Q: I thought it would be a good idea to maybe have a thread for books you've read and liked for whatever reason, and want to suggest/recommend, to anyone who might be interested?
Open to all religions/spiritualities.
If anyone has any good Buddhist books to recommend, I would like to hear about those. Thanks.
"Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions" by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney
(1999)
From Forward: "In today's spirituality the depth of longing seems to be matched only by the depth of confusion. When traditional forms of religion lose their sway, people often turn to alternative forms of belief and practice. A generation ago, most such seekers were directing their aspirations toward the religions of Asia; today more and more are looking for something closer to home.. This book is meant to help meet this need."
Chapters include:
Jung and the Discovery of the Unconscious
Gnosticism: The Search for an Alien God
Finding the Inner Christ: Esoteric Christianity
A Ladder Between Heaven and Earth: The Kabbalah
The Return of the Pagans: Witchcraft and Neopaganism
Magicians: Sculptors of the Astral Light
Sufism: The Poles of Love and Knowledge
And after each chapter they list sources for further studies.
"People everywhere are tired of Religion 101 and are hungering for a peek behind the scenes of traditional religious and spiritual traditions. If you are among them, this book is a treasure. Highly recommended."
-Larry Dossey, M.D.
Name:Panluna •
Date: 05/18/07 21:03
A: The Devil's Apochrypha by John A.DeVito has an interesting premise though fictional will get your mind and imagination going.
Name:Panluna •
Date: 05/22/07 2:28
A: THE URANTIA BOOK
Name:Anchorite •
Date: 05/22/07 3:31
A: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Name:JMD •
Date: 05/22/07 4:09
A: "Ring of Power: The Abandoned Child, The Authoritarian Father, and the Disempowered Feminine"
"A Jungian Understanding of Wagner's Ring Cycle"
by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.
from Intro
"There are no good marriages or happy families in classical mythology. Everywhere there is hierarchy, with an authoritarian father figure... Women, as mortals, as goddesses, as feminine symbols - are, with few exceptions, oppressed, sacrificed, or humiliated"
[treated like whores, for one thing, just because we are women, and preached to about 'duty' and all that submissive nonsense.]
"Power rather than love is the ruling principle. Sons and daughters either bask in approval when they are obedient extensions of their father's will or they are sacrificed, rejected, abducted, punished, or ignored."
"The mythology of a culture, in this case Western civilization, instructs us about the values, patterns, and assumptions on which this culture is based. When we stop to examine our mythological heritage, we may be enlightened or appalled... by how much our mythology is about us."
"In this brilliant and provocative analysis of the dysfunctional family and patriarchal society, popular author and Jungian analyst Shinoda Bolen explores the process of enlightenment, empowerment, and healing that can be sparked by myth, drama, and metaphor..."
Name:Messiah •
Date: 05/22/07 7:04
A: "The Inevitable Dossier", 2006
Name:Panluna •
Date: 05/22/07 15:15
A: ASK YOUR ANGELS by Alma Daniels
THE REAL WITCHES 'YEAR by Kate West
365 GODDESS byPatricia Telesco
AN ANGEL A DAY by Margaret Neylon
CELESTIAL FORCASTER by Annie Bones
WITCHES ALL by Elizabeth Pepper
HOW TO MEET AND WORK WITH SPIRIT GUIDES by Ted Andrews
RAINBOWS FALLING ON MY HEAD by Al.G. Manning
THE JESUS FAMILY TOMB by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino
The HOLY BIBLE,any version.
IN THE BEGINNIGS by H.R.Hays
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT by Raymond Buckland
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF INCENSE OILS AND BREWS by Scott Cunningham
THE WITCHES BIBLE by Jan and Stewart Farrar
THE SATANIC BIBLE by LeVay
THE GOLDEN DAWN by Isreal Regardie
Name:Panluna •
Date: 05/22/07 16:22
A: I forgot to add to my previous post:
THE SECRETS OF HIGH MAGIC by Francis Melville
THE OTHER BIBLE edited by Willis Barnstone
TheTARA BOX by Gehlek Rimpoche
and all of Zechirah Sitchins books.
Name:Not Dattaswami •
Date: 05/22/07 18:04
A: ..
Name:Not Dattaswami •
Date: 05/23/07 3:49
A: .
Name:JMD •
Date: 05/25/07 5:12
A: "The Hidden Book in the Bible: The Discovery of the First Prose Masterpiece"
Richard E. Friedman
(1998)
"[Friedman's] work is poised to produce one of those once-in-a-generation breakthroughs, after which the field of study can never look the same again. . . The evidence for this stunning claim is fully presented. If [this] is true, the ramifications are enourmous. . . :0
Beyond Biblical studies, it will also be of significance for the history of literature in general, for Friedman will have done just as he claims; he will have rediscovered the first great prose writer of western civilization."
-H.G.M. Williamson, Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford University
"An engrossing, magical book of literary recovery. No novelist is going to be unmoved by this unearthing and sunlighting of buried treasure, and no reader is not going to be fascinated. Done with gracious energy and clever insight, Mr Friedman's argument is utterly cogent. . . . Now instead of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, we have a Brothers Karamazov unwrapped for all to see."
-Paul West, author of Terrestrials and Rat Man of Paris
From author: "A great work lies hidden in the Bible. A single author wrote it nearly three thousand years ago. It is nothing less than the first work of prose on earth. There are poems that are earlier, but this is the oldest prose literature... Call it the first novel if you think it is fiction, or the first history if you think it is factual. Actually, it is a merger of both... This hidden book was originally a united story, but it was cut up by the Bible's editors, and then other stories, laws, and poetry were spliced into it and around it. And so the divided pieces of this saga are now spread out through nine books of the Bible, from Genesis to the first two chapters of Kings. What I have done is to separate the original text from all of those other writings that have surrounded it...
:D
Name:Panluna •
Date: 05/25/07 20:48
A: JMD[
Thanks for recommending the Hidden Book Of the Bible.I just ordered a copy from Amazon.Sounds interesting.
Name:Panluna •
Date: 07/20/07 16:57
A: BLUE APPLES by William Henry
LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS by William Henry
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES by Manly P.Hall
THE ART AND PRACTISE OF ASTRAL PROJECTION by Ophiel
THE EXPECTED ONE by Kathleen McGowan
Name:Panluna •
Date: 07/29/07 20:19
A: I'm going to add the following two books to this list:
THE EMERALD TABLETS OF THOTH-THE-ATLANTEAN translated and interpreted by DOREAL
REFUGE OF THE APOCALYPSE:DOORWAY INTO OTHER DIMENSIONS
RENNES-LE-CHATEAU,THE KEY by Elizabeth Van Buren
Happy reading!!!!!!(smile)
Name:Panluna •
Date: 09/04/07 23:52
A: I just read a very delightful short fairy tale that embodies the Yezidi legend of the Peacock Angel.It's titled PEACOCK FROM HEAVEN
A Kurdish Yezidi Tale by COUNT BOBRINSKOY--it is a limited rare printing but it is a very interesting story about Lucifer and dealing with evil.
Name:Panluna •
Date: 09/06/07 23:33
A: While I'm on this tangent I'm going to add another book with a newer slant.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE CHRIST MYTH:The Redemption of the PEACOCK ANGEL byMark Amaru Pinkham
Name:Panluna •
Date: 09/17/07 17:33
A: In case you are interested in migratory patterns and a good historical outline Volumes 1 and 2 of THE ANCHOR ATLAS OF WORLD HISTORY is a really good reference source.
Name:Anchorite •
Date: 02/02/08 1:49
A: Any incomprehensible poetry, as long as you don't understand it.
MLH
Name:Panluna •
Date: 03/07/08 19:49
A: A very interesting work about modern Luciferian witchcraft which explains the philosophy and some practises of the left-hand path is title BEGINNING LUCIFERIAN MAGICK by Micheal W. Ford.The author has written several other books but as an introduction to try to understand "Black' magick and it's revival this book will dispel some of the myths and enforce other beliefs.To me modern witchcraft is much different from ancient practises.And I continue my search for the "records " of the Wise Ones in the Akasha.Too bad very little information survived over the centuries,so my search is for me "looking inward while I behold the mirror of my soul".
Wikipedia contains a clear explaination for Right-hand and Left-hand Path .It's a worthwhile study.
Name:Sassy •
Date: 05/06/08 5:14
A: How Jesus Became Christian
Written by Barrie Wilson
Random House Canada
Pub Date: March 18, 2008
"In How Jesus Became Christian, Barrie Wilson asks “How did a young rabbi become the god of a religion he wouldn’t recognize, one which was established through the use of calculated anti-Semitism?”
