Bruce Lee – TheBreakAway

March Book Haul 2017

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
April 6, 2017

This month there were some serendipitous finds within the realm of books and reading that help feed the addict’s voracious hunger. The topics are wide in scope as they are intriguing, and have made for some thought-provoking reading when I’ve had the time.

#1: The Nuclear Axis: Secret Collaboration Between West Germany & South Africa by Zdenek Cervenka & Barbara Rogers

The title says it all. This book details the connection between West Germany and South Africa, which is actually more disturbing than at first blush. The book also delineates which other countries were involved in this fiasco besides South Africa, and shows that Germany, who went on record never to create nuclear weapons post World War 2, became in fact a de-facto nuclear power. Then again, it shouldn’t be shocking considering that Germany’s attempted world domination in three previous instances.

#2: Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom For Daily Living by Bruce Lee

Knowing that Bruce Lee is the epitome of Individuality, reading about him has been something that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time.

This book has been an inspiring read. Due to its format, the book can be read straight through, or just broken up into small pieces given that it’s not a book which builds on itself like most non-fiction books. For me the latter method has worked better.

Usually just slice off a few pages on a daily basis as the aphorisms give one much to ponder about in unexpected ways. Granted, some of the aphorisms are fairly straight forward, but there’s plenty of insights to be had if one remains open minded.

#3: Culture As History: The Transformation Of American Society In The Twentieth Century by Historian Warren Susman

Wishing to learn more about the change culture American culture has gone through, this book felt like a natural pick considering it was mentioned in Susan Cain’s Quiet – The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking. In Quiet, Cain mentions how in her book Culture As History historian Susman covers the transition between the culture of character to a culture of personality. Seeing the results of this change in modern times, thought it prudent to go back in time and see where society began changing. Predictably, there was serious social engineering and propaganda taking place to bring this about. I am definitely looking forward to research this topic further down the line.

#4: The War Of Art: Break Through The Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles Steven Pressfield

This book barely became known to me a few weeks ago. Being the book-addict that I am, initially, I told myself not to purchase this or any other book for that matter until catching up on some reading, but after about a week of pondering, I just couldn’t resist. This merits a shout out to all bodacious bloggers that feed that addiction! [If you got time and want to check out another fellow wordpress blogger on all things writing, click this link to check out Calliope Writing]

This book is like the Art Of War but doused with much inspiration and creativity. If there’s even one cell of creativity within you, ruminate upon getting this book.

#5: Speed: Facing Our Addiction To Fast & Faster – And Overcoming Our Fear Of Slowing Down by Dr. Stephanie Brown Ph.D.

This book covers society’s addiction to living at the vanguard at Warp 9. This book brings about quite a few different concerns, especially considering that a sizeable portion of society follows the actions noted in this book to a tee, particularly the younger generations. If you have young ones or know of anybody that might be plugged in to the matrix 24/7 so to speak, considering having them get this book. There’s a review of it here.

#6: UFOs for the 21st Century Mind by Richard Dolan

If you’ve ever wondered about where to start regarding the abstruse subjects of UFOs, START HERE. Even if you have, this book still offers a lot of value given the severity of the subject. Having read dozens of books on this subject, many books usually end up leaving the reader wanting more. Additionally, there really isn’t anything as comprehensive and detailed as this. The book is sourced to the hilt, is written in an easy to follow manner and considers a serious topic in a sobering and yet thought provoking way. There’s a review that was written on this here.

#7: J.R.R. Tolkien’s: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter

Having binged on many Tolkien books in February, and having heard from John Taylor Gatto that reading many biographies allows individuals the foresight to see things they might have not seen, thought getting this book would be a prudent choice. Haven’t delved into it, but hopefully am able to within the next month or so.

#8: The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Along the same lines as the above, this book was purchased in order to brush up a bit on one of the Founding Fathers through the autobiographical lens. It’s definitely fascinating getting an inner look at one of the people responsible for helping create America. It helps put things into perspective in a way that history books lack. Review will come up soon.

#9: The Elements Of Style [4th Edition] by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White

This book was purchased with the intention to grow and learn as a writer. Being an autodidact and seeking to teach myself more on this lengthy subject, this seemed like a prudent place to start. BOY WAS IT WORTH IT. The book, although small in size, offers much knowledge to glean from it. If you’re a writer, you need to get this book for the tenets within it will undoubtedly help you grow. That said, there is a newer version of this book available. Found this out about a week after purchasing the first one, go figure! Given that it isn’t in my hands yet, I can’t vouch for it, YET, but once it gets here it will be read and reviewed in due time.

Why read a book similar to one just read? Great question. Because the 4th Edition of Elements of Style offered so much, I thought that if the new book followed through and offer even more information than the previous book, why not give it a gander? Might end up gifting the other one out to a friend, but either way, the investment will be well placed.

