Demian is an amazing book by Hermann Hesse. I picked it up because I remembered Siddhartha and had no clue what to check out. Very thankful that I got it. Same top notch level, similar spiritual journeys. Reading it is a mind trip, after getting off the train, had to be careful to snap out of some of the characters before coming to work. Talked about focusing one’s will. Self-discovery, change. Journey’s through life and figuring out paths. The dreams, paintings, Cain, everything. Serious trip. Really worth reading. I love how it starts and goes through all these stages we can all really relate too, I couldn’t figure out where and when it takes place, but my guess would be Europe before WWI or WWII but it doesn’t really matter, it’s just as applicable to here and now. It’s strange how the past few months could have so many parallel’s with this book. Demian makes you look inside and wonder and wander, makes you look at power structures and will-power (and goal setting). Although not in those terms. Very cool. A must for the start of one’s journey.
Jacob’s Hands
I picked up Jacob’s Hands at the library soon after starting training. Late Julyish? Took the MUNI down 26th to get some household items at the Chinese stores. Walked into the library with a broom and a bamboo mat. Gotta love it.
I had no idea what to get, so tried to think back to some authors I liked. In the end I got Huxley’s (and Isherwood’s) Jacob’s Hands, Hesse’s Demian, and some random modern poetry book.
Started the next day off with Jacob’s Hands. It’s perfect commute reading. Neat little book. Asks questions about healing. Well the book itself doesn’t, but it makes you wonder about them.
What if you could cure just about any disease with your hands. Would you? It’s not that simple. What if you knew that by making someone healthy, he’d become a different person, one not so nice or kind? What about all your little quirks and such, do you really want to be healed? Are there some things you want for comfort, sympathy, and excuses? Again, seeing what cancer can do, it’s really not that easy. The book is written super short and super simple, but it can make you think.
Lyrics: Transition by Mad Mike
Love these lyrics!
Transition by Mad Mike, from Underground Resistance.
(update: video added 2013.12.02)
Lyrics:
There will come a time to your life
When you ask yourself a series of questions
Am I happy with who I am
Am I happy with the people around
Am I happy with what I am doing
Am I happy with the way my life is going
Do I have a life
Or am I just livingDo not let these questions restrain or trouble you
Just point yourself in the direction of your dreams
Find your strength from the sound
And make your transition
Make your transitionDo I spend too much time thinking
And not enough doing
Did I try my hardest at any of my dreams
Did I purposely let others discourage me when I knew I could
Will I die never knowing what I could have been or could have doneDo not let these questions restrain or trouble you
Just point yourself in the direction of your dreams
Find your strength in the sound
And make your transition
Make your transitionThere will be people who will say you can’t
But you will (you will)
There will be people who will say you don’t mix this with that
And you will say watch me (watch me)
There will be people who will say play it safe, that’s too risky
And you will take that chance and have no fear (no fear)Do not let these questions restrain or trouble you
Just point yourself in the direction of your dreams
Find your strength in the sound
And make your transition
Make your transitionFor those who know
It’s time to leave the house
And go back to the field
Find your strength in the sound
It’s what you gotta do in the first f-cking place
(Originally posted on my first wordpress site: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kboris/blog/i-love-this-song/ in 2004)