The Art of Manifestation

The Art of Manifestation

By John Gaydon

There are times in life when we wish to create something. Perhaps it is a new relationship, car, house, or a special holiday. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a formula which works. A systematic way to create in life that which we desire. This is not only possible, but I have used this formula many times and it works really well. Take the manifestation of our current place of residence.

Eleven years ago, Linda and I were married. We had a wonderful wedding at Sublime Point Lookout in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia. There was torrential rain all day and the just before sunset the sun burst forth creating a powerful energy. There were spirits at work that day, and everything went like clockwork. The staff at our reception place commented that they had never seen an event run so smoothly. Everything was provided, including a cottage with a Hot Tub for our wedding night.

This was a high point in our lives. We were feeling energized and able to accomplish anything. We went to Thailand for a Honeymoon and an absolutely fabulous time trekking through the jungle and relaxing on fabulous beaches. Many miracles had occurred to supply the finances for these events including halving of the air fare the week we were to book tickets!

With all our finances invested in the honeymoon and reception, I awoke the Tuesday after our return, sat bolt upright in our bed and announced, “It is time we purchased a house!” I was certain the time was right! It was a strong intuitive feeling. Linda and I at that stage had been renting. We were guided to each property we lived in. It is amazing when you follow your intuition, how you are led to exactly what you are looking for! It is a matter of following the formula you are about to have explained. Anyway, why spoil a good story with facts.

It was really great to have a thought about a house. Once we were clear we had to have a plan. So we visited a display home centre where they advertised new homes for $1,000 deposit. I had that much credit left on my card. All things are possible, even though prospects looked bleak.

We were told to forget about it. “You can’t do anything until you have saved at least $10,000”, was the agent’s reply. Anyone who knows me understands that the word no is meaningless. It is just someone’s opinion. You see, there are no limits to what can happen in life. I expect miracles every day – and they happen. A house was a bit of a stretch. It is a BIG miracle. We decided that this was not the right place and kept asking everyone we met if they knew of any houses for sale.

Eventually we arrived at Kariong on the NSW Central Coast. I had never heard the name. I didn’t know where it was. I cannot remember how I even found out about it. Perhaps Spirit spoke to me or I received the information through a synchronicity (co-incidence to non believers).

We arrived at the Real Estate office and were told there were two homes available. We went to visit the sites and sat on the concrete slabs of each home. When we sat in our current lounge room we both received messages. It felt like our place! So we told the agent we would take it. We knew for certain that this was to be our new home and we were not concerned with details such as how to pay for it.

We were told to find $13,000 in 12 weeks including over Christmas and the bank would lend us the rest. That seemed like a fair deal. It was a huge stretch for us in terms of finances. I have never saved that sort of money in my life. We knew the house was for us, so we went to work. Miracle after miracle happened and we made it with a week to spare. As if to test us, half way through the agent suggested someone else wanted our house and we could have more time to get another one in a less advantaged position. We told her that it was our house or nothing. We had decided.

There are many similar occasions where we have manifested what we wanted. This includes cars, holidays, and household items. It is a fun process, and if you follow the formula, it works. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1. Inspiration.
Every idea begins with an intuitive hunch. We know we need certain things at certain times in our lives. There is an inner voice which tells us. We encounter omens or coincidences which point to it. Conversations trigger ideas through synchronicity. There are times when you know you want something.

Step 2. Visualize.
Be clear on what it is you wish to create in your life. The more specific, the better. We teach making lists as a way to clarify what you want. When I was single, I used to make lists of qualities I wanted in a partner and usually someone would turn up in two weeks! I did this 5 or 6 times until I got the list right. The world is a reflection of our mind. We attract into our lives a reflection of the thoughts we project. If you really want anything, you can have it. Creating a crystal clear vision is an important step.
Detail is vitally important in this. Collect pictures, draw a plan or diagram, write a list of exactly what you want. Take some time. Don’t compromise, remember, you get what you ask for! Visualization is about solidifying ideas into a solid and concrete physical object. Once you write enough details and focus on them daily, the vision will come. You start to see images of what you desire. As you scan magazines and books, real estate catalogues and display home villages, you start to see your new home. What does the vista look like? What amenities do you want nearby? Do you want to be close to transport? Would you like a bustling inner city apartment or a country retreat?

