Shamelessly plugging this article I wrote about 2019 review of books.:D
I also picked the 3-best ones I've read this year, which have changed my perceptions:
- Thus Spoke The Plant by Monica Gagliano (Plant-Consciousness, Shamanism, Panpsychism)
- One-Eye– In the land of the Blind by Reinout Guepin (Schauberger, Occult, Alchemy!)
- Blue Economy by Gunter Pauli (New business models: biomimicry, circularity, positive feedback loops & ethics in business for the Common Good)
Looking forward to more insights in the years to come!:) Namaste
Nice e-book resource. Thanks for sharing EP. Check out if they have 'Year of the Flood' by Margaret Atwood. You might enjoy it for some 'light reading'
Started reading the latest book release by Michael Salla (Book V of his SSP series) on the rise of the Chinese secret space program, spearheaded by the renowned chinese scientist Dr. Tsien Hsue-shen who was considered a genius by many of elite scientists of that time, including Theodore von Karman and Vannevar Bush.
Quite intriguing to say the least!
Enjoy! 😉
Flic [Cops], by Valentin Gendrot (2020)
Just finished reading this chilling book written by a French investigative journalist Valentin Gendrot after he infiltrated the police by working as a cop for two years.
It's a journal with plenty of anecdotes, but what it exposes is a pattern of miserable working conditions (highest rate of suicide among all other sectors); blatant racism and discrimination; police violence with impunity and lack of accountability.
Among some of the chilling facts described by Gendrot is for example, the "low-cost" formation, where any cadet is able to walk the streets armed after a mere 3-months training. In those 3-months, only 3-hours dedicated to deontology (ethics and codes of conduct), and even less training to deal with domestic abuse.
Of course, the real chill is when he describes the dehumanisation and violence against minorities, especially against migrants. In one case, he describes an event where his colleagues beat down a teenager in the police car, and then having to lie about the facts during a subsequent internal investigation.
I'll skip the details, but what it shows is several things:
1) French cops have miserable working conditions (many even sleep in their cars, according to him)
2) Lack of accountability creates an environment where to be violent or not is up to the cop
3) Dehumanisation, stress, and PTSD feeds a negative feedback loop that only worsens police brutality and "code of silence"
4) Arrests are based on "quotas" coming from hierarchy, and thus having to hustle for petty things, instead of actually helping community. Especially now, they are literally fining people for not wearing masks (good for quotas!)
5) While only a minority are violent, those are clearly psychopaths as highlighted by the author. These officers would brag about beating people, sometimes even filming and having laughs (you get the picture)o_O
What's sad is that while the majority of cops are "good", but they are silent, or turn a blind-eye to the abuses committed by a small minority of extremists.
I won't lie to you, that reading this in the context of the social upheaval France is/has been in, you wonder whether we're headed back to Pre-WWII conditions. Banality of Evil all over again.
In anycase, huge respect to Valentin Gendrot for putting his life at risk, and spending 2-years to write this book. It's a unique and fascinating insight into the underground.
Here's an article reviewing the book by The Guardian UK:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/03/french-reporter-who-joined-police-exposes-racism-and-violence-valentin-gendrot
PS: I'm dying to watch this just-released documentary on this subject. Directed by David Dufresne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChkRiQeQK8k
Recently finished reading a great book written by a French philosopher by the name of Gaspard Koenig called "La fin de l'individu" (End of the individual: Voyage of a philosopher in the land of AI).
The book is basically the author's journey of investigating the influence of artificial intelligence on our behaviours as individuals, and collectively.
The silver lining that the author proposes is that Tech companies could let AI behave according to its user's goals and aspirations, instead of the current top-down, utilitarian-maximizing model (which always puts the machine before the screws in pure commie fashion), as well as legislations that will put data sovereignty back to the people.
Remember, if the product is free, you are the product.
On that note, I highly recommend the netflix documentary The Social Dilemma featuring Tristan Harris. A bit gloomy, but really nails the issue down.
I'd love to see Gaspard Koenig on the THC one day. It makes me feel better that behind all the glitter and muscles of AI, it's quite rudimentary and nowhere near as ready to replace us. That being said, Koenig doesn't address quantum computers and how they may affect us, nor Michael Salla's contention that AI may be a bellicose entity that has been conquering planets throughout the Universe in order to keep its self alive (The Matrix's story basically).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTKaHKCAFg
Tristan Harris on the dangers of tech companies, on the JRE last week
Started reading Immortality Key: The Secret History of The Religion With No Name, by Brian Muraresku (2020)
It's written incredibly well and about such a fascinating topic: the use of psychedelic concoctions in ancient Greece, shedding light on the mystery of Eleusis.
In fact, one of Brian's central thesis is how the mystical experiences at Eleusis were the catalyst for the things Greek are known for, like democracy, and even the seed for Christianity (the latter which according to the author, later hijacked/twisted the Eleusian practices to obfuscate the divine experience, which resulted in the Christian rites we know today).
It's a really in-depth research, and what I love is that he had access to incredible resources, including the Vatican Librairies, as well direct contact with prominent archivists and such.
Would be a cool guest on the THC I bet!
PS: you can listen to the JRE episode with Brian and Graham Hancock to have a summary of the book with images/videos. Fascinating (It's free, I think you may need a free spotifiy account, but free!)
Just read a wonderful short book called: “Wind sucks. It doesn’t blow. And other insights by Buckminster Fuller” by Pete Chasar.
It’s a fantastic collection/distillation of Bucky’s numerous insights and explorations of the Universe, dumbed down to a page length for each topic. I’d recommend this to any curious minds, it’s full of “aha” moments and many paradigm breaking wisdom.
