Tag Archives: Philosophy

BOOKS: “Shaolin: How to win without fighting” by Bernhard Moestl

Posted on by
2
Shaolin: How to win without fightingShaolin: How to win without fighting by Bernhard Moestl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site

This is a self-help book that nominally draws on the philosophy of Shaolin Kung fu and its Chan Buddhist underpinnings, but – more broadly – employs quotes and examples from many, mostly Eastern, sources. For example, the ideas and stories of Miyamoto Musashi are perhaps as common as any source (Musashi was Japanese, not Chinese, and was not noted for being Buddhist. In his own words, he respected the gods and buddhas, but didn’t expect their help.)

The book offers a fine discussion of Eastern philosophic thought in action, particularly that which arose from warrior sources, but it isn’t particularly ground-breaking in any way. For those who like homework, the book does include many exercises to make the reading a more interactive experience.

I enjoyed reading this book well enough, but it didn’t distinguish itself and will soon fall into the mind-space of a fuzzy amalgamation of similar books I’ve read over the years.

View all my reviews

“Song of the Open Road” (2 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
You road I enter upon and look around, I
   believe you are not all that is here,
 I believe that much unseen is also here.

Here the profound lesson of reception, nor
   preference nor denial,
 The black with his wooly head, the felon,
   the diseas'd, the illiterate person, are not
   denied;
 The birth, the hasting after the physician,
   the beggar's tramp, the drunkard's stagger,
   the laughing party of mechanics,
 The escaped youth, the rich person's 
   carriage, the fop, the eloping couple,

The early market-man, the hearse, the
   moving of furniture into the town, the
   return back from the town,
 They pass, I also pass, any thing passes,
   none can be interdicted,
 None but are accepted, none but shall be
   dear to me.

“Song of the Open Road” (1 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open 
   road,
 Healthy, free, the world before me,
 The long brown path before me leading 
   wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself
   am good-fortune,
 Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone
   no more, need nothing,
 Done with indoor complaints, libraries,
   querulous criticisms,
 Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,
 I do not want the constellations any nearer,
 I know they are very well where they are,
 I know they suffice for those who belong to 
   them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
 I carry them, men and women, I carry them
   with me wherever I go,
 I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of 
   them,
 I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in
   return.)

BOOKS: “Jñāna-Yoga: The Way of Knowledge” by Ramakrishna Puligandla

Posted on by
Reply
Jnana-Yoga--The Way of KnowledgeJnana-Yoga–The Way of Knowledge by Ramakrishna Puligandla
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Google Books Page

This is one of the most useful books I’ve read on the topic of Jñāna-yoga — the approach to yogic philosophy employed by the studious / inquisitive (in contrast to Bhakti-Yoga [the yoga of those for whom faith and devotion works] and Karma-Yoga [the yoga for those for whom a course of self-less action appeals.]) There are Jñāna-yogic Hindu sects and Buddhism — in general — can be thought of as a school of Jñāna-yoga. The author draws from the teachings of both, principally Sankara for Hindu thinking and Nagarjuna for the Buddhist approach.

A word of warning, the author is a scholarly philosopher, and so — while not as unreadable as many works of academic philosophy — it will be a slog for those who are not used to reading scholarly writing.

That said, Puligandla does a fine job of laying out what he views as the central tenets of Jñāna-yoga in a concise fashion and reviewing them at the end. This is not to say I would agree with all that he proposes, herein. In particular, his Chapter 3 conclusions about consciousness are insufficiently justified to be considered core principles of Jñāna-yoga (in my view.) Of course, the beauty of Jñāna-yoga is that it not only doesn’t insist upon coming to the same conclusions, it generates explanations as to how it’s perfectly possible / reasonable to come to different conclusions (see “The Principle of Superimposition,” herein.) Furthermore, since the author is reporting the ideas of Sankara and Nagarjuna, I can’t really hold these ideas against him.

If you’re interested in Jñāna-yoga, and can handle scholarly prose, I’d highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews

“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –” (236) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
1 
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church --
   I keep it, staying at Home --
 With a Bobolink for a Chorister --
   And an Orchard, for a Dome --

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice --
   I, just wear my Wings --
 And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
   Our little Sexton -- sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman --
   And the sermon is never long,
 So instead of getting to Heaven, at last -- 
   I'm going, all along.