#10: The Book Of Virtues: A Treasure Of Great Moral Stories by William J. Bennett

A veritable treasure trove of insights on virtue from countless angles, this book homes in on many of the core tents that used to get taught in society but don’t get taught as much nowadays. It seems like a great place to seek historical sources that showcase virtues within literature.

#11: Sekret Machines: Gods: Volume 1 Of Gods Man & War by Tom DeLonge & Peter Levenda

I reviewed this book a few weeks ago and predictably, it is being censored by Amazon, as per usual. If you want to read how to verify the censorship, read the next bracketed paragraph, and if not, just skip it for the synopsis.

[This can be verified simply. Click on the link above, scroll down to the reviews, and then take a look at the two pictures to the right of customers who took pictures of the book. The picture on the right under the name ZyPhReX, was the review done by me. As you can see from the picture, I gave the book 3 stars. Now, when you go back into the original book link, and click to check on all reviews that gave the book 3 stars, my review will NOT be showing whatsoever. My contention is that not only is my review critical of this book in sobering fashion, but it also outlines alternative books to this topic, and that’s something the consortium hates to hear. Regardless of the reason, the Book Review being censored is ludicrous since it follows all guidelines by Amazon, and the review is even shown under the picture. And no, this isn’t the first time and its happened and doubt it will be the last.]

My original thoughts were that since Peter Levenda is a top-notch researcher, of whom many books I own, and seeing as DeLonge seems to have a genuine curiosity on the subject, the book might be a good read. Boy was I wrong!

Although the book does feature intriguing information, the authors paint a picture that’s quite bleak of humanity, even using the parlance of “Cargo Cult” for humans and even go on to write about humanity as if wholly incapable, even there’s plethora of evidence showing otherwise.

Moreover, the authors take a very narrow point of views in explaining UFOs, which is quite detrimental. Not that beings from another place visiting the Earth is out of the question, far from it, but to use a one dimensional approach to explain a multi-dimensional issue served to make this book a catastrophe.

As I noted in the review of this book:

“… one particular point that was quite disconcerting is the fact that the authors take a unilateral point of view of making it seem like UFOs can only be explained by the alien mythos. While this is certainly one possibility, and one with some solid grounding, it is not the only one, and not by far. Dr. Joseph P. Farrell, Walter Bosley, and others have come up with an equally arguable case that argues for human ingenuity as one possible way to explain some UFOs.”

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Lastly, a rather unexpected find was being able to get almost 20 National Geographic magazines, each for 10 cents at the library. I am sharing this in hopes for people to realize that sometimes at local libraries there are incredible deals if you happen to venture there at the right time.

That said, did any of you purchase any intriguing books recently? If so, what were they? I am always genuinely curious as to what other individuals read and find intriguing. A significant portion of what I choose to read is because of what other people have made known to me, either directly or indirectly, and this is my attempt to pay it forward.

Hope you are all well and have a great week.

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This article is free and open source. You are encouraged and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

Bruce Lee’s Taoist Wisdom

Bruce Lee Taoist

Source: TheMindUnleashed.com
Christina Sarich
February 14, 2017

Bruce Lee, the famous martial artist and movie star had an amazing understanding of Taoist principles. He applied them to his art, and lived them in his day-to-day life. He is still revered years after his death as a martial arts Jesus for good reason. His authenticity, and mastery of the martial arts, including Jeet Kune Do, extends into a mastery of self. There is so much to learn from this intrepid soul.

Bruce Lee once said,

“Taoist philosophy is essentially monistic. Matter and energy, Yang and Yin, heaven and earth are conceived of as essentially one or as tow coexistent poles of one indivisible whole.”

Bruce Lee Taoist

Lee was so convinced of Taoist philosophy that he named one of his teaching books the Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

The monistic view Lee refers to is a philosophical idea that all things arise from a single reality or substance. You can call this God, or the Tao, as the Taoists did, but this Oneness doesn’t fit into our convoluted and narrow image of the ‘One’ that we act out today.

Monism is in direct contrast to dualism, which holds that there are two kinds of substances (for instance good and evil). The word comes from the Greek ‘monos’ meaning single and without division.

Wherever Dualism distinguishes between body and soul, matter and spirit, object and subject, matter and force, Monism denies such a distinction or merges both in a higher unity.

It was this understanding that allowed Lee to see his opponents as part of the one – and to truly succeed by winning against himself. He often was able to beat much larger opponents not just by his impeccable training, but by his great consciousness, his immaculate mind, but sometimes his small stature and movie-star moves made him easy prey to men who had lesser wisdom.

Lee was not without ego, but his fight against that part of himself was evident for the world to observe, and this is perhaps why so many relate to him. The fighter was a teacher, really, and his most noble contribution to fighters both lesser and greater than himself physically, was in his legacy of upholding the Tao.

Lee’s philosophical Taoism (as contrasted with the religious variety) isn’t metaphysical or other-worldly, but instead was focused on the art of earthly living. He succeeded in this at times, and others, he failed.

Above all, Lee encouraged, as the Buddha did, to follow no one, and to move past limitations, even when they were set up by people in authority (which were sometimes other martial arts schools or supposed masters). Lee believed an endless process of trial and error was preferable to establishing one day’s intuition as an immutable law.

He didn’t believe in a fixed anything. His quote, ‘be like water,’ still resonates, because it so profoundly encapsulated his philosophy.

Lee also said,

“True observation begins when one sheds set patterns, and true freedom of expression occurs when one is beyond systems.

Knowledge is fixed in time, whereas, knowing is continual. Knowledge comes from a source, from accumulation, from a conclusion, while knowing is a movement.”

This is quite a decent explanation of the Tao which has no explanation. “Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak do not know.” ~ Lao Tzu, the Tao te Ching

Lee lived some of the basic principles of the Tao, which can only be discovered for oneself:

He aided others who were an extension of his own expression.
He was always true to himself, even when others maligned him.
He connected with others and tried to treat them as he wanted to be treated.
He did not fight those who could not accept his true nature.
He remained himself no matter the obstacle.
He knew he was only the custodian of his body, and that it was merely a vessel for his spirit.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPwQbQekk38
Read More At: TheMindUnleashed.com

Bruce Lee’s Taoist Wisdom

Quote Of The Day – Be Fluid, Like Water

Quote Of The Day – Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee1.jpg

Breakaway Guide To Simplifying Your Life

By: Zy Marquiez
January 17, 2016

“Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”
– Leonardo Da Vinci

“If you can’t explain it simple enough, you can’t understand it well enough.”
– Albert Einstein

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Upon musing a bit about the term ‘simplicity’ it occurred to me to search for the term “Law of Simplicity”. There were many tips on simplifying everything, and countless permutations of the idea in various ways, but no actual law [that was apparent to me] that could be easily shared. If anyone finds a solid ‘simple’ [pun intended] then please share it with us, as its pertinent to the focus of this blog.

Let’s get to the core of the issue: simplicity.

Two definitions according to dictionary.com are:

“the state, quality, or an instance of being simple.”

“freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts.”

Pretty straight forward, right?

For our purposes we will distil it one step further for the purposes of this blog and say: to keep things as simple and as practical as possible. Simple.

You must be asking yourself, why are we even talking about this topic? Great question.

Because depending on what point of view one uses, and in this case we’ll use a detached-macro point of view of society as a whole, then it’s pretty obvious people tend to complicate their lives way more than they should.

These complications seep into every aspect of an individual’s life, and end up taxing them in countless way.

Are people even cognizant of it? Some definitely are; however, many are not.

Here are what some incisive minds have stated about keeping things simple:

“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity”
– Plato

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”
– Coco Chanel

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
– Confucius

“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.”
– Paramahansa Yoganda

– Simplicity will stand out, while complexity will get lost in the crowd.”
– Kevin Barnett

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
– Hans Hoffman

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”
– William Golding

– “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
– Albert Einstein

“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
– Bruce Lee

Its quite noteworthy that such individuals engaged in this particular thought process. It alludes to the importance of this topic.

Keeping the above insights in mind, what are some aspects of life that people tend to complicate?

Relationships, food, health, politics, etc.

Relationships? That should be an obvious one, and one everyone can relate too. Let’s distill this in its most simplest form.

If someone – be it a lover, friend, acquaintance, etc – in a relationship treats you like trash, all the time, or heck, most of the time, then they’re probably definitely not worth your time/energy. Bam. Simple. No excuses. Once you start justifying the erroneous actions of others as righteous [for whatever] reason, or giving them excuses, when it’s obvious they just don’t truly care [if they did, they wouldn’t be treating you like crap, all the time], you’re doing yourself a world of disservice.

It doesn’t matter if they are family or not. In fact, family members in many situations get away with everything AND the kitchen sink because they are family. Remember, putting up with their bullshit is a choice. No excuses. Keep it as simple as you wish, or as complicated.

Next on the menu, food.

Food? Why food? Because eating things that are a poor excuse for food, only makes things complicated.

If you don’t believe me, look at the epidemic of diseases that’s rampant costing hundreds of thousands of lives due to many reasons, a strong one being food. Why food? Because much of food is laden with toxins such as fluoride, aspartame, GMOs, etc. Each of those by itself can cause diseases. When taken in combination, which most people do, it’s a toxic free for all and your health is on the menu.

