Fear – As parents we are deeply concerned about what the future holds for our children. Browse any teen fashion magazine and/or view all of today’s television programming aimed toward of kids. It’s a sad state of affairs to say the very least, a virtually unobtainable standard for most kids. In my humble opinion, Disney has become the new Hollywood over our lifetime and they better than anyone else set a whole new standard generating profits by inventing stars. Putting kids in television and movies is only the beginning of their giant cash machine. Let’s not forget about the live concerts and world wide merchandising to follow that exists around every corner in every isle of each and every store. These companies are interested in profit, but at what cost? When my wife and I review most of the TV programming, we witness a bunch of seemingly perfect individuals. Hair, make-up, clothing, even the homes portrayed in the shows are larger than life. So where does that leave our children? We feel that it only causes them to feel cheated and deprived.

Parent/ Troop Leaders – We are the proud parents of one marvelous daughter. We had hoped to more than one child but a higher power prevented that from happening. With that we’ve entertained the notion of either adopting or volunteering to help young people. Why? Because we have much to share. In 2003 we adopted an abandoned Girl Scout Brownie Troop. Now going on our eight year, we are still together and four are now pursuing their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. (But that’s a whole other story). The long and the short of it is, “We are interested in helping to empower young people with confidence, self esteem and to teach them that they’re extraordinary just the way they are. When they’re with us we don’t care about hair, make-up or brand named clothing, only them as a person, as an individual person.

Why do they do it? – Some folks we know wonder how or even why we make the time to give so much of ourselves to other people. I guess you could say it’s a calling of sorts. One thing that also bears mentioning here is this; When I was very young, I was interested in hobbies. Two of our neighbors allowed me to spend countless hours in their own respective workshops teaching me about all of the various materials and how to use the machines safely. Always appreciative, I felt absolutely indebted to them 24 p/day. After several months had passed I made a similar statement to both men respectively, “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to pay you back for all you’ve done.” Their response was virtually identical, “Son, when you grow up, you go out and help teach young people as well. If you do that, then we’re square”, Okay?” Of course I agreed to the arrangement wholeheartedly. (Interestingly, neither one of these men knew the other).

Nowadays we don’t expect anything in return for our volunteer efforts. We always provide environments where kids feel safe, feel good about themselves and hopefully, become success stories in their own futures. Just the same, we are supporters of anyone else who believes in these same kinds of philosophies. With that a particular name comes to mind right away, “Molly Barker”.

Our one and only daughter participated in Girl’s on the Run (G.O.T.R.). Beginning in my daughter’s 3rd grade year, she joined Girls on the Run. G.O.T.R. is an after school program which takes place a couple of days p/week in the elementary school gym for the most part. http://www.girlsontherun.org/default.html At the time, my wife and I were simply happy that our daughter was getting a little extra exercise and enjoying yet another self-esteem building program. As far as we’re concerned, young people can never get too much positive influence in our world full of make believe.

Several weeks later a local mom later gifted me with Molly Barker’s first book entitled, “Girls on Track”. Link: http://www.girlsontherun.org/mollybarker_sbooks.html#track Admittedly I am a sensitive person to begin with, so it came as no surprise that many of the stories in Molly’s book brought me to tears. Furthermore, the people that know me well say, “If you liked the book Greg, you MUST go see Molly Barker live.” Later we discovered just how right they were.

My wife and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet Molly Barker for the first time in 2006. The meeting was brief with not much more that a handshake and picture pose during a 5K event. Nevertheless, we recognized a solid connection when looking into in Molly’s eyes that made us realize that we’re both on the very same page. In the days to follow I became deeply inspired to make a fully edited movie about my daughter’s Girls on the Run experience. Later we mailed a copy to Molly and she too was deeply moved. The next year I made a second movie about the program, but this time not just for my daughter’s collection, but all of the team’s families as well. The DVD was very well received. Anymore, in communicating with Molly and her Girls on the Run program, we always refer to our family as being, “3 of her biggest fans”.

“Girls on the Run is so much fun!” Just ask my daughter and she’ll tell you ALL about it!

The only logical and correct conlusion is that He has brought back answers that were lost through the Dark Ages in which learning was terribly suppresed. God prepared the world for a restoration of truth. Since He is preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior (at which time He will gather in the faithful, so there must be faithful people to gather in), He clearly has a plan for letting His children actually know what is true. The idea that we can’t actually know something, but must blindly believe, is an old trick of the devil and is false. We CAN know! I believe in a God who reveals truth if we ask–and He only stops revealing truth when we refuse to learn more. So, the truth is out there and God wants us to find it. How then can we know what the truth is when so many claim to have it?

If you have a chance to talk to a couple of LDS missionaries, they would happy to share with you how God has made it possible for anyone who desires to know to know for certain what is true in this world. I advise all to listen to the missionaries with an open heart and read from the Book of Mormon they give you. They will make a unique claim–you don’t have to believe it because that’s what you’re told–believe it because God answers your prayers and tells you so. Put their promise and mine to the test: if you ask God sincerely He will tell you that it is true!

In India at the time of Buddha there were other competing Religious Philosophy (Vedantic Hinduism)-Sankya Philosphy (Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra) It is also argued that the existence of God cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist and an unchanging Ishvara/God as the cause cannot be the source of a changing world as the effect.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad) is another Vedanta Text that precede Buddism states “The Divine is not this and it is not that” ( In Sanskrit “Neti-Neti”). Divine is not real as we are real, nor is it unreal. The divine is not living in the sense humans live, nor is it dead. The Divine is not compassionate as we use the term, nor is it uncompassionate. And so on. We can never truly define God in words. All we can say, in effect, is that “It isn’t this, but also, it isn’t that either”. In the end, the student must transcend words to understand the nature of the Divine.

Vaisheshika Sect Buddhist Monk Dharmakīrti, teached – atomism philosophy about reality as being composed of atomic entities that are momentary flashes of light or energy. Buddhists denied the existence of substantial matter altogether. Movement consists for them of moments, it is a staccato movement, momentary flashes of a stream of energy… “Everything is evanescent”

Buddhism in India was anhilated by Islamic Invasion.
Currently, Mahayana School of Buddism founded by Monk Nagarjuna is practiced in East Asia- Japan/China etc. And Theravada Buddism is practiced in SE Asia- Sri Lanka is the oldest & closest to original Buddhism, since the time Emperor Ashoka in 270 BC.

You can know in the love and real knowledge. This is not difficult if you got into pure heart and pure mind.