Islamic Golden Age

Introduction
The Islamic Golden Age (IGA) was an era Muslims synthesized knowledge from against civilizations.  They translated a lot of ancient texts.  Christians and Jews played a big role in the IGA.  It lasted for several centuries.  It had many achievements.  There were many great polymaths.  I will explain in detail what caused the IGA fall off.  Muslims were the bridge between the ancient world and the modern world.

Origin
The IGA started during the Abbasid Dynasty.  It lasted about 500 years.  After the jihads, Muslims learned a lot from the people they conquered.  Muhammad said the ink of a scholar is more important than the blood of a martyr.  Many Muslims scholars believed that statement.

A lot of Greek knowledge Muslims learned came from Byzantine.  Muslims learned about Greek science, philosophy, and math.  Muslim philosophers loved Aristotle.  Islamic philosophy is very Greek.

The Persians contributed a lot to the IGA.  The greatest Muslim scholars were Persian, so I've read.  The Arabs learned a lot about medicine from the Persians.  The Persians had a medical school long b4 they became Muslims.  They made a lot of discoveries at this school.

The Hindus and Buddhists taught Muslims math and science.  The numbers we use today is called Arabic Numerals (0-9).  The Arabs brought those numbers to Europe.  They got them from the Hindus.  They also learned astronomy and medicine from them.  Scholarly writings in Sanskrit were translated into Arabic.

Christians and Jews also contributed a lot to the IGA.  They translated most of the Greek texts into Syriac and Arabic.

History
There were 3 main centers of IGA.  It was Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba.

The House of Wisdom was located in Baghdad.  It started off as a library.  Many books of knowledge were translated into Arabic there.  The books translated were Greek, Persian, Indian, etc.  The Greek books came from the library of Constantinople.  The House of Wisdom had many teachers there.  They taught astrology, geography, medicine, philosophy, etc.  There was an observatory in the House of Wisdom.  The House of Wisdom was around for about 500 years.  Baghdad was one of the greatest city in the world  at this time.  The Mongols destroyed the House of Wisdom in the 13th century.  They threw the books into the Tigris and Euphrates.  The river was black for several months because of the ink.

Al-Azhar University was founded in 10th century.  The Quran, Sharia Law, trivium, and the phases of the moon was taught there.  I assume these subjects are still taught there.  The second biggest library in Egypt is in Al-Azhar.  This university has a big influence over the Sunni world.  Theologians from this university tell Sunni how to behave.  This was a religious university until 1961.  In 1961 the university became more secular.  Business, economics, science, pharmacy, medicine, engineering, and farming was introduced in at that time.

Cordoba was a city in Moorish Spain.  It had libraries that had over 400,000 books.  A musician introduced deodorant, toothpaste, clothes, and hairstyles to Cordoba.  He got it from Baghdad.  Muslims introduced rice, watermelons, bananas, eggplants, and wheat.  

Achievements
Hospitals: Place for sick people and people that were injured by accidents.
Banks: They gave people credit and exchange currencies.
Cryptanalysis: The study of how to break through an encrypted code.
Frequency Analysis: The study of a pattern of same letters in a code.
Bridgemill: Windmill that is part of a bridge.
Mercuric Chloride: A chemical used to disinfect wounds.
Hookah: A device for using drugs.
Coffee: A type of beverage.  Usually drunk in the morning.
Marching Band: A unit of people playing instruments while moving forward.
Military Band: Marching band 4 the military.
Guitar: Musical instrument.  You use your fingers to play it.
Lute: Similar to guitar.

There were many other inventions as well.  Some inventions were reinventions.

Islamic Geniuses
Abu Nasr al-Farabi: He was a great Muslim philosopher.  He created his own school of philosophy.  It was called Farabism.  He dealt with logic, mathematics, music, psychology, and education.

Al-Battani: He was a great astronomer.

Ibn Sina: He was well versed in medicine, psychology, pharmacology, geology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and philosophy.

Ibn Battuta: Great world traveler.

Ibn Rushd: He was a philosopher.  He studied Plato and Aristotle.  He wrote about psychology and religion.
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi: He created algebra and algorithm.

