The Zen Center was in the woods. The drinking water flowed from the ground naturally. There were about ten buildings in the area. All of them were made of wood in traditional Korean style.
My roommate was the only one who spoke English fluently. As soon as I arrived, we met the Zen master. We bowed in front of him and then he started talking, while my roommate translated his words into English.
“I’ll give you something on what to meditate. This something is just a question: “WHAT IS THIS?” said the Zen master.
After the meeting was over, I asked my roommate the meaning of this words.
He answered, “The question “What is this?” implies something or somebody that asks the question. “This” can be considered the original engine of your actions.”
While I meditated by asking myself “What is this?”, I watched myself to find out whether I was made just of flesh, bones, and blood or there was some energy inside me. I couldn’t find the answer, but by meditating on such a question for twenty days, I purified my mind. The question “What is this?” chased away all the thoughts that had crammed my mind for a long time. My mindset changed, and I felt almost reborn.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
MY REVIEW OF ENCHIRIDION
Epictetus was born into slavery and was also disable. Later, he became a freedman and a stoic philosopher. It means that if you have a great spirit, nothing is impossible in life. You can achieve any goal.
This short book, Enchiridion, shows the great soul of Epictetus and contains pieces of advice that are still valid, even though the book was written almost two thousand years ago. A few Epictetus’s sentences have remained imprinted in my mind. He says, “Instead of herd of oxen, endeavor to assemble herds of friends in your house.” He also says, “If you wish your house to be well managed, imitate the Spartan Lycurgus. For he did not fence the city with walls, but fortified the inhabitants by virtue and preserved the city always free.” It means that instead of erecting protective walls around ourselves, we had better fortify our inner energy and spirit to be free persons with open hearts.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
KHNUM, THE GOD OF CREATION
![religion-ancient-egypt-khnum-god-creation-god-water-evening-sun-egyptian-god-khnum-guise-man-91135827[2]](https://ettoregrillo.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/religion-ancient-egypt-khnum-god-creation-god-water-evening-sun-egyptian-god-khnum-guise-man-911358272.jpg?w=700)
‘The stories told in the Bible are not original at all. Many religions tell the same stories as those written in the Bible. For instance, the myth of creation in Egyptian mythology is older than that in the Bible by at least fifteen hundred years. According to Jewish tradition, the first book of the Bible, Genesis, was written by Moses when he led his people through the desert. The Exodus from Egypt happened around fifteen hundred BC, while the Egyptian mythology ranges between five thousand BC and three thousand BC.’
“I listened to him silently, and for the first time I had doubts about the originality of the Bible. Even though I was and still I am Catholic, my desire to know the truth was much bigger than my blind faith in the Bible. He went on. ‘The myth of the creation of man from clay is in the Egyptian mythology as well. Khnum, the god of creation, was called the Potter God, because he gave life to living beings by shaping clay. The God of the Bible created Adam in the same way. Hence, the Bible is not original. It imitates other religions.’
This is an excerpt from The Vibrations of Words – second edition- 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
Ettore Grillo's Blog 