Stats for nerds
3recommend
6mentions
5people
2017–2023years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- You might want to check out 'The Book of Joy' by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize winner and archbishop). The book lays out what these two men believe are the fundamental pillars of enduring happiness. Instead of doing a poor job summarizing the contents, here's a link to Amazon if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZCW34Q. Wish you the best.
- > I assume that the best part of the best books will surface in daily conversations, YouTube videos, CliffsNotes, podcasts, Reddit posts/comments, blog articles, etc
I don't think this is true. In theory, you may be able to find all the information contained in the books, but it's drowning in garbage. The benefit of books is that the information has been distilled for you. Good books distill information better than bad books.
> One issue for me is that books are a very big time investment. I read very slowly and I don't remember everything I read either.
I hardly read books any more, though I do enjoy a day of reading in the sun when it's warm. I listen to audiobooks while I'm traveling, working out, or doing housework.
> I have thousands of non-fiction (mostly self-improvement) books in my reading list on GoodReads, but almost never bother to read any.
Different folks will tell you different things, but for me, the following self-help content covered most of what I've read to date:
* Any Alan Watts lecture series - I listened to "Out of your mind" (listen to the whole thing) * The Book of Joy (Dalai Lama and Desmond TuTu) * Never split the Difference (Chris Voss) * The hard thing about hard things (Ben Horowitz)
And then read (or listen to) whatever strikes your fancy.
The concentrated focus of books makes them stick better, in my opinion, than blog posts, online commentary, etc.
- I recently finished the Book of Joy (great read), an interview by Douglas Abrams of Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, which ends with an appendix full of different types of meditation and mindfulness practices.
I am intrigued to practice the Dalai Lama's usual practice of analytical meditation (listed in parent's linked paper alongside Vipassana), but it's certainly an advanced practice. Most resources I can find recommend a daily practice of Shamatha for some months before undertaking analytical meditation.
I found this poetic description of the thought process one might go through during analytical meditation: https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/wheel-of...
- We have to reckon with the fact that even surrounded by friends and family, at the moment our life finally ends we are alone inside our own mind. Even if it is scary, we can take solace in the fact that it is a fleeting moment.
Buddhism helps us learn healthy detachment. This can be detachment from things, people and even ourselves; the healthy part being the balance that still allows us to appreciate and love them, even knowing one day we must lose them. Pushing those things away to protect ourselves from the pain of loss is unhealthy. Remember the middle way.
In The Book of Joy the Dalai Lama states that he approaches meditation as a preparation to die well. I don’t know if that’s what you meant by “prepare for it every day” but what you said reminded me of all this.
- I mostly started reading alot since March 2017 up to now. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting alot but, this is what I've been reading or have read so far:
Eternal Golden Braid
Shoe Dog
Creativity Inc
High Output Management
Game of Thrones Book 1,2,3
Never Split The Difference
Presuasion
Like Switch
Mans Search For Meaning
The Hard Things about Hard Things
Norse Mythology
Ted Talks
How To Talk to Anyone
How to win friends and influence people
Mckinsey Mind
Mckinsey Edge
Influence
Extreme Ownership
Everything Store
Inner Game of Tennis
Book of Joy
Phoenix Project
The Goal
Hooked
How Google Works
- Took a break from Economics with Human Action by Ludwig von Mises, to go in a completely different direction with The Book of Joy by Douglas Abrams. Not sure whether I'm going to go back to Economics when I'm done or take another detour. I've got SO MANY on my list that are sitting on my shelf. Before those, it was Peopleware - Productive Projects and Teams by DeMarco and Lister.
