Books that have changed your life and why

[Franklin's Tower]

Autobiography of a Yogi by Parmahansa Yogananda - a beautiful tale.

My Big Toe (Theory of everything) by Thomas Campbell - A profound book that unifies science, philosophy, the paranormal and the metaphysical. It starts with the author discussing how he came into the field as a physicist working for the military who was asked to read 'Journeys out of the body' by Robert Monroe; a book discussing a series of spontaneous outer body experiences the author had. Tom Campbell went on to meet and then work with Monroe for many years. Tom was one of the heads behind discovering Binaural Beats.

Tom actually offers the full book online in PDF format. I highly recommend giving it a gloss, or checking out many of his online lectures/workshops on youtube.

http://worldtracker.org/media/library/Metaphysics%20&%20Spirituality/MY%20BIG%20TOE.pdf

[Godiam]

GOD I AM by Peter O Orbe

Hence the Name,

Godiam

1 of many books that have changed my view of life.

[bloomy]

I went hichhiking for a couple of weeks, and read Sogyal Rinpoche's 'Book of the living an dying' on the road. It's kind of a western adaptation of the tibetan book of the dead. Amazing read. Seriously amazing.

[gwalchgwyn]

Ulysses was my first of just 2 mindblowers for me for a few reasons: 3 dimensional; narrator presence; attention to detail, especially the detail of mind; and primarily, its exposure of narratology in the constructs of definitions and therefor, reality.

[∂an]

Kudos, try as I might I can't get through more than a few pages of James Joyce without getting utterly confused

[∂an]

A non-fiction book that has changed my life is "The Gnostic Religion: The message of the Alien god & the beginnings of Christianity" by Hans Jonas. In early psychedelic experiences I encountered Christian imagery and teachings that led me to explore the mystical strain of Christianity in Gnosticism. This book is superbly written with many translations of passages from gnostic texts. It helped me see beyond the shallow facade of modern Christianity as projected by the roman catholic church, and into the complex,vsophisticated and transcendent spiritualities that were being developed in the early Christian world.

Perhaps most importantly, it introduced to me the concept of the demiurge and the idea that the purpose of life is the sculpting of the soul.

Edited June 12, 2014 by ∂an

[gwalchgwyn]

Kudos, try as I might I can't get through more than a few pages of James Joyce without getting utterly confused

! It's like meeting someone at 2:19 a.m. on a mindbender ! but in my opinion undeserving of the elitist demonization often attributed to it (which sets up a hierarchy in which items must be explained to the oh-so-humble in charge.) The fun doesn't really start in Ulysses until Chapter 4.

I hope you enjoy One River; like many dynamic trajectories, it has an important coda that is so difficult to accept after the enthusiastic euphoria of the middle, so much so that one can scarcely complain that the myopic miss it altogether - but the fact remains that much has changed from the time that Davis was there and what is happening now (Aya tourism; the 'genuine' shaman experience; & worse, the wholesale co-option of the primary plants with a sky-god Western agenda and its backwards story...) To get a feel for this awed and marveling person, check out some of Davis's youtube appearances; one may ride his magic carpet around the world in just 20 minutes - highly recommended!

Videodrone I appreciate your words on how books can be transcendent - like other things - for us, such that everything after the experience is a new world, like a caterpillar emerging from its chrysalis. I've read 2 on your list: Into the Wild & Siddhartha, the latter of which I enjoyed so much I slipped it into the bag of a sleeping traveller on a train in Philly; how wonderful, I imagined, to wake up to such an unexpected gift. Now, the act seems presumptuous, but I would've enjoyed the gesture. Am looking forward to reading Steppenwolf and The Book - Thank You, from this grateful, sleeping traveller...

Edited June 13, 2014 by gwalchgwyn

[Strontium Dawg]

"The way of wyrd" by Brian Bates found me at an important junction in my life and definitely altered my course.

Likewise "Siddartha" by Hesse.

