Which books sit on your nightstand?

[Taomeow]

50 minutes ago, steve said:

 Of note for this forum, Tolstoy developed a deep appreciation for Daoist philosophy to the point of translating the Dao De Jing into Russian from English, German, and French translations.

 

I didn't know that.  Went to google (Russian version) and found out that in Tolstoy's time, most prominent Russian sinologists had a rather skeptical view of Laozi and Tolstoy was sort of arguing with them and wrote a short work, The Teachings of Laozi, popularizing him from the Christian POV.  Not really a translation, more like an intro.  I'll have to read it (so far only found some quotes from it.)

Thanks for mentioning it, that's interesting.   

[Kojiro]

42 minutes ago, steve said:

 

I've read The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment. I was deeply affected by Crime and Punishment but found Brothers to be a bit tiresome and overly theological for my taste. 

crime and punishment is considered one of the best novels ever written

[doc benway]

33 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

I didn't know that.  Went to google (Russian version) and found out that in Tolstoy's time, most prominent Russian sinologists had a rather skeptical view of Laozi and Tolstoy was sort of arguing with them and wrote a short work, The Teachings of Laozi, popularizing him from the Christian POV.  Not really a translation, more like an intro.  I'll have to read it (so far only found some quotes from it.)

Thanks for mentioning it, that's interesting.   

 

I’ve read different accounts. Some claim he translated it, others say he supervised or proofread a translation done by one of his acolytes and added an introduction. It seems that the Laozi was under-appreciated in Russia in his time and he made some attempts to change that. Your command of the language should help you get to the bottom of it. 

[silent thunder]

23 hours ago, steve said:

Slowly working my way through a brilliant book that requires a bit of patience and effort but offers worthwhile rewards.

A look at the nature of reality as seen through the eyes of one of the 20th century's most influential physicists.

 

Life changing work.  Incredible insight.  Bohm's work with Krushnamurti spanned 35 years after he was ousted from the American physics scene by Oppenheimer and Einstein.  He was simply too far ahead of them to be tolerated.

 

One of my all time Heroes!

I have a study I compiled some years ago on he and DT Suzuki, comparing their descriptions of life and cosmology.  Many of their insights are nigh on word for word identical.  Reminiscent of Fritjoff Capra's insights into the similarities of Quantum Theory, Taoist, Zen and Brahmanic Cosmology, in his seminal work The Tao of Physics.

Edited July 1 by silent thunder

[Kojiro]

46 minutes ago, silent thunder said:

Life changing work.  Incredible insight.  Bohm's work with Krushnamurti spanned 35 years after he was ousted from the American physics scene by Oppenheimer and Einstein.  He was simply too far ahead of them to be tolerated.

 

One of my all time Heroes!

I have a study I compiled some years ago on he and DT Suzuki, comparing their descriptions of life and cosmology.  Many of their insights are nigh on word for word identical.  Reminiscent of Fritjoff Capra's insights into the similarities of Quantum Theory, Taoist, Zen and Brahmanic Cosmology, in his seminal work The Tao of Physics.

you seem well acquainted with literature and philosophy. May I ask you (i know i repeat myself! he was an important figure in my early 20s) your opinion about Dostoievski? what do you think about him? what are your favourite books? thanks!

[silent thunder]

On 7/1/2024 at 9:39 AM, Kojiro said:

you seem well acquainted with literature and philosophy. May I ask you (i know i repeat myself! he was an important figure in my early 20s) your opinion about Dostoievski? what do you think about him? what are your favourite books? thanks!

D's writings were pivotal experiences for me. 

Edited July 15 by silent thunder

[liminal_luke]

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.

 

Here´s one for the Bums who are looking for a book from a trans author about trans people.  Surprisingly, the trans people in this novel are neither good nor bad, but complex and nuanced characters like the rest of us.  Not for everyone but eye-opening.

 

Best line so far: Many people think a trans woman´s deepest desire is to live in her true gender, but actually it is to always stand in good lighting.

Edited July 21 by liminal_luke

[Giles]

 

 

Edited August 6 by Giles

[Giles]

 

Quote Nund Rishi (1378–1440) is considered one of the most important Sufi poets from Kashmir. He is revered as the 'flag-bearer of Kashmir' ('Alamdār-e Kashmir), and his poems draw upon the hyperlocal imagery of the Kashmiri literary universe. Despite his popular status as a spiritual successor of Lal Ded, Nund Rishi's poetry has received next to no attention in modern scholarship. This book embodies Abir Bazaz's enduring engagement with the poetic corpus of Nund Rishi. By unpacking the cryptic philosophical and philological riddles in the poems, Bazaz unearths a negative theology in Nund Rishi's mystical poetry. He argues convincingly that the themes of Islam, Death, the Nothing and the Apocalyptic in these poems reveal an existential politics. Bazaz further suggests that the apophatic style of Nund Rishi's poems is in turn mirrored in mystical poetry across South Asia and the larger Indo-Persian world.   ❤️

[SpiritualHulk]

Mostly books by Caucasian writers, like Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and Machiavelli's The Prince. I just think it's about time I learn about my Asian heritage, so things are changing.

 

I also have two Encyclopedia-esque philosophy books. And several books about weight training.

[Sanity Check]

[DBT]

For me, it is a book by John O Donahue called Anam Cara (soul friend). It is about Celtic wisdom, a beautiful book.

