5 Great Books Under 200 Pages (Quick Reads)

5 Great Books Under 200 Pages (Quick Reads) | Third Monk image 4

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Still trying to finish that old copy of Lord of the Rings you found wedged beneath the stairs? Who could have known it was keeping up the entire house? Eh, c’est la vie, this too shall pass (or shan’t in the case of Durin’s Bane – don’t worry you’ll get there).

Take your mind off your troubles with any one of these five short novels (alright, alright… a few are novellas), and don’t worry, they’re all a quick read (unlike this introduction).

Find them at your local library (they still exist), or your local book store (read: amazon).

I’ve added the audiobook versions and PDF’s where I could.

Enjoy!

hermann Hesse Siddhartha- great book

Siddhartha is a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha.

It’s a wonderful short read for anyone in need of a little perspective – don’t worry it’s not too much perspective.

Siddhartha PDF

Siddhartha – Herman Hesse (Audiobook)

01 THE SON OF THE BRAHMAN – 00:20:59
02 WITH THE SAMANAS – 00:27:05
03 GOTAMA – 00:23:54
04 AWAKENING – 00:12:24
05 KAMALA – 00:36:32
06 WITH THE CHILDLIKE PEOPLE – 00:22:14
07 SANSARA – 00:24:57
08 BY THE RIVER – 00:30:52
09 THE FERRYMAN – 00:35:07
10 THE SON – 00:24:27
11 OM – 00:18:30
12 GOVINDA – 00:29:07

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Translated into more than 250 languages and dialects, The Little Prince is a literary masterpiece.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery wrote the short novel in the midst of personal upheavals and failing health, it is a tender tale of loneliness, friendship, love and loss, in the form of a young prince fallen to Earth.

The Little Prince PDF

The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery (Audiobook)

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The Stranger is a great book by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as exemplars of Camus’s philosophy of the absurd and existentialism, though Camus personally rejected the latter label.

The Stranger PDF

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An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.

The Alchemist PDF

The Alchemist – Paolo Coehlo (Audiobook)

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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 satirical novella by Edwin A. Abbott. 

Writing pseudonymously as “A Square”, the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella’s more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

Flatland PDF

Flatland – Edwin A. Abbott (Audiobook)

The 4 Stages of Enlightenment According to Buddhist Scripture

The 4 Stages of Enlightenment According to Buddhist Scripture | Third Monk image 1

Enlightenment - 4 Stages of Enlightenment

As he guided his followers over the 45 years he taught, Buddha recognized four distinct levels of realization, each marked by a deep and unmistakable experience of selflessness, followed by certain changes in outlook and behavior.

The experience generally occurs during intensive meditation, when the attention has become one-pointed, and follows extensive study and understanding of the basic truths of Buddhism (especially the three marks of existence: selflessness, impermanence, and dissatisfaction).

The four stages of enlightenment are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahant. The teaching of the four stages is a central element of the early Buddhist schools, including the surviving Theravada school of Buddhism.

The 4 Stages of Enlightenment

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Stream-enterer

The first stage is that of Sotāpanna (Pali; Sanskrit: Srotāpanna), literally meaning “one who enters (āpadyate) the stream (sotas),” with the stream being the Noble Eightfold Path regarded as the highest Dharma.

The stream-enterer is also said to have “opened the eye of the Dharma” and is guaranteed enlightenment after no more than seven successive rebirths, possibly fewer. The stream-enterer can also be sure that he will not be reborn in any of the unhappy states or rebirths (an animal, a preta, or in hell). He can only be reborn as a human being, or in a heaven. The stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, “right view”), has complete confidence or Saddha in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and has good moral behaviour (Sila).

When you become a stream-enterer, you can never again believe that you’re really a separate self that lives inside your head and looks through your eyes. Your experience forever eliminates this illusion. When you look within, you can’t find a self anywhere.

In everyday life, however, you may still feel like a separate somebody and may still get caught up by greed, anger, ignorance, and various other negative feelings and patterns. Fortunately, the stage of stream-enterer also brings an unshakable confidence and dedication to the Buddhist spiritual path, so you’re motivated to keep deepening and refining your realization.

