Reddit mentions: The best spiritual self help books

We found 905 Reddit comments discussing the best spiritual self help books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 293 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

1. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

    Features:
  • Penguin Books
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Specs:
ColorWhite
Height8.44 inches
Length5.48 inches
Number of items1
Release dateApril 2009
Weight0.5 Pounds
Width0.69 inches
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2. The Way of Zen

Great product!
The Way of Zen
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Height8 Inches
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Release dateJanuary 1999
Weight0.51147244784 Pounds
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3. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Self-helpSpiritualHealth, Fitness & DietingNutritionDiet & weight loss
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
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Height8.5 Inches
Length5.7 Inches
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Release dateJanuary 2008
Weight0.82452885988 Pounds
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4. The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

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  • Bantam Books
The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types
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ColorGrey
Height9.13 Inches
Length7.38 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJune 1999
Weight1.17506385646 Pounds
Width1 Inches
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6. Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames

Riverhead Books
Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames
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Height8 Inches
Length4.6 Inches
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Release dateSeptember 2002
Weight0.38801358112 Pounds
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7. Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict

Little Brown and Company
Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict
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Length5.75 Inches
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Release dateApril 2008
Weight0.87 Pounds
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9. The Crystal Bible

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  • The Crystal Bible: A Definitive Guide to Crystals
The Crystal Bible
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ColorMulticolor
Height6.57 Inches
Length5.57 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 2003
Size1 EA
Weight1.36 Pounds
Width0.99 Inches
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10. Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

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  • Three Rivers Press CA
Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind
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ColorMulticolor
Height8 Inches
Length5.1 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateApril 2013
Weight0.3747858454 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
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11. Zen Meditation in Plain English

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  • Ships from Vermont
Zen Meditation in Plain English
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Length6 Inches
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Release dateJune 2002
Weight0.45 Pounds
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15. The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism

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  • HarperOne
The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism
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Length5.31 Inches
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Release dateJanuary 2009
Weight0.43210603352 Pounds
Width0.54 Inches
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16. Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete Course

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  • Used Book in Good Condition
Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete Course
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Height8.8 Inches
Length7.4 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.45 Pounds
Width0.9 Inches
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17. The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice

    Features:
  • all about the yamas and niyamas in yoga philosophy and practice
The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice
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Height7.5 Inches
Length5.5 Inches
Number of items1
Weight0.5952481074 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
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18. Freedom from the Known

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  • HarperOne
Freedom from the Known
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Height8 Inches
Length5.31 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMarch 2009
Weight0.1984160358 Pounds
Width0.29 Inches
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19. Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts

    Features:
  • HarperOne
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts
Specs:
Height9.25 Inches
Length7.38 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJanuary 2009
Weight3.09969940372 Pounds
Width2.93 Inches
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20. Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives

    Features:
  • 24-COMPARTMENT BEAD STORAGE – Keep all your beading essentials in one place with this Darice Clear Bead Organizer Box. The 24removeablescrew-top canisters fit snugly in the9. 5” x 6. 375” x 1. 125” snap-tight case.
  • STAY ORGANIZED – The 24 canisters are perfect for organizing small supplies, so you can spend more time creating and less time looking for the right piece. You can store beads by color, jewelry clasps by type, nails by size –whatever works best for you!
  • “EZ” VIEW SYSTEM – You don’t even have to open the canisters to see what is inside with the “EZ” view storage system. The bead storage kit is clear, so you can quickly and easily find exactly what you need.
  • ALL-INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION – The craft holding case snaps tightly closed, so you can easily take your supplies on the go. This bead holder fits nicely in a drawer or on a shelf to keep your items together.
  • STACKABLE – These bead storage containers are stackable, so you can have your entire bead and craft collection in one space with this easy-to-see clear plastic bead storage solution.
  • Clear plastic case with snapdown lid
  • Easy to see at a glance what beads and findings are available
  • Measures: 9-1/2-inch by 6-3/8 by 1-1/8-inch
  • 24 clear plastic easy view jars and screw top lids, 1 storage container.
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
Specs:
ColorWhite
Height8.98 Inches
Length5.94 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMarch 2005
Weight1.05 Pounds
Width0.91 Inches
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🎓 Reddit experts on spiritual self help books

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where spiritual self help books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 65
Number of comments: 10
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 38
Number of comments: 12
Relevant subreddits: 3
Total score: 32
Number of comments: 11
Relevant subreddits: 7
Total score: 26
Number of comments: 10
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 19
Number of comments: 7
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 16
Number of comments: 8
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 10
Number of comments: 5
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 8
Number of comments: 6
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 7
Number of comments: 4
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 4
Number of comments: 4
Relevant subreddits: 1

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Top Reddit comments about Spiritual Self-Help:

u/bunker_man · 1 pointr/askphilosophy

Well, for mahayana the book I have is this one. However, I don't remember how good it is. What I did for buddhism was simply go through various online resources. The reason being that western misconceptions about the connotations of buddhism are so deep that the only way to balance them out is by reading a lot of different sources, and trying to ignore the obviously interpretive parts. The main misconceptions revolve around ignoring or hand-waving that the Buddha post enlightenment was seen as divine, and that this and the system in general were meant to be very literal.

> I also wanted to ask, do you know of any theistic views that are different to classical and personalist theism that you consider intelligible and consistent?

Well, if you want a book on tillich, this one is good.

You already know about process theism, but I can give you some good reads. The iep page for whitehead is a good place to get the basics down. The important ting to note about process theists is that some of them hold to some of the general points, but not others. And so its a good general basis to explore a general idea that can be taken in different ways. For instance, whitehead's specific ontology of events is obviously a little more specific than someone today would be likely to profess. But the general format of the system is still top of the line. I would also say to read this book written by the first big process theist after whithead who turned it into a distinctly theological project instead of just a philosophical system.

Note that (well, obviously after you'll read them you can note that) the idea of a social conception of god is compatible also with tillich. Both tillich and some of the process theists explore the idea that the living aspects of god should be seen as a collective / social organism by nature of the summation of all the values of individual entities relating together through the absolute. Another way they tie them together is that john b cobb who you mention points out that the process theological concept of "creativity" parallels closely tillich's concept of the power of being. Process theism has a bit more metaphysics than tillich's minimalistic form, but they are very compatible ideas.

Another important person to look into is Carl Jung (yes, the psychologist carl jung). Because interestingly for his profession he actually provides a pretty substantial idea of a pantheist system. Which in short has to do with the idea that gods have a kind of quasi existence since they exist as abstract archetypes in the world at large, and are given form by human consciousness. But that once you properly frame into context what human consciousness even is you begin to see why that despite them being psychological images that they are also real. (its not easy to describe how, but basically it has to do with the fact that people aren't discrete, and the images are images of things external to the mind to begin with, so the mediated form exists as a submind encoded across multiple beings, and the world at large). Its a bit hard to get how it work until you intuitively grasp it, and it helps to know some relevant philosophy of mind that would make it seem more real. But a good book for seeing jung in a religious light is this one. It starts off a little slow, but in the middle it has a metaphorical religious text written by jung itself, and then it picks up in analysis of his real beliefs from it. As a psychologist he talked about the collective uconscious as a human psychological phenomenon, but it seems he really thought it was a kind of world soul relation between entities and the world itself.

Now, I must admit that tillich, the process theists, and jung are the three best modern things to look into. But there's a few more notable things to look at.

this book by the physicist schrodinger is about an idea called open individualism, which is basically a modern secularization of the hindu idea of brahman. He points out at the beginning that he is not a philosopher himself, but merely expressing the idea in an easy to read way. (Which is fortunate, since the actual philosophy textbook I want on the idea is $110). The gist of the idea is that there are no actual metaphysical borders between people, and so all people are abstractions of a super-identity that you can identify with god.

this book by fechner is a quasi religious book that argues for a secular reason to think life exists in a sense after death. The book is 150 years old, so it might have parts that seem overly idealistic, but the general idea and its arguments are something that's relevant even today. There's pantheistic elements in it too, but they are sidelined.

The kyoto school in japan blends modern metaphysics, zen metaphysics, and pantheism into a modern system. I haven't read anything from it, but hear that this anthology is good.

Here is a well-rated anthology of panentheistic writings from many authors in general. Including many I haven't read. You can look into it to see if any of them look like interesting areas of interest to branch off into.

Also, of course there's any number of old traditions one could look into even if one doesn't consider them totally literal to frame into context ways of looking at things that could carry over to a more transtheistic system. Kabbalah and stoicism are good places to look. here Is a book written by a psychologist and stoicism scholar that details their beliefs and how to engage in the practice in modern day. (Though obviously one can disagree with the virtue ethic framework). And here is one of the best kabbalah books. Obviously kabbalah is way too specific for me to consider literal, but it does have beautiful work and ways of looking at things to frame religious experience into context.

---

For a few closing remarks, I'd point out to remember that these ideas are not necessarily all competing. Many of them (perhaps all at once depending on how strict you are) are compatible. You'll probably also notice that they all have similar tones of panentheism. That's because that's my general area of interest. The reason for this being that ultimately I think tillich is correct. There may be sentient godlike distinct beings out there, but we need to make religious experience revolve around things we have more of a definite concrete justification for. And the values of the religious experience pervade our world anyways, and so we don't need to rely on the literal existence of these independently sentient beings. Via jungian ideals we can even abstract the idea of gods to positive useful archetypes, and if they exist as concrete instantiations as well, all the better. If you ask me, the universe is likely tremendous in size. Bigger than we can even dream. There's probably more complex segments of it somewhere that very much have tangible sentient entities we would consider godlike. But there doesn't seem to be evidence of them interacting directly with us. So like epicurus says, belief in gods isn't an excuse for belief in superstition. They exist "elsewhere." Its better to focus on the transtheistic absolute.

u/MJtheProphet · 6 pointsr/DebateReligion

>I'm saying that it has it shortcomings, but it is effective and it's the best thing we have right now.

Well, I happen to think that it's not effective. The thousands of years of repression, war, and various and sundry atrocities perpetuated in the name of religion don't make it seem like a good thing. And my overall point is that if it's the best we have right now, that's because we haven't tried hard enough yet.

>Instead, I'm saying that we embrace the fact that the doctrine contains fiction and work with it.

Let me know when you've succeeded at convincing the religious people of the world that their religion isn't actually true, but serves as a useful moral guide, like Aesop's fables. Well, as long as you ignore all the bits that are morally reprehensible. Believe me, if you're going to help me convince people that their religious beliefs aren't true, I'm all for it.

>Religious precepts are fertile ground right now for clinical exploration of what contributes to human happiness.

So you're promoting the use of science to study human happiness? How in the world are you getting from this thesis, that we can explore the roots of human flourishing through empirical observation, to your conclusion that reason is bad at figuring out moral values? Believe me, I'm all for doing studies on what makes people happy. I just don't see any reason to tie it to ancient superstition. It has been tied to such things for a very long time, but that doesn't mean it should be. Sure, we can study religion scientifically. But that doesn't mean we should promote it as a solution to our problems; indeed, there have been people doing that for thousands of years, and they've caused a lot of our problems. See: The Middle East.

>Can you back it up with evidence? Can you show that religion has had an overall negative effect on morality?

As I noted above, see: The Middle East. And if you'd like me to start going through the holy books of the Abrahamic religions and pointing out the doctrines that they espouse which are blatantly contrary to the well-being of conscious creatures, I can do so but we'll be here a while. Did you want execution for imaginary crimes? Unnecessary slicing up of the genitals of children? The belief in the efficacy of at least one human sacrifice? Vicarious redemption? Submission of humans to an invisible being, and of women to men, leading to cultures in which millions of women are currently forced to live in cloth bags, and have battery acid thrown in their faces if they dare to try to learn to read? The entire issue of sexuality? I'd rather not wade through a bunch of raw sewage to pick up the gem of an ethic of reciprocity that gets expressed once or twice, when I can get the same or better from Epicurus and Lucretius.

>Can you find studies that show that religion has failed to promote the values that it claims?

Are you aware of the past 3000 years or so of history? I recall numerous religiously-inspired wars. But, if you insist on modern studies, here's one from Gregory S. Paul in which he compares rates of religiosity and societal dysfunction between 18 democratic nations in the developed world in order to "test whether high rates of belief in and worship of a creator are necessary for high levels of social health." Paul finds that "in almost all regards the highly secular democracies consistently enjoy low rates of societal dysfunction," demonstrating that widespread religious belief does not improve societal health, and that moreover there is a positive correlation between a first-world country's level of religiosity (e.g., the degree of confidence that a traditional monotheistic God exists) and level of social dysfunction (e.g., homicide rates). You can also check out the followup study on homicide rates from Gary F. Jensen, which finds that some dimensions of religiosity correlate with higher homicide rates, while others correlate with lower ones; it's not nearly as simple as "religion makes us more moral", or "religion makes us less moral". I can't find a direct link to the study, but Marc Hauser determined that atheists are just as ethical as religious people, so there's nothing special about religious ideologies that makes people behave more ethically. At best, there are factors that come into play when people are in groups, which is not specific to religion.

>While it is often cited that evangelicals divorce more often than atheists, if you factor in church attendance, the evidence I see points to church attendance stabilizing marriages.

Then you need to look, rather than at a study from 1997, to the 2008 data from the Barna group, which points out that you're completely wrong.

>Religion has also been clinically verified as one of the most effective treatments for alcoholism.

I see absolutely nothing in that abstract about religion. I see an analysis of Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Twelve-Step Facilitation Therapy. And I see a result of "There was little difference in outcomes by type of treatment." The most you could be talking about would be the mention of "meaning-seeking", which again is far from being exclusive to religion. Alcoholism is a disease, one with an approximately 50% spontaneous remission rate. Every program with which I'm familiar has a success rate of about 50%. People simply attribute their success to the program that they happen to be in when they succeed; often, addicts will bounce between programs trying to find one that "works". If you're really interested in the topic, I recommend Marya Hornbacher's Waiting: A Non-Believer's Higher Power.