Colourfully recreating the world of Jesus Christ, Wilson brings the answer to life by looking at the rivalry between the “Jesus movement,” informed by the teachings of Matthew and adhering to Torah worship, and the “Christ movement,” headed by Paul, which shunned Torah. Wilson suggests that Paul’s movement was not rooted in the teachings and sayings of the historical Jesus, but solely in Paul’s mystical vision of Christ, a man Paul actually never met. He then shows how Paul established the new religion through anti-Semitic propaganda, which ultimately crushed the Jesus Movement. Sure to be controversial, this is an exciting, well-written popular religious history that cuts to the heart of the differences between Christianity and Judaism, to the origins of one of the world’s great religions and, ultimately, to the question of who Jesus Christ really was"
Name:QuebecIndieAnna •
Date: 05/08/08 10:56
A: .
I don't have a book title.
But, here is a video link I found interesting.
It is on world population.
I wonder about religions' impact on population growth.
Here is the link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch? =4BbkQiQyaYc&feature=related
Indie
.
Name:sojourner •
Date: 05/10/08 7:27
A: JMD - thanks for starting this thread. Your suggested book sounds excellent. I am presently reading Carl Jung and the Story of Our Time, by Laurens Van Der Post. This is a deeply moving account of Jung in his later years, by a personal friend who is also a distinguished writer. It leaves no doubt of the religious and spiritual import of Jung's work. Sojourner
Name:Sassy •
Date: 06/07/08 20:43
A: The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity
By (author) Jeffrey J. Bütz
Reveals the true role of James, the brother of Jesus, in early Christianity
• Uses evidence from the canonical Gospels, apocryphal texts, and the writings of the Church Fathers to reveal the teachings of Jesus as transmitted to his chosen successor: James
• Demonstrates how the core message in the teachings of Jesus is an expansion not a repudiation of the Jewish religion
• Shows how James can serve as a bridge between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
James has been a subject of controversy since the founding of the Church. Evidence that Jesus had siblings contradicts Church dogma on the virgin birth, and James is also a symbol of Christian teachings that have been obscured. While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles and the "rock" on which Jesus built his church, Jeffrey Bütz shows that it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. It was James, not Peter, who guided them through the Church's first major theological crisis--Paul's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus.
Using the canonical Gospels, writings of the Church Fathers, and apocryphal texts, Bütz argues that James is the most overlooked figure in the history of the Church. He shows how the core teachings of Jesus are firmly rooted in Hebraic tradition; reveals the bitter battles between James and Paul for ideological supremacy in the early Church; and explains how Paul's interpretations, which became the foundation of the Church, are in many ways its betrayal. Bütz reveals a picture of Christianity and the true meaning of Christ's message that are sometimes at odds with established Christian doctrine and concludes that James can serve as a desperately needed missing link between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to heal the wounds of centuries of enmity.
Name:Sassy •
Date: 06/07/08 23:36
A: from the Washington Post:
INFIDEL
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"I am Ayaan, the daughter of Hirsi, the son of Magan."
In the first scene of Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a child of 5, sitting on a grass mat. Her grandmother is teaching her to recite the names of her ancestors, as all Somali children must learn to do. "Get it right," her grandmother warns. "They are your bloodline. . . . If you dishonor them you will be forsaken. You will be nothing. You will lead a wretched life and die alone."
Thus begins the extraordinary story of a woman born into a family of desert nomads, circumcised as a child, educated by radical imams in Kenya and Saudi Arabia, taught to believe that if she uncovered her hair, terrible tragedies would ensue. It's a story that, with a few different twists, really could have led to a wretched life and a lonely death, as her grandmother warned. But instead, Hirsi Ali escaped -- and transformed herself into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of Muslim women.
The break began when she slipped away from her family on her way to a forced marriage in Canada and talked her way into political asylum in Holland, using a story she herself calls "an invention." Soon after arriving, she removed her head scarf to see if God would strike her dead. He did not. Nor were there divine consequences when, defying her ancestors, she donned blue jeans, rode a bicycle, enrolled in university, became a Dutch citizen, began to speak publicly about the mistreatment of Muslim women in Holland and won election to the Dutch parliament.