Step 3. Action.
Don’t neglect the visualization process. By spending time getting clear on what you desire, you will recognize it when it turns up! That will provide you with certainty that you have found what you are looking for and give you the courage to complete the plan to manifestation. Next brainstorm what you can do towards manifesting your goal. In our case we visited display homes, found out about finance, researched different areas. We asked everyone we knew if they were aware of properties for sale. We didn’t think about failure, or not being able to afford it. We concentrated our efforts to produce results. For a few weeks we followed our hunches. Many of these leads amounted to nothing.

Step 4. Pull back.
After you have done your homework visualized what you want and taken necessary action, the next step is to withdraw. Be crystal clear on your outcome; daily visualize what you desire, but release the need to have it. When we project neediness, we block manifestation. When we don’t care, miracles happen. Be confident. Release any negative thoughts. Affirm that what you desire is on the way with everyone you meet. Brush off any thoughts or comments that you can’t achieve what you wish. When we were saving for our house, we would sit in the car before we visited the agent and repeat “We do not need this house” until we really felt it didn’t matter whether we got it or not. This cleared us to negotiate without need. Be rock solid in your belief in the face of a void. Spirit is testing you to see if you really intend to manifest your desire.

Step 5. Be patient.
By now you have put in place all that is necessary to make your dreams come true. Completely let go and it is a matter of time. I often write a series of goals at the beginning of the year. It is amazing how many of these happen, even though I forget about them. At the end of the year, I get out my list and find most have occurred. Once you send out the necessary crystal clear vision, and get out of the way, it will happen. We live in an infinite universe of absolute abundance. It is only our limiting beliefs which restrict our experience.

Step 6. Ask.
Once you find what you are looking for, ask what you have to do to get it. It may require money, help from a friend, education or other resources. Make a plan which is realistic and do what you have to. You see, when I decide in my mind to achieve a goal, it is a done deal. It is not a question of if, but how. You may have to sell something to release finances. You may have to borrow money. You may have to move. Perhaps you need to visit another country to get what you want. Perhaps you need to get educated, attend a seminar, and join an organization. Whatever it is you need to do, carry it out. Once you have it in your sights, make it happen. 100% commitment leads to results.

Step 7. Celebrate.
Anchor in your belief in your own power to manifest by celebrating your success. The more you do this, the easier it becomes to find exactly what you want in life. Have a glass of champagne. Go out for dinner. Splash out. It is important to honor your victories. Again, this step is often overlooked.
We have used these simple steps to create abundance in our lives. This is a lot of fun. Whenever life gets serious, stop and look at the flowers. Go to the movies, visit the countryside, do whatever it takes to shift your mood. Angels tread lightly. You are an angel. Lighten up, have fun with life, and watch your desires come to pass with ever increasing rapidity. Make it so!

To your success.

Firefox too slow to load? Consumes too much memory? How to reduce FF3 load time and memory consumption

Here are some great tweaks that I found on the internet to dramatically reduce FF3 load time and control that nagging sudden 'revving' of firefox, when out of nowhere it starts hogging RAM.

Here's the terrible situation that I was in, before implementing these tweaks:
1. A disappointed former fan of Firefox - I was promised heaven, but could never see it unfold beyond a point.
2. Would avoid using firefox and use opera instead, wherever possible. The slow load time and frequent hanging of FF3 were frustrating!
3. Would only use firefox when I absolutely needed to - like on bank websites (I'm paranoid about security), or google sites (Opera is by far the best browser I've experienced, but is an 'unsupported browser' on google), to access my blog (I love Scribefire), or to read the news once a day (I love Live Bookmarks).

Honestly, all the browser juggling was getting a little frustrating. So I launched on a web search to find out what I could do about bringing the Fox back under the leash. And after a little searching, here are a few great config tweaks I found, which greatly brought down the load time as well as eliminated FF3's frequent 'revving' problem.

The sources are also mentioned above the quoted portions.

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Taken from -
http://www.davidtan.org/tips-reduce-firefox-memory-cache-usage/

Sometimes I just feel that Firefox is such a memory hog. Once I start to open up a few extra tabs, it starts to slow down my whole system. Fortunately, you can do something about it. Here are simple tips and tricks to reduce firefox memory and cache consumption.

