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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited July 2016
I've recently put my hands on 'Ginkgo' by Peter Crane.
I quote the backpiece:
"Inspired by the historic ginkgo that has thrived in Surrey's Kew Gardens since the 1760's, this engaging book tells the rich and engaging story of a tree that people saved from extinction...Peter Crane explores the 50-million-year history of the ginkgo from its mysterious origin through its proliferation, drastic decline and ultimate resurgence. Crane also highlights the cultural and social significance of the ginkgo; its medicinal and nutritional uses, its power as a source of artistic and religious inspiration, and its importance as one of the world's most popular street trees."
(The repetition of 'engaging' is not my error, but a literary faux-pas on the part of the Editor/publisher.)
I love ginkgos. I used to work at a yarn store and knitting school in my home town. The building had male ginkgos in front which inspired me to have their yellow leaves in a tattoo on my shoulder. Their veracity, beauty, timelessness, and symbolic meaning are just neat.
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen
The author is a Finnish woman who moved to the United States to be with the man she would eventually marry. She found the American way of dealing with everyday basics such as health insurance, taxes, education, and child care to be confusing and stressful. As she got to know Americans better, she discovered that many shared her deep apprehensions.
She compares living in the U.S. with life in the Nordic countries, with her focus on four key relationships - parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and governments and citizens. The criticism that Nordic countries are 'nanny states' is argued against, and the view that Americans are actually enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies is proposed.
Interesting read so far, especially from the perspective of a Canadian.
@Lonely_Traveller said:
I'm unemployed due to Schizophrenia so have plenty of time to read and meditate. My Thai Forest Tradition books are well battered, I've read all the books several times - its my main traditional input. I find Ajahn Sumedho a very clear and humorous teacher so he's worth reading again and again. If I wasn't reading I'd only be wasting my time playing Elder Scrolls Online or some other MMORPG.
Bravo
Outstanding understanding of how to read and digest. There is for some of us a tendency to cram, a sort of spiritual hunger ... Nutrition however requires chewing ...
@Kerome said:
Just made a start on TNH's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
How is it? Would you recommend?
I'm getting my TNH books tomorrow: ordered No Death, No Fear, Being Peace both of which I have already read (and Being Peace as a talk is online at several places) and Chanting from the Heart for practice aid.
Let's see what they can do...
@Kerome said:
Just made a start on TNH's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
How is it? Would you recommend?
So far it has been good. Very clear, and a nice mix of incisive commentary with anecdote, sutra, and historical background. Insightful, and he uses well-chosen language to bring the lessons home. What I've read up to now has certainly improved my understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
The first "new" book I ever bought on Buddhism (well to be quite honest it was the only 'new' book on Buddhism I've bought) was Thich Nhat Hanh's " Present Moment Wonderful Moment"
It was amongst the books I gave away just recently...
At the moment (excuse the pun ) I have around half a dozen books on Zen on the go and the most recent one I started reading is "Zen Seeds...Reflections of a Female Priest" by Shundo Aoyama....and before starting this, I opened "Zen In The Art Of Archery" by Eugen Herrigel....
Currently reading Anatomy & Physiology for therapists and Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth by Geshe Tashi Tsering, and also a police thriller on my kindle that I can't remember the name of.
I feel a Daphne du Maurier period approaching after reading this thread, love her books and haven't re-read for years, in which case all other activity apart from breathing/ tea & toast breaks will cease
I have been going back to the source materials and learning to read trees. I used to take pleasure in visiting specialised libraries, often with my teacher, in order to read the silence and scholarly interaction.
In order to take a more mainstream interest in books, I have listed some of the books I am interested in reading:
'Unwritten knowledge' - still awaiting a sensible version
'The Book of Decay' - I believe this is an art project. A sealed freeze dried book that disintegrates as soon as you remove the packaging.
Iam also reading Ajhan Sumedho, iam also listening to his Dhammatalks, he is very honest about how humans really are, and their fighting about the perfect ideal.
