I thought I’d share these now, rather than waiting to the end of the month. I am juggling several things at once and don’t want the end-of-month report to get lost or too long. Enjoy!
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
5 stars! I thought this book was amazing… engrossing on many levels, with interesting characters who all come together in the end.
“Every boy has a book in him, but not every boy is willing to listen.” After the death of his father, a boy starts hearing the objects around him speaking. He soon meets a philosopher who encourages him to find his own voice. “The Book” narrates the story, along with communicating the importance of books to a pluralistic society. An important piece is about decluttering (remember the Marie Kondo phase?) Ozeki takes the middle of that name to create the author of “Tidy Magic” and the story of “Ikon,” a Zen nun who explains to us “the impermanence of form and the empty nature of all things.” Ultimately, it’s the connections we feel (and everything and everyone is connected) that power us through.
“Poetry is a problem of form and emptiness. The moment I put one word onto an empty page, I have created a problem for myself. The point that emerges is form trying to find a solution to my problem… In the end, of course, there are no solutions – only more problems. But this is a good thing. Without problems there will be no poems.”
“That’s what books are for after all – to tell your stories, to hold them and keep them safe between our covers for as long as we’re able. We do our best to bring you pleasure and sustain your belief in the gravity of being human. We care about your feelings and believe in you completely. But here’s another question: has it ever occurred to you that books have feelings too? As you listen to this romantic tale of two ill-fated lovers, do you ever stop to wonder about what it feels like for us? Because, in truth, if skin marks the border where an “I” ends and a “you” begins, then in these moments of impassioned boundary crossing called love, we envy you.”
“… all these things you saw and felt at once. How is this possible? Because, in the binary, where phenomena are still unbound, stories have not yet learned to behave in a linear fashion and all the myriad things of the world are simultaneously emergent, occurring in the same present moment coterminous with you. Unbound, you could see the universe becoming clouds of Stardust emanations from the warm little pond from who’s gaseous bubbling all of life is born in this unbound state. That night, you encountered all that was and ever could be – form and emptiness and the absence of form and emptiness. You felt what it was to open completely, to merge with matter and let everything in. And thus, you let us in too. And once inside we could access your sense gates and finally understand what it might be to see with eyes hear with ears smell with the nose, taste with a tongue, and touch with skin. And this is what books want, after all. We want bodies. And for the first time, we could imagine what it might be to have one. We were able to perceive the consciousness that body gives rise to. If we gave you the unbound world, this was your gift to us.”
“Disaster can strike at any moment, but we forget this. Distracted by the bright shiny comforts of our everyday lives, wrapped in a false sense of security, we fall asleep and in this dream, our life passes. The earthquake shook us awake and it’s nami? washed away our delusions. It caused us to question our values and our attachment to material possessions. When everything I think of is mine – my belongings, my family, my life – can be swept away in an instant, I have to ask myself, “what is real?” The wave reminded us that impermanence is real. This is waking up to our true nature. Already broken, knowing this, we can appreciate each thing as it is and love each other as we are – completely, unconditionally, without expectation or disappointment. Life is even more beautiful this way…”
Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora
Such a powerful and tangible account of coming to America. Wow. I enjoyed listening to the author tell his story on Audible. As a 9-year-old, he was a strong person to go through what he did! How can anyone not have compassion for those hoping for a better life or to be reunited with family?
Did you guys hear that the 50 people who Desantis flew up north as a political stunt got Visas? Ha! Good for them.
