Your Book Recommendation Please

[brilliantlydim]

What book would recommend to someone that is consumed contemplating the meaning of life, reality, spirituality, the self and how all of them are intertwined?

There are some very deep minds on here, and I can't think of a better place to ask.

Thank you

 

[zhoro]

The Yoga Vasistha

In the born-again zeal of my early days in these matters, I thought there was no better gift anyone could ever give to anyone else than this book. Now I know better It is only for very special occasions.

 

[Cognitive Heart]

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

 

[universecannon]

Be sure to check out The Book Bin


Left In The Dark, By Tony Wright and Graham Gynn

 

[dreamer042]

The Celestine Prophecy.

This.

Left In The Dark, By Tony Wright and Graham Gynn

This.


I think this one is worth reading:

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn

 

[Ufostrahlen]

Actually a trilogy:

Monroe, Robert (1971). Journeys Out of the Body (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 297.
Monroe, Robert (1985). Far Journeys (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 290.
Monroe, Robert (1994). Ultimate Journey (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 303.

 

[corpus callosum]

Lila by Robert M Pirsig is pretty thought-provoking.

 

[332211]

bardo tödöl - the tibetan book of the dead

 

[inaniel]

Up From Eden, Grace and Grit, and A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber


Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and The Myth of Freedom by Chogyam Trungpa


The Mustard Seed - Osho

 

[Godsmacker]

Atlas Shrugged answers all those questions and too many more. It's the most information overload i've ever received, more so than the time I ate a third of a gram of DMT and a third of a gram of harmine at the same thyme... be careful... that book will fluff you up.

Also, if you haven't read so already, I would HIGHLY recommend you read Moby Dick. That book is the best portrait of western society I have yet to experience in my many lifetimes.

 

[NotTwo]

Perfect Brilliant Stillness - David Carse
if you have any interest in non dualism, do read this!

Who Dies? - Stephen Levine

I Am That - Nisargadatta Maharaj

Ramana Maharshi and the path of Self-Knowledge - Arthur Osborne

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

Word Consciousness - Stanley Sobottka
makes the connection between quantum physics and non dualism

 

[Wolfnippletip]

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller sure points out some of life's absurdities well.

 

[universecannon]

Robert Anton Wilson's books Cosmic Trigger vol 1, and Prometheus Rising

 

[Cognitive Heart]

DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman

The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner

 

[tseuq]

What book would recommend to someone that is consumed contemplating the meaning of life, reality, spirituality, the self and how all of them are intertwined?

A cooking book and mainly stories for children contain almost every important information.

More intellectual theories can also be found from f.e. Ken Wilber. I like his integral approach.

tseuq

 

[Beelzebozo]

Other than the first book on this list, these aren't the usual suggestions for this sort of thing. However, I think if we're talking genuinely about stripping back the conditioning to let what's underneath shine through, these are the books I'd recommend:

"The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" by Alan Watts is a good starting place.

"Dumbing Us Down" by John Taylor Gatto and "Deschooling Our Lives" by Matt Hern will help you disentangle the conditioning left over from schooling (assuming you weren't homeschooled).

"Several Short Sentences On Writing" by Verlyn Klinkenborg will help you learn to use thought subversively and constructively, rather than to be at the mercy of unconscious assumptions.

"The Art of Loving" by Erich Fromm and "Love 2.0" by Barbara L. Frederickson, now that you've started deconditioning yourself, will point you towards Love, which is your birthright and your greatest and only real power. (And some might say, "Who you really are." )

And finally, "The Frank Book" is its own absurd meditation, which I recommend to balance out my other suggestions. :twisted:

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal, Golden Braid <- Douglas Hofstadter
Complexity: A Guided Tour <- Melanie Mitchell
Reaper Man <- Terry Pratchett
Small Gods <- Terry Pratchett

That's a good start.

Godsmaker: Really? Atlas Shrugged? *Really?*

Blessings
~ND

 

[endlessness]

Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

Im also with UC and recommend Cosmic Trigger 1 by RAW

Siddharta by Hermann Hesse is an easy yet deep and beautiful read.

 

[pinkoyd]

Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll mention it now.

+1 for Siddhartha.

 

[Swarupa]

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi