SUNSET AT LAKE PERGUSA (SICILY)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

LAKE

Lake Pergusa is the only natural lake in Sicily. The other Sicilian lakes are just reservoirs.
Lake Pergusa lies in the center of Sicily. According to the myth, Kore, Demeter’s daughter was abducted by Pluto while she was picking flowers by the lush shore of this lake. After that, she became the queen of the underground and her name changed from Kore into Persephone.
These days, there is a racetrack around the lake, but the area has not lost its mythological charm.
Walking by the lake at sunset, I saw a cave in the distance. Maybe from there Pluto came out with his chariot drawn by powerful steeds. All of a sudden, he snatched Kore from the luxuriant earth and took her to the underground.
Thinking about the myth, I felt like walking in another world, fantastic and beautiful.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF THE ENNEAGRAM OF LIBERATION

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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The Enneagram of Liberation by Eli Jaxon-Bear is the first book I have read in English. I read it fifteen years ago. I bought it at a satsang held by Eli Jaxon-Bear in the small town of Kisslegg in Germany.
It took some time for me to read it, because English is not my mother tongue and I didn’t even study English at school. Actually, I am self-taught in English.
Starting from The Enneagram of Liberation, I have been reading more and more books in English, and now I am an author of books written in English.
As for Eli Jaxon-Bear’s The Enneagram of Liberation, I still remember its content, even though fifteen years have gone by since I met Eli. He tried to simplify and make it easy to understand the enneagram which is an old symbol representing nine types of human characters.
Before describing the psychological types of the enneagram, the author analyzes the structure of the Ego which consists of three elements: personality, character, and essence. Personality and character can change in the course of life, but the essence doesn’t change.
It is an interesting book to know ourselves more in order to break our old patterns.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH BY KEN FOLLETT

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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I bought this book at a fair near Exeter in England, when I volunteered for RSPB.
Strolling around the fairground, I came across a booth where books were sold for charity. A pale disabled boy was sitting behind the desk. I asked him whether the book I was holding in my hand was good. He nodded at me, so I purchased The Pillars of the Earth.
I read it one page a day. Even though I finished reading it a few years ago, I still remember the story and the main characters.
The Pillars of the Earth tells the eternal struggle between good and evil. Evil is embodied by William Hamleigh, a wicked young nobleman who enjoys torturing animals and people. Good is embodied by Aliena, the noblewoman William Hamleigh raped and by Philip, the clergyman who helps Aliena out of her predicament.
At the end, Nemesis intervenes. Justice is done. Good wins over evil!

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE HISTORY OF INDIVIDUALS

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Everyone has a unique history and a special life. Some people— prophets, great philosophers, musicians, artists, kings, heroes, and so on—have left a mark on the books of history. Good or evil, the ones who have stood out are remembered by posterity; people like Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin, and others. At their demise, the lives of ordinary people are like dead leaves swept away by the wind when fall arrives. They sink into oblivion as history pays them no mind. In addition to the history of individuals, there is that of nations, but no book can include the biographies of all the people who formed the nations of the world.
In truth, if it were possible to write an enormous book of history, it should record the life stories of everyone who has populated the earth through the centuries and millennia, for each living being has something different and particular to say, often worthy of being handed down through the generations.

This is an excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF ROBINSON CRUSOE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Robinson Crusoe was the first novel in the world. In fact, the literary genre, novel, didn’t exist before Daniel Defoe created it.
The birth of the novel happened in an environmental context steeped in Puritanism. This religious group wanted to purify the Church of England from Catholicism – hence the name Puritans – and aimed at promoting the individual instead of society as a whole. In Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, individual privacy became the subject of narration.
The novel is written in the form of a diary and shows how the individual can overcome all hindrances, if he has enough faith and the ability to open his heart to everybody, regardless of race or skin color.

Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

 

SUNSET AT SCALA DEI TURCHI, REALMONTE (SICILY)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

SCALA 2

The name Scala dei Turchi comes from the Saracen pirates (by extension, Turks) who used to take refuge in this Sicilian stretch of sea sheltered from winds.
These days, Scala dei Turchi is a tourist attraction due to the unique white color of the rocks that comes from the peculiar marl which the cliff consists of.

SCALA
We arrived there at sunset. There were no words for me to express the magic of Scala dei Turchi while the sun was setting. Maybe the white cliff also bewitched the Saracen pirates as if it had been a magnet and it immortalized their name, Turchi (Turks).
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Robert Lewis Stevenson studied law at Edinburgh University, but he never practiced as a lawyer.
Like Stevenson, I studied law.
What I have in common with him is trying to understand what is good and what is evil.
Stevenson came to the conclusion that good and evil are inside the human being. Everyone has some good and some evil inside himself. We cannot find a person who is completely good or completely bad.
In his masterpiece Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson expresses the dual nature of the human being. Good and Evil don’t come from outside, for both of them are innate in every individual.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are just metaphors that symbolize this ambivalence in humans.
By reading this superb book we broaden the horizons of our heart and become more tolerant of others.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Unlike many schoolmates of mine, when I was a student, I used to read only schoolbooks, that is the books I needed to go on. I missed many books suitable for my age, like Jules Verne’s novels.
I finished reading From the Earth to the Moon just now, at the age of seventy-two. Better late than never!
As for Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, I have to say that it stimulates imagination. It spurs people to transcend human daily materiality to search for what is beyond our limited three-dimensional world.
The main characters in the book, Barbican, Captain Nicholl, and Michel Ardan are noble figures that can be held up as examples to follow, for their honesty, spirit of adventure, and courage. On the whole, this beautiful book invites people to dream.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

LOOKING FOR WHAT CAUSES ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Nobody knows why mental illness occurs. Doctors can treat only the symptoms but not the cause of deviant behavior. But surely, there is something that triggers the mechanism of abnormality. What could that cause be? Do external circumstances or other people give rise to the weakening of mental faculties? Or, in some manner, even without willing it, are we ourselves the ones who cause our disease? Are we already born with our sick brain and mind, or does our illness develop little by little as we live our life? To what degree have outside events affected us, and how much have we ourselves contributed to our disease?

Each one of us is able to know his own mind, not that of others. Supposed knowledge of others’ minds is just the fruit of analogy, since mental and logical processes are the same in all humans.
I intend to set out on a journey through my mind to find out the cause of my anxiety and depression, so others also will be able to do the same by analogy. Let me start my travel from the beginning, that is, from my childhood to my teens.

This is an excerpt from Travels of the Mind by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF RAMANA MAHARSHI AND THE PATH OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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I bought this book in Tiruvannamalai (India), at Ramana Maharshi Ashram. As soon as I entered the ashram bookshop, I asked the assistant which book about Ramana Maharshi he recommended me to buy. He headed for one of the many bookshelves and then picked a book, with no hesitation. “This is the best book about Ramana Maharshi,” he said. The title was Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge by Arthur Osborne.
Today I finished reading it and I have to say that the man who advised me to buy it was right. In fact, Arthur Osborne, who knew Ramana Maharshi well, describes the stages of Ramana’s life from childhood to death.
According to Osborne, Ramana didn’t need words to communicate with others. He was a saint whose figure radiated joy and peace. He also appeared in the dreams of those who needed his help. to point them the right way to follow to elevate their spirit.
Ramana Maharshi followed the path of self inquire: Who am I? Also Socrates and Jesus taught the same thing. In fact the kingdom of heaven is inside each of us. If we are able to purify our heart and mind, we will find it definitely. Looking inside ourselves, we will discover our true nature, our higher self which is different from the material body. According to Osborne, a great spirit like Ramana Maharshi cannot die. He is always with us and attracts whoever he wants to his ashram by Arunachala Hill.

Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo