>
> "Millman, or at least his publishing company try to portray him as the
> intellectual equal of Socrates, or perhaps Plato. Sadly, all he does
> is re-hash "Bubblegum Zen" philosophy, advocate vegetarianism and
> equate gymnastics with some deep meditative process. Worse, he does it
> with little sense of writing style, numerous factual errors, and a
> creepy relationship between him and an underage girl named Joy.
> One would expect a warrior, even a peaceful one, to show qualities
> like courage, stoicism, honor, loyalty, and so forth. Millman's self-
> portrayal is a whining, self-pitying, individual who shows absolutely
> no loyalty to his first wife (the most likable character in the book)
> and daughter. Particularly saddening is that his daughter is little
> more than a footnote, the reader never gets to feel any parental
> emotion from Millman.
>
> Millman also is not so much an actor as something that is acted upon
> by outside forces. He has no apparent free will. His early ennui is
> caused by society, his enlightenment is caused by Socrates, his misery
> is caused by his wife, his happiness by Joy. He even blames her for
> leading him on about her age. I really don't understand how Millman
> could not have guessed that this girl for whom he was pining was not
> of age. He doesn't come across as dumb. His willingness to give in to
> every one of Socrates' demands too is a little bothersome, didn't the
> Heaven's Gate, Branch Davidian and Jonestown folks think their leaders
> were deeply enlightened? Think before you obey.
>
> The best thing about this book is that it is an easy read, and most
> philosophy books do read like bad VCR instructions. However, Zen and
> the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the Tao of Pooh and the Te of
> Piglet, are just as easy to read, a lot more fun, and have better
> messages. For that matter, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in
> Kindergarten is also an easy to read book that changes lives.
>
> Some of you love this book, and that is really great, but please don't
> let this be an end to any search for enlightenment, after all there
> are five major world religions, dozens of minor ones, and dozens of
> schools of philosophy to explore. This book is a dip in a kiddy pool,
> let's try for the deep end."
>
>
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0915811006/ref=cm_rdphist_1?%%5Fe...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
