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The Parables of Kryon by Lee Carroll

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

The Parables of Kryon by Lee Carroll
You could call it fables for adults. From what I get Kryon is like god and tells Lee Carroll these stories. Each chapter is a story and has an intro (Author’s Note) on where it was told or how it came about. Then the story and finally a breakdown of what it all means (Author’s Postscript). Since I love symbolism in the scriptures I was curious about that aspect in the book. Does not do a bad job as it’s a quick read, simple to understand and sticks to the oldest form of teaching lessons…. Story telling! Most of them are pretty straight forward, some need more explaining, hence the authors postscript. The theme includes spirit guides, reincarnation and my favourites… karmic lessons and contracts (the ones you make before you take birth here to experience them). Sometimes I felt Kryon was trying to play into the stereotypes but it’s not a big issue. Big up Viv again for hooking it up… sometimes getting into the deeper knowledge you forget about the basic stuff so it was a welcomed refresher.

Contents
- Introduction

The Parables
1. Parable of the Tar Pit
2. Wo and the Rooms of Lesson
3. The Big, Fuzzy Caterpillar
4. The Missing Bridge
5. The Father and the Son
6. Sarah and the Old Shoe
7. The Two Groups of Warriors
8. Jason and the Cave
9. Jessica the Angry
10. The Infant’s Questions
11. Marla the Mouse
12. Angenon and Veréhoo
13. Story of the Two Farmers
14. Angela and Her Guide Friends
15. David the Indian
16. Past Lives, Present Fears
17. John the Healer
18. Five Karmic Lessons
19. Aaron and the Globe of Essence
20. Wo and the Big Wind

- Afterword
- About the Author

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The Yogasara Upanishad – A Commentary by H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

The Yogasara Upanishad – A Commentary by H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Quick read. Got a good reminder to ‘be a witness’ to whats happening. Who is the pain, joy, ups and downs happening too. Talks a lot about the 3 gunas. Pretty normal knowledge we’ve been going through till the end… then I was like … my oh my. See we do the practices trying to get ‘there’ but the expectation is what stops us but at the same time we shouldn’t stop… ?!?!?!?! So he’s like all our cells are always learning… through bad/negative practices we teach our cells to get used to alcohol, gambling, etc. So for enlightenment no matter what don’t stop the good practices as these cells which come up today may not come up till next year. So say we do practices a lot and miss a week. Then when we get closer and things are going smooth we’ll feel slowed down when those cells we missed that week come up again kinda thing. I’m not explaining it right coz I don’t wanna type a whole lot but you get the point right? If not read it for an year and find out for yourself!

Contents
- Preface
- Surrender and Bondage
- Uniting with the Depth
- Beyond the Wrapping Paper
- Be a Witness

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Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman
Coz it says with Larry Slowman does that move it from the autobiography section to the biography section? Anyway it’s Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman’s story. The first half was sooo exciting, the crazy things in his childhood like being introduced to the drug dealing and drugs by his dad at such an early age. Or him writing a letter to his dad telling him that he wants to lose his virginity on his birthday with dads girlfriend and the dad actually hooks it up. Or him and his friends doing all sorts of chemicals and finding houses with pools to jump into from the roof… the higher the house the more the necessity to do it. While reading this book I was forced to daydream… I’d actually stop after a few paragraphs and either reflect on how the writing style makes me identify even though I wasn’t an addict or a rockstar or whatever. That was one of the reasons, secondly I’d daydream as it brought back a lot of my own childhood, teenage and college memories. Thirdly I’d daydream about how I was gonna structure my writing… not gonna say much about that right now but yeah… the first half of the book was nostalgic and freaky and exciting and rollercoasting.

I shouldn’t say half coz it’s not sectioned but later on the book gets into this pattern and gets kinda boring. Keep in mind its a biography and I can’t really criticize someones life so think of this as a warning. In a nutshell, the pattern is about ups and downs with the bands, fallouts with band members, women and drugs. And when I say drugs I mean dude spent a lot of time in sleazy or extra ghetto places where death is just around the corner. Props to Anthony for sharing such a life and showing us even though the rockstar lifestyle can be wild, you can still be humble and be just as average at the same time. Dude was in touch with his spiritual side too, recognizing the signs and talking about the dark energy of drugs, etc. It made me appreciate my friendships too because he’d talk about how they do all these crazy things, some even disgusting, but just like him I believe the more weird or taboo things you share the closer the relationship. Like when you and your peeps are in sync it doesn’t matter what you do it just clicks and falls in place… kinda thing. He even makes you realize that if you have some issues you have to deal with them 100% and from every angle. Another thing he mentioned was not knowing how some jokes and dissing can damage someone even though they wont show it so there is this fine balance between being comfy and being too comfy kinda thing… it just touched me coz I recently stopped doing the dissing thing and started avoiding it in people around me.

