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According to Accounts

According to Accounts Earthly Experience

The Barefoot Poet From Persia

Image by Daniel Kirsch from Pixabay
I never complained of the vicissitudes of fortune, nor suffered my face to be overcast at the revolution of the heavens, except once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes. I came to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with patience.
– The Gulistan, or Rose Garden
Sa’di (pen name of Muslih-ud-Din, Persian poet ca. 1184-1291)
Image by Daniel Kirsch from Pixabay
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According to Accounts Applied Virtue

Do You REALLY Know What Jordan Peterson Says? Hint: Make Sure You Hear It Straight From Him!

Image courtesy Jordanbpeterson.com

I was glad to hear that the Canadian Psychologist / Philosopher Jordan Peterson is back from his multi-year health nightmare, and appears to be on the mend. I have only been aware of him for the past year or so, and have become a big fan – but beware, a lot of people with political agendas and motives try to hijack his lectures or misquote him to their own causes and ideologies. If you look into Dr. Peterson, go directly to the source, not some web snippet or second hand source. This book, 12 Rules For Life is a good introduction for the public, though the specialist may prefer to go straight to his more academic texts such as “Maps of Meaning.”

I had heard some controversy around the author, Dr. Jordan Peterson. Then went to Amazon and read some of the reviews. Many were less book review and more insult or ad hominem attacks. “Who is this guy?” I asked myself. I remembered the Audible audiobook subsidiary of Amazon.com had a money back guarantee so I took the chance and purchased it. What a great book! I read it just in time to give a copy to my daughter for her 18th birthday.

There is nothing remotely controversial in the book, just great observation from a mix of Dr. Peterson’s own personal and professional experience as a clinical psychologist in Canada and college professor. The book is not preachy, it is not “thou shalt not” or anything like that. It is much more aligned with what Viktor Frankl called “Man’s Search For Meaning.” Some comments in other reviews made it sound like Peterson is some kind of religious fanatic. I saw the opposite (he seems to be an agnostic). As an acolyte of Carl Jung, he does see myths (his term) as powerful tools, and storytelling an ingredient of culture, and uses many examples from Buddhist, Babylonian, Egyptian and Germanic lore…and (shockingly) the bible to illustrate human nature.

With regards to the audio version, Dr. Peterson’s high, squeaky voice and rural Canadian accent does not make him someone who would normally make a living as a narrator, but I am glad he read it. Once you get used to hearing his voice, it is genuine and endearing. I am really glad I discovered Peterson through this book. I am now an avid fan.

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According to Accounts Earthly Experience

A Great Introduction To Jung’s Work, Thought & Life

I feel a little sheepish for diving into Jung relatively tardy in life, but better late than never. Before jumping into one text of his or another, I wanted to get a general idea of the foundations of Jung’s psychological theories, and also a little of the man himself.

Have you ever used the word “extravert” or “introvert?” You can thank Carl Gustav Jung for those concepts.

I found this book: “Jung – An Introduction To His Psychology” ideal, as it gave a very clear, well organized account of his philosophy and psychology – I think the man was clearly both philosopher and psychologist; and also importantly the environment and backdrop that was so important to his formation.

This to my knowledge was the only English-language survey of his work approved by the professor in his lifetime. I am glad I read it, I have a greater level of esteem for the man and admiration for his intellectual product. I look forward to continuing to delve into his books and papers. This is a great start, highly recommended.

Click the link below for your own copy!

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According to Accounts

My friend said: “No guy from India would put up with me, but then my dad…”

By Ethan Kan from San Francisco, USA - Aasif Mandvi, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48766069

The Audible Original one man play “Sakina’s Restaurant” reminds me of a conversation I had years ago with a close Indian friend. She was born in the US, likes to party and drink beer and is a huge football fan (Go Buckeyes!) but her father is a Hindu religious figure, and her family is generally very observant. Her grandmother had just found a bride for her brother in India and he was preparing to marry.

“Well, what are you gonna do?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“No guy from India would put up with me, but then my dad…”

This short, touching, and often pretty funny sketch grasps that theme, the culture clash of immigrants, especially from Asia in a very different culture, the family dynamics and conflicts, the motivations. I really enjoyed it. As the performer goes from one character to another sometimes it is a bit confusing as you try to follow and figure out what character he is now; but it is worth listening to more than once. I found this especially fascinating because I am a grandson of an immigrant who came to America from one country, married an immigrant to the US from another country, and now find myself an emigre from America to even another country. Still, I think, it must be easy, in my case all from the same hemisphere and largely the same culture, compared to someone coming from across the Pacific where things are vastly different, and every day you know you are an outsider.

