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Hi folks,
All the "junks" are put together now, at last, to get this site going. There are still some parts that need more works but this is, as always, an ongoing process so there will always be rooms for improvement as long as I have time to visit my site.
The pics that are used on each page's logo, throughout my entire site, are all of my own pics or pics that were taken by me except from the external links that I link to my site. The template that is used on my site is part of thanks to the Bend Wizards that offers this free template. I like the color tone of it so I use it as the color theme for my site.
Who I am and what am I doing here? As long as your curiosity browses through the site, from my own articles, to some of the comments, several collected stories, or even a few of my own Vietnamese poems, you probably would know what I am pretty much into, phylosophically speaking.

Building this site is just part of my hobby to voice my personal philosophical views in life. This site is not in anyway intended to offend those whose social, political, or religious views happen not to be as same as mine. Beside Eastern philosophy, politics and religions are other subjects I touch on from time to time. For such sensitive topics, my thoughts and comments surely will offend those, especially traditional conservative extremists, whose views are not as same the views within this site. But what the heck, one cannot please everyone and neither should one live by others' opinion. You might agree with some of my views and of course, you will disagre with a few of them. It all depends on where one comes from and how one looks at things from different perspectives. However, I do appreciate your curiosity for stopping by in anyway.

That being said, from the philosophical point of view, I do not always consider things in an "absolute" state. Relativity and duality play part in my daily thinking. There is always a down side within the best of everything, and vice versa, each obstacle itself presents an opportunity in return. Growing up from the East, my thoughts however do not always get caught up in an old-fashion traditional conservative way; instead, they would rather be free, liberal, and flexible according to situations around. This 'present' life itself has already had a few controversial characteristics within itself as some happen to notice, witness, and observe in some way. Where and how one draws a line to define how things should and should not be depend on where and how one stands on his personal reference. To me, life itself seems as if there is no such thing as "absolute" or "perfect". Seeing things this way allows me to be open, flexible, and acceptable to all different walks of life.
There is always something good comes out from the worst of things; and vice versa, in the best of everything, there are still signs for improvement that one has to admit. This 'ying-yang' fact is a fair way, for some, to say that it is senseless to judge one over another. People are different at some level of their thinking. The way one perceives things tells others the way he or she really is. There is an old saying of Tao (that I cannot recall the source) once said, "Whether you were then a man dreaming you were a butterfly, or whether you are now a butterfly dreaming you are a man (Tao)", is a perfect example of how things can be seen in either way. I do not judge others if he or she is right or wrong. Neither should others judge anyone else for what, who, or how one is in that regard. The word "right' or 'wrong', from the philosophical perspective, is only a 'relativity' term that could never be defined or drawn precisely since people only tend to see things from their own perspectives. Middle-path concept therefore exists to compromise such disagreement. Agree-on-the-disagreement, in other words, seems to be a reasonable way to allow oneself to observe things from different sides, compromise, and become an open-minded and an open-hearted human being.

If nothing holds true on a permanent, absolute, and perfect stand as I have mentioned, does that mean what I have just said, and all the thoughts on this site thereafter, might not have a valid point as well? Yes, they might be indeed. It is once again, depended on the perspective, the space, and the time that one happens to be in. I do not suggest others to take my thoughts for it. People should make their own judgement base on their best knowledge of current situations anyway.

