Fridays at The Variegated Life: on what I’ve read or am reading …
I’ve committed to reading A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life this autumn, though I suspect that I will be reading it long into the winter and beyond — especially because my copy of the book still hasn’t arrived at the bookstore. In the meantime, I got Pema Chödrön’s commentary on the text from the library.
According to Chödrön, the sentiment in the second verse would have been traditional — and expected — for an eighth-century Indian religious writer to express. Nevertheless, I kinda love it.
What I have to say has all been said before,
And I am destitute of learning and of skill with words.
I therefore have no thought that this might be of benefit to others;
I wrote it only to sustain my understanding.
Yes, that’s (one reason) why I write, too.
What are you reading?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I was thinking almost exactly that, as I was trying to grasp the slippery fish of understanding this morning.
I am reading, “Thoughts Without a Thinker” and “Using Foucault’s Methods.” Along with a big stack of things that I dip into from time to time.
Seonaid recently posted… My Hardest Thing is a Luxury
Thoughts Without a Thinker is one of my favorites.
This is so much of why I started to write, but in my experience now, a lot of my writing is for others as I’ve received such great feedback from my writing which has become a new motivation for me.
Great post. Keep writing. I really like it.
Casey recently posted… Blissed Out
I just finished re-reading the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and, if it is possible, I may love them even more as an adult than as a middle-schooler. Now I’ve started “Women Who Run With Wolves” because it showed up in my mailbox, on my birthday, from a friend with virtually impeccable taste.