4 out of 4 stars
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The Simple Little Rule: The Golden Rule Rediscovered Volume I is an enlightening book written by Mike Ellerkamp.
The author’s goal in writing this book is for the readers to find peaceful motivation from the constant practice of the Golden Rule and he hopes that the readers will experience happiness, fulfillment and prosperity and create a healthier environment for themselves and a better future for their children.
In addition to the Introduction, the book has twelve interesting and enlightening chapters. The author begins by sharing personal information about himself, his early childhood, early marriage, military life, spiritual life and his disillusionment with religion. This disillusionment leads him on a journey to search for the Truth by himself and comes up with five supporting principles that help execute the Golden Rule: wisdom, justice, courage, moderation and discipline.
This is a great, enlightening, and passionately and scholarly-written book about the very simple, ancient and spiritual principle known as the Golden Rule which is phrased in one sentence that goes like any of these:
"What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to anyone else; what one recognizes as desirable for oneself, one ought to be willing to grant to others." –Confucius
"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find harmful." – Buddha
"Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others." –Socrates
"Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss." –Lao Tzu
Aside from the Golden Rule or the Law of Reciprocity, the author includes in his discussions other universal laws including Law of Attraction, Law of Gravity, Law of Energy and Law of Motion among others. Moreover, he enumerates four standards of reasoning present within the guiding principle of the Golden Rule: universality, neutrality, consistency and transparency as well as four attributes of the Supreme Creator: omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience and immutability. He also offers his opinion about the never-ending debate on creation versus evolution; introduces the idea of universal consciousness; and mentions the Code of Hammurabi, the Ten Commandments and the Hundredth Monkey Thesis.
There are three things I like most about the book. First, I appreciate the personal experiences (most of them from his days as a Ranger) the author shares with the readers. All of them are very interesting and educative. I particularly like the story about the elderly driver who was sued for physical injuries. Second, I appreciate that the author takes the time to explain some terms (like rapelling and snap link) to make the stories more easily understandable. Finally, I very much appreciate that the book does not focus on religion.
However, this is not an easy read. It requires focus, undivided attention and fair amount of knowledge about science, history and the scripture. Not once did I find myself going back a page or two to fully understand and appreciate the beautiful lessons and messages of the book.
I, therefore, rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is educative, enlightening, scholarly-written and well-referenced. I recommend it to readers who enjoy inspirational books.
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The Simple Little Rule
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