201, an Amazon Review Odyssey

July 25, 2014
As of today, July 25, 2014, I’ve now posted 201 Amazon reviews, mainly of spiritual books. Though the choice of books I’ve reviewed may seem random, it’s not.

When I began doing these reviews in 2012, I identified the categories of books I wanted to cover in my reviews: Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, astrology, nutrition; Pali, Madhyamika, Hua Yen, Yogacara, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism; Hindu Raja, Bhakti, and Kundalini Yoga, Advaita (and neo-Advaita) Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism; Adi Da’s Daism, Ken Wilber’s “Integralism, “new age" texts, and individual iconic teachers, such as Eckhart Tolle, Ayn Rand, David R. Hawkins, and J. and U.G Krishnamurti.

I’ve now reviewed most of the books I want to. I’ve got about twenty more to go – several on Buddhism and Kundalini Yoga books, a few on Daism and Sri Aurobindo texts, and some more on New Age and neo-Advaita Vedanta teachings.

Once I’m done with these reviews, I’ll continue to write more, but only one or two a month. Instead, I’ll focus more on writing my own books and doing youtube.com videos.

There are two main reasons why I’ve done these reviews: to educate spiritual seekers (many of whom have thanked me for my reviews), and to help market my own books.… Read the full article

Not the Buddha’s Dharma

July 18, 2014

I have, at this time, written 198 Amazon book reviews, and one of the major themes in my reviews has been my distaste for Madhyamika and Prasangika-Madhyamika Buddhism. These schools of Buddhism stem from the teachings of Nagarjuna, who, next to the Buddha himself, is probably the most influential figure in Buddhism. Although many, including Ken Wilber, consider Nagarjuna a genius, I don’t. In fact, I consider him the master of illogic.


Perhaps the most popular and respected book on Nagarjuna’s teaching is Jay Garfield’s The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Nagarjuna’a Mulamadhyamakakarika. And though very few people know about it yet, the best critique of Nagarjuna is Avi Sion’s Buddhist Illogic: A Critical Analysis of Nagarjuna’s Arguments.


Because I think it’s important for Buddhadharma students to critically examine Nagarjuna’s arguments, I am posting my reviews Garfield’s and Sion’s books.


The Perversion of Buddhism


This text, by Buddhologist Jay Garfield, provides a lengthy, in-depth Indo-Tibetan interpretation of Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakalarika.… Read the full article

I’d Love to Change the World, Part 3

July 12, 2014
The classical philosophic hierarchy that Ayn Rand’s Objectivism is built upon – metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics – provides an almost ideal framework for properly educating people. I say “almost,” because what’s missing is spirituality. Add that, and you’ll have the whole enchilada, so to speak.

Metaphysics (or ontology) is the branch of philosophy that studies existence, the nature of the universe as a whole. And if one injects spirituality into this branch, one would also “study” the Being, or unmanifest Existent, from Whom existence stems. Once one adds Being (Siva-Shakti or Sat-Cit-Ananda) to the equation, then spirituality, the practice of communing/identifying with this Being, becomes the 6th branch of the hierarchy. The way to “study” Being is to literally be it by communing/coinciding with It. This meditative practice of Divine communing/coinciding can be termed “onto-logic.” Logic, according to Rand, is non-contradictory identification of reality (meaning phenomenal reality). And what I call onto-logic, is ontical, or yogic, or spiritual, identification with Ultimate Reality, which Rand, unfortunately, didn’t have a clue about.… Read the full article

I’d Love to Change the World, Part 2

July 6, 2014
The only real way to change the world is through education. But unfortunately, the government (via public schools) and religious institutions (churches, mosques, etc.), have an unofficial, but clearly evident monopoly on education.

As I see it, there are two ways to break this monopoly. First, get rid of public education. If I had kids, the last thing I’d want is to have Big MoFoBro educating them, filling their minds with Statist propaganda. Just as there should be separation of Church and State and Economy and State, likewise there should also be separation of Education and State.

Second, develop a prototypical educational program, online, and properly educate the world for free. Donations of course would be accepted. And those who could afford to pay would, hopefully, voluntarily do so. A prototypical educational program would be copied by many, and in time, this new radical and revolutionary educational system would become the new norm.

Religious institutions, being private, have every right to freely teach whatever they like, but by providing the masses with an enlightened basis – lessons on how to think rationally, logically, and undogmatically -- most of these institutions would, in time, lose most of their followers.… Read the full article

I’d Love to Change the World

June 28, 2014
But I don’t know what to do – so I leave it up to you,” sang the late Alvin Lee of the rock group Ten Years After. But whereas Lee, who introduced his hit song “I’d love to Change the World” in the early ‘70s, didn’t know what to do, I like to think that I do. And I know how I would do it if I had big bucks, really big bucks, like a Warren Buffet or a Bill  Gates.

I would create a free humanistic online school that would awaken individuals around the world to radical and revolutionary truths not taught in the mainstream educational system. This online school would offer classes from the elementary school level to the university graduate school level, enabling the brightest students to earn PhDs.

I haven’t given much thought to the designing an exact curriculum, but a good starting point would be to teach courses on metaphysics, spirituality, epistemology, ethics, political science, economics, history, psychology, holistic health, and practical life affairs (such as making money and investing it intelligently). I’m sure I’ll think of more courses that could be offered; and because the school would be protean, new courses could be added at any time.… Read the full article

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →