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  • #31
    Hi Bookworms ,

    These days I seem to be on some sort of Ancient Rome trip. It must have been reading 'The Persian Boy' which started it all off, but I recently read 'Spartacus', by Howard Fast, which comes highly recommended to anyone and everyone-a true classic, followed by 'I, Claudius', by Robert Graves, and I'm now currently busy with the sequel 'Claudius the God'. All fascinating well-researched stuff!

    I have to add that again, I have my girlfriend to thank for introducing me to these gems. I'd always planned on reading Spartacus one day, but it was she who actually found it for me and then followed it up with the 'Claudius' novels.
    Thank the heavens for well-read girlfriends!

    Happy reading, y'all!
    Dave.
    'There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...'
    -John Lennon

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    • #32
      Good thread, like it

      Hello all,

      I am reading The Great Transformaiton - the world in the time of Confucious, Buddha, Jeremiah and Socrates by Karen Armstrong. Describes a span of 700 years when there was a spiritual awakening across the globe. Very interesting.

      I have also just picked up a copy of Paramahansa Yogandas Aurtobiography of a Yogi which seems interesting. Anyone read it? My prelude to The Bhagavad Gita.

      Will let you know how I get on.

      Cheerio bookworms.
      "The first step in learning is respect for the teacher"

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      • #33
        The cold season is approaching and somehow this autumn my upcoming readings are all about Taijiquan Here they are:

        Chen Weiming, "The Taiji Sword and Other Writings", first published in 1929, translated by Barbara Davis and published in English in 2000, North Atlantic Books, Berkley - He was a disciple of Yang Chengfu, many of the patterns are similar to the ones found in our Traveling Dragon Sword set. Yet there are also differences. At the end of the booklet are stories from famous Yang family members.

        Jou Tsung Hwa, "The Dao of Taijiquan", 2001, Tai Chi Foundation, Scottsdale - I haven't started reading it. From a first glimpse it takes a similar approach to Sigung's book, covering the Yang, Chen and Wu styles. With chapters on history, detailed postures from the 3 styles, philosophy, foundations, the "classics", push hands (in this order)...

        "Yang Family Secret Transmissions", compiled and translated by Douglas Wile, 1983, Sweet Chi Press, New York


        Andrea
        Enjoy some Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan & Qi Gong!

        Evening Classes in Zürich
        Weekend Classes in other Swiss locations


        Website: www.taichichuan-wahnam.ch
        Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taichichuan.Wahnam.ch

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        • #34
          Shaolin Kung Fu Children's Book

          Hello SWI,

          I happen to walk across The Five Ancestor books in the book store one day. I really like it even thou i found the books in the children section of the book store. Check it out if you have time... it is a quick and easy read which i high enjoyed.

          (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Ancestors)
          Jimmy

          I strive to study, live and be Kung Fu.

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          • #35
            What I'm reading now is:

            - The Damned Utd, by David Pearce: Fictional based on Brian CLough (the legendary football manager) and his short lived time at Leeds United, before he went on to Derby, Forest.

            - Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets, by David Simon: If you have seen the awesome TV series "The Wire" or its predecessor "Homicide: Life On The Street", this is the book that they grew out of. Also plan to read his other book "The Corner".

            (For favourite books there is also this thread: http://www.wongkiewkit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3881)

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            • #36
              go on! All good stuff! I hardly ever read, never seem to find time.. in the last few years just Sigungs books and the odd newspaper! But now i`m chewing my way through a pile of chinese medicine books and loving it!

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              • #37
                Back to School

                It looks like summer is over and school is back in session.

                Thanks for your contributions, everyone. I'll chip in when I get a few more moments.

                Yours,

                Cha Muir
                Charles David Chalmers
                Brunei Darussalam

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                • #38
                  Dear Niall/All

                  Originally posted by Niall Butchart View Post
                  Hello all,
                  I have also just picked up a copy of Paramahansa Yogandas Aurtobiography of a Yogi which seems interesting. Anyone read it? My prelude to The Bhagavad Gita.
                  I recommend any of Paramahansa's books as the teachings are profound. The style and content is similar to Sigung's book, and if I remember correctly Sigung thought highly of Paramahansa's books.

                  I particuarly enjoyed "Mans Eternal Quest".

                  Regards

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Reading..

                    Ello Wahnam Book Club!

                    I've just finished Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie and Me. Mine The George Harrison Autobiography.