Thabit ibn Qurra: He was a doctor and astronomer.  He invented statics.

al-Razi: He was a doctor and philosopher.  He studied Greek, Syrian, Indian, and Arab medicine.  He is the greatest Islamic doctor in history!

Geber: He invented chemistry.

Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi: He was a philosopher and scientist.  He invented cryptography.

Alhazen: He was an astronomer and mathematician.  He discovered optics and did scientific experiments.

Ibn Zuhr: He was a doctor and surgeon.  He created many different surgical techniques and procedures.   He wrote a book about health.

Ibn Khaldun: He created sociology, historiography, demography, and economics.

Ibn Al-Baitar: He was a botanist, doctor, and pharmacist.  He recorded what Muslim doctors discovered as healing agents.

The end of the Islamic Golden Age
The Mongols destroyed the House of Wisdom and the rest of Baghdad.  The Christians tookover Iberia and kicked the Moors out.  Saladin tookover Egypt in 1171 CE.  He destroyed the library of Cairo.  He sold the books in an auction.  These 3 destructions caused the IGA to die out.

Imam Hamid al-Ghazali promoted ignorance.  He thought science made Allah look bad.  His ideas became popular in the Islamic world.  His ideas keep the Islamic world backwards.  He didn't like philosophers because they didn't prove Allah existed.  He believed Allah was the cause of everything.  He was very foolish.  Don't ever follow this line of thinking!  When someone doesn't understand a cause they may believe Allah did it.  That's is just ignorance.  Ignorance of cause doesn't mean Allah is doing it.  In the past, people didn't know why it rains.  Some people thought Allah was ejaculating. Now people know it's because clouds burst.  There is always more to know.  If what you learn contradicts your religion; maybe it's time to drop it.

ancient Bridge modern
The Muslims bridged the ancient world to the modern world.  They combined knowledge of ancient civilizations and gave it to Europe.  They sparked the European Renaissance.  Europeans were able to create the modern world because of what the Muslims taught them.

Conclusion
This was an amazing period in world history! This is the prequel to the modern world.  I love combination of knowledge of various civilizations because I'm eclectic.  Now is the time for Muslims to create a new golden age.        

References
Greatness of Moors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
http://islamichistory.org/islamic-golden-age/
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/origins-islamic-science
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_03.html
http://atheistuniverse.net/profiles/blogs/the-so-called-islamic-golden-age-was-it-really-islamic
http://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/iraq/articles/iraq-s-golden-age-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-house-of-wisdom/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba
http://regentsprep.org/regents/global/themes/goldenages/islam.cfm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventions_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world
http://www.1001inventions.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621228/
http://www.famousscientists.org/famous-muslim-arab-persian-scientists-and-their-inventions/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Razi
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16155644
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun
Culture Backwardness
IGA explained by Dr. Tyson
Imam Hamid al-Ghazali

Realism

Introduction
Realism is the belief that the world exists independent of the mind.  Many philosophers wrote about it and debated its validity.   There are many different types of realism.  It even goes beyond philosophy. Realism is sweet, but it is a bit short sided.  I will explain why in detail later.

History
Plato was a realist/idealist.  He believed in universals.  Universals were the essence of objects.  Universals exist outside spacetime.  Aristotle was a moderate realist.  Moderate realists saw universals as concepts in the mind and objects existing outside the mind.  Plato believed in moral realism.  That is logic being applied to morality.  The idea is morality exists independent of our mind.      

Realism was discussed in ancient India.  Nyaya is a Hindu philosophy that is realistic.  Nyaya has several items that are independent of the mind.  Knowledge comes from sensory perception. People that follow Mimamsa believe perception is the bridge between the subject to object.  That is so true!!!!

Some European philosophers expounded upon realism.  Bertrand Russell was a famous realist philosopher. He wrote a book called the Principle of Mathematics.  In it he rejected idealism.  He believed some things will always be true no matter what people think.

Different Types of Realism
Transcendental Realism: People comprehend that their minds are limited in obtaining knowledge.

