<commit_before>---
layout: post
title:  "Atmamun"
author: juhi
categories: [ books, excerpts, self-help, philosophy ]
image: assets/images/atmamun.jpg

---
[Atmamun](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30008981-atmamun) is an interesting book. I think I broadly get what the author is trying to say, and in a lot of sense, it is pretty similar to Gita's teachings. It doesn’t provide a checklist of things you should do, but encourages you to take a hard look at yourself and the environment around you. It is essentially a list of questions, but a few answers would’ve been nice to have.
I have to admit though, I'm not a great fan of the way the author tries to make each sentence feel like a punchline. There is also a broadly negative sentiment that I feel while reading the book, which is not something that I expect to feel in a philosophical/self-help books. Without further ado, here are a few of my notes.

# Excerpt

-   Imagine that whatever situation you encounter, your lips produce the wisest words. You are untouched by anger, or any emotion. Imagine that you live in a state of peace. A perpetual high, and this feeling remains unbroken, no matter the nature or gravity of the circumstance, in a state of no-mind. The Japanese calle it Mushin. This is the no-min in Tom Cruise’s movie, The Last Samurai.
    
-   Main’s greatest dilemma is that he lieves in a prison and he believes that he is free.
    
-   The mind can go anywhere it wishes. You need not go with it. The mind can entertain any thoughts that it wishes. They have nothing to do with you. For you are not the mind.
    
-   If believing in God is your way, then it let it be your way completely. Don’t use your God as an insurance policy. Do not pray to him. Or worship him. Or make request to him. Discover what you are using God for. Discover the ways in which you’re playing a clever game. This requires great sincerity. But if you wish to truly attain something or arrive somewhere, this is absolutely essential.
    
-   Anything of great value has a great price. If you are asking for no less than God himself, you must give no lease than your entire self.
    
-   The greatest freedom that we have is the freedom to walk away from ourselves. The single greatest obstacle to Atmamun is the presence of your manufactured self. The person that you call myself is the source of all your miseries. Remove this manufactured self, and you will be as free as a living god.
    
-   Life does not happen around you. It is not a chronology of events. Perceiving life in this way keeps you on the edge of life. Ask yourself: What does it mean to live? And you will discover that you’ve never really lived at all. Life is to be tasted. Drink it. Immerse yourself in it. And experience it for the very first time.
    
-   To intellectualize life is to miss it completely. If you understand that life has no meaning, the events of your life will not affect you. You will move through the world with ease. For you will have acquired the wisdom to live life as a poetry, rather than a stale and confining prose.
    
-   Prescriptions such as positivity, mindfulness, optimism and happiness are traps. They will keep you invested in an activity, an undertaking, a doing of some sort. If you try to be mindful, you will never leave the mind. If you chase after happiness, you will attract unhappiness. If you convert negative thoughts into positive ones, you will be converting for the rest of your life. Peace is not known eventually. It must be had, now. No prescriptions, no tricks, no potions, no techniques. Simply understanding. Simply seeing the game you’ve been playing for your entire life. This and this alone will lead you where you have always wanted to go.
    <commit_msg>Update 2020-12-25-atmamun.md<commit_after>---
layout: post
title:  "Atmamun"
author: juhi
categories: [ Book Reviews ]
image: assets/images/atmamun.jpg

---
[Atmamun](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30008981-atmamun) is an interesting book. I think I broadly get what the author is trying to say, and in a lot of sense, it is pretty similar to Gita's teachings. It doesn’t provide a checklist of things you should do, but encourages you to take a hard look at yourself and the environment around you. It is essentially a list of questions, but a few answers would’ve been nice to have.
I have to admit though, I'm not a great fan of the way the author tries to make each sentence feel like a punchline. There is also a broadly negative sentiment that I feel while reading the book, which is not something that I expect to feel in a philosophical/self-help books. Without further ado, here are a few of my notes.

# Excerpt

-   Imagine that whatever situation you encounter, your lips produce the wisest words. You are untouched by anger, or any emotion. Imagine that you live in a state of peace. A perpetual high, and this feeling remains unbroken, no matter the nature or gravity of the circumstance, in a state of no-mind. The Japanese calle it Mushin. This is the no-min in Tom Cruise’s movie, The Last Samurai.
    
-   Main’s greatest dilemma is that he lieves in a prison and he believes that he is free.
    
-   The mind can go anywhere it wishes. You need not go with it. The mind can entertain any thoughts that it wishes. They have nothing to do with you. For you are not the mind.
    
-   If believing in God is your way, then it let it be your way completely. Don’t use your God as an insurance policy. Do not pray to him. Or worship him. Or make request to him. Discover what you are using God for. Discover the ways in which you’re playing a clever game. This requires great sincerity. But if you wish to truly attain something or arrive somewhere, this is absolutely essential.
    
-   Anything of great value has a great price. If you are asking for no less than God himself, you must give no lease than your entire self.
    
-   The greatest freedom that we have is the freedom to walk away from ourselves. The single greatest obstacle to Atmamun is the presence of your manufactured self. The person that you call myself is the source of all your miseries. Remove this manufactured self, and you will be as free as a living god.
    
-   Life does not happen around you. It is not a chronology of events. Perceiving life in this way keeps you on the edge of life. Ask yourself: What does it mean to live? And you will discover that you’ve never really lived at all. Life is to be tasted. Drink it. Immerse yourself in it. And experience it for the very first time.
    
-   To intellectualize life is to miss it completely. If you understand that life has no meaning, the events of your life will not affect you. You will move through the world with ease. For you will have acquired the wisdom to live life as a poetry, rather than a stale and confining prose.
    
-   Prescriptions such as positivity, mindfulness, optimism and happiness are traps. They will keep you invested in an activity, an undertaking, a doing of some sort. If you try to be mindful, you will never leave the mind. If you chase after happiness, you will attract unhappiness. If you convert negative thoughts into positive ones, you will be converting for the rest of your life. Peace is not known eventually. It must be had, now. No prescriptions, no tricks, no potions, no techniques. Simply understanding. Simply seeing the game you’ve been playing for your entire life. This and this alone will lead you where you have always wanted to go.
    
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