Roberto H. Castro

Almost a cliff notes to Senecas Letters to Lucelius

Revisado: 08-04-24

This is an engaging book that is close to a cliff notes version of Seneca’s letters to Lucelius; The latter is equally relevant today. Fideler expands on this to tie it to Socrates, Aristotle and Roman history. The chapters on death, gratitude and how to comfort those who have lost a friend or family member are excellent. Each has some takeaways and a Stoic perspective that can help us grow and transition.

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The Beauty, Charm and Horror Experienced in PA During the 1930s Comes to Life

Revisado: 04-14-24

Here, love prevails. The hypocrisy and duality of church and town leaders is exposed. The characters are well developed and one gets to care about them. While none of the characters are people renowned, the protagonists are heroes in their own right and their story shows how each of us can have an impact on others. While the author has a bias and it comes through. there is humor, dark humor and a message that those that are petty tyrants amount to little or nothing. We are urged to be brave, help others and take the long view. This is well written and thought,

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A Quiet and Reluctant Leader That We Can Reflect On in Our Choices

Revisado: 03-16-24

This is a compelling story and ends with a challenge to its readers to reflect on our own choices and what makes for good leadership. The history shared about US history, Civil War and post Civil War is a course in itself. It is brilliant. Joshua, despite faults, is humanized, but also serves to challenge us to embrace virtuosity above comfort and the safe or expected choices. Our country was lucky to have this man who was ahead of his time. Our country needs Joshua Lawrence’s in industry and politics.

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Greenberg Ties Musical Genius to History

Revisado: 12-21-23

Greenberg is bright and engaging speaker that has proven credentials in music. Given the above, he is also a bit unorthodox and shares his views on history, which may annoy listeners that either do not share his views and or take a disliking to him given his loquacious storytelling. I thought this would have more musical theory and exposition of pieces. The amount of history shared exceeded what I bargained for. That said, I learned a lot and found myself agreeing with his views on, for example, Putin, Russia, Vietnam, WW I and II. Hence, Greenberg gets a 4/5. I did buy years ago his comprehensive music course, which goes into more depth on the music side. I remain a fan of Greenberg despite his occasional proselytizing.

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Relevant and Insightful

Revisado: 10-05-23

While the book is almost 10 years old, the authors do a good job showing the play book used at Church level to recruit, retain and proselytize the members. It is a binary world. The last Chapter, Chapter 10, offers a light overview of actionable things one can do to counter this. I was hoping for more (one less star). The book also misses out on how the right wing faction is defanging the US Supreme Court and state courts. That should be covered if an update is done. In addition, it is hard for a large segment of the population to understand the role of the Book of Revelations and how this influences how they view society and the future. That needs to be covered. There are some excellent books that cover the above topics and their implications to democracy and decency.

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There is good advice and thought here but lots of repetition and essays need development

Revisado: 09-01-23

There is good advice in this book, but it is also repetitive and often it feels like a laundry list rather than an essay. I think the author could re write this book and add more depth and also identify the number of areas she repeats and cut those out or develop the thoughts.

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Valuable insight for the young and old

Revisado: 03-10-23

I bought this thinking it was interés and perhaps something some young Fri and acquaintances could benefit from. I will buy the book and audio for them. I was also curious to hear what he had to share with those in their twilight years and felt the insight was valuable to me. I have read reviews from others and feel the general feeling shared is something I share with them.

Nice investment in time and chance to reflect.

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Thought Provoking

Revisado: 10-29-22

This book presents an age-old question and provides us thoughts from wise people on what it takes to develop and maintain a good character. The list provided at the end is superb. The sources cited are ones I will investigate in my journey.

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An Engaging and thought-provoking course

Revisado: 03-29-22

This is a thought provoking course for agnostics and believers regarding what is religion and the views espoused in the western world. I will review the course PDF and review the course in the next 4-6 months, the content and delivery are solid. Believers may be challenged, skeptics too a lesser extent may find solace with more recent views that see revelation and presence of God in ancient texts and without choosing one faith over another. Buddhists will better understand the pain, agony and joy if the different proponents of faith and skepticism.

In short, in my opinion, this is one of the better courses, but be prepared to listen to all lectures!

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A Non-Western Buddhist Roadmap to Forgive Yourself and Realize Your Best Self

Revisado: 10-02-21

Mel comes close to embracing Western Buddhism and the concept of self-love and realization, but stops short. Yet, she delivers actionable suggestions that can help us and others recognize how we can be our own worst enemy and what we can do about that. She offers excellent insight and provides the listener with personal stories and questions campales to enable the listener to see oneself in the situations described. She also recognizes how self doubt will resurface and what to do about it. It is a book I recommend to people that are doubting themselves and are seeking to break through.

Good job Mel, your getting close to embracing some important principles of Buddhist philosophy.

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