[RE] American Venom

[RE] American Venom

356 27 1

[...]It begins slowly. A laugh, heard distantly and completely, utterly wrong.Searching for something to remember, something to single her out from the thousands of people he has seen and will see. Something to make her special, to make her memorable, to make her his, even though she isn't and never was. And so he begins to see red in the corner of his vision. Whipping, flipping, shaking with laughter, a dark crimson one.It's out of focus, as if the memories themselves fraying around the edges. He knows it's because he's getting older and he can only remember so much, but, oh, how he wishes it wasn't true.She is his constant shadow, his ghost girl, the scarlet letter that no one but him can see. He has long since given up on trying to get rid of her. She is a permanent fixture in his life, more eternal than she ever could have been when she was actually present. But there is an emptiness about her that hangs above them like a dark cloud.She's not there.At some point, he will be okay with that.…

Still, Following Water - Nước chảy,nước đứng yên

Still, Following Water - Nước chảy,nước đứng yên

6 0 1

Essential reading if you are interested in Theravada Buddhism and more specifically the Thai Forest tradition. This magnificent volume is an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural biography/history of a revered teacher in this tradition. The 800 plus page story covers Ajahn Chah as a young man in Thailand and his practice, and then moves on to cover the story of his founding a prominent Thai Forest Monastery. _Stillness Flowing_ covers Ajahn Chah's teaching methods, and finally the influx of Western interest in his teachings which leads to monasteries being started in Britain and eventually the United States. An interesting comparison between Thai teaching methods and Western methods based on the needs of very different students. Thai culture as it relates to Buddhism is covered in depth. The book is filled with wisdom and pieces from Chah's teachings that impact the reader far beyond the historical information. An admirable, impressive, well researched and well written work about the Thai Forest Tradition.…