(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best eastern religions books

It looks like you are asking the right questions. It's normal to feel overwhelmed with this.

>Happines is when you let go of your ego,when you make peace with being computer with no free will,making peace with the fact that we are not gods but insignificant blink in the grand universe that doesnt matter to anybody.

Why do you think that dropping the ego will make you happy, isn't happiness is a charasteristic of the ego?

I think a more realistic goal would be to feel peace, to be ok with whatever happens. If you were happy all the time it would eventually be torture. Like having your favorite meal everyday.

>I want to make choice between good and evil

If the person is simply a computer running some software, then the choice is not yours to make. Why worry?

This is very hard to explain in a single comment, and without feedback (like a conversation). But the key question here is: What am I?

To me, it feels like your pain comes from not knowing yourself. There are many ways to start the journey into yourself, depending on your background, you might find some easier than others.

If have a philosophical/scientific background, Alan Watts might help you. Out of Your Mind, Become What You Are, and The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are are all great reads, it doesn't matter which one you pick, they are all pretty similar.

Alternatively, Mooji might help you with his extreme simplicity and straight-to-the-point style of writing/talking. Vaster Than Sky, Greater Than Space: What You Are Before You Became is a great book for starting out your spiritual journey, although it will require an open mind.

There are many other alternatives, but I think those are good starting points. I know linking some books is not the best way to help out but I feel like I would only confuse you more if I keep talking so, Alan and Mooji can do a better job than me in that regard.

If you have any questions though, feel free to ask/DM me.

For the sake of completeness, I'll give it a shot at replying to your original questions:

What is choice? An illusion created by mind. You could see it as inverse-rationalization of what just happened. Like, when you have to pick whether you want to eat A or B, and cant decide, you spend a few minutes with it and then... you make a completely sporadic choice!

Who makes it? It's simply a matter of action/reaction, it was made for you by your environment and conditioning.

Who regrets it? Mind.

What are we humans? Humans are not separate from the rest of the universe. Form and Name are big lies.

Does it even matter? It matters if you pay attention to mind. Mattering only exists in Mind's realm. Nothing matters if there isn't someone to worry about it.

You are experiencing modern angst. If you had lived only 100 years ago these feelings [for the most part] would not have had a chance to have arisen in the form you are expressing [stardust, universe experiencing itself] - be grateful you can do do it at all [I'm not saying people didn't have these feelings, like Camus, Neitzche, Descartes and others but that most average people didn't have the chance to worry like this, in the information laden way you are spitting it, since most people were busy feeding themselves and their families by farming etc]. So, yes, you are alive and it's all so crazy to think about.

Oh and yes, we do actually understand more than a "spec" of reality.

You say that if I am calm about what your saying then I am missing the point and haven't grasped the full implication of it's meaning. I say truth is relative and the truth of what you're saying is one of many perspectives I can tap into and get lost in. You seem to be hyperventilating only one stream of thought - your existential purpose, validity, meaning.

You seem to want someone to validate your feelings with an equal amount of shock and awe. Well you might get it, so what then? I'm not saying the knowledge you are talking about doesn't lead one to existential angst and confusion, but just remember what the Buddha said about the nature of reality. All is change. All is impermanent. This isn't some lofty metaphysical concept that is impossible to apply to everyday life. On the contrary, it is imminently important to understand so as to get a grip on your situation. If all is impermanent, then your feelings, opinions, knowledge etc.. is all impermanent. You are holding onto the feelings of utter confusion and awe. You have made a mistake unconsciously, that everyone does, when they mistake their immediate phenomenal experience as a permanent "thing" in reality. To be consistent with the Buddha's revelation one must relax, quiet the mind and understand the nature of reality - impermanence.

Read - Buddhism: Plain and Simple and also Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Questioning, the kind you seem to be doing, is just spinning your wheels if not tempered with a calm awareness and composure. Do you want to seek contentment and happiness? Do you want to feel resolve? Then shut your mind up for a moment. Listen to the birds chirp. Sit quietly in your room and watch your breathe. Work with your hands and feel reality in all it's textures. Just be aware. Hopefully you will have a long life to ponder these questions you have but for now don't make the mistake that so many neurotics do; mainly the mistake of attaching oneself to a overly anxious perspective while neglecting other modes of thought that are just as easily attachable. You have control over your mind, and your mind is doing all this anxious thinking.