                    Dip in and out occasionally of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

                    Considering embarking on Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace... it's a weighty tome though.. If anyone has read it let me know if you think it's worth the time investment.
                    Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
                    Hector Berlioz

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                    • #40
                      More books from beyond

                      Dear Charles Siheng
                      This is a thread worth revisiting for all of the great recommendations everyone has contributed. I've just finished enjoying Matthew Polly's "American Shaolin", a most engaging "fish out of water" tale of being a 21y.o. American college kid training at the Shaolin Wushu Center near the Shaolin Temple for a couple of years in the early 90s.

                      A few months ago I read Eva Wong's "Harmonizing Yin and Yang", a translation of the Taoist Dragon-Tiger Classic with commentaries. I am interested if anyone else has read this book. I found it immensely unsatisfying as it appeared almost to be too literal a translation of profoundly allegorical material. The interpretations on the Taoist sexual practices seemed quite inappropriate in suggesting forms of mutual exploitation. Maybe this is the opposite of a "win-win" situation? Nonetheless it is a very dense text and I will revisit it soon to see how the experience changes with a second read.

                      After seeing Jeroen and his business partners on You Tube talking to Ken Wilber a few days ago, I found one of Wilber's books at the library and am looking forward to discovering the world of "Integral Psychology". And yes, Jereon, I've been dipping into "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior" this year too - a book I haven't looked at since the early 90s.

                      Sifu's books are still the most well-thumbed as a constant source of reference and I'm a big fan of the random read - who needs a tarot deck, really

                      Keep up the reading everyone as this thread alone adds more weight to the importance of the scholar-warrior.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Ko Un

                        Happy New Year Everyone,

                        Surfing the internet today, looking for some poems by Korean Zen poet and four-time Nobel prize nominee, Ko Un, I found this:

                        New Year's Full Moon


                        Bitter cold day, the new year's first full moon,
                        a special day.
                        One housewife, busy from early morning,
                        knowing that beggars will be coming by,
                        puts out a pot of five-grain rice in anticipation
                        on the stone mortar
                        that stands beside her brush-wood gate,
                        with a single side-dish of plantain-shoots.
                        Soon, an ancient beggar comes breezing up,
                        makes ready to spin a yarn but finally
                        just pockets the rice and goes on his way.
                        If only we had 360 more days like today in a year!
                        His bag is soon bulging.
                        As he is leaving the village, his turn made,
                        he runs into another beggar:
                        glad encounter!
                        You've no call to go there, I've done em all!
                        Let's us celebrate a Fool Moon too!
                        Snapping dried twigs, they make a fire
                        to thaw themselves by, then
                        producing hunks of rice from this house and that,
                        the two beggars set to,
                        choking, laughing with mouths full.
                        Soon bands of magpies hear the news
                        and flock flapping around.



                        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        Translated by Brother Anthony


                        Many Happy Returns!

                        Yours,

                        Charles
                        Charles David Chalmers
                        Brunei Darussalam

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                        • #42
                          John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath.

                          Still At It,

                          Charles
                          Charles David Chalmers
                          Brunei Darussalam

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                          • #43
                            What Are You Reading?

                            Happy Easter to Sifu Wong and you forum readers.

                            Friends please don't miss this book:

                            Hsi Yu Chi : A mission to Heaven. A great Chinese epic and allegory by Chiu Chang Chun, Hsi Yu Chi; Timothy Richard, Wu, Cheng-en


                            Shanghai 1913

                            One of the world’s literary masterpieces

                            When you start to read this book you feel marvelous, well so i felt hehehe

                            God Bless
                            Last edited by Owl; 1 April 2010, 11:38 PM.

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                            • #44
                              I'm currently reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's about a renowned Samurai who was known for using both the long and short japanese swords at the same time.

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                              • #45
                                Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche - 2 books *****

                                I am currently re-reading "Joyful Wisdom" by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, which is the follow up to the highly successful "The Joy of Living".

                                If you are interested in meditation, and from a modern teacher with a scientific understanding, I cannot recommend these books enough. Definitely 5 stars each.

                                I would also recommend Mingyur's Mahamudra courses, having attended the level one and two versions myself. His clarity of mind is self-evident and his teaching is highly effective due to his engaging and humorous style. He may be relatively young but he is already a highly accomplished and insightful Lama, in my (humble) opinion.

                                I have also recently read the interesting biography of Mingyur's father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, called "Blazing Splendor", who could probably have been described as the meditator's meditator by Tibetan Buddhists.

                                On a similar theme, the best book on Zen meditation I have read is called "The Path to Bodhidharma: The Teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi".

                                Enjoy!
                                Kind regards,
                                David

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