Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Nirvana in a Nutshell

Nirvana in a Nutshell - 157 Zen Reflections by Scott Shaw (ISBN 0-7607-4306-1)
20060329Nirvana in a Nutshell

My friend in DC gave this book for some 'light' reading as I was heading back home early this month. I didn't read the book then but read it now in my trip to KL.

It is a light reading of some heavy stuff. I had to read few sections several times to try to understand what the author is talking about.

This books tries to come at Nirvana from several angles and tries to give a glimpse of it but doesn't come out and define Nirvana. It makes repeated points to emphasize that it is highly personal and cannot be learnt or taught. One has to experience it and be it.

I must confess that, even after reading this book I do not understand what is Nirvana. But I kind of get a feeling that it is the state of being 'void' of everything. Void of desire, goal, purpose etc.,

I may not have understood the meaning of Nirvana with this book, but it did make me reflect and calmed me down a little bit.

Bottom Line - Read to get a different perspective

I am currently consuming Covey's Seven Habits. This is probably the nth time I attempting to read the book fully. Let me see if I finish it this time around..

2 comments:

  1. Visu,
    Steven Covey has gone to Greateness from effectivensess (i.e 8th Habbit). You should read that probably after your 9th attempt of his 7 habits.

    http://www.stephencovey.com/8thHabit/8thhabit.html
    Note: I haven't read it yet but thought you might be interested.

    - Laks Sankaran.

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  2. Lakshmi

    Yes.. I will get to 8th after finishing the first seven..

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