How to simplify this? Easy. Eat the best, most healthy food that you can. Nourish your body with that which empowers it.

Health being the most vital component in life, let’s elaborate further to be more precise.

Researching Non-Genetically modified, organic, locally grown [if possible] pesticide free food is a good great start. Making sure you drink fluoride-free water is even better.

Many can attest to the wonders of having real, nutrient-dense food like our ancestors did. A great book that talks about this is The Paleo Approach by Sarah Balantyne. Coupled with that, another outstanding book to keep in mind is Gut & Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD. The latter book touches on the intricate complexities of the human gut system, and how that fuels disease when your microbiota has been eviscerated by processed foods.

Why is ‘going out of your way’ [as some people argue] to eat real food worth it? Because not doing it is costing millions of lives. Sugar alone, which most people have in processed foods, fuels cancer like liquors fuel parties on the weekends. It’s insane how many people don’t know the inflammatory effects of sugar. That’s only one aspect of food that causes death. There are many more ingredients beyond sugar that should be incisively contemplated.

Unfortunately, sugar has been linked to countless other diseases.

In the article, The Truth About Sugar Addiction, Dr. Mercola sheds light onto 76 different ways sugar can ruin your health.

As a wise person once said, you pay for your health now with real food, or you pay for it later with disease, money and life.

Next on the list, is health.

One might be prompted to think , ‘Didn’t we just cover health?’ From the food angle, yes. From other angles, no.

Food already dovetails quite well into health. That’s only a start. Let’s buttress the above with another point.

As said mentioned elsewhere:

If the average person spends 5-hours daily watching television, then they are probably sitting too much. Sitting too much has dire consequences for one’s health, as some of you may know.

In his article named Watching Too Much TV Linked To Early Death, Dr. Mercola elucidates best:

” If you watch television for three or more hours a day, your risk of premature death is double that of someone who watches only one hour or less, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.¹ The health risks of too much sedentary behavior, including too much sitting, are now widely known.” [Bold emphasis added]

If you want more information about that, please read Dr Mercola’s article cited above. It’s quite detailed and thought-provoking, if sobering.

The above information should be enough to make people contemplate deeply about the health choices they are making. Keep in mind, we’re only talking about sitting and watching TV.

Solution? Stay active. No complicated suggestions here. Just do anything that gets you moving, and bam, you’re health is better than it was if you’re remaining stagnant.

Lastly, politics.

Boy oh boy, where can’t we go here?

In interest of simplicity, let’s synthesize this to the most simplest form.

If a scoundrel politician – regardless of whatever party they are from – lies, they shouldn’t be trusted. If they are caught being bought-off by special interest, they shouldn’t be trusted. And of course, if they are caught stealing, they should not be trusted. No exceptions. What’s so hard about that?

Blind trust of those that throw y/our interests under the bus, each and every day is exactly how we got here in the first place.

When people are not held accountable, they will unleash crimes of godlike proportions. Just look at Wall Maul Street.

In a quick synopsis:

If someone treats you poorly, let them go. Eat real non-GMO organic healthy foods like our ancestors did, if not your life/health will become exponentially complicated. Quit sitting so much while watching TV & don’t trust lying crooks. Solid advice, right?

Simple.

To finalize, within the confines of this blog, ‘the law of simplicity’ will be used to denote instances where we will be making issues as simple as possible for the individual. In such a way, life will be much easier to navigate through, and things that used to be chaotic will literally crumble right before your eyes. Many have reaped these rewards. It’s time for everyone else to do so as well.

The only thing left is making the choice.

Make your life as simple as you wish, or as complicated.

The choice is yours.

“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”
– Isaac Newton

“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“How many undervalue the power of simplicity! But it is the real key to the heart.”
– William Wordsworth

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Sources & References:

https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/the-breakaway-guide-to-fluoride/
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/the-breakaway-guide-to-aspartame/
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/growing-doubt-a-scientists-experience-with-gmos/
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/review-recommended-book-the-paleo-approach-reverse-autoimmune-disease-and-heal-your-body-by-sarah-balantyne-ph-d/
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/review-gut-and-psychology-syndrome-by-dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride-md/
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/here-is-how-candida-may-actually-cause-cancer/
http://articles.mercola.com/sugar-addiction.aspx
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/07/11/watching-tv-premature-death.aspx

Simplifying Aspects Of Your Life – 25 Simplicity Quotes

By: Zy Marquier
January 2, 2016

Below are several quotes from respected individuals which allude to the importance of simplicity.

The reason for these is to contemplate them deeply and ruminate about what prompted them to make such statements. This should gives us an insight, no matter how limited, into the thinking/understanding that these individuals displayed in their daily lives: