name the books that changed your life

[ararat]

.. or at least your view/idea/experience of it.

I'm a book-rat, and I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for a few books that I stumbled upon.


in the case of the present author, it was definitely these 3 books:

The power of now by Eckhart Tolle - made me realize that spirituality can happen without drugs.., and it did happen I was young.

Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson - made Freudian psychology (all this oral anal genital stuff), the theories by the weirdball Timothy Leary and General Semantics (map/territory) very very comprehensible and perceptible to me.

The first and last freedom by Krishnamurti - this guy has nothing to do with all that krishna-crap, to the contrary, this book is as universal as it gets.



now I'm interested, which books played a big role in your life? tell me a few

 

[Larzsolice18]

The Toltec teachings of Theun Mares. I no longer consider them as books, though; it is more like a map to your mind, as well as the universe. I refer to them collectively as a psychonauticum (male), being a book that is designed to teach by explaining the phenomena experienced by psychonauts. The books of Carlos Castaneda I refer collectively as a psychonautica (female), being a book that is designed to teach without explaining such phenomena. The reason why I give a male and female reference to distinguish the two types of books has to do with the meaning of being male or female, as described within the above mentioned books.
Theun's books can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/collections/2848551/Toltec

 

[ophiuchus]

never been huge into books, as i generally like to scan multiple sources for the same information as to gain a better understanding. this book, however, is so comprehensive, and draws so many sources for further reading/research that i couldn't help but be drawn in. it's the first book i've ever purchased about spirituality (i've read others, but they were given to me) it's called "The Way of Zen" by Alan Watts, and it just doesn't get more in depth than this. what i love about it most is that he will give the sanskrit or original language of whatever text he is referring, along with a footnote of where it can be found, and then gives multiple translations to it, and also places where various translations can be found. this way it can really be understood more wholly, and from multiple angles, and also it can be understood as to why easterners and westerners have such difficulty in understanding each others texts :lol: (why all eastern versions of the i ching are all a bit different, for example).

 

[IJesusChrist]

Slaughter house five... Just the section where he talks about time. Blew my mind.

The brain that changes itself got me out of my psychosis loop, or whatever was going on. Made me realize I am malleable, changeable, improvable. It is a book about how the brain can actually dramatically change, from not being able to walk, to walking. From losing function to gaining. Gave me true respect for the complexity inside my head.

Right now "At home in the universe" -
Talks about everything I (we) have been talking about lately on the board; how science plays into life. How chaos theory and complexity in nature give rise to an "incompressible system" which is us - there can be no prediction of the future, without living to it. Talks about the patterns of life, what we can gain from it, but what our limitations are, and [personally] how we need to integrate that knowledge respectfully. Really is changing how I used to sit on the fence of spirituality and science - they are both necessary, and the line between them is literally the mind.

 

[darkwolfunseen]

Slaughterhouse Five +1

But personally, for Vonnegut I would do Breakfast of Champions. That thing is ridiculous.

In no particular order:

The Stranger by Camus
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Anything by any old Russian/German writier
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

That last one got me out of some dark places...