20210104 - "The Yogavacara's Manual"

HaikuPrajna

Reining in rightness/ for mystic liberation./ A fruit of the goal.

("The Yogavacara's Manual")

Hello goodreaders,

Today's #Goodreads' #MyYearInBooks is "Manual of a Mystic - The Yogavacara's Manual". Look for F.L. Woodward's 1900s translation, not the original 1800s copy. I had read this with "Vimuttimagga" and "Visuddhimagga", two primary Buddhism treatises; I am thus having a hard time remembering why I had shelved this Manual, when I know the Visuddhimagga was a more considerable source. Maybe reading one had led to reading the other. No matter; I suppose the point to take away from my vexation is one should read as much as one can about these practices in order to develop one's own practice.

This book in specific shows meditation practices that were designed to make a budding yogavacara mindful of the basic elements of reality, so that the yogavacara can rein themselves into the rightness necessary for the mysticism of the era. The vimuttimagga details these meditation practices as well, and uses them (and more) to focus on the core teachings of the Buddha, which was centered on righting oneself for liberation's sake rather than for mysticism's.

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Poetry on, and the first draft of "Spear-thrower" can be read here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20210103 - "L'Etranger"

HaikuPrajna

Absurd man, doing/ absurd things, without motive./ A man without cause.

("L'Etranger")

Hello goodreaders,

Currently focusing on getting the Next Big Novel Idea to a point where I can share some stuff. Also been editing "Spear-thrower", which is where these HaikuPrajna poems are going to end up. 

Today's Goodreads #MyYearInBooks review is on Albert Camus's "The Stranger". The plot follows Meursault, a man whose mother has just passed, and who lives his life without meaning or cause due to his emotional disconnection with the outside world. The other characters take his demeanor of indifference as a sign of malintent, which ultimately leads to his execution, but Meursault comes to accept the absurd universe in a final fit of rage that causes him to realize the meaninglessness of human freedom and responsibility.

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Poetry on, and the first draft of "Spear-thrower" can be read here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!