If you want to have these questions turned upside down and be thrown into a different sort of thought then you must read Krishnamurti and his musings about life, love, truth, intelligence, nature.... "A consistent thinker is a thoughtless person, because he conforms to a pattern; he repeats phrases and thinks in a groove." Jiddu Krishnamurti - more quotes here.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers” - Voltaire

Apply this quote to yourself. Spend time with it. What are you really asking and what answers are you really searching for?

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” - Buddha

Good luck.

hey man
i have plenty of stuff to stay. i'm in love with taoism.
i followed taoism for a year and a half now. thank's to that culture i discovered meditation , and many other thoughts on life which healed me on many ways . i recommend you this book : https://www.amazon.com/Taoism-Road-Immortality-John-Blofeld/dp/1570625891

some taoist consider semen precious. you can keep it; but you have to make specific things to transform it in chi. otherwise , it just stays in the region of the penis and doesn't flow in the body. sorry i have specefic words for this but only in french. so there are specifics meditation techiques that you have to do in order to get energy from abstinence. they say that if you don't do those techniques , the energy will go out of your body , even if you don't ejaculate. the technique is called "transmutation"
however , not all taoist were for abstinence. taoism doesn't follow any dogma, undlike budhism for exemple.

i translated a part of the book for you:

> in fact, taoist are usually against all kind of extreme. they know that strict abstinence is something almost impossible to achieve. the philosophist Sun szû-mo gave the following advice:
"at 20 the man can allow himself one semen emission every 4 days, at 30 one every 8 days, at 40 one every 16 days, at 50 one every 21 days. past 60, it should be none.[...] at this age the thought of sexual act should have dissapeared for a long time, and abstinence should'nt cause any problems."

take in mind that taoist want to preserve semen in order to reach immortality. and with that you have to do millions of other things to reach immortality. i don't think they advise abstinence just to have a good life, it's one of the things you have to do, so you can live your body when your die , jump on a flying dragon and go to the celestial palace. i swear that's what they're saying. reaching immortality is no joke for sure haha. read the book, or another one , and you'll get the full package of taoism. it's a really interesting culture and i'm happy to find people getting interest in it ! cheers

I really appreciate lojong training and think it's pretty underrated. The Great Path of Awakening, Training the Mind, and The Practice of Lojong are great texts to work with.

Like contemplating insight, studying lojong is a pithy way of integrating / absorbing dharma. I've found that studying them intensively allows them to arise in the conditions they best benefit in. For example, yesterday I was feeling contracted and the slogan regard all dharma [experience] as dreams spontaneously arose in mind*,* which effected an instant release and shifted perception into a dreamlike state.

>Slogan 19. All dharma agrees at one point -- All Buddhist teachings are about lessening the ego, lessening one's self-absorption.

This reminds us to not get caught in sectarian squabbling, or perhaps help us appreciate whatever tradition is most available and keep us from continuously shopping for something "better."

>Slogan 22. If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

This can help prevent us from overly-criticizing our practice when our minds are frantic rather than still, recognizing that we are being mindful all the same.

Hopefully you'll find something worth exploring in the slogans listed on the wiki!

This is good advice and kindly given, OldDog47 .. Carol Depp is a biologist and her translation has the virtue of that perspective, she writes from Oregon, and gardening is her forte. Your list includes excellent translations for u/efoshay to which I suggest two more, in the same spirit as you’ve shown, to encourage breadth of exposure and tuning of the ear: I suggest the two older translations, Arthur Waley and Richard Wilhelm .. the difference between them of course being that Waley is classical and more oriented to the social values for good governance, where Wilhelm’s perspective is more ‘personal’, perhaps even psychological, and valuable to the individual as scripture. Links = Waley’s The Way and its Power, and Wilhelm’s Tao Te Ching: Book of Meaning and Life. Having read seven you clearly share my view that nearly everyone taking on the daunting task of translation of such a classic, has something to offer. Unfortunately we can not say all. I thank you for Op who has wonderful future reading the Tao Te Ching, we wish you well!

I've only just begun to go down the long rabbit hole of Ceremonial, but as far as Chaos or magnetizing money and work to you through the Law of Attraction, I can speak to that.

I've come to realize one of the major goals of the world's esoteric traditions is the flowering of the spinal force--all the prayer, fasting, meditation, Qi-gong, yoga, and even weirder or unlikelier practices such as sex magick and concentrating on Tarot cards can all be used to transmute and move excess sexual energy into a spiritual vitality that enlivens the physical and spiritual bodies. With enough of that vitality ("Qi," "Prana," etc.), multiple chakras can be charged and your auric space filled to the extent where you more fully exist in the physical, astral, and thought planes, more easily moving thoughts from their archetypal origin, through the astral, and into the physical.

Keep a journal where you admit your mistakes and give thanks for what you have. Challenge yourself to do acts of charity and to chant and fast and memorize scriptures or wise sayings. Write down what you want in detail, maybe even keeping a vision board. If you have a romantic partner, cuddle with him or her attentively. If not, then your best bet is probably an exercise such as the Northern Star Qi-gong found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Scholar-Warrior-Introduction-Everyday-Life/dp/0062502328/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538854753&sr=8-1&keywords=scholar+warrior

Another source for a visualization exercise meant to accomplish the same (along with an excellent description of how the spinal force works in general) can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Magdalen-Manuscript-Alchemies-Horus-Magic/dp/193103205X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538855051&sr=8-1&keywords=the+magdeline+manuscript

It is best if you have someone you completely trust, preferably with psychedelic experience who can ground you if you start spinning out.

The Psychedelic Experience by Tim Leary is a great guide for trip sitters.

If you don't have that available to you, start by yourself, in a safe environment, preferably when you are feeling decent already. Try not to force it if the timing doesn't feel right. I would start with a moderately low dosage (maybe 1g). This is enough to give you most of the effects without being too uncontrollable. Fast for a few hours beforehand and have some fruit available in case you feel hungry (you may feel nauseous eating anything else).

Relax and listen to music, meditate or enjoy nature. Try to let go of any unnecessary thoughts. Don't worry about analyzing the experience, you can do that later. Enjoy being in the present.

If things start getting heavy (thought loops), change locations. Go from inside to outside or vice versa, or change rooms. This can completely reset your perception of the experience.

Thanks again for the reply. I definitely laughed outloud when reading the middle part lol. You mentioned Lojong in your previous post. The practice of Lojong sounds very intersting to me: training the mind to be more compassionate and positive. Are there any books on Lojong you recommend? Doing a quick google search I found books by the Dalai Lama, Alan Wallace, and Traleg Kyabgon that all sound very interesting to me.

>Watts is a beautiful writer; you know it, I know it, and so did he. But in crafting the words he did, a great part of the reality fell out of his work. What else are you reading, and what, tentatively, did you see your focus being?

I'm well aware that there is a disparity between the most popular layman theologians (Alan Watts, C.S. Lewis) and the ones who I'd be reading if I wished to study these things more directly. My reading in eastern religion so far consists of Campbell's Oriental Mythology and some taoist literature. I just started Christmas break, and while I'm planning to spend most of my time on novels (I need a bit of a break from the more academic stuff), I've got Alan Watts' Behold the Spirit sitting next to me, along with some readings of Heidegger, although that's not entirely relevant to eastern studies.

>Another option would be to apply to a religious studies graduate program that offers a comparative, or world religions focus. This would allow you to combine your current studies, and perhaps even use the philosophical theories you study as a bridge between religious traditions.

This sounds interesting. Like I said, I'm open to different religions, I just would like to get more exposure to those of the east. What sorts of programs should I be looking at to do this sort of thing?

There is nothing else which is similar to "the ultimate" in Dzogchen except Mahamudra.

Unfortunately, it's really difficult to explain. Even the term "the ultimate" is misleading, so it was a bad choice of words on my part.

I remember when I first read about Dzogchen, I couldn't help but compare it to the Tree of Life, mostly the supernal triad and Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur, but also the whole notion of how phenomena came to be made so much sense to according to the YHVH formula and and the ray of creation, that I simply saw it in everything I read if something sounded similar. It seems to make so much sense, although in a vague and mysterious way, that it is easy to get stuck on, especially if you have used the YHVH formula to apparently manifest reality or perhaps "spoken" with the numinous in one way or another to confirm the validity of Qabalah. Once I had some experience with pathworking, it was difficult to shake the idea that Qabalah was not the absolute truth. What else could possibly manifest such perfectly verifiable experiences? But, I had trouble with the origins of the whole thing, since I am repulsed by the Bible and pretty much all forms of Judeo-Christian religions. It didn't satisfy me to think one was "exoteric" for the profane and one was "esoteric" for the enlightened, particularly because so many different schools had such different ideas about God, the gods, where the world was headed, what aeon we were in, what is "good" and "bad," etc. etc.

