Hospitality Passionate Worship Intentional Faith: Fill & Download for Free

A bit of history first, Taoism is the result of the union between the folk religions of northern China and the folk religions of southern China. Taoism is partly a philosophy of life and partly a belief. Taoism was first introduced to Vietnam during the first Chinese domination period. In the 2nd century, emperor Lingdi died and “mainland China” fell into chaos, leading a exodus of immigrants, some of which were Taoist practitioners, to the more peaceful border Jiaozhi. Under the circumstances, Taoism’s first influence to Vietnam was erratic and unorganized. Because of Taoism’s bases as a culmination of several Chinese folk religions, the scattered, unorganized form of Taoism had a lot in common with the native Vietnamese folk religions and was readily nativized and adopted into the fold of the additive, multi-faceted Vietnamese folk religions. Unlike in China, where Taoism was organized and nominated as an official state religion several times, throughout Vietnam’s history, Taoism was rarely ever an organized religion on its own but acted as a philosophy of life, as bits and pieces, as the glue of several other religions. You can say that as a religion, Taoism is nearly nonexistent in Vietnam’s history, but as a philosophy, Taoism is so wildly successful that it’s no longer considered (or recognized as) “a foreign belief” but a part of the Vietnamese way of life.From Cultural additivity: behavioural insights from the interaction of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in folktales:“The earliest appearance of Taoism or Daoism in Vietnam dated back to the second century when some Taoist monks from China sought to spread their ideas to the area that is now northern Vietnam (Xu, 2002). Xu cites historical records as noting that Taoism in Vietnam developed the most strongly during the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907) and later continued to exert a huge influence on the Vietnamese Lý and Trần dynasties (1010–1400).There were two ways to interpret Taoism: the philosophical Taoism (Đạo gia) and the religious Taoism (Đạo giáo). Based on the classics Daodejing of Laozi and Huainaizi, the philosophical Taoism offered a worldview based on the natural approach to life. Vietnamese people were introduced to this philosophy through concepts such as dao, the yin and yang, the Five elements, the ethics of “non-contrivance” or “effortless action” (vô vi or wuwei 无为) (Slingerland, 2003) and “spontaneity” (tự nhiên 自然). The way of life in philosophical Taoism was largely aimed towards reaching the wuwei realm. The word wuweimeans doing nothing in the sense of letting life flow naturally. Nature was the leitmotif of the Taoist philosophy and truly set Taoism apart from Confucianism (Novak, 1987). Consequently, the image ideal of a person who retreats to the nature and free from the constricted life of Confucian rules is usually associated with Taoism.Religious Taoism, like Buddhism, does not have a core system of specific teachings. Broadly speaking, its practices focus on the search for longevity and immortality, spiritual healing, magic, and divinations, which blended in with Vietnamese popular religious beliefs (Tran, 2017, p. 13). Unlike in China, Taoism in Vietnam took no institutional form, in the sense that there were no Taoist schools. Practitioners of Taoism, called “masters” (thầy) were often shaman-like specialists in a variety of domains such as healing, ritual sacrifice (at funerals, for example), soothsaying, sorcery, geomancy, etc., and were often not attached to any temple. In fact, Taoist temples did not serve the role of training monks and priests; rather, they were places of worship for immortals (historical figures who had been ‘‘canonized’’ in Vietnamese culture and folk beliefs) and Taoist deities such as the Jade Emperor (Ngọc Hoàng). The Vietnamese Taoist pantheon was widely accepted by the population, to the point that they weren’t recognized as Taoist deities anymore, rather simply considered as traditionally worshipped gods. Due to its shamanistic and ritualistic nature, which is more commonly associated with ethnic minorities, Taoism often appears in a less “official” light than Buddhism and Confucianism and, at times, could even risk being reduced to the status of “superstitions” (Kendall, 2008). However, the closeness of Taoism to nature makes it blend with the most ease to Vietnamese traditional beliefs and ancient traditions such as the Mother Goddess Religion (Đạo Mẫu) or the Religion of the Four Palaces (Tứ Phủ), all of which are rooted in natural forces (Kendall et al., 2008). In this manner, despite not having as prominent a presence as the other two major religions of Vietnam, Taoism is in a favorable position to spread as a popular religion.”Taoism can be seen as the glue to tie the 3 religions in Vietnam together into 1 single “belief” generically called Vietnamese folk religion.I’m basing the structure of my answer on this paper about Vietnamese Taoism: http://www.vjol.info/index.php/rsrev/article/viewfile/4771/4512. If you have the time, you should totally check it out.I. Magical talisman:Pic source. Taoist talisman to pray for safety or curse people or ward against ghosts. These talismans are distributed by “thầy”, professional Taoist practitioners, and plastered onto the households that invited the “thầy”.“In the reign of King Trần Phế Đế (reigned 1377-1388), Nguyễn Bổ with Taoist name Đường Lang Tử Y (a purple-dress native of Đường Lang) proclaimed himself emperor in Bắc Giang area in 1379.(9)Under the Hồ dynasty (1400-1407), Trần Đức Huy who used magical power to attract many people (10) was suppressed by Hồ Quý Ly in 1403.During the French colonial rule, there was a resistance of Taoist Trần Cao Vân (1866-1916), whose real name was Trần Công Thọ, styled Hồng Việt, a native of Tư Phú village, Đa Hòa town, Điện Bàn district, Quảng Nam province.In the South, Thiên Địa Hội (Tiandihui, Heaven-Earth Society) was a secret society attracting thousands of people. In March 1913, Phan Phát Sanh or Phan Xích Long (1893-1916) proclaimed himself emperor and revolted against the French. With talismans, swords, sabers, spears, and sticks, the partisans moved forward regardless of the enemy’s firearms. (11)”Talismans for peace, prosperity, and warding against evils used to be much more popular and plastered onto nearly every house, but they have largely fallen off use in the modern day. People only really ask to talisman when they have some troubles in life and need “divine reassurance”, or when they want to curse someone else.II. Feng shui:“Under the Hồ dynasty (1400-1407), in Tân Hưng area, An Phủ Sứ (Pacification Commissioner) Trần Quốc Kiệt wrote Hình Thế Địa Mạch Ca (Land Condition and Soil Veins in Verse).(12)During the period of Lê kings and Trịnh lords (1545-1787), Nguyễn Đức Huyên, a native of Tả Ao village, Nghệ An province, was very well-known for geomancy. Under the Tây Sơn dynasty (1778-1802), Nguyễn Thiếp (or La Sơn Phu Tử, 1723-1804) in La Sơn district, Hà Đông province, was also a very famous geomancer.”While he probably didn’t believe in it, Ernest Hébrard went beyond the colonial government’s request for a “weather-resistant solution in local constructions” and incorporated elements of Feng shui, which he understood as “local architecture traditions”, into French architecture to create what he called “Indochinese architecture style”. Here’s an analysis of the style in a few of his buildings according to the principles in I Ching: âm dương (yin yang), ngũ hành (wu xing), tam bảo (3 treasures), cửu cung (I have no idea what its the pinyin is).One of the buildings mentioned in the analysis is my old high school, Lê Hồng Phong high school for the gifted (used to be known as Lycée Petrus Ký).Classical Siheyuan model in Beijing.Satellite image of the school in the modern day.The school when it was under construction.Main entrance.Inside the school.Modified Siheyuan model with French elements, basically.In the modern day, whenever people build a house or a building, they will usually check the feng shui of the house to ensure good luck.The Bitexco building, which may or may not have been inspired by the Stark building, was advertised to ensure maximum feng shui. Because the direction of the building was chosen to ensure maximum feng shui, the rough wind it faces in that direction made the “helicopter pad” unusable as an actual helicopter pad lmao.More than just geomancy, feng shui also includes the calculation of good day, bad day, good hour, bad hour, generally called “ngày giờ hoàng đạo” in Vietnam. People will usually check the date and hour whenever they want to stage a big celebration or party.An average calendar in Vietnam.Another aspect of feng shui adopted into Vietnamese culture is prophecy.