But tragedy followed fame. In 2004, Hirsi Ali helped a Dutch director, Theo van Gogh, make a controversial film, "Submission," about Muslim women suffering from forced marriages and wife beating. Van Gogh was murdered by an angry Muslim radical in response, and Hirsi Ali went into hiding. The press began to explore her past, discovering the "inventions" that she had used to get her refugee status. The Dutch threatened to revoke her citizenship; the American Enterprise Institute offered her a job in Washington. And thus she came to be among us.
Even the bare facts of this unusual life would make fascinating reading. But this book is something more than an ordinary autobiography: In the tradition of Frederick Douglass or even John Stuart Mill, Infidel describes a unique intellectual journey, from the tribal customs of Hirsi Ali's Somali childhood, through the harsh fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia and into the contemporary West. Along the way, Hirsi Ali displays what surely must be her greatest gift: the talent for recalling, describing and honestly analyzing the precise state of her feelings at each stage of that journey.
She describes how she felt as a teenager, voluntarily wearing a hijab, a black cloak that hid her body: "It sent out a message of superiority: I was the one true Muslim. All those other little girls with their little white headscarves were children, hypocrites." She writes of meeting her husband-to-be's family: "I concentrated on behaving properly: Speaking softly, being polite, avoiding shame to my parents. I felt empty."
She also describes how horrified she felt as an adult after Sept. 11, 2001, reaching for the Koran to find out whether some of Osama bin Laden's more blood-curdling statements -- "when you meet the unbelievers, strike them in the neck" -- were direct quotations. "I hated to do it," she wrote, "because I knew that I would find bin Laden's quotations in there." And there were consequences: "The little shutter at the back of my mind, where I pushed all my dissonant thoughts, snapped open after the 9/11 attacks, and it refused to close again. I found myself thinking that the Quran is not a holy document. It is a historical record, written by humans. . . . And it is a very tribal and Arab version of events. It spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war."
That moment led Hirsi Ali to her most profound conclusion: that the mistreatment of women is not an incidental problem in the Muslim world, a side issue that can be dealt with once the more important political problems are out of the way. Rather, she believes that the enslavement of women lies at the heart of all of the most fanatical interpretations of Islam, creating "a culture that generates more backwardness with every generation."
Ultimately, it led to her most controversial conclusion too: that Islam is in a period of transition, that the religion as it is currently practiced is often incompatible with modernity and democracy and must radically transform itself in order to become so. "We in the West," she writes, "would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life." That sentiment, when first expressed in Holland, infuriated not only Hirsi Ali's compatriots but also Dutch intellectuals uneasy about criticizing the immigrants in their midst, particularly because both Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh went further than the usual criticism of radical, political Islam: Both believed that even "ordinary" forms of Islam, such as those practiced in Hirsi Ali's Somalia, contain elements of discrimination against women that should not be tolerated in the West. Thanks to this belief in female equality, Hirsi Ali now requires permanent bodyguards. But having "moved from the world of faith to the world of reason," Hirsi Ali now says she cannot go back.
Still, she describes herself as lucky: "How many girls born in Digfeer Hospital in Mogadishu in November 1969 are even alive today?" she asks rhetorically. "And how many have a real voice?" To that, it's worth adding another question: How many women with Hirsi Ali's experience of radical Islam have emerged to tell their stories? And how many can do so with such clarity and insight? Infidel is a unique book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a unique writer, and both deserve to go far.
Name:Judith •
Date: 06/08/08 5:22
A: I had not read those types of Books only the Bible, but when I was told it was a Kabbalah experience, I wanted to know what I was accused of practicing. I have read many but only found one that described what I was going through, and it lasted for way to long. That is, the one book that made the most sense to me. I had so many visions my head was spinning, they ran into each other, then did a replay, and not always in the same order. Besides visions, most everyone in my family was having strange dreams that seemed to relate to what I was going through.
The Awakening of Kundalini by Gopi Krishna
Name:Judith •
Date: 06/19/08 14:38
A: The Jesus Sutras by Martin Palmer
Name:QuebecIndieAnna •
Date: 06/08/09 23:39
A: .
Dan Brown's new novel
THE LOST SYMBOL
To be published by Doubleday this September 2009
I think they should try to get it out in August, while we're still on vacation.
I am remembering the footage we saw on TV, from all around the world, of people in public places reading the book.
It was strange indeed to see so many people out in public
all reading the same book.
Remember that?
Wonder if it will happen with this one?
My copy is reserved at the local store.
When it comes in, it goes to only MOI (me).