So, now that I've given some backstory on that, I will defer you to this link, which might make some sense to you, but frankly I doubt it... http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2009/10/dzogchen-rigpa-and-dependent.html

It is not something you can read about and understand, really. I learned that firsthand. The Western Mystery Tradition involves a lot of reading and thinking and I was just determined to try to understand Dzogchen intellectually for several years before I realized it just wasn't going to work... and then I finally started listening to all the Dzogchen teachers who had always said this. A little reading is okay, but practice is most important. And then, when you get some idea of what it's all about, reading may be more productive rather than just a complete waste of time trying to make sense of things that seem impenetrable.

I would also recommend some book for you if you're interested on a good introduction to Dzogchen:

The Crystal and the Way of Light

Dzogchen The Self-Perfected State

The Mirror

I recommend them in that order.

E: Also, this might be useful. It is 7 pages, notice the "next >" button at the bottom.
http://vajranatha.com/articles/dzogchen-and-meditation.html

This weekend strengthened my resolve to learn and practice more. It was primal, chaotic, unpretentious, joyful, hilarious, weird, wonderful, shamanic, practical, scientific, balanced, mystical, intense and fucking hard work :) Can't ask for much more than that.

That's a great looking list of spiritual area/topics. I'm glad you added quantum mechanics to the list. I believe that's where it all started for me a few years ago. That, hypnobirthing classes with the Mrs and watching DMT; The Spirit Molecule. I haven't looked much into Zen Buddhism (had my eye on Watts' book). Can you recommend any good books on Zen and on shamanism? I Also keep threatening to read more western philosophy but I keep putting it off. I kind of equate it to reading about Christianity - almost as though the ideas are so ingrained into western culture that I feel the need to stay away.

> "because I'm not a joiner"

Ha! Like that.

In terms of Chuang Tzu I've got my eye on this which includes The "Inner Teachings". The whole Taoist Classics series looks amazing. Have you read any of Cleary's work?

Well since you kids didn't like my oh-so-funny Troma Entertainment comment, how about this:

T'hroma is a practice, discovered by Padampa Sangye (and Machig Labdron ) of visualizing the offering of all that to which we are most attached, with special emphasis on the body.

Of modern masters, one of the most well known in recent history was Chagdud Tulku. If you get a chance, have a listen to the recordings of him practicing with his sangha.

The late Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, a friend of Chagdud Tulku and student of Dungse Rinpoche, was also a practitioner of T'hroma.

Author and lotsawa Sarah Harding wrote (or translated?) a book on the practice called, "Clarifying the Meaning"

There's quite a bit written on the early Quanzhen tradition. They're really the ones who got monastic Daoism off the ground and spread it, and were once responsible for all monasteries in China! So maybe you can find something of interest to write about there. The Teachings and Practices of Early Quanzhen Masters by Stephen Esikldsen and Cultivating Perfection: Msyticism and Self-transformation in Early Quanzhen Daoism are both good academic sources, with the former being slightly more accessible.

I AM THAT

Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion

Ursula LeGuin's translation of the Tao Te Ching

Pharmako Series by Dale Pendell

Breaking Open the Head

Zhou Yi - the Book of Changes - this is by far, the most lucid version I have found; profoundly useful and amazing reflections and a true companion along the way.

Meditation in Action - Chogyam Trungpa. This is a great introduction to basic principles of Shamatha meditation and mindfulness in action, it is highly practice-oriented. Also, The Sanity We Are Born With, same author. Teachings on basic sanity, wheel of life, and basically a wonderful bit about Buddhist Psychology. This one is slightly more advanced than meditation in action.

Well here you go :)

The Kindle version of the paper book I have, well different cover, but that's the one.

Enjoy!

http://www.amazon.com/Hua-Ching-Teachings-Lao-Tzu-ebook/dp/B00514NJA8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

I was only able to find a free copy in Chinese, but maybe you can read it? If not I'm afraid your options are limited to buying it on Amazon or some other book dealer. Although someone else may have better luck finding it.

