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Halcyon Daze

Books that have changed your life and why

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Too many to mention but one that comes to mind is:

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.

Being a teacher myself it has given me many things to ponder and consider/reconsider, besides being a wonderfully written book. Big props to ColHawk for the tip on Hesse.

Just recently also:

A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield

A nice treatise on the meditative/spiritual journey we are all on, and varied perspectives from many of the spiritual traditions around the place, but from a western mind.

Sorry for any repeats of others books, too little time to read through them all. Great thread btw :)

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I'm finishing up The Glass Bead Game as we speak, and can already sense it's importance to my growth, but didn't want to mention it prematurely.

~Michael~

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Yeah how could i have forgotten Hesse.

Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and Demian had a huge impact on me. Still havent got to the "glass bead game" though, but "journey to the east" with intro by Tim Leary is very close to the top of my current to read pile.

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When I was a wee sprout, maybe 13 or 14 I finally grokked the concept of death and freaked out. My spiritually minded mother handed me a book called "A Soul's Journey" by Peter Richelieu, a fiction based off of the eastern concept of death and reincarnation put into terms that a western mind could grasp easier... it completely changed my whole world view and concepts on life and the universe. I am still undecided, and most likely always will be, about the definitive answers (if they do exist at all) but the book gave me a sense of hope for the continuation of consciousness after death.

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While climbing a plum tree today, it occurred to me that The Faraway Tree may have had a profound impact on my life... well, my past times on the way home from work anyway. There is something hauntingly beautiful about gnarled trees... especially those that guard the threshold between the profane world of suburbia and the sacred world of the forest.

enid-blyton-the-faraway-tree.jpg

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How could I forget Brave New World by Huxley. A very good book.

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How could I forget Brave New World by Huxley. A very good book.

Huxley's Island is also a fantastic read. While Brave New World is his portrayal of a dystopian society, Island is his portrayal of a utopian one.

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Great stuff guys, your replies are really interesting.

Hi Halcyon, what kind of books do you have in mind? If you're more interested in actual philosophical books rather than literature or quite "philosophically pure" spiritual books, then I can name some. Can you narrow down what you mean by spiritual? ie. what book or book have you just read that inspired you to write this thread? Trust me, I recommend books for a living.

I guess I'm getting a lot out of the " meaning of life" kinda topics, not that I'm having an existential crisis or anything, but they can be very reassuring during difficult times.

I've been working my way through the old classic 'Walden - Life in the woods' by Henry David Thoreau, It's fairly heavy going for me but he raises some fascinating questions and concepts. I also love the poetic nature of some of what he's written and the way it's woven throughout the book. It's an incredible read for someone like me, and other sabsters too I suspect.

Another big-hitter was "Throwim Way Leg" by out very own Tim Flannery. It's his first book and it's brilliant, asking some very deep questions as well as telling the story of some mind blowing adventures. I couldn't put it down :)

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Any Calvin and Hobbes cartoon (book).

Some philosophers voice with picture as often as word ;)

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Phihkal awesome book , why it changed my life i got a five year all expenses paid holiday

crap destination ok food

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Euclids Elements: I wanted to get to the root of mathematics, and this book is an amazingly elegant and pristine work of art on the subject of geometry.

The version I read was from 'Everyman's Library' series of books.

Edited by IndianDreaming

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Pihkal awesome book , why it changed my life i got a five year all expenses paid holiday.

You should write a review at TripAdvisor :)

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Realistically, this book of all the books i have ever owned probably had the biggest influence on my life:

post-8023-0-62593100-1380336909_thumb.jp

I got given it for my seventh birthday, and spent soooooo many hours reading through it.

I probably learnt more from this book than i ever learnt in all my years at school.

It was the best gift i have ever received, because it made me realise i could learn about whatever i wanted to learn about, and i was no longer limited by what adults thought was appropriate or worth me learning about.

Freedom!

image.jpg

image.jpg

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^ looks like a great read! It does seem that books and all other media for that matter has a greater influence when people are young. Imagination just needs a kick start and then off it goes!

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The Ringing Cedars out rank the other 119 books in my spiritual/philosophy/religions library because they are so true and relevant today. All other religions seem like alien worship now. And most philosophy's, in comparison, were incomplete.

I Read -Tao, Bible, Buddhism, Sufism, Capitalism, White Eagle, Two Feathers, Sharmanism, Thoth, the list is long and all in search of the truth.

Anastasia " The Ringing Cedars" is amazing and will lead us into peace and inspiration.

A Modern Herbal by Mrs M Grieves, because I knew nature could provide all I needed and this book agreed.

The Secret Life of Plants both versions, taught me how to talk to plants and to listen,all scientifically proven so I can quote science to the non believers and not feel so freakish.

I always new plants were important but these books helped me understand them better, so I could help myself and others to heal..

GOOGLE also helps :blink:

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My bad. Sorry.

Edited by Ceres
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I can't think of any books that in themselves have changed my life.

I do believe though that my all time favourite fictional book would have to be The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. Amazing writing and the depth of imagination is to be envied. This book proves that films pale in comparison to the written word and the imagination of the reader. I would go so far as to say that the book proves that films suck in comparison to the written word and the imagination of the reader.

"The Law" by Frederic Bastiat, written in the eighteen hundreds. Well worth a look.

I really enjoyed "Food of the Gods" by McKenna.

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"Food of the Gods" is good, I'm halfway through reading it at the moment. McKenna puts forward some very interesting ideas about the origins of mankind's state of consciousness... but they're just ideas, for now. I take everything he says with a grain of salt, he's a bit out there.

Also, "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" by Paul Reps was lovely. Full of beautiful little zen stories and anecdotes, highly recommmend (having said that you'll be confused as shit if you don't know at least a thing or two about zen)

Edited by Scarecrow
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Also, "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" by Paul Reps was lovely. Full of beautiful little zen stories and anecdotes, highly recommmend (having said that you'll be confused as shit if you don't know at least a thing or two about zen)

I have that book! :o Would recommend it also.

You might also enjoy A Zen Harvest which is a compilation of Japanese folk Zen sayings, in the form of Haiku, Dodoitsu and Waka. Worth a read at any rate. :wink:

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I have that book! :o Would recommend it also.

You might also enjoy A Zen Harvest which is a compilation of Japanese folk Zen sayings, in the form of Haiku, Dodoitsu and Waka. Worth a read at any rate. :wink:

thanks for the recommendation! i'll check it out, i love zen.

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Shakti Gawain - Creative Visualisation

Because it opened my eyes on how much we can manifest by thinking about,

Serge Kahili King - Urban Shaman

Cause it gave me some different approach to the nature,

Robert Bly - Iron John, a book about men

Showed different perspective on being a male in very feminine environment of today's world.

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I'd like to add two psychology books (both by prominent, published, widely-cited research psychologists) that really deepened my understanding of people (including myself)...even if I didn't agree with all of their conclusions, the new ideas and paradigms for thinking about human behaviour were worth the price of both books twice over.

1) Willpower - by Roy F. Baumeister

2) The Righteous Mind - by Jonathon Haidt

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I read Robert Spencer's "Did Muhammad Exist?: An Inquiry Into Islams' Obscure Origin" recently and just when you think you know a lot the history of Islam something like this just blows your mind and gives a completely new perspective that explains more than you thought needed explaining.

 

~Michael~

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I just finished reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Well most of it anyway as the copy I bought in Nepal was missing some pages. Some of the themes really struck a chord with me, especially the notion that some people exist with a child like innocence and revel in the felt experience of life, while others are more analytical and often over think themselves and the world around them. I think I fall more in the second camp, a blessing or a curse I'm not sure,

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