Most of you who have been following up my blog posts may have a feeling that my life is eaten up completely by music. If you have come to any conclusion like that, you are both RIGHT and WRONG. Right because, I dedicate an unusual, not-generally-permitted time by life’s little intricacies for listening to music, but at the same time, I have a little ‘business’ to do in this world and have other interests too.
While, I don’t emphasis my business part of my life any more than what it’s meant for (??? food, shelter, what else ya???…), I’m interested in sharing some of the books that have occupied me for a while with my Midos.
First, Herman Hesse’s The Steppenwolf.
And second, Swami Sukhabodhananda’s Looking at Life Differently: Minimising Tensions Maximising Effectiveness.
Herman Hesse needs no introduction for those who have read his most acclaimed book Siddhartha. I have read that book and found his writing is enlightening to me. I have almost identified myself with the protogonist Siddhartha or Goutama for most of the story. I have just started reading The Steppenwolf out of the curiosity to find what this book has got to say, like Siddhartha to me. So I can just give my first impression on this book now. The book is by far complex, confusing, and chaotic. And Hesse himself says in his foreword, the book is one of his highly misunderstood book. I don’t know if I’ll understand it either in the right sense. Anyway, the book is challenging and I’m loving it.
The other book by Swami Sukhabodhananda is quite good and I am half-way through but I cant rate it best for any reason. I must admit that the book will benefit any reader and will guide them towards happiness and less stressful life but for me, having heard the same message from other gurus, I found it repetitive and in some places exact copy of other master’s message. A few notes on the back flap of the book, which is meant for introducing the author to the reader is filled with boasting of the author as being so and so of so and so….. and some bla bla bla…. (if the message in the book is strong enough, why bother to market the book with such marketing words?)… You can find the same boasting here. After reading this, I had a strange feeling of reading someone’s job application resume listing out their achievements ;).
If you care not for these silly things, this book is a good one for some. Definitely there are so many other books, that I would recommend as the best before this one gets a chance.
If you, my midos, have read these books or have any comments regarding these books, please do share it here. I’d love to know what you feel about these two books.
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