>I'm not saying we should stick with religion because we've done it for so long. I'm saying we should stick with it because science says that it works.

Well, since I think you haven't shown that, I'm going to have to continue to disagree.

u/porscheguy19 · 4 pointsr/atheism

On science and evolution:

Genetics is where it's at. There is a ton of good fossil evidence, but genetics actually proves it on paper. Most books you can get through your local library (even by interlibrary loan) so you don't have to shell out for them just to read them.

Books:

The Making of the Fittest outlines many new forensic proofs of evolution. Fossil genes are an important aspect... they prove common ancestry. Did you know that humans have the gene for Vitamin C synthesis? (which would allow us to synthesize Vitamin C from our food instead of having to ingest it directly from fruit?) Many mammals have the same gene, but through a mutation, we lost the functionality, but it still hangs around.

Deep Ancestry proves the "out of Africa" hypothesis of human origins. It's no longer even a debate. MtDNA and Y-Chromosome DNA can be traced back directly to where our species began.

To give more rounded arguments, Hitchens can't be beat: God Is Not Great and The Portable Atheist (which is an overview of the best atheist writings in history, and one which I cannot recommend highly enough). Also, Dawkin's book The Greatest Show on Earth is a good overview of evolution.

General science: Stephen Hawking's books The Grand Design and A Briefer History of Time are excellent for laying the groundwork from Newtonian physics to Einstein's relativity through to the modern discovery of Quantum Mechanics.

Bertrand Russell and Thomas Paine are also excellent sources for philosophical, humanist, atheist thought; but they are included in the aforementioned Portable Atheist... but I have read much of their writings otherwise, and they are very good.

Also a subscription to a good peer-reviewed journal such as Nature is awesome, but can be expensive and very in depth.

Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate is also an excellent look at the human mind and genetics. To understand how the mind works, is almost your most important tool. If you know why people say the horrible things they do, you can see their words for what they are... you can see past what they say and see the mechanisms behind the words.

I've also been studying Zen for about a year. It's non-theistic and classed as "eastern philosophy". The Way of Zen kept me from losing my mind after deconverting and then struggling with the thought of a purposeless life and no future. I found it absolutely necessary to root out the remainder of the harmful indoctrination that still existed in my mind; and finally allowed me to see reality as it is instead of overlaying an ideology or worldview on everything.

Also, learn about the universe. Astronomy has been a useful tool for me. I can point my telescope at a galaxy that is more than 20 million light years away and say to someone, "See that galaxy? It took over 20 million years for the light from that galaxy to reach your eye." Creationists scoff at millions of years and say that it's a fantasy; but the universe provides real proof of "deep time" you can see with your own eyes.

Videos:

I recommend books first, because they are the best way to learn, but there are also very good video series out there.

BestofScience has an amazing series on evolution.

AronRa's Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism is awesome.

Thunderfoot's Why do people laugh at creationists is good.

Atheistcoffee's Why I am no longer a creationist is also good.

Also check out TheraminTrees for more on the psychology of religion; Potholer54 on The Big Bang to Us Made Easy; and Evid3nc3's series on deconversion.

Also check out the Evolution Documentary Youtube Channel for some of the world's best documentary series on evolution and science.

I'm sure I've overlooked something here... but that's some stuff off the top of my head. If you have any questions about anything, or just need to talk, send me a message!

u/b00bz · 5 pointsr/Meditation

I personally have tried several different forms of meditation and have found that the regular breath technique mbrock talks about above to be the best. I personally have been attracted to and practice Zazen, which is the Zen form of meditation. The book "Zen Meditation in Plain English" by John Buksbazen has been the best commonsense breakdown of this type of meditation I have found. Anyone that ever asks me about meditation I usually refer to this book first.

The technique is very simple. Find a nice quiet place to sit. I sit on the floor in my room. You can use a chair, or the floor. If using a chair simply sit towards the front of the chair such that your back is straight and your legs are comfortably underneath you. (Ideally you should feel very balanced, you don't want there to be too much strain on trying to stay seated up right, it should feel somewhat effortless.) Sitting on the ground usually requires a rolled up blanket, or a good big pillow. There are different postures for sitting on the ground. The grand daddy being full lotus, but that requires a lot of flexibility. I usually sit in a somewhat indian style position. With both legs folded in front, and close to my body. This link refers to the pose I use as cross-legged. I have heard it called cobra before:

http://www.dharmacrafts.com/2INFO01/DharmaCrafts-Meditation-Supplies.html

That link should give you a good idea of the different postures and such that people use. Just remember you don't need all the fancy pillows etc... to do this. A rolled up blanket works great. Just get comfortable.

Now posture is important because the idea is that you want to sit in such a way that you have as little distraction as possible. If you are sitting in an odd way, you are off balance, etc... then you will start to have pain in your back, your butt, wherever. However, if you are seated comfortably and with good posture then you will have less distraction, which then allows you to focus more intently on breathing.

In zen it is taught that it is ideal to sit facing a wall. Preferably a blank wall. The idea here is that there will be less in your visual field to distract you. While practicing zazen you should never close your eyes. It becomes much easier to go into day dreams, etc... when they eyes are closed. Ideally you should keep your eyelids about half open, as if your peeking out. This will help keep your eyes lubricated so you have to blink less. Blinking can be a distraction.

So get next to a wall and get comfortable in whatever position you choose. Now imagine the ground extends past the wall, your eyes should be gazing into the wall as if you were looking at the ground about 3 ft behind the wall. Remember to keep your head straight, good posture. The idea here is to not focus too hard on the wall. Focusing intensely on it will cause your eyes to fatigue. Letting the wall go out of focus is fine, and encouraged.

Now set a timer for yourself... I would suggest starting with ten minutes for your first session. Now you begin to breathe, don't worry too much about the posture and the eyes and all that, let all that go, it doesn't matter. Now all you have to do is breath in and out, through your nose. On the in breath simply feel the breath, you can focus on any aspect of it, how it fills your belly, how it feels in your nose, just focus on the breath. On the out breath count, in your head 1, and on your next out breath 2. Count all the way up to 10 and then start back at 1. Do this for the full ten minutes.

The counting will help you maintain your focus. Sometimes you will be focusing on your breath and an idea, or a daydream, will sneak into your head and you won't even notice. Then all of a sudden you come back to your counting and you are at 18. Your mind drifted away. Simply start back at 1, there is nothing wrong with the drifting, it is just part of practice. After a while you will drift less and less. You will be able to focus more intensely on your breath, and on anything else that confronts you in your life, be it tests or whatever.

I currently sit for 25 minutes, once a day. Doing ten minutes once a week, twice a week, would probably help you. But if you really want results... the important thing is to do it everyday, if possible. The length of the sit is not as important as the frequency of the sits. Even just 5 minutes everyday would be great. Do what works best for you.

As far as zazen is concerned this is the first type of meditation a practitioner would undertake, it then goes to koan study, and past that shikantaza, just sitting.... it's an interesting practice. Hope this helps.

Link for that book I mentioned:(http://www.amazon.com/Meditation-Plain-English-Daishin-Buksbazen/dp/0861713168/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311877074&sr=8-1)

u/bombeater · 15 pointsr/ZenHabits

If you aren't being facetious... start with these books:

  • The Compassionate Life, by Marc Ian Barasch

  • Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi.

  • Anger, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

    These are all easy books to blow off. You can dismiss The Compassionate Life as a guidebook for letting other people take advantage of you. You can dismiss Never Eat Alone as the egotistical scrambling of a sleazy salesman. You can dismiss Anger as a hand-wavey tome of feel good nonsense. If you're tempted to do so, I urge you to suspend your judgment and pour yourself into them. Here's why:

    From Anger, I learned not to let my fear of feeling and sharing emotions prevent me from opening myself up to other people. The book is about anger, but it applies to everything: jealousy, fear, anxiety, confusion, even joy. It taught me to treat my negative feelings as a part of myself that deserved compassion and nurturing just like anything or anyone else I care about.

    From Never Eat Alone, I learned the value of trust and openness. The point of "networking" isn't to collect business cards and shine your teeth at people; it's to establish an extended family of people who you genuinely care about, and thus, through inevitable cause and effect, who genuinely care about you. You don't have to be married to someone or see them every day to love and care about them. You just have to treat them like a human being, and not hide the truth of your human-ness out of fear of being judged.

    Finally, from The Compassionate Life, I learned that I'm not the only one walking this path. It gave me the determination to continue walking, even in the face of judgment, ridicule, and skepticism from many people around me. It solidified my hunch that, in the right hands, compassion is a great strength, and not a weakness. It helped me learn to forgive myself and others, even for what felt like irrecoverable wounds or betrayals. More than that, it helped me learn from those wounds, and it helped me learn from the forgiveness. It gave me strength.

    That's all I've got for the moment!
u/carsonmcd · 19 pointsr/Meditation

This is like...my favorite subject! Meditation and exercise are a fantastic combination, they feed off each other and you'll see improvements in both.

Running has been mentioned already, and it's a great practice especially for distance. Might I recommend this book, Running with the Mind of Meditation. The author goes over the practice of meditation on its own, and then delves into multiple ways you can carry it over into your running practice. It's a wonderful read -- if you'd like a more extensive guide than you can find online, this is the book for you.

Also, meditation has helped me tremendously with weight training, if you're interested in that (which I also recommend! Besides the obvious physical benefits, research has shown that resistance training benefits include increased self-efficacy, memory, cognitive abilities and muscle relaxation while reducing risks of anxiety and depression). I haven't stumbled across much literature on it, but it's a great opportunity to practice mindfulness since your body is undergoing tremendous stress and is reacting to it. One note, don't listen to music like so many people do at the gym; it hinders the meditative experience. Between sets, you can ask yourself, how do my muscles feel? Am I in pain? Or you can lay back and visualize or practice the form for the lift you just performed, focusing all your mental energy on mastering the form. While you lift, focus entirely on form and breath, nothing else. Make sure you are entirely under control, as many people swing weights to cheat out reps or try and lift too much and don't use the proper form. Feel your muscles, are you actually working the muscles you are intending to target? It also makes you appreciate and come to love the "pain" that resistance training puts you through. You'll note how exercise makes your body and spirit feel good, strong and full of life.

Whew, okay. My point is, YES! Try it out for yourself, though, and find a form of exercise that you truly enjoy.

u/ewiggle · 2 pointsr/getdisciplined

My knee-jerk reaction was to suggest hardcore introspective journaling but then I read the next line where you said you'd tried it and it didn't help.

In my head, the best way to get thoughts out of your mind is to stick them somewhere else so that your brain doesn't think it's missing out on something. I used to keep a notepad handy (until I got a smart phone) and a pen clipped to my keyring so that I could jot down ruminating thoughts whenever I needed my mind clear.

So it was more of a brain basket than a journal. But then I would also go back later and decide whether or not to write more about it. More often than not, after the duration of the work day, I would decide it wasn't worth any additional thinking energy and would cross out the jot.

But ... that was my implementation of getting my mind clear. Too bad it hasn't worked for you yet though. Hopefully the therapist will work for you.

Oh and I agree with what some of the other replies have said in that physical exertion helps clear the mind. I found this process best described in a book about running. I'll edit this post to include the quote once I find it.

edit: here it is and this is from the awesome book Running With The Mind of Meditation

>With an untrained mind, the thought process is said to be like a wild and blind horse: erratic and out of control.

>[...]

>In order to access the mind, the wild horse has to be tamed. That comes through the constant application of the meditation technique. Even though there are some mental benefits in running, they are usually achieved not by taming the horse, but by exhausting the horse. by moving, we are physically exhausting the wind. Afterward, we feel calmer because the wind is more settled. Thus the mind is more present and at peace. So the clarity and peace of mind we feel after running is mostly because the wild horse is tired, not necessarily because it has been tamed. The mental clarity brought by physical exercise is temporary. When the horse has more energy, it resumes running around. Then we have to go for another run, exhausting the mind again. Using running as a way to train the mind is incidental whereas the peace and clarity that come from meditation are cumulative.

>[...]

>Ideally, our daily routine will include both exercise and meditation.

So I guess the advice is to start running, and train up your meditation skills too.

u/sf_mama · 3 pointsr/Parenting

Two year olds at bedtime are such a challenge - I can't imagine the stress of having 2. My son is 2 also and we just brought home his baby sister so everything is even more difficult because he's adjusting.

It sounds like you are well aware that this yelling/ anger thing is an ongoing issue you have struggled with. If at all possible I would take time to work on this yourself because you are in for a rough couple of years. I'm sure other aspects of your life would improve if you were to get your anger under control.

I used to be a very angry person. A lot of it was situational - I made a lot of changes to my life to make sure my emotional needs are being met, some of it was baggage from a traumatic childhood and other parts are just temperamental - I'm a sensitive person. I'm still not perfect but I'm a lot better and haven't yelled at my son unless he was at risk of hurting himself and I needed to catch his attention. Things that worked for me were therapy and mindfulness meditation.

With therapy, I'd find a therapist you click with who can help you improve your behavior right away - more of a cognitive behavioral approach - vs. old fashioned talk therapy where you deeply explore your issues. Once you get tools for dealing with your anger, a more in depth approach may help, but for now I'd focus on the short term. I found the mindfulness approaches outlined in the book Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by zen peace monk Thich Nhat Hanh to be very helpful for helping me stay more calm in situations that might otherwise escalate to anger.

I use positive parenting approaches with my son that focus on teaching how to behave and manage emotions without punishing behavior. It has been very effective for us - my son is very well behaved (for a toddler!), is incredibly polite, and has a good starting grasp of understanding his emotions and empathy. I like this approach to parenting for me too because it avoids escalations and keeps me calm.

When things start to spiral I tell my son mama is going to take a few deep breaths and encourage him to join me. It helps both of us to calm down and de-escalate. It is a way of showing him that mama has emotions but uses tools to manage them without losing control. I started introducing the breathing at about 19 months and now at 24 months I can sometimes get him to take a few breaths when he is out of control. This returning to the breath thing comes from that Anger book and is a cornerstone of mindfulness.

In the short term, I would definitely apologize and spend extra quality time with your son to reinforce your connection. Also, even though it seems like your son is freaking out about nothing, to him, going to bed is a big deal. As a 2 year old he is starting to want more autonomy and control and being forced to wrap up the fun and be subject to bedtime routine (changing, brushing teeth, etc.) and forced to go to bed is really upsetting. With my son we give him a minute's notice before we start bedtime routine. If he isn't cooperating we count to three and pick him up playfully.

Good luck! If you really use this experience to make changes this could go from one of your lowest points to a catalyst for making the rest of your life better. It is possible to change.

u/unsubinator · 8 pointsr/DebateAChristian

Many saints have experienced the "dark night of the soul" (one even wrote a book about it).

This refers to "spiritual dryness, that state or condition of intimacy with God when the feeling of intimacy--the spiritual comforts that had been the promptings for and the rewards of prayer--are withdrawn in order that faith may be strengthened.

Just as in marriage, there are long periods of emotional dryness, when husband and wife find they're not consoled by the feelings of romantic love and attraction that once brought them together. Instead, their love is, more than ever, an act of the will which corresponds to the duty we have to fulfill our obligations and to keep our promises.

God's love for us isn't always an occasion for comfort and happiness, but those who are closest to God often times feel most abandoned by Him (notice, I said "feel").

But faith isn't about feeling. Neither is love. We don't keep faith (our promises) only when we feel like it. Nor do we love our children only when they make us happy. Often (I'm told) we struggle to feel love towards even our own children. (I haven't experienced that yet, my kids are all still too little and cute to inspire anything but the most affectionate feelings every time I look at them.)

And didn't Jesus himself cry from the cross,

>My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Bishop Sheen points out that in his passion, Jesus identified with everyone human being who had ever or will ever lived--even with atheists and with those who feel as though God has abandoned them.

u/girlreachingout24 · 1 pointr/stopdrinking

I think one of the most important things my bf did for me during my various attempts to stop drinking was: he refused to be my gatekeeper. By that I mean he didn't try to make me stop or make me go, not even when I asked him to. He refused to be responsible for if I picked up a drink or not, and fielding that responsibility back to me so I had to "man up" and handle it on my own is something I look back on and really appreciate now. It could've had bad repercussions on our relationship if he had taken that role, but I was too caught up in the problem to realize that.

The other thing is just show support, show you care. Knowing you give a crap and are there for her is huge! My boyfriend bought me these books, because I'm an atheist but wanted to explore the usefulness of the 12 steps. The books are helpful, right, but it wasn't the books themselves that meant so much to me- it was that he was taking my goals seriously and trying to help. That meant the world. I didn't feel alone in the middle of a really daunting task.

Take care. Thank you for being supportive of your SO. =) And good luck to you too! This is a great sub for support!

u/armillanymphs · 2 pointsr/streamentry

>Dhammarato's message seems to be that most forms of therapy are like going into the garden and taking a long, hard look at the weeds, while correct practice of the dhamma is like rooting up the weeds and throwing them over the wall.

I think that's one helpful way of looking at it, if it's assumed that one is primarily relying on therapy without practice. Perhaps there are areas of the garden one doesn't know of or doesn't care to look, and then the scope of dharma practice is limited to what one is comfortable with. With my own experience of counseling, I found that it helped bear the weight of all the stress in my life, freeing up energy and space for practice (rather than relying on practice to take care of everything). In an understanding the mind sense, I saw how defensive I'd get when I talked about practice and worrying that my counselor would think I was crazy, which was awesome insight practice. Plus, there is a lot to be said for the sacredness of someone holding space for all you are, given that it isn't easy to truly speak our truths to those close to us given karmic ties.

Some other considerations include the fact that there are buddhist counselors / therapists, and that there a variety of therapeutic modalities beside talk therapy, which is what I see comes under criticism mostly.

>I can absolutely see the potential to overlook/bypass what I'm experiencing, and yet here I am, engaging with this stuff fully and investigating.

​I didn't mean to suggest you weren't, but that sometimes aspects of our psyche lurk at the edges of the unknown, and a therapist can help one walk towards and through that out our tease out blindspots.

>Yes. I'm always grateful to have access to more resources, especially on recommendation from others here in this community.

Focusing is a practice borne from Eugene Gendlin observing what made therapy effective: the capacity of patients to feel into their bodies and acknowledge their feelings in a conversational way. Judith Blackstone, a psychotherapist with experience in Zen, Dzogchen, and Mahamudra, created a system that emphasizes integrated non-duality from a somatic perspective. Finally, Feeding Your Demons is fantastic as well. If you're left wanting other recommendations do get in touch.

One final note: I don't disagree with your comment that dharma could potentially take care of this matter all on its own. However, it's useful to consider the variety of modalities that can remove obscurations from another angle, of having a variety of tools so to speak.

Wishing you success in your journey – take care.

u/q203 · 1 pointr/Christianity

>What do you guys believe in?

Well, if you want to be technical...the main qualification is believing that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that he was in fact a historical human being who was crucified and resurrected on the third day. Also check out The Nicene Creed, which is what most (or all, depending on who you ask) Christians have historically believed.

Besides that there is a heck of a lot of variance in other beliefs. There's not really a category to be placed in. In the US, most evangelical Christians believe in what they call a "personal relationship with Christ," which is usually taken to mean that they aim to "feel his presence" and let him "guide their life." Other, mainline denominations (while not ignoring that component) also add in a traditional liturgical attitude in worship. Worship is extremely variant.

>How do you have such a strong faith?

I would say that a lot of us don't. Christianity isn't about having a strong faith that can find answers to every single objection when it comes your way (perhaps some non-Christians say it ought to be). But a lot of people here would say that doubt is actually essential to faith. Check out St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul if you want to learn more about that. Most of us go into periods where God feels entirely nonexistent or like he's abandoned us. John can explain what that means in more detail than I have space for here.

>What does living like a Christian mean?

Again, tons of variance. In the US, a lot of people would say it means being a Democrat, while a whole lot of others would say it means being a Republican. The general consensus is that apart from the Nicene Creed, Christian ethics mostly come from the Bible. Jesus said the first two great commandments which summarize everything else are: love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Additionally, caring for the poor is essential to Christianity (different Christians just disagree on the best way to do that). Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't be proud or arrogant. Those are the essentials.

>How do you deal with all the science and other things trying to prove you wrong?

I guess I'm not really sure what you're talking about. If you're referring to evolution, as most people do when they ask this question, I'll refer you to the AMA on Theistic Evolution. If other things, I should also point out that many of history's greatest thinkers in science were Christians (such as Isaac Newton). The current director of the Human Genome Project is Francis Collins, a devout and committed Christian. The supposed conflict between science and faith is something that has only really been an issue for the past 200-300 years. Even those in Ancient Greece and Rome (aside from the Stoics), who made great scientific strides for their age, believed in some sort of divinity, albeit not a Christian one.

u/SabaziosZagreus · 4 pointsr/kabbalah

The Chabad has a lot of information on Kabbalah. Their philosophy is derived from Lurianic and Hasidic thought. They also have some books posted on their website. Aish has some information, but not too much or too deep. Bnei Baruch is not exactly inline with Judaism, but doesn't stray as far as some other organizations. They derive themselves through the Ashlag dynasty, and this sub links to their collection of texts influential in the movement. The Kabbalah Centre is non-traditional and shouldn't be used if you're interested in traditional Jewish Kabbalah.

Honestly, in my opinion, the best thing for you to do is to purchase Daniel C. Matt's The Essential Kabbalah. Matt is a leading academic expert in Jewish mysticism, and is currently creating a new (scholarly) translation of the Zohar. It's being released volume by volume (my rabbi owns a few volumes, but he cruelly won't let me borrow them yet), and he's continuing to work. The Essential Kabbalah is a collection of well translated excerpts from Kabbalistic documents on a variety of topics. It's a good introductory text. Another nice book (though short) is his Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment which is an easy-to-read collection of some important passages from the Zohar. So should you be interested in purchasing any texts (instead of just reading websites), Matt is a good place to start. My rabbi sometimes suggests A Guide to the Zohar (which is actually an introduction to Daniel C. Matt's Zohar translation) by Rabbi Arthur Green.

Hope I could help.

u/TheHeartOfTuxes · 1 pointr/Meditation

Better than book teaching is real live teaching, and lots of it, from a consistent and capable source. But sometimes we look for a go-between, something to tide us over until we find a good teaching situation.

There is a specific traditional practice for equanimity. All kinds of other practices tend to get at equanimity, because you need to put it into effect just to proceed in the practice: if you let things 'get to you' you can't attend well to the object and method of the meditation. So for example, sitting Zen will train equanimity, as well many other practices.

But there is a specific practice also, which is part of the Brahmaviharas, or "Divine Abidings". These are four aspects of original, awakened mind: Metta (Kindness or Warmheartedness), Karuna (Compassion), Mudita (Mutual Joy), and Upekkha (Equanimity). Because of the boundless nature of original mind and the four noted aspects, these are also called "The Four Immeasurables".

The first three Brahmaviharas are about loving connection; but without the fourth, equanimity, they can spill over into sticky, entangled attachment. So Upekkha or equanimity is necessary for the correct function of love.

All the Brahmavihara practices have similar forms. You generate the quality, deepen its expression in you, and then extend it boundlessly. Styles vary a bit, but the general form is the same. You can try Brahmavihara practice to specifically nurture equanimity.

But as I say, most practices, and in fact a proper training situation itself, will also train equanimity.

Here is a talk and guided meditation on Upekkha.

This podcast comprises an entire afternoon or day retreat on Upekkha, condensed into a 3-hour recording (with silent practice periods edited out).

These two and several other Brahmavihara talks and meditations can be found on this page at Dharmaseed.org.

Here's an entire 2-day practice seminar on Upekkha, by the well respected teacher Gil Fronsdal.

Here's a short article with a couple of source excerpts.

~

Two great teachers who come to mind as directly addressing anger in their teachings are Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron.

Of course, there are many other great teachers; and if you find a live teacher and ask them to help you with anger, just the act of asking a living representative of Dharma is itself a very significant act. You establish a connection to Dharma and to your teacher and to your practice by taking concrete steps like this. It is the kind of action that sink down below the level of your habit and plants seeds that will eventually overtake the negative patterns, if you keep planting and taking care of the seeds.

See Thich Nhat Hanh's Anger: Wisdom For Cooling The Flames.

Here are a couple of articles in the same vein.

See Pema Chodron's Don't Bite The Hook: Finding Freedom From Anger, Resentment, And Other Destructive Emotions.

Here's an article that gives a little taste of her teaching.

~

I recommend choosing one path and sticking with it for a while. You can try this and that to get an idea of what's available out there, but very soon get down to actually doing it. People look around, around, around, and only confuse themselves. They think they are looking for the "best situation for me"; but really they are just avoiding the doing part.

You don't pick your path as if you're at a fruit stand looking over the selection with disdain: "Hmmm... I don't know... this one has a spot on it...." That's picking-and-choosing mind; and in fact, we are not capable of judging before we have significant experience.

Your path chooses you. Your path unfolds as you do it. Then in the doing you find out what's working and what's important to you and all that. So get to the doing part sooner rather than later. Don't 'bite the hook' of books! Don't let them hook you and reel you in and flip you into the boat of conceptual, disengaged thinking. Stay swimming.

u/drippyhippie · 3 pointsr/yoga

I love this book for understanding the physical practice
http://www.amazon.com/The-Key-Poses-Yoga-Scientific/dp/1607432390/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396563465&sr=8-2&keywords=yoga+pose+books

For the ethical/discipline base of yoga, this is a short, easy, and really helpful read. Non-harming, non-clinging, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamas-Niyamas-Exploring-Ethical-Practice/dp/0974470643/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396563657&sr=1-1&keywords=the+yamas+and+niyamas+by+deborah+adele

For the pure philosophy, I'm a fan of this book on Tantra(where yoga came from). It's overwhelming the first time through, but there is so much powerful knowledge locked up in here
http://www.amazon.com/Tantra-Illuminated-Philosophy-Practice-Tradition/dp/0989761304

This is a great book on mindfullness with some applicable meditation techniques framed for the modern day, but it's all based on ancient teachings

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achieving/dp/0062116924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396563508&sr=8-1&keywords=search+inside+yourself

Also, the Chakra system is fascinating and Anodea Judith offers some guided meditations. This book is really helpful and accessible

http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Life-Chakra-System-Llewellyns/dp/0875423205

And, diet. This book helped me shift my diet in a way that's been extremely helpful
http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Taste-Heal-Ayurvedic-Cookbook-Modern-Living/dp/0976917009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396563932&sr=1-1&keywords=eat+taste+heal

These have been some of the most influential books in my practice. Hope they help!

u/Au-riel · 11 pointsr/witchcraft

Not the OP but here’s a book list I recommend. Even if the books study Wicca, you can apply most of that knowledge to general witchcraft. Much of Wicca IS Witchcraft.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft and Buckland's Book of Spirit Communications are good books for getting a decent understanding of what could be (subjectively speaking) considered “traditional” witchcraft. I myself am NOT a fan of the Llewellyn branch of magick, as it is heavily based around forming structured groups and covens and much of the information seems more ceremonial than anything. That being said, these books give a great basic rundown into alot of different styles and tools you will most likely be using or want to use.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner is great if you want to go down the Wicca path AND it’s made specifically for solitary practitioners along with having some of Scott Cunninghams own spells in it as well.

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs is a good rundown of many common and uncommon reagents used in witchcraft along with their metaphysical uses. Reader's Digest Magic and Medicine of Plants despite the name is a more practical and scientifically written book on the historical and medicinal used of many N. American plants.

Inside the Mirror Box: Spells and Theory for All Practitioners was actually written by a friend of mine. His book gives alot of information on actual spellwork, along with a large selection of Mirror Box spells and a short section on other uses for mirrors (such as divination).

And finally the Encyclopedia of Spirits is a great reference guide for those of us who want to work with specific entities. The author covers the full gamut of spirits and deities from the ancient gods to christian saints and archangels to lesser known spirits.

u/mayruna · 1 pointr/witchcraft

Complete accident. Looking back, I suspect I called upon her and devoted myself to her when I was all of about 13 and doing a solo initiation. It was a full moon and I defiantly felt bright, comforting energy.

I knew she was a goddess of the moon and stars. She was trying to guide me in dreams and was comforting me even without my knowing what name to call her. Years (and years) passed and one day, because it was driving me crazy, I got a huge book listing all spirits and gods and just went through trying to figure out which goddess I had been feeling the presence of for all those years. When I read about Arianrhod and all that she is associated with and what she's about... well it was like a ding went off.

It's made worship of her more joyful and much, much easier. That said, I think that if you feel pulled to worship a certain way to an entity whose name you aren't yet sure of, alright. Just, you know, make sure the entity has your best interest at heart.

u/ixplodestuff · 1 pointr/loseit

This book covers a lot of the topics you're curious about. And while it won't give you a menu or a set of strict rules to follow, it will help you to make well informed decisions on what you eat. This is the article Pollan first wrote which lead to the book. It's lengthy, but well worth the read. The book expands on the same ideas and gives a great history of the American food and health industries. I also personally enjoy his writing style; he uses a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor to make some really strong points.

And of course, /u/UnaBarbaAzul is right: there's no magic bullet. Even Pollan has some bias. So read as much as you can and develop your own opinions on whats best for you. Good luck!

u/Rayne58 · 2 pointsr/ifyoulikeblank

Ohh I got some goodies for ya, Hermann Hesse is amazing and opened me up to many books.

  1. Just buy it right now..seriously. The Book of Mirdad by Mikhail Naimy

  2. Another Classic by Herman Hesse Demian

    3)Another with a similar feel as Siddhartha The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    So these top 3 are the "closest" to Siddartha that I've read. You will defintely like the top 3, they are amazing books with such fundamental truths told through a story. All easy to read and similiar in length.

    These next 4 are just suggested for anyone that is into these types of books, I would almost guarantee that you will love them! They are just less "story" like. The Autobiography is an amazing read, and is indeed a story but it's non-fiction. The Way of Zen is just a beautiful book, but is not a fiction along with the Bhagavad and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (The author actually suggests Siddhartha in it!)

  3. If you liked Siddhartha heavily for it's spiritual aspects and the effect it left on you, this book has changed me deeply (they all have but this book is a little different) The Autobiography of a Yogi by
    Paramahansa Yogananda


    5)And his translation of The Bhagavad Gita

    6)Good ol' Allan Watts The Way of Zen

  4. Another highly suggested book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

    Enjoy my friend!
u/braffination · 1 pointr/BPDlovedones

I have not meditated in several years, but there was a time where I was doing zazen multiple times a week. There are certainly a lot of books out there that could be helpful guides: Zen Meditation in Plain English and An Introduction to Zen Buddhism would be good for the philosophy and practice, but my favorite book to recommend is Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, and the Truth About Reality by Brad Warner. That last one is a brilliant treatise on Zen philosophy as it pertains to a modern, Western life.

The toughest part about meditation is getting the mind to do the right thing. As you said, it's about being more mindful of the moment that is happening while letting go of the past and not concerning yourself with the future. Generally, most practices center around counting breaths, focusing on the sensation of breathing, and generally getting the brain to shut off all of the extraneous things that are bumping around in there. For BPD sufferers, that would be all of the negative thoughts floating around, making their lives tougher.

Imagine that your mind is actually a little person manning a big control room with thousands of monitors. Each monitor shows a memory, a future plan, current sense data, emotions, etc.; basically everything that makes you, you is up on those screens. Zazen is about learning how to temporarily shut these monitors off at will, either individually, by category, or wholesale. The ideal is to shut all of them off and just be left with the mind alone (this is the idea behind the Buddhist notion of "watching one's own mind". When your mind is not distracted by past memories, by future plans, by sense data, by emotions, it is in it's most pure state: Emptiness. This is not to be confused with little-e "emptiness" but is a Buddhist concept unto itself.

It's tough to get to that point and it requires lots of practice. There will be many times when you are counting breaths and thinking about how stupid the whole thing is, or how you have to run errands later that day, or how your back hurts, or how that one time your friend called you fat in middle school and it really hurt. This is ok! It's normal! That's what your brain does all day every day, you can't expect it to not do that just because you are meditating. When thoughts and distractions arise, let them. Observe them. Then let them fall away and start counting your breaths again. With lots of practice, you will eventually get to the point where you can let all the excesses of your mind fall away and achieve relaxation, knowledge and mastery of the mind, and plenty of other benefits.

Anyway, these are just some scattered thoughts. Just start reading about it! The Brad Warner book is a great place to start because it summarizes lots of Buddhist philosophy in a really palatable way. Good luck!

u/photopiperUX · 2 pointsr/bagpipes

Learning to zen meditate may be of use. It's core is the practice of controlling your breath. Taking in as much air as possible, and exhaling completely. To do so you must learn to breathe with your diaphragm rather than your lungs. It might sound simple, but it's a pretty strange feeling.

Stamina on the pipes can fade quickly, so playing 5-10min a day, every single day, will be a huge help. I've noticed stamina loss even after 2 weeks of not playing.

To strengthen your lips, treat them as you would any other muscle. Every now and then you need to "lift" to failure. That means playing until you literally can not keep a seal any longer... and playing for another 5 minutes.

​

Aside from the physical aspect, having your pipes set up properly, with a reed that you're actually capable of playing, helps a lot. Often times instructors or PMs will give you a harder reed because it sounds better, but it becomes so difficult to play it's simply miserable.

​

Edit: Some new thoughts after reading some comments: Switching to an oval mouthpiece really helped me. Also, some pipers will have the mouthpiece in the corner or their mouth. I find that makes it extremely difficult to keep a seal given how lips muscles function. So I'd also recommend learning to play with the mouthpiece right in the center of your mouth to allow your lips to use their full strength.

Also also, this is the book that taught me how to zen meditate https://www.amazon.com/Meditation-Plain-English-Daishin-Buksbazen/dp/0861713168/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=meditation+plain+english&qid=1549821441&s=gateway&sr=8-7

u/United_Field · 1 pointr/EsotericChristianity

I wasn't going to respond, but since nobody has responded in almost a month, what the heck?

​

I'm a neophyte at best, and I don't consider myself a Christian. I've recently opened up to the inner teachings behind Christianity. I'm very much a beginner, but I am struggling to do the work daily regardless. I've run the gamut as far as spiritual interests go, and I've learned to accept that I really don't know anything.

​

I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Kabbalah-Magic-Great-Work-Transformation/dp/0738708933/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1549881530&sr=8-1&keywords=lyam+thomas+kabbalah

​

It's a good start, as far as I can tell.

Don't listen to the plebeians that tell you what your faith or practice has to be. There are profound depths to these things that almost nobody will ever see. If you have a spiritual gift, it is worth fostering and developing. Don't chain yourself to the world views of the small-minded.

I wish you luck in life!

u/eyebellel · 1 pointr/Crystals

It's not clear if you are looking for crystals that will help support you in sharing the same space as this person, of if you are looking for general relationship advice. If you're looking towards crystals, Magnesite has a calming effect on emotions, helping you to handle emotional stress. Peridot might also be helpful as it will help to enhance your confidence without aggression and motivate growth. Smithsonite also helps aid in difficult relationships, it helps create harmony and diplomacy. All of these stones and descriptions came from The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall.

I would also think that any stone that promotes your own grounding would be helpful, hematite, black tourmaline, bloodstone, etc.

If you're looking more for relationship advice, I would suggest r/relationships.

I hope this was what you were looking for!

u/murdahmamurdah · 2 pointsr/hiphopheads

>Man you seem like a smart motherfucker sometimes Murda.

i swear i actually am sometimes.

>Would you say the diet improvements and the yoga helped a lot?

rediculously so. im lactose intolerant plus got celiac too so im pretty much vegan by default short of a couple thing and cant eat any sort of bread. the yoga was a life saver. if you get really into it beyond just a workout system, then its got some crazy beneficial effects. im all russell simmons now, meditate like twice a day, and the shit just grounds you very well.

if youre not trying to get spiritual with it, it will still leave you feeling amazing. plus, its easy to do. dont get trapped in the "but im not flexible" mindset. think of it like riding a bike with training wheels, once you learn how to ride without them then youre not just gonna stop riding a bike. youre gonna enjoy it that much more. so the goal isn't to be flexible, the goal is to relax and enjoy it.

yeah, i cut out all the meats. i read this book and this one somewhere early on in the diet shift. first one was written by the front man to one of my more favorite bands. just helped put things in perpective that we dont HAVE to eat meat and that doing so doesnt make you tough. Im just not tryin to have stuff die if it doesnt need to. second one gave me a better idea of what I should be putting into my body plus theres a lot about just how fucked our food supply is in there too.

other than that, the internet. tons of information at your disposal

the best way to do it, is to start cooking more. go to the grocery store, find the weirdest vegetable you can find and then look up how to cook it. and just consciously think about it. like hey, i dont HAVE to eat meat. make it so it's a choice. its not a cold turkey thing. maybe go one meal a day where you dont eat it and take it from there

plus, adding Worcestershire sauce to stuff helps give it that meaty flavor.

u/KettlebelleNYC · 2 pointsr/loseit

You'll find that this sub is extremely supportive - no berating or humiliating here at all, just encouragement and sometimes tough love.

Others have said this, but it can't be stressed enough that food should be your #1 priority. What you're doing in MFP is absolutely the right thing - if you keep eating at a deficit, you will 100% lose weight. (And the fact that you already have a MFP account and have been logging what you're eating shows that you are past the point of "literally no concept of health or weight loss!" You know what to do, the trick is making yourself do it, which is why we're all here, haha.)

Once you get the ball rolling, you can start to add in exercise, but that's not the priority upfront. By all means start walking a little more, but really focus on your calories and don't try to jump immediately into intense workouts - it's not necessary right now.

Ultimately, as everyone will tell you, this needs to be about a complete lifestyle change - you can't think of it as dieting. What helps me is reminding myself what's literally happening in my body when I eat certain foods. I really recommend the book It Starts With Food - regardless of whether you actually want to do a Whole 30 (30 days of eliminating a bunch of foods that tend to give people issues), the book is an excellent overview of how what you eat effects all of the organs in your body, both positively and negatively. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food is another great choice.

You can do it! Good luck!

u/himalayansaltlick · 1 pointr/Enneagram

Sure, step one, be gentle with yourself. The majority of people in the US are probably 6s. I dated 6 for eight years. Sixes have some really, really awesome qualities––they have a keen intuition for worthy authority figures, and they can have the decisiveness and strength to take down authority figures who aren't doing a good job.

I recommend listening to this podcast, or at least the relevant section for you. I also recommend the book The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

You can also read this website's description of the 6. Read about disintegration and integration, as well. In other words, when you're healthy, you start to take on some characteristics of the 9. When you're unhealthy, you engage in some of the behaviors of the 3. Read about those numbers, too. Then read about your wings––5 and 7. You'll pretty quickly see what applies to you and what doesn't.

Here's the beauty of the enneagram (if you hold it loosely! this isn't the end all in your life): it gives you a roadmap for coming through your weaker qualities by showing you what you naturally have the potential to do. It also can shed some light on deep truths in your life, truths that you might otherwise might avoid or never know.

u/mycourage · 3 pointsr/Christianity

All Christians experience this. Even Jesus had agony in the garden. It's a form of perfection. God's timeline is not our timeline. Souls experience darkness (or a feeling of God is not with them) to perfect their faith, love, and trust in God. It's easy to follow God when everything is going great and you're experiencing great consolation from God. However, we mature in faith when we have to follow him and do his will with no immediate spiritual rewards. Continue in prayer and you will grow from these experiences. Mother Teresa is a great example of someone who experienced a prolonged period of darkness or silence from God.

Try Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross. Free versions here and here and here but since it's a classical work it's pretty cheap and worth it to purchase.

u/Kalinali · 1 pointr/Enneagram

> I had read that Integration happens when you're healthy, but yet my aforementioned cold angry outbursts tend to happen more when I'm less healthy

It's because conventional enneagram sources are misinforming about integration being "a good thing" and disintegration being "a bad thing". Not completely their fault, since in a way these processes were mis-labeled. You don't fall apart when you "disintegrate" in enneagram, or become some kind of enlightened version of yourself when you "integrate". It's actually the health levels of your core type that will determine where you will end up in respect to integration and disintegration types. If you're at low levels at type 4, you will integrate to low levels of type 1 replete with angry outbursts, feelings of annoyance and hypocritical criticalness. But, if you're at high health levels of 4, then you'll end up at high level of 1 full of discernment, fairness and wisdom in regard to any situation. This was mentioned in Wisdom of Enneagram book, and many times on the now defunct Enneagram Institute forum, that integration and disintegration are merely horizontal reshuffling, and it's going up the health levels where the true progress lies, so say a type 4 at a lowish health level #6 from this description:

"Type 4 at Level 6: Gradually think that they are different from others, and feel that they are exempt from living as everyone else does. They become melancholy dreamers, disdainful, decadent, and sensual, living in a fantasy world. Self-pity and envy of others leads to self-indulgence, and to becoming increasingly impractical, unproductive, effete, and precious."

..will end up integrating to type 1 at this same health level--and this doesn't sound much like any kind of growth or self-improvement:

"Type 1 at Level 6: Highly critical both of self and others: picky, judgmental, perfectionistic. Very opinionated about everything: correcting people and badgering them to "do the right thing"—as they see it. Impatient, never satisfied with anything unless it is done according to their prescriptions. Moralizing, scolding, abrasive, and indignantly angry."