“Under the Mạc dynasty (1527-1592), Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm (1491-1585) with his Taoist name of Bạch Vân Cư Sĩ (White Cloud Hermit), popularly called Trạng Trình, was very well-known for his prophecy.” Wikisource has a few lines of those prophecies: “Sấm Trạng Trình - Wikisource tiếng Việt”.In the modern day, “xin xăm”/“xin quẻ” (aka fortune stick divination, known as Kau Cim in China and omikuji in Japan) is still a very popular activity during lunar new year (or whenever a girl wants to ask the Buddha/local deified national heroes for a boyfriend, really).III. Search for longevity:“King Trần Dụ Tông (reigned 1341-1369) practiced secret art of longevity from a Taoist priest named Huyền Vân at mount Niết (mount Phụng Hoàng) in Chí Linh district, Hải Dương province.Under the Hồ dynasty (1400-1407), a person named Trần Tu of Cổ Định village, Nông Cống district, Thanh Hóa province, lived in seclusion on mount Nưa(Na Sơn) and attained immortality.During the period of Lê kings and Trịnh lords (1545-1787) there was a successful longevity practitioner named Phạm Viên in Đông Thành district.Under the reign of King Lê Hiển Tông (1740-1786), Nguyễn Hoản (1713- 1791), a native of Lan Khê village, Nông Cống district, Thanh Hóa province, was Thượng Thư Bộ Lại (Imperial Secretary of Personnel Ministry). According to the section Tiên Khảo Đạo Tu Lục (Records of Ancestors’ Longevity Practice) in the genealogy of his clan, he started longevity practice in 1745, and often read Daodejing (The Way and its Power); set up a meditation room at home (1752); started worshipping the Five-Mountain Gods (1760); built a twelve-storey tower to practice the yin-yang vital forces, etc. Due to crazy passion, he finally went astray to evil ways. (13)”However, in general, searching for immortality had never been very high on the priority list for the Vietnamese elite and peasants. No Vietnamese emperor had accidentally poisoned himself to death in his search for an eternal life.That said, the philosophy behind the practice was adopted into Vietnamese traditional medicine and Vietnamese cuisine, both of which still closely follow the yin-yang theory and the Wu Xing theory in the modern day. One of the first records of this philosophy in Vietnamese traditional medicine and cuisine is the book series Hải Thượng Lãn Ông Y Tông Tâm Lĩnh. Vietnamese cuisine can be best described as an utilization of Vietnamese ingredients and French elements according to Taoist recipe. This design philosophy of Vietnamese cuisine is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy in that it creates generations after generations of people who are raised to have that specific taste and go on to create dishes suitable to that taste even without any formal knowledge whatsoever of I Ching (or even aware that they’re actually following Taoist philosophy).Phở, a prime example of Wu Xing philosophy in Vietnamese cuisine with French and Vietnamese ingredients.IV. Seeking peace with nature:From the nature article above:“Through the Bayesian categorical analysis, the study has confirmed the existence of the cultural additivity phenomenon. The empirical results suggest an isolation of Buddhism and a higher possibility of additivity where a story concerns Confucianism and Taoism. It also shows that the interaction or addition of Confucian and Taoist values in folktales together help predict whether the key message of a story is Confucian. For Buddhism and Taoism, there is no such statistical confirmation. This result could be interpreted as the dominance of Confucianism over the two other religions. The interpretation is attributable to two reasons: (i) the folktale collections were likely recorded by Confucian scholars of the time (as discussed in the Materials sub-section), and (ii) the history that Vietnamese Confucianism gained enough followers to expand without the help of Buddhist monks and later came to oppose Buddhism in the twelfth-thirteenth centuries onwards) (Nguyen, 1998, pp. 94–95; Nguyen, 2008). In other words, as Confucian scholars rose to power in the courts and expressed their hostility towards Buddhism, it is possible that these scholars had intentionally left out stories with messages about Buddhist values or virtues. As for how Confucianism and Taoism accompany each other in stories whose central message is Confucian, because Taoism in Vietnam does not take institutional forms (Tran, 2017; Xu, 2002), there is little power struggle between these two religions.This interpretation leads to a broader understanding that the phenomenon of cultural additivity—defined as the arbitrary tolerance of and willingness to add new beliefs, values or norms even when there was contradiction, to the existing system of belief—might be limited to cases where the two religions in interaction were not too far away or competing in terms of values. For example, Confucian and Taoist values seem contradictory. Confucianism upholds a rigid hierarchy and equally rigid rules of conducts in different social context as well as moral obligations to study and become a member of the court, to be involved with the movement of the nation, of the society. The wuwei life of Taoism is almost the complete opposite: to retreat to isolation, to live closer to nature, to consider all concerns left behind as mundane, even though many of such concerns would have been obligations in Confucian principles. However, in a way, it was possible to adhere to both Confucianism and Taoism. Concretely speaking, this means that after living the pragmatic life and restrictive path to virtue and honor prescribed by Confucianism, one could seek comfort in the isolation in nature offered by Taoism. In fact, one could even imagine that a person who has followed all this constricted life of Confucianism would, later in life, desire the Taoist ideals. A typical example might be the Giong character in the tale of “Heavenly King Phu Dong” (Phù Đổng Thiên Vương): he helped the king fight against invaders, exemplifying the Confucian trait of loyalty, but in the end decided to “retreat” by flying back to Heaven, essentially representing a Taoist ideal. As for the isolation of Buddhism, the path of non-attachment, of “phổ độ chúng sinh” (to bring compassion to everyone), of self-cultivation with the practices of the Eight-fold way might be too demanding, thus the values and norms put forth by Buddhism might be too far away to be added together with the other two religions.”Back in the days, scholars unsatisfied with the rulers but still bounded by the Confucian loyalty to the emperor usually asked for an early retirement in the village and sought a Taoist way of life for themselves. One prominent example of this is Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm with his poem Cảnh Nhàn (Leisurely sight).“Một mai, một cuốc, một cần câu,Thơ thẩn dầu ai vui thú nào.Ta dại, ta tìm nơi vắng vẻ,Người khôn, người đến chốn lao xao.Thu ăn măng trúc, đông ăn giá,Xuân tắm hồ sen, hạ tắm ao.Rượu đến gốc cây ta sẽ nhắp,Nhìn xem phú quý tựa chiêm bao.”Rough English translation:“One morning, one hoe, one fishing rod,Daydreaming regardless of people's fancy.I'm foolish, I seek quiet place.Smart people, they seek busy place.Eating bamboo in autumn, eating sprouts in winter,Swimming in lotus lake in spring, swimming in village pond in summer.For wine, I will sip when I sit under the tree,Looking at riches as if in a dream.”Another poem from Nguyễn Phi Khanh:“ 遊崑山一笻山上柱雲煙，迴首塵埃路隔千。雨後線聲流簌簌，天晴嵐氣靜涓涓。百年浮世人皆夢，半日偷閒我亦仙。興去欲來僧院宿，昏鍾催月掛峰前。”Hán Việt transliteration:“Du Côn SơnNhất cùng sơn thượng trụ vân yên,Hồi thủ trần ai lộ cách thiên.Vũ hậu tuyến thanh lưu thốc thốc,Thiên tình lam khí tịnh quyên quyên.Bách niên phù thế nhân giai mộng,Bán nhật thâu nhàn ngã diệc tiên.Hứng khứ dục lai tăng viện túc,Hôn chung thôi nguyệt quải phong tiền.”Rough English translation:“Sightseeing Côn Sơn mountainWith a single bamboo stick, I climb to the mountain among the clouds.Looking back: a dusty road separated by a heaven.After the rain, the sound of raindrops is lively.The sky stops pouring, the air silently rains.100 years of the illusionary world, people are dreams.Stealing half a day for leisure, I also want to be a deity.Interest has faded, passion is gone, I want to rest in a monastery.The sunset bell urges the moon to hang over the mountain.”Another expression of this naturalist aspect of Taoism is Vietnamese tea ceremony, which I have written about here: Thư Nguyễn's answer to Does Vietnam have traditional tea ceremony?“At the end of the day, the quintessence of Vietnamese tea culture is communication among friends and families. Tea is drunk first thing in the morning, after every meal, and during tea breaks, preferably with family or with a small circle of friends. Tea (or in the modern day, any drink) is offered when the house master wants to show their hospitality and expects to have a nice, long chat with the guest. If tea (or any drink in the modern day) isn’t offered, it means that the house master is busy or doesn’t expect to chat for long with the guest. Tea shops (and coffee shops) are where business deals are signed and where friends would stay and chat for hours. One of the sources above comments that Chinese tea is about beauty (mỹ, 美), Japanese tea is about dao (đạo, 道), Korean tea is about relaxation (nhàn, 嫻), Vietnamese tea is about harmony (hòa, 和, harmony with nature, harmony with the many different influences, harmony between the Vietnamese traditions and imported foreign traditions, and harmony among friends and families).”V. More religions:A short introduction of Vietnamese deities and Vietnamese’s tendency to worship national heroes here: Thư Nguyễn's answer to What are some native Vietnamese deities?From the vjol paper:“Vietnamese people have a strong, long-standing belief in the eternity of the souls of national prominent figures and heroes. Having devoted their whole lives to the nation and people, they become patron deities and continue rendering services from the afterlife. It is the simplicity of Vietnamese cult of deities, which is also the patriotic tradition and veneration of the Vietnamese towards the nation’s heroes and elites. Vietnamese cult of deities is characterized by the village communal house (đình làng), the worship of village tutelary god (thành hoàng), temples (miếu) or mausoleums (lăng) of deceased noted generals and court officials.Taoism as well as Buddhism was thoroughly mingled with Vietnam’s age-old beliefs. When Vietnam lost its sovereignty, it was the cult of deities that nourished the awareness of the nation and stimulated the people’s patriotism in order to found revolt movements to oust foreign invaders from the country.Vietnamese cult of deities also reflects the patriotism of the Vietnamese. Throughout our long history of both protecting the nation and trying to build it, the Vietnamese fought bravely against enemies not only with weapons and other visible means but also with an invisible power, i.e., our strong belief in the sacred vital force of the nation. We believe that many generations of deceased heroes stand in the same front with the nation’s righteous cause to protect Vietnam’s independence, Huệ Khải. An Outline of Vietnamese Taoism 59 unification, and permanence. Thus, Vietnamese cult of deities also enriches the Chinese Taoist pantheon. Indeed, Vietnamese deities are worshipped besides the Chinese Taoist pantheon.For example, Thông Thánh Quán (Communication with Saints Temple) in Bạch Hạc (Việt Trì, seventy-five kilometres north-west of Hà Nội) is dedicated to the river god of Tam Giang as the local tutelary god. Other Taoist temples are dedicated to the tutelary god of mount Tản Viên (or mount Ba Vì in Sơn Tây province), the god of Tô Lịch river, etc. Since the Trần dynasty (1225-1400), Hưng Đạo Vương Trần Quốc Tuấn (1228?