The author, Gregory David Roberts, tells his own epic tale of life on the run after breaking out of prison in Australia where he was convicted of armed robbery while under the influence of drugs.  The story begins with his successful escape from his homeland and his arrival, with the help of a fake passport, in Bombay India. He becomes involved with the Indian mafia, lives and works in a slum, falls in love, gains more money than he can spend, goes to war, and gains (and loses) many dynamic relationships along the way; All the while concealing his true identity and history to even his closest friends.

This book is long, yet I mourned when it ended. Roberts has, for me, the best writing style I’ve yet come across. He balances the razor’s edge between deliciously detailed scenes and exciting, well-paced action. The story never grows stale. It moves at a satisfying pace, driving the action forward, injected with beautiful reflection throughout.

I truly mourned when the story ended. I thought of the characters for days afterward, not yet ready for our goodbyes. To my delight, I discovered Shantaram is expecting siblings! A trilogy is planned, with Shantaram to be the middle book!

Roberts is writing the sequel now, and will write the prequel afterwards! To add to my delight, Roberts stated on his blog, “The movie version of Shantaram, purchased by Johnny Depp, Graham King and Warner Brothers, is still very much on track.”  YES!

I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from the book.

“I was a fugitive. I was a wanted man, a hunted man, with a price on my head. And I was still one step ahead of them. I was free. Every day, when you’re on the run, is the whole of your life. Every free minute is a short story with a happy ending.”

“My heart moved through deep and silent water. No-one, and nothing, could really hurt me. No-one, and nothing, could make me very happy. I was tough, which is probably the saddest thing you can say about a man.”

“The cloak of the past is cut from patches of feeling, and sewn with rubus threads. Most of the time, the best we can do is wrap it around ourselves for comfort or drag it behind us as we struggle to go on. But everything has its cause and its meaning. Every life, every love, every action and feeling and thought has its reason and significance: it’s beginning, and the part it plays in the end. Sometimes, we do see. Sometimes, we see the past so clearly, and read the legend of its parts with such acuity, that every stitch of time reveals its purpose, and a kind of message is enfolded in it. Nothing in any life, no matter how well of poorly lived, is wiser than failure or clearer than sorrow. And in the tiny, precious wisdom that they give to us, even those dread and hated enemies, suffering and failure, have their reason and their right to be.”

“We walked slowly. I looked up often at the sky, so heavy with stars that the black new of night was bulging, overflowing with its glittering haul.”

“After a time, I begun to see how deep the well of her loving was, and how much of her happiness and confidence depended on drawing that love into the light, and sharing it. And love was beautiful in her. It was a clear sky she gave us with those eyes, and a summer morning with her smile.”

“She would have done anything for him. Some women are like that. Some loves are like that. Most loves are like that, from what I can see. Your heart starts to feel like an overcrowded lifeboat. You through your pride out to keep it afloat, and your self-respect and your independence. After a while you start throwing people out – your friends, everyone you used to know. And it’s still not enough. The lifeboat is still sinking, and you know it’s going to take you down with it. I’ve seen it happen to a lot of girls here. I think that’s why I’m sick of love.”

“You can’t kill love. You can’t even kill it with hate. You can kill in-love, and loving, and loveliness. You can kill them all, or numb them into dense, leaden regret, but you can’t kill love itself. Love is the passionate search for truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly, and completely, love is forever.”

That line, “Love is the passionate search for truth other than your own”, is the most beautiful description of love I think I’ve ever heard.

Read this book.

I first heard this song in the opening of a climbing video, and used Shazam to identify it.

Once I realized it was K’naan I found I also knew a couple other songs of his – “Take a Minute” and also the official song of the 2010 World Cup (“When I get older, I will be stronger, etc”).

My favorite line of In the Beginning is “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the dark.”

Comment or “like” if you enjoy. Thanks.

It would work like this:

1. Something makes you mad. You feel like raging.
2. You text in a description of what made you mad to a certain phone number (54578, or whatever).
3. Your text appears anonymously on the website, RageOrChill.com (or whatever the UR is).
4. People can read your text and vote – suggesting you to either “rage” or “chill”. They can also post comments.
5. The result of the voting is texted back to you, instructing you to either proceed with raging or to chill out.

Why I think it would be cool:

• Usually when something makes us mad we want to rant about it – especially if it’s ironic or something others can relate to.
• It allows you pause and compose yourself when you’re mad – like counting to 10 or taking a deep breath.
• It might be funny or make a good story later.
• You can see others comments, share it on Facebook, etc.
• There could be a daily list of most rage-tastic moments, according to comments and votes.

Thoughts?

John Smart is a futurist who believe that in the near future computers will actually equal and surpass the human ability to think.

And if you really want to have your mind blown, this article will do the trick.

The article opens:

An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate).

What do you think? Is it possible for computers to outsmart us? Is it even possible for a computer to build a smarter computer? Will society allow technology to get that “out of control”?

I believe that love has a lot to do with timing. This book came into my life, through a recommendation from my housemate, with perfect timing, and I loved it. Finishing in one sitting also added to the power of the emotion.

This book is about one man’s experience with an unlikely mentor. It is about finding an unreasonable happiness through letting go of the “debris of the mind” – conquering the mind’s power over you to draw your attention out of the present into fear, expectation, worry, regret, guilt. It’s about cultivating a simple lifestyle of few desires. It’s about full attention in the present moment.

If you enjoy a poetic view of the world, as I do, this book is a playground for your life perspective.

Here’s one piece I enjoy about emotions. The main character, Dan, is speaking with his teacher about what he refers to as “the way of the peaceful warrior.”

“When your mind creates a problem, when it resists life as it unfolds in the moment, your body tenses and feels this tension as an ‘emotion’, variously interpreted by words like ‘fear,’ ‘sorrow,’ or ‘anger.’ True emotion, Dan, is pure energy, flowing freely in the body.”

“Then the warrior never feels the normal upsetting emotions?”

“In a sense, this is true. Yet emotions are a natural human capacity, a form of expression. Sometimes it’s appropriate to express fear, sorrow, or anger – but the energy should be directed completely outwards, not held in. The expression of emotions should be complete and powerful, then should vanish without a trace. The way to control your emotions, then, is to let them flow and let them go.”

Another favorite passage:

“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold onto it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is the law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

“You can be really depressing, you know that? I don’t even think I’m hungry anymore. If life is nothing but suffering, then why bother at all?”

“Life is not suffering; it’s just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind’s attachments and just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens.”

I finished this book on Monday and I’m already thinking of rereading it.

I first heard ”New Slang” on the Garden State soundtrack (good movie) and “A Real Hero” on the Drive soundtrack (great movie).

It was hot and dry today. I hiked a big loop just west of Chautauqua Park, taking the trail that exits the right side of the frame. Along the way I found a good climbing tree and was momentarily mistaken by some fellow hikers as a bear rustling in the branches.