Organic Realism: Change is a fundamental part of the universal.  Perception causes the subject and object to merge.  We are the world and the world is us.

Epistemology Realism: Knowledge of an object is independent of the mind.

Indirect Realism: The world we perceive is not the real world.  We only see our interpretation of it.

New Realism: What we know about an object is real.  It's not a creation of our mind.

Political Realism: The belief that countries only care about power and security.  They don't care about ethics.
Liberal Realism: States can work together harmoniously with diplomacy.

Christian Realism: The Kingdom of Heaven can't exist on earth because society is corrupt.

Mystical Realism: Divine beings exist, but they are mostly unperceivable.

Critical Realism: Reality is independant of our mind.  Some of our sense-data about the world is correct. Some of it isn't.

Naive Realism: Our common sense is the true reality.

Hyper-Realism: The mind doesn't know the difference between reality and fantasy.

Scientific Realism: Science offers the best description of the world.

Constructive Realism: Knowledge is created by our mind.

Mathematical Realism: Math is objective truth.  It is independent of the mind.

Legal Realism: Laws can be unjust because of human shortcomings.    

Shortcomings of Realism
Realism is the idea that world is outside of mind.  This seems to be true.  Our perception of the world comes from our brain.  How can the world exist outside of us while we can only make sense of it by something inside of us?  Realism is a good ideology, but it is incomplete.

Conclusion
Realism is great!  I like a lot of its ideas.  I used to only be a realist.  Now I'm idealist too.  They go together like yin-yang.
 
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_realism
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-india/#NyaRea
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_realism.html
https://philosophynow.org/issues/114/The_Philosophy_of_Organism

    

Whitney Huston

Introduction
Whitney Huston was a pop star and the Queen of R&B.  Her singing career lasted for over 3 decades. She acted in several films and tv shows.  She was in several commercials.  She received many awards in music. She is one of the greatest singers of all time!  B4 all of that she was a model.  Her husband was Bobby Brown and they had a daughter named Bobbi Kristina Brown.  Whitney died on 2/11/2012.  There are a lot of rumors surrounding here death.  Her daughter died 3 years later.

History
Whitney Houston was born on 8/9/1963 in Newark, NJ.  Her parents were in the entertainment industry. Her mom got 2 Grammys for singing.  One of her brothers was a basketball player.  Then he became a background singer for Whitney.  He went on several of her tours.  She has another brother named Michael Huston.  He introduced her to drugs in the 80's.  He didn't know it would kill her because drugs didn't seem so bad in the 80's.  She is the first cousin to Marie Donnie Warwick. She was close friends to Mariah Carey.

When she was 11 she joined a choir.  Her mom taught her how to sing.  When she was a teenager sometimes she would go to nightclubs and listen to her mom sing.  She would sing with her mom on certain nights.  When she was 15 she sang background for Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan.  A photographer saw her singing with her mom and offered her a job as a model.  She became the most popular teen model in the US at the time.  She also sang on some tracks of other artists during her modeling.

Clive Davis signed Whitney to his label after he saw her singing in a nightclub.  She became a guest on a tv show with Clive later that year.  Her first album was called Whitney Huston it was a great success.  The album went diamond in the US!  It sold 25 million copies worldwide.  It helped her win a Grammy and Emmy.  She won 7 American Music Awards in 86-87.  She also won an MTV Video Music Award.  The song Greatest Love of All was nominated for the Record of the Year.  I sang that song when I graduated from pre-school.  Her 2nd album was called Whitney.  It was a great success.  People loved it all around the world.  She received many accolades for it.  She was the 3rd highest paid entertainer in 88.  When she was touring in Europe she did a performance to celebrate Nelson Mandala 70th birthday.

In 1989 she made a non-profit organization that helped kids around the world.  She was loved by all kinds of people like Michael Jackson.  Her 3rd album was called I'm Your Baby Tonight.  It was more rhythmic than the previous 2 albums.  The album went quadruple platinum in the US and sold 12 million worldwide.  She had a private conversation in the white house with Papa Bush about the problems young people face.  She sang the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl 25.