-1300) has been worshipped in Vạn Kiếp, Chí Linh, and then in many areas. Under the Later Lê dynasty (1428-1788), the temple dedicated to Princess Liễu Hạnh was set up. Other goddesses are also worshiped throughout the country.”These human deities are still worshiped in the modern day.“Invocation of immortals (cầu tiên) is a means of communication between visible humans and invisible powers. The participants usually have various purposes, for example, exchanging extempore poems with divine spirits, asking for holy medicine, seeking foretelling about their future or political affairs, etc.Generally, the merciful being meets such secular needs in order to nourish their faith and gradually leads them to the way of self-cultivation under deities’ direct guidance.When Vietnam was under the French colonial rule, there were many places of immortal invocations called thiện đàn (good seances) in Nghệ An province.In northern Vietnam there was an evoking séance named Hưng Thiện (Flourish Good), where Kinh Đạo Nam (The Book of the Vietnam’s Dao or Way, two volumes) were bestowed through spiritual writing in September and October 1923. The full text in the Nôm script was put into Vietnamese by Nguyễn Thị Thanh Xuân and then published in 2007 (one volume).At the beginning of the 20th century, various places and seances in southern Vietnam were closely related to the early beginning of Caodaism. To name a few: the séances at Miễu Nổi (Bình Lợi, Gò Vấp district), at the temple of Ngọc Hoàng (Jade Emperor or Yuhuang, Đa Kao, District 1), at Minh Thiện (Thanh An pagoda, Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương province), at Hiệp Minh (Cái Khế, Cần Thơ), on mount Thạch Động (Hà Tiên province), at the pagoda of Quan Âm (Guianyin, on mount Dương Huệ Khải. An Outline of Vietnamese Taoism 65 Đông, Phú Quốc island), on Hàng Dừa street (Arras street, Sài Gòn, i.e., present Cống Quỳnh street, District 1).At the beginning of the 20th century, Caodaism was founded in Vietnam. It is easy to realize that the new religion has a close relation with the age-old Taoism. Caodaists worship Ngọc Hoàng Thượng Đế (Yuhuang Shangdi, Jade Emperor) or Cao Đài Tiên Ông (Gaotai Xianweng, Caodai the Immortal), Diêu Trì Kim Mẫu (Yaochi Jinmou, Golden Mother), Thái Thượng Lão Quân (Taishang Laojun), etc. These deities have been worshipped by Taoists for centuries.The Caodaists regard themselves as followers of Immortalism or as immortality practitioners. Spiritual writing (cơ bút) is another similarity between the age-old Taoism and Caodaism. In addition, the Caodai teaching in verse is a typical feature of Laozi’s and Zhuangzi’s culture.It is noticeable that the Founder of Caodaism calls Himself an Immortal (Tiên Ông). Thus, is it possible to regard Caodaism to some extent as the Vietnamization as well as the modernization of the old-age Taoism?”

Dear Friend,Success: Think, act and talk with enthusiasm and you’ll attract positive results, success begins in the mind. So, we should focus on the power of attitude and belief to shape your destiny.We all want to achieve success so that we may live a comfortable life: have financial freedom, having luxurious cars, and live in a beautiful and spacious house. However, although success can be achieved, it does not come easy.Success differs from person to person. For some people, successful life means being doctor, engineer, teacher, sports man, etc. But for some people, successful life means having a small family with luxuries and all. Nowadays, your career makes your life successful. Success is, or at least should be, primarily defined as an achievement of something desired. So, the most successful people are the ones who achieve the things they most desire. What we desire the most, even more than money, is to be proud of what we do with our lives. This is especially true when it comes to our work. A truly successful person is one who is proud of the work he or she does. That is the true meaning of success. Now, a lot of money shouldn't be the primary definition of success, but it's a reasonable goal to have. We all want to have enough money to sustain ourselves and our family. The thing is, if we're truly passionate about the work we do, there's probably a better chance that money will follow.Contrary to common beliefs, there are no successful or unsuccessful people but instead there are people who have the potential to succeed and who do things that helps them realize this potential and there are people with the same potential who don’t do those things. The only thing you need to do to succeed is to do exactly what successful people did. When you do that you will acquire the mentality of a successful person and this will help you reach success.According to me, following areSome Tips for becoming successful:1. Identify Your Passion & Dream Big: Identify your passion and dream big, have a clear vision of your goal in life. Nothing changes in your life until you believe you can do things that are important to you. And if you don’t have passion and vision, your journey to success may lead you to nowhere. Passion or drive or zeal is the self-driven attitude about your job and your work that can help lead you to the path of success.Let me cite an example for this.For example, consider a boy who enjoys working with machines and playing with concepts and equations. If he takes up a career in engineering, he will work passionately and will be successful in his life. On the contrary, a boy who finds acting and mimicry interesting might also become an engineer, but never a passionate one and he is certain to fail in life at some later stage.“Imagine someone would have forced Sachin Tendulkar to sing and Lata Mangeshkar to play cricket, where would they have been today?”- Rancho in 3 Idiots.You can’t decide you will work hard on acting because you see fans worship Amitabh Bachchan or Rajinikanth. You can’t decide to take up Tennis just because you are a great admirer of Federer. You can’t just decide to do something because that has brought fame, money and success to people you admire.Do the things you love, you enjoy and you are good at. Absolutely nothing great can be achieved without love of doing it.Let me compare your success with your crush. What is your state of mind when you have crush on someone? Probably you think only about your crush at every moment. In the same way, if you are not thinking about your goal every time, you are preparing to lose.“Success comes when you do what you love to do, and commit to being the best in your field.”“Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’ – yours.” – Robert Ballard.“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” – John C. Maxwell.“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman.“Think bigger. Forget limits. Embrace the idea of endless possibility, it will change you.” – Marianne Williamson.“It takes the same energy to think small as it does to think big. So dream big and think bigger.” – Daymond John.Here is the Story of a Young Girl Ria Who tells about herself how she discovers her passion in life:Ria tells: My Passion is living in the world of books and playing with words. I mean reading and writing Books. Passion is something which becomes the essential trait of a being. Something without doing which he can’t stay still. And same is true with me. I love being carried away with the flow of words. I love sitting whole day beside a tree with my back on it and continue reading and writing a whole lots of books.I was introduced to the beauty of reading by my brother. When I was Seven years old, he kept on bringing books and novels back home and at that time, he forced me to read those books. He asked me to write something of my own. Be it a little poem or something did those things and slowly all these things became my need. I was just not able to be calm if i was not provided with a novel to read frequently.I believe that Rich is one who owns a big library of books.In no time, reading and writing became my passion. Now, all I wish is to become an aspiring author someday!!Short Story : Think Big and Try to Face Your Worst FearA man was caught and thrown into a pit of about 40 feet deep, just because he was a stranger. He struggled trying to get out of the pit, but the more he tried, the weaker his muscles became. He said to himself, “I don’t know how to get myself out of this. Maybe I should just die instead of enduring these miserable struggles and pains.”Just then, he heard a voice screaming, “Help! Help!! Help!!” The shouts were coming from another pit, which was 10 feet deeper than the one he was in. He thought to himself, “, so there is somebody else like me trapped here too.”Listening carefully, he heard some cracking and sand dropping from the wall of the pit of the other victim. Immediately he summed up his courage and with his last bit of strength, started crawling little by little until he made it out of his pit.Morals of the Story:That pain you think you are passing through, there are people worst off than you. Always say something sweet to yourself. Always smile at your pains. Let them be; they are just there for a while and also to challenge you. Today may be your darkest hour, but your joy will come in the morning. Try to encourage yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror, beat your chest and say, “I can make it and I can stand the test of time.”2. Be Different to Be Successful: Be different to be successful, make things happen. As a matter of fact, doing things differently than everyone else is a great rule of thumb to follow to create extraordinary success in job career, business, relationships, and life in general. What is it that makes some people successful in life – able to reach whatever goal they like – while others get stuck in the same place for years, if not decades?Is it their education? Where they were born? Who their family is? Is it genetics?The reality is - it’s none of the above.In fact, Successful people don’t do different things, they do things differently.Short Story : Be Different: A Young Girl with Different ThinkingOnce upon a time, in a small Indian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender in the town. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant's debt if he could marry her daughter to him. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by this proposal.The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. But, if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.So, they were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant's garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles."Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.So, be Different, Think Differently.3. Understand & Overcome the Obstacles: Understand & Overcome the Obstacles during your journey to Success. Everyone wants to succeed in life. No one sets out with a plan to fail, but so often people let obstacles get in the way of their success. Every person, who has achieved success, has experienced obstacles. However, obstacles only slow our progress— they don’t have to mean failure. Obstacles happen to test your character during the journey of success.Short Story : The Obstacles in Journey to Success: A King with a Huge BoulderThere once was a very wealthy and curious king. This king had a huge boulder placed in the middle of a road. Then he hid nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the gigantic rock from the road. The first people to pass by were some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers. Rather than moving it, they simply walked around it. A few loudly blamed the King for not maintaining the roads. Not one of them tried to move the boulder. Finally, a peasant came along. His arms were full of vegetables. When he got near the boulder, rather than simply walking around it as the others had, the peasant put down his load and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. It took a lot of effort but he finally succeeded. The peasant gathered up his load and was ready to go on his way when he saw a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The peasant opened the purse. The purse was stuffed full of gold coins and a note from the king. The king’s note said the purse’s gold was a reward for moving the boulder from the road.The king showed the peasant what many of us never understand: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.4. Positive Mind-set: Everyone aspires to know the path to success. You may have heard many famous people say that success comes with the persistent efforts and positive mind-set. So, now, we will try to focus on how the power of positive mind-set leads to success. Think about success, not failure, beware of a negative environment. You need to believe in yourself that you can accomplish your goals. Positive mind-set helps you in discovering your skills. You can find hope in the darkest of situation with the positive mind-set.Short Story : Story of Stephen KingCan you imagine writing a novel and having it rejected 30 times by numerous publishing companies? That is what Stephen King, a struggling teacher at the time, faced with his widely acclaimed novel Carrie. Before having his novel accepted for publication, King and his family lived in a trailer without a fully working car. His teaching job did not provide him with enough money, so he began to write Carrie. Disillusioned by what he had written, King threw the story away. Thankfully, his wife Tabitha King collected his work from the trash, read what he had rejected, and told him she wanted him to continue. King did exactly that and in due time his paperback novel sold over a million copies in the first year. He has since found success for subsequent novels such as The Shining, It, The Green Mile, and much more with over 350 million copies sold.What you should take away from King's story is that no matter how discouraged you are or how difficult things may seem at first, you must fight the urge to quit. Surround yourself with others who will push you forward, and want to see you succeed. Much power is drawn from positivity, so make an effort to include that in your life in some way, and it will help you persevere.5. Clear Your Mind of Self Doubt & Take Risk: Clear your mind of self-doubt and take risk in life in whichever field you are endeavoring. If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will grow. Challenge the doubts with action, and you will grow. If you are suffering from self-doubt, there is a good chance that you are losing the opportunities that you might have in life. When you don't trust in your own abilities and lack trust in yourself, certainly, you will not be willing to step out and take risks in your life. This usually leads to not taking up opportunities that would improve your quality of life.Short Story : Taking Risk in LifeTwo seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil. The first said, “I want to grow. I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust above me. I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring. I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the bless of the morning dew on my petals.”And she grew.The second seed said, “I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts, what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.”And, so, she waited.A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.6. Embrace The Failure & Have Courage: The true Secret of Success: Fail as many times as Possible!!Sometimes, It Takes Failure to Ultimately Lead to Success. The opposite of success is failure as it means to fail while trying to achieve aims or objectives. The biggest possible problem that anyone can encounter on the way to success is failure.Failure is a necessary step in learning and growing. The very first thing that you will face on your journey to success is failure. Failure is something that you have to accept even when you start your journey. You are bound to meet it at the start or half way or when you are nearing the highest peak of success. How we view failure and deal with it, to a large extent, determines how successful we will be in life. Failure, or failing at something, is a part of life. People experience failure both in their personal and professional lives on a daily basis. Failure is so good for success. Every failure leads you to success. That is because you are learning and are new to the field. So, the secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. The more you fail, the more you learn and the more you understand how to overcome struggles throughout your life.A Short Story: Success is Bigger than Fear of failureA boy was walking by the road when he saw an old man passing by. He looked aged and was barely able to walk; his stick was his companion which helped him walk a bit. Suddenly, he fell down on the road. The boy helped pick him up and said, Sir, it is high time you should stay indoors and rest. To this, the man answered, Why son? I love doing this. I know I will fall but doesn’t that mean I will rise back again? I will rise back and walk again because I love walking and watching the beauty outdoors.In my view, the old man was a successful man.Do you know why?His Love for success was more than his Fear of failure.Yes! The above mantra sets the successful people apart.7. Strong Focus, Patience & Persistence: Focus is more important than talent and intelligence. Focus is doing one thing without distraction. Focus is just doing and concentrating on the work which would elevate your chances to reach to your desired goal.Sri Mad Bhagavad Gita correctly says: “An undisciplined mind is the greatest enemy of a person. For him, who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so; his very mind will be the greatest enemy.”Patience in short is endurance for an assiduous effort. Patience is the ability of a person to wait for something or to endure something for too long without getting irritated. Patience means just being calm and keeps our work in progress even after listening to negative comments and discouraging moments with positive hopes for fulfilling our burning desires. So, just keep working and dreaming for our desires without any distraction is called patience. Having good patience is a blessing. It will change our life in a better way.Patience and Persistence: These two factors will take you to great heights in life.Short Story : Patience is Must in Married LifeA very young and loving couple had been married for over six years without any child and it was becoming their seventh year. Sameer and Kajal stayed with each other and greatly hoped that they will have a child before their seventh year of marriage runs out because they were under persuasion from friends and family members to get a divorce.But they couldn’t let go because of the strong bond of love between them. Months passed and one day, while Sameer was returning from work, he saw his wife walking down the road with a man.The man had his arms around her neck and they looked very happy. For over a week, he saw the man with his wife at various places and one evening while Sameer was returning from work, he saw the man drop her off at the house after giving her a kiss on the cheek. Sameer was angry and sad but he didn’t spoke of it with his wife.Two days later after a hectic day at work, Sameer was taking water with a glass jug from the dispenser when the phone rang. He picked it up and the person said, “Hello dear, I’ll be coming