Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

Do you know that one of the best-selling nutritional supplement categories is energy supplements? If you search for energy supplements on Amazon.com now, you will get over 20,000 items. Three years ago, I did the exact search and got 8,000, and I thought that was too many. It grew almost three times in three years. What does it tell you? It tells me there is a shortage of physical energy, and many...

Once upon a time, a woodcutter was chopping wood by a river. As he swung his axe, it slipped from his hands and fell into the river. The woodcutter was poor and could not afford to lose his only tool. Desperate, he sat by the riverbank and cried. Suddenly, the angel guarding the river appeared and asked why he was crying. The woodcutter explained his plight, and the angel dived into the river, eme...

I’ve discovered that life is limited by the capacity of imagination. Imagination is what makes us different from animals. It’s God’s image in us. The question is how we can stretch our imagination far enough to have no more limitations. In 1990, when I was about to leave for the U.S. from Burma, I called my aunt in California, asking her what I should bring to America. She said, “Don’t bring anyth...

One of my most joyous moments in life was when my first daughter, Cassy, was born. I can never describe how happy I was when the nurse put her in my hands as soon as she landed safely on this earth. I started counting her cute little fingers and toes. It was December, so I regarded her as God’s best Christmas gift for me. For the following years, I was in the clouds, reading books to her at night,...

Home, sweet home! I am back from the Gift of Life mission trip in Vietnam. It’s a medical mission that provides heart surgery to children with congenital heart diseases who can’t afford it. This week, I had the privilege to observe the cardiac surgery of a 16-month-old child up close. It was quite an experience to be with a team of dedicated doctors and nurses working skillfully on a living human....

This week, I watched a thought-provoking debate between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Many of you know Richard Dawkins, a reductionist atheist who wrote the famous book, “The God Delusion.”  I mentioned him a few weeks ago in another message. Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up as a Muslim and became an atheist after moving to Europe. Ever since then, she has criticized all religions, including Christi...

When I was in college, a friend invited me to join a Wisdom Society. We were required to write a philosophical essay every month, and the best essay received an award and was published. The first assignment was titled “God Created Humans or Humans Created God.” It was thought-provoking but not as easy to write as I had expected. Even though I didn’t win the contest, the topic stayed in my head for...

There’s a Chinese proverb, “Men do not pass 8x8; women 7x7.” This saying comes from the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Medicine Manual, written in the 5th century B.C.E. What does it mean? It’s about the pattern of physical changes in males and females. Men grow in an eight-year cycle and women in a seven-year. Let me explain by referring to the Internal Medicine Manual. A boy changes his teeth when he...

This week, I saw a video of an interview with Richard Dawkins, the famous atheist renowned for his book, “The God Delusion,” and his recently published “Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide,” teaching young people how to outgrow religion. He is a retired professor of Evolutional Biologist at Oxford University. Currently, he is on a tour around the world to promote his ideology. Like most popular ath...

I hope everyone is safe and sound after the two earthquakes on Friday. Even though it was only 4.8 magnitude, for those born and raised on the East Coast, that was the strongest earthquake they had ever experienced in their lifetime. So, some were extremely shaken by the experience. Pun intended! Paul said, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks. (Heb...

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! What is more important for your quality of life, happiness or freedom? Many of you know I pursue happiness because I lost my happiness due to some unpleasant childhood events. However, some philosophers and thought leaders argue that freedom is more important than happiness. Immanuel Kant emphasizes the importance of freedom as a prerequisite for moral action....

I know the title is a little ambitious, but this message is not about me teaching you how to know everything but exploring together the secrets of discernment taught by Jesus Christ. Just as physicists have been trying to figure out the theory of everything, religions and philosophies try to discover the knowledge of everything. For example, one of the highest goals of Buddhism is to attain the wi...

Are you joyful this morning, evening, or anytime, depending on where in the world you are right now? Jesus expects us to live our lives in complete joy. That’s the outcome he expects from us. He said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11). The question is, how do we maintain this complete joy living in this fallen world where...