Toomorow I will go to the libray, I always get headache cause I get overloaded with information, so I cant stay for to long, max 5 min :P
I was at the library today and rented James Joyce, Ulysses. I decided to rent it, since it was listed as nr 2 of the greatest books.
Has anyoen else read it?
I have just read to page 10, seem to be little bit abstract..
1
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
I just put down The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams. I didn't know there was a second book to the Dirk Gently Detective Agency.
@Namada Yes! Very abstract in some places. It's a wild tangle of stream of consciousness. Almost like Meditating with ADHD, lol. It's wonderful, but I recommend reading it in small doses.
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@David said:
I just put down The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams. I didn't know there was a second book to the Dirk Gently Detective Agency.
Loved it.
I loved both of them. They're genius, aren't they? Damn sofa.... And don't open the fridge.
2
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
@David said:
I just put down The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams. I didn't know there was a second book to the Dirk Gently Detective Agency.
Loved it.
I loved both of them. They're genius, aren't they? Damn sofa.... And don't open the fridge.
They really are. One of the few authors that can make me literally laugh out loud.
I have already forgotten where I put the darned thing as I tend to clean the main room in a fervor since having a toddler. I wanted to quote a passage where he can find clues into his current situation by examining anything because of the nature of interconnectivity.
I did find a site that had a few handy quotes from the book though:
“He had a tremendous propensity for getting lost when driving. This was largely because of his method of “Zen” navigation, which was simply to find any car that looked as if it knew where it was going and follow it. The results were more often surprising than successful, but he felt it was worth it for the sake of the few occasions when it was both.”
“Ok," he said, "I don't like to disturb you at what I know must be a difficult and distressing time for you, but I need to know first of all if you actually realize that this is a difficult and distressing time for you.”
“What was the Sherlock Holmes principle? ‘Once you have discounted the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ ”
“I reject that entirely,” said Dirk sharply. “The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbably lacks. How often have you been presented with an apparently rational explanation of something that works in all respects other than one, which is that it is hopelessly improbable?...The first idea merely supposes that there is something we don’t know about, and...there are enough of those. The second, however, runs contrary to something fundamental and human which we do know about. We should therefore be very suspicious of it and all its specious rationality.”
― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
I started reading the Samyutta Nikaya again, but got bored and gave up. I might instead flick through one of the lost suttas of the Spiny Nikaya, which has nice pictures of elephants in it. It is like Jungle Book with Buddha in it.
1
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
I really have to pace myself with the many suttas, sutras and discourse and throw in some sci-fi, lightly written physics or humor.
Right now I'm starting another Star Trek book. Chains of Command.
I'm reading Buddha Is As Buddha Does by Lama Surya Das. It covers The Parimita's or 10 Perfections'. I'm enjoying it but it's hard to stay with, so I'm also reading The Untransported Man by Phillip K. Dick, one of my favorite science fiction authors.
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
@RuddyDuck9 said:
many of us seem to enjoy a good romp through some light sci fi. Any theories on why that is? I'm just as fond of them as the next person.
What do you consider 'light' sci fi? It's all pretty heavy to me...and I like it.
I got cheap used copy of Surrogates on dvd (Bruce Willis) and The Island (Ewan McGregor & Scarlett Johansson) - I know it's not books, but it's as close as I get lately.
I just started reading S. Batchelor's After Buddhism - starting out really great.
Well, I suppose I consider light scifi/ fantasy to be things like Jim Butcher or Hitchiker, and deeper scifi/ fantasy to be things like Ursula LeGuin or Dune. Either is great, though.
I have about ten different books on the go on my Amazon kindle. They are pretty much all dharma books. Life is so short, too many books and not enough time!!
Thought about reading a book then decided I couldn't be bothered, so started watching at DVD box-set of "Game of Thrones".
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@SpinyNorman said:
Thought about reading a book then decided I couldn't be bothered, so started watching at DVD box-set of "Game of Thrones".
Yeah I kept my Game of Thrones box sets as well during my recent DVD clear out. It was one of those marginal cases - are they really life positive? - but I still have something with the epic and the human apparently. Kept LotR, The Hobbit and Harry Potter as well.