Since you are on the Daoist sub, I'll suggest your friend to research Quan Zhen Daoism one of the two majors schools of Daoism. One of its core tenants is "Three Teachings are One" refering to Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism mainly focusing on Daoism. But there aren't too many English resources on post Warring states Daoism but here's a really good book on Quan Zhen Daoism

https://www.amazon.com/Teachings-Practices-Quanzhen-Philosophy-Paperback/dp/0791460460

Also Chan Buddhism is heavily influenced by Daoism so he should look into that as well.

I always recommend Victoria S. Harrison's Eastern Philosophy: The Basics. It's one of the best introductions to Chinese and Indian thought that I know of. It's presented topically rather than historically, but it explains major ideas clearly and concisely without sacrificing too much depth and detail.

Yes, read up on zuowang:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuowang

In particular, Livia Kohn's study of the topic and Sima Chengzhen's renowned text Zuowanglun is worth a read:

http://www.amazon.com/Sitting-Oblivion-Heart-Daoist-Meditation/dp/1931483167/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449767361

Another famous work, albeit a little mysterious in some regards, is the Secret of the Golden Flower:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_the_Golden_Flower

http://www.thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/

Finally, there's these two videos by an author on Daoist works, Louis Komjathy, that might be of interest for you, the first being a practical instruction on Daoist meditation and the second being a lecture on Daoist meditation:

https://vimeo.com/59304511

https://vimeo.com/23601671

I really liked the book Dzogchen: the Self-Perfected State. It has really solid explanations and ranks as one of the top books I've read on religion/spirituality.

Indeed, Taoism has shamanic roots. But keep in mind that Taoism is much broader and more complicated than most people realize. I recommend reading Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva Wong for a better understanding of how it evolved from shamanism.

https://www.amazon.com/Taoism-Essential-Guide-Eva-Wong-ebook/dp/B00ATMWJZ8

As for books on shamanism, Michael Harner’s “The Way of the Shaman” is considered classic.

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731

Edited: grammar, additional book link

The one is Wilhelm's I Ching, the other is from Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod. Definitely worth a peek ;)

Sometimes the trip is about what's around you. But you can have some of the most powerful experiences just from lying down, closing your eyes, clearing your mind, and submitting to wherever the headspace takes you. No background music or TV.

Like The Beatles sang: "Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream. Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void."

They were quoting from a landmark guidebook written by none other than Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Ram Dass. You can buy it at many bookstores, and it's also floating around the Web as a PDF, for example. There's even the original audiobook narrated by them, which you can find on YouTube.

If you are at all interested, this is particularly a good read. While the Tao Te Ching is mostly teachings for the average individual the Wen Tzu is mostly geared toward how nations should be governed. Pretty hard to imagine how beautiful of a world we'd live in if our leaders practiced even some of what is contained in those teachings. They may not always be 'practical' but practical is not always better.

Almost everyone in this thread could do with checking out Eva Wong's Taoism an Essential Guide. It is a history book on Taoism by a practitioner that gives an overview of all the various things that can be described as Taoist. Much of the western popular knowledge on Taoism comes from purely intellectualized readings of the Tao Te Jing without any of the elements of even the basic refinement practices, because when the west first came into heavy contact with China, Taoism was looked down upon by the ruling Manchu people and the translators were mostly christian missionaries.


https://www.amazon.com/Taoism-Essential-Guide-Eva-Wong-ebook/dp/B00ATMWJZ8

I love the Hua Hu Ching.

http://www.amazon.com/Hua-Ching-Teachings-Lao-Tzu-ebook/dp/B00514NJA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408130467&sr=8-1&keywords=hua+hu+ching

Read this book:

Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation
https://www.amazon.com/Sitting-Oblivion-Heart-Daoist-Meditation/dp/1931483167

I like the red pine translation:

http://www.amazon.com/Lao-tzus-Taoteching-Lao-Tzu/dp/1556592906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320331188&sr=8-1

and ursula le guin's:

http://www.amazon.com/Lao-Tzu-Tao-Te-Ching/dp/B001HZ1VOG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320331225&sr=1-2


in my opinion its always good to read a few different different translations of the same passage to really get at the thing. each translation is informed by the translators time place understanding and belief in the source material, which i find interesting to cross compare.

the daodejing is collection of classical chinese poems, and those are very modal for lack of better word. in a very rough description, classical chinese poems consist of loosely connected nouns and descriptors devoid of syntax leading to a purposive ambiguity necessitating the reader to in effect finish the poems themselves. so it is literally the entire point of the daodejing that it doesn't mean one exact thing in particular, but loosely describes a sentiment we finish in our minds.