By the way, my friend? She ended up marrying an American guy, but remained single until she was 40, avoiding the family crisis she would have caused. She and her husband are doing fine. I highly recommend this brief 1 person audio performance.

Photo by Ethan Kan from San Francisco, USA – Aasif Mandvi, CC BY-SA 2.0

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According to Accounts Applied Virtue Governance

Antifragile

Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Photo Credit: Sarah Josephine Taleb, c. 2010
“Modernity has replaced ethics with legalese, and the law can be gamed with a good lawyer. So I will expose the transfer of fragility, or rather the theft of antifragility, by people “arbitraging” the system. These people will be named by name. Poets and painters are free, liberi poetae et pictores, and there are severe moral imperatives that come with such freedom.
First ethical rule: If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud. Just as being nice to the arrogant is no better than being arrogant toward the nice, being accommodating toward anyone committing a nefarious action condones it. Further, many writers and scholars speak in private, say, after half a bottle of wine, differently from the way they do in print. Their writing is certifiably fake, fake. And many of the problems of society come from the argument “other people are doing it.”
So if I call someone a dangerous ethically challenged fragilista in private after the third glass of Lebanese wine (white), I will be obligated to do so here.”
~Nassim Nicholas Taleb – Antifragile
Photo Credit: Sarah Josephine Taleb, c. 2010
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According to Accounts Applied Virtue

The Business Of The Benevolent Person

Text of 7th volume of Mozi

“It is the business of the benevolent man to seek to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful, and to provide a model for the world. What benefits he will carry out; what does not benefit men he will leave alone” – Mo Di, 5th century BC

Mohism was a philosophical school founded by Mo Di  (also referred to as Mo Zi, Master Mo) that for 700 years rivaled Confucianism in what would become China.  Though the whole ‘school’ of Mohist thought covers a lot of area (as does Confucianism), one principle, and the one I wish to focus on here is that of Jianai: “impartial caring” or universal benevolence.

Mohists believed that all people deserve benevolence, versus the teaching of Confucius that loyalty to hierarchical commitments such as parent, boss and ruler was most important. Mohists were less interested in ceremony and ritual and believed that goodwill must be universal in nature. It is not enough—in fact it is wrong to just love your family, tribe, or nation (or then, kingdom) but your compassion must be universal. “The benefit of all under heaven,” and that everyone, no matter class, status or ethnicity deserved heaven’s (Tian) blessings.

The Mohists of that time were rather ascetic: They were not fans of luxury or even musical performances, saying such efforts are better directed towards feeding and clothing of the populace. They opposed aggressive war, but volunteered as warriors for states being attacked. Remember, this was during the historical period called “Warring States” in China.

Asia would likely be quite different had Mohism not died out—quite literally it seems, in the Qin dynasty when scholars were buried alive and books were burned. Like Confucianism, it was more of a philosophy than a religion.

Beyond anything else, the central tenet of Mohism remains true today.

“It is the business of the benevolent man to seek to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful, and to provide a model for the world.”

Image:  (Pictured sideways for formatting!) Text of 7th volume of Mozi, public domain 

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According to Accounts Earthly Experience

A brief history of Easter

"Pagan Antiquities, New Grange, Co. Meath" copper engraved print published in Francis Grose's Antiquities of England and Wales, 1786.

According to Biblical lore, the rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) traveled to the great Jewish Temple at Jerusalem with his entourage to celebrate Pesach (Passover). This is where the Christian Passion narrative then takes place. The word in Spanish for Easter is Pascua, also similar to the word in many Romance languages based on Latin. The word comes from Greek & Latin Pashca which is from the Hebrew Pesach – Passover.

The English word Easter comes from the pagan goddess Eostre – a manifestation of the Goddess of the Dawn.  The date of Easter was established by decree of the Roman Emperor after convening the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD. The decree mandates that Easter is on the first Sunday after the full moon following the March Equinox. Eastern Christianity (the Orthodox churches of Greece, Russia, Serbia, Ethiopia, etc.) bases its Easter on the Gregorian calendar.

The consumption of ham comes from the Spanish Inquisition. During this time, the Catholic church along with the Spanish Government under Queen Isabella and King Fernando would torture or expel Jewish or Muslim subjects from the Iberian Peninsula. Many of the muslims were expelled to North Africa, many of the Jews resettled in Poland.  The way that one would prove one’s Christianity to the inquisitors was to eat ham; since pork is neither Kosher or Halal, Jews and Muslims would be religiously proscribed from consuming it. The eating of ham was considered a declaration of one’s Christianity.

Image: “Pagan Antiquities, New Grange, Co. Meath” copper engraved print published in Francis Grose’s Antiquities of England and Wales, 1786.