The book has pictures too… yay! Helped me figure out who was who. I gotta say, apart from Californication I didn’t know any of their stuff but have a new found respect for The Chili Peps and will give their music and videos a chance. Big up Viv for hooking it up.

Update: Gave their music and videos a chance… even saw the lil documentary they made when they decided to move in a house and record there… with Kiedis in one room and a mic far away from the rest and it was pretty cool seeing them work… they def had their own chemistry. Kept about 6 songs from their discography… and all of them Californication album onwards… wasn’t feeling the stuff before that album apart from this weird track called Pea.

Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction

- CHAPTER ONE: “Me, I’m from Michigan”
- CHAPTER TWO: Spider and Son
- CHAPTER THREE: Fairfax High
- CHAPTER FOUR: Under the Zero One Sun
- CHAPTER FIVE: Deep Kicking
- CHAPTER SIX: The Red Hots
- CHAPTER SEVEN: Groundhog Year
- CHAPTER EIGHT: The Organic Anti-Beat Box Band
- CHAPTER NINE: Refourming
- CHAPTER TEN: Funky Monks
- CHAPTER ELEVEN: Warped
- CHAPTER TWELVE: Over the Wall
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Nothing
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Welcome to Californication
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A Moment of Clarity

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The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
First of all Cordwainer Smith is a pseudonym Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger used for his science fiction work. He has a few more depending on his work. Now I’m not one to go for any kinda of fiction that easily since my thinking is why not read something where I’ll also learn something at the same time. But after Nick described this book and especially the mind-blowing descriptions… I had to find out for myself.

Boy was I blown away! The way Cordwainer uses descriptions are so original and astounding you have to read them again. My favourite examples – When describing telepaths navigating space he said something like the stars being the pimples in the telepathic mind. Another one: Doleres Oh sighed a dry, ugly sigh, like the crackling of sub-zero winds through frozen twigs. Describing music: Silly, bony words given flesh and blood and entrails by the music which carries them. It’s random but connected! I’m hoping Nick will add some more of his favorites under this post ;o) What a way to paint a picture for our imagination.

The book started with a timeline and a long fascinating history of the author (wars, languages, countries… he’s been around and know lots). The timeline is a guide for the coming short stories. They all lead into, but are not dependant on, each other. And I dare you to start the first story and not be hooked. Even after reading the book it’s so clear even though we’re missing a few 1000 years between the stories. I’ll tell you one thing… it’s the first book I’ve fallen deeply in love with. I admit it, I was lost in a world of creatures, morbid technology, melancholic happiness… basically it was like life we live here but with different mentalities, rules and lifestyles. I mean people called scanners turned into killing robots, ships with sails million times larger than the planet, travelling space for 40 years when it just seems like months, using telepathic powers to shoot ships in space and the ships have cats that are helping people kill dragons, the planet where a cow-man harvests body parts grown on criminals for the rest of the … Universe. And at the same time these are historical revolutions to change how ‘man’ lives. Instead of death theres cryogenics… hell one story even brought back death and troubles so people we not miserably happy.

I might as well transcribe the book if I’m gonna go on like this. Smith’s writing has the ability to pick you up and put you in the characters shoes, pull you out again and do it for every character involved. So you see the world through so many eyes, you understand their feelings and history. I didn’t understand the relevance of a couple of stories to the ‘rediscovery’ but I was still so ensnared I had to pace myself or I’d finish the book too soon (The cover explained my confusion about one of the stories anyway). And even though all the stories have a sadness you’re not too emotionally moved. There are songs lyrics in the book, poetry, rhymes, historic notes. This man has created a complete world! I think the sadness helps you connect more with the people when they have some kind of emotion between them. Some of his sentences are not grammatically incorrect or misspelt or otherwise but you still get the gist of what is happening… in fact you get a better idea just from the bad english. This guy is so deliberate you want to get in his mind! A definite recommendation man. Superstar big up to Nick for hooking me up.

