Post: #1

I'm going on vacation at the end of the year with a goal to relax for the first time in years. I'm currently building out my reading list and I'd like to read something on spirituality.

I'm a very cynical person and I'm want to open my mind a bit. I don't believe in god, the afterlife, reincarnation, souls, destiny, etc. I don't pray or meditate. I think organized religion is bullshit and that people choose to believe in fantasies to help them accept the reality that their life on earth sucks.

With that said, I've also never made an earnest attempt (besides reading the Old Testament when I was in college) to understand the other side. I'm not looking to be converted, but I am looking for a book on some aspect of spirituality that will make me question my own beliefs, potentially change my outlook on the world, and have practical advice that I can incorporate into my life.

Post: #2

I hear this one is pretty good.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCLW...d_i=507846

Post: #3

I don't believe in anything either or try not to.

Sure I have my assumptions, but usually I try to prove things myself:

The Road Taken by Eliott James - a cool guy who isn't much into organized religion or any kind of following:

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Taken-His-Thr...642&sr=1-1


Book goes through techniques on how to do out of body travel. No belief necessary - just do the exercises.

"How I learned Soul Travel"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Soul-T...157043056X


You might like it or not. Not that it really matters what we believe in. An ethical atheist is always better than a religious Psychopath.

Post: #4

Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse

Many Lives Many Masters
Brian Weiss

Post: #5

[quote='Dantes' pid='893109' dateline='1417361130']
Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse

Many Lives Many Masters
Brian Weiss


Tibetan Book of The Dead

Post: #6

Almost all contemporary books on "spirituality" are fraudulent to a greater or lesser extent. They are written by intelligent people who are dyed in the wool atheists but who try to pretend otherwise, because they fear what they perceive as the consequences of living in a "meaningless" world. Virtually all contemporary "religious" intellectuals fit this mold as well. They are atheists who do not even have the courage of their actual beliefs, and their writing leaves a bad taste of weakness, cowardice and mild fraudulence.

If you want, for whatever reason, to get a taste of how people who are genuinely and unaffectedly religious think and feel, you have to seek out narratives by men who are not intellectuals or professional writers, but who were driven for whatever reason to write about their experiences. These texts will not be mainly about "spirituality" but the unaffected faith of the author will inform and inflect their writing and their account of their experiences.

One such book is a memoir of an American officer who was a POW in Vietnam for 5 years:

"Five Years to Freedom" by James N. Rowe

It is a great book, one of the best I've read. It is not a book about "spirituality" but it is as spiritual a text as there can be. If you want to get an actual taste for how an unaffectedly religious man -- and indeed, something of a saintly man -- responds to, at times, unbearable and extreme experience, you cannot do any better.

Post: #7

(11-30-2014 09:47 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  Book goes through techniques on how to do out of body travel. No belief necessary - just do the exercises.

"How I learned Soul Travel"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Soul-T...157043056X

Were you able to travel out of body after doing the exercises.

If so, please elaborate on the experience.

Post: #8

(11-30-2014 11:09 AM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  They are written by intelligent people who are dyed in the wool atheists but who try to pretend otherwise, because they fear what they perceive as the consequences of living in a "meaningless" world.

I've always felt that religious people have the same motivation for their beliefs.

(11-30-2014 11:09 AM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  If you want, for whatever reason, to get a taste of how people who are genuinely and unaffectedly religious think and feel, you have to seek out narratives by men who are not intellectuals or professional writers, but who were driven for whatever reason to write about their experiences. These texts will not be mainly about "spirituality" but the unaffected faith of the author will inform and inflect their writing and their account of their experiences.

One such book is a memoir of an American officer who was a POW in Vietnam for 5 years:

"Five Years to Freedom" by James N. Rowe

It is a great book, one of the best I've read. It is not a book about "spirituality" but it is as spiritual a text as there can be. If you want to get an actual taste for how an unaffectedly religious man -- and indeed, something of a saintly man -- responds to, at times, unbearable and extreme experience, you cannot do any better.

Sounds fascinating. It's on my short list. Thanks.

Post: #9

(11-30-2014 11:39 AM)champ Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 09:47 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  Book goes through techniques on how to do out of body travel. No belief necessary - just do the exercises.

"How I learned Soul Travel"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Soul-T...157043056X

Were you able to travel out of body after doing the exercises.

If so, please elaborate on the experience.

Yes - I've had a couple of occasions, where I projected or better said became aware of being somewhere else in full consciousness. Meanwhile my body was in contemplation below. In one occasion I just saw my body while another time I was on an inner plane on some street. I guess it is similar to what the saints sometimes report at having been on some inner "heaven".