My site only tries to bring out a simple message, especially from the religious point of view that in my own philosophical perspective, there is no 'Way' that is the "only Way", and there is no 'One' that is the "only One" that should or could claim to be the only Superior or the only Savior of all things. This makes me sound like an anti-religious fanatic as some might suggest. However, if one has a respect to all walks of life and if one considers all faiths are as important as his own, one would and should be in deed very humble to claim that his religious doctrine is the only right doctine and his religious founder is the only Supreme Savior out there among all others.
Of course a Muslim man would consider Mohammad is the only enlightened one while Islam is the only way that leads Muslims to Allah! This is the belief... of course in his own mind.
Of course a Christian woman would believe that Jesus is her only Savior while beleiving in Jesus and Christianity is the only way Christians would not to be thrown to...hell. This is the belief...of course, in her own mind!
And last but not least, a Buddhist boy would follow his Buddha's teachings and always believes that Buddhism is one of the best doctrines that could lead him to the state of Nirvana... of course, that would hold true in his own state of mind.
The universe already has had three possible major doctrines out there as you can see. Think if these three devoted followers sit in a debating room, none of them opens his or her own mind to see and accept what the other two have to offer, the debate and the conflict would go on forever.
The key in this scenaio is that each one should understand that each doctrine could only best fit one's own situation. Using one's own faith and belief to dominate and force that faith onto others' belief is simply ignorant.
In a more realistic way, this type of conflict and agressiveness occurs on a daily basis. Whether they are physically and verbally, or mentally and physologically; they are still, in a way, the acts and the thoughts of hatred and discrimination from one group against the other(s) whose views happen not to be as same as the majority of the dominant doctrine(s) at the time.
Looking for differences among religions does not help but only stir up chaos in the society that has already been suffered enough with deep wounds and bloodshed. Religious conflicts play a major part in such chaos. Conflicts occur due to a simple fact that people simply want to dominate their own belief system upon others. And worst, people also intentionally use their belief system as an excuse to motivate and pursue their own political games.
In my own way, the more one tries to intimidate and dominate others using his or her own religious belief, the more one reveals his own lack of understanding the concept of wholeness and uniqueness in each of every living creature.
'Nature', 'Universe', or 'God' - depends on how one prefers to call - is unique. Life has always been innocently "it" for us to study, learn, and understand the way 'it' really means in each of our's own intepretation.
One should not discriminate others simply because others do not act, think, or behave the way one wants. Only time could have the final word whether that 'act', that 'thought', or that 'behavior' would fit in the true meaning of the so-called "right" or "moral" at the time.

Embrace the diversity that life brings and yet question yourself as what and how you would feel if you happen to be the ones on the minority side that was were being judged or singled out simply because you do not fit in with the social "main stream" at the time!
Why not adapt, accept, and appreciate all forms, shapes, and the wholeness that life brings under different religious roots. After all, wouldn't it not be true that people should all learn the fundamental mantra of all, "Treat others the way you would like to be treated."? Bibles, scriptures, documents, and all source of translations from generations after generations, times after times, and obviously languages after languages, throughtout religious leaders' mis-interpretation (either intentionally or unintentionally), might have mis-guided and mislead the pure intention of the founding fathers. Such careless and selfish acts unavoidably and unfortunately made a big deal out of the differences among religions.

In my own way of seeing things, religions are like rivers. They branch out to multiple paths and after all, would pour into a same big ocean, once again. Nature, Universe, or God throughout times, has automatically created and shaped up different belief systems just simply to fit themselves in different cultures, at different times, and on different levels of mankind's perception.
People are all different in thei own level of seeing, perceiving, and understanding things. Whatever that level might be, one can always reach God (Christianity), achieve his enlightenment (Buddhism), or being in a free state of mind (Taoism, Daoism) if he follows his path devotionally and wholeheartedly. If someone tells me that his belief is better than mine, he could be correct from his point of view but it is not necessarily be so from my own perspective. Likewise, I don't stand out and assume that my religious belief is better than others because I know we do not always look at things from a very same angle.
One religious system is best for this person because it comforts him. Another religious system agrees with another person because it fits into her own capability of undersstanding things and she is comnfortable with it.
The point here is that one should not let others destabilize his own thought; and vice vera, one should not condemn what others believe or don't believe in something. Figuring out this fact, bloodshed and religious conflicts could have been avoided. And for a better world, politicians would and could have not had any "dirty" tool to manipulate their "blindful" followers for their dirty political gains. Unfortunately, this has not always been as it should be.

