Vipassana Meditation (Part -3) - The essence of Vipassana Meditation...

Vipassana focuses more on practice than rituals. So the first day itself starts with focus on breathing just in the nose, and not the whole body or abdomen. Becoming aware of the breath that is taken through the nostrils. This technique of focusing on a small area enhances our attention and accuracy to get in touch with our sensations. First it will be the entire nose, then narrowed it down to the entrance of the nose along with the triangular area above the upper lip. By this time the meditator is supposed to experience different kinds of sensations like cold, hot, itching, pain, numbness etc... around particular small area in depth.
Once you reach this point the next step is to become aware of every part of the body starting from the head to toe. It is done in bits and pieces to gain depth and accuracy. Knowing the body and becoming aware of every sensation and emotion that happens in this magnanimous creation is important as per the Vipassana tradition to live a balanced life. The more subtle you are able to get in touch with your feelings and sensations, the better you can understand the reality of life.
Vipassana basically operates on three key Buddhist principles those remain directives in human life.
1. Acceptance
2. Impermanence
3. Equanimity
First step is accepting the reality as it is. Coming to the realization that life is not just happiness alone. But it is a mixture of sorrows and happiness. It is like darkness and light. When there is darkness, the presence of light is understood. These are the polarities which life operates on. Similarly, when there is sorrow, there has to be happiness. Look at the nature, it is made of hills and valleys. When there is a hill, a valley is naturally followed. That is the simple reality of life. So the foundation of ones understanding should be acceptance of understanding the naked realities of life as it is.
Secondly, This too will pass away! Nothing is permanent. Not even the moment itself. Everything is changing. Change is the only constant in life. Every moment has a nature of arising and passing. Nothing stands firm or eternal, not even our happiness and sorrows. We start living with the foolish understanding that we are eternal. But the once you realize the principle of impermanence, you realize the futility of the belief that we hold in life.
Thirdly, life has a nature of arising and passing, it is important to keep a balance of both the situations without getting attached to either arising or passing. You be an observer, no subjective involvement. Thus maintaining equanimity in life will help you to eliminate impurities of life. According to Buddha, desire is the cause of every misery and suffering. To eliminate misery and suffering the technique Buddha propose to the world is Be an Observer.
The whole of Vipassana is about enabling human beings to reach a level of self-realization or enlightenment whereby one operates and lives life with the above principles abiding to the law of nature. Living in the moment is the key where happiness and misery are part and parcel of human existence.
Vipassana is not a quick fix solution to the problems of life, rather it makes you more and more aware of the realities of life abiding with the law of nature or universal truth (dhamma).
During the ten days of rigorous vipassana will embed the seeds in you to lead a life of awareness. It is upto you to take it or leave it. You need to continuously practice it to reach the stage of perfection in this tradition. So just doing ten days will not take you anywhere. It is just a class room session, but the real practice comes as you devout your time on a daily basis for it. Then the benefits of Vipassana will pop up in your daily life.
Well. that is more well as about the whole ten days course. However, i will be giving my own observations about it in the part -4
To be continued...
Joji Valli
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Vipassna Meditation (Part -2) - the way i experienced it from beyond religions...

Refectory looked very neat and clean. There was tea and milk kept separately along with puffed rice in another container. Men and Women have separate places to avoid any kind of temptation that might have occurred among the so called sensual animals. During the next ten days we are strictly asked not to keep any kind of contact or even to look at each other. Probably, Goenka knew very well that like in the story of Bible, the Eves might take a chance to brain-wash or seduce the Adams, and that might cause lucidity in the observance of strict discipline.:)

 In the men's side of the refectory, you go very silently, stand in a queue, then grab a steel plate from the rack. Then looking on your toes remain till your chance come. When your chance comes, take very little puffed rice and either a glass of milk or tea. Walk towards the seats which are set against the wall. Start consuming the food looking at the wall infront of you. So that no provocation or temptation can sidetrack you from the observance of strict discipline.

As it is the first day and knowing that there won't be anything for dinner, the young and fat ones after consuming the quota they have in the plate, march for one more filling to satisfy their hunger. Well. at least on the first day who can resist the craving of the stomach and cry of the thundering commotion in the half-empty stomach?

