Jun 7, 2009
Posted by arif in Reviews | 0 comments
One of the more meaningful books I have read in the recent past is Viktor E Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. The book is a mere 165 pages long, but has sold over several million copies sold and has been quoted in almost every popular self-help book I’ve come across. It’s influence has indeed been staggering. The first part of the book is a highly moving account of Frankl’s stay in Auschwitz. Ofcourse any tale of Auschwitz is always meaningful, however it’s his observations as a psychologist of the immense strength of man inspite of being under extreme circumstances that leaves a deep and lasting impact on the reader.
Take the small example right in the beginning of the book, where men who had extremely sensitive ears and would wake up at the sound of a slightest creak, found themselves sleeping soundly in midst of gunfire and bombshells dropping. Or furthermore the unbelievably inspirational example of certain men inspite of the extreme circumstances they were in they “walked through huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.”
The Wikipedia entry on Man’s Search for Meaning has a truly profound selection of quotes from this classic. I’ve selected my favourite below:
“A man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how.”
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
“Nietzsche’s words, ‘He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.’”
“When we are no longer able to change a situation – just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer – we are challenged to change ourselves.”
“Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.”
“We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.”
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”
“Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.”
“We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord’s prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”
“A man who for years had thought he had reached the absolute limit of all possible suffering now found that suffering had no limits, and that he could suffer still more, and more intensely.”
“Woe to him, when the day of his dreams finally came, found it to be so different from all that he had longed for!”
“We were not hoping for happiness – And yet we were not prepared for unhappiness.”
“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!”
“An incurable psychotic individual may lose his usefulness but yet retain the dignity of a human being. This is my psychiatric credo.”
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – (Arif’s comment: here lies the secret to enlightenment)
For a complete listing of the Books and Dvd’s that me and Ali are consuming have a look at our All Consuming list here.
Mar 9, 2009
Posted by arif in Reviews | 1 comment
Ever since the beginning of the Economic Crises, I’ve been gobbling up every editorial, analysis, documentary and book on it, trying to understand in as plain words as possible what exactly is going on. It’s not as simple as, “it’s because of, American Greed and the sub-prime crises”. The main question that bugs me is that Real wealth lies in natural resources and human capital. And there hasn’t been a natural disaster that has wiped any of that away. Then what’s all the hullabaloo about? It just a question of sentiment, then? Anyway, I’m personally quite far from understanding what’s happening economically, nonetheless I’m in a MUCH better position to understand editorials and reports than I was several months ago. And one reason for that is a recent book I completed titled “Naked Economics” by Charles Wheelan.
Naked Economics, explains all the necessary economic concepts in a highly-entertaining way. Those of you who want a jump start in understanding what’s happening, this book has great value to offer you. Furthermore his constant reference of the different economies in the world (including India and the Middle East) makes this so much more relevant.
Since I read this book, I’ve been tracking the movements of the author Charles Wheelan. And what do you know he’s running for Congress. Here’s the third in a series of TV ads that he’s done for his election campaign. For his target audience I think he’s done a swell job. It’ll have high retention value, It’s viral in nature and most of all I can see him getting votes.
Ps. Update: Charles Wheelan didn’t win a seat in the Congress.
Feb 21, 2009
Posted by arif in Personal | 0 comments
The Arif & Ali blog is now on Twitter and AllConsuming.net.
What’s Twitter?
Twitter is this wonderful service to help stay in touch with friends no matter where you are by sending status updates of what you were doing. So be it you’re visiting a websites (or a cafe) you can post a little update in twitter via your pc or your mobile phone on what you are up to. Me and Ali are now on twitter and will be mostly posting interesting links that we come across. Incase we mistakenly happen to do anything exciting, we’ll make a mention of that in Twitter too. To track our Twitter feed, it’s best done by downloading one of the Twitter Widgets available here. If you want to set up a twitter account you may do it here.
Books galore
We’ve always been into reading, but over the last twelve months or so, our library has exploded. We’re buying books ever so frequently and it’s truly great fun trying to keep our reading at the same pace, ofcourse it hardly happens. Thanks to the indepth review, comments and the ability to peek into the book itself at Amazon, we are able to get truly the best of the best of any subject that we are interested in. And once you’re following GTD, implementing what you read gets so much easier too. The subjects that we’re covered are as varied as the themes on this blog. Some of the topics have been:
Spirituality
Personal Development
Business
Economics
Fantasy Fiction
Political/Essays on the World and India specifically
Art
These books are REALLY good. I mean Really really good. Hence we were keen to share this with all those who are interested in similar subjects and reading about them. Some of the books that we like and recommend have been reviewed on this blog, but we are not able to do the same for so many others that are equally impactful. Therefore, those who’re interested what books we’ve been completing, you may keep track of them here. Anytime we’ve finished a new book, it’lll be uploaded onto that same link.
Ofcourse, both our Twitter Feed and Books at AllConsuming.net can also be tracked from this blog itself as you can in see the right hand side-bar.
Incase you have any recommendation looking at the books we’re covered, please post a comment, we’d love to hear from you.
Feb 19, 2009
Posted by arif in GTD and Productivity | 2 comments
There are just a handful of books that I can say have dramatically changed my life for the better. War of Art by Steven Pressfield sits way high on that list. It is an outstanding book, crafted to help you may hear your life’s purpose like never before and then soar away to living it.