She did a free concert for veterans of the First Gulf War.  In the 80's she dated a football player and Eddie Murphy.  She married Bobby Brown in 1992.  Her career fell off in the late 90's and picked up in the mid-2000's.

Films
The first movie she started in was Bodyguard.  The movie is about her being protected from a stalker. The stalker was a threat to her life so she found someone to protect her.  They became romantically involved. She almost got shot on stage, but the bodyguard took a bullet for her and shot the shooter.

Her second film was Waiting to Exhale.  The movie was about 4 black women having men problems. The character Whitney played was named Savannah.  She was in a relationship with a guy that was married.

Her 3rd movie was Preacher's Wife.  She didn't spend enough time with her husband because she helping people in the neighborhood.  Her husband was a pastor of a church; a property developer was trying to become the owner of his church.  The husband prayed and Yahweh sent an angel that only Whitney could see.
                                     
Cinderella was the 4th movie she was in.  She was the fairy godmother.  This movie was similar to the original Cinderella, but it had a multi-racial.  She sang in this film.

Her final movie was Sparkle.  It was about 3 sisters forming a girl group.  It was a remake and it was based on the greatest lady group of time: The Supremes.  Whitney was the mother of the sisters.
                                       
She had cameos on a lot of TV shows.  I think she did performances in most of them.  She did commercials for big brands.  Such as Coca-Cola, AT&T, and Disney World.  She was on a reality tv show.  It was called Being Bobby Brown.

Modeling
She started modeling when she was 16.  When she was 18 she modeled for Seventeen Magazine. She modeled bathing suits.  She had a "million dollar smile."  She was cute as a button.

Marriage
She was married to Bobby Brown 1992-2006.  They had one daughter together.  Her name was Bobbi Kristina Brown.  The marriage was rough.  There was domestic abuse, drugs, etc.  They would have been better off never marrying.

Death of a Diva
She died in a hotel room on 2/11/2012.  I was heartbroken.  It seems like she died of an overdose. Clive Davis had a party on the first floor even though Whitney corpse was upstairs.  He knew that and had the party anyway.  That makes me furious.

Death of an Angel
Bobbi Kristina died in July of 2015.  She died of an overdose.  She had a lot of drugs in her system. She was taken to a hospital and died in hospice months later.

Conclusion
Whitney Huston is one of my favorite R&B singers.  I love her music.  I wish she didn't die.  Writing this post cause me great sadness.  She should still be here.  She will be missed.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_to_Exhale
Preacher's Wife
Cinderella
Sparkle
Whitney's Commercials
Teen Whitney Pics
Teen Whitney Singing
Whitney Life Pics
Modeling Pics
http://www.whitneyhouston.com/
Her Marriage
Rough Vows
Michael did it
Coroner's Report

Idealism

Introduction
Idealism is the the belief the world comes from the mind.  We only know we are conscious.  What we perceive may not be real.  Idealism has a long history and many philosophers.  There are many different types of idealism.  It even goes beyond philosophy.  It's a bit short sided.  I will explain that later.

History
There is absolute idealism in the Rig Veda.  Everything is a part of Purusha.  Purusha is also beyond thingness.  There was a Greek philosopher named Anaxagoras that believed the universe started off as one substance.  The philosophers of Vedanta believe everything is a part of Parabrahman.  Plato was an idealist. He believed in Forms.  Forms are the essence of all things.  Idealism is popular in popular in Yogacara. Yogacara is a school of Mahayana Buddhism; consciousness is everything.  Plotinus was somewhat of an idealist. He believed time didn't exist outside the oversoul.  Wang Yangming was a Neo-Confucian philosopher.  He believed our mind shapes the objects we perceive.  Rene Descartes believed the world was a projection of our consciousness.  Nicolas Malebranche believed we can only know what's in our mind. Bishop George Berkeley believed only perception is real.  Immanuel Kant believed the mind generates its own perception. Johann Gottlieb Fichte believed consciousness created the universe. Friedrich Schelling believed art connected the subject and object; intuition is better than reason.  There are several idealistic churches.  The New Thought Movement is also idealistic.    

