What book are you reading at the moment?

Norse Mythology

Zazen said:
im not sure, if he loves mythology im sure he'll enjoy it..umm i took mythology in highschool and it was so easy i never even had to try, but thats just me..just making a point that im not exactly the best person to ask about reading levels since i never had one..

but i mean, if he loves mythology..i strongly reccomend it, it is more like a scholarly type of read though, not really all stories and such its basically for someone whos familiar with norse mythology and wants to study it indepth

but its definately worthwhile for an aspiring student of mythology

amitabha
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Hi -
Just wanted you to know that I got this book for my son. He loves it. Thanks again for the suggestion. Any other book about mythology that you could recommend - please let me know the title. My son is an avid reader & for about 3 years, mythology/religion have been his favorite topics.

Thanks again!

Fern
 
Hot to retouch scratch in car body

I am reading a very smal thin volume bought by my wife in the supermarket: Tips for everyday living useful to the working woman.

Here is a tip for handling scratches in your car body:

Look for the right color nail polish collection. Clean the scratch and wipe it dry. Apply several coating of the nail polish, limiting the paint to the borders of the scratch. Rub with bathroom cleansing powder-paste. Finish a good buffing of Turtle Wax.
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Praise the Lord, it works!

Susma Rio Sep
 
Zdrastvuitsye, hola, shalom, salaam, Dia dhuit, namastar ji, hej, konbanwa, squeak, meow, :wave:, juantoo3.

Originally posted by juantoo3
I thought I was doing well to get through "New Realities" by I forgot who, a quick read for a scholarship paper, and to be currently working on "The Golden Bough" by J.C. Frazer. In the morning "library" I have been going through a series of pages I printed off the web pertaining to prehistoric religion.
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You're reading Frazer's The Golden Bough!!?? :eek: And I thought I was a bibliophile. I tried reading it, but I quickly lost interest with all of the inconsistancies I found in his text (I've read quite a few different versions of the different myths he used in his text, so I kinda came a little too prepared, you could say.)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Fern said:
Hi -
Just wanted you to know that I got this book for my son. He loves it. Thanks again for the suggestion. Any other book about mythology that you could recommend - please let me know the title. My son is an avid reader & for about 3 years, mythology/religion have been his favorite topics.

Thanks again!

Fern
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Hi Fern,

you may want to consider a book called World Religions by a fellow named Huston Smith. it's quite an outstanding book. very accessible for all readers and it does a very good job of explaing the basic beliefs of all the major world religions.
 
Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine said:
Zdrastvuitsye, hola, shalom, salaam, Dia dhuit, namastar ji, hej, konbanwa, squeak, meow, :wave:, juantoo3.



You're reading Frazer's The Golden Bough!!?? :eek: And I thought I was a bibliophile. I tried reading it, but I quickly lost interest with all of the inconsistancies I found in his text (I've read quite a few different versions of the different myths he used in his text, so I kinda came a little too prepared, you could say.)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
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Namaste Phyllis,

i read that text many, many years ago... it didn't make much sense then and it hasn't since. eh... what can i say.. i found other systems to be more internally coherent.

have you read The Golden Dawn? that's a pretty good one too... it's been.. what... 15 years since i read it last... anyone know if there is an updated version?
 
Phyllis,
Kindest Regards and thank you for the warm welcome.

You're reading Frazer's The Golden Bough!!?? :eek: And I thought I was a bibliophile. I tried reading it, but I quickly lost interest with all of the inconsistancies I found in his text (I've read quite a few different versions of the different myths he used in his text, so I kinda came a little too prepared, you could say.)
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Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into? The book is on loan, an honor (dubious, perhaps?) bestowed upon me by one of my favorite professors. Even he warned me of inconsistancies, so I am puzzled. What kind of inconsistancies am I to be looking for? Or would that spoil the ending?

Actually, I am somewhat familiar with the subject, I read a book almost 20 years ago titled "The Two Babylons" by Rev. A. Hyslop. So far I find the two in general agreement, merely presenting different details in support of their theses.

In fairness, I'm finding the book a dry and difficult read. As a result, I haven't put the effort into it yet that it really requires. I'm not quite halfway through.

I think my profs intent was to further my understanding of early religion, due to a paper I wrote for his sociology class. In that paper I noted the corelation between the advent of rational thought, written language (such as cave art), and universal recognition of "spirit" among prehistoric societies.

This prof is encouraging me to pursue a Master's in a subject that would engage me in this subject, and I am giving it some serious consideration. I don't know what fields would entail such pursuit, or whether or not such may be available locally (read: conveniently).

And to Vajradhara, I am not familiar with "Golden Dawn", is it on a related subject?
 
The Art of Happiness by HH the Dalai Lama (hope i spelled that right). My mum got it for me, and no she doesnt think i'm sad. lol. I just saw it and wanted to buy it but was in a rush so she picked it up for me. It comes from a more rational point of view more scientific. I'm really enjoying it because it makes sense. My head rules my heart. I listen to my head more, so this book speaks right to me. Its kinda old but still seems to be relevent to todays questions.
 
Seeing God in carburetion systems

I am now reading Petersens: Basic Carburetion and Fuel Systems.

This has been a good spiritual reading for me.

The good engineers who design carburetion systems, they have been gifted by God to be inventive in thinking out the best ways for gasoline and air to mix in the right proportions, so that they burn forcefully and cleanly in the combustion cylinders of the car motor.

Now, God is also doing the right carburetion with our air mixture, just enough oxygen to burn our fat, not too much to burn even our lungs.

And God is so providential, he makes air so plentiful that so far we have no wars over the consumption of our air.

Air is absolutely necessary for life, and God makes so much of it that we don't have to pay for it, and it's everywhere, totally free, free, free.

Praise the Lord.

Susma Rio Sep
 
Imitation of Christ

I am reading at present, one among several books, all of them very small ones, "The Imitation of Christ."

I think Buddhists will like this book.

Here is one line I like very much:

I sought for peace everywhere,
and I have not found it anywhere,
except in a little nook,
with a little book.

Another one, which comes pretty strong in Latin:

Corpora tua, stercora tua.*

That's Thomas a Kempis being less antiseptic, but very brutally realistic. Yet there are many ways I don't agree with him. He's the essential misanthrope; I am not, except to some extent.

I think you can find the text somewhere here in the Internet.


Susma Rio Sep

*Your body, your excrement.
 
Brian, thanks so much for the giggle this morning! I really enjoy that scene.

I'm still reading "Landscapes of Wonder" by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano. It's a short book, but I'm finding it's better to only read one essay per day.

Someone lent me "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides, but I just can't get into it. I'm going to try it again in a week or so. Maybe I'll be more receptive to it.

I'm off on a trip with a long plane ride so I'm glad for the book recommendations! (Although I'll skip The Golden Bough. That one will remain forever in my "must read" list.)
Someone recommended Thou Art That by Joseph Campbell. Has anyone read this? I think I might take a Peter Carey book with me on the plane. I haven't yet read My Life as a Fake or True History of the Kelly Gang. I enjoy his writing style very much.
 
A digression

Reading induces eyestrain.

And even if you cannot put down a book because it's so absorbing, nonetheless your eyes do get tired and uncomfortable. So reading can be at least a discomfort in the eye.

Now if someone among the computer hardware and software experts, those guys in Intel and in Amd and in Ibm and in Microsoft would just come out with a chip where the world's best literature is stored, and this chip is imbedded in the neuro system of our body, for us to access directly into our brain, that would save a lot of eyestrain.

But will it save us from brain strain?

Just the same, if someone have that idea, let me know. I have some savings and I would like to invest in the idea. Who knows, I might still get to be very very rich, and enjoy literature without eyestrain.


Susma Rio Sep

Addendum: A digression within a digression:

Is this a spam? Nowadays, when people can't agree with you or find something different or novel they don't like, they call it a troll, a spam, a flame, a rant. This is the new vocabulary for ad hominem or straw man.

If you ask me... Every thread here is a conversation, and in any conversation things get in which are not exactly part of the main theme. So, let's get back to the main topic.
 
A father talks about...

I have here with me a little booklet, one of a series; in each title there are the words: "A Father Talks about..."

This one is on "A Father Talks about Marriage and Family".

The father here is a Catholic priest.

This father talks but I know he had neither marriage nor family. He's passed away years back before the storm hit the Catholic Church of men in the cloth discovered to be into live-in relations with women or into paedophile weaknesses.

I think he is a hero, because he can talk about the joys and pleasures of marriage and family and still give them up for the ministry of the Catholic Church which enjoins on him the duty of celibacy.

Even though I consider myself now a postgraduate Catholic, these men are still for me today heroes of the Faith, their faith.

Compared to the Protestant clergy and missionaries, I still see in Catholic priests everything else being equal to be more heroic than their Protestant counterparts.

Make a study of Christian missionaries abroad, outside their home countries, and you will see that many Protestant missionaries are into evangelizing already Christianized peoples, turning Catholics into Protestants. But Catholic priests, brothers, and sisters are into very new territories of peoples who are still dressed in loincloths.

No, this is not a troll, just a reflection of my reading.

Buddhist missionaries or their equivalents are into teaching meditation and nirvana among Westerners with a high standard of living. What about the missionaries of the other religions represented here among our fellow posters?

After I have read or re-read "A Father Talks about Marriage and Family", I will get started again on "A Father Talks about the Missions".

You know where I got these small booklets? from the librarian of the local Catholic school, which were put up for give-aways. You want to enlarge your library? go to schools and ask if they have any books they want to give away, to serious prospective owners.

No, this is not a troll, but a reflection of what I am reading now.