Somehow it's a lot easier to notice if you've been "acting up" in the neighboring intg/dis types than within the core type. Maybe this is because we're so used to living in our main type, so set in its ways, that you'll notice that something is wrong only when you start reaching out to other types, but this is also a great way of figuring out your health levels within your main type.

Another rather important thing that most enneagram sources won't mention either is that enneagram types have subtypes. Type isn't really this narrow area that contains everyone of that type, but it's more like a distribution that stretches from integration to disintegration types. Thus there are 4's who with a 1 subtype, and then there are 4s with a 2 subtype, and the two will present rather differently. The subtype becomes like a secondary type that the person resorts to in many situations and "wears on their sleeve" so to say, so it's easier to notice it as well as mistype into it, or even mistype into any other type because if the subtype is strongly expressed (far end of distribution) the person doesn't quite feel at home within their core type, and may even relate to the descriptions of the subtype type more strongly. Ultimately, for those who have strongly expressed integration or disintegration subtype it's better to approach themselves like a mixture of types. Sure you'll have your core type to work on, but the subtype type will also have prominent expression in your life so it's better not to ignore it, accept and acknowledge it, and work on it too.

> One time when I suddenly started going off on a rant about how annoying one of my former co-workers was, I really surprised one of my friends

Pretty much why 1s end up with 9s as friends or SO's so frequently, is that 9s teach 1s to be more all-accepting and laid-back, and then that annoying feeling of annoyance with other people starts to disappear, among other things.

u/PopcornMouse · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

Humans are omnivores, and as omnivores with a jack-of-all-trades digestive system there is no best or perfect human diet. We can eat a variety of foods, from all around the world, and be perfectly healthy individuals.

Don't get sucked in by fad-diets and get-healthy-quick schemes. They just want your money. Unless you have a condition that prevents you from eating a certain food group, or limits your consumption of a food group (e.g. allergies, intolerances, celiac, heart conditions, diabetes) then best advice I can give you is to "eat [locally and in season] foods, not to much, mostly plants". This isn't another diet book, its a manifesto in defence of good quality food.

u/Thants · -1 pointsr/IAmA

I am pretty sure that esdee is just a jackass who thinks s/he knows more than s/he does, but I suspect the point about nutritionists may be that it is a field of science that is still in its infancy.

I came to stop listening to nutritional science thanks to Michael Pollan's books. In Defense of Food is a great book that calls out nutritional science as little more than a ploy to move "value-added foods." It goes into why the science in this case is more a shot in the dark at keeping healthy than is asking your grandmother what to eat. (tl;dr version: Nutriotional science is too reductionist and focuses too much on specific molecules in food rather than heeding conventional wisdom of "if we survived on it for two million years, we should eat it." Pollan sums it up himself in only seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Oh, and avoid processed foods.) Great book. If you end up liking it, read Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan to enter the world of food politics.

u/[deleted] · 4 pointsr/Meditation

i've been dealing with some similar things. i found Peter Levine's work on trauma to be eye-opening. this book, for example. he offers some practices though i haven't actually tried them.

Tsultrim Allione provides a modern layperson's interpretation of Tibetan chöd practice which directly addresses this kind of thing. it's kind of intense, but then so are our demons.

it's often said that trauma is stored in the body. there are a lot of somatic meditation techniques available out there. i'm a huge fan of somatic work, especially for its applicability to this kind of thing. Touching Enlightenment is an excellent introduction to somatic meditation from a Tibetan Buddhist point of view.

hope you find something in there that's helpful. best of luck.

edit: clarification: Tsultrim Allione isn't a layperson. her book is written for the laity. :)

u/ornryactor · 2 pointsr/AskFoodHistorians

Thanks!

  • Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Cronon, William.

  • Selling 'Em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food. Hogan, David Gerard.

  • Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet. Levenstein, Harvey.

  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Pollan, Michael.

  • Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. Shiva, Vandana et al.

  • The Jungle. Sinclair, Upton.

  • Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras & the United States. Soluri, John.

  • The Fruits of Natural Advantage: Making the Industrial Countryside in California. Stoll, Steven.

  • Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance. Warman, Arturo.

    Very cool to see the actual course listing information. I'd forgotten what it was like to flip through an actual paper course catalog with that kind of stuff in it. Thank god for the internet.

    Also, you helped me figure out what book I was trying to remember in this comment! It was The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. IIRC, it was an awesome concept and 75% of it was an absolutely fantastic read, but one of the sections (maybe the third one?) was bit uninspired. Still overall worth the read, for sure, just be prepared to slog through one section. (And don't skip it, because what it discusses is still relevant to the final section, even if it's not as entertaining as the rest of the book.) It's worth it in particular for anybody living in an industrialized "modern" nation; it provides some of the come-to-Jesus moments that we all need to hear periodically. It's not on the level of Fast Food Nation in that regard (which is required reading for every American and Canadian, as far as I'm concerned), but still.

    EDIT: And that helped me remember another book I've heard recommended, also by Michael Pollan: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

    You're on a roll, friend.
u/CalvinLawson · 2 pointsr/Christianity

>You said Theophilus never even used the word.

<citation needed>

> And before you go to champion about the Jesus Seminar you might want to look at various criticisms of it.

I have. While the Jesus Seminar is pretty extreme they are nowhere close to extreme as the minority of scholars that actually support the veracity of Christian dogma.

>You're some flunky with an agenda who lacks the training, breadth of study, and intelligence to have these conversations.

At least I'm not a pompous jerk. Seriously, you're a mod here? No wonder you're subreddit has such a bad reputation. You guys are making our job a lot easier, let me tell you.

I'm actually over Christianity, not reading Chrstian history anymore. This and this were the last two books I read, but I've got two book shelves full and have read many more besides.

I'm not a scholar but I'm no slouch; I simply don't respect what you're saying enough to give it more than what I have. He who has an interest in such things will study it for themselves and can make up their own minds. It's in our best interest that Christians know the human history of their supposedly divine religion.

I gave Christianity a fair shake, I studied it substantially more than the average bear and I'm simply not convinced. In fact what I've found un-convinced me. It's a web of belief supported by nothing but faith. Besides, if the God of modern Christians actually existed I wouldn't worship him, I'd spit in his face for the monster he is.

Now I'm reading books like this and this and this.

Actually, I am reading Christian books still, like this and this. It's evangelicalism I'm studying now...

My relationship to Christianity is now one of an adversary. If I see you on the front lines of the culture wars I'll wave and blow you a kiss.

u/razrblazr · 2 pointsr/GetMotivated

If you want to get healthy, start doing your research. Learn all you can from reputable sources and then use your new knowledge to get a plan. You should read "Why We Are Fat" by Gary Taubes and some of Michael Pollan's books. Check out r/keto and r/paleo. Watch "Fat Head" on Netflix. Personal health is a science and before you start, make sure you are doing it the best way for you. Plus, you don't want to put in a lot of time and effort only to find out there was a better, easier way out there. I wish I would have found r/keto wayyyy sooner. Good luck! You can DEFINITELY do this!

u/selfprojectionasgod · 2 pointsr/atheism

You've been lied to your whole life and told that life has no meaning if it doesn't last forever. The opposite is true. This life would have no meaning if you had another one after it that would last forever. The reality is - everything you do is full of meaning... relationships, hobbies, shows, friends, books, laughing, family... Your focus needs to shift from an imaginary heaven to the reality of now.

After deconverting from fundamental Christianity, I sunk into a deep depression. I had given my life for God and the ministry and now it was all gone. Not only that, but I became physically disabled so that I couldn't even choose another path for my life. I wasted decades studying for the ministry and being in the ministry. So, needless to say, I was as depressed as it gets.

At the end of my rope, I was watching the TV show Life, and the main character was able to get through being in prison by studying Zen. Now, you have to realize, I am an anti-theist for the most part and do not want any religious practices in my life, thank you very much. But some of the quotes made me think... so I picked up the book The Way of Zen and gave it a shot. Almost threw it away half way through because it sounded like hocus pocus to me; but the second half blew me away... talking about the images we make in our mind... and the constant grasping for happiness and a better future... and the trap of the vicious circle of always trying to make things better... and being unhappy because we are grasping for a promising future instead of living right now in the moment.

Well, I've been studying it for quite a while now, and it's made all the difference in the world to me. So I would encourage you to concentrate on reality - what is right now. It takes time to detox the mind from all that religious clap-trap, but once you do, the constant torments that were caused by religion are gone. You don't need the false promise of a blissful future to be happy now. Don't let religion torment you so that you waste what time you have to enjoy the privilege of being alive.

u/abnmfr · 1 pointr/Paleo

I like The Eater's Manifesto. It's not a documentary, I know, but it's the best, most sensible, and most easily understood work I've found.

Also, it's a little unorthodox, (and is more a 'lifestyle' book than anything else), but The Gnoll Credo inspired me to take better care of myself health-wise, and to live more fully.

u/abruptmodulation · 3 pointsr/ashtanga

I hear you. I like to explore philosophy with a number of teachers in the lineage; one of my favorite weekend workshops was with Harmony Slater. She’s a joy and a wealth of knowledge.

I am lucky that I get to practice with Eddie. I may be a bit biased, but I really don’t know of any other books that so succinctly ties it all together at the right level of information blending both Eastern and Western schools of thought.

Book recos:

Here is my favorite translation of the Bhagavad Gita.

I also really like this interpretation of the Yamas and Niyamas.

And my favorite Yoga Sutras.

The closest I can think of in terms of modern day explanations is the Yamas and Niyamas book by Deborah Adele. It really is a nice, practical read.

u/justahermit · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon
  • 1 you care about your family, i love you for that, not enough people do. and not enough people actually end up going for what they really want. Be very proud of yourself, you are winning at living life.

  • 2 You are working towards your goal, just realize that, it's not holding on for another year and a half, it's in pursuit of the life you want, you are on track, and that is something most people can't say. The volunteering will have a massive effect on you, and teach you so much. You're going to be quite few giant steps ahead because of this. A year and a half before you can start the rest of your life? Enjoy it, because you have the rest of your life to live the rest of your life.

  • 3 Honestly the thing that helped me the most was to do one thing each day that I didn't want to do, something i wanted to do, but didn't want to because either people would think i was stupid, or i was shy, or i was afraid. I'd do that one thing, and i would feel great after doing it. Maybe it was run around my yard naked (it was) but i did it, and it made me feel alive. 9 hours of boredom is 9 hours you can spend thinking of ways to better your life and your family. IT's 9 hours you can spend planning for your future, and daydreaming of it. It's 9 hours to watch people closely, because there are many out there who you will learn from, use that time to learn from them, learn what you don't like about them, learn about what you do like about them, watch how they are doing their life, and how you can apply their decisions, actions, to your own life. You will be able to learn a lot about what you don't want to ever become, and a lot of what you do want to become, and IT WILL help you in the future to take a good hard look at everyone, whats beyond the surface, and learn from it.

  • 4 link
u/docforrester · 3 pointsr/entertainment

To anyone interested in this movie, you might want to check out In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan:
http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211866064&sr=8-1

Also, Iowa's DNR Director Rich Leopold has some great ideas when it comes to ethanol and crop alternatives. Please don't think that we're complacent about our situation.
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/special_sections/ethanol/

p.s. southern Iowa is a pretty good model for small farms, let's hope they're able to keep it up. Support your local farmers market!

u/NGK87 · 1 pointr/crossfit

If you don't want to read much, skip below to #7 and the helpful resources.

Food ("nutrition") sets your performance ("fitness") ceiling. It will define what you can achieve in the gym. If you want better performance, you'll have to eat better first. Period.

  1. Forget calories. They're a giant red herring. In response to your question, others have brought up "calories in, calories out." This is such an oversimplification that's it's basically wrong. 500 doughnut calories =\= 500 sweet potato calories, NOT EVEN CLOSE. The sugar and other refined carbohydrates in a doughnut will break down to glucose very quickly, then spike your blood sugar. Next, insulin response rushes in and causes a few things, the blood sugar gets pulled into cells for use but also gets pulled into fat stores. Insulin promotes development of fat tissue. To simplify: some of the 500 doughnut calories end up used for energy very quickly after you eat it, the rest ends up stored as fat, but you'll absorb all 500 one way or another. Sweet potatoes don't spike your blood sugar because they're digested very slowly. You get a slow steady stream of carbohydrates (blood sugar) to use all day, especially during that workout. So long, in fact that you'll likely end up flushing some of the carbs 500 carbs in that sweet potato down the toilet because it won't stay in your body long enough to fully digest it (thank you dietary fiber.) To simplify, you'll absorb some and what you do absorb, you'll use to your benefit to crush WODs.

  2. Focus instead on macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats). Which brings me to my next point...

  3. You're going to have to "track." That means you're going to have to get a scale and weigh your food as you plate it for your meal.

  4. Meal prep. Get a plan together. Then cook up some food and weigh off into containers. This will help stay on track. This is important because:

  5. It takes about 2 weeks for all the hormonal changes to happen to your body when your start to eat better. That means no cheat meals. Cheat meals are for when you've reached your goals. They bog down your progress. Stay away as long as possible.

  6. Regarding food, you should be buying groceries (veggies and fruit), meat, fish and some dairy. If it comes in packaging, you should probably avoid it (except obvious things like milk has to come in a gallon, duh). MOST IMPORTANTLY: NO REFINED CARBOHYDRATES. PERIOD. NO EXCEPTIONS. If it's made with bleached, white flour (often labeled "enriched"), sugar, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, agave nectar, rice syrup, and all the other misleading terms, then you simply don't eat it.

  7. If you don't believe me about the above, don't take my word for it, go on YouTube and watch videos with the elite CrossFit athletes and watch what they eat and what their coaches (Ben Bergeron, coach to Katrin davidsdottir and a few other big names) has a bunch of nutrition related videos) tell them to eat. Mimic what they do. They don't eat that way because they're elite, they're elite because they eat that way (and train according obviously).

