Filed under: Book Discussions
Have you always wished that you had a collection of all the sayings of all your favorite wise people?? This is the book for you! Instead
of having a bunch of different books you go to for inspiration, Wes Nisker has collected a lot of little wisdom gems and put them together in one big collection. I think you’ll find that this is a book you read, but then go back to again and again for little encouragements and tidbits. Let me know what you think! Here’s a quote to get you started:
“There is no end to the weighing of things, no stop to time, no constancy to the division of lots, no fixed rule to beginning and end. Therefore great wisdom observes both far and near, and for that reason recognizes small without considering it paltry, recognizes large without considering it unwieldy, for it knows that there is no end to the weighing of things.”
Filed under: Book Discussions
I’m sorry it has taken me so long to talk about “Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate”. I’m flummoxed at how to talk about this book, because it’s….well…..TERRIBLE!!! I hope some of you like it, and then maybe we can have a lively discussion about it.
I found Brad Warner (the author) extremely annoying and self serving. It’s like the difference between Stephen Colbert and all those OTHER shows where they try to be funny. He tries to be self-deprecating and have a sassy relationship with the reader. But truly, I was kind of offended at times. I wanted to say “Hey! You can’t talk to me like that!”
Here are some examples:
“Some things never change, and never will. I’m sorry if you don’t like that, but it happens to be true.”
(talking about this book) “People who wanted to keep their belief in gurus and perfected masters would hold on tight to their illusions. For them all my talk about my own failings would only be evidence that I wasn’t as fully enlightened as their great heroes. F**k ‘em. Maybe a few people out there would get it, and that would be enough.”
“There was no other Buddhist teacher like me in America. And gosh darn it all, someone like me was absolutely necessary. And too bad if you don’t like hearing that.”
Sooo, the point of the book seems to be to utterly highlight was a total idiot a Buddhist teacher can be – and then we’re supposed to really admire him for being such a jerk. I know my teachers aren’t perfect…he seems to think we are all too dumb to know that. But I do like to think that when my teachers mess up (especially if it’s real bad) they feel some sort of remorse, or even shame — and then try to do better.
He feels none of these things. And too bad if you don’t like it.
Anyone want to argue with me on this one??
Lisa…
Filed under: Book Discussions
That’s the new book we’re reading!! Knew I’d getcha with the title! Ok, so “A Year to Live” was a bit heavy for some of us. I can deal with heavy subjects and even I had a little bit of a hard time with it!
So this is much more entertaining – written by a Zen master who went through divorce, deaths, dating, etc. all in one year, and wrote the tale! Hopefully there are some nuggets of wisdom in there, but even if it’s just entertaining, that’s ok too!
We have a couple of copies available at the studio (more coming!), or you can order online!! Enjoy! We’ll be discussing soon — (as soon as I can read a few chapters!)
Lisa…
Filed under: Book Discussions
Here are some quotes from the book that I have enjoyed lately:
It can be hard to die when we have forgotten so often that we are alive.
One day we will realize how much of our life is a compulsive attempt to escape discomfort. We are motivated more by an aversion to the unpleasant than by a will toward truth, freedom, or healing.
Our next moment of grasping, hell. Our next instant of letting go, heaven.
When attempts at control become a prison, only letting go of control will result in freedom.
Further, on page 62, there is a meditation you can practice, called “Preparation to Die, or Meditate, Whichever Comes First”. As most of you might know, I’ve been meditating every day of 2009 for 1/2 hour. This evening I brought the book in with me and went through this meditation example. It was quite a profound experience, very deep. I read on afterwards, and I’m looking forward to more meditations throughout this book. I’d love to hear from anyone else who tries this meditation. It’s long, but I can also reprint it here if you don’t have the book or can’t get it. It’s really quite wonderful.
I’ve posted a new book choice for this month. It’s called “A Year to Live”. The author, Stephen Levine, is a respected meditation teacher. He is also the author of one of our previous books, “A Gradual Awakening”.
This book came out of his work with the dying. He expected to find total despair. I’m sure he saw some of that. But what surprised him about people who had been told they had a certain finite time to live was that many of them expressed a feeling of great joy, great freedom. They could finally live how they wanted! They could finally chase their dreams!! Who would deny a dying person a trip to Peru, or an art lesson??
This book takes all that wisdom, and brings it to the living. After all, Stephen says, most of us never know when we pass the “one year to live” date. If we were to die suddenly, we wouldn’t have this same opportunity to live our last year.
This book offers us this opportunity. We choose a date – say today, January 14th. We begin to live our lives as if January 14, 2010 were our last day to live. What would we do? Maybe more importantly, what would we NOT do? Are there relationships we would discard? Relationships we would nurture? Is there a secret dream waiting for the right time? Might you notice the weather, pull over and breathe?
Now is the time to work on our death. If you have ever wanted to make peace with it – for it WILL occur – this is the book for you.
Are you scared? I am, a little bit. But here I go, delving into the rich piece of work by Stephen Levine. Join me!
