Entry #87

                  So far I have enjoyed the book. Although the language is extremely out dated, it isn't too difficult to follow along. It is sort of like reading Shakespeare, it takes a few tries but once you get use to it you can pull a lot from the language. I enjoy the challenge of trying to interpret Plato's philosophies, they are sometimes so abstract, I like having to fill it in with my own thought process. How I think a thousand year old Greek philosopher would speak, and act and think himself. That what makes this an enjoyable read. It also gives insight into the culture at the time he spoke these dialogues. God was widely accepted, and it was punishable to speak ill of the gods. They had courts set up where anyone could judge anyone else in front of a bunch of civilians. The world was a completely different place.

Entry #86

               "man... knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing. And so I go about the world obedient to the god, and search and make inquiry into the wisdom of any one," (pg. 17)

I highlighted this quote because I really like what Plato is saying. A man knows that him alone, with his own wisdom is actually worth nothing if you don't have someone to share it with. I mean sure being quite wise can help you personally, but eventually you would want to talk to other people, and learn about there wisdom. Plato goes out and asks philosophical questions to random civilians just to learn about their wisdom, and other peoples opinions, which personally I admire. People these days have stopped caring so much about others minds, and how other people think and only care about them selves. Well the only way we can learn about how other people see and interpenetrate things, is if we ask them. That is all we have to do- ask.

Entry #85

          It is hard sometimes to remember that these words on this page come from 400 B.C. Platos thoughts and views and philosophies sometimes seems so modern it's scary. In the very beginning when he is addressing the accusation of taking peoples money for teaching them his philosophy he simply replies"
        "Although, if a man were really able to instruct mankind, to receive money for giving instruction would, in my opinion, be an honour to him," (Pg. 9) I highlighted this quote because it says a lot about our society today. A lot of foreshadowing occurs here, which is a bit frighting because Plato has been dead for thousands of years. He says that to be paid to instruct mankind would be an honour, isn't that exactly what teachers get paid for? I mean to think back then, that receiving money for exchanging knowledge was a punishable thing is a bit mind bending. The culture and values were so different back then, people thought philosophy and instructions should be a god given thing, something that people can share with one another for free. It shouldn't be something you look to be compensated for, but rather just an exchange of one human beings ideas to another. However Platos point is still extremely valid, to receive money for instructing man kind, for just giving instructions would be a very honorable thing. In class we learned what the word honorable means, the dictionaries definition at least- and it is said honor is holding something or someone with the highest respects. To Plato receiving money for a job well done would in his book, be something held to the highest respects. Now is that to say in society today, receiving money for teaching is held to the highest respects? I feel as if the value of education has gone down hill so much since to beginning of language, there isn't much honor in any of it anymore.

Entry #84 - Dialogues of Plato

                   I decided to abandon 13 Reasons Why, it is not because of the writing or the story, but simply because I would like to spend my last month in school reading something more challenging. So I have chose to read the Dialogues of Plato, written by the famous philosopher from ancient Greece- Plato. The first chapter is titled Apologies, and I can begin to imagine why. Plato never actually states where they are, why they are there or what they are doing in a clear manor- but I think I was able to piece the language together. I believe Plato is in front of a court of Athenian men, being accused by Meletus (his former friend) for poising the youth, teaching atheism, and taking money for teaching others. He pleads his case both intelligently, and proudly, Plato never grovels or actually admits to doing any wrong- and rightfully so. I enjoy how Plato argues, he addresses what he is being accused of and intelligently combats the remark with witty questions, and smart supported evidence. He tends to craft sentences so well, that he can get his opponent to actually admit their own thinking was wrong. This was a very smart man, and his argumentative techniques are often used now a days in courts just like the one he was in. Plato makes a lot of very valid points, and so far I have really enjoyed the book. I can't help but highlight passages during the reading that really stand out to me, and that show Plato's actual opinion.

Entry #83

      I can't help but wonder how this book is going to go. I mean it's written by a man from a teenage girls prespective. Personally I would find that very hard to try and understand the girl psyche especially at this point in her life. I can barely write from the opposite sex's perspective, its just so hard to understand what goes through their minds since we are so different. I mean getting the angst of a hormonal teenage girl coming form a 36 year old male perspective can be more than challengeing. But so far he really seems to get it, and he writes very well. I can really imagine each scene from what he just gives us on paper.

Entry #82

      I can't help but wonder why Hanna decided to send a tape to Clay. I mean so far all she is talking about is her new life in his home town. Her small endeavors and things she notices not real huge apparent reasons why she killed her self. I like it though, how she just doesn't come on and say "Clay you made me kill myself because you never noticed me," she is sorta poetic and like a story teller. She leads you in, and waits to give her big secret away so you have to cling to her every word. I mean it was smart of Asher to do that otherwise there honestly wouldn't be much of a book, and it makes it pretty interesting to read.

