(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best hinduism books

For AI, I have to recommend The Jesus Incident by F. Herbert. It will also fulfill your Machiavellian theme.

On philosophy, I really love Social and Political Philosophy edited by J. Somerville and R. E. Santoni. It's a collection of "readings," important chapters of everyone from Plato to Ghandi. I especially like the sections on Thomas Jefferson, and Rousseau. Marx, Hitler, and Lenin are also in it but so are Gandhi and Dewey; Machiavelli, too. You should at least take a look at it. The Walter Kaufman book Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre is also darned good.

Also, although not on your list, Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction is a great read about evolution, and the first part is a sort of biography on Darwin on how and why he came up with the theory (I thought this was a humorous part of the book) and the book in its entirety is about evolution, but it's also a great narrative story, and i guarantee you will learn a lot.

There's a couple of novellas, Taratuta / Still Life with Pipe, that come together by a South American writer named Jose Donoso that are more or less about art and existentialism, but they're super easy to read but also philosophical. I just mention them if you're interested in novellas. And if you're going to read fiction, I would love to suggest Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, which is a collection of his essays explaining how and why he creates art. It's interesting and not dry at all and it may help you appreciate plot, metaphor, etc, on your 52 book journey.

My guru found me. I was not looking for a guru or a spiritual path. I didn't believe in or have faith in God, religion, spirituality, or any teachers.

I was looking for self understanding and happiness. I was handed a couple of books with a yogic perspective. One was The Art of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama, and the other was Where There is Light, by Paramhansa Yogananda. I resonated with both of these.

In my early readings of Yogananda I remember him saying that "Belief won't save you, you need to know God if you would be free." With all my wisdom, it struck a cord in me that this guy is saying that belief is not what it's all about and that there is some way to KNOW GOD. I thought this was really interesting, because I had assumed all religion and spirituality was a bunch of belief oriented stuff to help weak people make it through the day. I had no idea what was laid out before me.

He said to meditate and I learned how from someone who followed him. He said that God would come to us an any form we called out to, if we would call with deep sincerity and with love. I was ready to try.
I used his techniques for about a year or more, and tried every day. One day I was answered. God is real. Meditation is real. The help of a guru is the greatest blessing to fall on man.

Everything in my life changed. I gave my life to Yogananda. I'll never walk alone again. He is as alive (more alive) than any pile of flesh and bones walking this earth. I know him. He knows me. My life is full of miracles, little and big. The greatest miracle of all is Joy and the Love I feel for God, life and man. I would never have known how good life is if it was not for what Yogananda has done for me.

Understand that the ego is what lies between you and Bliss. That is it, there is nothing else in the way.

Those who say, Oh, an external teacher... or the guru is within... and basically are guiding themselves, I understand, but there is a better way. It's not black and white. The guru IS within, but the guru is not your own mind or thoughts or feelings. He/She is behind all of them. Watching, praying and waiting for you to recognize their presence in your life.

If you want to know your guru. Pray for that awareness to come to you once you have become prepared to receive what the guru can offer.

The guru is not here to get you a job, a girfriend, or an easy life. The Guru comes when you are over it. When you are ready to put it all down and want God alone.

When this is what you want, and you are really clear, when you are desparate as St. Anthony, or St Francis, or Sri Rama Krishna, the guru will cry for you in your heart and will arise in your life.

and still, you'll have to choose. You'll have to overcome doubt and fear to receive him.

and it will be the most glorious day of your life when you really know, you have never been alone.

love and joy to all

You have got some great responses. I am sure you have some ideas now on how you can go forward in your journey of discovery. Nonetheless I thought it may be helpful for you to see a list of simple next steps for you:

• identify the different temples near your residence or office. Visit them and see what draws you. Make it a habit to visit the temple of your choice at least once a month and just sit there for 10-15 minutes.
  
  
• find a introductory book on hinduism to read. There is enough material online but a book like The Hindu View Of Life(S. Radhakrishnan) written by respected authors can give you a grounding of the philosophy.
  
  
• then you start on one of the epics - ramayana or mahabharata (or both). I recommend the Rajagopalachari version, which was my introduction to both. His writing is simple yet engaging. You can explore other versions later.
  
  
• keep visiting online discussion forums like this one or the one at hindu stackexchange. You often come across interesting topics and discussions, which also help you learn more about the religion.
  
  
• when you feel ready, set up a small altar at your home, just one or two deities, light diya/incense and pray daily.
  
  Activities like meditation, mantra chanting I would think comes in the next stage.
  
  Good luck. One of my most cherished memories of living in Mumbai was seeing the joyous enthusiasm of common janta on the roads during ganesh visarjan.

You can look through my comment history, but I would start with the following books, probably in this order:

Shakti, Realm of the Divine Mother, by Vanamali - This is a great overview over the Goddesses many names and forms, along with a great recounting of Her many stories.

In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning, by Devadatta Kali

• The Devi Mahatmyam is one of the most important Shaktaa religious texts, and while other translations exist, this one is by far the best.
  
  Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding - An exploration into Mother Kali, and how She is worshipped at Dakshineswar temple in Kolkata. The author also goes into the life of Sri Ramakrishna, one of the modern day saints of the Divine Mother.
  
  The Thousand Names Of The Divine Mother: Shri Lalita Sahasranama - The other "most important" book amongst Shaktaa's, this version contains verse by verse commentary.
  
  As for converting - that's a bit of a thorny topic, but it's not really necessary. Begin to read, learn, and most importantly, practice the Dharma, and after a few years of doing so, perhaps consider a more formal conversion.
  
  Also, seek out a guru if you can. It can be tough, but it makes a lot of this go a lot easier.
  
  

Yes, if you look at things only from the point of view of the senses, a table is just a table. But we don't analyze reality that way. When we see something we don't just sense it, we also integrate the sensations through our mind. So a table, aside from particular table X, it is also an abstract idea that is nevertheless real. Because that idea exists across many objects. Similarly, a number is an idea that is present in all its instantiations, but does never diminish.

Also, from another point of view, a table is an object with a function and the function of "being used as a table" can migrate to other objects as well, such as a stone slab on the ground. The tableness of the table is not lost when supplanting it with a stone slab because the tableness is also a function.

To give an analogy. A book can be analyzed by thickness, weight, the number of words, etc. And that analysis is correct and real. However, beyond this analysis is the analysis of the meaning of the words, sentences and thematic meaning as well. This makes the ink blots not only inkblots, but also symbols of meaning, of ideas.

You can also deny the reality of the mind and say that ideas are not like things, they are just illusions, but then you won't have science, theories, anything more than plain sense perception. If ideas are not real, then theories are not real, science is not real, morality etc.

As far the non-moving part of reality, that is indeed accounted for in Sankhya but not in this particular article. It is God which is that reality behind everything, the source of both conscious souls and the reality "external" to the souls which they perceive. And how that reality is organized it is described by Ashish Dalela in the book Six Causes: The Vedic Theory of Creation, which is a great read if you are inclined towards creationism and ID. In chapter 9: The Nature of God's Power, there is an extensive presentation of the intricacies of Vedic theology as it relates to what you are refering to as a "non-moving" point. But that's another discussion. Here is a taste from the book description, to give you an idea of how Indian philosophy can analyze creation:

"The Personal Cause of Creation explores the properties of consciousness, its quest for meaning and self-knowledge and how that quest forms the basis for the creation of the universe.

The Efficient Cause of Creation describes the mechanism by which the quest for meaning gradually becomes thoughts, desires, judgments, plans and actions, thereby creating various experiences.

The Instrumental Cause of Creation discusses the Vedic view on the senses, mind, intelligence and ego as the instruments that experience meanings, and embed meanings into matter.

The Formal Cause of Creation describes the nature of meanings and how these meanings are created as subtle information and then embedded into space-time to create differentiated objects.

The Systemic Cause of Creation explains how information in the mind is transformed into energy which is then represented into matter as sound vibrations denoting meanings.

The Material Cause of Creation describes how information is encoded as vibrations in space-time, and how modifications of these vibrations create other observable physical properties."

I studied public history and comparative religion as an undergrad and read this as part of my Tibetan Buddhism work.

Tantra by Andre Van Lysbeth

It was both poorly written and didn't seem to have been professionally edited, and also chock full of unsourced personal anecdote stated as fact. Here's a relevant Amazon review:


>I've seen this book before but never actually considered reading it, until upon the advice of a yoga friend of mine. Well, I can say that it was a mostly interesting read. Yet most of what he says here is abstract philosophical vapor, being in praise of Matriarchy and the Great Goddess and all that. It's like talking about talking about something, but never actually getting around to the thing itself. And what little there was of practical, experiential value [pp. 297-340] as yogic sadhana, is not original at all. Of particular interest was the fact that he complained so much about Osho (a.k.a. Bhagawan Rajneesh, Sri Sri Neo-Tantra). To me, when someone complains about someone else SO MUCH and are at such pains to distinguish and distance themselves, its a sign that they really are that similar, after all! Osho was (in)famous for promoting "neo-tantra," that is, an uninhibited sexual free-for-all for Westerners seeking both sex and enlightenment ("enlightened sex"?). Van Lysbeth's teaching are what I'd call "neo-tantra non plus ultra" (Neo-tantra--and not much more). He even uses the ridiculous term, "cosmic orgasm" [p. 345]. Still, it was interesting read & it fits with a lot of material I've been working with in other esoteric avenues, personally. The books numerous shortcomings include: the meandering writing style, no credits for photos/maps/diagrams used throughout [but note the excellent diagrams of ano-genital musculature, pp.306-307], the Mughal-style Kama Sutra paintings portrayed as tantric "asanas", the incessant textual references to works not cited in the Bibliography, the pretentious posture of imparting tantric "secrets" not discussed elsewhere, and the contrived historical sense of a "Tantra" that never existed except in the minds of befuddled Westerners and the Eastern gurus who sexploited them. If you want to learn something about Tantra, read Abhinavagupta or D.G. White. If you want to learn about sexual practices, read M. Chia or the Bihar School books on mulabandha. If you wish merely to wax mystical about your desire to return to Original Matriarchy, read this book--you'll feel real good. A note about me: practicing yoga, understanding historical Tantra, worshipping the goddess, returning to a more receptive Yin state of being--all this fits in well with my own evolving belief system. Just don't expect to find much of substance here.

Indian here. I have been studying Hinduism and other derivatives (Buddhism) for a while now. I will attempt to explain.

The end goal of Hinduism is the state of Nirvana - a state of eternal bliss, free from the cycle of birth and death and free from its physical pains. That is that in a nutshell. There is more to it, but assume that every spiritual practitioner's end goal is to "liberate" himself/herself from the physical body.

The means of achieving this goal is to elevate something called the kundalini (or the coiled latent energy) that is believed to reside at the base of every person's spinal column. This in itself will require great exposition, but just take it that all spiritual aspirants practice different forms of yoga/meditation in order to elevate this latent energy. When this energy begins to rise, it is believed to hit 7 chakras or wheels. These wheels have been known to corroborate with the endocrine glands, but not much research has been done. As this energy rises due to the practitioner performing various austerities and techniques (breath retention, meditation, etc), the body begins to experience various sights, sounds and smells. Finally, when the energy reaches the crown of the head, the person is enlightened. One such enlightened soul was the Buddha.

Now, with this background, the missing link is what does one do to reach Nirvana. Many techniques exist. Broadly, most of them are slotted into the left-handed path and the right-handed path. Most Hindus follow the right-handed path. This involves practicing yoga, meditation, following a vegetarian diet and complex breathing techniques that force the kundalini up the spinal column.

However, it is believed that in these times (the Hindus believe in 4 Yugas and in each Yuga, man ascends/descends towards materialism) man is in his most primal state of attachment with the earth. Hence, the traditional right handed path of pure meditation fails. As someone who has tried to meditate, I can attest to this. The mind if fickle and it is impossible to focus!

Thus, Tantra Yoga was born. Tantra Yoga was taught to man by the Lord Shiva himself. The Sanskrit root for tan means the body. Similar to Tantra are Mantra and Yantra. These are tools given to the yogic aspirant to still his/her mind. A Mantra is a phrase that is attuned to a person and when repeated many times over in the mind, it can lead to Nirvana. A Yantra is a visual image and the aspirant is asked to visualize and contemplate it in his/her mind for the same reason. One of the popular Yantras that the Hindus consider sacred is the Sri Yantra. Hindu temples (and many mosques) are adorned with these motifs to give the aspirant a means to focus.

This leads us to the last of the lot - Tantra. As I said before, Tantra is that form of yoga that uses the body as a vehicle to attain Nirvana. Now, the West has been guilty of reducing this sacred, ancient and left-handed path of yoga into Tantric Sex and there are many widespread wrong notions about it. A Tantric practitioner has to be initiated into a school. there are a few schools now still extant, but have been driven out of public eye due to their practices. While I can talk a lot about Tantric Yoga, I will address the sex aspect now.

In the Tantric Yoga school, it is believed that the kundalini's essence is carried in the body fluids. Thus, they place a great deal of importance on the semen and the vaginal fluids of the woman. The student of the Tantric Yoga will let you believe that there is nothing erotic or sensual about the ritual sex and is what it is - ritual. Most of the times, the women are middle aged and initiated specifically for this purpose and it is not anything like the porno and sleazy films that the West has pandered to its audience. During the ritual, the woman takes on the physical form of the Goddess Kundalini. She is propitiated and then stimulated. It is believed that as the woman slowly ascends to a state of ecstasy, her kundalini elevates and the devotees worship the goddess via the form of the dakini (this is the official word for the goddess when she enters the human form). The ritual will last for an hour or so. Animal sacrifices are normally made. Lots of meat and wine are consumed and then this sets the stage for more intense rituals which are not shared to the uninitiated.

Now, it is interesting that one of the core tenets of the left-handed path is idol worship. Because of the belief that man cannot let go of the material world easily, in order to facilitate his kundalini rising, he is asked to visualize the god and goddess via a stone carving. Today, this has been adopted by the right handed path and virtually every Hindu temple has dozens of idols. An example Traditional right handed followers eschew idol worship and entreat their brethren to focus on yantras in their mind if they so need to be visual!

A final word - the rising of the kundalini is exoterically explained to the masses as the meeting of the goddess with the Lord Shiva (who resides at the crown of one's forehead). This meeting results in a state of eternal bliss (Nirvana) and that it literally springs forth from his head. These images are metaphors and have sadly been lost in centuries that Hinduism has existed. Today, idols and murals of Shiva are made, yet few people understand its esoteric meaning. Similarly, the goddess Kundalini is represented as the ferocious Goddess Durga who is shown as a kick-ass woman, riding a tiger and stabbing a demon. Again, this is metaphoric and represents the destruction of the pleasures of the flesh as the Kundalini rises to meet Lord Shiva.

Hope this helps. A fascinating, thorough and a "for dummies" exposition of Tantra can be found in Georg Fuerstein's Tantra - Path Of Ecstasy

> I am a Vaisnava Brahmin myself, everyone in my family is religious, except they don't really know what our religion talks about.

I can identify with this to some extent. My wife's family is Brahmin Hindu (albeit more followers of Ganesh) and despite having a large shrine, gathering for pujas and bhajans, and turning their noses up on "lower" castes, they are largely ignorant of the lessons and content of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. I've noticed that in today's world - at least among the diaspora Indian population in the U.S. - "Hinduism" is often more of a cultural identity, tradition, and way to unite a community for events. Many know a few folkloric tales, some procedures for ceremonies, basic conceptual framework of the religion - but few actually walk the path, few practice meditation, few have studied the Upanishads or Gita and appreciated the messages of mysticism contained therein. This is even more true for second generation Indian-Americans. That said, the same could be said for almost any religious group; you can't tell me that every Methodist Protestant can recite the book of Luke or Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

>I wish I could actually understand sanskrit(the language the scripts are written) so I could have my own perception of the scripts rather than translations.

I recommend these translations of Sankaracharya's 6th-7th century commentary of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. These do a rough breakdown of the words, gives an idea of how the Sanskrit breaks down, and gives a pretty true representation of one of the oldest translations from Sanskrit into vernacular tongues.