Tip 1: Reduce session history

browser.sessionhistory.max_entries determines the maximum number of pages in the browser’s session history, i.e. the
maximum number of URLs you can traverse purely through the Back/Forward buttons. The Default value is 50. We usually won’t surf more than 5 of the websites we previously surfed before, and there is really no need to store more than that in the session which can clog up memory as they grow.
1. Open Firefox
2. Type about:config in the Firefox address bar
3. Press CTRL-F and search for browser.sessionhistory.max_entries
4. Double click on the value 50 (or whatever value is there currently) and change it to something lower such as 5.
5. Restart Firefox.

For Firefox 1.5 and above, you can also look at another configuration variable browser. sessionhistory. max_total_viewers

which also determines the maximum number of content viewers to cache for “bfcache” (fast back/forward navigation). Default value is -1 (calculate based on available memory).

Set it to 0 so that no pages will be stored in memory.
set it to a number such as 5 to store only 5 pages in memory.
more info here

Tip 2: Reduce memory usage when minimize

1. Start up Firefox
2. Type in about:config in the address bar and hit Enter
3. Right click and choose New > Boolean
4. Type config.trim_on_minimize in the pop-up box and hit Enter
5. Select True and hit Enter.
6. Restart Firefox

Tip 3: Fixed cache capacity OR Disable Cache Totally

Every time new page is loaded, Firefox will cache the page so it doesn’t need to load again to be redisplayed. By default, this setting is set to -1 for browser.cache.memory.capacity and to a number you specified in Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network / Cache for browser.cache.disk.capacity

To fix your cache to a certain value:

*browser.cache.memory.enable and browser.cache.disk.enable needs to be True for this to work

1. Start up Firefox
2. Type about:config in the address bar and hit Enter
3. Search for browser.cache.memory.capacity and set a number in KB to use for the memory cache (ie. 1024KB = 1MB).
4. Search for browser.cache.disk.capacity and set a number in KB to use for the disk cache (ie. 1024KB = 1MB).

To Disable the cache Totally

Set both browser.cache.memory.capacity and browser.cache.disk.capacity to 0.
Alternatively, you can also set browser.cache.disk.enable and browser.cache.memory.enable to False.

Tip 4: Use less extension and themes

This is really a no brainer. Uninstall all firefox extensions and themes that you don’t use as they can cause Firefox to use more RAM. If you think that you might still need the extension in future but not using it currently, at least there’s an option to Disable it. Use only extensions that you usually use to cut down memory usage.

Always upgrade your extensions and themes to the latest version as they may fix the some problems leading to memory leaks. Firefox makes this quit easy as it now does the checking for you, all you need is to do is tick some checkboxes and your plugins and themes wil be updated.

Tip 5: Check Firefox Memory Usage

Type about:cache?device=memory in the address bar and hit Enter. Firefox will display your current number of entries, maximum storage size, storage in use and inactive storage.

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Taken from-
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/15-coolest-firefox-tricks-ever.html

13) Limit RAM usage. If Firefox takes up too much

memory on your computer, you can limit the amount of RAM it is allowed to us. Again, go to about:config, filter “browser.cache” and select “browser.cache.disk.capacity”. It’s set to 50000, but you can lower it, depending on how much memory you have. Try 15000 if you have between 512MB and 1GB ram.

14) Reduce RAM usage further for when Firefox is minimized.

This setting will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, taking up much less memory. And there is no noticeable difference in speed when you restore Firefox, so it’s definitely worth a go. Again, go to about:config, right-click anywhere and select New-> Boolean. Name it “config.trim_on_minimize” and set it to TRUE. You have to restart Firefox for these settings to take effect.

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Another tip - this one from me:

Stop using the Bookmarks Toolbar! If you are an avid RSS fan and have more than 6-7 feeds on your Bookmarks Toolbar, FF3 seems to consume 30-40 KB of RAM each time it updates the feeds.

Instead, I use an FF plug-in called 'Brief', which is an RSS reader that seamlessly integrates with Firefox. Once you have Brief installed, go to 'Bookmarks -> Organise Bookmarks' and create a new folder under your bookmarks menu. Give it any name you want. Then move all your live bookmark feeds into this new folder. You can then go to the settings option of Brief, and select this new folder as the source for its RSS feeds. And that's it. Thereafter, clicking on the Brief button brings up a separate, elegant tab on which your RSS feeds can be read in a variety of ways. And importantly, you can set Brief to update your RSS feeds according to a frequency that does not disturb your other work. I've set mine to update feeds once every 4 hours.

There you have it. After implementing these tweaks, my FF3 is ready for action on start inside 150 seconds, and has not hung since.

Happy browsing!

