Huge thanks to Lamont Bourgeois, owner of Image Kafe for hosting and providing the home for our book club. We started a bit late, but not to worry; once we got started the discussion that took place was moving. In fact, Oprah would be proud of us. I sensed at the end of our time that many of us wanted to continue. For those of you that did not have a chance to attend, we have the full “pre-recorded” session below. I wanted to get this out sooner rather than later, so once I have time to go back and edit, you will see shorter 2-4 minute clips for those who don’t have a lot of time.
To give our viewers an idea, we had an exceptional group of Black men attending this important event. We had a 15 year old high school student to 44 years. From what I observed and what you will observe is something I have always said, which is: “Black men want to have meaningful, relevant conversations.” Some of the perceptions about Black men and not reading books, while admitted by the guys, it was also clear that all the guys recognize that there was something special taking place.
The key passage that seemed to capture most people’s attention from Chapter 1 was on Page 9 regarding the term “sin”. Sin has a negative connotation for people especially in the context in which it is used. However, Tolle presents the Greek translation of “sin” to mean missing “the mark, as an archer who misses the target, so to sin means to miss the point of human existence.” What was interesting is how we emphasized the point of “living unskillfully, blindly, and thus to suffer and cause suffering.
What made the discussion so lively and captivating was the “energy” you could feel. If this was a classroom, everyone was locked in and focused, let me tell you. There was the usual barber shop camaraderie, but there was also a sense of hanging out with your family in your most relaxed state, but with a level of candor and realism that made for compelling interactions between us.
For those who will watch over the Internet, you will become glued to our session because of its rawness and yet honesty that you typically don’t see between Black men and of course most of us did not even know each other. So, for those who did not attend in person, you missed an exciting and lasting feeling of the journey to living in the Present and the process of simply “Being” and thus happy and content with yourself and not material things and possessions. We are on this journey, and look forward to seeing you next Monday, August 11 at 7:30 PM (CDT), live from the Image Kafe men’s salon, where you can make an appointment online.
"No Ego" Book Club 
time for a change!