Reads: How to Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Hi all,

Here's another book about education of the mind: its a book teaching you how to read a book. Well, you may be surprised that the concepts of meditation and mindfulness overlaps with the ideas in the book. It tells you that effort must be exerted everytime you read a book, and mindfully craft a storage system to store all your information systematically. Its like organizing a your brain 'folders'.

The book mainly consists of four sections on how to read a book, namely, elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical reading. It also tells about how to read scientific and literary titles - which is a very helpful introduction on the concepts of knowledge organized in these subjects.

Reading is a skill, which requires time to develop. Once developed, it becomes an art. Like learning to ski, it requires patience and courage to stand up against every slips and fall. But once skills are honed, skiing becomes an art that flows naturally in the form of a habit. Reading is the same too. One is bound to feel overwhelmed and frustrated in the beginning, and later give up. But due perseverance and courage, one developes mental strength to acquire further knowledge.

This book is rather rare, I last saw it in MPH in Midvalley Kuala Lumpur some years back, costing some RM60. It is not published regularly. But you should keep alert at the secondhand bookstores - if you are mindful and lucky, you'll find it. Alternatively, you can order the book through amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone/dp/0671212095/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-9687847-6372836?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175222524&sr=1-2

And so, likewise in mindfulness, we should cultivate good mindful habits.

Cheers.

Dan Xia

Reads: Dear Patrick, Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice

Here's some good advice from a Jew who practise Buddhist meditation, who is also a psychiatrist, and a fatherly figure who'd 'been there, done that'.

Jeffrey M. Schwartz wrote to Patrick Buckley, a young man of 16, in a series of letters in hope to give the young man some philosophical guidance. Schwartz adopted many teachings from the Buddha, which he began by identifying the ten greatest 'killers' (equivalent to the Bible's reference to the Seven Deadly Sins). The ten killers, Mara, are as follows:

1. Sensual desire
2. Boredom and dissatisfaction
3. Hunger and thirst
4. Craving
5. Sloth and torpor
6. Cowardice and fearfulness
7. Excessive doubt and uncertainty
8. Hypocrysy and stubborness
9. Ill-won gain, honour, fame
10. Praising oneself and denigrating others.

In the collection of letters, Schwartz emphasized on mindfulness and approached the matter from the viewpoints of anatomical medicine, religious comparison (Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity), and philosophy, even economics - so dynamically written to provide a harmonious understanding.

I reckon that this book is most suitable for those who are in their teens, or even young adults seeking answers to life's puzzling question. People who had read this will say 'Jeffrey was talking to me'... and I can assure you a fruitful and liberating read.

The ISBN of this book is 0-06-098743-X, costs some RM 50.

Till then, may you be well, and have an pleasant discovery.

Dan Xia