Google deleted my blog, email, photos, orkut profile - and my entire identity on the net!

On the 7th of September 2008, a personal disaster happened. My Google Account of four years was deleted. No reasons. No explanations. Just - gone.

I had logged in from the office to check my calendar in the morning. When I logged in again in the evening, there seemed to be a problem with the password.

After half-an-hour of increasing desperation, the screen showed a horrible message: my email ID of four years, kaustavcs@gmail.com, my orkut account, blog, calendar, igoogle page and all contents thereof had been oblivion'ed.

I dutifully logged into google's support website and lodged a complaint. It's been five days, and I am yet to hear a peep from them. Of course, you can't expect much from a 'beta' service that's really 'free'. It's entirely my fault that I did not have backups of my contacts and blog entries ... and my fault again, that I expected google to respond - or be atleast concerned that their systems could possibly have some major flaw.

No doubt a couple of you who read this will wonder what I'm cribbing about. After all, as stated by a reader in the blog of another unfortunate soul who went through the same thing I did - a few accounts that go missing in a million don't really matter. Unless, of course, its your account that got deleted.

I doubt if I'm going to get my old gmail ID back again - or my old Orkut profile, or my old blog. The addresses all seem to be still blocked.

But google (if you are listening): you've just lost a faithful evangelist.

Hubris at school: how can arrogant schools teach our children humility?

Its August!And for a parent with school-age children in India, this is when the trauma begins.

I have a five-year old studying in UKG at the Kensri School, Hebbal. My wife and I aren't very happy with the school's poor infrastructure and limited receptiveness to feedback, and are looking for a good school in North Bangalore for the next academic year.

Our requirements in a school are fairly basic:
- within 8 kms radius of Malleswaram
- good infrastructure
- good teachers
- parent-friendly school management
- reasonable fees
- preferably CBSE syllabus (though we aren't too rigid on this parameter)

And we've been unable to find one school that fits even these basic requirements!

I visited a school called National Academy For Learning (NAFL) today. The experience was insulting, to say the least.

My objective of visiting this school today was two-fold: to find out where exactly the school is located (that would save us a lot of time during our next formal visit), and to get a brochure of the school if possible. What follows below is a narration of my first moments of truth with the
school as a parent.

To start with, I tried to reach the school for over three days on phone and through email. My emails and phone calls both went unanswered - which is actually reflective of my experience with other schools in Bangalore too. Our schools in general don't seem to have an attitude of customer-friendliness.

So today my wife and I set out with our kids, to actually see this place for ourselves.

On the way I tried the school number again and this time there was a response - a somewhat authoritarian voice said in a hurry, that today was the sports day, and that it was "really not a good day for you to come, as there will be nobody to speak to you". She refused to give me her name, and only said - "this is the administrator here."

We finally located the school after nearly an hour of driving around (no website, no directions or road map online). My wife and kids stayed in the car while I walked into the school, which was surrounded by a high-walled compound and no clear identification boards outside.

Walking in, I identified the nearest human being - the person sitting by the gate - and asked him where the office is. His response: "What do you want?"

I told him that I needed the school's brochure. He looked around and called in another employee. This guy walked up and rather pompously asked me the same question - what did I want? I repeated my intentions. His answer? "We don't give brochures out just like that."

So what did I have to do to get a brochure, I asked him. "Come in October when everyone else comes, and take the brochure," he curtly replied. I asked him whom I should meet when I came back. The Principal, the gentleman condescended to reply. And he promptly interrupted our discussion to turn around, and ask a passing student how she was doing. I patiently waited for him to grace me with his attention again. He turned his back to me for a few minutes, apparently
looking out over the grounds and waiting for me to go away. Suddenly he seemed to notice that I was still standing there. So he turned around and asked - quite curtly - "Yes?"

"And the principal's name is?" said I. His reply was not only rude and discourteous, but quite surprising: "I can't tell you the name of the principal."

I asked him why not. He said that the principal has asked him not to reveal the name to anyone.

I left the building in a daze, feeling rather insulted. What possible reason could there be for a school to treat a parent like this? This school charges parents Rs. 95,000/- a year according to the administrator I spoke with this morning, which quite a large sum by any standards in India. And here I am, ready to shell out this kind of money, all because I want my child to get a good education. And what I get for my efforts, is a display of pure arrogance.