    Helpful resources:
    http://journal.crossfit.com/2012/03/nutrition.tpl

    In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143114964/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_q7qAH63DLB7ov

    Enter The Zone: A Dietary Road map https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060391502/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_GVpEDeq7jqJIA

    The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038583/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jYyDDbGSYE54S

    Edit: spelling typos
u/NiferVol · 1 pointr/BabyBumps

Congratulations!!!!! I read Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives by Deepak Chopra. It's a good book on pregnancy and offers some good tips on relaxation, nutrition, etc. It's kind of a holistic, eastern meets western philosophy book. I really enjoyed this because it treats your pregnancy as a beautiful journey.

For babies, I have read [Secrets of the Baby Whisperer] (http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Baby-Whisperer-Connect-Communicate/dp/0345479092/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374606157&sr=1-2&keywords=baby+whisperer) and Happiest Baby on the Block. Both came highly recommended by other moms.

u/getinthegoat · 2 pointsr/Codependency

I am currently six months in the program and I too struggle with the belief of a higher power because I am an atheist. However, I have found that putting my belief in the universe… Even just simply imagining giving all of this horrible pain and struggle and turmoil and anxiety up into space has brought me some great relief. I finally asked my home group, admitting my strain on this.... what to do as a non-believer.... and a woman in my group recommended this book to me. I have not yet read it myself but I have it queued up in my list to purchase very soon. I hear it’s really great so I thought I would share with you.

Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592858252/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_OuyOBbW9DV87A

Edit: fixed some words. Also PS.... i’ve grown an opinion to think that giving something to your higher power is just like the buddhist way of thinking to “let it go”. I hope this helps :)

u/aggrolite · 3 pointsr/zen

Hi, looks like you've already received some good answers on both Zen subreddits. Just want to share what I did first. Hopefully it's helpful.

I basically started with this book. It was really helpful because at the time I was overwhelmed with the "rituals" and such, and really wasn't sure if I was doing zazen "right." Also I was reading r/zen at the time and that made things even more confusing, haha.

So that book I linked starts off with counting breaths when sitting. Count to ten in a row, then start over. If you lose count (get distracted), just start at one again. I got pretty good at counting to ten without getting sidetracked and eventually stopped counting, but still focusing on my breath.

Brad Warner writes a lot about zazen, and he's got some good videos on YouTube about it. He answers questions via email too.

The cool part is you can make sitting your own thing. You can or cannot bow before/after sitting, all up to you. You could light incense, or light a candle. I've tried a few different things just to change it up. Right now I just use Insight Timer, and my partner recently bought me a zabuton which is amazing.

u/stinkerino · 2 pointsr/EatCheapAndHealthy

In Defense of Food is a really good book that addresses this question directly. its helpful to look at healthy eating conceptually rather than trying to remember all the information, stats, counting nutrients, etc. that gets overwhelming. if you can understand what a generally healthy diet looks like (more vegetables, less processed foods, that sort of thing) then you default into getting all the nutrients you need just because you're eating well. also, dont forget this one, dietary fiber is super important, this comes from plants and basically feeds your gut bacteria and is a pipe cleaner in your tubes. the gut bacteria process fiber that your body cant on its own and then give out things your body can use.

u/ruchenn · 2 pointsr/Jewish

> Russian Jew raised secular want to learn about my people but not be
> indoctrinated.

This pretty much won’t happen no matter what you read. Judaism has been a non-proselytising religion for getting on to 2,000 years now.

Among the Orthodox, the standing rule is to turn those looking to convert away at least three times before you even begin to start talking about the process and whether it’s something they should undertake.

Among the Conservative and Reform and Reconstructionist, things aren’t quite so daunting, but the basic underlying theology — that one’s relationship with divinity (assuming there is one: Reconstructionists are atheists, for example) is not dependent in any fashion on whether you are an MoT or not — still informs the process. Conversion is, of course, possible, but it’s not considered necessary in any sense.

Even in Judaism’s ancient sort-of-proselytising days it was mostly a ‘give it a try, you might like it’ kind of sales pitch.

> Book recommendations?

Oi, where to start?

Jews aren’t called ‘the people of the book’ for nothing. We’ve been writing everything down for thousands of years. So there’s a lot of history to explore and there are literally thousands of histories out there to read.

The list below is not in a particular order. And it is idiosyncratically chosen. It is, quite literally, a list of what I can see on my shelves from where I’m currently working that immediately makes me think ‘oh, yeah, that’s got something for the new reader’.

The story of the Jews: finding the words (1000 BCE – 1492 CE)
Simon Schama, 2014.

The story of the Jews: when words fail (1492 – present day)
Simon Schama, 2015.

The Talmud — a biography: banned, censored and burned. The book they couldn’t suppress
Harry Freedman, 2014.

Pirkei Avot (the sayings of the fathers): a modern commentary on Jewish ethics
Leonard Kravitz & Kerry Olitzky (eds), 1993.

The essential Kabbalah: the heart of Jewish mysticism
Daniel C Matt, 2009.

Engendering Judaism: an inclusive theology and ethics
Rachel Adler, 1999.

Hillel: if not now, when
Joseph Telushkin, 2010.

The new joys of Yiddish
Leo Rosten, 2003.

Other lists to meander through:

A best world Jewish history books list on GoodReads.

The top 100 Jewish books according to Rabbi Miriam Spitzer.

The 18 essential texts every Jew should read as put together for Huffington Post back in 2011 (and chosen by people who are relatively eclectic but entirely American).

Hope this is at least diverting, if not helpful.

u/hoshhsiao · 2 pointsr/Empaths

If it feels natural, and you both are aware of the best and worst traits without trying to hide them, that that's great.

The kind of stuff I was describing are more like ... pathologies in unhealthy relationships. So read on only if the healing aspects calls to you :-)

There's a practice I suggest to empaths who aspire to be healers. It is called Demon Feeding. The first half of the practice is a great exercise in being able to discern exactly what kind of energy signature, some aspect of someone really needs.

Just like you can hear someone say something, and their body language says something else, there is often an underlying energy that may say something else all together.

Likewise, when someone wants something, there are sometimes an underlying need that is different from what they say they want. Then, there is asking how someone would feel after they get what they need. That resulting feeling is the true experience of what they are really seeking.

In the first half of demon feeding, you tune into specific sensations, and then ask it to personify. Then you ask those questions. Then you trade places -- this is an exercise in empathy -- and ask those questions again. (This takes someone even deeper). In that last part, that resulting experiencing that they seek is the energy signature that, when fed in a certain way, can dissolve this.

Most people have some disconnect with what they really need. They tend to seek out the surface want, not knowing that it is driven by something deeper. However, just because they are not consciously aware of those deeper drives, does not mean it is not active. This is where it starts distorting relationships. It will feel like a form of attraction, but it is not -- more like hunger, obsession, and so forth.

If you are interested in this practice, you can find the outline here:

https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-feeding-your-demons/

The full book is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Demons-Resolving-Conflict/dp/0316013137

There is also an audio workshop for that, on Amazon somewhere. (It might be the audiobook).

If you like that kind of stuff, Tsultrim Allione also has an interesting book called Wisdom Rising ... I haven't read or practiced it yet, though I did hear an interview with her where she talks a bit about it. It is a mandala practice accessing the five elemental Daikini in the Tibetan Vajrayana way, and can give access to tremendous amount of energy. She made it available because she saw a number of female activists coming out in the past several years, and wanted to contribute something so that can tap into the power to make these changes in our society.

u/napjerks · 1 pointr/Anger

It can help but it doesn’t always help. For that reason I usually recommend people focus on the anger directly and only use meditation as a supplement if they are interested in it as an option. And it’s best to focus on a book like Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames along the way.

u/jonathan_bart · 3 pointsr/Meditation

Hi, nice to hear you are enjoying it so much :-). I consider integrating it as well but haven't yet.

Two things I'd like to share with you:

u/slightlyoffki · 1 pointr/kungfu

Oh man, I could recommend so many.

Kung Fu and Taoism:

The Making of a Butterfly is one of my favorite books. It is about a white kid who starts learning Kung Fu out of a Chinese master's basement back in the 70s, well before Kung Fu was popularized in the West.

Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming Dao is excellent, a narrative perspective of how Taoism intertwines with the life of a Kung Fu practitioner.

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly is an entertaining and illuminating story that disseminates a lot of the mysticism surrounding the Shaolin Temple.

The Crocodile and the Crane is a fun fictional book that is basically about Tai Chi saving the world from a zombie apocalypse.

My next goal is to tackle The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Of course, I highly recommend the Tao Te Ching and the Art of War as well.

Buddhism: I highly recommend anything Thich Nhat Hanh. Anger and Peace is Every Step are two of my favorites.

Karate and Japanese Arts:

Moving Toward Stillness by Dave Lowry is one of my favorite books, taken from his columns in Black Belt Magazine over the years. A really excellent study on Japanese arts and philosophy.

Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings by Kenji Tokitsu is wonderful. It includes the Book of Five Rings as well as some of Musashi's other works, including many of his paintings.

The 47 Ronin, by John Allyn, a dramatization of the Genroku Ako Incident, is still quite poignant in 2016.

u/jz-dialectic · 1 pointr/Catholicism

I felt the same way after I first rediscovered my Catholic faith. I read a lot by the Carmelite mystics, and I even thought about the Carthusians. As I continued to discern my vocation, I eventually saw my attraction to those orders as God growing my interior life rather than a vocation (I'm now happily married with my first child on the way!). Before diving right into St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila, I recommend reading Fr. Thomas Dubay.

Or better yet, if you have some theology or philosophy background already, read Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange or Fr. Adolph Tanqueray.

Carthusians: http://transfiguration.chartreux.org/
Benedictines in Norcia: https://en.nursia.org/
More Benedictines (I think): https://clearcreekmonks.org/
Fire Within by Thomas Dubay https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Within-Teresa-Gospel-Prayer/dp/0898702631/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486491394&sr=8-1&keywords=thomas+dubay+fire+within
Three Ages of the Interior Life by Fr. Garrigou Lagrange https://www.amazon.com/Three-Ages-Interior-Life/dp/1492390976/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1486491194&sr=8-3&keywords=garrigou+lagrange
The Spiritual Life by Adolphe Tanquerey https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Life-Adolphe-Tanquerey/dp/0895556596
Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Night-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486426939/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486491335&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+night+of+the+soul
The Way of Perfection by St. Theresa of Avila https://www.amazon.com/Way-Perfection-Image-Classics/dp/0385065396

u/urbster1 · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

In that book, that is all. However from The Wisdom of the Enneagram, it says this:

7w8: The Realist

Healthy People of this subtype truly enjoy the world and are "materialistic" in the broadest sense of the word. They combine quickness with drive, often leading to material success and positions of power and prominence. They are determined to get what they want from life; they think strategically and can rapidly organize their internal and external resources in pursuit of their desires. They are earthy, practical, and tough-minded. Their sense of humor expresses itself in a biting wit and a taste for the outrageous.

Average People of this subtype apply their energies in many directions, multitasking or even "multicareering." They can be aggressive and have the willpower and drive to take care of their own needs. They tend to be more workaholic than the other subtype, coming from the strong desire to accumulate possessions and experiences. ("I'm worth it!") Their focus is more on generating activities than on connecting with people. Hence they tend to be pragmatic about relationships—looking for a partner, not a romantic fantasy figure. They are not afraid to be alone and are clear about their own expectations and how much they will tolerate. Directness can verge on bluntness and on pushing people out of the way to get what they want. They can be jaded and callous, in contrast to the childish hyperenthusiasm of the 6-wing.

u/atheistcoffee · 1 pointr/Buddhism

I would suggest reading some books on the subject. The Way Of Zen has been extremely helpful for me. There are many other books that are good as well. And don't be shy to ask questions on this sub - most will be very willing to discuss these things with you.

Also look up The Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Noble Truths. Here's a handy reference; and there are many helpful links in the sidebar to the right.

u/IntrepidBeachcomber · 29 pointsr/AskWomenOver30

I think every woman's "normal" is individualistic.

I shave everything off (legs, armpits, pubes) once week; legs and pits every other day during the summer. Twice a month I shave my arms and face because it feels really good, I like the exfoliation, and my hair grows slowly and soft. I pluck my eyebrows and upper lip when need be, so maybe like every couple of weeks or so.

I don't wear any makeup at all; I think the last time I did was maybe 4-5 years ago.

I only use bar soap with minimal ingredients in order to lessen the toxic burden. I try to treat my skin as delicate fabric, not a dirty floor to be scrubbed with harsh chemicals.

In terms of hair care, I have thick, wavy hair that I simply wash; no products, I just set my waves while my hair is wet so that it's not frizzy. I use diluted lemon juice a couple times a week to clarify my hair.

Always clean and fitted clothes, teeth flossed and brushed.

Two well-balanced meals per day, no snacking, 99% of my meals are homecooked with whole foods and full fat, nothing ever bottled/packaged or processed. I only drink black coffee, unsweetened tea, wine, beer, or water. I definitely allow myself dessert when I crave it, or eat junk food at parties/other people's homes if offered, but I do not buy it and keep it in my home. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is a good one to abide by. I walk everywhere (I live in NYC).

Basic philosophy: minimal, clean, natural, and groomed.

u/dilusionz · 6 pointsr/Crystals

For beginners I highly recommend 'The Crystal Bible'

http://www.amazon.com/The-Crystal-Bible-Judy-Hall/dp/1582972400

When you understand a bit more, or simply want some more in depth reading and information, then 'The Book of Stones' is an absolute must ~ this is my goto crystal book these days :)
http://www.thebookofstones.com/

Hope this helps, good luck on your journey, most importantly ~ have fun with them !

u/RagingSynapse · 1 pointr/Meditation

I haven't read Mindfulness in Plain English either, but I've heard good things. I found Zen Meditation in Plain English by Buksbazen to be a helpful intro. For more inspiration than instruction, I liked Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Suzuki.

u/JLMA · 1 pointr/Mindfulness

thank you again for your replies; very well articulated, very helpful to me

I would like to ask you for your favorite resources on how to enhance mindfulness/awareness.