I rented Game of Thrones from the local library, I was curious because I'd heard a lot about it, but never seen it before. It's fascinating, but I'm finding it hard to follow which characters come from which kingdom, and who is fighting who, and why.
I just finished "she's come undone" by wally lamb, and the conclusion at the end is actually quite Buddhist! Live in the now. Breathe in and out. Love people.
@SpinyNorman said:
I rented Game of Thrones from the local library, I was curious because I'd heard a lot about it, but never seen it before. It's fascinating, but I'm finding it hard to follow which characters come from which kingdom, and who is fighting who, and why.
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Albert Camus was a depressive activist. His books were allegorical observations of Man's cruelty, conflict and strife.
Thomas Mann...Hmmm....The Magic Mountain is a novel about disease, not merely of individuals, but also of a whole age. What makes it so difficult to read is Mann's insistence that the reader become part of it.
@federica Yes it's not exactly jolly and cheerful reading. There are dark humor and irony. But they are catching up important issues that affect us all . But we see that the protagonists lacks moral anchor, especially in "the stranger" .
Where death is only death and nothing more, the protagonist refuses to listen to the priest when he sits on the death row . There is no hope . When you die then you die , and no one cares more about it. The meaning of life is absent . This also makes the priest frustrated, and he does not understand how a person can live like this , without any hope of a continuation .
But Next time Iam at the library I will rent a book about gardening, little bit better for the mood.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited August 2016
I read "L'Etranger" By Albert Camus, in French classes at school. I also read 'La Peste' by him, a year later. (Both in the original French, which somehow made it more real.
Depressive doesn't cover it.
Seriously, you need to change your mind-set. What you put into your mind, will colour your attitude to everything and anything around you.
Why are you not reading something by Lama Surya Das, Pema Chodron, TNH, or HHDL? Too upbeat for you...?
@federica My library has only two Dalai Lama books and one zen book. Its like Sahara.
But I read dhamma books on the web, its far from the same as reading a normal old fashioned book, but better than nothing.
For example this article here tells us all the incredible benefits of chanting Om Mani Padme Hum
"Thus, when a person who has recited ten malas of OM MANI PADME HUM a day goes into a river or an ocean, the water that touches the person’s body gets blessed, and this blessed water then purifies all the billions and billions of sentient beings in the water".
Comments
I've recently put my hands on 'Ginkgo' by Peter Crane.
I quote the backpiece:
(The repetition of 'engaging' is not my error, but a literary faux-pas on the part of the Editor/publisher.)
I love ginkgos. I used to work at a yarn store and knitting school in my home town. The building had male ginkgos in front which inspired me to have their yellow leaves in a tattoo on my shoulder. Their veracity, beauty, timelessness, and symbolic meaning are just neat.
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen
The author is a Finnish woman who moved to the United States to be with the man she would eventually marry. She found the American way of dealing with everyday basics such as health insurance, taxes, education, and child care to be confusing and stressful. As she got to know Americans better, she discovered that many shared her deep apprehensions.
She compares living in the U.S. with life in the Nordic countries, with her focus on four key relationships - parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and governments and citizens. The criticism that Nordic countries are 'nanny states' is argued against, and the view that Americans are actually enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies is proposed.
Interesting read so far, especially from the perspective of a Canadian.
@lobster I digest on the cushion.
Just made a start on TNH's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
How is it? Would you recommend?
I'm getting my TNH books tomorrow: ordered No Death, No Fear, Being Peace both of which I have already read (and Being Peace as a talk is online at several places) and Chanting from the Heart for practice aid.
Let's see what they can do...
They can only do as much as you do with them!
So far it has been good. Very clear, and a nice mix of incisive commentary with anecdote, sutra, and historical background. Insightful, and he uses well-chosen language to bring the lessons home. What I've read up to now has certainly improved my understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
The first "new" book I ever bought on Buddhism (well to be quite honest it was the only 'new' book on Buddhism I've bought) was Thich Nhat Hanh's " Present Moment Wonderful Moment"
It was amongst the books I gave away just recently...
