While in the process of reading Discover the Power Within You by Eric Butterworth, a book that forever changed me, I received an email with the opportunity to review How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life by Nicholas Kardaras. To be honest, I am blessed with lots of opportunities to review books, most of which I decline, not because they aren’t of value and important, but because they deserve more time and energy than I am currently willing to commit. A book needs to, for lack of a better way to put it, really call out to me for me to invest myself in it.
As I go further along in my journey I have become more and more attuned to the energy I receive and feel, and in turn try my best to listen to that. Something about How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life captured me even though I knew little about what to expect.
The book begins with Kardaras speaking about his life “addicted to excess as the owner of New York nightclubs frequented by the likes of Uma Thurman, JFK Jr. and Tom Cruise- until he wound up comatose on the sidewalk outside his own night club as the result of a drug overdose.” As one might imagine this intimacy with death propels Kardaras on a search for answers and wisdom, in which he find some of his greatest teachers to be the ancient Greeks.
When the journey begins and I start to learn through Kardaras the lessons taught by some of the world’s most well known ancient Greek philosophers, which is the heart of the book, I almost fell out of my seat. Somehow I was re-reading the very same messages that changed me in the last book I read, only through a different lens – the philosophical lens.
You might think I sound crazy when I say this, but it felt as if the universe was speaking to me. It was saying- just in case you didn’t fully comprehend the message the last time around I am sending it to you again, with more examples, through more of the world’s greatest teachers. I was blown away.
When you read this book, prepare yourself for a ride, a journey of great meaning. You will go from meditative practices, to downloading sounds from a website in order to listen to the music of the stars (Yes! The stars create music!). You will discover times when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. That for me is a sign of hearing profound truth. One instance of this happening to me in the book was during the story of an 8 year old heart transplant recipient.
Trust me when I say, How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription For Health and Happiness is a meaningful ride. These messages keep reappearing in history over and over again through the world’s greatest teachers, and I don’t think they will ever stop. Not until we as a whole decide to listen and wake up to the profound message being taught.
There is a reason the work and teachings of these ancient Greek philosophers far surpass the length of their human life. This is still happening today. In my opinion, Oprah is one of the greatest teachers of our time and if you listen, truly listen to the message she is teaching, you will be forever changed. I think it is safe to say Oprah’s work will also live on for many, many generations. Why do you think that is?
Although I have never been a NYC night club owner, or battled a drug addiction, I can nonetheless strongly relate to Kardaras’ journey to have a greater understanding for life and the infinite. The miraculous side effect of this journey is more peace, happiness, and the ability to really, truly forgive. This book even re-ignited my passion for math. For me, the entry of this book into my life was anything but random; it is my hearts openness to the information. Something we can all do if we choose. Sometimes a good journey is just what we are in need of to find more meaning and joy in the life that we have.
I would like to thank Nicholas Kardaras, psychotherapist and professor of transpersonal psychology, for the incredible lessons he has taught me through his work, and his teachings about the philosophy of the ancient Greeks. I am very grateful to have received this information, and as I move forward I will carry it with me and do my best to pass on what I have learned.
As you continue to create a beautiful day for yourself friends, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription For Health and Happiness by Nicholas Kardaras.
p.20 “Years later, during my training as a transpersonal psychologist, I would learn how important it is that the human psyche have a strong connection to nature and the natural world; indeed, the root cause of many of our neuroses- both personal and societal- is a disconnect with the earth.”
p.27 “In fact, according to Pythagoras, you could not only align with your higher purpose, but also actually merge with and become the object of your contemplation. In other words, if you contemplated the nature of infinity, you became infinite.”
p. 103 “But unlike religion, which relies on faith and doctrine, discursive philosophy teaches us how to use our reasoning minds to reach our own conclusions about the nature of the universe and our purpose within that larger realty.”
p. 115 “A better analogy for the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical might be that of an iceberg. All that we can see- all that we can experience with our senses- is that 10% tip floating above the frigid waters, but there’s much more to that iceberg that we can’t see, lurking beneath the surface.”
p.133 “philosopher, Greek for “lover of wisdom.”
p.161 “Math is, in effect, the operating software of cosmic existence.”
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