to your house this evening to see you as promised.” Sameer hung up the phone.It was a male voice and he was sure the person was the man he had always seen his wife with. He suddenly became shaky with the thought that he has lost his wife to another man. The glass jug fell from his hand and shattered into pieces.His wife came running into the room asking, “Is everything okay?” In anger, he gave his wife a push and she fell down. She wasn’t moving or getting up. Sameer then realized that she fell where he broke the glass jug.A large piece of glass had pierced her. He felt her breath, pulse, and heartbeat but there she lay down lifeless. It was a total confusion; he saw an envelope in her hand. He took it, opened it and was shocked by its content, it was a letter.Sameer read the Letter: “My loving husband, words cannot express how I feel, so, I had to write it down. I have been going to see a doctor for over a week and I wanted to be sure before I give you the news. The doctor confirmed it that I am pregnant with a twin and our baby is due two months from now. The doctor is my long lost brother whom I lost contact with after our marriage. He has promised to take care of me and our baby and give us the best without collecting a dime. He also promised to have dinner with us today. Thanks for staying by my side,” Your loving wife.The letter fell from his hand. There was a knock at the door and the man he had seen with his wife came in and said, “Hello Sameer, I suppose I’m right. I am Vivek, the brother of your wife” Suddenly, Vivek noticed his sister lying in a pool of her blood. He rushed her to the hospital and she was in a coma. She had lost her twins.Conclusion: We should not be too quick to take unnecessary actions in our relationship or marriage when we haven’t questioned our partner or spouse on what we saw or heard about them. We all have our faults. We shouldn’t be too fast to judge others. Not everything you see, hear or believe about someone is true. Always learn to control yourself under any condition or situation, irrespective of what you’ve heard or seen.Be Patient and think twice in doing things and don't do things in anger and the result will be un-imaginable.8. Will Power and Self Determination: As a matter of fact, will power may be the most important attribute that determines our success in life.You must all have heard the English proverb “Where there is will, there is way”. This is so true.Willpower is like a superpower that everyone has but needs to further develop it for enhanced results. Everything requires willpower be it achieving heights in job career, weight loss, quitting addictions or performing gym workouts. The people with developed willpower almost get everything whether it is easy or difficult in life.Short Story : Will Power: Don’t Give up, Just Keep DrivingOne day a young lady was driving along with her father. They came upon a storm and the young lady asked her father, "What should I do?"Father said, "Keep driving." Cars began to pull over to the side, the storm was getting worse."What should I do?" The young lady asked?"Keep driving," her father replied.On up a few feet, she noticed that eighteen wheelers were also pulling over. She told her father, "I must pull over, I can barely see ahead. It is terrible and everyone is pulling over!"Her father told her, "Don't give up, just keep driving!"Now, the storm was terrible, but she never stopped driving and soon she could see a little more clearly. After a couple of miles, she was again on dry land and the sun came out.Her father said, "Now you can pull over and get out."Young Lady said, "But why now?"Father said, "When you get out, look back at all the people that gave up and are still in the storm, because you never gave up your storm is now over."This is a testimony for anyone who is going through "hard times." Just because everyone else, even the strongest, gives up, you don't have to give up, show will power. If you keep going, soon your storm will be over and the Sun will shine upon your face again.Self Determination is a positive personal character trait where you are intent on achieving a goal. The opposite of self-determination includes disinterest, hesitation, and indecisiveness. Self-determination is one of the driving forces that can encourage you to keep moving forward towards your goals despite every obstacle in your way. To succeed in life, you need self-determination.Short Story : Famous Story of Self Determination: Thomas EdisonOne Day, the child Thomas Edison returned home from his school and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother”.His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read out the letter aloud to her son: Your child is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.Many years after Edison’s mother died and he was one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through the old family things. Suddenly, he saw the folded paper in the corner of the drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up. On the paper, it was written: Your son is addled (mentally ill). We won’t let him come to school anymore.Edison cried for hours and then wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by the hero mother, became the genius of the century”This is nothing but your daunting faith and strong self-determination.9. Self-Discipline & Hard Work: Self-discipline; the real ‘secret’ to success. If ever there were a true magical ingredient to achieve success, self-discipline would be it. No personal success, achievement, or goal, can be realized without self-discipline. It is singularly the most important attribute needed to achieve any type of personal excellence, athletic excellence, virtuosity in the arts, or otherwise outstanding performance. The single most important attribute to becoming successful is self-discipline. It helps you stay focused on reaching your goals, gives you the gumption to stick with difficult tasks, and allows you to overcome obstacles and discomfort as you push yourself to new heights.Life is full of twists and turns. Everyone has to struggle here in this world to conquer every hindrance in the way to success. For this, hard work is obligatory. Without working hard and just by sitting idle, it will be hard for one to get success. Since from childhood and till now I always remember the sentence that my parents used to tell me “To be a better person in life and to get success, you have to work hard, the result of hard work is always rewarding, so you have to work hard.”Short Story On Self Discipline: The TigerA teacher and his student were walking from one village to another, when they suddenly heard a roar behind them. Turning their gaze in the direction of the roar, they saw a big tiger following them. The first thing the student wanted to do was to run away, but since he has been studying and practicing self-discipline, he was able to halt himself from running, and wait to see what his teacher would do."What shall we do Master?" Asked the student.The teacher looked at the student and answered in a calm voice: "There are several options. We can fill our minds with paralyzing fear so that we cannot move, and let the tiger do with us whatever pleases it. We can faint. We can run away, but then it will run after us. We can fight with it, but physically it is stronger than us.""We can pray to god to save us. We can choose to influence the tiger with the power of our mind, if our concentration is strong enough. We can send it love. We can also concentrate and meditate on our inner power, and on the fact that we are one with the entire universe, including the tiger, and in this way influence its soul.""Which option do you choose?""You are the Master. You tell me what to do. We don't have much time." The student responded.The master turned his gaze fearlessly towards the tiger, emptied his mind from all thoughts, and entered a deep state of meditation. In his consciousness, he embraced everything in the universe, including the tiger. In this state, the consciousness of the teacher became one with consciousness of the tiger.Meanwhile, the student started to shiver with fear, as the tiger was already quite close, ready to make a leap at them. He was amazed at how his teacher could stay so calm and detached in the face of danger.However, his teacher continued to meditate without fear. After a little while, the tiger gradually lowered its head and tail and went away.The student asked his teacher in astonishment, "What did you do?""Nothing. I just cleared all thoughts from my mind and united myself in spirit with the tiger. We became united in peace on the spiritual level. The tiger sensed the inner calmness, peace, and unity and felt no threat or need to express violence, and so walked away.""When the mind is silent and calm, its peace is automatically transmitted to everything and everyone around, influencing them deeply", concluded the teacher.10. Self-Trust: Trust and Love Yourself: Trust is a prerequisite for success if you don’t believe in your abilities; don’t be surprised if no one else does either.Self-Trust, an internal state of mind, can describe the attitudes and beliefs people hold regarding their abilities and strengths. Self-trust is a combination of a state of mind and a strong feeling of self-belief which is commonly used when one needs self-assurance especially in one's personal judgment, power, ability etc. It is that voice which comes from your inside and gives you a boost to do something which fears you. Self-trusted people generally trust in their abilities, their power, and their judgment.As a matter of fact, your success will be proportional to your self love. Learn the secret of loving yourself; open yourself up to a higher vibration so that you attract more success, abundance, wealth and health in life. Self-love means finding peace within ourselves—resting comfortably within the depth of our being. We might find temporary respite by doing something to nurture ourselves. But a deeper inner peace requires cultivating a certain way of being with ourselves a warm and nurturing attitude towards what we experience inside.Short Story : Self Trust: Story of Krishna and ArjunaSo one afternoon while Sri Krishna was taking a nap, Arjuna and Duryodhana came to meet him to enquire about his participation in the Kurukshetra War. Seeing him rest, Arjuna, an earnest follower of Krishna sat at his feet- while Duryodhana being the son of an emperor, did not like the idea of sitting at the feet of a ‘cowherd’ hence sat beside his head.When Sri Krishna got up from his nap, his two guests asked whether he will fight for the Kauravas, or the Pandavas. Krishna said, ”As both of you are my guests, I can’t let you return empty-handed. Hence one of you must get my entire Yadava Army, while the other one will get me. As I saw Arjuna first, he gets the first choice.”Duryodhana raged after hearing this proposal. He asked,”Why? Why won’t I get the first choice? Just because I don’t worship you as God?” To this, Sri Krishna smiled and replied, “First of all Arjuna was the one whom I noticed first. Secondly, Arjuna is younger to you. So he chooses first.”Arjuna chose Sri Krishna. He did not want his great Yadava Army - instead just wanted the grace and support of Krishna. Duryodhana ‘happily’ accepted the Yadava Army.Now this is confidence. Sri Krishna gave away His entire Yadava Army to his opponents, because he was confident, that the side which enjoys his support shall always win the war.Thanks!!

