Why do we read after all? What utility is there in reading books? Can not we do without reading in life? Are we better off in terms of our level of thinking, in terms of culturing our mind, in terms of intensifyng our sensitivity to the world and its people? Have we been successful in finding the meaing of life and the purpose of living and in establishing mutuality and understanding with the rest of the world. Do we read to entertain ourselves?
I beleive both ends are not met with by reading books, ordinarily speaking. Yet we cannot do away with the habit of reading in this millenium. It has been in point of fact a very intergral part of life, and it has pervaded our life deeply and profoundly.
The problem again does not cease. The problem is choosing good books from thosuands we come upon on boos shelves in publlic libraries or in book stores.
Some books simply confuse you and mist your vision and gets you astray and such misleading books need to be avoided.
There is no such idea as to which book to be preferred to which from thosuands there. It is your personal and private choice. Parents or teachers can be of help in choosing good ones from bad ones but the ultimate decision is yours and exclusively yours.
What I worte here afore sounds I am advising as if I am more knowledgeable in deciding. No. This is my view and you have yours and you can discard this idea.
Yes we must discard ideas, for there are millions of ideas and they siimply confuse and coomote us and at times they disillusion us.
No books have disillusioned me more than books of religions and spirituality. They have rather than wideniing my vision or horizon of thinking and undersnading human beings, narrowded down my scope of vision and delimited my range of thinking and constricted my perspective and mindsets. Yet I read them now more and more. They are really awakening. I may sound paradoxical . The fact is now I know the books I choose are really illuminating and they are bradening the path to undestanding the meaning of life. These books unlke those previous ones do not layer my mind, rather they distangle me from vague ideas.
Books should be chosen in a way that keeps us clear of nets of things or out of boxes of prejudices and biases. We are normally programmed and are wired to certain patterns of thinking and we must de-pattern our thinking proccesses.
As far as the domain of truth or understanding the meaning of life I do not subscribe to the fact that I am better off in undersnading it than any illitrate farmers of Asia and Africa. I equally wonder at the creation of the universe. Despite my level of knowledge, asademic degrees or erudition I have greater heights comared with those illitrate ones, yet as far as understanding our destiny and the world we live in is concered I am as ignorant as them, may be not better off than even animal beings about the the nature of things and the mystery of the universe.
These ideas are in fact not mine despite that there has been assimilation or fusion or profusion within me. These are programmed and processed the way computer programmings are done.
Sources: Zen Buddism, J. Kroshnamurti, Sufi Poems, Khalil Gibran, yet most of all the Awakwened OSHO.
The prgrammed or shaped the course of my thinking.
I am in debt to them.
If your are interested in exploring beyond please give your comments