Reading as a tool of Seasoning the Mind

Hi Friend,

A few days ago I read this interesting story about books and reading.

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What you were reading was the lees and scum of by­gone men:

• Duke Huan of Ch’i was reading a book at the upper end of the hall; the wheelwright (a person who makes or repairs wooden wheels) was making a wheel at the lower end.
• Put­ting aside his mallet and chisel, he called to the Duke and asked him what book he was reading. “One that records the words of the Sages,” answered the Duke. 
• “Are those Sages alive?” asked the wheelwright. “Oh, no,” said the Duke, “they are dead.” 
• “In that case,” said the wheelwright, “what you are reading can be noth­ing but the lees and scum of bygone men.” 
• “How dare you, a wheelwright, find fault with the book I am reading. If you can explain your statement, I will let it pass. If not, you shall die.”
• “Speaking as a wheelwright,” he replied, “I look at the matter in this way; when I am making a wheel, if my stroke is too slow, then it bites deep but is not steady; if my stroke is too fast, then it is steady, but it does not go deep. 
• The right pace, neither slow nor fast, cannot get into the hand unless it comes from the heart. It is a thing that cannot be put into words [rules]; there is an art in it that I cannot explain to my son. 
• That is why it is impossible for me to let him take over my work, and here I am at the age of seventy, still making wheels. 
• In my opinion it must have been the same with the men of old. 
• All that was worth handing on, died with them; the rest, they put into their books. That is why I said that what you were reading was the lees and scum of by­gone men.”

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Natural tendency of the mind ‘to avoid the hard work of reading and thinking’ , makes it ask the question ‘ if all that is important can’t be conveyed through books, what’s the point in reading books’ ?

The counsel of Wise men on reading,

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“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read”-- Mr. Mark Twain

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time –none, zero” -- Mr. Charlie Munger

“I don’t think you can get to be a really good investor over a broad range without doing a massive amount of reading. I don’t think any one book will do it for you” --Mr. Charlie Munger

“If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads” -- Mr. Francois Mauriac

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one” -- Mr.George R. R. Martin

“No one ever reads a book. He reads himself through books, either to discover or to control himself ” -- Mr. Romain Rolland

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Overwhelmingly the wise recommend reading books.

Then what could be the answer to this puzzle that all of that that is important can’t be conveyed through books vs reading books is very important ?

Probably both of them are correct. 

Writing a book may be best possible way for the masters to convey what they want to, even if they knew that they may not be able to convey all that they have.

And reading books is the best possible way to reach near perfection in ‘Seasoning the mind’.

‘Seasoning of the mind’ happens best when a ‘great amount of reading’ is interspersed with good amount of ‘practice’ of what one learns.

Thank you.

Source Links: 

Mr. Munger on Reading

What you were reading was the lees and scum of by­gone men

Anyone who steals my time is stealing my life

Hi Friend,

The question that we should ask ourselves is whether we are focussing on things that are really important or are we trying to pretend that we are busy? 

Here is a wonderful extract on the importance of time management.

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• On one such occasion we talked about the difference between wasting time and spending time. 

• Bruce (Mr. Bruce Lee - the martial artist) was the first to speak.

• To spend time is to pass it in a specific manner he said. We are spending it during lessons just as we are spending it now in conversation.

• To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. 

• We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. 

• But once passed, it is gone forever.

• Anyone who steals my time is stealing my life because they are taking my existence from me. 

• As I get older, I realize that time is the only thing I have left.

• So when someone comes to me with a project, I estimate the time it will take me to do it and then ask myself, Do I want to spend weeks or months of what little time I have on this project? Is it worth it or is it wasting my time? If I consider the project time-worthy I do it.

• I apply this same yardstick to my social relations. I will not permit people to steal my time. 

• I have limited my friends to those people with whom time passes happily. 

• There are moments in my life - necessary moments - when I don't do anything but what is my choice. 

• The choice of how I spend my time is mine, and it is not dictated by social convention.

• As he left us, Bruce turned to stirling and said, “Today you were the teacher. I realised for the first time how much time I had been wasting with certain people. I never before considered that they were taking my existence from me, but they were.”

• At that point in my life, I had many friends who were in the habit of dropping by to visit or telephoning me at whim.

• Because I am a writer and my office is in my house, they assumed I was available for talk or advice on any subject. 

• But after that conversation with Stirling and Bruce, I realised that instead of spending time with them I had been wasting it.

• I bought a large “Do Not Disturb” sign that I hung outside my office door and I installed a telephone answering machine. 

• To my surprise, my work output almost doubled.

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Thank you.

Source Book : Zen in the Martial Arts