Mine are E Tolle's The Power Of Now and Stillness Speaks.

I listened to Alan Watts Out Of Your Mind and Do You Do It or Does It Do You?: How to Let the Universe Meditate You, and read his The Way Of Zen. I liked the book very much, did not enjoy much the audios. I went right back to listening to E Tolle audiobooks, mainly his TPON.

Also, I am reading the The Zen Teaching of Huang Po

What about you? What do you definitely think I should listen to or read?

u/qq2345 · 1 pointr/askgaybros

So I used several items when I first started:


https://grokker.com/mind/expert/alister-gray/57fcc1dcc179d39938867c73


I really liked this coach (and remember, the coach is everything when first starting out). I used this as a beginner step and then took some more full courses with him. There are also several apps I recommend as well to get started:


https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stop-breathe-think/id778848692

​

https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app


Here are some books I also recommend:


https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Thinking-Norman-Vincent/dp/0743234804


https://www.amazon.com/Way-Zen-Alan-W-Watts/dp/0375705104/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+way+of+zen&qid=1563019780&s=books&sr=1-2


This one is for once you clear your conscious and start to interact with others:


https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22WVROTLAUEQU&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people+by+dale+carnegie&qid=1563019812&s=books&sprefix=how+to+win%2Cstripbooks%2C189&sr=1-3



Hope it helps. It really depends on who you vibe with as a coach.

u/lilmalchek · 2 pointsr/entp

Im INFJ, but I had a similar experience actually. Took me a while to really understand the enneagram, with the help of this book, a few events I went to, and talking about it with my ENTP boyfriend. I’d check out the wisdom of the enneagram if you’re interested:)

The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553378201/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9VDIAb3KJCTX6

u/Duckmandu · -2 pointsr/Fitness

Um… no. Replacing real food with a chemical powder that makes health claims on the package will be BAD for your health.

The true nutritional benefit of real, unprocessed food goes way beyond vitamins, minerals, calories, fats, and proteins. You will wreak havoc on your digestive system for starters.

See the film "Food Inc." Read anything by Michael Pollan, but especially "In Defense of Food." Read this link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/039743_processed_foods_eating_reasons.html#

And this:

http://bodyecology.com/articles/hidden_dangers_of_processed_foods.php#.U0U-EpK9KSM

Book here used for cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964

Good luck and happy eating healthy!

P.S. Är du svensk? (The label has Swedish.)

u/gucchee · 1 pointr/energy_work

http://www.amazon.com/The-Crystal-Bible-Judy-Hall/dp/1582972400

Here is a link to a book to start off with. Like I said, trust your intuition with books just as with anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olNnr8UloFM

The video involves two psychics at different points in their career talking about energy, crystals, and other related subjects. I would suggest searching other discussion videos as they can be very enlightening. Safe journeys my friend.

u/freemarketmyass · 6 pointsr/Economics

Joel Salatin (the author) is a bit of a (admitted) nut job though. A lifetime of being the voice in the wilderness will do that to you.

I've seen him speak, and he's very persuasive. When he mentioned that raising animals on pasture produces meat/dairy with the optimal omega-3/6 balance for human health, it made my head pop.

For more on the benefits of traditional, natural ways of cooking, growing crops & raising animals, check out Michael Pollan's books: Omnivore's Dilemna and In Defense of Food.

These books have literally changed my life and my relationship to food - it's been a wonderful, rewarding experience.

u/hardman52 · 1 pointr/stopdrinking

> It might surprise some people to know that I don't believe in god, but still do the best I can in working the steps and the rest of AA's program.

Doesn't surprise me at all. If you haven't read it, Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power is an amazing book. I'm at a point where I'm trying to define exactly what I believe after 30+ years of not worrying about it too much, and that book is helping me tremendously.

u/chiubaka · 3 pointsr/Meditation

>I honestly believe meditation is only ONE tool that helps us face our shadow.

Agreed, shadow work in conjunction with meditation can bring true benefit.

Meeting the shadow is a great book on this topic. Here are some quotes:

"The shadow cannot be eliminated. It is the ever-present dark brother or sister. Whenever we fail to see where it stands, there is likely to be trouble afoot. For then it is certain to be standing behind us. The adequate question therefore never is: Have I a shadow problem? Have I a negative side? But rather: Where does it happen to be right now? When we cannot see it, it is time to beware! And it is helpful to remember Jung's formulation that a complex is not pathological per se. It becomes pathological only when we assume that we do not have it; because then it has us."

"This brings us to the fundamental fact that the shadow is the door to our individuality. In so far as the shadow renders us our first view of the unconscious part of our personality, it represents the first stage toward meeting the Self. There is, in fact, no access to the unconscious and to our own reality but through the shadow. Only when we realize that part of ourselves which we have not hitherto seen or preferred not to see can we proceed to question and find the sources from which it feeds and the basis on which it rests. Hence no progress or growth is possible until the shadow is adequately confronted — and confronting means more than merely knowing about it. It is not until we have truly been shocked into seeing ourselves as we really are, instead of as we wish or hopefully assume we are, that we can take the first step toward individual reality."

There's also a meditation practice in the Tibetan tradition called Chöd that is very similar to shadow work. Tsultrim Allione describes this practice as "feeding your own demons"

u/callouskitty · 1 pointr/ainbow

Those kinds of studies are really interesting. But I still think everyone should read this little book, particularly the part about chocolate.

Suppose, to paraphrase, that you were studying my experience of gender. If you could study and understand every neuron in my brain perfectly, that wouldn't tell you anything about my experience of gender, because my experiences are inside me and yours are inside you. Even if you opened up my skull and found that my brain tasted like sugar, spice and everything nice, it would just mean I have a delicious brain, not a female mind.

u/daybreak214 · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

I've read about twenty books dealing with the topic of Buddhism. The best general introduction I can suggest is The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

If you are interested in Zen, I would suggest The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Best wishes.

u/BlackHoleBrew · 2 pointsr/books

Maybe The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna, because not only is it super weird, but I've never done psychedelic drugs in my life.

Also, I don't know any other atheists with as many Christian books as me. I'm not talking about academic or critical books on religion, I'm talking God Is in the Small Stuff, The Purpose Driven Life, The Daily Walk Bible, Jesus: Who is He?, and my personal favorite, The Book of God: the Bible as a novel, which is the only one I read from time to time. I'm not very far into it: I'm at the part where God has a wrestling match against Jacob. Oh sorry: SPOILER. My ex step-mom's mother used to buy these books for me every Christmas. Oh, I also have a pocket bible just from living on a college campus, and the Bhagavad Gita (also from living on a college campus; dude caught me wearing a Nirvana shirt and ended up giving me a free copy).

u/epi_420 · 1 pointr/AlanWatts

"The Joyous Cosmology" is a wonderful exposé of Alan's experience using psychedelic drugs.

I also found "The Way of Zen" to be a really great explanation of the history of Zen as well as many Zen principles and ideas (through the lens of Alan's own philosophy, of course).

u/glegleglo · 1 pointr/religion
  • I LOVE the Life of Pi. I recommend reading the "editorial reviews" because Amazon does a terrible job summing up how great the book is.
  • I also highly recommend the Ramayana this is the version I read. I like this retelling because, while long, it give you a sense of what this story truly is--an Indian epic.
  • Books by Deepak Chopra (I suggest looking through reviews of diff books to see if any catch your eye).
  • The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality
    by the Dalai Lama because it is a very sincere book and I can almost visualize what he is saying.
  • If you're in the mood for a bit of silliness, I recommend The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible because while being funny, it does teach you a little bit of the lesser known tenements of Judaism and Christianity.
  • Last but not least, I recommend reading travel books. If you look for well written (read: not just looking for cheap laughs) books, even if they don't intend to, they inevitably talk about their personal views on the world--their personal religions.
u/OxfordDictionary · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

I disagree with most of the people giving answers here, but I guess that's okay.

Your kids are always going to be in contact with people who don't agree with your points of view. Your job as a parent is to teach them how to navigate those waters in a healthy way. You might also want to check out a Jewish or black or Asian parenting subreddit--how do they teach their kids to deal with ignorant comments? I remember some Jewish friends just telling their kids something like, "Some people believe/do (this or that), but in our house, we believe (this or that). We still care about and love people, even if they do things differently than we do."

Your kids are old enough to understand that they can love Grandpa even though he believes stuff that your family doesn't believe. Encourage them to come to you if Grandma or Grandpa ever say or do anything that confuses them or they don't understand. (oops, just read your already did that--bravo)

Sit down and ask yourself, "why does it bug you so much that your Dad made that comment?" Since I am also coming from a fundamentalist Christian background, I would guess it is

  1. fear that your different path will never be accepted?
  2. fear that your kids will believe Grandpa over you and reject you?
  3. anger that your Dad will never get you and accept you?

    We are never going to be able to control what other people think of us/about us. The thing you can control is how you react to those comments. This is your Dad, so your reaction is going to be stronger.

    Why did your Dad make that comment? My guess is that your Dad is feeling fear that he is going to lose you and he won't see you again when he dies. You guys are probably already not as close as you were when you were still Christian, so the way he sees it, part of his fear is already realized. (Doesn't matter if you agree in an afterlife or think he's silly to fear that--he is still coming from a feeling of strong emotion).

    Have you read Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh? It really helped my relationship with my fundamentalist father-in-law. I worked on being a deep listener so I could understand the emotions behind stuff he said.

    I also really like Ajahn Brahm and his youtube videos.
















u/blue_cheezbox · 1 pointr/vegan

I'll look further into the lives of these chickens.

Only fortified almond milk contains B12. Fortified foods aren't any different from supplements.

Here's why I find supplements to be dubious:

  • We don't actually know that much about the human digestive system. We don't know much about how different compounds interact with each other when mixed together in our gut. Some compounds might cancel each other out, others might emphasize one or the other. We don't have much insight into what's going on.

  • That being said, the only way to know if a diet is healthy is to look at traditional diets - diets that have worked well for humans for a very long time. That's the most empirically sound way of determining what diets are healthy.

  • AFAIK any diet that has worked especially well for humans for a long time involves some animal products.

  • I'm not talking about mere 'survival' here. I'm talking about 'thriving'. If your diet doesn't provide for high energy, high brain activity, generally feeling good, and an array of other qualitative measurements you could take into consideration, then I wouldn't call that diet "healthy".
    You might be familiar w/ Michael Pollen's book In Defense of Food.

    > You do not need animal products to get B12
    Ultimately, this statement isn't indisputable. As long as there's reasonable disputability then "just enough" animal products from sources that don't/minimally compromise the livelihood of the animal, I argue, are still vegan - because it's the best we can do.

    I'm curious as to what you think about the above statements.
u/quantumcipher · 1 pointr/conspiracy

If you would like to learn more about the Kabbalah, I recommend the following as a good place to start:

Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete Course (pdf link)

You may also enjoy /r/OccultConspiracy.

u/Sabuleon · 1 pointr/IncelTears

That's going to help tremendously. If you're interested in Buddhism in general and want a great teacher (albeit one who is obviously Asian so doesn't always understand or incorporate a Western perspective on some things, that's normal): Thich Nhat Hanh. His books are fairly short, on specific topics. One of them deals with this emotion:

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames (warning, obviously an Amazon link, this book is of course available in libraries)

u/nwv · 1 pointr/Meditation

GTD...if I could get my shit together. Same as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People if you haven't read it is excellent.

Running with the Mind of Meditation by Sakyong Mipham changed my life last summer.

It's also an intro into Shambhala, which is an organization that while obviously rooted in Buddhist principles, presents itself as non-sectarian and even secular in some descriptions. The author of the book I suggested runs the organization, but his father started it as I understand:


“Although the Shambhala tradition is founded on the sanity and gentleness of the Buddhist tradition, at the same time, it has its own independent basis, which is directly cultivating who and what we are as human beings. With the great problems facing human society, it seems increasingly important to find simple and non-sectarian ways to work with ourselves and to share our understanding with others. The Shambhala teachings or “Shambhala vision” as this approach is more broadly called, is one such attempt to encourage a wholesome existence for ourselves and others.” – Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, author of Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior."

u/1066443507 · 2 pointsr/askphilosophy

This is an excellent suggestion. If you want an easier read you might consider Nagel's What Does it All Mean? This book is excellent, very short, and very easy to get through. Probably the closest you can get to an absolute beginner's guide to philosophy.

u/JerBearGRR · 2 pointsr/exmormon
  • How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart Ehrman. He provides a much more plausible explanation of who Jesus actually was and who he was not than what you'll hear in chapels.
  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. The same pattern of the "hero" story repeats itself countless times over thousands of years and through different cultures. The story of Jesus fits the pattern.
  • And if you want your mind blown, Freedom from the Known. The most influential book I've ever read. It provided me courage to let my own ideas and perspectives guide my worldview. It teaches that it was OK to disagree with a perceived authority.
u/MrRexaw · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

The Life Of Milarepa

An Introduction To Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki

The Way Of Zen by Alan Watts

Be Here Now by Ram Dass

These are just some of the better ones ive read so far, all really great starting off points into Buddhism. Zen in particular. Good luck!

u/crafternoondelight · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I think this is from the book The Wisdom of the Enneagram and after you get your letter combo, you’re supposed to do the questionnaire for the type that is 20 or so questions. Then there is a range that suggests you are: likely that type, may have a wing or a parent of that type, could be a commonly misidentified type, or aren’t likely that type (or something along those lines). I had to do literally every single type questionnaire except for, like, 7 and 9, and ultimately figured out I was a 4w5 by reading the whole book and another book called “The Road Back to You.” But then again, that’s a pretty standard experience for a 4 to not know who they are and feel like they don’t fit in, right?

u/morjax · 3 pointsr/Meditation

These were along the same line as my thoughts. Especially with such a strong feeling as anger, and such a strong version of this strong feeling, I'm not sure that can ever be entirely "let go".