Different Types of Idealism

Absolute Idealism: Divine Mind is the cause of all things.  Our minds are simply small forms of that.  Reason helps us understand the world.  Mind and matter are related.  Consciousness is always changing, which causes new things to come into being.

Actual Idealism: Perception creates reality.  Only thoughts are real.

Buddhist Idealism: Everything is consciousness.  Nothing exist outside of that.

Epistemological Idealism: We only know what's in our mind.  Reality may not correspond to our perception of it.

Objective Idealism: Everything is a part of the Absolute.  Nothing exist outside of it.  This form of Idealism seems like religion.

Panpsychism: All matter has Mind.  Mind and matter are the same.  The All is mind the universe is mental.

Practical Idealism: Governments should promote virtue.

Subjective Idealism: Our mind is the only reality.  We can only know our perception of things.  Everything is in the Divine Mind.

Transcendental Idealism: We can only know our perception of things.  We can't know things as they really are.

Shortcomings of Idealism
If we believe that the world comes from our mind, we may become delusional.  If the world is simply a product of our mind then we should be able to fly just be thinking it.  The world existed long before we did, so it's foolish to believe we created.

Perception shapes the way we experience the world.  Without perception we would be like corpses.  Our perception is limited, but it has merit.  Every organism perceives the world somehow.  I don't know of any organism that can perceive everything in existence.

Actual Idealism has been destroyed by science.  There many things we can't perceive.  With aid of scientific instruments we can perceive things that are unperceivable to our senses alone.  Examples of this is the electromagnetic spectrum, germs, atoms, most of the universe, etc.  Without spectrometer, spectrum analyzer, oscilloscopes, microscopes, and telescopes we wouldn't be to perceive none of this!!!!!  Except for some special people such as the Dogon, psychics, people with clairvoyance, clairaudience, and/or clairsentience, etc.  The funny thing is we all have these abilities.  We just have to tap into them.      

Idealism is a good ideology, but it's incomplete.

Conclusion
Idealism is sweet!!!!!!  We influence the world and world influence us.  Mind and matter are inseparable. What the point of being aware if there is nothing to perceive?  What the point of matter if there is no one to enjoy it?  I'm an idealist and a realist.  I only know what I perceive, but the world is independant of my perception of it.

References
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_idealism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_idealism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogachara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Yangming
https://www.papermasters.com/actual-idealism.html                

Zoroastrianism

Introduction
Zoroastrianism is a religion created by Persians over 2,000 years ago!  It was the first religion to promote cosmic dualism.  It has it own symbols, rituals, scriptures, priesthood, and beliefs.  Zoroastrianism is related to Brahmanism because Persians are Aryan.  Brahmanism comes from Aryans in India.  It had a huge impact on Abrahamic religions, Buddhism, and Greek philosophers/religious leaders.  It had several daughter religions.  Followers of this religion were persecuted by Muslims.  They fought back but were defeated.  The ones who survived moved to India.  They are known as the Parsis (Persians).

History
Zoroaster is the founder of this religion.  He was born around 628 BCE or earlier.  He got a vision from Ahura Mazda, then he knew the truth.  He spread the message after he got the vision.  Persian were polytheistic at this time.  Zoroaster wanted them to only worship Ahura Mazda; he saw the other gods as demons.  He called nomads the followers of the Lie because they would cause a lot ruckus in his town.  A king in Central Asia was the first person to convert to Zoroastrianism.

Beliefs
Ahura Mazda: The most high god.  Creator of all.
Amesha Spenta: Beneficent Immortals.  6 archangels.  3 are male and 3 are female.  They represent virtues.
Spenta Mainyu: The Holy Spirit.  A part of Ahura Mazda.
Ahriman: Father of the Lie.  He is evil. Enemy of Ahura Mazda.
Daevas: Demons created by Ahriman to help him destroy all that's good.
Cycles of Time: Each cycle is 3,000 years.
Spiritual World: The invisible world.  It is full of goodness, evil cannot touch it.
Material World:  Full of evil.
Judgement Day: The day when the saviour will separate the sheep from the goats.
Mantras: They chant certain words to please Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spenta.

