Category: All
All essays publicly available.
Posted on September 22, 2018
by Kephen
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In the Twilight of Memory Calling to me in the distance, I can hear them all say my name. Reaching out from the past, from moments that used to be. I drift beyond the precipice of wakefulness, I let go of my consciousness and…
Posted on September 20, 2018
by Kephen
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My name is Kephen Merancis and there’s really no easy way to start the conversation that we need to have. It takes a lot of courage to break the wall of silence that stigma builds. It takes at least a little bit of hope…
Category: All, Depression and Suicide, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, MCRD, Mental Health, Mental Illness, San Diego, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, USMC
Posted on September 20, 2018
by Kephen
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According to the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, employees with depression miss on average 31.4 days per year and an additional 27.9 days of unproductivity when they report for work, but are unable to focus due to the symptoms of depression. Various studies show that…
Category: All, Depression and Suicide, Human Condition, ScienceTags: *See All Posts, Addiction, Anxiety, Behavioral Health, Depression, Loneliness, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Workplace
Posted on September 9, 2018
by Kephen
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Prajñāpāramitā Part II: The Heart Sutra The second sutra that I will be explaining from the Prajñāpāramitā is the Heart Sutra. If you have not already read Prajñāpāramitā Part I: The Diamond Sutra, I encourage you to start there before continuing with this article on the Heart…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Buddhism, Existence, Faith, Heart Mantra, Heart Sutra, Insight, Inspiration, Life, Mahayana, Mind, Prajnaparamita, Religion, Thich Nhat Hanh, Truth, Zen Buddhism
Posted on August 7, 2018
by Kephen
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Moments in Time A moment is more than a measurement and more than a memory, it is a place in time. A static point in the timeline of the Universe, never lost and never changing. Every moment that has ever come to be and…
Category: All, Human Condition, In Loving Memory, ScienceTags: *See All Posts, Albert Einstein, Andromeda Galaxy, Astronomy, Brian Greene, Cerebral Wayfarer, Colin Madsen, Dealing With Loss, Death, Dying, Earth, His Light Carries On, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, Interstellar, Light Years, Loss, Loss of Loved Ones, Loved Ones, Milky Way Galaxy, Physics, Proxima Centauri, Space, Stars, Sun, Universe, When A Parent Dies
Posted on June 9, 2018
by Kephen
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To be Acknowledged as Existing 7,432 Americans will wake up today to what will be their last day alive, most of whom will not know this ahead of time. According to the American mortality rate published in 2016 by the National Center for Health…
Category: All, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Appreciation, Awareness, Friends, Friendship, Gratitude, Lessons on Living, Love, Loved Ones, Positive Influence, Thich Nhat Hanh, What Matters
Posted on April 6, 2018
by Kephen
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Choose To Live Do something that scares you. Go places you’ve never been before. Become the person you wish other people would be. Ever since my mom died almost two years ago, I have constantly faced the mortality of my own existence. Too many…
Category: All, Depression and Suicide, Human Condition, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Awareness, Death, Life, Live, Mindfulness, Mortality, Thrive
Posted on April 1, 2018
by Kephen
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The Power of Belief I was born into and raised within a Christian community, more specifically a Catholic parish. This article will discuss how I went from attending a private Catholic school and Catholic Mass every weekend, to feeling a lot of doubt in…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, GodTags: *See All Posts, Atheism, Atheist, Buddhism, Buddhist, Catholic, Christianity, Church, Confirmation, Doubt, Easter, Eucharist, Faith, Holy Bible, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, Mind, Nature, Ordained Minister, Ordination, Parish, Power of Belief, Priest, Religion, Richard Dawkins, Sacraments, Sam Harris, Sin, Transubstantiation, Youth Pastor
Posted on March 24, 2018
by Kephen
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Lords of the Wild For millennia human beings have created depictions through art and literature of fabled beings who resided in forests, mountains, and various other aspects of nature. These ranged from male and female beings who looked very human like to those who…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Environment, GodTags: *See All Posts, Animals, Baruch Spinoza, Cernunnos, Christianity, Earth, Environment, Environmentalism, Existence, Gods of Nature, Green Man, Inspiration, Nature, Nature Worship, Pan, Pantheism, Religion, Space, Spirituality, Sun, Truth
Posted on March 19, 2018
by Kephen
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The Inexplicable Have you ever stopped to think for a moment how incredibly rare your existence actually is? The odds that you would ever come into being are literally on average a million to one. That’s literally a 0.000001% chance that you would be…
Category: All, Human Condition, In Loving Memory, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Existence, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Rarity of Life, Truth, Value of Life
