Be Aware
Book Review and Recommendation
Awareness by Osho and
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett
I don't usually usually do review for two books at the same time, but since these two books are very much alike in their purpose, I would like to put them together in one review.
On to the review.
Who was Osho? Well, from what I've read in his book titled 'Awareness', I would say that he was a spiritualist. But if you would like to know a short history about him you could go googling, or just go to this web address: http://www.religioustolerance.org/rajneesh.htm. There you could read a bit about him.
To tell the truth, reading 'Awareness' wasn't exactly an entertaining affair for me. I was reminded constantly that some or maybe all the things that I've known in my life are probably not 'real'. That the 'reality' that we know might just be our mind playing tricks with our souls. How would you feel if all the knowledge, the science, the education you receive all your life will never be enough for our soul's salvation? That to attain 'nirvana', that blissful place, that peaceful state (or, most of us would simply put it in a more simple term: happiness) one simply have to embark on simple activities, such as 'watch' one's breathing?
But, 'watching' one's breathing turns out to be a very complicated matter. Our minds are very talented escape artists, they could escape even from the most complicated confinements of concentration. Buddha (or one of those 'enlightened' souls, I could not recall) once said that if one could watch one's breathing for 48 minutes (did Buddha know the concept of one minute, anyways?), one could become enlightened. But Osho said that these days, it is good enough if one could watch one's breathing for even 48 seconds. Having a very imaginative and worrisome mind, I couldn't agree more with him.
While reading 'Awareness', I couldn't help but to think that on the pages of the book, Osho kept saying one and the same thing, only in different words. He kept saying that people should be 'aware'. That people should not put themselves on the arduous task of being 'good' and avoiding being 'bad'. Be aware and goodness will follow, so he said.
Starting and finishing the book is like coming to a full circle.
For those who think that their lives are on the right track, reading this book might make them think again. For those who think that there's something wrong in their lives, this book would probably bring comfort to them. In any case, it's only a matter of perspectives. Indeed, this book IS about a matter of perspectives.
Now, moving on to Arnold Bennett. From what I gather, Bennett was a novelist (he died in 1931). To read a short history about him, please go googling or you could go to this web address: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jbennett.htm.
'How to Live on 24 Hours a Day' gives you many examples of how you could use the time you have on your hands to the betterment of the soul. Though more practical, in the end I could say that its purpose is of the same nature as Osho's. However, Bennett presented the case in a very humorous (in the British sense, that is) and entertaining manner. In other words, going through the book was a breeze. And it is quite a short book.
It might be inappropriate to call Bennett as an 'enlightened one', but he's got some simple common sense in him. His advices are more to the practical side of things. Some simple common sense that we may easily overlook in our lives, due to one thing or another.
You could, of course, say that there's no relation between being aware and managing time. At first glance, this might be true. But after reading both books, I dare say that both books could bring a reader to a similar understanding, and to go even further, a very similar result. Then again, this is only a matter of perspectives.
In the end, I would like to say that these two books compliment each other. The first one is more to the abstract side of things, while the second one is more to the practical side of things. And both have almost the same message: 'Don't waste the time you have in your life. Seize the moment.'
note: I found Osho's awareness in QB bookstore at Plaza Senayan. I don't know whether they still have more copies, since the one I got was the last one they put on the stand. As for Arnold Bennett's 'How to Live on 24 Hours a Day', one could get it for free at www.gutenberg.org in the form of an e-book (*.txt file).
Awareness by Osho and
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett
I don't usually usually do review for two books at the same time, but since these two books are very much alike in their purpose, I would like to put them together in one review.
On to the review.
Who was Osho? Well, from what I've read in his book titled 'Awareness', I would say that he was a spiritualist. But if you would like to know a short history about him you could go googling, or just go to this web address: http://www.religioustolerance.org/rajneesh.htm. There you could read a bit about him.
To tell the truth, reading 'Awareness' wasn't exactly an entertaining affair for me. I was reminded constantly that some or maybe all the things that I've known in my life are probably not 'real'. That the 'reality' that we know might just be our mind playing tricks with our souls. How would you feel if all the knowledge, the science, the education you receive all your life will never be enough for our soul's salvation? That to attain 'nirvana', that blissful place, that peaceful state (or, most of us would simply put it in a more simple term: happiness) one simply have to embark on simple activities, such as 'watch' one's breathing?
But, 'watching' one's breathing turns out to be a very complicated matter. Our minds are very talented escape artists, they could escape even from the most complicated confinements of concentration. Buddha (or one of those 'enlightened' souls, I could not recall) once said that if one could watch one's breathing for 48 minutes (did Buddha know the concept of one minute, anyways?), one could become enlightened. But Osho said that these days, it is good enough if one could watch one's breathing for even 48 seconds. Having a very imaginative and worrisome mind, I couldn't agree more with him.
While reading 'Awareness', I couldn't help but to think that on the pages of the book, Osho kept saying one and the same thing, only in different words. He kept saying that people should be 'aware'. That people should not put themselves on the arduous task of being 'good' and avoiding being 'bad'. Be aware and goodness will follow, so he said.
Starting and finishing the book is like coming to a full circle.
For those who think that their lives are on the right track, reading this book might make them think again. For those who think that there's something wrong in their lives, this book would probably bring comfort to them. In any case, it's only a matter of perspectives. Indeed, this book IS about a matter of perspectives.
Now, moving on to Arnold Bennett. From what I gather, Bennett was a novelist (he died in 1931). To read a short history about him, please go googling or you could go to this web address: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jbennett.htm.
'How to Live on 24 Hours a Day' gives you many examples of how you could use the time you have on your hands to the betterment of the soul. Though more practical, in the end I could say that its purpose is of the same nature as Osho's. However, Bennett presented the case in a very humorous (in the British sense, that is) and entertaining manner. In other words, going through the book was a breeze. And it is quite a short book.
It might be inappropriate to call Bennett as an 'enlightened one', but he's got some simple common sense in him. His advices are more to the practical side of things. Some simple common sense that we may easily overlook in our lives, due to one thing or another.
You could, of course, say that there's no relation between being aware and managing time. At first glance, this might be true. But after reading both books, I dare say that both books could bring a reader to a similar understanding, and to go even further, a very similar result. Then again, this is only a matter of perspectives.
In the end, I would like to say that these two books compliment each other. The first one is more to the abstract side of things, while the second one is more to the practical side of things. And both have almost the same message: 'Don't waste the time you have in your life. Seize the moment.'
note: I found Osho's awareness in QB bookstore at Plaza Senayan. I don't know whether they still have more copies, since the one I got was the last one they put on the stand. As for Arnold Bennett's 'How to Live on 24 Hours a Day', one could get it for free at www.gutenberg.org in the form of an e-book (*.txt file).
1 Comments:
At 7:55 AM,
Topher said…
While I have not read Osho's book, I am currently reading Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" which sounds quite similar, and is a very good book itself. As for Arnold Bennett, I am a huge fan of his non-fiction and would highly recommend all of his "Pocket Philosophies" as they are called. The best of them (which includes the one you read) are collected together in a volume titled "How to Live". I wrote a short article on Wikipedia.org about this. You can get a copy of the book through ABEbooks.com.
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