13 Reasons Why Entry #81

        The new book I have decided to pick up is 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. So far I believe it is about  a girl, Hanna who committed suicide but instead of just a normal letter she sent out anonymous packages with tapes inside. The first boy to receive one was Clay, he sort of leads us on, and lets us know whats going on in the present, but once he plays that tape it's like Hanna is really the one telling the story. I like this book because it is a very different perspective, we actually get to hear the in depth thoughts of why this poor girl decided to kill her self. Also I think thats a pretty chilling way to get your point across, sending out tapes with stories and reasons why you killed your self. So basically he plays her tape and we get to read stories about Hanna, like she is still alive sitting here telling her thoughts to us.

Eat Pray Love Summary entry #80

          So I finally finished the book, just in time to start a new three-hundred pager for March. It was a long endeavor but I finally reached the end, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. I really enjoyed this book, a lot actually it was a fun read and was easy to connect to. I mean I love to travel, its my dream to some day do what Liz did, so reading about it was really exciting for me. I want to experience different cultures and immerse my self and I feel like this book gave me a great taste for what it might be like. It also was interesting to read about who Liz really is, even though she's a lot older than me sometimes I feel like I'm faced with the same problems and it's nice to know someone else no matter what age feels the same way. I also like the themes throughout the book. How Italy was all about food, and eating just like the first word in the tittle. Her main objective is Italy was to try as much food as she possibly could, and really invest herself in the Italian experience. Then in India she learned how to pray, she found her inner being and finally quitted her mind enough to meditate. Being at the Ashram really helped Liz connect to her self and find her enlightened path. Which I think was a huge goal for her through this whole experience. Then finally in Indonesia she learns how to love. Not the ooy gooy mushy stuff you see in all the chick flicks but real and pure love. She found her love for god, the universe and for all that she has been through. She found the love buried deep down within her and finally understood how to use it.

Entry #78

When I was reading Liz's friend mentioned going out and having a Thumbs Up. I wanted to see if this was a real drink and apparently it is. Liz also said that she thinks it contains methamphetamines because it makes her really crazy. However I think that it is just like any other soft drink like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. I just wanted to do some more background research on the book and all the fun things mentioned inside.

Entry #77

         Liz talks about Buddha, and his path to enlightenment. She recalls the story of Buddha's meditation right when he came out of a 36 day trace, fully enlightened the first thing he said is "This cannot be taught". I really like that and it interests me since I had never heard it like that before, although it makes sense. You cannot teach someone to divinity of the universe its something someone will simply have to learn for the selves. She also mentions how Buddha said that most of humanities eyes are so caked shut with the dust of deception that they will never see the truth no matter who tries to help them. This is a great metaphor because it is really true, and easy to visuallize. I mean in order to see (or have spiritual enlightenment) you have to free your mind of any other thoughts than your own. Truly think for your self and don't let others tell you what to do. However so many people cannot see because their eyes are covered with deceet. People lying to them and telling them things that are not true, but yet they chose to accept. People let this dust cake onto their eyes so thick they will never be able to understand or see Buddhas path. I feel like this is true for a lot of people. Maybe not the whole Buddhas path thing, but at least they chose to close their eyes and ignore what is right in front of them. They let others lie to them and accept them as the truth just because they know how harsh the truth is.

Entry #76

In the book, Liz has an epiphany, and reflects on a past crisis she had as well. Her mid life crisis to be more exact. When she was nine she had pre-life crisis I guess is what you call it. She was going into double digits and she suddenly realized life isn't forever, you grow up quickly and soon enough you're dead. Sometimes I get like that too, like I am just letting my teen years pass me buy and not really appreciating what I am in now. I feel like in two short years I will be an adult, thats really scary to think about, but at the same time really exciting. I feel like however, sooner than I think I'll be an old lady with kids and grandkids living in some home waiting the day I die. I don't know I think all sounds pretty mellow dramatic but its how I get sometimes. It's like we only get to live one life, and it most certainly won't last forever. I guess that means we should enjoy it, live in the moment and not worry about getting old, I can worry about that when I am old.

