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The Five Lessons of Life

by Bill Adams

"an extraordinary story, with many profound things to teach us" Deepak Chopra, author of How to Know God.

Copyright 2000

174 pages paperback

Bon Journal

The five lessons of life

The third book that caught my eye in the library last Friday was "The Five Lessons of Life." Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It was so easy to read. And I was led into this fascinating story somewhat like "Memoirs of a Geisha" - was it real or contrived?

It's a spiritual odyssey in the manner of "The Celestine Prophecy" which I had read some four years ago. The background is that of an Englishman (the author) and his Indian wife and son on holiday in northern India and the teachings of Sangratan, the spiritual healer. The appendices provide a summary of the lessons and blueprint for action.

To summarise, the lessons are

1- Know what you value (periodically examine what's important to you)

2- Arrange your life so that what you value is what you pursue most vigorously

3- Seek agreement for your plans and actions with others - live in harmony

4- Deal with your problems: because of constant change, you need to constantly adjust

5- To live harmoniously, develop five attributes through meditation and mindfulness: self-knowledge, understand your true value as a sentient creature, respect for others, conscious giving, openness.

But it's hard to appreciate these lessons without reading the book, as it gradually introduces each lesson and why it is so.

What's most interesting for me is the end where Sangratan predicts the future for mankind. It all makes sense. Due to too much change, lack of mindfulness, and excesses, the earth goes out of balance. In such a state of disharmony, nature rebels. Hence the flooding, earthquakes and other nature disasters that we've seen of late.

3 September 2002 Tuesday

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