After the so called dinner, everyone goes to the respective allotted residences. The first timers are provided with not single rooms but two sadaks in one room. A very small room which has beds made of kadappa stones. On either side a bed and mosquito net is provided. The room is totally netted so that the meditator is protected from the wild attack of mosquitoes. The room has a small bathroom and toilet. A fairly good accommodation for the next ten days. And it is free, so who can complain? That's the key. Or once you make the vow of golden silence there is no relevance for silver complaints.:) There is also a fan and three zero watt bulbs in the room with an attached toilet and bathroom respectively. In a few places it is written, "use less water, save our country," "Switch off the lights and save our country." Well. very effective and efficient way of conveying the disciplinarian principles at the sadak's subconscious levels.

It is ten to 6.00pm, an electric bell echos from the top of the Dhamma hall for about half a minute. Dhamma hall is the place for meditation and talks. Next ten days more than twelve hours per day will be spend in this place where many are supposed to witness purification of mind and body which will bring about cessation of misery and suffering leading to buddhahood (awakened state). It is a huge hall inside which could accommodate around 300 people atleast. It is east facing and has an octagon shaped  concrete structure culminating to a dome. There are two empty cushioned chairs which seems like the seat of the big boss and her lady (Goenka and his wife) which remains untouched. Just in front of that again two chairs where the assistant teachers - one male and female would sit and meditate facing the meditators. I hardly found any role of those two teachers sitting there. I think, they are like rubber stamps like the Indian president. But when i asked one of the teachers on the last day, the male teacher told me their role is very relevant as they keep emitting positive energy or vibration to the participants. Of course, if any participant has any doubt during the course, they are free to talk to the rubber stamp or nominal teachers. I will talk more about it later.

There are around 90 cushions kept for the meditators leaving a mid way straight across separating men and woman. Each sadak is allotted a seat and for the next ten days, no one is supposed to change the seats. Along side of the nominal teachers there are a few sevaks  (who come to serve voluntarily to make sure the smooth functioning of the course) seated. They have a very important role to play. It is their duty to maintain the observance of disciplines and handle the grievances of the sadaks. They run around with bells and make sure that everyone is in the dhamma hall for all the meditations. They make sure that you don't even utter a word to break your golden silence with their omnipresence. If you happen to break the silence, they will come with folded hands in the traditional way without looking into your eyes start uttering slowly and piously 'mangalam bhavantu'. Which simply means in other way that you have broken the rule, keep quite.(They are the policemen in the Vipassanashram :). So i liked those sevaks and their role... :)
To be continued...
Joji Valli
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Vipassna Meditation - the way i experienced it from beyond religions... (Part -1 - registration and formalities)

What is Vipassana?
Vipassana, means to observe/to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art Of Living. It is the way to purification of mind and body there by becoming an awakened one (buddha) and way to reduce or eradicate suffering or misery that we experience in life.

Vipassna - the way i experienced it from beyond religions... (My personal experience)
A craving in me was pushing some buttons in once in a while for the past few months to attend the Vipassana Meditation. Of course, I have heard about it around 20 years ago and then i decided i want to attend it sometime in my life. But freeing myself from the bondage of time, responsibilities and other mundane duties always remained as a blockage from me attending. It is not that easy to set apart ten full days totally cut off from the mundane activities and devout oneself for the practice of Vipassana. Fortunately, the lady luck favored me as i declared a three months statistical for myself after completing my doctoral research studies.
As the craving or thoughts began disturbing me, i tried to book for the course online around 15th of November for the batch starting from first of December 2013. As it was already late, all the seats were full. So once again, i lost my enthusiasm. For a few days i did not bother again. However, i always believe in the interplay of divine intervention, if something were to happen in life. On 23rd of November, again the thought of attending the course became so strong within me. Then a way all of a sudden appeared to me. I knew one of the persons who is a teacher in one of the Pune center. So I called him and told my desire to enter the course. He asked me to contact him on the next day. As per the instruction i called him and he told me that he could squeeze me in against some cancellation. Oh, Wonderful, finally my craving or desire for participation is almost manifesting. I always believe that when the right time comes, if something has to happen in life will happen irrespective of whatsoever be the hurdles or difficulties. Existence will always bring you to it, if it is destined in your life, as it is the law of nature.
Packing my bag with sufficient cloths and other accessories for ten days i set out to the venue which is 30 km from Pune. This particular Vipassana center is situated in the midst of a village called Markel, which is the meeting point of three rivers. A beautiful place fully loaded with the bountiful extravagance of nature for the purification of mind and body - perfect place for introspection of self without any disturbance and interruption.
Though the course is for ten days, one will have to shell out two more days as the day of arrival and departure are not included in the counted ten days. The first day registration and other formalities were done. Rules and regulations were explained in its minute details. As i heard about it i warned myself of reliving those old seminary life for the next ten days. Infact the seminary life was better as there was no insistence on the 'golden silence'.
At the end of the it all were asked to surrender, their mobiles and other gadgets and valuables. All done very systematically and scrupoulously, making sure the meditator (sadak) is totally free from all mundane affairs. So that the sadak can meditate peacefully without bothering about anything in the world except purifying once own mind and body.
The first session along with the observance of silence was scheduled at 6pm in the evening. Prior to that there was a snacks session along with a glass of milk/tea which was supposed to be the dinner at 5pm. Many fat and young sadaks were shocked to experience the first taste of starvation and abstinence...
To be continued...
Joji Valli
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Diwali is a reminder to practice Corporate Social Responsibility