This is going to be extremely long as I feel I need to go into great detail about my experiences.As I’ve written in other posts, I come from a long line of ministers. My entire bloodline of males above me were all either Pastors, Ministers, Missionaries, Deacons or church elders. My earliest memories were of being in church. The first books I ever read were all Christian related books. I was quoting Bible verses by the time I was 3 years old. My entire life revolved around the church.I left Jamaica in 1972 and arrived in NY City to live with my Mom and her new husband, my stepfather, who was a young minister. My biological father was a minister and chose not to be involved in my life. The theme for me from an early age was trying to figure out how a “devout Man of God”, such as my biological father, could take advantage of a young, innocent Jamaican woman, take her virginity, impregnate her and then deny that he was the Father. How could Godly men, who spoke to God, hold such behaviours and beliefs?That bothered me.My stepfather would beat me mercilessly at times. He would strip me naked and then have me read from the Bible as he beat me. The passages would vary but he would often-times have me read Scriptures where God commanded the Children of Israel to massacre other groups of people, women and children included. He would tell me that the beatings were sparing my life. I was placed in the hospital for one beating and back then, the nurses simply treated me and hugged me. There was nothing law enforcement ever did.As a child that was secluded to house and home, we had no television because that was considered as a tool of wickedness. In Psalm 101:3, the Bible instructed us not to put any evil thing before our eyes and TV was seen as wicked. So I could read approved religious books or the Bible.When I wasn’t in school, I was completely surrounded by church people on a daily basis. My entire neighborhood consisted of church members. Many of my church friends were also my classmates. My babysitters and those we associated with were all church members. We had other congregations that were nearby but we weren’t allowed to play with those kids because they were deceived, according to our church. There were always different reasons why all of the other churches were wrong. As we grew older, friendships would sour because this person may have left one church and was now worshiping at a different church. Their decision to change churches put them in a category as the “heathens.” I lost many dear friends because each church decided that the other church was no longer worthy of fellowship. It always amazed me how God miraculously always kept my own family from being deceived while everybody else were the ones that were deceived…….It was always the other congregations that were wrong…..never the one my family was in…..how interesting!We had an incident once where we went to the local grocery store and as we came down the aisle, we saw a woman and her daughter from a church that we used to have fellowship with. I had never seen anything like this in my life before but the woman pushing the cart, saw us and literally turned around and ran away. She left her shopping cart and ran out of the store as if she were being chased. It was truly heartbreaking because these were people that had been to our home. I had played with the daughter and her other siblings many times and now they were literally running away from us as if we had a contagious disease.That bothered me.While I was determined in my faith, I kept losing friends as new divisions arose among the churches. Doctrines came out and then new doctrines. New revelations. New prophecies. It was irrelevant if these “new revelations and prophecies” were never specific but all that mattered was that we “heard a word from God.”I found that to be interesting.While I was a “saved, sanctified, holy-ghost filled, Bible-Believing” Christian, I still took beatings at the hand of my stepfather. The beatings were for things my siblings would do. Sometimes, we all got beat because he felt like beating us. The Bible verses continued. I could quote vast passages of Scripture. I could even preach.I led Youth Services. I would pray and young people would feel the moving of the Holy Ghost and start jumping and shouting. I never laid hands on anybody to cast out demons or anything like that but I had a belief that one day I would be able to.I lived a holy life. We were told that God expected the chosen ones to live “free from sin”. I was always respectful. I didn’t cheat, lie or steal. I was always honest. I wore my hair short, dressed modestly (according to the rules that were preached) and didn’t do anything that was seen as bad. I behaved in a way that I thought would be pleasing to Jesus. I prayed over my food at school. I would testify and witness to the other kids. I brought tracts to school and told everybody that would listen that they needed to be born-again. I was the extreme model of an evangelical, fundamentalist Christian.Except, I was unhappy. I was depressed. I hated my life. I would testify that I had joy but I really didn’t. I was miserable. Why?Because the sermons always came up with new “sins”. There was always some new “thing” that was “un-Godly.” Popular music was already off limits but then it started being about certain artists in the Gospel Music industry. Thoughts became sin. Doubting or having “weak faith” became sin. Failure to instantly jump when the Pastor said to jump was a sin. Whatever the Pastor said, was law. You could dare to disobey if you wanted but if you did, you were a sinner and needed to repent.That bothered me a lot.So while I tried my best to be the best I could be, there were always short-comings. If I didn’t move fast enough when told to do something, then that was a whipping. These were whippings of motivation to do better. They were meant to “humble me” and make me receptive to correction.What’s really sad is that I accepted those beatings. I thought that it was normal. It took a lot for me to cry and so there were times when, depending on the type of beating that was being issued, I wouldn’t cry. I would take the correction and move on. Then there were other times when it was a “breaking of my will” and those whippings would go on. It was a challenge between me and my stepfather. Would he tire before I cried out in pain? How long could he beat me? The magic number seemed to be between 40 & 45 lashes. Once he got into those numbers, I was usually tender and my skin raw from the belts. I took over 60 lashes once. I guess he was trying to make sure the love of God was planted firmly within me and that all sin had been beaten from my tiny body.Anyway, in my plan to please God and live as holy a life as possible, I would always seek out answers for things from those who I considered to be older and wiser in the faith. I would ask questions and they would mostly dismiss me as being young and curious. One person told me that I hadn’t even shaved yet and so for me to ask those questions, it showed that God was going to use me in a powerful and real way. Most of the time, I was told to pray about something I didn’t understand and God would reveal the answer to me. There was rarely a direct response of “this is what happened or this is why this happened.” It was just excuse after excuse or no explanation at all. Either way, I was told to pray and wait on an answer from God.I tried to believe them but couldn’t.In my faith, we didn’t believe in doctors or medicine. We were devout followers of the doctrine of Divine Healing. I never saw a doctor until I was in the military, with the exception of the few times I had to go get stitches. I guess God couldn’t heal a deep flesh wound.We were taught to go to the Elders of the church, they would anoint our heads with oil (olive oil they kept in a small vial in their pockets) and then pray for us. According to the Bible, if you prayed and had faith, God would heal you.I would go up if I had a headache or wasn’t feeling so great and they’d pour the oil over my head, lay hands on me and pray. And of course, I would say that I “claimed healing in Jesus’ name” and then go on about my business. Usually, that meant that I would go home and go to sleep and then when I woke up, I would sometimes feel better so therefore “God” healed me! If I didn’t feel better right away, then maybe I needed a second dose of prayer and by the next day, I was feeling better after sleeping, sweating and puking my guts up all night. But yes, God most certainly healed me from my headache