Contents
- Timeline
- Introduction: Cordwainer Smith – The Shaper of Myths by J. J. Pierce
- Scanners Live in Vain
- The Lady Who Sailed the Soul
- The Game of Rat and Dragon
- The Burning of the Brain
- The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal
- Golden the Ship was – Oh! Oh! Oh!
- The Dead Lady of Clown Town
- Under Old Earth
- Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons
- Alpha Ralpha Boulevard
- The Ballad of Lost C’mell
- A Planet NAmed Shayol

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The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Viv gave me this book to try and figure it out. He was like he know’s what it says but it’s hard to make sense of it. Well that’s what it’s all about. Dude has so much knowledge in the book but he’s tried to redefine already used words to something else which is hard to reconfigure or his sentences are too complicated or he’s basically having a conversation with himself which would be better heard than read. Too much hassle for bits of great knowledge here and there although… the was some great symbolism too. And anyway all he’s saying at the end of the say is focus on Now! Now! Now! So why a full book on it!!!!??? And towards the end I come across the heading saying women are more enlightened than men… oh boy… that’s just inspired me to type something in my thoughts so look out for that. The contents should explain most of it. Oh and the whole book is in Q&A format and basically I’m not trying to plug AOL but everything is explained much better in parasuniversal.com’s Something Deeper section.

Contents
- Preface
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements

-Introduction
The Origin of This Book
The Truth That Is Within You

- Chapter one: You Are Not Your Mind
The Greatest Obstacle to Enlightenment
Freeing Yourself from Your Mind
Enlightenment: Rising above Thought
Emotion: The Body’s Reaction to Your Mind

- Chapter Two: Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain
Create No More Pain in the Present
Past Pain: Dissolving the Pain-Body
Ego Identification with the Pain-Body
The Origin of Fear
The Ego’s Search for Wholeness

- Chapter Three: Moving Deeply into the Now
Don’t Seek Your Self in the Mind
End the Delusion of Time
Nothing Exists Outside Now
The key to the Spiritual Dimension
Accessing the Power of the Now
Letting Go of Psychological Time
The Insanity of Psychological Time
Negativity and Suffering Have Their Roots in Time
Finding the Life Underneath Your Life Situation
All Problems Are Illusions of the Mind
A Quantum Leap in the Evolution of Consciousness
The Joy of Being

- Chapter Four: Mind Strategies for Avoiding the Now
Loss of Now: Core Delusion
Ordinary Unconsciousness and Deep Consciousness
What Are They Seeking?
Dissolving ordinary Unconsciousness
Freedom from Unhappiness
Wherever You Are, Be There Totally
The Inner Purpose of Your Life’s Journey
The Past Cannot Survive in Your Presence

- Chapter Five: The State of Presence
It’s Not What You Think It Is
The Esoteric Meaning of “Waiting”
Beauty Arises in the Stillness of Your Presence
Realizing Pure Consciousness
Christ: The Reality of Your Divine Presence

- Chapter Six: The Inner Body
Being is Your Deepest Self
Look Beyond the Words
Finding Your Invisible and Indestructible Reality
Connecting with the Inner Body
Transformation through the Body
Sermon on the Body
Have Deep Roots Within
Before You Enter the Body, Forgive
Your Link with the Unmanifested
Slowing Down the Ageing Process
Strengthening the Immune System
Let the Breath Take Your in the Body
Creative Use of Mind
The Art of Listening

- Chapter Seven: Portals in the Unmanifest
Going Deeply in the Body
The Source of Chi
Dreamless Sleep
Other Portals
Silence
Space
The True Nature of Space and Time
Conscious Death

- Chapter Eight: Enlightened Relationships
Enter the Now from Wherever You Are
Love/Hate Relationships
Addiction and the Search for Wholeness
From Addictive to Enlightened Relationships
Relationships as Spiritual Practice
Why Women Are Closer to Enlightenment
Dissolving the Collective Female Pain-Body
Give Up the Relationship with Yourself

- Chapter Nine: Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness There Is Peace
The Higher Good beyond Good and Bad
The End of Your Life Drama
Impermanence and the Cycles of Life
Using the Relinquishing Negativity
The Nature of Compassion
Toward a Different Order of Reality

- Chapter Ten: The Meaning of Surrender
Acceptance of the Now
From Mind Energy to Spiritual Energy
Surrender in Personal Relationships
Transforming Illness into Enlightenment
When Disaster Strikes
Transforming Suffering into Peace
The Way of the Cross
The Power to Choose

- Notes

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