On the Diwali night, as I was watching the colorful sky a few random thoughts came to my mind which I thought would be worth sharing. Let me start with the mythical facts about the very concept Diwali.

Spiritual significance of Diwali

While Diwali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning behind it is "the awareness of the inner light". Central to Hindu philosophy (primarily the Yoga, Vedanta, and Samkhya schools of Hindu philosophy) is the belief that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. The celebration of Diwali as the "victory of good over evil", refers to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ignorance that masks one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With this awakening comes compassion and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings ananda (joy or peace). Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this Inner Light.

While the story behind Diwali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region (festive fireworks, worship, lights, sharing of sweets), the essence is the same – to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying Reality of all things (Brahman) (Wikipedia ref.).

Power of Negative and Positive

Life is a tussle between the negative and positive. Negative energy is much powerful than positive energy. Greed always pulls everything towards it. Similarly negative energy too.  Poverty and suffering always pulls everything around into it. It is full of negative energy that even if you go near it with all your positive energy it will start pulling you towards it.

When you see a poor beggar in the street, you heart is moved with sympathy instantaneously whether you give something or not. What exactly happens to you? Let me remind you that it is not your positive energy that brings a feeling of sympathy in you. Instead, it is the power of the negative energy that pulls you towards it. Though you personally, do not like to be associated with it or do not like to see beggar in your life, you are automatically drawn to it. You have no escape unless you shell out a few coins/currency notes in the begging bowl. In short, you pay a price for the negative energy that drew your attention and peace of mind.

In some cases, you may not be ready to shell out a few coins. As a consequence of being frugal about shelling out a few coins, the punishment that you get would be a mental haunt/torture of that stinking wretched picture of that beggar in your mind. It can last not for a few minutes but it lasts even for a few days or months, depending on the power of the negative energy and the gravity of the conditions of the beggar. It would even some time compel you to revisit the beggar to shell out a few coins and regain your peace of mind. Thus, the power of negative is enormously stronger than the power of positive. It is not easy to win the power of negative the way you think you could.

Diwali is victory of light over darkness

Have you ever thought that why sun is so hot that no one can touch it or go even the distant neighborhood?

We all are aware that sun is a burning star at the center of solar system. Sunlight is Earth’s primary source of energy to dispel darkness and sustain the echo-system.

Imagine, if the power of negative is so powerful, how much more powerful the positive should be to dispel the negativity?

To penetrate into the darkness and dispel it, the sun needs enormous power. So it has to burn eternally to keep the light, energy and substance in the earth. Similarly, to have victory over the power of darkness or negative energy you need to have so much power and positive energy.

Diwali is all about bringing more and more happiness and prosperity in the world. As human beings how can we support the nature’s endeavor to support the cause? I am sure, one of the ways is to uproot misery and suffering from the phase of existence the way we can. It is not uproot-able totally, but to the extent that we can, we should.

CSR as a working model in the 21^st century to spread happiness around

CSR is one of the means to put an end to the suffering and spread happiness and prosperity around.  The CSR mantra is loka samastha sukhino bhavantu – (may all beings everywhere be happy and free, may my thoughts, words and actions some way contribute to that happiness and freedom of all).