The first author Eliott James became quite good at it.

I am not even as disciplined as this Terrill Wilson who wrote the Soul Travel book, but I experienced similar stuff.

I also met a few individuals who had trained themselves to have this ability at a high level. 2 women I met managed to experience out-of-body regularly - almost daily, but they could not control it. That means that they projected somewhere and became aware of being there.

Only one guy I met could control it completely. His ability was so exact, that he could likely focus on a given commentator here and then describe the place you are at right now. In any case this ability is helpful usually for expanded spiritual learning, as other facets normally come along with doing those exercises.

What I also liked about it is that skepticism is actually helpful in learning it.

Post: #10

The 4 Agreements and The 5th Agreement (Don Miguel Ruiz), based on Toltec teachings.

Also really enjoyed Rasta Heart by Robert Roskind.

http://www.amazon.com/Rasta-Heart-Journe...asta+Heart

Not sure if it qualifies as "spirituality", but I really enjoyed Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins, and highly recommend it.

Post: #11

Journey of Souls - Michael Newton

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Souls-Stud...1567184855

Post: #12

Probably anything by

Alan Watts

Post: #13

The Tao Te Ching.

Post: #14

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Post: #15

I second the Tao Te Ching and also liked The Power of Now and would recommend it, although I do think it's overrated.

Post: #16

(11-30-2014 11:43 AM)champ Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 11:09 AM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  They are written by intelligent people who are dyed in the wool atheists but who try to pretend otherwise, because they fear what they perceive as the consequences of living in a "meaningless" world.

I've always felt that religious people have the same motivation for their beliefs.

champ, not to derail the thread, but I believe this idea of "meaninglessness" is of great importance. It is a universally shared belief among the intelligent people of our time (and going back a very long time already) that the world is objectively "meaningless" or without purpose. Many of the ideological contortions of this time, including but not limited to the kind of fraudulent religiosity I'm talking about, are reactions to this fundamental belief or attempts to escape it. I wrote about that in this post:

/thread-37629.html

Yet, in my opinion, this entire idea -- which amounts to the dominant metaphysics of our time, and which might as well be called nihilism -- is rooted in a confusion. I discussed this in a number of earlier posts that you might be interested in. See for example:

/thread-35154-...#pid706095,

/thread-35154-...#pid705967

(and other posts in that thread)

/thread-38063-...#pid778968

/thread-37154-...#pid755395

Some of these posts might be a bit heavy going at times, but I hope that something can nevertheless be taken from them.

Again, I have no desire to derail the thread, but this is an important and deep subject. I feel that intelligent men who, inevitably, reflect now and then on these abstract questions of spirituality and meaning, deserve better than the seeming alternatives of a "soulless" atheism or a fundamentally fraudulent pretense at religion, all saturated through and through by the same unspoken dread and conviction of taken-for-granted objective "meaninglessness".

Post: #17

(11-30-2014 04:49 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

I second this and add Jed McKenna's Trilogy on enlightenment (first thing you'll find if you google his name)

Post: #18

I am going to emphasize a book that was already recommended to you by Dantes: "Siddhartha", by Hermann Hesse.

While not technical in any way, it will present you a spiritualized outlook of day to day life.

I read that book when I was 19 and it was a life changer.

Post: #19

Peter Ralston, The Book of Not Knowing: Exploring the True Nature of Self, Mind, and Consciousness.

Post: #20

As someone who has grown up without religion, belief or church, I've read a lot of books on religion and spirituality. My #1 recommendation is

The Tao of Pooh

Post: #21

'What the Buddha Taught' by Walpola Rahula is a concise and pragmatic guide to Buddhism. There are no religious trappings or mystical concepts in the book. Buddhism is presented as a way of relating to oneself and the world that will facilitate freedom from suffering.

The explanation of non-attachment was a revelation to me and profoundly changed my outlook on life.

(11-30-2014 03:53 PM)Al Sahab Wrote:  The Tao Te Ching.

I think the Tao Te Ching is one of the most beautiful and poetic books I have ever read. It taught me to be humble and to endeavour to live in harmony with others. However I have sadly concluded that conducting myself in this way will often lead others to perceive me as weak.

In this world, I believe that it is important to be assertive and even confrontational should the situation demand it. This seems to go against the core teachings of Lao Tzu.

These days I generally prefer Sun Tzu to Lao Tzu.

According to legend, Lao Tzu was so disillusioned with the evil of men that he left civilization behind and rode out into the wilderness on a water buffalo.

I thought a lot about that.