I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. – Buddha

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 Once Returner

The second stage is that of the Sakadāgāmī (Sanskrit: Sakṛdāgāmin), literally meaning “one who once (sakṛt) comes (āgacchati)”. The once-returner will return to the human world only one more time, and will attain Nirvana in that life.

After you become a stream-enterer, your practice includes reminding yourself of your new realization of “no-self,” as well as paying attention to the ways that you’re still attached and your resistance to life as it unfolds. After a period of time (generally years of devoted practice) in which your concentration gets even stronger and your mind becomes even more tranquil, you have another direct insight into no-self. (Remember, knowing this truth as a concept or memory is one thing, but experiencing it directly, beyond the conceptual mind, is something else entirely.)

This insight (essentially the same as the first but even stronger and clearer) brings a significant reduction in attachment and aversion and the suffering that accompanies these states of mind. For example, occasional irritation and preference replace hatred and greed, which no longer have any hold over the once-returner.

Again, someone who reaches this stage has only one more rebirth before becoming completely enlightened.

I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil upon my foot. – Buddha

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Never-returner

The third stage is that of the Anāgāmī (Sanskrit: Anāgāmin), literally meaning “one who does not (an-) come (āgacchati)”. The non-returner does not come back into human existence, or any lower world, after death. Instead, he is reborn in one of the worlds of the Rūpadhātu called the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, or “Pure Abodes”, where he will attain Nirvāṇa; Pāli: Nibbana; some of them are reborn a second time in a higher world of the Pure Abodes, but in no case are born into a lower state.

An Anāgāmī has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth. An Anāgāmī is thus partially enlightened, and on the way to perfect and complete Enlightenment.

After the experience that signals entry to this stage, all of the worst hindrances, such as hatred, greed, jealousy, and ignorance, completely drop away, but a hint of a self-sense (a “me”) still remains — and with it, the slightest trace of restlessness and dissatisfaction sticks around as well. The experience itself is rarely accompanied by any emotion or excitement, just a clearer recognition of what has already been seen twice before. These people appear to be extremely content, peaceful, and without desire, but the subtlest preference for positive rather than negative experiences remains.

I discern the highest conception of emancipation as a golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated ones as flowers appearing in one’s eyes. – Buddha

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Arahant

The fourth stage is that of Arahant, a fully enlightened human being who has abandoned all fetters, and who upon decease (Sanskrit: Parinirvāṇa, Pāli: Parinibbāna) will not be reborn in any world, having wholly abandoned saṃsāra.

At this stage, the path bears ultimate fruit in nirvana — any residual trace of a separate self falls away for good. The experience, frequently accompanied by unimaginable bliss, has been compared to falling into the depths of a cloud and disappearing. At this point, the circumstances of life no longer have the slightest hold over you; positive or negative experiences no longer stir even the slightest craving or dissatisfaction. As Buddha said, all that needed to be done has been done. There’s nothing further to realize. The path is complete, and no further rebirths are necessary.

I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. – Buddha

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> Four Stages of Enlightenment | Tamqui

> Four Stages on the Path to Nirvana | Dummies

> Buddha | Lucid Cafe

The Buddhist Guide to a Happy Life: The Noble Eightfold Path

The Buddhist Guide to a Happy Life: The Noble Eightfold Path  | Third Monk image 1

Buddha correctly recognized that suffering (duhkha) originates through ignorance and craving, the Noble Eightfold Path is a guide to eliminate ignorance and craving, and by extension, suffering.

The 4th Noble Truth, the Eightfold Path deals with the cultivation of wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline.

These Eight guide posts are not commandments, they are vows. For anyone interested in the path to liberation, these ways of life serve to accelerate the process.

The aim of the path is to live a fully balanced life; consider following each part of the Eightfold Path simultaneously, as each step on the path is not meant to be a linear progression.

Noble-Eightfold-Path

1. Right View (Wisdom)

Having the wisdom to see things as they really are. Observing and accepting the impermanence of reality and the duhkha (suffering) that is caused by craving for a separate, permanent existence.

2. Right Intention (Wisdom)

Defined simply, it is the intention to act only out of love and compassion. Having a wrong view of reality, where one sees things as separate and permanently enduring causes a person to wrongly grasp for what appears to contribute to their form of identification: a separate/permanent self. The false belief that happiness comes by avoiding what appears to threaten the self.

