Announcing the Release of the eBook “Zone Mind”!

“Zone Mind” Released!

In this episode, I wanted to let people know that I finally released my eBook “Zone Mind” - an eBook based on the blog with a similar nane, ZoneMind, located at

http://www.ZoneMind.com.

It took me about a year to produce this eBook and, in all honesty, I have released the eBook only thanks to the assistance of Zoe’s Books Ltd located at http://www.zoesbooks.co.uk and Charter Software Ltd located at: http://www.chartersoftware.co.uk who helped me to edit the manuscript. and produce the eBook versions. Indeed, it would have been very difficult to get through the self-publishing process without the assistance of these organisations..

I admit that I don’t expect to make any profit any day soon following this release. On the other hand, I’m satisfied that, at least, more people can now have the chance to read my thoughts and reflections on life as I engage in Buddhist thought and practice and discovering the importance of how important it was for humanity to go beyond the differences we create between ourselves and recognise our common humanity.

The eBook is selling for €2,99 and you can read more about it at:

http://payhip.com/b/XE3R

or follow the direct link found at ZoneMind at:

http://www.zonemind.com.

If after checking the eBook for more information you aren’t interested to get a copy, I encourage you to share the page at PayHip with others you think might like to check this eBook out.

In addition, if you share the eBook page with your friends, by choosing to share the page with your network, you will save 15% when you purchase your copy of the eBook “Zone Mind”!

Publication Details

Self-published in Malta by Gordon C. Cardona on Sept, 2013..

Copyright © 2013-4 Gordon C. Cardona

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this eBook.

 

This eBook may be freely shared on condition that the author is acknowledged & that no part of this eBook is altered or distributed for profit and gain. 

ISBN: 978-99957-0-580-0

Price: €2,99

Get In Touch!

You can follow me on Twitter:

@gordonGT

URL: https://twitter.com/GordonGT

You can also check out my home site at:

gordonGD.com

URL: http://www.gordonGD.com

Thanks for your attention!

Music Credits

The background music for this episode was from the album “Bali” by Midori.

#Zone Mind, #eBook, #memoir, #Gordon C. Cardona, #Malta, #Buddhism, #meditation, #life, #self-publishing, #experience

I recorded this in reaction to government's declaration that Malta was considering deporting immigrants from North Africa to Libya.

While this is being presented as a step to get the EU's attention to the impact of immigration and the impact its having on our limited resource, I morally object to using any tactic to use people as bargaining chips for our country to get the support It needs from mainland Europe.

Being implicitly racist, such a measure goes against the intrinsic value that we have as human beings. Indeed, it's a return to an archaic belief that national identity can trump over the value of life.

This is indeed a sad day as I realise that we are blind to the fact our world has changed and that we can't keep on thinking as if we're separate or better than others or those coming from other countries.

The value of human life can't be negotiated. That isthe ethics of terrorists to get ransom. Our government should be strong but not oppressive and utilitarian.

That's not Malta for all!

#Malta, #immigration, #human rights, #deportation, racism, #government, #solidarity, #justice, #world, #Africa

I de-activated my Facebook this week. In this episode, I explain the main reasons I decided to leave. I talk about my concerns with privacy, the commercialisation of Facebook and how it can compromise our integrity and encourage us to be more impulsive and attention seeking. Finally, I talk about how we become dependent on Facebook that I suspect we forgot what life was like before FaceBook.

Even if I don't condemn facebook, I think it's time to reclaim my freedom and independent from Facebook and, thus,restore my integrity. And, once again, rediscover that, yes, there's life after Facebook!

Top: A photo of a younger me in my school uniform taken for the class album.

In this second and concluding part of this series, I continue to talk

about how awarding a prize for kindness affected me and my

friendship.

I argue that such prizes go against the value of inclusion and a misunderstanding of what friendship and a wrong idea of what charity and compassion actually require of us. And instead of promoting

equality and friendship, such awards risk to reinforce the idea that

inequality is inevitable and that friendship with a less valued member

of society is always a personal sacrifice and an unbalanced

relationship based on power and status.

I fear that other children today may go through what I went through if

society and the organisers of this prize ane similar initiatives ep

not consider the implications their misguided good intentions they

might have.

For, they mustn't forget that friendships between disabled and

non-disabled children, for all intents and purposes, just like any other.

Until we adults have to go and impose our own assumptions while, at

the same time, doing little to remove the real barriers in society

that cause our greatest problems.

The fact we feel the need to reward some children over others simply

sends a message that people aren't equal and those in need to be

included are often force to believe that they are given their rights

out of generosity ane not because they're entitled to them.

At least for me, this prize has forced me to question my value as a

human being and as a member of my own society.

To this day, I am happy to remain just that- as AB outsider. I want to

live my life on my own terms because only I can know who I really

am.

More Info:

You can find a blog entry on this subject on both my blog at Gordon’s

D-Zone (http://gdzone.gordonGD.com) or at ZoneMind

(http://www.ZoneMind.com).

Email: [email protected]

#inclusion, #disability, prize for kindness, childhood, friendships,

#charity, #compassion, #value, #virtue, #Malta

To listen to Part 1, visit:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1469424-is-virtue-its-own-reward-part-1

)

Top: A photo of a younger me in my school uniform taken for the class album.

In Part 1 of this two-part episode series I talk about lives changed forever. An experience that almost broke a friendship between two children and which never remained as it had been. It is a story about a disabled boy who realised that, in the eyes of society, his impairment rendered him of less value and less human. It’s a story about how media can distort reality and how society can exclude people simply because it deems them “less fortunate” and unequal. It is about the wrong conclusions we make as adults on simple friendships between disabled and non-disabled children.

It’s about a prize which has all the good intentions but which leads to a hell of feeling betrayed, excluded and invalidated as a boy. It’s about the negative implications of how our adult world can do more harm than good by acting like judge and jury on the lives of children. It’s also about how modern society still doesn’t get what the real meaning of charity and compassion but appears to reaffirm that inequality is natural are inevitable. As long as it sells, it’s ok it seems. Would we reward any other friendship if it’s between other children who are non-disabled? Why do we have to set a price on kindness? Isn’t virtue its own reward?

This is my story.

More Info:

You can find a blog entry on this subject on both my blog at Gordon’s D-Zone (http://gdzone.gordonGD.com) or at ZoneMind (http://www.ZoneMind.com).

Email: [email protected]

#inclusion, #disability, prize for kindness, childhood, friendships, #charity, #compassion, #value, #virtue, #Malta )

To listen to Part 2 of this episode, kindly visit:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1469703-is-virtue-its-own-reward-part-2

On this episode i share a haiku quintet on motherhood as we celebrate

mothers' day in my country. the haiku goes like this:

To all mothers:

Mothers

of all time,

Now, you made us who we are.

You've given us life.

Mothers without child.

You've given birth to new hope.

You've given us life.

Mothers, you're human.

You may fall and rise,

but then,

You've given us life.

If it hadn't been you,

We would not be here. No one.

For that, we love you!

Divided we are.

We forget that we all had…

We all had mothers!

To read the original haiku quintet and a commentary on motherhood, kindly visit:

http://haikuflow.gordon gd.com today!

I

hope you enjoy!

Background song is John Lennon's single "Mother" from the album

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Created with bossjock studio!

Note: This episode is in Maltese.

In this episode, directed at those who prefer to use Maltese as their primary means of communication, I express my concern regarding certain opinions against English language users who prefer to use English as the primary means of communication.

While I prefer to use Maltese when in the presence of native Maltese speakers, I have no problem with engaging with English language users. In this sense, I come to appreciate the value of both English and Maltese in my life. In this spirit that I express my concerns about resentment I notice growing between Maltese and English language users who have expressed their preference for one language over the other.

I believe that it’s unrealistic to expect the world to accommodate Maltese speakers at all costs, although I hold that we should sustain and cultivate our national linguistic heritage. On the other hand, I hold that we cannot risk neglecting to continue educating our children in the proper use of English and in instilling love and respect to our second national language.

I believe that it’s neither healthy nor commendable to use language to impose our preferences on other and instead of using language as a means to bring us together, use it to impose our language as a weapon to impose power and division in Malta.

#Malta, #language, #division, #Maltese, #English, #respect, #diversity, #reconciliation

web:

http://www.gordonGD.com

In this special episode, I share a recording made with the iPhone app Songify available on the iTunes store which converts speech to song. And considering that I have a terrible singing voice, the result is a decent one. The song is based on a haiku I wrote after reflecting on Easter as I continue my engagement with Buddhist thought.

The haiku, I named “The Phoenix” is a haiku trio, or one containing three haiki, and it went like this:

The Phoenix

A Haiku Trio

1

I am the phoenix…

I will rise from my ashes…

I will live again!

2

Ever constant change…

This cycle of renewal…

I will die again!

3

The ritual of death…

To be buried in this earth…

Hoping to return…

I hope you enjoyed that song.

If not, my apologies…

Anyway, you can read a constantly updated collection of the haiki I write when I’m inspired on my haiku blog “Haiku Flow” which is located at:

http://haikuflow.gordongd.com

#GordonGT, #haikuflow, #haiku, #phoenix, #audioboo, #songify, #Easter, #Buddhism, #renewal