after I had hydrated and got plenty of rest.I was thrilled that God could heal my headaches but I never understood why he couldn’t heal the devout brother who had the paralyzed hand? God couldn't heal diabetes or high blood pressure. God couldn’t heal anemia, sickle cell, broken arms, legs or heal cancer. God appeared to be limited to healing minor sicknesses such as the flu and it usually took God 4 to 5 days to help someone with minor ailments. Just enough time for the person to feel better naturally.There was one child that had hydrocephalus. That means he had a swollen head. When I say the poor child had a head larger than a basketball, I don’t say that to exaggerate. I truly felt sorry for the little boy. According to what I remember, he was born and looked normal at birth but then his head began to swell. His parents wouldn’t allow him to be treated at the hospital. They would bring him up for prayer and the same thing would happen. Oil on head, ministers pray, a whole bunch of jumping, shouting, running around the church and then “claiming” (in Jesus’ name) that the baby was healed.That baby died a painful and miserable death. They didn’t treat him at all. During the funeral, it was a “celebration” of life. Again, people were jumping and shouting, praising the Lord that the baby was now in Heaven. He was with Jesus and walking the streets of gold. We were to celebrate his life and that’s how we looked at things. While others jumped for joy, I couldn’t get it through my brain that this was somehow a “good thing” to have a dead baby. It hit me especially hard because this was the 3rd baby that I had attended a funeral for. If God allowed these little babies to suffer so much and then die, then what was my life to such a powerful God?Questions began to flow in earnest.How big was the world? Of all the people on the planet, you mean to tell me that God had selected only this specific group of people to get to Heaven? Everybody else was wrong, deceived, and apostate?These questions drove a need to look at other churches on a deeper basis. I never understood how people who were Christians could hate each other so much because they disagreed on Bible verses. How come Jesus never cleared things up? How come there were so many denominations? How come my relatives would get into heated arguments and fist fights over Bible doctrine?How come we couldn’t associate with kids from other churches? What exactly made those other churches apostate and un-Godly? How come all of the other churches were referred to as Babylon?How come the Baptists were so sinful? How could they be born-again without confessing their sins? Where did Jesus teach about any Right Hand of Fellowship? How come they didn’t teach repentance? How can you get “saved” by just walking up front and saying that you accepted Jesus?How come the Catholics required a pope and priests? How could they idolize a human man and pray to to Mary and other so-called “saints”? How could they dare to idolize statues and icons? What was wrong with them?I lived near a Jehovah’s Witness Meeting Hall and had tons of questions for them. I never understood how they could be so sincere but so wrong. How did they become so deceived? Why do they need a magazine to tell them what to say or do? (Ironic, huh?)The Pentecostal Churches were the one group that I had a low tolerance for. I was taught that if a person spoke in tongues, they were absolutely, 100%, without question, demon-possessed.Denomination by denomination, I could go down the list and describe why every other denomination of Christianity was wrong but somehow, my family had miraculously found the right church to belong to. I questioned why that was. How could that possibly be?While I thought that my beliefs were superior to theirs because my version of Christianity was the ONE and ONLY true one, questions still lingered. We claimed to have evidence that God had chosen US over all of the other churches in the world. We were the “remnant”. We were the “elect.” The “chosen few.” But why did he choose us? I wanted to know. How come people who were saying they believed in Jesus, had repented, were “born again”, lived free from sin and doing everything right but were “going to Hell” because they were in the “wrong” congregation? How could that be?Time after time, year after year, the problem kept rising up where suddenly there would be a split among the churches and people who we once fellow-shipped with, were no longer considered to be “saved.” They were considered as apostate, backsliders and lost. They were going to Hell unless they repented and sought forgiveness.During my teen years, I developed and love for music. Being as heavily involved in church music as I was, it was discovered that I had the natural ability to sing. It was as if my ears were tuned especially for gospel music and singing harmony helped me develop my skills. In school I participated in choir and caught the eyes and ears of the music staff. One thing led to another and pretty soon I was receiving scholarship offers to attend local universities.I was told that if I attended a public university, I would lose my salvation. If I wanted to maintain my salvation, I would either not go to college or attend an approved “non-accredited” Christian collegeFrustrated by the loss of friends, the deaths of believers, a restrictive and oppressive gospel and things that just weren’t adding up, I decided to attend the public university.I was labeled as rebellious and wayward. I was called out, from the pulpit, for accepting a scholarship and wanting to attend college. I was giving up my salvation for the world. It was a difficult decision but as a person that went against the mainstream all of my life, it was something I had to at least find out for myself.I reassured the church that I would be at service on the weekends and that I had no plan on giving up on God. I felt like I was being called to attend the University to shed a light on the sinful students there and to show them what a wonderful life in Christ could be theres.During my freshman year, I had a rather loud and infamous run-in with the well-known “Brother Jeb Smock” who goes around from campus to campus, preaching to college students. I had a heated confrontation where I crushed his spirits and left the man in tears because I was quoting Bible verses to him and calling him a heathen to his face. One of the things we were taught was to always “boldly proclaim the Word” and so I felt no need to have any sympathy for Brother Jeb. I viewed him as a deceiver and even worse, he admitted that he spoke in tongues, so in my eyes, he was most certainly demon possessed and so there I was, rebuking him in the “name of Jesus” and Brother Jeb got upset and left. He was arguing that he was a man of God and that we were on the same side but I wasn’t having it. I was too consumed with my own self-righteousness and my belief that I was part of the chosen few that God had selected to save the world. For some time after that, I was known around campus for that encounter but as I learned more about the world and about people, I began to question my views.As it was a long drive to my home church, I began looking for churches I could fellowship with near the campus but there were none that were preaching the “true gospel” according to how I had been taught. As I continued to study the Bible, more and more questions kept popping up.On Nov 5, 1985, I was involved in a head-on collision, which my step-father called punishment from God for choosing to attend a liberal University full of sin and degradation. I was hospitalized for almost 2 weeks and during that time, I had surgery to repair serious damage to my face. So there I was. In a hospital. Prayer wasn’t healing my face or head injuries. Having faith wasn’t taking the pain away. I was in a bad way.After being stitched and stapled back together, I returned to school but my passion wasn’t there. I was unsure of what to do. How could God allow me to get into a head-on collision? I thought the children of God had a “hedge of protection” around them? Why would God let me suffer in such a way?.My face was a mess. I had to wear a neck brace. My nose had been torn. I had glass shards buried in me. During the surgery, time had stopped. I stopped existing for several hours as they patched me back together. How come when they were cutting me from the car, I had no recollection of the events? I was unconscious and after they extracted me, I didn’t regain consciousness until I was in the ambulance. Where was my soul during the time I was unconscious?I left school to take time to heal. I moved to Orlando, FL to live with a cousin and try to make sense of all that had happened. I had lost a girlfriend, been in a horrible crash which nearly killed me, wasn’t able to perform in an opera I had been working on and was facing financial struggles. I needed a break and FL would be it.I had been in FL for a few weeks when they told me that the Space Shuttle was going to launch. Since Cape Canaveral was nearby, I should watch the launch and maybe that would help me get my mind off of the problems I was facing. So I decided to go watch the Space Shuttle launch. It was the Challenger.I was dreaming of being an astronaut. What would it be like? I was imagining what they were going through and feeling and then the Shuttle exploded. Right in front of my eyes. Things were a blur after that. I remember watching the news. It was on repeat for days. It was just a horrible tragedy and the first thing I thought of was “Wow, all of those people just went to Hell.” How sad of me to think that way.During that time, there was a huge split regarding theology among the church groups that I had fellowship with (AGAIN!) and I decided there was too much division and animosity. I was frustrated and angered by the loss of more friends who I was very close to. All of the division was over one verse in the Book of Revelations. I had enough. I needed a new life.I had a roommate who was going to speak to an Army