Having visited so many schools here, this kind of behaviour is the norm rather than the exception. Getting a child into a school in India is quite difficult. Once the child gets in, she is expected to spend the rest of her schooling life in the same school. That means that in reputed schools, there are hardly any vacancies in each class, and every vacancy is hard-fought for, with no transparency in the process of selecting a child to fill in a vacancy.

But what's really appalling, is a very fundamental issue. How would an institution that operates from a platform of arrogance, be able to instil values like kindness, humility, acceptance and understanding in its children?

I've decided that NAFL is not the right school for my child. After all, if they can't train their own employees to be helpful to their customers, how can we expect them to pass on those values to our children?

Edit - December 4, 2008

Well, its time to add to this post. My wife and I did manage to finally meet with the Principal of the school. The lady was extremely gracious and patient with all our queries, and spent close to half an hour with us. And the office had an 'open door' - which perhaps indicated her approach to her work.

My very pleasant meeting with the Principal has changed my stand on not admitting my daughter to this school. But the bitter taste of the first experience with the school is something not easily forgotten.

How do you go about buying property in Bangalore?

{This post is aimed at Newbies in the field of property purchasing in Bangalore. I'm documenting this, so that others don't have to re-invent the wheel. This post will be continuously updated, as necessary.}

First question is whether you want the plot in Bangalore North, South, East or West. Obviously there is no correct or wrong answer for this question - it depends on where you're currently living, because the site will need weekly-monthly visits to watch out for encroachments, and looking after (removing grass, weeds, garbage etc.) once you purchase it. Also, at the budget of Rs. 1000/- per sft, lot of property is available inside a 18-25 km radius from Vidhana Soudha, so you have quite a lot of choice.

Next, check out with your bank on loan eligibility amount (if this is a constraint). This is a major limitation on many people's purchasing ability.

Next, you need to decide which reputed developer to go with in the area you have selected. There is plenty of property available at great locations, but owned by greedy-unscrupulous developers. Moreover at first glance everyone appears honest and transparent. You need to be very careful to only invest money after thoroughly checking the developer's antecedents through friends. You can search for negative feedback on on-line forums, though. You need to keep in mind that your relationship with the developer is only beginning when you buy the site. He will need to maintain your layout and site, and provide the promised civic amenities such as park, club house, swimming pool, compound wall, tarred roads (of promised width) etc. which could easily take 2 years or more from the date you purchase, as all that will only be done when people start building houses in that layout and an association of residents is formed.

Also, dealing with developers directly usually means the demand for part-payment in black money (hard cash, no receipt). One possible way out is to only buy re-sale sites from people who have already bought it from a developer. Some of them would be willing to settle for an all-white deal, which is necessary if you want maximum bank loan.

An interesting phenomenon you may come across, is that resale plots are often available for lesser price than the developer's quoted rate. This is because these people would have bought the property during launch period when the rates were lower, or through negotiation.

Third, please read up as much as possible on the following terms: Gramthana site, revenue site, DC conversion, AC conversion, Gram Panchayath, BMRDA, BIAPPA, BBMP, BDA approval and differences between them, BDA NOC (two types), Survey Number (of the land you have identified), Plan Sanction, Registration, Khata, Tax Paid Certificate, Encumbrance Certificate, Betterment Charges, BBMP Master Plan 2015 (specifically Green Belt, Green Zone, Yellow Zone, Blue Zone etc. and clauses related to land zoning), BDA Acquisition notification, BMRDA acquisition notification, SEZ notification, de-notification (many more terms could be added to this list). Unless you know the true meaning and limitations of these terms very well, you are liable to be cheated by unscrupulous elements in the market. You could check out various blogs, forums, official government websites for this info, or better still, contact your family lawyer.

Next, shortlist a few properties from reputed developers based on the 3 L's of real estate: Location, Location, Location! Some broad parameters of shortlisting could be Bangalore N.E.W.S, plot is East Facing, North Facing, South or West Facing (not preferred by many buyers), nearby development, possibility of development in next 2-4 years, the other investors in the project (these could be your neighbours in the future).

Next, study the market and identify the relative merits-demerits of the various properties you have shortlisted. Some parameters are ease-availability of local transport, hospital, temple, good schools, drinking water supply and drainage from BWSSB, Water table depth (so you don't have to drill a very deep bore well), groceries, lifestyle locations, nature of neighbourhood (posh, upper middle class, middle class, lower), slums nearby, near railway track, too close to religious institution, parks, approach road condition, etc. Please make sure that apart from searching the net, you speak to dependable locals in the area for this information.