Castaneda also taught me a lot, mostly that you can be taken in by a charlatan if you want to believe...

[Max Cady]

Meetings with remarkable men by G,I Gurdjieff... is a book I found during a period of change in my life and it was filled with tales of travels

[Videodrone]

! It's like meeting someone at 2:19 a.m. on a mindbender ! but in my opinion undeserving of the elitist demonization often attributed to it (which sets up a hierarchy in which items must be explained to the oh-so-humble in charge.) The fun doesn't really start in Ulysses until Chapter 4.

I hope you enjoy One River; like many dynamic trajectories, it has an important coda that is so difficult to accept after the enthusiastic euphoria of the middle, so much so that one can scarcely complain that the myopic miss it altogether - but the fact remains that much has changed from the time that Davis was there and what is happening now (Aya tourism; the 'genuine' shaman experience; & worse, the wholesale co-option of the primary plants with a sky-god Western agenda and its backwards story...) To get a feel for this awed and marveling person, check out some of Davis's youtube appearances; one may ride his magic carpet around the world in just 20 minutes - highly recommended!

Videodrone I appreciate your words on how books can be transcendent - like other things - for us, such that everything after the experience is a new world, like a caterpillar emerging from its chrysalis. I've read 2 on your list: Into the Wild & Siddhartha, the latter of which I enjoyed so much I slipped it into the bag of a sleeping traveller on a train in Philly; how wonderful, I imagined, to wake up to such an unexpected gift. Now, the act seems presumptuous, but I would've enjoyed the gesture. Am looking forward to reading Steppenwolf and The Book - Thank You, from this grateful, sleeping traveller...

Been meaning to get Ulysses as well but as I'm not a native speaker I just imagine it being too hard (saw some excerpts from it in Prometheus Rising (started reading this and it's blowing my mind. I don't really have time to digest it the way that I want though, so I'm saving it for when I head to South America. But I could tell that it's a book that will fit in perfectly with this thread)). But I shall see.

Anyway, that seems pretty awesome, perfect book(seed) to plant in someones bag(mind). If I find the opportunity I'll do this same thing, although I can see it going very wrong if this person catches you haha. But if you're a traveller yourself I recommend reading Hesses Goldmund & Narcissus as well (or just read all his books haha. I've absolutely loved every single one), which I found very relevant to my state of mind when I was floating around through Indonesia.

Thanks for the kind words

[katu]

Winnie the Pooh .....elements of Zen....Jungian archtypes.....I mostly like the pictures

[SayN]

Radix - A. A. Attanasio - associated with a point in my life when I first met Lucy.

The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart - had just finished school and couldn't initially tell if this was fiction or truth. The fact, my older sister gave me this to read and, for a moment, I even pondered adopting the dice life...

Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh - a reflective book in parts, but not for reasons you might think - and the beginning of a long and guilty pleasure in the writings of Irvine. I swear I spoke phonetic scottish for a week or two from the first chapter onwards - flatmate at the time and wife-to-be got real tired of it. The swit were leshin oafa Sick Boy... he wus dreppin...

As for philosphical books - sorry - i'm not that deep. I have a strong affection for books though - I even get a little depressed/uptight when I finish a good one these days.

[sundrop]

be here now by ram dass is an amazing book, which definitely changed my life. the first time i read it i didn't truly get it. but then, when the time was right i returned and every page shed light on many things we experience in life. the illustrations are beautiful too

[Statakak]

Awesome thread!

The Lorax - Dr. Seuss

That was a pretty cool book

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (and the other four books of the increasing inacuratly named Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy) - Douglas Adams

Awesome depth - and humour. Cronicly weird, unique, and memorable.

Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy - Mircea Eliade

An awesome in depth study of Shamanism around the world (Asia, Australia, Americas, Africa,Europe), with much emphisis on the incredible similarities, such as pathways into Shamanism, role played in the community, the trance state, and much, much more. Ahighly recomended read if you're intrested in that kind of stuff. However the book dose cost like $60 or so, and Mircea Eliade dose manage to almost compleatly avoid the subject of 'mind altering substances' and seems to be of the opinion that the use of these substances is to some degree a coruption of the practices. That's fine though because then the actual practices are addressed comprehensively and with more sincerity than it would have been if there were elusions to drug use... if you know what I meen.