Humans are inherently good at birth.  People have free will.  They can choose Ahura Mazda or Ahriman. The one you choose determines if you go to heaven or hell when you die.  At the end of time, the forces of light will battle the forces of darkness and they will prevail.  A savior born of a virgin related to Zoroaster will lead the forces of light.   Eventually, the people in hell will be purified and then they will go to heaven.

Scriptures & Symbols
The holy books of Zoroastrianism are called Avesta.  It's like their Koran or Bible.  Within the Avesta is 5 hymns called Gathas.  The explain in detail the beliefs of Zoroastrianism.  Sometimes the Amesha Spenta are seen as people other times as concepts.  They have a book of prayers called Khorda.  Vendidad is a book of myths, prayers, and holidays.

Faravahar: It is a man in a sun disc.  The sun disc is a Kemetic symbol.
Fire: It represents goodness.  Fire created the universe.  The Zoroastrians turn toward the light when they worship.

Rituals
They cremate dead bodies.  They have rites of passage for boys and girls.  Priests purify and bless weddings.  There is a ceremony the priests do to help the soul go into the afterlife.  They have several purification ceremonies.            

Magi
The Zoroastrian priests were known as Magi.  They were government officials and had a lot of clout.  They did libations and sacrificed cows.  They were able to predict the future and interpret dreams.  They engaged in conflict resolution.  They were judges of common law.  The Magi are broken down into 3 levels.  The word magic comes from Magi.

Aryan Connection
The Aryans lived in Central Asia.  Some them went west and founded Persia.  It is now called Iran, which means Aryan Land.  Some Aryans conquered India.  After which they created Brahmanism.  Since these Aryans at one time were the same people their religions had a lot in common.  The element of fire was important to both groups and they had some of the same deities.  They both believed in asuras & devas but flip-flopped them.

Zoroastrianism impact on Abrahamic religions
The Persians were very nice to Hebrews.  They help free from the Babylonians.  Hebrews incorporated a lot of Zoroastrian beliefs into their religion.  The Hebrews learned about the afterlife from the Persians.  Avesta influenced some of the written of the bible.
Most of Christ-insanity is Zoroastrian.  The virgin birth, judgement day, angels, demons, end of time, messiah, etc were already beliefs of Zoroastrianism long b4 Christ-insanity.
Muslims pray five times a day, Zoroastrians do too.  A lot of Islamic beliefs comes from Judaism and Christ-insanity.  A lot of their beliefs come from Zoroastrianism.

Zoroastrianism influence on Buddhism
The people that translated Buddhist texts into Chinese were Zoroastrian.  Some of the concepts of Zoroastrianism seeped in because of this.  Some of the prayers of z are similar to the prayers of Mahayana Buddhism.  Heaven is similar in both religions.  Both religions see deities as evil.  The Taoist have 8 immortals and the Zoroastrians have 7 amesha spenta.  Maybe they influenced each other or they may have developed it independently.

Zoroastrianism connection to Greek Philosophy
A lot of Gnostics believed the martial world was evil.  In Zoroastrianism, the martial is the only place evil can exist.  In Neoplatonism, the One is the summum bonum, so is Ahura Mazda.  Some of the Gnostics saw Yahweh as the evil demiurge.  This idea is similar to Ahriman.  The Gnostics believed in a benevolent creator god, so did Zoroastrians.  Cosmic dualism was a big deal in Gnosticism as well as Zoroastrianism.  There were Magi in Kemet during the Ptolemy dynasty.

Daughter Religions
Zurvanism: The god of this religion is Zurvan.  It is the god of spacetime.  Zurvan is the creator of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman.  Zurvan is non-moral.  It is beyond good and evil.  There was a priest named Zatsparam.  He is the last known person to follow Zurvanism.  There were 3 types of Zurvanism: Classical and Materialist.  Classical Zurvanism saw Zurvan as the father of the Ahura Mazda and Ahriman.  Materialist Zurvanism saw Zurvan as the ground of all reality, like Brahman.  People that followed this form of Zurvanism didn't believe in the afterlife.  Fatalist Zurvanism had a strong belief in destiny.  Zurvanism was influenced by Greek and Indian ideas.  Limitation of infinite spacetime caused the creation of the universe. Men were seen as good and women are seen as evil.  But in reality, the reverse is true.