This way of thinking gives rise to craving, hatred, and violence. Those with right intention instead see the interdependence of all things and processes, correctly identifing that cultivating love and compassion for all beings will bring happiness.

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3. Right Speech (Ethical Conduct)

Generally, right speech refers to the avoidance of all talk that will hurt either oneself or others and to speak pleasantly in ways that will help overcome suffering.

It’s negative forms can be interpreted as: lying, slander, character assassination, talk that might bring about hatred, jealousy, enmity, discord, harsh or rude talk, impolite or abusive language, idle or malicious gossip, etc.

It’s positive forms are: telling the truth, speaking in a kindly and friendly way, and using language meaningfully and usefully.

By realizing the time and place for certain language, it implies that at times “noble silence” may be ideal.

4. Right Action (Ethical Conduct)

Based on the idea that no beings have independent existence, then all are dependent upon each other. With this understood, selfishness no longer has any basis.

Negatively, right action can be interpreted as killing, hurting, stealing, cheating, etc.

Positively, it means promoting peace and happiness, and respecting the well-being of all living things.

5. Right Livelihood (Ethical Conduct)

This extends the two former tenets to how one earns a living, prohibiting those careers that bring harm to others. Specifically: drug dealing, using and dealing in weapons, making poisons, killing animals, dealing in prostitution or slavery, etc.

Positively, right livelihood requires that one’s living is earned by means that are honorable, useful, and helpful.

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6. Right Effort (Mental Development)

The above developments require discipline, which includes right effort and the two tenets below (right mindfulness & concentration).

Practicing Right Effort includes:

  • Preventing evil and unwholesome states of mind from arising,
  • Getting rid of evil and unwholesome states of mind that may already exits,
  • Bringing about good and wholesome states of mind,
  • Developing and perfecting good and wholesome states of mind already present.

7. Right Mindfulness (Mental Development)

Consists in being aware of and attentive to all of one’s activities.

Including:

  • Activities of the body,
  • Sensing and feeling,
  • Perceiving,
  • Thinking and consciousness.

This means understanding what these activities are, how they arise, how they disappear, how they are developed, controlled, gotten rid of, and how they are related to each other.

8. Right Concentration (Mental Development)

Refers to a focusing of consciousness that enables one to see deeply into something. Both ignorance and enlightenment, which produce suffering and happiness respectively, have their root in one’s mental activities.

Because one’s mental states determine everything one does, it makes sense to concentrate on purifying one’s mental activities as a means to achieving happiness.

1st Stage:
  • Concentrate on getting rid of lust, ill-will, laziness, worry, anxiety, and doubt.
  • These unwholesome mental activities are replaced by feelings of joy and happiness.
2nd Stage:
  • Concentrate on seeing through and getting beyond all mental activities.
  • Retaining an awareness of joy and happiness. 
3rd Stage:
  • One goes beyond the mental activity responsible for the feeling of joy.
  • Achieves an equanimity pervaded by happiness.
4th Stage:
  • Complete equanimity and total awareness.

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Alan Watts on The Real Eightfold Path

Source (recommended for further philosophical study)

Tibetan Sand Mandalas: Healing Through Sacred Art (Photo Gallery, Video)

Tibetan Sand Mandalas: Healing Through Sacred Art (Photo Gallery, Video) | Third Monk image 4

From all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, that of painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks to form the image of a mandala.

To date, the Drepung Loseling monks have created mandala sand paintings in more than 100 museums, art centers, and colleges and universities in the United States and Europe.

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Mandalas

The Tibetan mandala is a tool for gaining wisdom and compassion and generally is depicted as a tightly balanced, geometric composition wherein deities reside. The principal deity is housed in the center. The mandala serves as a tool for guiding individuals along the path to enlightenment.

Monks meditate upon the mandala, imagining it as a three-dimensional palace. The deities who reside in the palace embody philosophical views and serve as role models. The mandala’s purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones. Kalachakra-Sand-Mandala

The Sand Mandala

Mandalas constructed from sand are unique to Tibetan Buddhism and are believed to effect purification and healing. Typically, a great teacher chooses the specific mandala to be created. Monks then begin construction of the sand mandala by consecrating the site with sacred chants and music.