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion - James George Frazer

Now this is getting into the realm of real life changing.

This book is ultra-awesome in a grewsome, brutal, and clinical sort of way.

Could be called "The Science and Evolution of Religion".

Christopher Hitchens, and Stephen Dawkins seem so quaint and vague compared to Frazer. He took to religion, superstition, and magic with a meat-axe and a backpack full of scalpels, and layed it all out like a million butterflies all pinned to boards.

There is no mirth or antaganism towards religion - just a brutal systematic, scientific study - incredably well reserched.

First published in 1890, the language reflects the times, with frequent archaic phrases and terminology used.

The work is detailed and comprehensive with every point and link reinforced from a multitude of angles, and examples taken from every culture and peoples around the world and throughout history.

This detailed work on the science and evolution of religionis a masterpiece and will alter anybodys perspective.

In the film 'Apocalypse Now' the book can be seen on a small desk in the overgrown temple where the rouge general and his followers are based - a detail that was certainly not random.

Anastasia (and the rest of the ring cedars series) - Vladimir Merge

OK this is No.1 for sure. This book altered me in the most positive way.

I have tried to understand the world, and why it is so f*#ked up, and what to do about it. The problem was it was quite obvious, as it probably is to all of us - we need to live more sustainably and not take advantage of others vulnerabilities, and that kind of thing. But for all the water, electricity, and resources we save, just means that the government can pay more bogans to have kids, or bring in more people to use up the resources, so it all seemed a bit catch-22. But this book changed that.

Yeah I have gone over this book a bit in the "doth consciousness" thread but I'll do it again here.

This book may seem sort of 'New Age' but it's not. It's something else completely.

Written in a first person, non-fiction fashion the book is largely dialogue, mostly between the author and a person who he met - Anastasia - who instructed the author to write the book.

I can't explain this book breifly and out of context - but I'll give it a go.

The book encourages people to grow their own fruit and vegies if they can, to try to find a way to live on the land and produce most of their own food(optimally one hectare per family), to educate themselves about sustainable living, help others, create communities, and bring up kids in this positive environment. This vision is vibrant and coherent, and stronger than the one that the people of the world hold today which has enslaved us in this harmful and demeaning situation. Anastasia’s vision will prevail, and the more we help the quicker it will happen and the less suffering will have to be endured. It's not just an idea or an opinion, this image has been acted on, has been scripted and has been trasmited, it exists in the past and exists in the future. It is written in such a way as to generate the required change in the world, and it did, has, and will. It is the most incredibly positive and inspirational book that I have come across, but more than that, it is an active step of positivity, more than I can explain in less than a few pages. I would recommend it 100%.

I wish I found this book 10 or 15 years ago when they were first written - but better late than never.

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

the hobbit and lord of the rings being read to us at school was one of the most epic memories of childhood because it had an ancient, viking and magick feel to it .....and that was my fave subject in primary/elementery

(as was anything non christian -, choices were greek,germanic,tolkienic and pagan looking back)

andy mcnabb's "firewall" opened my mind to the possibility that the system really is corrupt and a fat bag of liars x]

which gave me the power of being able to see through some of the cracks of "the big western facade"

-priceless

I went on to appreciate chris ryan novels a lot more though afterwards , especially for consistency and being less of a dick x]

oh yeah I suppose the ultimate book that changed my life by orders of magnitudes more than any mere tolkien

T. S. Eliot's book of poetry Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats https://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/uploads/emoticons/default_wub.png

https://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=http://novelnovice.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/book-of-practical-cats_nicolas-bentley-cover.jpg&key=6a0948ad7b77f314cdf50b2e6e9b7e7696f980da53df1132c3f0fbb3a44c7af1

Edited December 8, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[Fenris]

I read a really good book recently called The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. It was winner of the National Book Award in 1978 and follows the journey of the author, a field biologist, traveling to the remote mountains of Nepal in 1973 to study the Himalayan blue sheep and hopefully glimpse the rare snow leopard.

The journey was very spiritual as well as a very interesting trek through Nepal 40 odd years ago.

I read the book over 4 days and couldn't put it down.

There isn't any any real shamanic content, but the book elicited the feeling of a shamanic journey/awakening while I was reading it.

I highly recommend reading taking a look.

[obtuse]

i have a similar thing with benedict allen books, i ended up reading all his novels. amazing stories, and i feel doesnt get enough credit given he was the pre-cursor to the bruce parry tribe thing, but i guess on his own mission to explore rather than attempt a superficial integration with the tribe.

didnt necessarily change my life though, but appreciated how he wanted to do crazy things alone and in a self sufficient manner, so made me feel normal.

Edited January 6, 2015 by obtuse

[Seldom]

Currently reading Nick Land's Fanged Noumena, definitely one of the most interesting figures in contemporary philosophy

Also Thomas Ligotti's Conspiracy against the human race . another fella definitely not given enough credit, esp. in the wake of True Detective

[simhanada]

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion - James George Frazer

I recently scored myself the 13 vol set of this but haven't started on it yet. Sounds like it was a worthwhile investment.

[TFO]

Freedom from the known by krishnamurti , his views on relationships set me free . Spectrum of consciousness by ken wilber , Carlos castenedas books , audio books of ram dass , I too enjoyed radix crayz , the list could go on ..................

[-RC-]

The Great Australian Stupor by Ronald Conway.

Spun me out that, even though it was written in the early 70's, it is as relevant today as it was then, perhaps even more so. It just echoes so many sentiments about Australian culture that I have intuited for a very long time now, and it is also written in a largely non-PC way, so it is quite penetrating and to the point, unlike so many psychological/sociological treatises today.

Well worth a read!

[Roopey]

The Philosopher's Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination by Patrick Harpur

http://www.harpur.org/PJCHsecretfire.htm

The Portable Jung - A collection of Carl Jung's works

http://archive.org/stream/ThePortableJung/The%20Portable%20Jung_djvu.txt

Ecoshamanism: Sacred Practices of Unity, Power and Earth Healing by James Endredy

http://www.jamesendredy.com/ecoshaman.htm

There are so many more, but those are easily top 3. I love this thread, I've already put some of the books in here on my Amazon Wish List, thanks guys!!

Edited May 4, 2015 by Roopey

[-RC-]

Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries - Further Teachings of Lao-tzu translated by Thomas Cleary

because the Tao is deep my friends

and Tryptamine Palace by James Oroc

because it helps you understand I guess

[tangled]

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (validated many things I thought about the world yet brought them into a new light - "I have the right to be unhappy" is a phrase from that book that when I first read it I had a lightbulb moment )

Man and his Symbols- Carl Jung (highlighted how significant symbols are and have been to mankind all over the world - "collective unconscious")

The Happiness Trap - Russ Harris (helped me with my depression/ptsd)

Mindfulness For Beginners - Jon Kabat Zinn (also helped me with depression/ptsd)

The Woman Who Runs With Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Jungian psychology from a feminine perspective - the importance of creativity and storytelling for women's wellbeing)

The Holoptropic Mind - Stanislav Grof (made me think about some of my trips/psychosis in a different way)

The Plague - Albert Camus (made me think about how to find meaning and joy in life when life seems horrible and meaningless)

Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor Frankl (ditto, actual real life account on how author found meaning being trapped in WW2 concentration camp and separated from loved ones)

Edited June 13, 2015 by tangled

[sascacheuan]

Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. Marvin Harris.

It taught me the materialistic origin of human cultures.

The Selfish Gene. Richard Dawkins.

It taught me nature is brutal and ruthless.