Mandaeism:  This religion has a lot of beliefs from Zoroastrianism and it is sort of like Christianity.  They believed in John the Baptist.  Europeans used to call them Disciples of John the Baptist.  They followers of this religion live in the Middle East.  Sometimes they face discrimination.  Disciples of John the Baptist do a lot of baptisms, which they learned from Hebrews.  They have a lot of their own scriptures.  The Book of John has John the Baptist sermons in it.  They have mass for the dead and a book of prayers.  Disciples of John the Baptist believe in the Zodiac.  Ptahil is the name of the demiurge.  Ptah is the name of a Kemetic creator deity.  There is a world of light and world of darkness.  There is a cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil.  The mass of the dead is to help the soul of the corpse to ascend to heaven.  Salvation is the main goal for Disciples of John the Baptist.

Manichaeism: This religion was created by a prophet named Mani.  He mixed Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Christianity together.  He believed in cosmic dualism.  At one time it was the biggest religion in the world.  He believed his religion was the only true religion in the world and all other religions were false.  The soul is good and the body is evil.  Mani saw him as the last prophet.

Muslim takeover of Persia
The Arabs defeated the Persians in the 7th century CE.  Persia lost the war because it was exhausted from wars with Byzantine and it had succession problems.  Years later a Muslim dynasty came to power and promoted Islam.  The people that followed the religions of their ancestors were persecuted.  Persian freedom fighters fought the Muslim overlords, but they lost.

Persians of the old faith moved to India
Most of the followers of the ways of their ancestors that escaped persecution went to India.  They still practice Zoroastrianism there.  The majority of Zoroastrians live in India.  Their numbers are shrinking because they're not allowed to proselytize.  It is only 40,000 Parsis worldwide.

Conclusion
Zoroastrianism is a wonderful religion!  This is the bedrock of Christ-insanity.  I love the complexity of this religion.  It has much to teach, learn as much as you can.

References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zoroaster-Iranian-prophet
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/beliefs.asp
http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr2.htm
http://www.avesta.org/
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrian-rituals
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/practices.asp
http://heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/purification/index.htm
http://members.efn.org/~opal/therealmagi.html
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/magi
http://heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/priests/index.htm
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/z_influence_abrahamic.htm
http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/zjc3.html
https://authenticgathazoroastrianism.org/2014/03/03/scythian-zoroastrian-influence-on-early-buddhism/
http://tengudev.com/epiclore/2013/12/06/connections-between-zoroastrianism-and-mahayana-buddhism/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zurvanism
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/zurvanism.htm

http://gnosis.org/library/Mandaean_Religion_Rudolf.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaeism

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Manichaeism

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35219331

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chinese-iranian-i

Sufism

Introduction
Sufism is esoteric Islam.  Sufism was created in Egypt.  Sufis don't just talk about Allah they experience him. They have a lot poetry and their own rituals.  They love Muhammad and the Koran.  They may live away from society like Buddhist monks or Catholic priests.

History
Sufism started during the Golden Age of Islam sometime in the 900's CE.  The Golden Age of Islam was the time Muslims were the smartest people on earth!  Sufism was accepted by some Muslim rulers, rejected by others.  Sufism is based on Kemetic teachings.  Dhul-Nun al-Misri was an Egyptian that had a lot to do with the creation of Sufism.  He was born in Upper Egypt.

When Muslims took over India they brought Sufism with them.  A Hindu movement called Bhakti spreaded throughout India at the same time as Sufism.  They both had similar ideas.  A Sufi saint introduced yoga to Sufism.  Sufi music had a positive impact on India.

Beliefs
Sufis believe Muhammad was the perfected man.  He is their role model.  They believe they can become one with Allah.  Everything is connected Allah.  He is the source of all.  Everything depends on him.  They work on improving their character.  Sufis like the 99 names of Allah.  