[doc benway]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:33 AM, DBT said:

For me, it is a book by John O Donahue called Anam Cara (soul friend). It is about Celtic wisdom, a beautiful book.

 

I love Anam Cara and John’s other writings. I often find myself quoting him, he has such a way with language and with connecting art, creativity, and spirituality. I also enjoy listening to him speak, such a lovely brogue.

[doc benway]

Currently reading these three - the first two slowly. War and Peace just keeps getting better and better! Many thanks to @liminal_luke for turning me on to the slow read on Substack!

 

[DBT]

1 hour ago, doc benway said:

 

I love Anam Cara and John’s other writings. I often find myself quoting him, he has such a way with language and with connecting art, creativity, and spirituality. I also enjoy listening to him speak, such a lovely brogue.

Last week I posted “A Celtic Blessing “, this was from the book Anam Cara. I have given a copy of Anam Cara to each of my true friends.

[doc benway]

2 hours ago, DBT said:

Last week I posted “A Celtic Blessing “, this was from the book Anam Cara. I have given a copy of Anam Cara to each of my true friends.

 

I love his book The Four Elements: Reflections on Nature. I gave a copy to my Bön teacher years ago.

[Giles]

 

Quote

To some extent, what P.B. offered is offered by every guru. The implicit promises he made are made by all gurus, spiritual, psychoanalytic, or otherwise. P.B. offered wisdom, not knowledge; divine love, not human regard; visions, not insight; access to secret forces, not mediation; magic powers, not persuasion; mystery, secrecy, obfuscation, and paranoia. Every guru claims to know something you cannot know by yourself or through ordinary channels. All gurus promise access to a hidden reality if only you will follow their teaching, accept their authority, hand your life over to them. Every guru offers to read your past, or your future, or a past birth, or your hidden thoughts—and promises that you will develop the same ability. But you must always subordinate yourself to the guru. Certain questions are off limits. There are things you cannot know about the guru and the guru’s personal life. To ask is at best impolite, at worst apostasy. Every doubt about the guru is a reflection of your own unworthiness, or the influence of an external evil force. You are not just expected to accept irrationality, you are to revel in it. The more obscure the action of the guru, the more likely it is to be right, to be cherished. Ultimately, you cannot admire the guru, you must worship him. You must obey him, you must humble yourself, for the greater he is, the less you are—until you too reach the inner circle and can start abusing other people the way your guru abused you. All of this is in the very nature of being a guru.
Every guru inflicts tyranny upon his disciples, every guru exploits his chelas, every guru dominates the student. Abuse is part of the definition, whether it is financial, emotional, sexual, physical, or intellectual. Once in, there is no escape. The best way out is never to go in.
To see deep into the structure of one tyranny is to understand something basic about all forms of oppression. It is totalitarian. Like other authoritarian systems, it requires a suspension and suppression of critical questioning; it demands unquestioning submission to a rigid hierarchical structure; it centers on a cult of personality, and it engenders personal intrusion and abuse.

As for P.B., I can’t find it in my heart to hate him, or even to despise him. I am still left with the mystery of a human being who is more than the sum of his ignorance and his pretense. P.B. was less then he thought, but also more. He knew little, but he had a zest for life that was contagious and worth emulating. It was exciting to be in his presence, and it would have been just as exciting without all the hocus pocus and mumbo-jumbo, though he probably felt he could make no mark in the world without it. He brought solace and joy to many by making claims that were not true. I can fault him. I cannot forget him.

 

 

 

Edited September 4 by Giles

[Sir Darius the Clairvoyent]

My «bible(s)»

[Taomeow]

Got a first (1927) edition too, it jumped at me from an old books shelf in a store

 

[心神 ~]

 

"Right now: imagine dying. Make it what you want. You could be in your bedroom, on a lonesome hill, or in a beautiful hotel. Whatever you want. What is the season? What time of day is it? Perhaps you want to lie in sweet summer grass and watch the sun rise over the ocean. Imagine that. Perhaps you want to be cuddled in a soft bed, listening to Mozart—or Beyoncé. Do you want to be alone? Is there a particular hand you want to hold? Do you smell the faint scent of baking bread—or Chanel No. 19? Close your eyes. Feel the grass. The silk sheets. The skin of the loving hand. Hear the long-held note. Dance a little. Smell the bread. Imagine that."

 

Advice for Future Corpses by Sallie Tisdale

 

[心神 ~]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:28 PM, Unota said:

 

On my 'currently reading' shelf sits 'Selected Poems' by James Tate, 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka, and 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

 

 

Braiding Sweetgrass is another nightstand book of mine, it's so wonderful. It taught me how to stand with the trees. I haven't read her book Gathering Moss yet, but it's on my reading list.

 

[doc benway]

 

Currently reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. I am blown away by her literary voice and her ability to incorporate her wisdom, she’s a Zen nun, into her fiction. I previously read her book, The Book of Form and Emptiness. It took me a long time to get into that one and I gave up a few times, but once it grabbed me it didn’t let go and the ending was beautiful and powerful. I’m finding A Tale for the Time Being to be more accessible and engaging. It’s inspired by chapter 11 of the Shobogenzo by Dogen Eihei, for anyone familiar with that masterwork.

 

 

[doc benway]

I immediately began rereading A Tale for the Time Being. Astonishing.