At the moment (excuse the pun
) I have around half a dozen books on Zen on the go and the most recent one I started reading is "Zen Seeds...Reflections of a Female Priest" by Shundo Aoyama....and before starting this, I opened "Zen In The Art Of Archery" by Eugen Herrigel....
Currently reading Anatomy & Physiology for therapists and Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth by Geshe Tashi Tsering, and also a police thriller on my kindle that I can't remember the name of.
I feel a Daphne du Maurier period approaching after reading this thread, love her books and haven't re-read for years, in which case all other activity apart from breathing/ tea & toast breaks will cease
You are all so well read
I have been going back to the source materials and learning to read trees. I used to take pleasure in visiting specialised libraries, often with my teacher, in order to read the silence and scholarly interaction.
In order to take a more mainstream interest in books, I have listed some of the books I am interested in reading:
... and now back on topic ...
@lobster
You should write a book. Seriously, the Buddhist book industry needs someone like you!
@Tara1978 what is your favorite DuMaurier novel?
@lobster I agree with @Shim
It would be entertaining. I third the motion! But you need a straight man...
Iam also reading Ajhan Sumedho, iam also listening to his Dhammatalks, he is very honest about how humans really are, and their fighting about the perfect ideal.
Toomorow I will go to the libray, I always get headache cause I get overloaded with information, so I cant stay for to long, max 5 min :P
I was at the library today and rented James Joyce, Ulysses. I decided to rent it, since it was listed as nr 2 of the greatest books.
Has anyoen else read it?
I have just read to page 10, seem to be little bit abstract..
I just put down The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams. I didn't know there was a second book to the Dirk Gently Detective Agency.
Loved it.
Thanks guys.
Straight guys and collaborators welcome ...
Here is a joint Buddhist book I started:
http://opcoa.st/0Sm8W
@Namada Yes! Very abstract in some places. It's a wild tangle of stream of consciousness. Almost like Meditating with ADHD, lol. It's wonderful, but I recommend reading it in small doses.
I loved both of them. They're genius, aren't they? Damn sofa.... And don't open the fridge.
They really are. One of the few authors that can make me literally laugh out loud.
I have already forgotten where I put the darned thing as I tend to clean the main room in a fervor since having a toddler. I wanted to quote a passage where he can find clues into his current situation by examining anything because of the nature of interconnectivity.
I did find a site that had a few handy quotes from the book though:
“He had a tremendous propensity for getting lost when driving. This was largely because of his method of “Zen” navigation, which was simply to find any car that looked as if it knew where it was going and follow it. The results were more often surprising than successful, but he felt it was worth it for the sake of the few occasions when it was both.”
“Ok," he said, "I don't like to disturb you at what I know must be a difficult and distressing time for you, but I need to know first of all if you actually realize that this is a difficult and distressing time for you.”
“What was the Sherlock Holmes principle? ‘Once you have discounted the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ ”
“I reject that entirely,” said Dirk sharply. “The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbably lacks. How often have you been presented with an apparently rational explanation of something that works in all respects other than one, which is that it is hopelessly improbable?...The first idea merely supposes that there is something we don’t know about, and...there are enough of those. The second, however, runs contrary to something fundamental and human which we do know about. We should therefore be very suspicious of it and all its specious rationality.”
― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Great stuff.
I started reading the Samyutta Nikaya again, but got bored and gave up. I might instead flick through one of the lost suttas of the Spiny Nikaya, which has nice pictures of elephants in it. It is like Jungle Book with Buddha in it.
I really have to pace myself with the many suttas, sutras and discourse and throw in some sci-fi, lightly written physics or humor.
Right now I'm starting another Star Trek book. Chains of Command.
I do dig my Star Trek.
I'm reading Buddha Is As Buddha Does by Lama Surya Das. It covers The Parimita's or 10 Perfections'. I'm enjoying it but it's hard to stay with, so I'm also reading The Untransported Man by Phillip K. Dick, one of my favorite science fiction authors.
many of us seem to enjoy a good romp through some light sci fi. Any theories on why that is? I'm just as fond of them as the next person.
