Philosophy Books - Page 16

Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 73 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Review by Nicole 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, is a culmination of the life of one of the most famous peaceful revolutionaries and supporters of non-violence. The book is basically an entire list of the life experiences of Gandhi, all of which prove to contribute to his spiritual growth, and in turn, each go to influence his way of thinking. Gandhi's autobiography reveals a vast array of experiments he performed throughout his life, leading to his praise of truth as the ultimate underlying principal, contributing to his adaptation of celibacy (brahmacharya), adherence to fasting, and development of Satyagraha: his concept of non-violent firmness.
Gandhi's autobiography stretches back to his youth in exploring all of his life experiences. Gandhi's inclusion of all aspects of his life in his autobiography illustrates the idea that each and every experience becomes an influence; which, in Gandhi's case, means influences leading to the development of a concept of non-violence to spear-head the Indian journey for Independence.
The strength in Gandhi's autobiography lies in his adherence to truth even as he tells his life story. Gandhi hides nothing, allowing this display of raw truth to help readers examine Gandhi's uncensored ideas and thoughts, making it possible to understand what Gandhi was thinking in even some of the most significant moments in his life.
The main weakness in Gandhi's autobiography, however, is his obvious omission of information where the information is most definitely needed. In order to fully understand a large number of chapters, an understanding of India and its culture is necessary, but not provided. Gandhi also seems to assume that readers have knowledge of the political situation in India, so if you lack any historical knowledge, you will find yourself somewhat confused. Because Gandhi's autobiography radiates the idea that every experience is an influence for the person he eventual becomes, it obviously is a challenge to include every experience and spend an adequate amount of time discussing them. But his choice to omit quite a few particularly significant experiences will not go unnoticed. He does not, for example, spend any time describing his experiments in South Africa, and instead instructs readers to consult other works. Lack of background information regarding people who Gandhi introduces and lack of historical information on the movements he involves himself in, may lead to an incomplete illustration of Gandhi's life.
At the conclusion of Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, you are left with the desire to take a trip to the library, because you have surely reached the conclusion that there is much more to know about the teacher and leader who made the world aware of India's struggle for independence. The autobiography gives you an in-depth look into the mind of one of the most influential non-violent role models that the world has seen, with a detailed understanding of the steps necessary to try to follow in Gandhi's footsteps if you so desire. Gandhi's autobiography leaves a lot out, but it also leaves you with a strong desire to find out more.

Editorial Review:

Personal account of the life of the man who freed India from colonization through the Satyagraha — nonviolent protest — movement. His early boyhood life, legal studies, purification, and ultimate salvation of his homeland is carefully recounted in this inspiring and critical work of insurmountable importance.

Autobiography of a Yogi - Audio Book narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley

Paramahansa Yogananda

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Total reviews: 219 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This audio edition contains the complete text of Paramahansa Yogananda's life story, read by Academy Award-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley. Footnotes are captured in an accompanying booklet. This acclaimed autobiography presents a fascinating portrait of one of the great spiritual figures of our time. With engaging candor, eloquence, and wit, Paramahansa Yogananda tells the inspiring chronicle of his life: the experiences of his remarkable childhood, encounter with many saints and sages during his youthful search throughout India for an illumined teacher, ten years of training in the hermitage of a revered yoga master, and the thirty years that he lived and taught in America. Also recorded here are his meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank, the Catholic stigmatist Therese Neumann, and other celebrated spiritual personalities of East and West. Autobiography of a Yogi is at once a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. The author clearly explains the subtle but definite laws behind both the ordinary events of everyday life and the extraordinary events commonly termed miracles. His absorbing life story becomes the background for a penetrating and unforgettable look at the ultimate mysteries of human existence. Selected as "One of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century," Autobiography of a Yogi has been translated into 20 languages, and is regarded worldwide as a classic of religious literature. Several million copies have been sold, and it continues to appear on best-seller lists after more than fifty consecutive years in print. Profoundly inspiring, it is at the same time vastly entertaining, warmly humorous and filled with extraordinary personages. This edition includes extensive material added by the author after the first edition was published, including a final chapter on the closing years of his life.