Then do final shortlisting.

Then take your mom,dad,wife,husband and show them the 3-5 properties you have finally shortlisted, and answer their numerous questions about the property. Please don't be surprised if they consider many points which had been earlier ignored, at this stage. Get them to rank the properties in order of their preference.

Based on all this, rank the property in your order of preference.

Then bargain with developers in order of preference, on money, check-cash split (black-white), payment duration, etc.

Then get the documents from the developer and have them legally verified by your lawyer - not developers or bank lawyer.

Then take a few days of peaceful meditation on the decision, till you are satisfied that you have done everything possible from your end.

Finally settle the financials, register the plot, build compound wall, and sit on your nest egg.

Other experts, please feel free to modify, add, delete to above if required

Will Real Estate go up or down? A contrarian, positive outlook on the market conditions...

We've been hearing mainly bad news about how Real Estate prices are going to crash and the going will get tougher. Reproduced below is a post from BDASites, an MSN forum. Is this is a signal of a shift in India's economic fortunes? Is there some light at the end of the tunnel?

These macro factors (which have extremely negative in the previous quarters) have seen positive shifts (coincidentally in the last fortnight, give or take a few days). Whether they will have a bearing or not on market dynamics, depends if they'll sustain and needs to be seen over time.

1. The Nuclear pay-off

The 123 deal isn't just about global security and energy security for India. The word in economic circles is that it is also about financial security for major corporations in the nuclear tech/supplies space (and, in turn for the beleaguered US economy). Markets expect FIIs to react positively to this development going forward.

2. The political pay-off

UPA stays. Left is out, SP is in. The exit of Left leaves UPA with room to initiate long deferred finance/insurance/pension reforms and FDI in retail. Markets clearly see this a positive and it explains the rally post-vote (the biggest in some time).

3. Oil slide

From the peak of $147 per barrel, oil has shed $24 to tumble below $123 a barrel. That'll ease fuel led inflationary pressures. Experts suggest we may be nearing the end of the oil bubble. Oil at $100 a barrel isn't too far-fetched. Even if it stabilizes at these price levels, we could see inflation/interest rates stabilize.

4. Food looks good

We have had record production of food grains - 230 million tons. That'll ease food led inflation and consequently EMIs won't further eat into household budgets.

5. Good IT earnings

Contrary to expectations against the backdrop of a likely US recession, results of IT biggies have been fairly good (though guidance going forward is conservative).

The inclusion to this list (as posted in message 23):

6. House OKs US housing market rescue

After months of deliberation, an unprecedented rescue package has been voted in that could have a positive bearing on the battered housing market

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/congress_housing 

The Ahmedabad Blasts

70 minutes.
17 blasts.
30 dead.
150 injured.
1 billion shocked, disgusted, and angry.
A bunch of crackpots that call themselves 'Indian Mujahideen' and think that placing bombs in public places will make Hindus and Muslims shed their prejudices.

And the 542 - 'Those 542' - continue to play merry-go-round.

The press, the airmchair critics, the intellectual masturbators and the socialites petulantly weep on TV: "When will this country get the leaders it deserves?"

I think it already has.

Buying land in Bangalore - what to keep in mind

What I've learned about buying land in Bangalore:

DC converted and Gram Panchayat Approved are two different things. And BDA NOC is again totally different.

To buy any land, the following steps are necessary:
1. Conversion of land from 'Agricultural' (farmland) status to 'residential'. This has to be done by the farmer himself before you
conclude your deal and get the property registered. Non-farmers are not allowed to purchase agricultural land in Karnataka.
Definition of farmer: (1) You or your family need to possess agricultural land in India already, and must have been continuously owning agricultural land since 1974. (2) Your income from non-agricultural sources for the past 5 years should not have exceeded Rs. 2 lakhs per annum.

2. The plan of the layout on such land needs to be approved by the relevant town planning authority. There are 6-7 such authorities, and you have
to find out which authority has jurisdiction over the survey number of the property that you want to buy. The authorities are Corporation/BCC
(areas in interior Bangalore), BDA (areas inside city limits, except corporation areas), BMRDA (areas upto 40-50 km around the city, except
BDA areas), BIAPPA (areas near airport), Lake Development Authority or LDA (areas close to designated lakes), and respective village
Panchayats (for areas far away from the city - basically those areas where BMRDA jurisdiction has not yet become applicable)
(There is also an authority called DTCP - Department of Town and Country Planning - but I'm not clear what is the jurisdiction of this department.)