PROMPT: A Year Ago

Posted on by
Reply

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

I make no predictions. Forecasting is a sucker’s game.

“Without desire everything is sufficient” by Ryōkan Taigu

Posted on by
Reply 
Without desire everything is sufficient.
 With seeking myriad things are impoverished.
 Plain vegetables can soothe hunger.
 A patched robe is enough to cover this bent old body.
 Alone I hike with a deer.
 Cheerfully I sing with village children.
 The stream under the cliff cleanses my ears.
 The pine on the mountain top fits my heart.

Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Daniel Leighton in Essential Zen (1994) HarperSanFrancisco.

“A Passage to India” by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
1 
Passage O soul to India!
 Eclaircise the myths Asiatic, the primitive
   fables.

Not you alone, proud truths of the
   world,
 Nor you alone, ye facts of modern
   science,
 But myths and fables of eld, Asia's, Africa's
   fables,
 The far-darting beams of the spirit, the
   unloos'd dreams,
 The deep diving bibles and legends,
 The daring plots of the poets, the elder
   religions;
 O you temples fairer than lilies, pour'd over
   by the rising sun!
 O you fables, spurning the known, eluding
   the hold of the known, mounting to 
   heaven!
You lofty and dazzling towers, pinnacled,
   red as roses, burnish'd with gold!
 Towers of fables immortal, fashion'd from
   mortal dreams!
 You too I welcome, and fully, the same as
    the rest!
 You too with joy I sing.

Passage to India!
 Lo, soul! seest thou not God's purpose from
   the first?
 The earth to be spann'd, connected by
   network,
 The races, neighbors, to marry and be given
   in marriage,
 The oceans to be cross'd, the distant
   brought near,
 The lands to be welded together.

A worship new I sing,
 You captains, voyagers, explorers,
   yours,
 You engineers, you architects, machinists,
   yours,
 You, not for trade or transportation only,
 But in God's name, and for thy sake, O
   soul.

FIVE WISE LINES [December 2024]

Posted on by
2

Today as in ancient times
it’s hard to write a simple poem.

Mei Yaochen in Poets’ Jade Splinters

To be undefeated lies with oneself;
to be victorious lies with the enemy.

Sunzi in The ART of War (孙子兵法)

A buddha is an idle person.
He doesn’t run around after fortune and fame.
What good are such things in the end?

Bodhidharma; Bloodstream Sermon

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

Epicurus

Take more time, cover less ground.

Thomas Merton

BOOKS: “American Intellectual History: A Very Short Introduction” by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

Posted on by
Reply
American Intellectual History: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)American Intellectual History: A Very Short Introduction by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen


Publisher Site – OUP

This is a brief guide to the philosophies and major developments in United States’ academia from pre-colonial times to the 1990’s. But both of those end points require a bit of clarification. The discussion of pre-colonial scholarly history is largely a mea culpa for beginning with colonial history because Native American tribes weren’t big on recording their philosophical and other scholastic ideas in writing. There is an appendix that discusses America scholarship in the era of globalization (and beyond.) My point is that if you’re hoping for discussion of what’s happened in the last couple decades, you won’t find it herein. (There are a few bibliographic references from the 2010’s, but that’s it.) It is a history book, but some readers may be curious because there’s been a lot of talk of late about issues related to scholarship in America.

Overall, I believe the book covered the topic solidly. There is considerable discussion of the debates triggered by the ideas of Charles Darwin arriving on American shores. As one would expect, there is also quite a bit of discussion of Transcendentalism and Pragmatism, two philosophies closely associated with America. The author covered a wide swath of ground including both progressive and conservative thinkers and viewpoints. One conspicuous absence was any mention of Objectivism / Ayn Rand. I know that isn’t a popular topic in academic circles and is widely dismissed with contempt, but on the grounds of: a.) Objectivism’s considerable influence (e.g. we had a Federal Reserve Chairman – Alan Greenspan – who served almost 20 years under both Republican and Democratic Presidents who was from that school of thought,) b.) its distinctive Americanness, I’m shocked that it didn’t merit at least a sentence or any mention of a book in the bibliography.

All in all, it’s an interesting book that offers unique insight into the history of the United States.

View all my reviews