Sir Ben Kingsley came to international prominence with his Academy Award-winning performance in the title role of Gandhi. He has received high praise as well for his work in other films - among them the critically acclaimed Schindler's List. Mr. Kingsley is also known for his inspired readings of books on tape, including a series on the great religions of the world.

The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern

Keith Devlin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Before the mid-seventeenth century, scholars generally agreed that it was impossible to predict something by calculating mathematical outcomes. One simply could not put a numerical value on the likelihood that a particular event would occur. Even the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll or the likelihood of showers instead of sunshine was thought to lie in the realm of pure, unknowable chance.

The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the “unfinished game” problem: how do you divide the pot when players are forced to end a game of dice before someone has won? The idea turned out to be far more seminal than Pascal realized. From it, the two men developed the method known today as probability theory.

In The Unfinished Game, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housing and job markets, to the safety of cars and planes, calculating probabilities allowed people, for the first time, to think rationally about how future events might unfold.

Safe People

Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

not what you think it is 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I was looking forward to reading this book and when I started to read it I realized it was a religious book disquised as a different type of book. I am very disapointed and might send it back. Be aware.

Forgettable, Uninspiring 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The first part of the book was okay, as it outlined the types of people who are "unsafe", but it completely wimped out on the reader. The authors give no solutions for improving relationships or finding safe people.

I expected that the book would be a lot more practical, and it just wasn't. It was very clinical and dry. Additionally, I find some of the concepts a tad spiritually "iffy". They seem to play fast and loose with scriptures, applying scriptures to situations that would have benefitted from any number of different scriptures. It was weird. His interpretation of scripture was a little odd. Also, most of they said was not backed up with a lot of scripture when you really evaluate it.

Also, it was poorly written. The sentence construction was poor. Technically it was correct, but overall a hindrance when you have to read a sentence three times to figure out its point. They just aren't versed in the art of writing.

In all a really dull and uninspiring read. Not at all helpful. I wish I had something better to say about it, but I don't. It was disappointing and forgettable.

Editorial Review:

Finding safe people provides the foundation for building healthy, lasting relationships. Here's how to identify safe people, how to make wise choices in relationships and how to become a safe person yourself. Read by Dick Fredricks.

The Bondage Breaker Audiobook

Neil Anderson

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Spiritual warfare 101 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is quite simply the best book I have read on spiritual conflicts and warfare. I was blessed immensely by it. Neil Anderson uses scripture, personal stories, and the warmth and understanding of a counselor to expose the darkness and lies of satan. After reading this I am much more aware of the enemy's schemes and am able to effectively combat the lies with the truth of God's word. The book itself is not a cure-all problem solver - it is a truth exposer and a pointer in the right direction. I highly recommend this and "Victory Over the Darkness" especially to Christians stuggling with depression, anxiety, fear, lust, or anger. I also highly recommend this book to any Christian seeking to understand spiritual warfare. I give Neil Anderson's books the highest possible recommendation.

The Bondage Breaker 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book by Neil Anderson can help everyone live more successful lives even though it is written specifically for those who are Christian. For the Christian, it shatters myths and teaches Biblical principles for victorious living.

Editorial Review:

Don't wait any longer to discover that your most important defense against a life of bondage is re-cognizing the enemy and knowing how to defeat him.

The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

T. K. V. Desikachar

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Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to viniyoga--yoga adapted to the needs of the individual. 

• A contemporary classic by a world-renowned teacher. 

• This new edition adds thirty-two poems by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings. 

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental concept of viniyoga, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value. 

In The Heart of Yoga Desikachar offers a distillation of his father's system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as "a program for the spine at every level--physical, mental, and spiritual." This is the first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to the age-old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga--poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy--and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle. 

This is a revised edition of The Heart of Yoga.

Praying God's Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds

Beth Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This is the way to pray! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have bought and recommended this incredible book to
my disciples, friends and relatives (as well as myself).
It enables people to pray Scripture prayers...and we
know they will always be answered.

