HI

Hi,
What is everyone up too?  In 8 days I will turn 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am looking forward to that....  It is also only 31 days till we go home and 19 days until Neni (Mommy's Mom) comes... and only 66 days still strings camp... and... just one more thing, only 38 days till VBS (Vacation Bible School)

Tomorrow Mommy and Leigh are going out, so Sam and I get to watch the stinker...  So that will be fun!!!

India is still the same fun and sad all at the same time.   We stopped tennis and are now just going to play in the afternoons, every once in a while...

Rene, Daddy, Sam, and I went to Kalani Veg on Sunday night to pic up some food.   Rene drove and (thankfully) we made it safely to Kalani Veg.   It was pretty good food all things considered, but gave us an awful feeling in our stomachs afterwards.  Here is the Hindu, Islam (Muslim), and Buddhist Salvation...

Salvation for a Hindu is called Moksha. Moksha is when an enlightened human being is freed from the cycle of life-and-death (the endless cycle of death and reincarnation) and comes into a state of completeness. He then becomes one with God.

There are four ways to Moksha:

1. The Way of Action: This involves carrying out certain religious ceremonies, duties and rites. The objective is to perform works without regard for personal gain.

2. The Way of Knowledge: This requires using your mind and philosophy to come to a complete comprehension of the universe.

3. The Way of Devotion: Salvation is reached through acts of worship, based upon the love for a God (there are thousands of gods in Hinduism).

4.The Royal Road: The use of meditation and yoga techniques. This method of reaching salvation is typically only used by wandering monks.

Each of these ways to salvation in Hinduism requires that a person do certain things. Salvation is through what a Hindu does. It is through human works.

In Islam there are two ways to get paradise:

1. Your good deeds are weighed against your bad deeds. If you have done enough good deeds when compared to your bad deeds, you will eventually get to paradise, after spending some time burning in the fires of hell.

2. Muslims who die as martyrs defending Islam go directly to paradise.

It is plain to see that in Islam salvation is a result of your works. You may have also noticed that all Muslims, except those who die as martyrs defending Islam, go to hell. This is clearly stated in the Koran, Sura 19, verses 67-68 and 71-72.

(This is Allah speaking through his prophet Mohammed.) "There is not one among you who shall not pass through hell; such is the absolute decree of your Lord. We will deliver those who fear Us, and leave the wrongdoers there, on their knees." (Sura 19:71-72)

This Sura clearly states that everyone goes to hell and that, after some period of time, Allah will deliver those who have done sufficient good deeds from hell, leaving behind those who have not done enough good deeds.

Salvation is through what a Muslim does. It is through human works

Buddhism developed out of Hinduism in the sixth century B.C.

For a Buddhist salvation is reaching Nirvana. Nirvana is a transcendental, blissful, spiritual state of nothingness--you become a Buddha.

To reach Nirvana you must follow the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is:

1. Right Understanding: accepting the Four Noble Truths. (The existence of suffering; the cause of suffering; the end of suffering; and the end of pain.)

2. Right Resolve: renounce the pleasures of the body. Change your lifestyle so that you harm no living creatures and have kind thoughts for everyone.

3. Right Speech: do not gossip, lie or slander anyone.

4. Right Action: do not kill, steal or engage in an unlawful sexual act.

5. Right Occupation: avoid working at any job that could harm someone.

6. Right Effort: heroically work to eliminate evil from your life. Through your own effort develop good conduct and a clean mind.

7. Right Contemplation: make your self aware of your deeds, words and thoughts so that you can be free of desire and sorrow.

8. Right Meditation: train your mind to focus on a single object without wavering so as to develop a calm mind capable of concentration.

Following the Noble Eightfold Path requires that a person do the above eight things. Salvation is through what a Buddhist does. It is through human works.

Mak~