John Blofeld’s book Taoism: The Road To Immortality has a good overview of important Taoists books over the centuries and the differences between the schools from a Western perspective.

The books by Mark Teeuwen and John Breen

A New History of Shinto

and

Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami

They're great works on the history of Shinto, from an academic perspective. They're revisionist works in the sense that they challenge the old ideas about what Shinto is and how it came to be, that might sound like they're fringe works, but it's rather that the study of Japanese religion is a very modern topic where new research is conducted right now. These books are a part of modern Shinto studies that are based in modern research.

The Tao of Physics Is a good one describing the parallels.

I appreciate your skepticism as I believe we all should be skeptics until we are proven otherwise.

For less metaphysics, and more physics, I highly recommend The Tao Of Physics

here we go :)

http://www.amazon.com/Meditation-Action-Chogyam-Trungpa/dp/159030876X

Read this book. I read it at age 23 and have given it as a gift approximately 20 times. Think on These Things

you think that just because you take a drug and experience something out of the norm that that must be a truth because TPTB are keeping it from us. and you do this all without mastering the experience of psychedelics? theres more to the art of "trippin".

​

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XMQ78YK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Here are some that haven't been recommended:

• Qigong The Secret of Youth - Yang Jwing Ming http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Secret-Youth-Changing-Classics/dp/1886969841
  
• Scholar Warrior - Deng Ming Dao http://www.amazon.com/Scholar-Warrior-Introduction-Everyday-Life/dp/0062502328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324789854&sr=1-1
  
• The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi - Bruce Frantzis http://www.amazon.com/Power-Internal-Martial-Arts-Chi/dp/1583941908/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324789889&sr=1-1
  
  Yang is very scientific. Deng is practical, some of his other books are more spiritual and one chronicles his master's life and more like a crazy novel. Frantzis is also quite practical and most informative regarding martial arts. All three have classic understanding of Chinese medicine, haven't come across any new age BS in their writing.
  
  Each author has other books that you should look into.

This book is an introductory book on the topic which you may find helpful.

The western view of knowledge is not all there is. You are right about the big bang, but your mode of thinking isn't correct (you aren't wrong, but there is another way of looking at things, which I'm trying to get at). I was vague because that's all I can be. What is the biggest question there is? Why does the universe exist? As opposed to just not existing? Why, as opposed to why not?

I think this book is relevant to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-Anniversary/dp/1570625190

Without a doubt it was Think on These Things

"J krishnamurti Think on these things" I was 15.

Think on these things

http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Its-Power-representative/dp/0802150853/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398312300&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=way+and+its+power+arthur+daley

Yeah it's not easy, but I had a lot of trauma and heartbreak to actually face and move on, which was holding me back because I was starting to resent people that just seemed to have life just fall into place for them, while mine was falling apart. It all started to change about a year ago when I read the book, "The Practice of Lojong". It's a bit difficult to read sometimes, but it will start to get your brain on the "right track" and start to see life, and other people in a different light.

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Lojong-Cultivating-Compassion-Training/dp/1590303784

Ok, I've given you enough assignments now.... lol. Now go prosper, and spread the good word, and shine your light for others!

Peaceful Warrior is a book about a college student who meets a master and learns the philosophical side of Kung Fu.

I have not yet read Scholar Warrior yet but its a book about applying Kung Fu to everyday life.

Here is good book on Chinese acupuncture, which is a very useful skill that can be used to either hurt or heal another person

You are a gullible and uncritical thinker because your opinion that the Tao of Physics presents a good argument implies your lack of critical thinking skills and familiarity with physics. I care not one whit about your spiritual education or your path of personal liberation, which as far as I am concerned, are completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand. There is no interest in the topic because your response to any criticism is to go read the book, instead of specifically delineating the points which should, in theory, buttress your argument.

You also engage in ad hominem attacks the moment you get even mildly frustrated. It is incredibly insulting for you accuse Mitchellofire of being in high school, which also implies that high schoolers aren't critical thinkers, and mocking his most beautiful experience as his lost virginity behind the bleachers. You also accuse everyone here, myself included, of being "Bill Maher dick riders," mostly for disagreeing with you. You have made the mistake of assuming qualities about those who disagree with you that are simply untrue. That is why you are an ass.