Jim Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie

Through society as a civilization we are constantly being reminded of death. In Tuesdays with Morrie, the author, Mitch Albom, conveys the story of his professor, Morrie Schwartz, whom is dealing with a life threatening disease. In his life Mitch is so caught up materialistic possessions that he begins to lose focus on the true meaning in life. After this realization Mitch comes in contact with Morrie and writes down on a piece of paper a list, “death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life.”(66) This list signifies different life lessons that Mitch knew of, but seemed to have forgotten. The first lesson on the list was death. Through society, as a civilization, we are constantly being reminded of death. With these constant reminders we have had to understand that death is a natural occurrence, but have we actually ever come to terms with the concept of death? Morrie, society, and my own outlook on the concept of death all have different features that together could form a better understanding of death.

The writers both have incorporated ideas from the novel Tuesdays with Morrie in the shows. In the Simpsons Homers dad Abie has become sort of like Morrie, he tells a writer his stories who then creates articles and posts them in the newspaper. Just like Morrie many have taken a liking to his experiences. In The Middle Mike’s father-in-law has read Tuesdays with Morrie and has been inspired by the book. He decides that he wants to tell Mike his stories, and have his own Tuesday sessions. I know they are referencing the novel because in the Simpsons the episode is called Thursdays with Abie, and the writer wants to make a book of Abies stories, after killing him. It’s sort of the same idea as the novel, but they have added their own humorous

After being a part of this research, I have learned many things including the ideals behind Buddhism – didn’t know it was a cycle like Hinduism believed – and also in a healthcare situation from Christian healthcare provider to a Buddhist patient, it may be inapplicable to actually help the patient in any form of way. I believe learning this sort of knowledge may lead to a client vs trainer connection one day. As a future professional trainer, understanding and comprehending the individual/client and their personal beliefs and views is important and may decide the ability to be a

his actions and the effects they will have on the reactions of his fellow monks, Zen is

“Tuesdays with Morrie” is an award-winning book based on a true story, written by Mitch Albom. The novel starts with Albom recalling memories from when he was a student at Brandeis University. He introduced Morrie Schwartz as his favorite professor whom he has not seen in sixteen years. After hearing the news that his favorite professor is suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) he remembers the promise he made to him at graduation, to always keep in touch with him.

Many people ask themselves what are the important things in life and how can they live their lives to the fullest. In the book Tuesdays with Morrie, the protagonist, Morrie, teaches a young friend, Mitch what is really important in life. Morrie is an old professor of Mitch’s and a dear friend. Morrie was diagnosed with ALS and was almost out of time. Mitch came to Morrie to learn the important knowledge that Morrie wanted to share with him so that his life might be better and more prosperous. Morrie slowly began to change Mitch’s life and put him back on to the right path. The valuable lessons on which Morrie lectures Mitch, can lead to having a great and wonderful life.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a about a young man and his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who got reacquainted after many years of lost contact. It all starts with Mitch Albom, one of Morrie’s pupils, who graduated from Brandeis University. Mitch had given a briefcase to his instructor, Morrie, to remember their long history together. They had promised to keep in touch, but failed to honor their promise. After graduation, Mitch had decided that he wanted to be a musician and that this was how he was going to make his living. But after many failed music attempts, Mitch decided that he would become a journalist. It was not only his failed music career which gave him the idea of changing his career path, but also his uncle’s death from pancreatic cancer.

I suggested he read “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, by Greg McKeown. He has and is attempting to apply the principles in his life.

The book that I chose that made an impact in my life is Tuesdays with Morrie. In this book a man named Mitch Albom reunites with his old college professor. The sees him on the television, talking about how living with ALS had affected his life. They reunite at Morrie's home, and Mitch frequently flies to Morrie to have lectures, that always take place on Tuesdays. This book had made me look at life differently.

In life there are things people want and there are things people need. In the story “Tuesdays with Morrie”, by Mitch Albom, the author demonstrates that it is not the objects that you receive in life that matter but rather the love you give toward others. “Tuesdays with Morrie” is about a journey between an old professor and a previous student. This “Journey” for example, is not an outdoor adventure experienced physically, but rather a mental journey where the final destination is the heart. Most of this story takes place in Morrie’s house. Morrie has always been an active person. Whether it be on the dance floor or in the pool, Morrie was always moving around. Unfortunately this all changed when Morrie was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is a disease of the nervous system which unables a person to do everyday tasks. Mitchel, Mitch for short, had already graduated college and started a professional job when Morrie was diagnosed with ALS. One day Mitch was flipping through the channels on the Television when the name Morrie caught his attention. Morrie, Mitch’s old professor that he once loved and adored so much and lost touch with over the years was now dieing. After seeing the television clip Morrie decided to reach out to Morrie. Mitch ended up meeting his professor on Tuesday. Once reunited again they made it a planned to meet every Tuesday. Hence the title “Tuesdays with Morrie”. Every tuesday Mitch and Morrie would meet as planned. On those Tuesdays Mitch and Morrie would discuss everything. From family life to death, they discussed it all. Sadly as time went on, and the weeks went by Morrie passed away. Although he was gone physically his spirit stuck with many. Morrie showed that the only things that matter in life is the amount of love you can give. Morrie has demonstrated this by, always making time for others, teaching the youthful his knowing and understanding, and, lastly, placing his family and friends above himself.

“The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.”

In order to examine the benefits of incorporating Buddhist ideas for psychotherapy patients, we must first move past the common Western idea that Buddhism is too culture-bound and religious-oriented to be incorporated into Western societies. While many Eastern cultures do consider Buddhism as their primary religion, the philosophies behind the religious practices are psychologically based (Michalon 203). The Dalai Lama, one of the Buddhists primary religious leaders, agreed to this when he sad, “It is possible for people to adopt various Buddhist meditative techniques or mental training without being a Buddhist (Gay 172).” It is of no threat to the religion of any psychotherapy patient to be able to understand and incorporate Buddhist ideas into his or her way of life. In order to progress to a happier lifestyle, we must be able to open our minds to examine other philosophies and how we may benefit from them. Tibetan Buddhism offers a very philosophical approach to a happier and more compassionate way of thinking.

The quote comes from the story of a man who abandoned all he previously had in order to seek enlightenment and happiness through Zen Buddhism. In essence, he was trying to escape from the life of suffering he was currently living. He is receiving from harada-roshi what can be regarded as one of the core beliefs of the Buddhist religion. That is that every person has the ability to be a wise as the Buddha, but he can only achieve it through discipline.

October 22 (attended): Discussion was centered around Buddhism, exploring aspects of the two main schools of thought, Theravada and Mahayana. Going over the pillars of Theravada Buddhism we learned how the religion is structured in such a manner that people do not have to practice in a specific location or to a specific deity, but that the school is very introspective and is isolated path to enlightenment. Also discussing the difference between being in an elevated state of bliss and actual enlightenment. Theravada is structured in such a way that it does not follow the current template of devotion, care and practice that religion has set throughout time rather it focuses on following the tenets that the left behind, and allowing each individual to tread their own path.

In the book Encountering Buddhism edited by Seth Robert Segal is found to only cited this passage and having stated that, “Buddhism is a form of radical empiricism. The Buddha taught that one should not to take his word on