MSI Press Blog

Before he was called the Buddha , he was Siddhartha Gautama — a prince surrounded by comfort, destined for power, yet haunted by questions no wealth could answer. 🌿 The Turning Point Sheltered from pain and aging, Siddhartha lived in a palace where suffering was hidden from view. But one day, he ventured beyond its walls and saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a monk . That moment shattered his illusion of permanence. He realized that life, as most people live it, is bound by suffering — and he vowed to find a way beyond it. 🔍 The Search He left his home, his wife, and his newborn son — not out of coldness, but out of compassion for all beings trapped in the same cycle of birth and death. For years he practiced extreme austerities, fasting until his body was frail. Yet enlightenment did not come. Finally, he sat beneath a bodhi tree and resolved: “I will not rise until I understand.” 💡 The Awakening Through deep meditation, Siddhartha saw the truth of existence — that suffer...

  Today's Publisher's Pride is When Liberty Enslaves by Jerry Aveta, which reached #177 in campaigns & elections and #386 in abolition history of the US. Book Description There is a common experience between our experiences today and those before the Civil War many years ago.  The effect of the intersection of faith and politics during these two experiences has had on our elections and our governance is uncanny in their similarities.  Both times an election insurrection was stopped by the sitting vice president.  Both times had people of the same faith on both sides of the social issues of the day claiming God’s favor and willing to divide the nation over those competing positions. Part 1 of this writing focuses on the Civil War era and how liberty centered around the issue of equality.  Some people of faith believed all men were equal, some did not. Part 2 focuses on our present times and how liberty centers on the sanctity of life concerning abortion and ...

  Most people never live with a nineteen‑year‑old cat. I’ve lived with two. That alone is extraordinary. For a Himalayan, it borders on miraculous. But what astonishes me even more is how two cats could reach the same rare age and inhabit it as if they were living in different universes. Murjan: The Cat Who Filled the Room Murjan, my Turkish Van, was a force of nature from the moment he arrived. He didn’t walk through life — he announced himself through it. At nineteen, weighing less than five pounds after years of lymphoma and three and a half years of chemotherapy, he still: patrolled every room jumped on and off exam tables explored new vet offices like a tourist on holiday demanded his daily leash walk supervised every creature in the house communicated constantly, loudly, and with purpose He was alpha to the end — a cat who refused to surrender even as his body thinned to nothing. He left a footprint everywhere he went, and when he moved, he left a wake. Murjan didn’t age. He...