Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for June 30, 2017

The June NonRequired Reading List

Dear Contemplifyers,
 
I hope this finds you well. Introductions to emails are tough, especially with the subject matters that we tend to delve into on Contemplify. Does one start with the heart of the matter, how is the state of your soul? Or perhaps, what aspects of your life are you afraid to look at today? That seems like a weighty pretense for an email introduction. My hope is that this email finds you well, reflecting deeply, and practicing a contemplative way of being in the world as best you can. Still too much?
 
Wherever you are at on this day, I’m glad you are taking a few minutes to read this. As with all books that focus on meaning, love and experience--one of these recommendations may in fact change the course of your day. No promises, but each one of these readings gave me a little pause to reflect. And if I’ve learned anything of late, it’s this: the pauses themselves are what expand my soul. 
 
Enjoy the Readings.

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The Doctrine of Inaction by Lao Tzu (Read it at Wikisource)
 
My eyes had never expected to see the words ‘doctrine of inaction’ in the same sentence before they came across Lao Tzu. I can cross that off my list of unlikely combinations, ‘beautiful circus clown’ and ‘bald shampoo model’ will likely remain on that list until I reach the end of my days. Paradoxical sayings can feel cute or overly clever (see above), but with Lao Tzu they operate more as an unveiling. Take this line, ‘Conveying lessons without words, reaping profit without action,--there are few in the world who can attain to this!’ What the hell is he getting at? I like to first take him at his direct word, model a better way of being without gabbing about it, let your profit be the stillness that becomes an embodied outflow. I’m walking around with that interpretation for the time being. My days of rushing to commentaries are over, when I absolutely need them it’s more a saunter to the bookshelf. If you’ve never read the Tao Te Ching (or one of it’s various other titles), give this a shot; walk around in his shoes and see how they fit. You can read them for free online or listen to my foolish take of ‘The Doctrine of Inaction’ as a graduation speech.

Rebirth by Kamal Ravikant (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
 
The poet David Whyte likens the Camino de Santiago to this generation’s version of going to India to find themselves. Ravikant takes the journey for himself and comes back with a novel that is a cross between The Alchemist and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read it in my hammock with a nice stout. It is an easy read that draws you into the pilgrimage mindset. Amit, the protagonist, has just brought his father’s ashes to the Ganges and through happenstance is inspired to do a leg of the Camino. That leg gets extended to the whole journey. What struck me most about Rebirth was the one-liners that slipped out from various characters’ mouths,
 
If I loved myself, what would I do? (p.40)
Fear and faith. The one you dance with determines your life. (p.73)
 
If these sound like truisms, you’d be right. But just as when you travel beyond the boundary of your comfort zone or are in the arena of pilgrimage, truisms quench the insatiable thirst for meaning. Ravikant invites you into the rhythm of the pilgrimage and when a truism appears, it trips you. If, like me you read this in your hammock with a tall stout, you will pause each time this happens. Put the book on your lap and wonder, if I loved myself, what would I do right now?

The Art of Losing Control: A Philosopher’s Search for Ecstatic Experience by Jules Evans (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
 
Surrender is to hitchhiking what control is to Uber, each offer a mode of transportation with varying layers of risk, cost and vulnerability. In this fantastic read Jules Evans, who made a name for himself as a Stoic in control (Uber), is in search for where 21st century people find ecstatic experience (hitchhiking). In an effort for the ecstatic, Evans immerses himself in a charismatic Christian community, a conscious sexuality festival, the transhumanism movement, and a Buddhist meditation retreat, to name a few. Evans is a kindred spirit of Contemplify; tired of the tropes of the unexamined status quo, he goes looking for transcendent experiences. The Art of Losing Control is as fun as it sounds and Evans is a first rate tour guide. He begins by outlining the how and the why western culture dismissed the ecstatic for a mechanistic shaping of reality (with the pros and the cons) and the apparent deep human need to lose control and have ecstatic experiences. So if you’re needing a little ecstasy in your days, maybe instead of reading the latest John Grisham throw caution out and read The Art of Losing Control. You never know, you might end up deleting the Uber app and throwing your thumb out for the next passing car.

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Contemplify Update

Contemplify is now on Twitter (if you’re into that sort of thing, I’m still not sure I am) and you can follow this grand experiment @Contemplify.

The three most recent episodes of Contemplify…

Episode 034: The Wendell Berry Way of Seeing: Filmmaker Laura Dunn on ‘Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry’
Episode 033: The Buddhist Monk Who Adopted 85 Children: Filmmaker Andrew Hinton on His Documentary ‘Tashi and the Monk’
Bonus Episode: (Bonus!) Titans of Inaction: The Graduation Address
 

(Available at  iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean, Overcast, Google Play or Contemplify.com)

Listen well + read often,
Paul

P.S. Have you ever had that thought, I wish Paul would interview ‘insert amazing contemplative here’? If so, I’d love to know who you think might be a great guest. Some of my favorite conversations around the fire at the Contemplify basecamp came from listener suggestions.