I was fascinated by a chapter titled “Perfect Happiness” or “Ultimate Joy” in the Book of Zhuangzi, my favorite philosopher of the 4th century BCE. Zhuangzi was a hilarious sage, and, like Jesus, he used parables and fables to explain the metaphysical reality and spiritual truth. Zhuangzi sang at his wife’s funeral, which was entirely inappropriate in ancient Chinese culture. People expected the h...

When I first came to New York City, I was surprised to see the garbage bags and trash cans piled up on the sidewalks all over the city in the evening. It just happened to be one of those days of the week you take your trash out. But it didn’t look like the New York City of my imagination. As the Capital of the World, I thought New York City should always be as clean and pleasant as other modern ci...

If you had only three years to live and wanted to make the most out of your life, what would be your obstacle other than time? If you had only three years to live and wanted to leave a legacy that would last for generations, what would be your obstacle other than time? If you had only three years to live and wanted to build a company that would last forever, what would be your obstacle other than...

There once was an evil dragon living on a high mountain. Every now and then, it would come down to burn the farms and destroy the villages. Every time a warrior went up the mountain to kill the dragon, they never returned. People assume the dragon killed the warriors. One day, a young man decided to go up the hill to slay the dragon. He had just returned from the best martial arts school. Before h...

I am sure all of you have heard in the news that Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro, their first VR, AR, MR (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality) headset. I wonder how many of you have bought it. I think it’s overpriced, so I am staying with Meta Quest 3. I’ve been using Meta Quest since version 1 when it was called Oculus Quest. If you wonder, “What’s the big deal about it? Isn...

Looking at a pile of correspondence and reports from around the world to review and respond, an emperor of ancient China felt overwhelmed and couldn’t concentrate on his work. He wanted something to calm his mind down to get his work done. He consulted the prime minister for a solution. The minister suggested hanging a giant, beautiful, calming painting in his office to induce serenity. The empero...

A friend told me that there are three levels of authority. Generalist Authority, Specialist Authority, and Celebrity Authority. Using doctors as examples, a Generalist doctor has an average authority and charges what average doctors charge. A Specialist could charge you much more because they have more authority, and people trust them more for their specialty. A Celebrity doctor, however, commands...

I want to begin with a provocative parable by the great philosopher Zhuangzi. Once upon a time, a man named “Mr. Knowledge” traveled north to the territory of the sages to seek an epiphany of the Truth. He encountered a sage named “Mr. Actionless Wordless” and asked the following three questions: “How do I think and ponder to know the Truth? Where do I dwell and strive to rest in the Truth? What p...

The great philosopher Zhuangzi told a fascinating story about a debate with his friend Huizi, another famous scholar and philosopher of the 4th century B.C.E. The story is playful but profound. Let’s see if you can unwrap the deeper meaning of the debate. Zhuangzi and Huizi were walking beside the weir on the River Hao. Zhuangzi said, “Look, the fish are coming to the surface and swimming carefree...

An elementary school teacher distributed sheets of plain paper and colored crayons to her class, asking the children to draw whatever they wanted. Knowing children are creative, she was curious about what they would draw. She approached a little girl and asked, “What are you drawing?” “A picture of God,” she said. “Oh, no. You can’t draw a picture of God.” She asked, “Why?” “Because no one has eve...

Last week, I talked about how ultimate happiness comes from meaning. If you find meaning in life, you have happiness. The meaning of life comes from usefulness. So, when you make yourself useful, you find life meaningful, and you harvest the fruit of joy and happiness. Some of us may be thinking, “I’m getting old and useless.” It’s not true. Usefulness can be both active and passive. If you are yo...

One of my ulterior motives to leave home and travel across the world to America was to find the meaning of life. Growing up, I was not satisfied with life. Later, I discovered I was not alone. Every teenager and young adult has an innate desire to figure out the meaning of life. Everyone has a hero’s journey. Some people discover their destiny sooner, but others take a lifetime. In his book, “Man’...