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According to Accounts

Pray To (insert deity here) For Delivery From The Coronavirus! (?)

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay

Person A:   “We must pray to (Jesus, Allah, THE LORD, Ancestors, etc.) to save us from Coronavirus!”

Person B: “He could have simply prevented the Coronavirus from afflicting us in the first place.”

Person A: “He wanted to test our faith.”

Person B: “What would we think of a father who set his child on fire to see if they would cry to him for help?”

Person A:

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
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According to Accounts Earthly Experience

Three (plus) Great Reads / Listens While You’re Contemplating The Pandemic (including a freebie)

Image by Marisa Sias from Pixabay

No doubt, we live in interesting times, and 2020 isn’t shaping up like anyone predicted. Around the world, we have been ordered, cajoled, or beseeched to isolate ourselves in our homes, or whatever spaces we might find ourselves occupying.

If you are like me, you don’t like being unproductive. For me, a good day is one where I feel I have made progress, accomplished something, helped someone…and learned something.

Here are three of my favorites, available in traditional, Kindle e-Book, or my favorite, Audiobook.

The End is Always Near—podcasting deity Dan Carlin released his first book late last year, almost prophetically. In the book, he talks us through so many case studies in history when civilizations have collapsed, completely in the case of Nineveh, for example, or partially such as during so many earlier pandemics: The Black Death, Bubonic Plague, Smallpox.

Though Dan is a great storyteller, he is also a good teacher, and a mental provocateur. As a bonus, audiobook listeners get to hear the book read by Dan in his inimitable voice.

21 Lessons For The 21st Century—Historian, philosopher and social critic Yuval Noah Hariri published this forward looking book several years ago, but it is still absolutely timely. As we are already well into the 21st Century, living in a world inconceivable only halfway through the last, how must we adapt as a species, a civilization; how do we build on lessons learned from the past rather than repeat the same bloody mistakes?

If you are not familiar with Yuval Noah Hariri, here is an article he wrote regarding how we might think about, and react to this Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. There is also an audio option to listen. If you like this, you’ll love his book. His other books are also worth your time.

Man’s Search For Meaning—It was Friedrich Nietzsche who said “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how,” but it took Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl to demonstrate it through his own life experience and then apply his observations to create his own discipline of psychotherapy called “Logotherapy.”

But this book is no dry psychobabble. The first half of the book is Frankl’s autobiographical recount of his time in concentration camps. Not in the way of “this happened to me, then that happened,” but rather his observations into human nature. What extreme conditions bring out in people, both good and bad. Then he attempts to understand “why? Why do we behave the way we do? What are the predictors and triggers?”

The book is not long. The audio version is less than 5 hours. In the latter part he then describes, for a non-specialist, what his “Logotherapy” is. Different from most psychological therapies, it is not necessarily for neurotic or mentally ill people. Unlike other forms of psychotherapy such as psychoanalysis, Frankl explains how it is useful for many people, perfectly mentally healthy, but who may be facing challenges coping or adjusting to life’s events…perhaps such as a viral pandemic and simultaneous economic recession.

 

Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges

If you want an escape into the world of fiction, try “The Lottery in Babylon” by Jorge Luis Borges. The short, provocative story, only a few minutes in length, will challenge your notions of fortune and luck. While right now, you may be worried whether your number will be called when it comes to a viral infection, maybe you have already been infected? This book is not about viruses or sickness, but it is very much about “your number being called,” literally. Read it. You will never forget it. The short story is now in the public domain and you can download it right here.

 

A bonus recommendation:

Do the current times have you down? Steven Pinker makes the case for optimism in his seminal work “The Better Angels of Our Nature.” One of today’s greatest living psychological researchers deviates from the subject matter of his previous works such as “How The Mind Works” and “The Stuff of Thought” to state the case that human civilization overall is getting better, that we are becoming less violent, less warlike, and more enlightened; even though news and social media seems like they are trying to convince us otherwise.

 

What are your recommendations? What did you think of these? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Headline image by Marisa Sias from Pixabay

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According to Accounts

Thomas Paine’s “The Age of Reason” Is A Timeless Must-Read


Thomas Paine, a deist and one of the American founding revolutionaries after Ben Franklin invited him to immigrate to the restive colonies, in this book pillories organized religion.

He does so by dissecting both old and new testaments of the bible and pointing out the hypocrisy of the established clergy. The book was very controversial in its time and landed the publishers in hot water.

Paine, like Thomas Jefferson, was no atheist but had no use for organized religion or its doctrine. The book makes a perfect gift, and I recommend it to everyone, especially teenagers and young adults in the process of figuring out what they believe.

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