Since nothing is absolute, spending time to debate who or which idealism is the best out there is senseless and irrelevant. It is a waste of time.
During my college time (University of Maryland at College Park), I had chances to involve in different religious study groups including so-called "The-Bible-Study" group, "The-Jehovah-Witness" study group, and even the "Tantric-Buddhism-Meditation" group, and so on. Interacting with different religious groups gave me an oportunity to see, and share what others believe in.
We might have different choices and references but we all aim for a same goal of getting there, sooner or later.
Once again, all rivers are meant to pour into a one big ocean. On their way, some take shorter paths; but some would have to take a few longer ones. The chosen paths are selected based on the landscapes, surrounding conditions, environments, time, and especially the capability of how those rivers could handle and adjust themselves to fit in.
Eating apples is another example. Most Westerners hold the apple between their thumb and their index finger, roll it around, and eat it sideway. Some Easterners, including myself, hold the apple within their palm and eat it straight from the top. There might be different times as how fast the apple would be eaten depends on each individual's capability; but the taste of the apple remains unchanged.No one out there would have the right to judge whether or not which way is the right way to eat an apple. In a larger scale, who is out there would have a damn right to tell others which religion is the 'right' religion that others should worship?
Right or wrong is only an illusional wall that is built up from the thoughts that we gather and pick up around ourselves. The thoughts and acts of others,directly or indirectly, affect and manipulate our thoughts in certain way. 'Right' and 'wrong' are therefore only an instant state of mind while things were observed, analyzed, and decided from different angles, at different times, and on different levels of one's own reason and conciousness. What is "right" today could be "wrong" tomorrow; and vice versa, books and scriptures that were written or told thoudsands of years ago should not always be only a 'suitable' or 'moral' guide to judge our today's social behavior. Simple is that.

The religious sector, as I mention above, is only part of such social discrimination we face today. There are many others discrimination that one can relate to such as the discrimination against politics, ethnics, racism, sexism, or even sexual orientation. So who out there would have a legitimate right to define and draw a line of "right", "wrong", "moral", or "immoral" since we all come from different walks of life and we are all hard-coded with different religious brain-washed doctrines to begin with?
To some, you should be happy and content with who, what, and why you are the way you are because there must be reasons in you that inspire you to be as such. And to others, embrace the diversity that life brings, practice the spirit of "Live and Let Live", and be intolerant as who, what, and why people are the way they are if they do not happen to fit in into "your" own "defined world".
In the end, happiness is the state of mind that everyone reaches out for. Like the rivers, each one has his or her own way of getting there. Who are we bother to hate, condemn, and discriminate others instead of sharing love and putting ourselves into others' shoes to see what it would feel like to be on the other side of the issue?

A poor old lady who works at the local grocery store where I shop could have been my mom.
A poor old man who walks around the very same supper market to sweep the floor each day could have been my dad.
An old highschool friend in Vietnam who carries his clients on his old rental cyclo daily, tries to survive his family with his own hard-earn money could have been me.
Or a stray dog that wanders along the local service roads, begs for food every day, could have been my pet at home; and the list goes on.
When seeing and looking at things, if one had only tried to see himself or his loved ones as part of that suffering picture; if one had only tried to feel the the pain of others as part of his pain; or the joy of others as part of his joy; this world would have nothig to debate whether one is better than another. No one would judge or condemn anyone else using his dominant religious belief as an excuse to make such claim and cause such chaos and conflicts. Each one would have a better approach toward others and move on with life as time progresses.

The human 'shell', the outlook, the appearance, or the common 'name' that we call ourselves to distinguish oneSELF from another is just a "conventional" way that we have to come up and adapt with. Deep down inside each of us, these are just a wall of delusion between who we pretend to be and who we really are. When we can break this wall up and bring ourselves to the understanding that there is no difference from both sides of it, we would see our own real identity: the uniqueness, the wholeness, and the true nature of one's own shell.
To break through this illusional wall, it requires a great deal of an open mind, and most certaintly, an open heart.
"Be open a little bit!" Buddha once said, "A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is amost unnoticed."

Thanks for stopping by.
Duc Luu

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