The Great Push: And Episode of the Great War
This article on Lion's Roar about Asian American Buddhists.
Interesting, I've also been on Lions Roar a fair bit. I have been working through this summary of the Dalai Lama's life and articles there, it's been really interesting.
What do you consider 'light' sci fi? It's all pretty heavy to me...and I like it.
I got cheap used copy of Surrogates on dvd (Bruce Willis) and The Island (Ewan McGregor & Scarlett Johansson) - I know it's not books, but it's as close as I get lately.
I just started reading S. Batchelor's After Buddhism - starting out really great.
Well, I suppose I consider light scifi/ fantasy to be things like Jim Butcher or Hitchiker, and deeper scifi/ fantasy to be things like Ursula LeGuin or Dune. Either is great, though.
I have about ten different books on the go on my Amazon kindle. They are pretty much all dharma books. Life is so short, too many books and not enough time!!
Thought about reading a book then decided I couldn't be bothered, so started watching at DVD box-set of "Game of Thrones".
Yeah I kept my Game of Thrones box sets as well during my recent DVD clear out. It was one of those marginal cases - are they really life positive? - but I still have something with the epic and the human apparently. Kept LotR, The Hobbit and Harry Potter as well.
I rented Game of Thrones from the local library, I was curious because I'd heard a lot about it, but never seen it before. It's fascinating, but I'm finding it hard to follow which characters come from which kingdom, and who is fighting who, and why.
Does reading New Buddhist count?
I should co-co....
I just finished "she's come undone" by wally lamb, and the conclusion at the end is actually quite Buddhist! Live in the now. Breathe in and out. Love people.
Den där jävla döden ("That damn death", hasn't been translated as far as I know) by Anna Lindman.
It's about death.
It is based on a true story ...
and now back to the literate ...
A Still Forest Pool - The Insight Meditation of Ajahn Chah.
Just finished Albert Camus - the stranger
and now reading Thomas Mann - the magic mountain
The natural bliss of being - Jackson Peterson
Albert Camus was a depressive activist. His books were allegorical observations of Man's cruelty, conflict and strife.
Thomas Mann...Hmmm....The Magic Mountain is a novel about disease, not merely of individuals, but also of a whole age. What makes it so difficult to read is Mann's insistence that the reader become part of it.
You really need to change your reading matter....
@federica Yes it's not exactly jolly and cheerful reading. There are dark humor and irony. But they are catching up important issues that affect us all . But we see that the protagonists lacks moral anchor, especially in "the stranger" .
Where death is only death and nothing more, the protagonist refuses to listen to the priest when he sits on the death row . There is no hope . When you die then you die , and no one cares more about it. The meaning of life is absent . This also makes the priest frustrated, and he does not understand how a person can live like this , without any hope of a continuation .
But Next time Iam at the library I will rent a book about gardening, little bit better for the mood.
I read "L'Etranger" By Albert Camus, in French classes at school. I also read 'La Peste' by him, a year later. (Both in the original French, which somehow made it more real.
Depressive doesn't cover it.
Seriously, you need to change your mind-set. What you put into your mind, will colour your attitude to everything and anything around you.
Why are you not reading something by Lama Surya Das, Pema Chodron, TNH, or HHDL? Too upbeat for you...?
I'm reading "The Art of Happiness" by HHDL and Howard Cutler. It's more down to earth than I expected. I like it so far.
^^. Does it have pictures?
@federica My library has only two Dalai Lama books and one zen book. Its like Sahara.
But I read dhamma books on the web, its far from the same as reading a normal old fashioned book, but better than nothing.
For example this article here tells us all the incredible benefits of chanting Om Mani Padme Hum
"Thus, when a person who has recited ten malas of OM MANI PADME HUM a day goes into a river or an ocean, the water that touches the person’s body gets blessed, and this blessed water then purifies all the billions and billions of sentient beings in the water".
http://fpmt.org/education/teachings/lama-zopa-rinpoche/the-benefits-of-chanting-om-mani-padme-hum/
No.
Time to write an angry Amazon review: "There's no art in it!!"