OYENTE

Mothy

  • 23
  • opiniones
  • 1
  • voto útil
  • 24
  • calificaciones

Not the best of its era

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-21-25

I’m glad I listened to this. Knowing the context that it was a reaction to other philosophies of its time makes it seem much more crass and defensive. When you hear some of the literature it is responding to, this seems much too simple. I could hear other influences strongly, especially the greatest buddhist works and terms that might be foreign to someone who hasn’t studied eastern and Indian religion and philosophy.

Beautiful idea overall and great explanation. Highly recommended if you want to understand what Bhagavad Gita is because this first has each chapter explained in context, or you can listen to the 18 chapters without any added explanation.

The verses poetically explaining Krishna’s supreme power was strikingly similar to Abrahamic religion praises of God. I just happened to read the Gospel of John before this, and it was also extremely striking to see the same message of becoming one with God and all other beings. This similarity is extremely under-appreciated. The positive influence of this book is if people realized how much their religions can compare to eachother, they might feel closer as a human race. This might sound cheesy, but genuinely I am seeing why some people feel less ego about their own religion after appreciating scriptures of other faiths. In my perspective, this story was partially an apologism defending the existence of God against the logical rejections prevalent at the time. I didn’t find it effective however, it was more beautiful in a dogmatic way.

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Top-tier Parable

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-19-25

At some points the reader was breathing into the mic in disconcerting ways, but overall it was fine. The actual story is one worth revisiting. Some other versions might be better translations but this was great too

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Not for me

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-11-25

I find a lot of valuable insights in various books from various branches of Buddhism but to me this felt more pretentious and denigrating than logical. This is too extreme down a specific viewpoint for me to value. Everyone learns differently. For another, they may love this, but to me it is seemingly heartless and declarative rather than self-evident and applicable. To each their own! If this is Zen, then Zen is not skillful means for me!

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Amazing insights for anyone

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-11-25

This is very specific to certain practitioners of Buddhism but can be applied to anyone if you listen thoughtfully. The chapter on patience (6 but called chapter 8 here) was my favorite most thought-provoking.

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glimpse the peak of spiritual logic

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-01-25

I listened to this in various places while running in the mountains, in a remote cabin, aquajogging—where I could tone everything else out and focus on the meaning. I found it calming and insightful. It can be repetitive with so many rhetorical questions but somehow that didn’t bother me. I guarantee this could be distilled into a much smaller and incredibly powerful book if done carefully.

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Disorganized, repetitive, defensive

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-30-25

Half the book felt self-referential like an argumentative essay rather than spiritual text; it spent so much time talking about itself that it felt like the author was a very reactive person. More than 200 verses refer to its own text instead of providing positive or spiritual guidance.

The ethics felt below average and less intelligent compared to other texts written before this time period such as The Upanishads, Madhyamaka Philosophy, Stoic Philosophy, Plotinus-The Enneads, Tao Te Ching, Talmudic and Midrashic thought, and Philo of Alexandria. These earlier texts have greater intellectual openness, systematic reasoning rather than declarative authority, and ethics rooted in wisdom, reason, or inner transformation rather than unsupported commands.

I’d also recommend modern books like The Alchemist, Siddhartha, The Power of Now, The Untethered Soul, or The Dhammapada if you were looking for inspiring books rather than this dogmatic, unorganized, mixed type of genre. The original Arabic is nice to listen to, but now that I’ve read the entire quran, it seems to have sacrificed intelligence and meaning in order to rhyme.

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Outdated, could be shorter

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-25-25

Very interesting concept but in the process of reading this book I realized that my time would be better spent asking AI to summarize this book’s most profound and actionable items in each chapter or section. I’m not convinced I got more out of listening to the whole book. In practice, most of the book is made up of short examples and stories to try to convince you of the concept of deep work itself.

Very little of the book is the actual actionable applications in real life, but the suggestions he made were good… mostly. I gave 4 stars because the concept was good but a large portion of the book does not translate well due to the massive societal changes in the post-covid world. Unfortunately authors rarely take time to update their books. I enjoyed the book overall—for enjoyment of reading, he did tell a compelling story and endless interesting anecdotes.

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Valuable but more poetic than instructive

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-22-25

This book was structured well enough to be instructive for some but beautiful for those already well-read on buddhism. Many parts were excerpts and passages I hadn’t previously heard but explained in parables, poetic imagery, and relayed experiences. It was the kind of passages I wanted to share with others so they could see the profound beauty within buddhism that is as good or greater than any other spiritual work or scripture.

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Impressive overview

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-10-25

This is the kind of teaching that needs multiple listens. This is the closest to a “how-to” guide on practice like the dalai lama that I have seen

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Dogmatic, generic, devoid of original thoughts

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
1 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-06-25

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere presents itself as a profound exploration of Buddhist thought, but instead, it reads like a series of platitudes wrapped in an excessively gentle, almost patronizing tone. Rather than offering fresh insights or practical applications, the book relies on broad, feel-good generalizations that lull the reader into passive agreement rather than active reflection. The writing is so intent on being comforting that it avoids engaging with real intellectual or existential challenges.

Reading this book made me feel like I was becoming nobody going nowhere due to the book wasting my time. This book’s dogmatic approach and lack of logical rigor feels antithetical to Buddhism’s aim to cease attachment to views:

The argument often boils down to: “If you feel dissatisfied, it’s because you’re clinging. If you stop clinging, you won’t feel dissatisfied.” But it never provides a coherent framework for how to navigate the real-world complexities of detachment, suffering, and action.

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere presents itself as a guide to inner peace, but it offers a version of Buddhism that is uncritical, dogmatic, and ultimately self-defeating. Rather than engaging with the complexities of suffering, agency, and detachment, it reduces them to simplistic slogans that dismiss ambition and individuality without acknowledging the nuanced role they can play in a meaningful life. The book often leans on circular reasoning, equating dissatisfaction with misunderstanding while failing to provide a coherent method for integrating its philosophy into the challenges of real life.

At times, it reads less like an insightful exploration of Buddhist thought and more like a passive, quietist doctrine that discourages engagement with the world. Those looking for depth, logical coherence, or critical engagement with Buddhist principles may find it lacking.

I will not being reading from this author again. Ultimately, it feels more like a well-meaning sermon designed to placate rather than provoke true self-examination.

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