Joseph, my nephew in the Us has written a book, available from Amazon’s. He has asked me to review the book.

I am honored but I have some misgivings. I knew Joseph when he was a baby in Iloilo city, Philippines. Since then I know him from Facebook.

My hope is that my many years of studying Louis Hay, Wayne Dyer, Dr Christine Page, Dr Lipton, Gary Zukav etc , all from the West , will help me to deal with cultural differences and do his book justice.

I am exultant that a former MBA student of ours, a Scandinavian has been proved wrong. I gushed in our class over Joseph getting a job on the spot by just talking to the boss of his dad. The Scandinavian righteously retorted that he won’t go any farther without a graduate school degree.

I just knew Joseph ad a high level of self-knowledge. I am no longer religious but I still believe a religious teaching : “made to the image and likeness of God”. To me Joseph is a manifestation of that.

The foreword of Boorstein’s book: “That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist” gives her intention for the book as: “Showing them a simple, non-sectarian, powerful method of learning to understand themselves and love God with all their hearts.”

I continue to write for my website to help me live my life-long purpose to understand myself and to love God with all my heart.

I believe in my divinity: “made to the image and likeness of God.” Although I learned this from the Grade School Catechism my experience with RELIGION has not supported this. At 75 I still struggle to listen to my spiritual self and not my religious self with all its limiting beliefs of fear and negativity.

Lately, I realize that Boorstein has been helping me to train my mind. But I wonder if listening to: Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, the Urban Shaman, Gary Zukov and most especially Dr Bruce Lipton will better move me healthwise. to where I was before my hip surgery.

Since April of this year, I have been plagued with allergies. Research shows I have a leaky gut and thus subject to a lot of ailments. This is difficult for an aging and fearful personality.

When I am tempted to give up, I bounce back thinking of how our daughter who hurdles challenges. Also my nephew who constantly defies fears inspires me. Then I deal with people in our building with less academic credentials but who are cruising through tremendous difficulties in life.

Sylvia Boorstein: “Right aspiration is what develops in the mind once we understand that freedom of choice is possible .”

I understand this to mean that I have a choice as to how to respond. Reaction does not necessarily mean a choice.

“Life is going to unfold however it does, pleasant or unpleasant, disappointing or thrilling, expected or unexpected – all of the above.”

I understand I can’t control life- not even a single day. But I keep on trying!

“What a relief it would be to know that whatever wave comes along we can ride it out with grace.”

“If we get really good at it, it could be like surfers delighting in the most complicated wave.”

That is the RESPONSE I am educating myself to have after reading a book sent by our daughter. It pictures a very strange future with machines lording it over the humans! The book was published as early as 2003. So glad it is now 2018 but the pictured future has not manifested yet. But it may still come true.

“Sometimes I feel my prayers are practice- the mindfulness practice- to help compose my mind refocus on the moment and possibly ‘incline the mind to insight'”.

“Inclining the mind is a term I learned from one of my Buddhist teachers. It means calling to mind something that you intellectually know is true in order to be able to understand it more directly, more completely.”

With the help of Boorstein practically my whole day is a prayer. Mental Training. I know my prayers are even more effective than those formula prayers I used to recite unmindfully.

Those formula prayers conditioned me to be a worrier, to be a scared martyr always using those formulas as crutch. I did not realize till I had Boorstein as a guide how much time I wasted not using my God-given gifts and powers.

Boorstein: “Lovingkindness an awkward and somewhat quaint term in English is the translation of the Pali word metta which means complete and unrestrained friendliness.”

“The Buddha taught that when the mind is at ease it is friendly, congenial, well-wishing.”

“The mind at ease accommodates with compassion.”
The above indicates my mind is not at ease!

“People do special practices to cultivate friendliness.. Some of these are meditation practices…It might seem at first glance, that metta practice, friendliness practice is in behalf of other people. It is equally in behalf of ourselves.”

i believe that practice suggested by Boorstein has transformed me a bit. Meditation has made me a bit patient – just a bit.

In my case the practice of Metta is not for people I don’t like. It is for pesky flies that very often disturb me – when i am in bed, when I am working on my laptop, when I am praying. We have been using candles as suggested by Google. But it has not worked.

I can easily avoid people I don’t like. But there is no escaping those pesky flies. They seem to cling to me. It is almost hopeless to deal with these unreasonable flies. The few times that i can swat to death one or two flies is sheer victory for me.