If interested, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda are great as well. They give the original the Sanskrit, the direct transliteration, a translation into coherent English, and then a commentary. However, this book is more an instruction manual on yoga practice (unitive and meditative exercises and broader lifestyle, not American stretch class); though still a great read for someone looking for a practical approach to mysticism.

Thank you for your query. I also posted this in Hinduism. The advice there and in this sub was very diverse and didn't reach a consensus, so unfortunately it was not super helpful in my opinion. (But hey, the Gita's an ancient religious text, so I guess that comes with the territory.)

I own three translations, currently:

1. Old paperback of the Prabhavananda-Isherwood translation I found for $1 (!), which includes an introduction by Adolus Huxley of "Brave New World" fame.
   
   
2. New translation by Gavin Flood and Charles Martin. I just bought it yesterday. I was interested in this one because when I asked my Hinduism professor to recommend a short single-volume overview of the religion, she pointed me to Flood's "An Introduction to Hinduism." I enjoyed that book so I feel that I can trust his scholarship in this translation.
   
   
3. The ubiquitous ISKON translation which I picked up for free from some ISKON devotees on the street. I'm honestly a little suspicious of this one because of its strong sectarian origins. But I think the commentary might be helpful if I want to understand how Krishna devotees read the Gita.
   
   I'm also interested in the Easwaran translation because I've heard that is a classic (and the paperback is really nice-looking, always a perk...) But honestly my eyes are bigger than my stomach when it comes to books so I think I'll just try to get through something I already own rather than scrambling to collect a bunch of different Gitas that I'll never read. Overall, I'm satisfied with my choices because they cover a good range of old, new, and popular.

I'm sorry the last 6 months have been so rough. Sounds like a very transformative time, and I hope it gets easier for you. It is true that a Guru will appear when you're ready, but I think the desire has to be very sincere. Not just a whim or something mixed in with a bunch of other desires, has to be like, a serious longing.

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It's possible to awaken the Guru inside of you, though. One book that has really helped me is "A Thousand Seeds of Joy: Teachings of Lakshmi and Saraswati" its full of wisdom and lessons on discovering the joy within, but just really helped me lighten up towards my own spiritual process. You have to be open to Eastern philosophy and Goddess wisdom though.

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Thanks, I think this is the book you mentioned. I'll see if I can get it through my library.

>I think deeper studies of the connections between especially Western Christian and Islamic mysticism could help illuminate the "cultural milieu"

I have a particular interest in the Indian subcontinent and I’m fascinated by the similarities to bhakti. In fact, I think this facet of Islam may be Indian in origin. If you look at dhikr in different Sufi traditions, you’ll find that it’s very abstract in Cairo or Baghdad or Damascus. Things like reciting the name of God, or chanting verses from the Koran repeatedly. It might find a parallel to monastic practice in Christianity, but it’s not the devotional stuff I was talking about. That’s the opposite of abstraction – that is the concretization of God with human personality, human traits, with which you then establish human relations, like being “married” to Jesus in some spiritual sense. Eroticism isn’t abstract, it’s very concrete.

In Islam, I trace this to the Persian poet Rumi who started the Mevlevi Sufi order. His influence goes north to Turkey in the form of “whirling dervishes” and south to India where it creates an immensely rich culture of music, singing, poetry, including erotic poetry. Perhaps you need some distance from the centers of Islam to permit this, because these things may be haram under strict interpretations of Islam. Even today, Sufis routinely get murdered for being un-Islamic.

I actually speak Hindi/Urdu/Persian and also somewhat understand Sindhi and Pashto. Rumi and Khusro are still intelligible after 700- years, though Khusro has the tendency to switch between half a dozen different languages within the same poem. I am struck by how similar their Sufi poetry is to Mirabai (or Laleshwari, who you mentioned), who were Hindus in the bhakti movement. It’s the same tone, the same personal appeals to God, or Prophet or Sufi saints on one side, and Krishna on the other. There’s eroticized poetry hinting at marital relations, which I guess we’re supposed to not take literally. Here’s an example of what I mean. Unfortunately, it’s the only English translation I could find on the web, and it lacks all the poetry and romance of the original. But it’s an invocation to Moinuddin Chishti, a Sufi saint, in highly romantic language.