3. 'No Objection Certificate' or 'NOC' from BDA. 
BDA gives two types of NOC. The first is, that so far they have not tried to acquire the land with that particular survey number. The second is,
that they do not have any objection to the coming up of a residential layout on that land in future. Both these NOCs are important and
necessary.

4. A few other approvals - I will keep updating this post as I get more information on this.

In brief: DC Converted means the conversion of land from 'agricultural' (i.e. land that can only be used for farming according to the government, and hence assessed for tax accordingly) to 'residential' (a different status, which means that tax assessment will be done differently for this land, and it is no longer used to derive 'revenue' for the state from agriculture. The government authorises the owner to stop cultivating this land and build something on it if he wants). DC stands for District Commissioner, the officer who has the authority to approve such conversions.
DC converted sites are usually eligible for bank loans. Moreover, nowadays DC conversion requires that the layout plan has been approved by a town planning authority, like BDA, BMRDA, BIAPPA etc to ensure that proper space has been allocated for roads, parks and other amenities as per government rules. Without their approval, DC does not give the conversion order. 

Also, nowadays the DC conversion has been put on hold indefinitely due to an order of the last government.

'Gram Panchayath Approved' means that the layout that has been formed on this land, has been approved by the local 'Gram Panchayat' in whose
jurisdiction the land lies.

As mentioned above, DC conversion requires that the layout / building plan (in case of building) has been approved by a proper town planning authority like BMRDA, BDA or BIAPPA. Whether Gram Panchayat has the authority to approve the layout plan, has to be checked with your lawyer. However once BBMP, BMRDA or BIAPPA has jurisdiction over the specific layout, as per my knowledge Gram Panchayat is no longer the competent authority to approve the layout.

One type of BDA NOC is given by the BDA as of a particular date, and states that the BDA has not issued land acquisition notice for that land as of that date. i.e. as of that date, the BDA has not tried to acquire that land. This is just a safety precaution to prevent the seller from
defrauding the buyer by selling him a land at a high price, which the BDA has already issued acquisition notice for at a low price. It does
not guarantee, that the BDA will not acquire that land in the future. The other type of BDA NOC is that they do not object to a residential
layout coming up in that land. This is a safety precaution and makes your case stronger in case of future move by BDA to acquire your land. Any time you buy a non-BDA site, you are running the risk of acquisition by the BDA in future, and there is basically no guarantee. But usually, if
you build a house on that site and start living there, the BDA may on compassionate grounds decide not to acquire your site as and when it
plans a layout in your area. 

Trust this helps atleast some of us 'look before we leap' into the Realty whirlpool.

(Caveat: I am not a legal expert - what is given above is my understanding based on months of searching for a good site in Bangalore. If there are other experts and I have gotten something wrong here, please feel free to correct. I would also keep updating / correcting this page as and when I get more).

The 'Always Successful'

The 'Always Successful' - do such people exist? I mean the ones who, no matter what they touch, are successful at it. What do they think? How do they perceive success, failure, ... Life? What would it be like, to be such a person? I want to find out what it is like to live a life of confidence- a life without fear. 

Fear and Freedom

Most of us make this choice everyday- Fear vs. Freedom

I think these are the two most fundamental choices that we can, and do, make everyday about how our lives turn out. And most of us choose Fear many more times than we choose freedom.

The Fear we choose is called by many names - 'anxiety' about things not under our perceived control, 'tension' about things under our perceived control, 'disappointment', 'denial' and 'rejection' that something important to us didn't go the way we wanted it to, 'jealousy', 'animosity' and 'hatred' that someone else got something that we felt WE deserved more, 'pride' and 'triumph' in someone else's failure rather than our or another's success, and 'indifference' - the bastard child of the incredulous belief that the individual is somehow more important than the community . . . all put together, the classic endless ego trip that most of us accept unquestioningly as 'Life'.

Few choose Freedom- the super-charged mental state that empowers us to go after what we want with total 'presence',and without the mental drain of Fear.

Today, I want to choose Freedom.

Whatever you believe in, will manifest itself- say Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne and Robin Sharma, the Wisdom-Sharers.

So today, I choose Freedom - through Belief, Acceptance and Presence.

And thus I am free to manifest miracles in my life.