Post: #22

Another user recommended this to me:

Paul Tournier, A Place For You.

Post: #23

David Deida (the Way of the Superior man) is great too esp. as spirituality pertains to masculine energy, self0improvement & game.

Post: #24

(12-01-2014 10:53 AM)Robert JS Wrote:  I think the Tao Te Ching is one of the most beautiful and poetic books I have ever read. It taught me to be humble and to endeavour to live in harmony with others. However I have sadly concluded that conducting myself in this way will often lead others to perceive me as weak.

In this world, I believe that it is important to be assertive and even confrontational should the situation demand it. This seems to go against the core teachings of Lao Tzu.

These days I generally prefer Sun Tzu to Lao Tzu.

According to legend, Lao Tzu was so disillusioned with the evil of men that he left civilization behind and rode out into the wilderness on a water buffalo.

I thought a lot about that.

I have always seen compassion as being the perfect balance of selfish and selfless. In that sense, being assertive can sometimes be necessary for harmony.

Humility is also a great enabler of assertion. When pride and unnecessary aspects of the ego affect your interactions, assertion can be misguided. The negation of this baggage through humility gives a focus and purpose to the assertion, and the spirit of compassion makes such assertions more acceptable.

The Tao Te Ching gave me confidence and humility because of its metaphysics, but I understand your reservations.

To get back on topic - Siddhartha is a great, easy read. I second that recommendation.

Also see the perennial philosophers for an alternative perspective on orthodox religion, if you are interested.

Finally, I'd add my own opinion on spirituality:

We don't know just how deep the mystery of the universe is, and philosophically we will never truly know.

People run their mouths off about religion vs atheism vs new age spirituality vs agnosticism. Intellectually, they are all headless chickens as per the insoluble philosophical problem.

I have never gotten into the new agey stuff mainly because it seems half baked.

One thing is sure, though: the sages, scholars, saints and practitioners of religion had to attend to the reality of the soul. Contemplating God is contemplating reality within and without; atheism foregoes that link. Human psychology is not affected by the big bang, but the purity of souls is contingent on God's nature, for example.

This ethical holism is one of the most beautiful aspects of religion for me, and sways me from my hardcore agnosticism. The macrocosm within the microcosm means that you are always at home in a universe of divine love.

These points are more mystical than anything else. If you like the ideas then I would recommend texts on Sufism, Taoism, Hindu metaphysics and such.

Post: #25

(12-02-2014 07:13 PM)Al Sahab Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 10:53 AM)Robert JS Wrote:  I think the Tao Te Ching is one of the most beautiful and poetic books I have ever read. It taught me to be humble and to endeavour to live in harmony with others. However I have sadly concluded that conducting myself in this way will often lead others to perceive me as weak.

In this world, I believe that it is important to be assertive and even confrontational should the situation demand it. This seems to go against the core teachings of Lao Tzu.

These days I generally prefer Sun Tzu to Lao Tzu.

According to legend, Lao Tzu was so disillusioned with the evil of men that he left civilization behind and rode out into the wilderness on a water buffalo.

I thought a lot about that.

I have always seen compassion as being the perfect balance of selfish and selfless. In that sense, being assertive can sometimes be necessary for harmony.

Humility is also a great enabler of assertion. When pride and unnecessary aspects of the ego affect your interactions, assertion can be misguided. The negation of this baggage through humility gives a focus and purpose to the assertion, and the spirit of compassion makes such assertions more acceptable.

The Tao Te Ching gave me confidence and humility because of its metaphysics, but I understand your reservations.

To get back on topic - Siddhartha is a great, easy read. I second that recommendation.

Also see the perennial philosophers for an alternative perspective on orthodox religion, if you are interested.

Finally, I'd add my own opinion on spirituality:

We don't know just how deep the mystery of the universe is, and philosophically we will never truly know.

People run their mouths off about religion vs atheism vs new age spirituality vs agnosticism. Intellectually, they are all headless chickens as per the insoluble philosophical problem.

I have never gotten into the new agey stuff mainly because it seems half baked.

One thing is sure, though: the sages, scholars, saints and practitioners of religion had to attend to the reality of the soul. Contemplating God is contemplating reality within and without; atheism foregoes that link. Human psychology is not affected by the big bang, but the purity of souls is contingent on God's nature, for example.

This ethical holism is one of the most beautiful aspects of religion for me, and sways me from my hardcore agnosticism. The macrocosm within the microcosm means that you are always at home in a universe of divine love.

These points are more mystical than anything else. If you like the ideas then I would recommend texts on Sufism, Taoism, Hindu metaphysics and such.

Fantastic post!