So when you brought up the same thing with respect to Christianity, it reminded me of these parallels. It's not so much mysticism that I'm talking about, it's the whole form of devotion, where God is very human (or it may be a saint or Mary, who IS human), the tone is very personal and familiar, and there's a sense that prayer IS the process of becoming one, emotionally and spiritually, with this personal god.

I have given a Wisdom Card Deck to people. They are a card deck which has vedic quotes on each card. They are really nice

http://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Deck-Wisdom-Shawn-Laksmi/dp/1601090315

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dharma-Deck-Wisdom-Shawn-Laksmi/dp/1601090315

As it says:

>Humility, realization, hope and fulfillment, freedom, progress and reality — what do the sages have to say on these matters? Each card in this soulful deck offers a pure moment of sincere reflection from Dharma masters past and present. From the timeless wisdom that gave birth to such concepts as karma, mantra, and samsara comes 52 enlightening adages. Offering insight and inspiration from mother India's Vedic tradition including the Bhagavad-Gita, these cards also feature gorgeous photographs of her sacred lands and people.

Much cheaper than your budget, and I think it will be more useful than any figures or statues.

Social and Political Philosophy. Is the best place to start in my opinion. A lot of good excerpts that would give you a good understanding of where the major thinkers stand of various political and social issues. You can go on from there once you've decided what thinker interests you the most.

Also, take a look at:

Political Thinking by Glenn Tinder

Matt Lawrence's Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy Behind the Matrix Trilogy - This is a MIND-BLOWING book!

> the concept of homosexuality here in India

Really? Ancient india for an instance was waay too leet in terms of in the concept of homosexuality in India

Like

Kama shastras (kama sutra)
Khajuraho Temple and
Many countless other temples

Just last month I read quite exciting book in this genre

Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex
Understanding Homosexuality, Transgender Identity And Intersex Conditions Through Hinduism

https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=587197

And

Shikhandi: Ánd Other ‘Queer’ Tales They Don’t Tell You

https://www.amazon.com/Shikhandi-Other-Queer-Tales-They/dp/9383074841

And this video

https://youtu.be/iplGW7MNNmI

And about the SC decision I think it it's latest right to privacy decision it's clear now LGBTQ is going to be legal in India very soon.

Oh yes, 100%. Kashmir Shaivism is brilliant, and I'm so glad that it's being made more accessible by his books. I'm in the middle of The Recognition Sutras right now.

I can also recommend The Doctrine of Vibration and The Triadic Heart of Shiva. They are more academic than Christopher's books, but full of interesting tidbits.

> I used to practice zen

You didn’t. What you did was some mind relaxation to not lose your cool.

If you’re interested in zen, I recommend you to dive deeper into the topic.

Would it help you with your housemate problem? Oh boy, you have no idea what’s waiting for ya :D

1. [Blue Cliff Record] (https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Cliff-Record-Thomas-Cleary/dp/159030232X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479373811&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+cliff+record)
by the Cleary brothers.

The preface will provide you a good introduction to the history of zen. Plus, insights into the lineage of the masters.

This book is actually a collection of koans. But my advice is: Don't jump into cold water. Make yourself familiar with the background first (preface's).

2. [Zen Essence] (https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Essence-Shambhala-Dragon-Editions/dp/1570625883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479374319&sr=8-1&keywords=zen+essence+thomas+cleary) by Thomas Cleary.

Cleary provides quotes/ sayings from the masters referring to “topics” or “questions”, like “Zen Teaching?”, “Basis of Zen?”, “Summary of Zen Practice?”.

I think this approach is very helpful for people who want to get introduced to Zen, in terms of “What the hell is this shit about?” -- good guy Thomas Cleary!

3. Gateless Gate
by Robert Aiken.

This is rather a workbook for the practitioner than literature regarding zen.

I haven’t read the book I’ve linked to, but in my opinion, starting with the Mumonkan without any notes or comments from contemporary scholars/ students/ teachers/ translators is not the right approach. Use the commentaries from Aitken only as an orientation or a hint. The meaning itself has to be found by you!

Thanks for posting this, it's reminded me of a book I read a few years ago by Amit Goswami called Physics of the Soul.

