October Read

Title: The Sage's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for the Second Half of Life
Author: Martin, William
Call Number: 299.51482 M383S 2010
Book Description from amazon.com:
Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, one of the world’s most widely read books of wisdom, reminds its readers that the sage has been venerated in China for thousands of years. In this free-verse interpretation of theTao, William Martin subtly and powerfully captures the complex emotions connected with growing older. He encourages today’s sages to recognize their inestimable worth in a youth-centric world that often goes astray: “Will I be able to harvest my life in compassion and love for the world? Will I find in my own heart the wisdom for which I long? This question trumps all others for me. I suspect it is the same for you.”
My Read: 
Page 52-Chapter 33: Gifts of  Beauty
               We have embraced those things which others shun. Embracing death, we find life.
               Embracing uncertainty, we find awe.
               Embracing limitations, we find the path of effective actions.
               Life is sweetest only when we know that we will die.
               Breathtaking wonder comes only in the presence of indescribable mystery.
               Correct actions emerge only when we understand what we can and cannot do.
               The thing you have feared the most will be your greatest friends.
               When they knock on your door, welcome them with graciousness.
               They seem unattractive but they bear gifts of greatest beauty.
Page 75-Chapter 48: What Will Be Left Is Life Itself
               Each day that passes, the sage discards another useless weight.
               Finally all the accumulated burden of a life spent seeking something is gone.
               In its place is a lightness of being and a clarity of seeing that makes a heaven of each moment
               Make it your daily discipline to lay aside one little thing; a tiny fear, a simple preconception, a 
               useless book, a piece of household clutter, a habit of avoidance, a bit of shame or guilt, a 
               desire that distracts, even a good intention.
               What will be left is Life itself.
Page 87-Chapter 56: The Power in Our Later Life
              How refreshing not to have to strut about like a Bantam rooster in a coop.
              We have nothing to prove anymore
              Disgrace and honor mean the same to us-nothing
              Our power in our later life will give birth to many wonders.
I like the following saying in this book:
Page 102-Chapter 66: It Is Time to Really Live
              The sage, with arms open wide, lets life flow through, like a river on its way to the sea.

September Read-3

Title: Mindfulness
Author: HBR Emotional Intelligence Series
Call Number: 152.4 M663 2017
Book Description from amazon:

The benefits of mindfulness include better performance, heightened creativity, deeper self-awareness, and increased charisma―not to mention greater peace of mind.

This book gives you practical steps for building a sense of presence into your daily work routine. It also explains the science behind mindfulness and why it works and gives clear-eyed warnings about the pitfalls of the fad.

This volume includes the work of:

Daniel Goleman

Ellen Langer

Susan David

Christina Congleton

This collection of articles includes “Mindfulness in the Age of Complexity,” an interview with Ellen Langer by Alison Beard; “Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain,” by Christina Congleton, Britta K. Hölzel, and Sara W. Lazar; “How to Practice Mindfulness Throughout Your Work Day,” by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter; “Resilience for the Rest of Us,” by Daniel Goleman; “Emotional Agility: How Effective Leaders Manage Their Thoughts and Feelings,” by Susan David and Christina Congleton; “Don’t Let Power Corrupt You,” by Dacher Keltner; “Mindfulness for People Who Are Too Busy to Meditate,” by Maria Gonzalez; “Is Something Lost When We Use Mindfulness as a Productivity Tool?” by Charlotte Lieberman; and “There Are Risks to Mindfulness at Work,” by David Brendel.

How to be human at work. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

My Read:

I usually practice mindfulness while driving. Since I was confined in the car I found it helpful if I was  able to make the connection between traffic lights and focus on deep breathing. When I stopped at a red light I would look at the traffic light and slow down my breathing. The practice calmed me and helped me to begin the day with a clearer mind.

October Read

Title: Straight to the Heart of Zen
Author: Kapleau, Philip
Call Number: 294.384 K17S 2001
Book Description from amazon.com:
Koans are at the very heart of Zen practice; this collection of informal koan talks will bring the Zen student into the presence of Roshi Philip Kapleau, the famous author of The Three Pillars of Zen . The talks in this collection came directly from the zendo (training hall) and from the intense form of practice known as sesshin, a Japanese word meaning "to train the mind." These are direct presentations of the practice and understanding of one of the century's greatest American masters. 

These Zen talks focus on koans that illuminate fundamental issues of the spiritual life. While koans may be said to be uniquely Zen, in Roshi Kapleau's talks they become as familiar, everyday, and relevant as the questions we ponder—in one form or another—all our lives. Why was I born? Why must I die? How can I find an end to suffering? 

The book has three main sections. As Zen begins with the Buddha's life and enlightenment, the threeteishos (talks) in Part One are each drawn from an incident in the life of the Buddha. Since Zen in the West is a lay movement, not a monastic one as it is in Japan, Part Two presents koans and commentary drawn from the lives of three great lay figures in Zen. Part Three contains five teishos on traditional koans that reflect fundamental concerns common to all of us, man or woman, monastic or lay, Buddhist or otherwise: What is the road to enlightenment? What will happen to me when I die?
My Read:
Page 92-"Foor the rich man a thousand mouths are too few and for the poor man one body is too much."
Page 93-"If you try to be a good person, a loving person, the very effort will undermine the result. To be truly good and loving is the outcome of a certain mind-quality, a certain harmony, poise, and equilibrim, a certain inner purity, if you will. In other words, when you remove the hindrances to the natural outflow of these qualities, which are your birthright, everyone's birthright, then you naturally become what the world would call good and loving and compassionate. People in our society are constantly told to be good and loving-to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Perhaps from a purely ethical point of view, this has value, but it's a superficial approach to the matter. And it is most difficult to achieve. In as sense it is looking backward. Analogously, if you try to find a buddha, you can never see one. If you search for a dharma ancestor, you will never meet one. The very effort clouds your vision."
Page 115-" Having nothing, such a person has everything."
Page 122-"Our whole life is nothing but cause and effect, our own thoughts and deeds."
Page 125-"Having the freedom means being free of attachments, free of the addictive need to grasp at people, things, or even concepts."
Page 126-"We can get so taken up with work we have to learn to take one thing at a time, to be fully one with it and then when it's over, to be fully one with whatever's next."
Page 127-"As long as we are separated from life we think about life and death."
Page 132-"To work physically is to rediscover one's body and to empower it."
Page 150-"But as long as there is a thought in the mind of wanting to do this or to achieve that, there is limitation."
Page unknown-"We walk the road asking "Where is the road?"
Last night as I was closing the book one question popped up in my head:If nothing is allowed to carry away with me then what can I leave behind as I am leaving this world? My answer is "my hardworking."
At least, that's what for now.