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What are you currently reading?
Pilchard123:
Are you looking forward to it? Do you have great expe-*trapdoor*
LeeC:
Just finished King Leopold's Ghost. It is about the life of King Leopold II of Belgium and how in his constitutional monarchy he was able to set up his own fiefdom in the Congo and sap as much profit as possible for himself. It was totally his personal colony and not of the Belgian people's until about a year before his death. Trying to gather as much money as possible his colonial offices really enslaved the native and treated them harshly just to increase his profits. The horrible things I've read and how one of the earliest modern humanitarian movements to stop this occurred. It is a very well written book and the author almost likens it to a novel of short stories. You learn about the "heroes" of the time and how they were venerated when they were far from heroic, as well as those demonized for speaking out about the treatment of the Congolese. If you ever want to read about the period or learn the darker side of the imperialism of Africa I highly suggest picking this up. It is amazing how Leopold used webs of media and propaganda to placate not only the Belgian populace but also the government of foreign powers like France, Germany, UK, and USA! More amazing on how a bunch of nobodies was able to speak up and defend the Congolese and try to get Leopold's grip wrestled from the Congo.
94ssd:
A Child of Christian Blood, about the trial of Mendel Beilis. He was a Jew living in Czarist Russia who was arrested in Russia and charged with blood libel (for those who don't know: the accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered Christian children), and his trial brought international attention to Russia's extreme antisemitic policies.
ev4n:
Anyone have a recommendation for a Buddhism primer? Need some light reading while I'm on vacation next week.
Aziraphale:
--- Quote from: ev4n on 13 Mar 2015, 06:33 ---Anyone have a recommendation for a Buddhism primer? Need some light reading while I'm on vacation next week.
--- End quote ---
Practice, sutras, or overview?
My personal favorite is Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness, and a lot of the rest of his work is also quite good. Pick up something with a good translation of the Heart Sutra. Alan Watts' The Way of Zen is quite good. So is Mindfulness in Plain English, by Henepola Gunaratana. City Dharma by Arthur Jeon is worth a look. And pretty much anything by Pema Chodron is worth reading.
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