Lao Sun Tao Posted August 13, 2016 (edited) I could name a few books but I prefer to jazz it up a beat. Edited August 13, 2016 by Lao Sun Tao 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spotless Posted August 14, 2016 (edited) I was brought up in a Catholic family and the oddity of the bible struck me at a very young age. The "teaching" seemed inherently off and strange - sad and twisted. It struck me with facination that even my father who was very intelligent could actually believe in the general beliefs of the particular offshoot we participated in. The pain and contortion of the church services and the general morbidity of what seemed an obvious concoction. Yet I was about 7 when concluding these things and looked into them further - not trying to prove myself wrong or right but to explore further what seemed a truly derailed belief system. I became an Alter Boy and for a time by my own request attended church everyday - these experiences allowed for observation and feeling. I came to see Spirit in a whole new and positive way but also understood how unfortunate this mangled system and its effect upon the parishioners was. There had to be something better - something that spoke to spirit with truth and not the cavalcade of misery and dearth and unwarranted fear. I had felt like I was living with an alien family in a mostly alien land of believers in a most unwholesome and ungodly religion/concoction that while it had glimmers of real spirit - it was drowned in a wormy compost of dogma and dis-ease. Edited August 15, 2016 by Spotless 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fu_doggy Posted August 14, 2016 Good thread, hope it keeps going. For me the book that changed my outlook on life, spirituality and the human condition was The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky. All of Dostoevsky's books are outstanding, but the Brothers Karamazov offers insights into human nature that I have not seen from anywhere else. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lifeforce Posted August 17, 2016 Even though I never went on to practice Indian yoga, Autobiography of a Yogi set me off on the spiritual path. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wu Ming Jen Posted August 17, 2016 I would also have to say after reading the bible I found it so disturbing that I needed an alternative with out all the gross stuff in the bible (very far from holy). Taoist philosophy and all the classics reaffirmed my own intuition of truly being with all that is and the best teacher of all things nature is not divorced or separated from being. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted August 17, 2016 so, so many too many to ever fully list but the most potent and immediate that come to mind the king james bible tao te jing talmud the cave the origin tales of many of the north american precolumbian cultures mabyn of the mabinogion yellow emperor's classic of medicine prometheus rising the power of now tibetan book of the dead the grand inquisitor the origin of satan nag hammadi as a child specifically the king james bible the hobbit the giving tree I was also exposed to george carlin at the age of 8 or so. He had a very potent impact as an example of a rare type of adult to me. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dust Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) Alan Watts changed my perspective a lot early on. Can't be sure now, so long ago...! but I think stumbling across his lectures/books when I was in my late teens first got me looking deeper into Eastern philosophy. Without his particularly accessible and logical take on all the Eastern stuff, I'd probably have ignored them in favour of the Western stuff we were being taught already and missed out on some serious ideas. I remember studying Plato, Kant, Mill, Marx, Sartre, Descartes, Locke, and Russell, among others, but not a one had the same long-term effect as the TTC. Though maybe that's cos I had no idea what the TTC was talking about...(and still don't..) Either way, if it hadn't been for both Alan and the TTC (and a little bit of weed) I would surely not be quite the same person right now. Also On the Road when I was about 16. Edited September 12, 2016 by dustybeijing 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Astral Monk Posted September 13, 2016 Without a doubt, Paul Reps compilation Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. This opened up a whole new mind for me..and still does. I cant leave out W.Sommerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge. The path of the seeker is solitary, but honourable. 8) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Veezel Posted September 16, 2016 Mine would be: 1. All of Robert Greene's books. 2. The Tao of Pooh. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sagebrush Posted September 16, 2016 creative visualization Shakti Gawain 1988 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