Entry# 75

        "But a true should mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything thats holding you back, the person who brings you to your attention so you can change your life," (P. 177) This is a quote from one of Liz's friends in Ashram the southern gentleman Robert. He is telling Liz the true meaning of soul mates and what they really are for and I couldn't agree more. I really like his take on this is makes a lot of sense. A soul mate isn't someone you are sapost to spend the rest of your life with, that would be too painful. Their purpose is to come into your life and show you the real you, to help you change and see your flaws. I think your soul mate is someone who is so much like you it hurts to see. When you realize someone is exactly like you, it's like an out of body experience. You can see who you really are through the eyes (essentially) of another person. And often it isn't good. Thats why I think people with the same personality fight so much- because they get so annoyed with eachother. If you have a flaw or something that others find annoying but you don't, and you see it on another person- It is much much more annoying. Its hard to explain but people don't like to see who they really are. They like to path over it, and act like they are this divine human being that everyone loves and is perfect, they won't accept they aren't. Thats what the soul mates job is. "They come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, then leave," Robert says again. Your soul mate comes in and is just another experience, another experience to learn and grow from and to help you on your way to finding out who you really are.

Entry #74

         The structure of this book is very unique and different compared to a lot of other books I have read. I like the refreshing non-fiction aspect to it, and I love the traveling and adventure. I would love to do something like that someday. I have to wonder though, how much of this is actually real and how much did she add it for affect? I mean she writes it sort of like a journal, after major events or days she records what happened and moves on. But how does she remember everything? If I was writing this there would be no way I could specifically pull quotes and dialog from those days and record them word for word. So does she make most of it up? Or does she write the gist and add in a few extra sentences here and there? I mean does she add events in to make a good story, or fluff things up? I wonder if she looks at her self as a fictional character she has to create and add interesting details about? It's just hard to believe she could recall all of these events in such detail she definitely has to add stuff in, but my question is how much? I mean I know she said she would change the names of the people involved, so does that mean she changed a lot more? It doesn't really bother me I'm just curious as to how she approached this.

Entry #73

      Liz mentions a study from The New York Times about a team of neurologists who had tested a volunteer monks brain activity during meditation. I wanted to see what this was all about so I looked the article up. It turns out it's very real and very true. They were trying to see what affects meditation has when it comes to stress and anxiety. They took a few volunteer employees who had been practicing meditation for a few months, and they took a few volunteer monks who had been practicing for over twenty years. They proceeded to hook them up to the brain scanning machine and showed each subject a series of horrifying photos. A mutilated body, severed had, and a snake cocked back ready to strike. They recorded the intense brain activity and then asked them to meditate. The employees had a much harder time calming them selves down, and had a lot more red brain activity- which is frequent and shows up normally when people think a lot. On the other hand, the brain scans were very different for the highly trained monks. Their scans were virtually blank. Which seems impossible to a neurologist to have absolutely no brain activity when it comes to thinking. After watching the man meditate for well over an hour a blue light began to appear. Liz mentioned in the book about feeling a blue light grow up inside of her and work its way through her body during meditation. Just like she had described, a blue light was growing in the monks brain. I just find it very interesting that someone could have the capacity to do that, that a brain could have the capacity to do that. I mean it has so much ability that we don't even know about. Like meditation for instance, later in the article they proved that it could seriously help with stress and anxiety issues. They even said it helped someone create for anti-bodies to fight off the flu.

Article Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/14/magazine/14BUDDHISM.html?pagewanted=all

Entry #72

          In the book, Liz talks about her Guru telling her to never fall apart, because once you do you make it a habit of doing it over and over again until you are just a mere few pieces. I really like this, I mean it makes sense, and I have had it happen to me before. When things fall apart its hard to pick them back up again, and it makes it a whole lot easier to just let the fall again. You have to be strong and practice keeping them together, otherwise you are dooming your self to repeat it. Nothings worse than being stuck in a rut where all you can do is feel sorry for your self. And let it happen over and over again.

Entry #71

     In the book Liz is talking about presence. She makes the point that people are always looking into the future and never actually present in the now, which I sincerely agree with. It's like when you get to a beautiful new place and you end up saying, staring off into the yellow skyline "I want to come back her someday". You are here now, you don't need to plan a future trip just yet when you are standing in the fresh mountain air at that very moment. You are there, you are present and all you can think about is coming back someday. It is just mind boggling how people can get so wrapped up in the future they forget about the present. I will admit that happens to me quite often and I have to take a step back and tell my self to slow down. I am so ready to be an adult and live on my own I am letting some of the best years of my life pass me by. I don't want to sound cliche but at the same time I don't want to regret anything. I wish it was easier sometimes to just stay present, be 100% in the now, enjoying whats going on at this very second. I feel like if humans were more like that things about be a whole lot easier, and wouldn't move at such an alarming place. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. Appreciate whats right in front of you instead of dreaming of a distant future where things are very different.
P. 167