Next, they make a detailed drawing from memory. Over a number of days, they fill in the design with millions of grains of colored sand. At its completion, the mandala is consecrated. The monks then enact the impermanent nature of existence by sweeping up the colored grains and dispersing them in flowing water.

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How Mandalas Heal

According to Buddhist scripture, sand mandalas transmit positive energies to the environment and to the people who view them. While constructing a mandala, Buddhist monks chant and meditate to invoke the divine energies of the deities residing within the mandala. The monks then ask for the deities’ healing blessings. A mandala’s healing power extends to the whole world even before it is swept up and dispersed into flowing water—a further expression of sharing the mandala’s blessings with all.

The Tibetan mandalas are deceptively simple. They might look like they’re made up of basic patterns, but are extremely complex and might take weeks to complete. Buddhist monks undergo years of training before they can make a mandala. So before a mandala is made, a monk will spend time in philosophical and artistic study. Once a sufficient level of understanding has been reached, the mandala is created.

In the personal monastery of the Dalai Lama, the Nyamgal monastery, monks spend about three years studying before making the mandala.

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Sand Mandala Gallery

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final sand mandala destruction

> Tibetan Healing Mandalas | Prafulla

The Four Noble Truths – Buddha’s First Teaching

The Four Noble Truths - Buddha's First Teaching | Third Monk image 2

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Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. – The Buddha

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The Four Noble Truths:

  1. All things and experiences are marked by suffering/ disharmony/ frustration (dukkha). 
    • Suffering exists. We suffer when we experience pain. We suffer when we do not get what we want. We suffer when we get what we want, but it does not last indefinitely. We suffer when we have some idea of what we want and the reality is a bit different. This is the First Noble Truth.
  2. The arising of suffering/ disharmony/ frustration comes from desire/ craving/ clinging. 
    • The cause of suffering is desire—our inflexible desire for things to be other than what they are. According to the Buddha, the problem is not that we are not getting what we want, it is that we want too much.
  3. To achieve the cessation or end of suffering/ disharmony/ frustration, let go of desire/ craving/ clinging.
    • It is possible to put an end to suffering by learning to live more simply and be content with what we do have. This is sometimes referred to as putting an end to desire, but it doesn’t mean that we desire nothing at all; it means that we recognize desire as desire, and we act on some desires, such as the desire to make others happy, but we do not expect that we will realize happiness by satisfying our desires.
  4. The way to achieve that cessation of suffering/ disharmony/ frustration, is walking the Eight-fold Path.
    • Right understanding, aspiration, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

Alan Watts – The Four Noble Truths

Alan Watts gives his interpretation of the four noble truths in this video lecture.

Buddha | Lucid Cafe

> Buddhism | Parralax

The Buddha – A Documentary Story of the Buddha’s Life (Video)

The Buddha - A Documentary Story of the Buddha's Life (Video) | Third Monk image 2

The Buddha never claimed to be God, or his emissary on Earth. He was a human being who, in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, found serenity, which he said others could find too.

Why do human beings suffer? What constitutes ethical behavior? How is it possible to find peace and serenity?

These were questions which the Buddha asked, and which the film explores by giving an account of his spiritual journey.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere. The documentary is woven through with animation and draws upon paintings and sculptures across 2 millennia by some of the world’s greatest artists, as well as fragments of the Buddha’s world still present in India and Nepal today.

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The Buddha – A Documentary Story of the Buddha’s Life

I have seen many a film on Buddha, but few of them have succeeded as well as this one in so lucidly and compellingly presenting the transformative elements of his dharma. – Paul Knitter, Professor, Union Theological Seminary

celestial-buddha-wat-rong> Siddhartha | Grubin

Alan Watts Discusses Nothingness (Video)

Alan Watts Discusses Nothingness (Video) | Third Monk

Alan Watts discusses the state of Nothingness.

“So, you know the story; when the sixth patriarch was given his office as successor, because he was truly enlightened, there was a poetry contest, and the losing one wrote the idea that the mind (the consciousness) was like a mirror, which had to be polished. And constantly, you know, I have to polish my mirror; I have to purify my mind, see? So that I am detached and calm and clear-headed, you know, Buddha. But the one who won the contest said that there is no mirror, and the nature of the mind is intrinsically void, so where is there anywhere for dust to collect? By seeing that nothingness is the fundamental reality, and you see it’s your reality, then how can anything contaminate you?”