groups.
We are 95 per cent water before we are born and 70 per cent by the time we are adults, the affects on water means affects on us. The Earth is also 70 per cent water and so the same applies..
Research From Dr. Masaru Emoto, says that human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen and images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water..
Since 1999 Emoto has published several volumes of a work titled Messages from Water, which contains photographs of water crystals next to essays and "words of intent"..
The Path leads from ignorance & darkness to Knowledge & Light. It is older than recorded history. Indeed, it is older than any of the Ancient Mystery Schools.
In the teachings of several of these schools, I have read that originally, all souls in this universe were Enlightened and lived upon 7 Spiritual Planets that orbited a Central Spiritual Sun. Then a Gate was opened, and the energy known as negation was allowed to enter this Universe from the Primorial Chaos (from which the Cosmic Consciousness, God if you will, originally sprang). Since the Cosmic Consciousness being wholly composed of Light could not directly deal with this Darkness, it was the job of all of us Enlightened souls to transmute it into Light.
What happened is that only those Enlightened souls who were living on the Spiritual Sun, were able to maintain their Enlightenment. These are the ones who we now call Avatars. The rest of us absorbed into ourselves, the negation of Chaos, and lost our original Enlightenment to varying degrees. The teachings concerning the Fall of Man are all based upon this. The Path was created to help the souls who had been overcome by darkness to regain their original Illumination. Those who regained it, are refered to as Masters, Adepts, or Bodhisatvas.
Now this all happened a long time ago, perhaps 15-20 billion years ago, so perhaps it's all just an allegory. On the other hand, allegories usually contain the deepest Truths concealed within them, so it is worth considering. When I first came across this legendary material, it all made sense to me. Order & Harmony were Good, and Chaos & Darkness were evil. It's a simple package, and easy to believe. Just one thing though. There are qualities in Chaos that are very good. Spontaneity is inherent in Nature, and every successful adaptation to circumstances has spontaneity within it. AND, while Order is good, it should be apparent that regimentation can "murder the soul".
We live in a Universe where not everything that is dark is evil, and not everything that is light is good. We have to figure that stuff out for ourselves. Finding the Balance seems to be the Key. An ignorant person cannot understand Knowledge, because if they did, then they would not be ignorant. An un-enlightened person cannot understand Enlightenment, because if they did, they would be Enlightened. So we have this thing called The Path that leads to Illumination, and as we walk along it, we know where we have been, and we know where we are, but where it all goes, we can only guess. All we can have is the Faith that we can figure things out. It's kind of scary to be going somewhere, and not know where it is, and what you will find along the way. This should make you humble. However, there is no greater courage than that of facing the Unknown.
A further part of this legend, is that at the end of time, this universe will collapse into a phenomenally huge gravitational black hole. This isn't supposed to happen for another 45-60 billion years, so there is no need for alarm. At that time, all of the souls who have regained their original Enlightenment, will move forward along with this Cosmic Consciousness, and create a new universe on a higher level with a different set of Cosmic Laws, based upon what was learned in this Cosmic Cycle. That certainly does put a different spin on the fable of the Judgement Day, and the New heaven, & the New Earth, doesn't it?
The climb may not be as steep, as we suppose. BUT, I am certain that each of us will attain it, in a different way. And I see it as quite possible that everyone in this advanced class may achieve it within this incarnation.
In Buddhism there is the story of a thief who came to Lord Buddha to ask him how many lifetimes he would have to go through before he attained Enlightenment. Buddha told him 100 lifetimes. The thief was so happy about this that he jumped for joy. Then a Brahman came to Lord Buddha with the same question. He was quite a pious man, giving much of his riches to Temples, etc. Buddha told him he would need 10 more lifetimes, and the man went away very sad because it would take so long. In some versions of the story, it is also said that when the thief jumped for joy over the prospect of attaining Illumination in merely 100 more incarnations, that he landed on his feet, having already gotten there. And the Brahman who walked away sad, because he had been told it would take 10 more lifetimes for him, put a block in his mind & lengthened the time for him to 1000 more incarnations...
Jesus spoke of this in one of his parables. A farmer needed to get a harvest in by the end of the day, so he went into town & hired workers for one Talent apiece. By mid-morning he saw that he needed more workers, so he went back into town and got some more help for one Talent apiece. At noon he realized that this wasn't enough, so he got even more for one Talent apiece, and he did the same thing again late in the afternoon. That evening the harvest had all been brought in, so he paid each of the workers with one Talent apiece. Some of the morning workers asked why the late afternoon workers were being paid the same wage as they were. The farmer said that he was paying a very fair wage in the first place, and that he would not have gotten the harvest in on time, had he done anything differently.
As a little boy I noticed that the wage being paid was one Talent. I figure that I probably understood what the parable was about, better than the Sunday School teacher did. It's also nice to know that people who attained Illumination 10,000 or 100,000 or one million or even one billion years ago, will not actually hold it against us, for getting it all together so late in the game...
Borrowing some notes from Hinduism, it is said that there are four great roads to the Truth : Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Gnani Yoga, and Karma Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is the Path of the Heart. It emphasizes Love, Compassion, and the cultivation of Spiritual Virtues. It is characterized by Devotion to a Diety, like the Goddess or the Virgin Mary.
Raja Yoga is the Occult way. It is all about meditation, and opening the Chakras through Esoteric disciplines & Rituals.
Gnani Yoga is the Way of the Mind. This involves the cultivation of Knowledge & Logic. It is said to be the quickest, but the hardest Way to follow.
Karma Yoga is the Way of Service. In Karma Yoga one devotes oneself to projects that better the material conditions of people, and all other creatures that live on Earth & the environment.
There is also a fifth Way. This is known as the Four-fold Path, or the Way of the Cross. The Cross has been used to symbolize this Path for thousands & thousands of years on all of the continents of the Earth. Each of the Four Great Roads represents one of the arms of the Cross. Thus one spends equal amounts of time doing Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Gnani Yoga, and Karma Yoga. This represents the most balanced form of development, since it incorporates each of the others, and they all work together synergisticly.