Probably takes 1 hour to read cover-2-cover, which is great since Bucky’s books are usually quite daunting to approach.
A quick highlight at some of latest readings worth sharing:
1. The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot (long overdue read)
Great compendium on the origins of the OSS/CIA, focused on the Dulles Brothers (Allen & Foster) as well as other CIA-sponsored fuckery. It's great and well written. Funny enough, all my Kindle bookmarks/highlights disappeared overnight, almost as if Amazon had deliberately erased them out of convenience.. or I must be paranoid 😉
2. The Wisdom of the Shamans by Don Jose Ruiz
Another great read by the Shamanic Ruiz family, sharing some of the Toltec wisdoms passed on from the ancients meso-americans. It's not only a deeply thoughtful reflection on the nature of suffering, or the addiction to it as he points out (hint: it's the mitote, or mind parasite similar to wetiko), but also various practical exercises to nurture discipline, focus through mindfulness, list writing all in order to be more elevated. Highly recommended read for seekers of truths out there.
3. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers
This is a transcript of an interview of Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers that took place at famous Lucas Ranch the 1988. They get into fascinating conversation about mythology, hero's journey and such. It's more like a companion to the video material (if you can find it that is). Always powerful stuff with Campbell
One of the most prophetic and powerful themes evoked in this discussion is the birth of a new myth that's been brewing for some time. This myth would be planetary in scale, and curious seems like just the struggle we're living experiencing.
You can find some clips on Youtube from the Campbell Foundation
I really enjoyed this book, and it's perspective on vaccines (I believe I heard about it on one of the episodes). Talks about the history of vaccines, dating back to impact of the industrial revolution pushing populations into cities, the lack of sanitation and the ultimate cause of outbreaks of disease throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This book highlights a lot of the myths propagated by MSM about all the big vaccines, including Smallpox, Measles, Whooping Cough etc. A fascinating insight containing over 800 links to various articles, newspapers and scientific papers, back by a tonne of statistics to validate its position. It then talks about the strategies employed by Governments and Big Pharma, including lock-downs, fines, arrests, masks...sound familiar???, and all this published years before COVID-19. This is well worth a read for those with an interest in the subject.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
Personality: The Art of Being and Becoming
by Hazrat Khan (1882 - 1927)
[IMG width=418px] 
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Recommended!
This is a really well-written book on the art of developing personality, character and evolving in our spiritual journey. Written by Sufi master Hazrat Khan, I'm enjoying these pieces of wisdom. May this be an inspiration to others 🙂
Enjoy!
enjoypolo wrote:
Personality: The Art of Being and Becoming
by Hazrat Khan (1882 - 1927)
[IMG width=418px]
Recommended!This is a really well-written book on the art of developing personality, character and evolving in our spiritual journey. Written by Sufi master Hazrat Khan, I'm enjoying these pieces of wisdom. May this be an inspiration to others 🙂
Enjoy!
I have to say I had to stop reading at early on in this book. I read the first two which I had no issue with and felt quite enlightened I guess, then he stopped making sense. I noticed in the question and answer section of his lectures he gets a bit rude with his students. And this is the bit that made me put the books down altogether:
At one point he justifies the spread of Christianity through violence. To me that's just insanity. And it makes me put a pause on everything I've learnt from his books so far. I think at one point he received the inspiration to reveal some truths...but then his ego took over. Also justifies the death penalty with the most simplistic of knowledge
I also noticed that he quotes from only one or two places in the bible and the same for the Qur'an.... I just find that curious, that he gleaned so little from these books. He makes much more of hindu (I think) writings... nothing wrong with that but just interesting
enjoypolo wrote:
Hey Folks,Gunter Pauli often mentions the 7 laws of Physics that scientists seem to ignore. Being a self-proclaimed Knight of Malta, I assume he is referring to the 7 hermetic principles?
Having never yet read a book about Hermes Trismegistus, is there a particular book/edition you would recommend for newbies (I know, late to the game..)? I will start by checking the Kybalion (by The Three Initiates). If you have others, please let me know. Thanks 🙂
I recently read the Kybalion by the three initiates. Very short introduction to the principles with good explanations.
And I and came across that having read some books by Ahmed Osman (I made a thread about them).
I should say Ahmed includes a picture of who he believes hermes was on ancient Egypt... 
The other book is 'The hebrew pharoahs of Egypt: The secret lineage of the patriach joseph"
All very easy to read. In both the suggestion is that Isaac was the son of a pharoah instead of being Abrahams son. The author suggests that when Abraham and his wife went to Egypt and pretended to be brother and sister...the wife ended up married to the pharoah and pregnant for him although biblical timelines don't allow for that. The author presents some compelling evidence for his theories.
This then lead me to want to understand some of the hieroglyohics for myself so I bought this book which is very very useful, easy to understand and comprehensive
And in here I noticed that the symbol for 'above' is a little face with square ears(front on so maybe round sideways) and a line for a mouth. This is also included in the symbol for 'keeper'. That really struck me because it looks like how people describe certain 'aliens'
This rabbit whole began when I randomly picked up a copy of the fortean times (interesting magazine on all things supernaturally I guess). I'd never bought the magazine... after buying it I felt like maybe I'd heard it mentioned on THC by someone but it would have been months and months before. I read this article in there on the film Dune which is not a film or book I had ever heard of. But then the article was about the biblical origins/links of the story...so I googled something, found this ancientorigins website then came across ahmed osman....
These are the hieroglyph symbols I mentioned above
Soooo..anyone ordering Robert Kennedys book ? Orrrrr no?
Early Christmas present for this guy .
Forgive the grow light hue haha but it's me after all