Rituals
They like to dance a lot.  Some Sufis like to spin when they dance.  Sometimes they cut themselves or put sharp objects in there face. Sometimes they poke their eyes out of their socket with knifes.  They do prayers called Dhikr.  They also meditate called Muraqaba.  Sufis visits tombs of Sufi saints.

Conclusion
This is my favorite form of Islam because its the nicest.  I like the esoteric.  You should learn more about it because it's sweet.  If you want know more about a subject; leave it in the comment.  

References
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sufism
http://www.egypt-tehuti.org/articles/sufism.html
Ritual
http://blog.theshiftnetwork.com/blog/sufi-practices
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Sufism
http://sufism.org/origins/ninety-nine-names

Karate

Introduction
Karate is one of the most popular martial arts in the world!  It was created in the Ryukyu Kingdom.  It came from indigenous and Chinese martial arts.   It enabled average joes to defend themselves against the samurai. It has a spiritual component.  There are many different styles of Karate.

History
In the 14th century CE, Chinese settlers taught people in Okinawa martial arts.  Anko Itosu and Anko Asato created Karate.  Anko even came up with 10 precepts of Karate.  Asato defeated a samurai unarmed. Together they defeated 20-30 attackers!  That reminds me of the 3rd Raikage and 300 Spartans.  Both of them learned martial arts from Matsumura Sokon (Grandfather of Karate).  Sokon created bojutsu and he taught sword fighting.  Gichin Funakoshi spread Karate to mainland Japan.  He created his own style of karate called Shotokan.

Spiritual Component
Karate is tied to Zen Buddism.  The people that created it were Zen Buddhists.  Mindfulness is an important part of ZB.  A practitioner of Karate should be aware of every movement they make and be 'in-tuned' with the world around them.  The practitioner must learn how to control their ki.  Ki is the energy that keeps organisms alive.  It flows in all things.  It is the force of Star Wars.

Styles
Shotokan-Ryu: The focus is speed and power.  As you move up in rank you will learn grappling, throwing, and standing joint locks.  The Dojo Kun and Niju Kun are principles for this style of Karate and maybe others.  Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Gouken characters of street fighter follow this style of Karate.

Shito-Ryu: It is very fast and powerful.  It has great blocks and breathing exercises.  

Goju-Ryu: Strong punches and circular joint locks. Meditation is key.

Wado-Ryu: It's about cultivating a calm mind.  There is Jujitsu in this style.  You'll learn to dodge in this in this style.  This style teaches a lot of virtues.

Shorin-Ryu: Circular movements, natural breathing, and evasion are important to this style.  This form teaches you how to punch quickly.

Uechi-Ryu: This style is based on kungfu.  This form will help make your body stronger, develop your mind and spirit, stamina, etc.  You will also learn how to move like 7 animals.

Shuri-Ryu:  This is the US style of Karate.  It combines Eastern and Western ideas about life.
  
Kyokushin- Its focus is self-defense and it is virtuous.

Budokan- It is a mixture of Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, and Shotokan.  It was created in Malaysia.

Chito-Ryu: Promotes self-defense, self-discipline, and strikes.

There are more styles but this is sufficient.

Conclusion
Karate is amazing!!!!  I didn't know it was this deep.  I love the complexity.  Find out more about it.

References
History of Karate
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/karate6.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/478997-10-types-of-karate/   
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotokan
http://shitokai.com/
Shito-Ryu 
http://www.iogkf.com/
http://www.conradjoneskarate.com/
http://www.shorin-ryu.com/
http://www.karateshorinkan.com/history.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Drin-ry%C5%AB
http://karateequipmentuk.co.uk/Articles/A%20Comparison%20of%20Japanese%20Shotokan%20Karate%20and%20Okinawan%20Uechi-Ryu%20Karate.html
Shuri-Ryu
http://www.advancingkarate.com/shuri-ryu.html
Chito-Ryu
http://www.nbchitoryu.com/what-is-chito-ryu-karate.html