Michael Nguyen > Recent Status Updates

This is a really good book. Michael Muhammad Knight is a really good writer. He gives a very libertarian anarchist sufi punk vibe to Islam, something which I've never come across before in my meetings of muslims or the reading of Islamic scriptures. It's an appreciation of individualism and creativity over stagnant dogmatism and rationalism.

Getting into the historicity of the Buddha and Ashoka. Quite interesting.

Long and confusing

Very long and dry complicated history of Ancient Sanskrit literatures. Aranyakas, Brahmanas, Sutras, Mantras. Mostly going over my head.

What I noticed from this book is that the biographers of brahmin saints tend to highlight the same kind of features. Devotion, intellectual ability, religious influence, asceticism. A kind of hagiographical idealised brahmin, an archetype of perfection.

What I've noticed with the study of eastern religions is, is that they all focus on some kind of objective doctrine rather than objective truth. Their doctrines come from scripture and those scriptures communicate truth but they have no awareness of scientific truth. They are theologies. They have no understanding of subjective experiences as in psychoanalysis or the unconscious mind.

A lot of stuff on Uddhava, Krishna, and Krishnaised Samkhya

Very interesting. Much better explanation of Bhakti and Vedanta compared to Prabhupad's ISKCON propaganda

Very interesting. A nice break from Prabhupad's purports to be honest.

pure devotion to the devotees and bona fide guru. extremely repetitive

the book is repetitive, sinilar to thenprrvious canto

Great read. It tells you how to perform ashtanga yoga and meditate on the body of Vishnu.