Let us understand, if there is atrocious amount of poverty, suffering and negative energy around, it is going to pull all of us into it like a whirlwind. But if we want to reduce the power of negativity, the best way is to get involved in CSR. Rather than being selfish and greedy in the midst of suffering and misery open your eyes and start dispelling the darkness with the mite you can. Let us not forget the little drop makes the mighty ocean. Your small contribution would add up to that ocean for the people who are needy. Remember, it is not going to save them at the end of the day, it is saving you to have happy and prosperous life here on earth. You are not doing it for the charity sake, instead you are doing it to keep your positive energy intact.

So the more people around you are prosperous and happy, it is going to enhance your happiness and prosperity. Thereby, reducing the extraction of your positive energy and retaining your vitality and potentials for the higher goals. Let this Diwali trigger the seeds of goodness or CSR in your heart to have a happy and wonderful life here on earth.

Wishing you all blessings of life

Joji Valli

Author Bloomering Session in Pune by Joji Valli

Dear Friends,
I am starting an Author Bloomering Session, specially for aspiring writers or authors who live in Pune,  in the efforts of encouraging and supporting first-time writers.
This will give you a chance to explore your talents and see how it feels to become a writer. You too can be creative, convincing and compelling with words. This session will facilitate you with techniques and tips making it easier than you think.

You will learn how to:
 Approach writing with less fear and more pleasure
 Understand what makes text compelling for the reader
 Abandon writer’s block – and lose the terror of the blank page
 Understand what makes a good piece of writing great
 Develop ideas and tap into your creativity
 Leave with lots of inspiration and an action plan of where you’d like to go next with your writing

Who should come on this Session?
• Anyone who has a dream to become a published author.
• Anyone who is drawn to writing, but doesn’t know how to begin.
• Anyone who has made a start on writing and wants more confidence
• Anyone who wants to explore/extend/exhibit his/her repertoire of skills.
Other details:
Date: 25/08/2013
Time: 3pm to 6pm
Fees: Rs. 1500/-
It will be a very compact group of seven. Book your seat at the earliest.
info@creativentures.in/creativentures@gmail.com

Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli

Kindly forward this to your dear and near ones,  friends and contacts who are dreaming of becoming a published author.

Catalogue 2013 from CreatiVentures

Dear Friends,
Here comes the catalogue 2013.
Feel free to order your copies.
Your encouragements and support counts a lot to all our authors and encourages us to carry on the same for a good cause.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
www.creativentures.in

Precious Pearls - A College face book (must read for teachers, students and parents)

Dear Friends
Here is an amazing fiction based on the college life from CreatiVentures.
It is available on flipkart.com and amazon.com
We have been getting amazing feedback for the book.
This book will certainly help you cherish your own college days and your youth days...
Enjoy it.
I can assure, this fiction is a potential movie. Kindly pass it on to your friends who are working in the film industry.
You may also order it from CreatiVentures Publishing to get a free delivery anywhere in India.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli

Whose College is this?
Silence, Keep quiet, No noise please, You Communicate...
A hero; a zero; a yawno; a TORNADO.
One taniyo loves his favorite-foyer, kaliyo watches matching attire. One loves her khakhi bag, other yawns in lecture halls. One runs after marks; one rests in theaters; one busy in nick naming ceremonies; one bunking, gossiping
Set in the business fertile land of Gujarat, it is a story of a village lad who dared to dream bigger than life to become an engineer and industrialist. Very soon he does realize that the education which was supposed to give wings to his dreams was at the best clipping it!
A plot that makes you re-live in the grandeur of the WestLand and its Precious Pearls again and again. On this journey, you will meet Gen-X and Gen-Y as the story unfolds a roller coaster of scenes, actions, events, moments, emotions and lots of learning. A lovely college panorama bringing nostalgia about your own bygone good college days.

SoulBliss - a poetic tale of Cosmic Love

Dear Friends,
Here comes another book from CreatiVentures - a four color poetry book.
A poetry book that would help you to transcend sex and merging yourself in the purity of love.
If you think, Love is a celebration and you like to experience it in your life, i recommend you to read this book. Balance of ying-yang, can lead you to experience the Cosmic love in your life and celebrate it in your life too.

