Books

[Psychoid]

Is there any book you feel is essential for any psychonaut to read?

If so, please share!!!
I'm looking for some interesting books to read.
I want to learn more, outside of psychedelic states.
My brain needs some rest.
And I respect my brain 8)
But I want to continue practicing my psychonauting.
So for a while I'll be sticking to meditation and reading

Thanks!

 

[McAllister]

Is there any book you feel is essential for any psychonaut to read?

If so, please share!!!
I'm looking for some interesting books to read.
I want to learn more, outside of psychedelic states.
My brain needs some rest.
And I respect my brain 8)
But I want to continue practicing my psychonauting.
So for a while I'll be sticking to meditation and reading

Thanks!

I'd recommend just about anything by Timothy Leary or Robert Anton Wilson. If you want to add magickal ritual to your psychonauting activities then add just about Aleister Crowley as well.

 

[Forkbender]

There's like 5 other topics around books you can read. Search and you shall find.

 

[GOD]

Dont read books . Be you . Search and you will find . Ask and you will get an answer . Knock and the door will open .

The answer is in you , not in a book . Just stopp thinking and reading and look in yourself . Dont confuse yourself with ego game books and hokus pokus . Dont confuse yourself with wierdo esoteric crap . Strip the layers of the onion off that you have built up around the inner light since your birth and try to get to your core . If you try it might take years but its worth it . Some people dont reach it in their lives but everyone does when they die . If you find it you will free yourself and you wont be interested in pseudo spirituality like magick , kabbala and all the other looser esoteric ego games that ignorant , blind people who have never seen the light play .

If you look in the web for reports about near death experiences you might find a few that are helpfull .

 

[BrainEater]

Good advice GOD!

I suggest if you read a book, really read the book!!!!!! sound stupid, but that is my advice... If you really focus on the book, without forcing yourself of doing so, then you WILL learn something...... only thing you got to do is wanting to learn something... the rest will happen automatically most probably

maybe you could read something about zen or something like that ?? or at least something non-scientific, because you said your brain needed some rest.... if you want that we give you some good book advice, you should post and write us what book on what kind of topic you'd preferably want to read.... so we can think about it and give you advice then there's tons of good books worth being read.....


peace :weedman:

 

[magickmumu]

Yesterday I got myself a copy of shroom a cultural history of the magic mushroom by Any Letcher
along with some other books.

Of course there is nothing wrong with reading books. All this talk about how reading books is bad is just bullshit.
I am interested in other ideas then just my own. There is nothing wrong with being open to new/other ideas and philosophy.
People have a mind of there own. I think god is underestimating people and acting arrogant here.

It would be better if god would tell us about books, instead of giving us this negative crap.

 

[Carebear]

Da vinci code anyone?

 

[magickmumu]

I am reading holy blood holy grail at the moment.

 

[Carebear]

I am reading holy blood holy grail at the moment.

Havent read it, but seems like the the same story in a diffrent jacket

 

[BrainEater]

GOD's message was: Don't think the knowledge will come to you by itself because of you reading a book, instead focus on using your own brain and not think desperately you need the knowledge from another person, encrypted in a book.




peace :weedman:

 

[Telico]

Yesterday I got myself a copy of shroom a cultural history of the magic mushroom by Andy Letcher

This one is really great, it destroys many myths surrounding magic mushrooms, and gives you a more scientific approach about shrooms. I've talked with the author, he told me that it took him two years to gather all the information to build this book. Really nice one.


Psychoid ==> You should read "Wisdom of insecurity" (Eloge de l'insécurité) by Alan Watts, this one really helped me in my life.


God ==> Of course, the answer is in ourselves, but books can also help a lot. I mean, my biggest problem was concerning the belief "what should I believe ? Darwinism ? Creationism ? Science ? Religion ? Psychoanalysis ? Neuroscience ?" and this huge problem vanished when I read Alan Watts's book about Spiritual Insecurity. Since this moment, I don't believe anymore, in anything. Thanks to this book, I've learned that reading books can eventually help, but certainly won't give you the truth. However one can still read an essay, or a scientific book with the same approach as if he was reading a novel, in other words, don't take it too seriously.


Peace.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Andy Latcher's book should be seen (like every other book) as describing the conclusions of a particular research by a particular individual at a particular point in time. Latcher didn't know / ignored a lot of material undermining his theory, and so by now much of his work has been debunked again.

They've already been mentioned, but I think Alan Watts and Robert Anton Wilson are really good speakers. I'm not so fond of Timothy Leary's work. I enjoyed listening to McKenna's lectures, but never felt inclined to read any of his books.

This one is also very interesting: Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby!

 

[user_1919]

Origin of Consciousness in the break down of the bicameral mind by Julian Jaynes

 

[magickmumu]

GOD's message was: Don't think the knowledge will come to you by itself because of you reading a book, instead focus on using your own brain and not think desperately you need the knowledge from another person, encrypted in a book.




peace :weedman:

What so bad about reading books, that you are influenced by an outside force???
We are influenced by outside forces for most of our lives. I don't want to shut my self off to other people. I like to read other people's story's and ideas.


If you read the bible that does not make you a Christian.

God is afraid people will put book knowledge above their own experience. I believe most people (on this forum) to be smart enough to know the difference between books and real life.
I hope we can talk about books, without someone preaching about the dangers of book reading all the time.

 

[psm]

I'd recommend just about anything by Timothy Leary or Robert Anton Wilson. If you want to add magickal ritual to your psychonauting activities then add just about Aleister Crowley as well.

I second that.

Also all from Wells, Machiavelli, Joyce, Huxley, Verne and Crowley (if you are ready for it). Very good stuff is: Rashomon, Hagakure, Art of War, most religious books like Koran, Bible, Book of the dead etc.

And whatever make you feel happy. Books are the greatest of all inventions by man.

Dont read books . Be you . Search and you will find . Ask and you will get an answer . Knock and the door will open .

The answer is in you , not in a book . Just stopp thinking and reading and look in yourself . Dont confuse yourself with ego game books and hokus pokus . Dont confuse yourself with wierdo esoteric crap . Strip the layers of the onion off that you have built up around the inner light since your birth and try to get to your core . If you try it might take years but its worth it . Some people dont reach it in their lives but everyone does when they die . If you find it you will free yourself and you wont be interested in pseudo spirituality like magick , kabbala and all the other looser esoteric ego games that ignorant , blind people who have never seen the light play .

If you look in the web for reports about near death experiences you might find a few that are helpfull .

While I do agree with most here, do not dismiss books!

Books are experiences of others and one of our biggest advantages in terms of personal and overall evolution is, that we can learn from past experiences, even from those that are not our own.

A man who has never read a book is a man who will never know anything. Don't let yourself be fooled with the "only personal experience will give you the truth" bullshit, because if it would be that way, we would all still be sitting in front of our cave and try to make fire.

While you read a book, go with it. Accept it as truth, no matter how much bullshit it is, but as soon as you have finished it, doubt every word you have read. And then learn to make up your own mind.

The knowledge of past is essential for the knowledge of now and the only way to the knowledge of what is to come.

 

[Forkbender]

A man who has never read a book is a man who will never know anything. Don't let yourself be fooled with the "only personal experience will give you the truth" bullshit, because if it would be that way, we would all still be sitting in front of our cave and try to make fire.

Sorry, but that's the biggest BS I read today.

 

[magickmumu]

I have seem to lost what's going on. I agree largely with PSM. I don't agree that a man will never have knowledge if he doesn't read books. That's indeed BS

Books are just books, a source of information. I don't see why reading is good or bad.

:? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :?

 

[druglessdouglas]

the Tao of Pooh, lol. or the Tao Te Ching, but im bias.
lots of books start a process on your head. its not what the book says, its the >therefore>therefore>therefore journey you make after you read it.
Crowley
R.A. Wilson
or for a more exciting and dangerous journey Robert Carrol, Liber Null and Psychonaut

 

[VapourTrail]

I believe there is a faction of Buddhism that does something similar to the following:

They have all the scriptures in a revolving bookcase. Once a year they have the annual reading of the scriptures where the monks, one buy one, walk up to the bookcase and spin it round once.

This is said to have as much value as reading them.

I believe there is a similar thing in Zen where the books are stored like accordions and the monks stretch them out and flip them over like a slinky.

The reasoning behind it is similar to what the reasoning here should be - yes, books are important for a lot of things - but this is travelling into your mind.

Finding books to read, ordering the books and then spending a few hours reading them to gain insight into yourself is nothing more than an exercise in procrastination. It has no merit.

Yes, if you are trying something new, you may need to look up dosage, preparation etc - but that will not gain you any insight.

I like "insight" as a phrase.

To me it suggests what I will suggest to you: If you want to see into the dark corners of your mind you don't normally go, if you want to tear apart your thought process and hold it in your hands so that you may see it's very workings - do it! Stop looking for external answers - look inside yourself.

 

[Forkbender]

You don't have to look for answers in reading, you can just enjoy reading things you like.