Susma Rio Sep
 
Oye, you can't go wrong with a good teen fantasy. I'm reading Howl's Moving Castle. By Diana Wynne Jones. The woman is a genius. A published author of over 30 years, she only gets better at it. :)
 
Originally posted by Silent Wind River
Oye, you can't go wrong with a good teen fantasy. I'm reading Howl's Moving Castle. By Diana Wynne Jones.
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Sounds intersting. I might have a look/see at it after I finish my latest Cat Fancy magazine, my textbooks (for midterms), and the latest Maggie Shayne tome, Edge of Twilight. Edge of Twilight is an adult romance from Ms. Shayne's Vampire series (her Twilight series) which I've been trying to keep up with (looking forward to her next installment from her spin-off series which I call her Supernatural Investigations series.) I'm also reading some Ann Rule books which are True Crime books.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
LittleLotus said:
The Art of Happiness by HH the Dalai Lama (hope i spelled that right). My mum got it for me, and no she doesnt think i'm sad. lol. I just saw it and wanted to buy it but was in a rush so she picked it up for me. It comes from a more rational point of view more scientific. I'm really enjoying it because it makes sense. My head rules my heart. I listen to my head more, so this book speaks right to me. Its kinda old but still seems to be relevent to todays questions.
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Namaste little lotus,

that is a very good book, in my opinion. i'm glad that you are enjoying it!

did you get the hardbound or softbound edition?
 
Ive been reading 'To Be Human' by J. Krishnamurti for the last two years. Its taking me forever. His words will instigate a thought in my mind and Ill get so wrapped up in it Ill forget im reading.
 
Well, I've just gotten back from my three-day jaunt to Texas. Yee-haw! :)

I managed to read "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown and start "Lost in a Good Book" by Jasper Fforde. I found the former very dull, predictable, and implausible. Yet his other book, Da Vinci Code, has been highly recommended. His style is fairly well done, and I did keep reading to see how it would end. But when it was over, I felt it was not time well spent. Oh well ...

The other book, by Jasper Fforde, is delightful. I can't say I follow everything so far (I'm only a third of the way through), but I'm having much fun reading it ...
 
update

Namaste all..

i'm wondering if other people have a habit of reading similiar to mine. i find that i tend to read certain books (genre) in certain areas. for instance.. i perfer to read my monotheist texts in my library. i find that i enjoy reading my Buddhist texts at lunch whilst i'm at work. i find that i enjoy reading my Taoist texts on weekends and i really don't read them during the week.

not that your pattern has to match mine however, does anyone else seem to find a pattern in their reading?

so...

i've just started the "Nature of Space and Time" by Hawking and Penrose.. i think one of the things that is special about Dr. Hawking, and there are many things that are, in my opinion, is his ability to explain complex mathmatical formulas and proofs in a manner that laypeople can, with but a modicum of training, understand. as an aside, i think that Bart Kosko also has this ability and he demonstrates it in a book called "Fuzzy Logic" which is an explanation of non-binary "fuzzy" logic systems and sets.

i've also started a translation of the Qur'an by Thomas Cleary called "The Heart of the Qur'an". it's a selection of the "heart" of Al Qur'an that has been selected to explain the teachings to westerners in a manner that is both poetic, in keeping with the orginal Arabic, and accurate to the speaker of English.

in many ways, this is the same problem that Buddhist texts have in translation into English. Both Sanskrit and Aarabic have a Classical form whereas English doesn't even have a standardized form, let alone a classical form. Cleary is a dean of Asian Studies at Harvard and is reknowned for his translations of Chinese, Sanskrit and Japanese religious texts.
 
Kindest Regards All!
Vajradhara said:
i'm wondering if other people have a habit of reading similiar to mine. i find that i tend to read certain books (genre) in certain areas. for instance.. i perfer to read my monotheist texts in my library. i find that i enjoy reading my Buddhist texts at lunch whilst i'm at work. i find that i enjoy reading my Taoist texts on weekends and i really don't read them during the week.

not that your pattern has to match mine however, does anyone else seem to find a pattern in their reading?
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Um, well, considering I'm still in school, my texts take up the bulk of my reading time. If I'm bored with the TV (which seems more and more often, perhaps a good thing?), I have been working on "Structural Anthropology" by Claude Levi-Strauss. Got to finish during this break, I've renewed the return date from the school library about 4 times now, it's been on hold until I finished GB. At the risk of divulging "TMI" (too much information), I usually have something selected for the morning constitution. That's how I finally got through "the Golden Bough" (finally!), well, except for the last twenty pages or so. Now I'm working on some material I copied from a site on anarchism for an eventual response on a certain thread.

And there are the spurious newspaper and magazine articles that "just happen." I found one recently I want to get into soon, dealing with whether or not our minds are predisposed to right and wrong, in the current issue of Discover magazine. For entertainment, I read "Hot VW's", and dream of fixing up the old sand rail I've got out back.
 
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