“What we call love is really a whole specturm of relating, reaching from the earth to the sky. At the most earthly level, love is sexual attraction. many of us remain stuck there, because our conditioning has burdened our sexuality with all kinds of expectations and repressions. Actually the biggest ‘problem’ with sexual love is that it never last. Only if we accept this fact can we then really celebrate it for what it is — welcome its happening, and say good-bye with gratitude when it’s not. then as we mature, we can begin to experience the love that exists beyond sexuality and honors the unique individuality of the other. We begin to understand that our partner often functions as a mirror, reflecting unseen aspects of lour deeper self and supporting us to become whole. This love is based on freedom, not expectations or need. Its wings take us higher and higher towards the universal love that experiences all as one.” - OSHO

Wishing you all blessings of life

Joji Valli

(Author Publisher)

Pre-order your copies

Freedom is the greatest tool for ultimate expression and the greatest expression is that of ultimate freedom

Dear Friends,
Here comes another poetry book, as CreatiVentures bloomers one more first-time writer.
Thank you one and all for giving us your support and encouragement to bring the first-timers into the limelight of main stream literature.
Continue your support and encouragements by reading our books, referring it to your friends, and directing your friends to publish with us.
We believe in the power of your written thoughts and the way you articulate it as a book.
If you or your friends have a manuscript of merit and willing to self-publish it, get in touch with us.
We are there to support you and make your dream book a reality HERE and NOW.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
(Author Publisher)
Visit CreatiVentures and Order your Copies

First Marathi Motivational Book from CreatiVentures

Dear Friends,
In our efforts to encourage and support first-time writers, we are now making our presence in Marathi too.
This is the first book in Marathi which will be released on 13th of June. The book is named "Attvanitlya Sattvani - Gramin Vinodi Kata" by Prof. Prashant Tanaji Patil who is faculty in Shivaji University Kolhapur.
The book is available on amazon.com, flipkart and creativentures.in sites.
Order your copy, encourage the young author and CreatiVentures efforts in bloomering first-time writers.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
(Author Publisher)
Visit CreatiVentures Publishing

We are making our presence in Malayalam...

Dear Friends,
The next books we are releasing is a best seller, which has record sales in 12 Indian and foreign languages we are coming up with I LOVE MONEY in Malayalam this month.
We look forward to your support to make it a grand success.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
Visit our website

Get your poems published with CreatiVentures Publishing

Dear Friends,
CreatiVentures is ever enthusiastically engaged in supporting and encouraging first-time writers thereby enhancing literature. We understand that literature is the rich heritage of any culture. Unless we encourage and support the cause, the culture remains barren. So throughout the centuries we have seen, people have been enormously contributing to make the culture richer and some of the great examples are Tagore, Shakespeare, Shelly etc…
We realize that there are a number of poets around even today. Most of them remain unnoticed like the beautiful flowers in the forest that wither away unnoticed. So we are taking initiatives to publish a collection of poetry by 50 budding poets — whether you are a first-timer or experienced, it does not matter.
Publishing your poem as a book by one person is a costly affair. So we are coming out with a scheme where even if you have a single poem, you can see it published and avail it to the rest of the world as your poetic contribution to enhance literature and make the culture richer.
Guide lines for Submission:
For each poem of single page (Not more than 25 Lines) you need to pay Rs.500.
The poetry book will be of 100 pages priced at Rs. 100/-
You will be given 5 complimentary copies of the poetry book.
So basically, your poem gets published at zero investment.
If you are excited about getting your poems published, contact as info@creativentures.in
Visit our website: www.creativentures.in

Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
(Author Publisher)

PS: Kindly forward this mail to your contacts who would be interested in getting their poems published.

Just released: A political fiction by M. Venugopal from CreatiVentures

A Political Diorama... LIVING DEATH ...an NRI's Crusade

by M. Venugopal

Are you an Indian living in India or elsewhere? Do you love your country? How much do you love? How do you measure it? Do you think holding Indian flag in the midst of several spectators in the stadiums or expressing emotions and passions in media on politics, society, culture, administration, judiciary, religion, are symbols of patriotism?
Leaving an affluent life in London, the richest, successful NRI Mr. Raghuveer, arrives into the city of Hyderabad to settle down for the rest of his life. He knew very well that the entire country is sailing with political motives, slinging in the mud with corruption, hypocrisy, nepotism, bureaucracy, perceptions , no convictions and wisdom. Story narrates on how one man surmounts day to day events, encounters with various ministers and bureaucrats, to fight for the basic needs of the common man. He becomes a symbol of true patriotism. He evokes hidden power in the common man, through his deeds, actions, convictions and brings noticeable changes in the society, his achievements are remarkable. 'LIVING DEATH' is the nightmare to the unscrupulous politicians and an eye-opener to the innocent voters.