Posted on March 19, 2018
by Kephen
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How To Research Your Family Ancestry So you’ve decided that you want to research your family ancestry, but you don’t know where to begin. Genealogy, the study of family ancestry, is both immensely rewarding and incredibly time consuming. For most people, the time required…
Category: All, Human Condition, In Loving Memory, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Advice For Beginners, Building A Family Tree, Family History, Family Research, Genealogy, How To, Inspiration, Learn About Your Ancestors
Posted on February 7, 2018
by Kephen
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Ben Tre: Keep The Loneliness Warm I hold my face in my two hands. No, I am not crying. I hold my face in my two hands to keep the loneliness warm two hands protecting, two hands nourishing, two hands preventing my soul from…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, PoliticsTags: *See All Posts, Ben Tre, Bombing of Ben Tre, Buddhism, Buddhist Monk, Da Nang, Destruction of Ben Tre, Facts, Ho Chi Minh City, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, PBS, Politics, Public Broadcasting Service, Saigon, Self-Immolation, Southern Vietnam, The Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Quang Duc, Viet Cong, Vietnam War
Posted on February 2, 2018
by Kephen
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Genetics: The Basics of How You’ve Come To Be Genetics are a fascinating thing. Most of us have forty-six chromosomes in every one of the some fifty-trillion cells that are in our body at any given moment. Each of those chromosomes is paired up…
Category: All, Human Condition, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Adenine, Allele, Autosomes, Cells, Chromosome, Cytosine, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA, Dominant, Double Helix, Expressed Genes, Genes, Genetics, Genotype, Guanine, Heterozygous, Homozygous, Hydrogen Bond, Inheritable Traits, Inheritance, Mutation, Non-Recombination, Nucleotide, Phenotype, Phosphate, Proteins, Punnett Square, Recessive, Recombination, Sex Chromosomes, Thymine, XX, XY
Posted on January 30, 2018
by Kephen
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What the Story of Hiro-Kala Teaches Us If you’re not familiar with Hiro-Kala, I’ll give you a brief glimpse. He is a Marvel Comic Universe fictional character created by Greg Pak and Ron Garney, appearing from 2008 through 2011 in such series as Skaar:…
Category: All, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Axeman Bone, Bruce Banner, Caiera, Galactus, Hiro-Kala, Hulk's Dark Son, Incredible Hulk, Marvel Comics, Sakaar, Skaar, Skaar's Evil Twin, The Story of Hiro-Kala, Who is Hiro-Kala?
Posted on December 24, 2017
by Kephen
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When A Parent Dies Sometimes we avoid things we don’t want to accept or acknowledge as true, a futile attempt to hold onto the bliss of unknowing. Days after my mom passed away last year, I sat down and wrote about what I was…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Human Condition, In Loving Memory, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Closure, Dealing With Loss, Death, Dying, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, Loss, Loss of Loved Ones, Remembering, When A Parent Dies, When Mom Died
Posted on December 18, 2017
by Kephen
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Prajñāpāramitā Part I: The Diamond Sutra There is much to learn from all of the Buddhist scriptures and each of the three main branches of Buddhism have their own interpretations of the texts. For those who follow the Theravada tradition, the Pali Canon are the…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Albert Einstein, Brian Greene, Buddhism, Diamond Sutra, Inspiration, Mahayana, Pali Canon, Physics, Prajnaparamita, Shakyamuni, Siddhartha Gautama, Tathagata, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tipitaka, Truth
Posted on December 13, 2017
by Kephen
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The Passenger: Commentaries on the Nature of Consciousness What is consciousness? It is defined as a subjective experience, an awareness of self or one’s surroundings and the ability to react to it. Right now, as you are reading this, there is someone inside your…
Category: All, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Buddhism, Callosotomy, Christof Koch, Corpus Callosum, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Emergent Property, Gregory Matloff, John Wheeler, Left Hemisphere, Multiple Personality Disorder, Nature of Consciousness, Neuroscience, Panpsychism, Philosophy, Physics, Right Hemisphere, Roger Penrose, Sam Harris, Split-Brain Theory
Posted on December 9, 2017
by Kephen
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“The mind withers and the soul may fade, but the heart will always beat in sync with the one who carries it.” – Colin Madsen February 18, 1991 – April 04, 2016 His Light Carries On: The Life, the Loss, and the Love of…
Category: All, In Loving Memory, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Abduction, Adventurer, American Medical Examiners, Arshan, Buryatia, Cerebral Wayfarer, Closure, Colin Madsen, Compassion, Death, Evidence, Facts, His Light Carries On, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, Inspiration, Irkutsk, Justice, Loss, Loss of Loved Ones, Loving Kindness, Murder Case, Nature, Peace, Remembering, Russia, Russian Investigation, Siberia, Torture, Truth, Tunka National Park, Unsolved Murder, Violent Interrogation
Posted on November 12, 2017
by Kephen