Goswami was professor of theoretical science at the University of Oregon for many years, and the premise of this book was him being inspired to prove the essential truth of the Tibetan Book of the Dead through the tools of quantum physics.

I don't think he quite achieved that; some of his ideas would be a stretch to call 'scientific', but they're well-expressed, and you might find it rewarding to read it.

Regarding 1: I really like Easwaran's Bhagavad Gita English translation. It includes lengthy, descriptive forwards for each chapter that assume no familiarity with Hindu mythology or Indian culture. Easwaran had a PhD in English literature and was an Indian national who genuinely loved the Gita.

Non-directive meditation is found in different traditions. The main one's I've found are:

Taoism

• Zuowang, see http://oldoakdao.org/blog/
  
  Buddhism
  
  
• Zen (zazen, inspired by Taoism, see the book True meditation, Adyashanti)
  
• Dzogchen/mahamudra: See for example Shift into freedom
  
  Hinduism
  
  
• Tantra: Doctrine of vibration
  
• Vedic meditation
  
  You also find it in other traditions:
  
  
• Neo-Confucianism: Jing zuo //similar to zuowang and zazen
  
• Esoteric and contemplative Christianity Centering prayer
  
  Perhaps /u/sovereign_self has something in mind as well

Why not open up your reading list to some non-Abrahamic religion? Sprinkle in some eastern thought to broaden your perspective, it's a different way of thinking. Some of it is quite accessible to noobs, at least I was able to take it in and that's saying something.

I thought the Gita was amazing (and not at all a tome), I read this translation (with commentary): http://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Eknath-Easwaran/dp/0915132354

I myself am particularly interested in esoteric Buddhism and Hinduism. So when I say "the ancients" I personally think of the ancient Hindus. But truthfully, this was known across many cultures (think Egypt, Babylon, etc), including the shamanic ones. Actually shamanism is the foundation out of which most of our esoteric knowledge derives. But it could also refer to forms of paganism, to the Kabbalists (esoteric Judaism), it can refer to the gnostic Christians. The list is really endless.

This all relates to meditation in the sense that concentration/focus is the first thing necessary to understanding this knowledge. It is a kind of back and forth between theory and practice. You learn something new from a book about shamanism for example, then you go meditate about that concept and analyze how that concept changes your meditation. You get some insight in the meditation, then you go back to the theory to understand that new insight.

As far as links, I have a lot of information I can share with you. I'm just wary of giving the wrong information.

There is a book written by a theoretical quantum physicist, Amit Goswami, called Physics of the Soul: The Quantum Book of Living, Dying, Reincarnation and Immortality which spends a great deal of time examining the question of which comes first, matter or consciousness. He also discusses how this relates to a book called the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I think this is a good start if you have had no previous exposure to this.

C.G. Jung is an invaluable source and an excellent foundation for esoteric knowledge for somebody coming from a Western/scientific point of view. He explains the same concepts in terms acceptable to the rational aspect of the mind.

You can read this site to understand some of the ancient Hindu philosophy:

http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/tantra.htm

which can be difficult to grasp at first, but the knowledge starts to slowly coalesce.

So you would say that Zen Mind Beginners Mind offers only a "superficial understanding" of Zen? Interesting, not something I had heard before about that book.

If I were to order one of those books off your list to start with, which one would it be?

And is this the Mummonkan book you mentioned?

What Smith says is largely correct, apart from the polytheism part, which as I said, I have not found.

I'd personally recommend the translation by Winthrop Sargeant. There are two editions with differing prices based on content. The deluxe edition has a foreword by the above mentioned Smith, while the cheaper edition has only the text, translation and translator's introduction.

I strongly recommend the Bhagavad Gita translated by Winthrop Sargeant. He gives the Sanskrit verse, a word-by-word breakdown, and an accurate translation with no commentary.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1438428421/

Although it's Hinduism, not Buddhism, the Bhagavad Gita seems particularly relevant.

The Hindu View Of Life https://www.amazon.in/dp/8172238452/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_eNP1BbTED6AX9

I unfortunately just wasted $10 on this. It's nothing more than a collection of New Age buzzwords and apologia for Western feminism.

If anyone wants to actually learn about Mother, I would recommend Devadatta Kali's translation of the Devi Mahatmaya.