Visit CreatiVentures Website to order

INNER ZEAL by Vrushti Trivedi (Poetry)

INNER ZEAL  Releasing today... 
Place your order and encourage the young Poetess.

Vrushti Trivedi, 13 years old and an aspirant of class 8th, self-published her first poetry book Blooming Buds at the age of 12. She is a versatile personality, which can be proven by the accolades achieved by her in various fields. She is a state level swimmer and a badminton and basketball player. She is adventurous by nature and has crossed the Narmada River to and fro. She has also had the experience of sea swimming. She has even attended several Himalayan trekking expeditions. Field of arts is also in the list of her achievements. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, a guitarist and a pianist. Besides her extracurricular achievements, she has also maintained her academic excellence by topping almost every time in the exams as well as different school contests. She is also a fluent and effective rhetorician and has delivered her speeches in a number of programs. And with this book, her heart is to talk to millions of people.

About the book (Check our website for sample pages)

Everything new that is created is something that has emerged out from the deepest and densest ocean of pre-contemplated thoughts in the heart. The heart abstracts its new creation from the ocean and asks the aid of the brain. The brain interprets the hearty language and translates it into human coherent language, using the archived words in its files and in a way gives rise to something new and something innovative. People initially say that a writer has a creative mind, but I say no, a writer has a demiurgic heart. And so creation is literally the intimate voice of our hearts. And the same is here. Inner Zeal has each line, each word that has been abstracted from my heart. The contents of it cover up almost every minutest feeling that a human heart summons Jealousy, faith, fear, attachment, grief, etc. Every word is a deep and serene call of my heart to the brain to carve out its thoughtful thump into not any argot but into simple and vast English language. With this book my brain has got a canvas to paint up the words received from my heart. Inner Zeal is the voice of my heart.

Visit our website to purchase or to know more about other Books
Also available on amazon.com, flipkart.com and other online stores

Thank you very much for supporting and encouraging our authors.
Wishing you all blessings of life
Joji Valli
(Author Publisher)
CreatiVentures

The FUTURE of OIL by Sanjay Patel

Releasing on 13th February 2013, another remarkable book from CreatiVentures - An exclusive publisher for first-time writers.
Paperback, 248 pages, Rs. 300.00
This book enlists the causes of ever increasing oil prices - whys and hows of it.
It will also inform you with the treasure chest of oil sands reserves in Canadian and other costs. A must read book, if you are ever pricked by the escalating oil prices and shooting up cost of living. The author has 18 years of work experience in the Oil Industry and Works with one of the Oil giants in Canada. So what you hear is the from the horse's mouth about the Future of Oil.
Joji Valli (Author-Publisher CreatiVentures)

About the Book
Unless we are able to increase the global oil supply, we face a bleak future of depleting reserves and high energy prices. Since conventional oil reserves are dwindling, we have no alternative but to increasingly rely on unconventional oil, and for political, economic, and environmental reasons, the Canadian oil sands offer the very best unconventional oil we can get. Never before has a book offered an insider s view of this controversial industry. The Future of Oil objectively considers economic necessity and the nature of current technological limitations to arrive at a series of connected and inescapable conclusions. The transition to an age of cleaner energy production is necessary and inevitable, but we cannot yet live without oil. Oil must have a future, or we do not have one, and the oil sands of Canada are the centrepiece of that future. The Future of Oil is a clear, concise, yet complete guide to the Canadian oil sands industry, covering history, the environment, technology, and ethics. It addresses all the main objections to oil sands development that have been posed by journalists, environmentalists, First Nations leaders, and others. The author does not sugarcoat the hard facts, but objectively presents the arguments of oil sands critics and proponents alike. As a result, readers should have a much deeper understanding of all the issues involved, and be able to form their own opinions. The straight-spoken, journalistic style of The Future of Oil will appeal both to a general readership and those working in the oil sands industry, serving as a valuable resource by providing the big picture. Most of all, it offers, for the first time, an insider s view of a crucial energy debate that will be with us for some time to come.

To Purchase this book, visit our website