Entry #70

           Liz uses a great metaphor in the book comparing the new years celebration to a fishing net. "It's like we have roped it with our music, and now were are hauling it across the night sky like its a massive fishing net, brimming with our unknown destinies. And what heavy net it is, indeed, carrying as it does all the births, deaths, tragedienne wars, love, stories, inventions, transformations and calamities that are destined for all of us this coming year," P. 145 I love this metaphor because it is clear, but yet very interesting and honest. It makes it easy for me to understand what she is talking about and envision it. It's like she is pulling the new year every so much closer with her music, or the rope. Inside this large net are life's inevitabilities like death, and birth, which will most certainly carry on into the new year. Like everything that's going to unfold that year is just bundled up and they are pulling it closer with their traditions, and chanting and praying.

Entry #69

In the book Liz talks about how she has to chant for hours on end in Ashram. She explains how she doesn't like it, she says "Chant connotes a certain drone like, scary monotony," P. 183 I happen to agree and disagree at the same time. I mean it can be pretty scary, when I think of chanting I think of a cult in robes surrounding a body on a pedestal. It sort of seems sacrilegious, I don't know it can be pretty intimidating. I mean the word is affiliated with a lot of bad stuff through history. I always hear of crazy cults or groups of mass murdering idiots chanting the same phrase over and over in sickening unison. Take any major regime, there always involves groups of people largely screaming the same thing over and over which is frighting monotony. But on the other hand it can be a good, nice thing as well. Like in the book, when all the Indian people join together to create a perfect song as they sing over and over again. It is always attached to many good things- I think it might just be the word its self, which some people will immediately attach to the bad things rather than the good.

Entry #68

 

These are some photos of Ashram, India where Liz visited and one of the places she wrote about it the book. The funny thing was when I looked it up I found a lot of websites that talked about the book. The village used it as a sort of tourist advertisement to attract people to visit, I even found an interview with Julia Roberts who went there during the movie.It seems really beautiful and I would love to go, I just wanted to if it was a real place.

Entry #67

"You're a lucky person if you:
1. Have been born a human being, capable of conscious inquiry
2. To have been born with-or to have developed-a yearning to understand nature and the universe
3. To have found a living spiritual master"

I really love this quote, it makes a lot of sense and is spiritually sound to me. A lot of people think that you're lucky if you have a lot of money, or you have a great job, but not the Yogi's. Many people think luck is inanimate, like you're lucky if you never lose your keys, but this quote is much more realistic and true! I mean we are lucky just to have been born a human being with a brain, and the ability to be curious and ask question. We are lucky to just be alive, everything else is just crass. I mean people often over look how good we have it just being here on Earth. People can complain about a bad haircut or ugly makeup but there are people out there that have it a lot worse, we should be happy and lucky just to be breathing. I mean sometimes I feel like its a miracle how many healthy people are born everyday- we are lucky to be alive. I also like how these Indian spiritual masters center their luck around the Earth, nature and the universe. I appreciate that and share that as well. I think that if we would all have a connection to nature we'd have a much healthier Earth and a much more peaceful world. But when people focus on money and being the best and making the most things they forget about your Earth. They neglect nature, and without it we would cease to exist.

Entry #66

I think Guru's are an interesting concept. I mean many people seek spiritual guidance through a Guru and think that it can really religiously help them. However many people don't even get to meet their Guru. I mean you would think they would be a super close person to you and you spend hours upon hours each day learning from them, but some people won't even get to see them in person. Also Guru's can be famous, like Liz's in the book. They write their own books and even hold big conventions and seminars for their followers. I think its a bit odd personally to have a bunch of people who follow you even though they don't really know much about you. And like thousands of people can have the same Guru. I just feel like if you're going to have one they should be your personal spiritual leader, it just seems a bit distant if they just say the same thing to all of their followers. But I also think it is a good thing, I mean its better than having a bunch of followers who believe in a God they've never spoken to or even seen for that matter.

Eat Pray Love

I think that each one of these titles for the book applies to a part in the book. I mean I know its pretty obvious but its really fun, and its a good device she uses. Eat is for her first trip Italy, where all she does in indulge is beautiful Italian food, and wander the streets of Rome. When she visits India this is pray. She focuses mostly on her spirtuial journey and her meditation, her whole goal was to get closer to God. So that is why India is pray. I have yet to get to Indonesia but I have a sneaky suspicion she will fall in love. Or maybe here she will deal with her love issues with David and her messy divorce. I like how there's sort of a 'hidden meaning' to the title, how it applies to each section of the book. Its written really well and she uses a lot of different literary devices like the sections she puts them into, how she writes (with tons of parenthesis) and the title of the book.