recruiter and I decided to go with him. I was going to offer moral support. While he was in with the Army recruiter, a Marine Corps recruiter walked in and to make a really long story short, let’s just say that I ended up joining the U.S. Marine Corps that day! Wow. How in the world did that happen? I’m not sure if that’s a question or a statement!In boot camp, I got to meet people from all walks of life. All sorts of religions were represented but mostly Christian/Protestant, Catholic, Muslim or Buddhist. I don’t remember any atheists being in boot camp. The Marine Corps talked about God and belief but didn’t push it. I thought it was “mamby pamby, watered down, fake nonsense” because the Chaplain didn’t even pray. He just read prayers from a book and we all know that’s not “really” praying!Due to my upbringing, I didn’t find boot camp to be really challenging. I saw guys crying, urinating and defecating on themselves and I thought they were just mentally weak. There were tough moments for sure, but overall, I thought it was relatively easy. Life changing? Yes. Difficult physically? Yes. Mentally challenging? Not to me.I didn’t graduate with honors or even really stand out in boot camp or my training schools. I was known for being able to “call cadence” when we ran, so that was something that translated from my musical background. When I finally got to the Fleet Marine Corps, I then had the opportunity to travel. I was assigned to a US Navy ship for deployment and got a chance to travel overseas. It was during my travels that I began to see the world and my place in it significantly in a different way.I got to sail the Pacific Ocean and it was then during my long days and night at sea that I came to realize how big this world really is and how insignificant my existence was. The ship could have capsized at any moment and nobody would have ever known what happened to us. I thought of the Titanic often.I met people who were devout in their religious belief with long histories and stories about God and how he had done special things for them. But there I was, fighting with myself that while these people were honest, caring, loving, compassionate and everything so many religious Americans were not (including myself), I just KNEW they were going to Hell because they were in the wrong religion. How could that be?I traveled to Japan and fell in love with the country. There I was in a foreign country that had once been the most hated nation to my country, had decimated Pearl Harbor and carried out all sorts of other atrocities but here they had transformed into a shining example of peace. They were not Christians. They were mostly followers of Shintoism, Buddhism and atheists. Yet, the country was orderly, respectful, non-violent, and full of wonderful people. How could this be? No country could have peace without God and especially the God of the Bible so how could the Japanese get away with what they were doing?Then the Gulf War happened. I was forming close bonds with some fellow Marines and had decided that maybe I had been mistaken on some of the other denominations because there were some devout followers in those denominations. In my mind, they just needed to be exposed to someone who had truth (like me!) and they would see the error of their beliefs and I would be able to get them straightened up.We didn’t want to go to war but it was what we signed up for. We prayed constantly. We had Bible study. We would have church services and prayer meetings with two of us pretty much being viewed as the strongest prayer warriors. My partner in prayer was a young Corporal who was a newly wed at the time and his wife was pregnant with their first child.We prayed for the safety for our Marines and that the evil Muslims would suffer tremendous losses. We hoped to convert the lost Muslims after we defeated them in battle. That was our mindset. That was our prayer.It didn’t seem like God agreed with that because my Prayer Warrior brother died in front of me. While I may not have been a medical doctor and knew only basic CPR and First Aid, when I saw blood coming from the ears of my brother, I knew there was nothing to be done. The hedge of protection had failed.The war didn’t last long due to a starved Iraqi Army not wanting to fight. Burning oil wells, smoke soot, oil covered everything and desert sand storms made for a miserable existence. I made it out alive and went home with questions raging in my mind.As I tried to grasp the things going on, I just kept hearing “God’s Will.” No matter what happened, it was “God’s Will” or God was “having his way.” It made no sense to me.People continued to die at the church. Divine healing wasn’t working for serious illnesses. People would be diagnosed with a variety of cancers, lung disease or heart conditions and they would all die. Every, single, last one of them. Dead.How could these people not have enough faith? These were prayer warriors! These were people who lived according to the Bible! How could God allow so many kids to die so young? How about the 35 year old friend of mine? How about the 42 year old friend of mine? Why were all these people dying when they had been anointed with oil and prayed for by the elders of the church?Hold up! Wait a minute! Pastors were dying too? Ministers were dying too? The ones who were doing the praying were also dropping dead! It wasn’t making sense! How could any of those things be?I met my first atheist in the Marine Corps. She worked for me and she was the sweetest, most honest, upright, moral and hard working person I had ever met. I had no idea she was an atheist until she told me and I think I almost passed out when she said the word “atheist”. I didn’t run away but I was momentarily afraid of her.I don’t know why I never challenged her on her atheism but I just didn’t. She had earned my trust and I found that I had no justifiable reason to revoke that trust in her. So I watched her and how she went about her life. She was someone that I would want my child to grow up to be like. She was that great of a woman.The simple act of her acknowledging to me that she was an atheist set off chains of events in my mind. I wondered why someone would be an atheist. I began to look into what atheism is and what it meant. The questions I had been asking all along now came back into focus. How come religion couldn’t answer my questions?I began to study from an outside looking in perspective. What were the origins of my belief? I was born into this belief system. How did my parents/step-parent get into their beliefs? They were born into it as well! How come I hadn’t put this together before? What had been passed down from generation to generation was nothing but stories and tales that had been modified and adapted to suit the purpose of whoever was telling the story.I began to look at the churches I was involved in. I began to scrutinize the doctrine. I began to read about the history of the Church of God, the Church of God Reformation and the Anderson Church of God. I began to study the historical roots of the Baptist Church, specifically the Southern Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. I studied the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I traced back the beginnings of the churches, the councils, the assemblies and the organizations that controlled them.I visited different churches and learned their doctrines. I collected the different versions of the Bible they would use and listened intently to their sermons. I watched probably thousands of sermons on YouTube from different preachers. I watched TBS and other religious channels to find out the truth of God’s Word. Where was it coming from?It was during all of these searches that the truth dawned on me.It was all man-made. It was all a business. It was a cash crop to control the masses. It was, and is, a method of control.It took me more than 50 years to realize that.Everybody had a shtick. Everybody had a gimmick. God spoke to EVERY SINGLE PERSON holding that microphone and standing in a pulpit but somehow, he told them ALL something DIFFERENT!It was also interesting to me how Black people worshiped one way, full of drums, music, dancing and running around in really good time to the music. There were good beats and the musicians could really jam out. However, in the White churches, the Holy Ghost didn’t seem to have any rhythm. The white Holy Ghost couldn’t let you dance in time on and beat. But it could in the Black church…interesting…..I left religion because church services are nothing more than mass therapy sessions for people that need to be told what to do, how to live and that everything will be alright. It’s a combination fashion show and non-alcoholic club get-together. People show up to church wearing the same kind of stuff they’d wear to the club or to go to a red carpet event. It’s all about being seen.Religion causes people to behave in narcissistic ways. It allows people to feel justified in hating or belittling another person.Religion gives hope to people who are afraid to face reality. One day, we’re all going to die. I’ve held people as they breathed their last breath. Some were believers. Some were not. They all died the same way.I’ve written a lot here. But let me say; I don’t know if there’s a God. I don’t believe that the God of the Bible is real. Same as the Allah for Islam. Let’s just go with the Abrahmaic God. I see no evidence for him/her/it. I see no evidence for any gods or deities. If you ask me “How did we get here?” I’ll tell you that “I don’t know and neither do you!”I have traveled the world. I’ve seen many people, places, and things. I see the beauty of the planet but then I also see the dangerous things too.I’m perfectly fine with saying that I don’t know if there’s a “G-o-d. I don’t know but what I do know is that religion is garbage. It’s dangerous. It causes world problems. The Bible says that the love of money is not the root of all evil. I believe that religious ideology is the true root of all evil.That is why I left religion.