The Best Books You Have Read

[Guest guest]

Oh, I forgot - Walt Whitman

and D.H. lawrence.

and T.S. Eliot

and Dylan Thomas,

and the beloved Rumi.

So many------ How could I forget?

Unless we met

in this space of our being crazy.

Love thank you Mazie.

And what about the Divine Hafiz?

I am drunk in his tavern to.

I love the way love does to please.

The hafiz of me and you.

Sleepy eric.

Dear Friends,

Narrowing down the titles to seven is as close I can come to listing

the books that were instrumental in turning another corner for me and

my sadhana. Strangley, these books aren't all spiritual, they just

held a new view for me to see and then move on to another part of my

life's lessons. They are these, not in order of importance either:

1) Rumi and Hafiz, numerous translations, mainly Barks and Ladinsky

2) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

3) The Bhagavad-Gita

4) Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean Pierre de Cassaude

5) The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi

6) Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

7) Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl

I may as well mention that "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" also was a

wide-open window for me. And "Gitanjali" by "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman

Tagore. "Gulliver's Travels" or "The Three World's of Gulliver" were

real adventures for me into exploration of seeing things from a

larger view when I was a child. For some reason, the book called "The

Tale of Genji" had a real effect on me. That makes eleven books I've

mentioned so I might as well round it to an even dozen, the last

mentioned being "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. Good old Walt

spoke openly to my heart and it was definitely a favorite. So, there

you have it.

Love, Peace,

Mazie

/join

 

All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights,

perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and

subside back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not

different than the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of

the nature of Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always

Present. It is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart

to be the Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the

Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It

Self. Welcome all to a.

Your use of is subject to

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Narrowing down the titles to seven is as close I can come to listing

the books that were instrumental in turning another corner for me and

my sadhana. Strangley, these books aren't all spiritual, they just

held a new view for me to see and then move on to another part of my

life's lessons. They are these, not in order of importance either:

 

1) Rumi and Hafiz, numerous translations, mainly Barks and Ladinsky

2) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

3) The Bhagavad-Gita

4) Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean Pierre de Cassaude

5) The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi

6) Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

7) Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl

 

I may as well mention that "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" also was a

wide-open window for me. And "Gitanjali" by Rabindranath

Tagore. "Gulliver's Travels" or "The Three World's of Gulliver" were

real adventures for me into exploration of seeing things from a

larger view when I was a child. For some reason, the book called "The

Tale of Genji" had a real effect on me. That makes eleven books I've

mentioned so I might as well round it to an even dozen, the last

mentioned being "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. Good old Walt

spoke openly to my heart and it was definitely a favorite. So, there

you have it.

 

Love, Peace,

Mazie

[Guest guest]

Hi Mazie,

 

Interesting list! What is Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl about?

 

Love,

 

--Greg

 

At 11:47 PM 2/8/02 +0000, mazie_l wrote:

>Dear Friends,

>

>Narrowing down the titles to seven is as close I can come to listing

>the books that were instrumental in turning another corner for me and

>my sadhana. Strangley, these books aren't all spiritual, they just

>held a new view for me to see and then move on to another part of my

>life's lessons. They are these, not in order of importance either:

>

>1) Rumi and Hafiz, numerous translations, mainly Barks and Ladinsky

>2) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

>3) The Bhagavad-Gita

>4) Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean Pierre de Cassaude

>5) The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi

>6) Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

>7) Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl

>

>I may as well mention that "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" also was a

>wide-open window for me. And "Gitanjali" by Rabindranath

>Tagore. "Gulliver's Travels" or "The Three World's of Gulliver" were

>real adventures for me into exploration of seeing things from a

>larger view when I was a child. For some reason, the book called "The

>Tale of Genji" had a real effect on me. That makes eleven books I've

>mentioned so I might as well round it to an even dozen, the last

>mentioned being "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. Good old Walt

>spoke openly to my heart and it was definitely a favorite. So, there

>you have it.

>

>Love, Peace,

>Mazie

[Guest guest]

, Gregory Goode <goode@D...> wrote:

> Hi Mazie,

>

> Interesting list! What is Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl about?

>

> Love,

>

> --Greg

 

Dear Greg,

 

Fatu Hiva is Heyerdahl's account of how he and his young wife, Liv,

chucked it all and left civilization. He was 22 and she 20 when they

wanted to try an experiment if modern man could just go back to the

basics and live like the islanders did so long before. They chose the

Marquesas Islands, and this was in the mid to late thirties I believe

that he did this. He was, as he put it, "the original hippie." They

took nothing except the few specimen bottles to gather flora and

fauna for study at a later date. They took no medicines, no food, no

building supplies, nothing other than what they could carry in their

hands. It's a really exciting read.

 

Love, Peace,

Mazie

>

> At 11:47 PM 2/8/02 +0000, mazie_l wrote:

> >Dear Friends,

> >

> >Narrowing down the titles to seven is as close I can come to

listing

> >the books that were instrumental in turning another corner for me

and

> >my sadhana. Strangley, these books aren't all spiritual, they just

> >held a new view for me to see and then move on to another part of

my

> >life's lessons. They are these, not in order of importance either:

> >

> >1) Rumi and Hafiz, numerous translations, mainly Barks and Ladinsky

> >2) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

> >3) The Bhagavad-Gita

> >4) Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean Pierre de Cassaude

> >5) The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi

> >6) Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

> >7) Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl

> >

> >I may as well mention that "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" also

was a

> >wide-open window for me. And "Gitanjali" by Rabindranath

> >Tagore. "Gulliver's Travels" or "The Three World's of Gulliver"

were

> >real adventures for me into exploration of seeing things from a

> >larger view when I was a child. For some reason, the book

called "The

> >Tale of Genji" had a real effect on me. That makes eleven books

I've

> >mentioned so I might as well round it to an even dozen, the last

> >mentioned being "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. Good old Walt

> >spoke openly to my heart and it was definitely a favorite. So,

there

> >you have it.

