By The Ridge

By the Ridge

Looking through some green tree boughs, I see the beautiful Grand Canyon snaking itself along. The Earth formations are incredible. I like the contrast between the red rock and the greenery.

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Nature, Scenic, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, photography, photography, Green, tree, boughs, beautiful, imagery, Earth, formations, incredible contrast, red rock, greenery, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz

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Mindfulness

 

Book: “What’s Beyond Mindfulness: Waking Up to This Precious Life?” by Stephen Fulder, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available January 15, 2019

It has taken me quite some time to read this book as I had to keep getting re-acquainted to the book as I needed to keep putting it down for consideration and reflection The book is about mindfulness. It is about Buddhism being part of our way of life that can be inclusive of already understood religions like the Judeo-Christian ones. Buddhism, as a way of life, adds to these existing religions in a way that is not adverse to them and so it is a good adjunct.

Stephen Fulder has done a lot of things including having Israeli-Palestinian workshops trying to give peace a chance in the Middle East. People leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the “enemy” and come to see that there is a humanity and spirituality in all people.

I appreciated the appendix as it offered a question/answer format. I would have, in many ways, preferred if the entire book had been written this way. Buddhism some may say is easy to learn, however, I find it much more difficult to understand and therefore difficult to write and read about.

I appreciated quotes from spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and the many Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders. The books goes into the stories of the bible like Jonah and Job, as well as into a number of psalms. Stephen also has written a number of poems throughout the book.

One quote early on I like is “We can live a wise inner life of reflection, creativity and inspiration, a life with wide horizons.” Another quote towards the middle that I like is “Consciousness is pure, it is our Buddha-nature, our pure being.” Finally, a quote near the end is that “The Sanskrit wordsamadhiis used for deep quiet, serenity and concentration, and it actually means to gather ourselves together. To bring ourselves back home.” The eight tenets of Buddhism were mentioned as well.

There is a lot of information provided but I am coming from a spiritual/New Age perspective so I found myself at odds with a number of the concepts. One example is karma. I disagree with what the books says. I do think it is about cause and effect. I do think that what you have done in a previous lifetimes affects you in your current life. Many situations that you are dealing with in life are as a result of either good intention or bad intention actions in past lives.

I appreciated the vocabulary of terms in the appendix in the back. I commend Stephen Fulder for the positive work he has done in society overall.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars out of 5 because it is informative but not in a structured way. Like I mentioned above, I think the book would have been more logical to understand and also more focussed if it were a question-answer process as the concepts are difficult to grasp due to our dualistic way of thinking.

Tags:Buddhism Buddha, Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi. Judeo-Christian, Jonah, Job, Psalm, karma, situations, dualism, cause and effect, spirit, spirituality, New Age, lifetime, consciousness, reflection, creativity, Sanskrit, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review.

Ridge Lines

Ridge Lines

This is an incredible view of the ridge lines found in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. I love the flow of the rock. I like the difference in the red and green hues. There is a path down below.

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Red Hill Up Close

Red Hill Up Close

This is the wonderful Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. I love the angle and closeness of this right-hand hill. There is so much texture and structure to the hill. As well, there are great crevices in the background. It is really quite scenic.

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Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance

This is an abstract acrylic painting of four eyes. The idea is that you can see more with four eyes than two eyes and so speaks to clairvoyance.

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Circle Gorge

 

This is from a helicopter view of the Grand Canyon, Arizona. I like the circle gorge as I think it is amazing the winds have created such an incredible structure.

We were so high, that we were almost at the cloud level.

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Gorge

Gorge

Here is a photograph from a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, Arizona. It was spectacular. It was my first helicopter ride and what better way than across the gorge in all its glory. It has layers of red rock from many geological time periods.

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Lion’s Feet

Lion’s Feet

I love close-ups of wildlife. These are lion’s feet. They are so incredible with the foot padding and the beautiful fur around it. “The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the family Felidae; it is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail.”

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Piercing Eyes

This full-bodied eagle was a photograph taken north of Winnipeg in Little Deer, Manitoba, Canada. It is beautiful and stunning. I did an abstract head drawing in coloured inks. It is combined in the computer as a new image.

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Close-Up

Close-Up

This is a photo I took of a close-up of a leopard’s head. He is magnificent – isn’t he? The leopard is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera, a member of the Felidae. The leopard occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

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