All of us have whining nagging voice in our heads. You know that voice, it’s the one that says,
“Oh it’s so early, you’ve had a late night, get some rest you can always exercise later.”
“You? Start a business and take all that risk…c’mon you’ve got a family, don’t be foolish.”
“Want to be more spiritual? It’s such a noble goal but oh, the sacrifice, why don’t you wait till tomorrow…”
That’s not the voice in your head, but the voice of a real being, a living, breathing lifeform who’s sole purpose is to get you from achieving your life purpose. It is the voice of Resistance.
What is Resistance?
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who doesn’t start a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
Any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower. Any of these will elicit Resistance.
Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, fasify; seduce, bully cajole. It will assume any form, if that ‘s what it takes to deceive you. It will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stuckup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is truned. If tyou take Rsistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.
If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, of it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius.
Steven Pressfield has recognised Resistance for what it is and described it so starkly, it’s as if he’s stripped the devil himself of all his hides and exposed the blood-thirsty rasping wolf that lay beneath.
So, once you’ve recognised Resistance, how do you get the better of it?
How do you stay strong and don’t get allured by it’s seductive sounds. The solution is really quite simple. Infact we’re acting out every single day at our jobs. It’s simply by becoming a pro, i.e. a professional at what we wish to do. And That’s what the second part of the book is dedicated to. What does it mean to turn pro?
Pro means treating our ambition, just the way we treat our jobs. How do we treat our jobs?
- We show up every day. We might do it only because we have to, to keep from getting fired. But we do it. We show up every day.
- We show up no matter what. In sickness and in health, come hell or high water, we stagger in to the factory. We might do it only so as not to let down our co-workers, or for other, less noble reasons. But we do it. We show up no matter what.
- We stay on the job all day. Our minds may wander, but our bodies remain at the wheel. We pick up the phone when it rings, we assist the customer when he seeks our help. We don’t go home till the whistle blows.
- We receive praise or blame in the real world…
This book is a must for everyone’s and anyone’s library. It’s quite short and not too wordy. I’ve picked it up several times and gives me a kick where I need it and when I need it most. And incase the book is difficult to get, the audio book is available for purchase here. It’s read out by Steven Pressfield himself, and in my view packs more of a punch than the book itself.
Sep 28, 2008
Posted by arif in Spirituality | 0 comments
Why would anyone want anybody to read 50 spiritual classics?
1. If you’re ever plagued like questions like, Where have we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? This book would not answer your questions for, but instead would hold your hand and guide you to the direction where you can get a response.
2. Furthermore if you always mystified, by what great saints have been saying and wanted a simpler insights to their words, 50 Spiritual Classics, beautifully summarises books by Gandhi-ji, Carl Jung, Krishnamurthy and many others.
3. Or you have been intrigued by the genre of new-age spirituality books, that have become best sellers, but never got round to reading them, titles such as The Power of Now, The Celestine Prophecy and Conversations with God. This masterpiece summarises the deepest of books in the fewest of pages in the simplist of manners. And I’m not exaggerating.
Tom has taken these timeless classics, and very artfully summarised each into a few pages, explaining the contents of the book and what is the take-back for the reader. The layout of the book is also highly appealing as each chapter begins with an impactful quote from the book, a one-line summary what the book is about, followed by a summary of the book condensed to a few pages.
50 Spiritual Classics is definitely one of the best books I’ve read and probably will be reading in 2008. It’s through this masterpiece of Tom Butler Bowden, I was further intoduced to Imam Ghazzali’s Alchmy of Happiness, Autobiography of Malcolm X, Khalil Gibran’s the Prophet.
Allow me to leave a sprinkling of quotes from the book:
From the Summary of Road to Mecca by Muhammad Asad:
Asad adored Islam’s pared-down love of the Absolute, and the simplicity and beauty of the Koran, which did not require official interpretrs of its wisdom.
God the Absolute. He dwell in infinity and radiates into infinity – but because you are within His working, He is closer to you than the vein in your neck..”
From the Summary of Places that Scare you by Pema Chodron:
“The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear, but how we relate to discomfort.” We shape our lives around mental escape. We have a drink or a large meal or go shopping to get away from some uncomfortable thought or feeling in the present. This feeling may be as simple as boredom or mild anxiety, but in our willingness to experience it fully we lose an opportunity to really get to know ourselves. We may never become aware that we can get more relief from fully experiencing a feeling of discomfort than immediately trying to eliminate it.
“If only we could do everything right, we’d be able to find a safe, comfortable, and secure place to spend the rest of our lives.
From the Summary of Think on These Things by J Krishnamurthy:
“We all want to be famous people – and the moment we want to be something, we are no longer free”
“Happiness cannot be found, it is a by-product of meaning and occurs in the absence of fear. It does not result from achievement and ambition;
From the Summary of Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X:
I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.
He realised that his life’s real purpose had been to appreciate the onness of humankind before God, and his battles were againt the thinking that created false distinctions between one person and another.
Conclusion:
From Tom’s introduction of 50 Spiritual Classics:
There is a Persian proverb: “Seek truth in meditation, not in moldy books. Look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond.” The commentaries that follow (ie the summaries in the book) are more of a look in the pond than a direct experience of the moon, but I hope they can provide some more motivation for you to gaze on the real thing.
Here’s the link to Tom’s website of 50 Spiritual classics. On this page you’ll have a list of all the 50 books that he’s summarised together with an excerpt of each summary.
