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Confessions of a Book Reviewer
As a book reviewer – to state the obvious – you read quite a lot. And that has its own shades of pleasure, boredom and pain. Which is why, as a book reviewer, you are constantly shuffling your reading material, making sure that you get enough variety on the plate. Even then, it can be Read more
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Ibn Battuta in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan Islamic scholar and traveller. His travels lasted for a period of almost thirty years, covering nearly the whole of the known Islamic world and beyond, from Africa to Arabia to India to China and back home. His travel accounts, known as The Travels, have been translated into various languages. These Read more
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Education: Liberal Vs Conservative View
Politics impacts education due to the ideological leanings of those in control. In his book, Gary Thomas elaborates on how liberal and conservative perspectives influence teaching methods, goals, and content in education. The best approach may include a balanced blend of both perspectives, but societal norms and individual requirements often dictate the style. Read more
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How to Practice Vipashyana (Insight Meditation)
In the previous post, we learnt about Shamatha or the calm meditation. As discussed, first we need to calm our mind, make it single-pointed and focused, and then use insight meditation to weed out all that has been causing discomfort in our bodies and mind. This will take some time, of course. By focusing on Read more
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How to Practice Shamatha (Calm Meditation)
Imagine a lake surrounded by hills and snow-capped mountains. It is a clear mountain lake which reflects the surrounding mountains so accurately that it can be difficult to tell which image is the mountains and which just the reflection of the mountains on the lake’s surface. But when this lake becomes agitated by the elements, Read more
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What’s New in News?
Nothing. If you’re a journalist, or an ardent consumer of news, you might disagree. New events are unfolding every single day, right in front of our eyes – you would say. Sure, there is truth in that, and yet, there is another way to look at News as Alain de Botton explains in his book Read more
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