Buy this!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have this and have bought it for others. I have actually written down prayers on index cards. When I am struggling with an area, like forgiveness, I carry the card with me to read / pray throughout the day. It is effective and helps me put my focus where it should be.

Editorial Review:

How do we practice II Corinthians 10:3-5, "tearing down strongholds by captivating our minds with the knowledge of God"? Beth Moore shows you how in Praying God's Word.

A topical prayer guide addressing fourteen common strongholds and what Scripture reveals about each of them, Praying God's Word presents Scriptures in prayer form to be incorporated into your daily prayer life.

God's Word, through prayer, helps you overcome bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, setting you free from each and every stronghold which claims your life, and replacing it with the mind of Christ.

Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)

Lao Tzu

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Total reviews: 178 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

BEWARE OF CLUELESS REVIEWERS! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The naysaying reviewers did not bother to read this book through. Nowhere does it claim to be a literal translation, and following the lessons are the author's notes, explaining exactly what he did or didn't add, and why, as well as references to what was replaced from the original -- much of which is as wonderful as the lessons themselves. There is so much beauty and depth in this "new version" that this reviewer can see no reason for the downright fury it seems to provoke in these other readers. Perhaps they should keep reading the Tao -- ANY version.

Great living literature opens you up...this is one of those. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book has true value...unlike most books the Tao Te Ching can help you find meaning and truth in life.

Editorial Review:

In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.

Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.

Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison

Michel Foucault

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Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Well researched, controversial book 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is one of Michel Foucault's most accessible books (though still pretty heavy going). If in Madness and Civilization, Foucault analyzed the birth of insane asylums and in The Birth of the Clinic the birth of the hospital, in Discipline and Punish, it's the turn of the prisons. The book starts with a gruesome description of the public drawing and quartering of failed regicide Damiens in 1757. Then he goes on to quote a benign prison system of the 1830s. What changed between the two dates? While other authors would consider the birth of modern imprisonment as a triumph of progressive ideals (in comparison with what went on before), Foucault saw this instead as one aspect of increasing social and political control. While greatly researched, one immediately asks itself what Foucault wanted? Did he care about any improvement in the social conditions of prisoners? Or did he believed we should do with prisons altogether? And in which case, what about dangerous criminals? I think Foucault never wanted to answer these questions. I think it's telling that towards the end of his life (after this book was written) Foucault was a fan of the repressive and theocratic regime of Khomeini in Iran. In this, he was similar to those communist intellectuals in the West who criticized failings in their own countries but overlook much worse abuses (and crimes) in the Soviet Union. Another quibble is that the book is so French-centric (with some analysis of developments in England): he takes the evolution of imprisonment in France as an indication of the whole world.

Editorial Review:

In this brilliant work, the most influential philosopher since Sartre suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner's body to his soul.

The Four Loves

C. S. Lewis

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Total reviews: 72 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Wonderful Overview 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is in my opinion C.S. Lewis's best nonfiction work. The premise has been done before, but rarely with the sort of insight given here. His overviews of Affection and Friendship are much too often overlooked and glossed over as unimportant, but here they're given a status they really deserve.

The section on friendship, and the idea that people are bonded through mutual passions, and his grim statement that people who are just looking for a friend will never find one, was spot on. Friendships are formed as an extension of a passion for something bigger than the individual. A mutual cause drives people, whether they be sports fanatics, a tribe pining for survival, or art critics.

The pitfalls he explains for the loves such as lust, bigotry, elitism, etc. are self explanatory, but it's also practical. Friendships are exclusive by their very nature, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with such a thing. Eros is most certainly exclusive. He emphasizes that we can't be friends with everyone, love everyone with Eros, but we can love everyone with Charity, the final section of the book.

One could write a book three times longer and not come close to the depth portrayed in this little book. Strongly recommended.

Editorial Review:

The remarkable audio edition of C.S. Lewis' beloved classic is the only existing reading of his own work. With penetrating logic and winsome wit, he explores the four aspects of love-storge (affection), philia (friendship), eros (sexual love) and agape (selfless love).