Om...
23rd book of 2012 completed. The Wisdom of No Escape: And The Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chödrön.
Likelihood of me recommending this book to anyone (out of 5) - 5. I realized I hadn't read much Buddhist text for awhile now so I'm rectifying that. I'm quite fond of Pema Chödrön and I think the average person would be. She speaks like a regular person (she even curses!) that one can relate to as opposed to some mystic guru sitting on a pillow with their legs crossed. Her writings are easy to understand, enjoyable, and give practical insight and inspiration. This book is a written collection of talks she gave in 1989. She's blunt that life is hard and painful, but we have to deal with it instead of running from pain and fear. She discusses tonglen* which was amazing to read and something that I want to practice more often. I'm definitely going to be reading more of Pema's books.
On a slightly unrelated note, I'm digging yogic trance music lately. I quite like Govindas and Radha. Their music is very repetitive (hence trance) and I have no idea what in the world they're saying through most of it *lol*, but I love it anyway. I love the rhythm, the slowness to quickening and slowing back down. One song I was listening to yesterday, I thought to myself, "...I wonder if there's a hidden message in this, like if it was played backwards."
*This is another good article regarding tonglen. I find it quite lovely to combine the meditation in that article with this meditation practice.
Likelihood of me recommending this book to anyone (out of 5) - 5. I realized I hadn't read much Buddhist text for awhile now so I'm rectifying that. I'm quite fond of Pema Chödrön and I think the average person would be. She speaks like a regular person (she even curses!) that one can relate to as opposed to some mystic guru sitting on a pillow with their legs crossed. Her writings are easy to understand, enjoyable, and give practical insight and inspiration. This book is a written collection of talks she gave in 1989. She's blunt that life is hard and painful, but we have to deal with it instead of running from pain and fear. She discusses tonglen* which was amazing to read and something that I want to practice more often. I'm definitely going to be reading more of Pema's books.
On a slightly unrelated note, I'm digging yogic trance music lately. I quite like Govindas and Radha. Their music is very repetitive (hence trance) and I have no idea what in the world they're saying through most of it *lol*, but I love it anyway. I love the rhythm, the slowness to quickening and slowing back down. One song I was listening to yesterday, I thought to myself, "...I wonder if there's a hidden message in this, like if it was played backwards."
Click to view*This is another good article regarding tonglen. I find it quite lovely to combine the meditation in that article with this meditation practice.