> >

> >Love, Peace,

> >Mazie

[Guest guest]

, Gregory Goode <goode@D...> wrote:

> The results of this deconstruction, the rippling effects, were no

intellectual game. I really threw myself wholeheartedly into the

whole enchilada. Stirnerism wasn't a process of acquiring new

beliefs, but of beliefs being gleefully ridiculed and joyously left

in the dust. It's like I was being deprogrammed to the cellular

level. It didn't permit any other forms of intellectualized idealism

to take root again in me!

>

 

For some, U.G. Krishnamurti has a similar effect :-).

 

Peace,

 

Tim

[Guest guest]

> > What have been books that have impacted you the most.

 

I have enjoyed reading all your selections - here are some of mine:

 

Autobiography of a Yogi - Yogananda

I Am that - Nissargadatta

Bhagavad Gita

Beyond the Himalayas - M Macdonald Bayne

Yoga of the Christ - M Macdonald Bayne

Ponder on this - A Bailey (a compilation)

Maitreyas Mission 1-3 - B Creme

Man of Miracles (Sathya Sai Baba) - H Murphet

Notebooks of Paul Brunton

Bits & Bobs of Krishnurmuti

 

Wow. Could include so many more - these come to mind though as having

particular great impact

Haven't read any Ramana fully yet, though i recently bought "Be as you are"

 

Blessings

Sai

[Guest guest]

Hi Greg,

 

sorry for the late reply; I had been away from my desk.

 

It was so interesting to read your post. In fact, I read it several times,

to get a good feel for what seems to have been an important part of your

philosophical evolution, and, as I will readily admit, also to compare your

experiences with some past soul-searching that I had done in my own life.

 

It seems to me that each one of us went through similar phases, but in a

different order. In my younger years life seemed to me an experience very

much deficient of true meaning, everything seemed to happen without rhyme or

reason. I couldn't see any sense in religion or metaphysics which seemed

contradictory and logically inconsistent. I read about God and Eternal Life

but couldn't see any evidence of His interest in us in the tragic insecurity

of our existence. I heard ministers preach about salvation, but they didn't

look any "saved" to me. So I became very much disillusioned and sarcastic,

and when I first read Stirner at the age of seventeen it didn't take this

book for me to be deconstructed because I already was.

 

But I kept looking for something that would satisfy my soul, reading

everything I could lay my hands on, and finally read a book on sankhya

philosophy which appealed to me in a way never felt before. Then I slowly

became more acquainted with that great treasure trove of Indian philosophy

which, to me, is unique in that it combines a philosophical system with a

path towards actual experience of the things Divine. And as time went by I

found myself "reconstructed" in this direction, so much so that I would not

mind being called an "idealist" now. :-)

 

It was also through the intermediary of sankhya philosophy that I finally

gained a better understanding of my own Christian roots, and of other

religions as well.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Michael

 

 

> -----Ursprungliche Nachricht-----

> Von: Gregory Goode [goode]

> Gesendet: Friday, February 08, 2002 23:54

> An: ;

> Betreff: Re: Re: The best books you have read

>

>

> Hi Michael,

>

> You are the only person I recall who ever heard of Max Stirner,

> not including a few academic colleagues!

>

> What Stirner's book did for me was to globally deconstruct the

> world of my youthful idealism. I had formed a very tight

> philosophy, which took years to build up, through my teens and

> early 20's. I saw the world as a systematic unity, where logic,

> metaphysics, ethics, political truths were totally coherent. But

> Stirner helped explode that to fragments. And I can tell you,

> once a person experiences one global deconstruction, the other

> kinds (Structuralism, Behaviorism, Advaita, etc.) are merely

> different flavors. It is thought that Nietzcshe read Stirner in

> school. Stirner said "God is dead" about 40 years before Nietzsche.

>

> Before reading Stirner's unique book in the early 70's, I was a

> true believer in the eternity of love, reason, and the rational

> nature of man. I truly and deeply believed that Aristotelian

> logic was the basis of the entire structure of the universe. I

> believed that mysticism and religion and emotion were harmful

> irratio and led to the worst horrors in the world. In short, I

> was an Objectivist, a Randian, a follower of Ayn Rand and

> Nathaniel Branden.

>

> I was married to a fellow Objectivist. We divorced, which

> according to Objectivism is never supposed to happen when both

> people value reason above all else. I was devastated, horrified,

> depressed, and alone.

>

> So I re-examined all the philosophies I had digested. I saw some

> logical flaws in Rand, inconsistent with her own premises.

> Later, from reading various texts on Libertarianism and political

> philosophy, I came across a reference to Stirner. I ordered and

> read the book and was amazed. Taking a few basic things for

> granted (e.g., a subjective center of experience), he

> deconstructed everything else in a way, as you know, has never

> been done before or since.

>

> The results of this deconstruction, the rippling effects, were no

> intellectual game. I really threw myself wholeheartedly into the

> whole enchilada. Stirnerism wasn't a process of acquiring new

> beliefs, but of beliefs being gleefully ridiculed and joyously

> left in the dust. It's like I was being deprogrammed to the

> cellular level. It didn't permit any other forms of

> intellectualized idealism to take root again in me!

>

> During grad school in Philosophy, about 12 years after I first

> read Stirner, I spent a year at the Universitaet zu Koeln

> studying him and other things.

>

> There were other chapters after that, but that's why I liked his book!

>

> Love,

>

> --Greg