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From Samanera to Bhikkhu: The Life of a Traditional Theravada Monk In this article we will explore the life of a traditional Buddhist monk, as seen through the eyes of a Theravada practitioner. If you don’t know anything about Buddhism, I highly recommend you…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Anagarika, Bhukkhu, Buddhism, Buddhist Monk, Dharma Talk, Ego, Faith, Five Precepts, Inspiration, Mahayana, Monastery, Monastic Life, Monk, Pacittiya, Pali Canon, Religion, Ritual, Samanera, Sangha, Sutra, Sutta, Ten Precepts, Theravada, Vajrayana, Vinaya Pitaka
Posted on November 6, 2017
by Kephen
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How To Start Eating Better Cooking tip: When cooking meats, eggs, vegetables, potatoes, and in some cases grains, you should saute, fry (never deep fry), grill, bake, or boil them with extra virgin olive oil as a marinade and seasoned with herbs or spices…
Category: All, FitnessTags: *See All Posts, Amaranth, Amino Acid Chain, Amino Acids, Anthocyanin, Anti-oxidants, Beta-Carotene, Calcium, Carotenoids, Chia Seeds, Chlorophyll, Diet, Diet Plan, Dieting, Eating Better, Essential Amino Acids, Facts, Farro Perlato, Fiber, Fitness, Freekeh, Fruits, Good Food Options, Grains, Health, Healthy Eating, Healthy Foods, How To Eat Healthy, Iron, Lutein, Magnesium, Monounsaturated Fat, Nutrients, Nutrition, Omega-3, Phytochemicals, Polyunsaturated Fat, Potassium, Protein, Quinoa, Retinol, Saturated Fat, Science, Sorghum, Trans Fats, Trans-unsaturated Fat, Tubers, Vegetables, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Weight Loss, What Foods To Eat, Whey, Whole Grain, Zeaxanthin
Posted on October 10, 2017
by Kephen
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The Macrocosm Perspective Siddhartha Gautama taught that in order to see what matters we must first remove the ego from the equation. Nothing rips apart my ego or sense of self more than the Universe. The above photo is a compilation of the center…
Category: All, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, TechnologyTags: *See All Posts, Andromeda Galaxy, Betelgeuse, Black Holes, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Dark Energy, Density, Earth, Ego, Eta Carinae, Event Horizon, Facts, Fun, Gravity, Hubble Space Telescope, IK Pegasi, Interstellar, Laws of Physics, Light Years, Mass, Matter, Milky Way Galaxy, Proxima Centauri, Red Dwarf, Science, Singularity, Sirius, Space, Spitzer Space Telescope, Stars, Sun, Supermassive, Supernova, Universe, Virgo Supercluster, Void
Posted on September 22, 2017
by Kephen
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Human Sexuality Defined Ever since I started writing about human sexuality I realized that a lot of people really don’t even know what sexuality and orientation mean and how to use those terms. I think that one of the biggest reasons is because of…
Category: All, LGBTTags: *See All Posts, Choice, Conversion Therapy, Equality, Gay, Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Lesbian, LGBT, Love, No Choice, Parenting Advice, Sex, Transgender
Posted on September 12, 2017
by Kephen
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An Educational Report by Kephen Merancis Introduction This report is intended to educate the public on the risk of suicide in those under the age of fifteen. It is my hope and my intention that through education and awareness, we can stem the rise…
Category: All, Depression and Suicide, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, ADD, ADHD, Awareness, Child Suicide, Depression, Facts, Health, Healthcare, Kids Who Commit Suicide, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Pre-Teen Suicide, Suicide, Suicide Prevention
Posted on September 9, 2017
by Kephen
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“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established… It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one…
Category: All, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, PoliticsTags: *See All Posts, America, Confirmation Bias, Constitution, Continental Congress, Divided States, Facts, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Identity Politics, National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, Nationalism, Oath of Enlistment, Opinion, Police Brutality, Politics, Roland Fryer Jr., Silo Effect, The Washington Post, Truth, United States Marine Corps
Posted on August 31, 2017
by Kephen
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The Middle Way and the Turning of the Wheel: A Brief Examination of Buddhism I began reading about Buddhism and its three main branches of traditions and the many lineages and schools of thought within each, when I was only a teenager. Though all…
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, 14th Dalai Lama, Ashtamangala, Auspicious, Buddha, Buddhism, Dharma Wheel, Diamond Sutra, Ego, Eight-Fold Path, Four Noble Truths, Heart Sutra, Inspiration, Koan, Lotus Sutra, Mahayana, Mala, Mantra, Meditation, Nichiren, Pali Canon, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Samsara, School of the Elders, Shambhala, Siddhartha Gautama, Spirituality, Tenzin Gyatso, The Great Vehicle, Theravada, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tibetan, Truth, Vajrayana, Zen
Kephen
Out of the Darkness
Posted on September 20, 2018 by Kephen
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My name is Kephen Merancis and there’s really no easy way to start the conversation that we need to have. It takes a lot of courage to break the wall of silence that stigma builds. It takes at least a little bit of hope…
Category: All, Depression and Suicide, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, MCRD, Mental Health, Mental Illness, San Diego, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, USMC