I would second any of Jon Kaba-Zinn's works. I would also recommend Thich Nhat Hanh's Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames.

I have found with the most potent and persistent of the feelings I'd rather not be having, I cannot just leave that feeling (high and mighty meditation masters: say what you will. I'm a human, not a master). That's part of why it is so potent and distressing; these feelings can fester and we can't "just let go" of them. I've had the most luck by:
-"paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally" (Kabat-Zinn)
-not trying to get rid of the feeling, but to put my energy into not reacting to it.
-Welcoming the feeling. Being kind and compassionate to it "Hello, anger, my old friend. Here you are again with me."

A quote that has spoke to me previously:
>This being human is a guest house.
>Every morning a new arrival,
>a joy, a depression, a meanness,
>as an unexpected visitor.
>Welcome and entertain them all!



Tl;dr: I've never had luck "just letting go" of the most severe feelings I have. I try to be present with the feeling without reacting, focus on my breaths, and it does eventually leave.

u/301ThrowAway · 1 pointr/NoFap

Perhaps a bit of mindfulness practice/meditation may help in this instance. I have found that practicing mindfulness has helped greatly with my anger/irritability.

The easiest way to get started would be a simple google search on 'mindfulness meditation.' I would also recommend Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. The later text can be torrented ;)

I do not sit down and meditate regularly, but I have found simply practicing awareness and focusing on the breath during times of anger/irritability has helped to lessen the effect. Good luck mate

u/ForkTongue · 3 pointsr/occult

The Mystical Qabalah is a pretty good start off point.

If you're looking to practice Kabbalah Magick & The Great Work of Self Transformation is a good one.

u/noonenone · 2 pointsr/depression

I highly recommend checking out this book: Freedom From the Known. It's about fear and a lot of other very helpful topics having to do with living. It's not wacky. If you don't want to buy, go to libgen and get it for free. You can get many books for free. It's Russian but you don't need to know the language to use the site to download pdfs for free. It's amazing. I've been where you're at. I'm not too far from it that I've forgotten the agony and the despair. Arm yourself with wisdom. It's the only way. You can't escape. You can't ignore. You must work your way through the motherfucker. You had the strength and honesty to articulate your problem. You can make it. Write anytime. I'm old and lonely and I've suffered a lot during my long life but I've never wanted to kill myself. I would make me feel good about myself for a few seconds if I knew I'd been helpful to someone.

u/iamacowmoo · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I think those moments you feel in yoga and biking are exactly what you need more of. A meditator is called a yogi. It is about focusing the mind. Yoga is focusing the mind while in many asanas (postures) and meditation is focusing the mind in one asana (usually sitting, though it could be walking or whatever you pick). You can just as easily practice Biking Meditation as well (I like running meditation).

Those brief moments are touching your experience in the present moment. Keeping in touch with the present is what you are practicing with meditation. This is what is extraordinarily simple and natural. Keep reading these difficult ideas, find some more accessible books, and start regularly practicing/sitting and you should be good to go. Happy learning!

Edit: For an accessible book check out The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Or Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple.

u/C_M_Burns · 2 pointsr/philosophy

I know I'm tardy to the party, but I found that it's best to start with general surveys of philosophy, so you're exposed to a wide range of thought, then narrowing down your interests.

Personally, I found the following to be the most helpful:

From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest

Think

What Does It All Mean?

The Problems of Philosophy

u/cat_turd_burglar · 1 pointr/todayilearned

Yeah, I get that. I think one of the major successes in the 20th Century was the movement toward medicalizing mental health issues so that they were given the credit they deserve. We know these experiences are a problem, and people having them are subject to many layers of oppression and human rights violations, and psychiatry has made a lot of strides towards these issues being taken far more seriously. I do also believe that psychiatry and pharmaceuticals do help some people. It is one option, and many people find their life more manageable because they have taken that route, and that's a beautiful thing and I'm very happy for anyone who has found solace there. But it is not universally true, and one of the reasons for that is how imprecise the science actually is on what is going on with the mind, and what the drugs are actually doing. The most famous example is the notion that depression is the result of lower than usual seratonin levels in the brain, which was actually the result of an ad that was using a study that had found that more people with depression in the study had higher levels of seratonin. But they had a drug that dealt with lower seratonin levels, so that's the narrative that was created (links below). Point being, (and see The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton on this), there is no chemical test for depression because there are many potential causes, and remedies. Psychiatry and the DSM have categorized these experiences, which I agree is a necessary thing to research them, but then got fully entwined with pharma. Now policies and laws impose that one narrative onto people who are going through these experiences, even though they often get it very wrong.


There are alternatives, and the Soteria house project by Lorne Mosher was one of the most interesting, where they took people with severe schizophrenia and had a virtually drug free approach, and their results were better than the alternatives. The problem for scaling up was that it did not put people on a lifelong hook for medication. So, I guess it's not about wanting to tear it all down, but I think people should know what's up, they should be informed about all the studies done on the chemicals they are taking, what all the side affects might be, and, ideally, alternative approaches that may benefit them in the long run. I think people going through these experiences should be given the rights and power to make decisions, including whether or not they will self-identify with the DSM categories at all.


I cannot stress the following enough, the result of extensive studies by the World Health Organization, as articulated by Robert Whitaker: "Most Americans are unaware that the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly found that long-term schizophrenia outcomes are much worse in the USA and other developed countries than in poor ones such as India and Nigeria, where relatively few patients are on anti-psychotic medications. In undeveloped countries, nearly two-thirds of schizophrenia patients are doing fairly well five years after initial diagnosis; about 40% have basically recovered. But in the USA and other developed countries, most patients become chronically ill. The outcome differences are so marked that WHO concluded that living in a developed country is a strong predictor that a patient will never fully recover."

Sources:

Lorne Mosher's resignation letter from the APA

The Icarus Project (theicarusproject.net): "We are a support network and media project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness. We envision a new culture that allows the space and freedom for exploring different states of being, and recognizes that breakdown can be the entrance to breakthrough. We aim to create a language that is so vast and rich that it expresses the infinite diversity of human experiences."

Soteria: From Madness to Deliverance, by Lorne Mosher

Mad in America by Robert Whitaker

Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker

The Anti-Depressant Era by David Healy

The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching by Terence McKenna

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna

The point is to try and empower people to improve their lives, and since we don't know how to do that universally, giving people the power and options to be able to choose methods that work for them is a vital part of maintaining their autonomy and preserving their fundamental human rights. I find this subject is very difficult to discuss without it getting heated. Please understand I have so much sympathy for your experiences. I have tried to take care of people while they were in the midst of full psychotic breaks, I have had to call the police, I have had to participate in the forced hospitalization of people I have known, I have lost too many people to suicide. I know these things and they still hurt and I am welling up thinking about all of them. And I care about you too, and you're not alone.

Sorry re length.

u/Kuujoe · 3 pointsr/Enneagram

Last spring, I spent three months reading the entirety of The Wisdom of The Enneagram and designing graphics in a Chicago Starbucks for my graphic design senior thesis.

I designed micro-compositions (what I've been calling them) for each type based on my research, as well as small format logos, posters outlining the relationships between types, and business cards that users can keep in their wallets for tough times.

I am by no means an expert, but I tried to be as accurate as I could.
Here are some of my other posters if you want to read more about the mission, and here's the test I made to fit on a business card.
Feel free to comment or message me if you want to talk!

u/teddyrux · -2 pointsr/atheism
  • Yes, outside the universe. Then do some real science within the system known as the universe.
  • I'm sorry I cannot explain to you what I have learned in 400 pages in 30 seconds of your time. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning author with a Ph.d in physics.
  • You're looking to a scientific language to answer questions that cannot be expressed in scientific language. Read some Alan Watts too. The Way of Zen makes mention how English and Japanese have differing ways of expression and because of that, formulate how our minds come to think.

    In the end, do you really need a yes/no checkmark for the belief in something greater than yourself as an individual?
u/mishykahn · 4 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I'm pretty happy with life, but honestly, there are times where I feel I just need a break. A release, a pause, something.

My friend highly recommended this book for me because he knows how stressed I can get. He read it in about a day, and he said he couldn't recommend it enough.

u/upinflames333 · 2 pointsr/Meditation

This reminds me of Feeding Your Demons. If imagery works well for you, then you might appreciate the methods in this book.


> a smile I think I never saw her make for me

I think that it is significant that you said this at the end. The bride image you saw at the end is not really your ex-girlfriend, but an idealization that just happens to look like her. I would go back down that staircase and keep looking deeper. I bet there is something more to the bride image than you have discovered.

u/istillhatecraig · 17 pointsr/Fitness

Food Rules by Michael Pollan. It is incredibly simple and he makes very good points throughout. It is almost written too simply and is a bit redundant, but it's a great book.

If you want something a little more in-depth, In Defense of Food is basically an expanded version of Food Rules, also by Michael Pollan.

u/entermemo · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

I'm not familiar with Tool's music or lyrics at all but I do know that they used Alex Grey for some of their cover art which leads me to believe that you would enjoy Terence McKenna. There is a collected book of his interviews called The Archaic Revival that you might enjoy.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Archaic-Revival-Speculations-Psychedelic-Mushrooms/dp/0062506137/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FROPOW40VMNV&keywords=the+archaic+revival&qid=1572895474&sprefix=the+archa%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1

u/CapBateman · 2 pointsr/askphilosophy

If you want a more general introduction into philosophy there's a Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn and the older What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy by Thomas Nagel. A more academic introduction (the last two books are more aimed at a general audience) is Fundamentals of Philosophy edited by John Shand. If you're willing to sit through it there also Russel's classic A History of Western Philosophy, which is a sort of introduction to philosophy through the history of the field (the audiobook is on youtube btw), and there also his Problems of Philosophy

I'm not that familiar with eastern philosophy, but a classic introduction to Existentialism is Walter Kaufmann's Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre and it should go nicely with Existentialism is a Humanism.

Hope this helps :)

u/isthisnuf · 3 pointsr/BipolarReddit

Well, it's subjective as to what is 'good' but one book that I've found helpful is this one by Thich Nhat Hanh: Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames





u/heptonomicon · 1 pointr/Psychonaut

I have had this EXACT experience, I think.

One thing I have realized recently is that there are always 2 sides to the story. From your perspective right now, you are an 'Energy Vampire,' a shameless victimizer, a user, a terrible person. But even as you find yourself shocked and horrified by this realization, ego will continue to hold on to this pattern, this view of yourself, because it represents POWER and CONTROL.

The other side of this pattern is the ADDICT--and if you think about this, it is pretty easy to see. An 'Energy Vampire' is just an addict; your drug is attention and approval. While the 'energy vampire' is all about power and control, the addict is all about helplessness--this is your experience with this new woman. She has you under her spell, you are experiencing yourself as helpless. It is a wonderful gift; she has shown you your shadow.

I would recommend this book to you:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wisdom-Enneagram-Psychological-Personality/dp/0553378201/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344033655&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wisdom+of+the+enneagram

I found it to be very useful following my encounter with my version of this woman. I would read the introductory chapters, and then just see which chapters jump out at you; it's not necessary to read it cover-to-cover.

u/Locke005 · 1 pointr/reddit.com

If you want to get interested in Zen, I suggest reading a couple books. Books will give you a good idea of what to expect and probably give you some positive motivation to get going.

I recommend books by Alan Watts and Thich Nhat Hahn. They have been very influencial for me.

Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

The most important thing is practicing. It is easy to see the path but it is an entirely different thing to actually walk the path. Try sitting down on your couch and meditating for five minutes. If you need instructions you can find talks given by Gil Fronsdal that will guide you at Audio Dharma

u/lynxmoonracer · 3 pointsr/TryingForABaby

You're on the right track. :) I've only read part of this book but Deepak Chopra talks about meditating and visualizing your healthy conception and pregnancy. I highly recommend if you are looking for reading material!

u/blacklemur · 1 pointr/Buddhism

The Dalai Lama, and I'd assume many other Buddhist monks/scholars etc. are generally very appreciative of Science. This interested me a while back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/science/30monks.html

HHDL's book 'The Universe In A Single Atom' is also a worthy read:

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299282456&sr=8-1

u/nowhearin · 1 pointr/Enneagram

I would suggest that you read this book and you make get a more in depth idea of the two types. My partner is a classic 9 and i'm a classic 4 (we both fit the types earily well) so I have a pretty clear idea of how each of them can look. It does sound like you have some aspects of both, but the motivations and fears of each type are pretty different.

Let us know if you figure it out! :)

u/not_entertained · 2 pointsr/Fitness

In Defense of Food is a nice one. It is not just about HFCS as it is nonsense to assume that you are just leaving that out and all of a sudden all your problems will be gone. I'm having the impression that the media is promoting this just so that the companies can now write "no HCFS!!!" on the packaging to pretend that their crap food is healthy.

I don't know if it is sufficiently unscientific but I remember that it was a nice read and I'm not even a native speaker. Lots of people have read and liked it so I think it should have enough mass appeal.

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291745240&sr=8-1

u/misschelsea · 4 pointsr/CautiousBB

Sure, group hug here.
I just got a book by Deepak Chopra from the library. It's keeping me positive

u/bookofthoth_za · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

My personal favourite is The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

It's based on the Enneagram classification of personality and unlike other personality type systems, it embraces spiritual and psychological growth in unison.

There's a test here which will help you understand what number you are (between 1 and 9. i'm a 4).

u/LogiWan · 1 pointr/Enneagram

Asking others is not a preferable method of discovering your type. Read all of the type descriptions closely, and if that doesn't do it for you, nonjudgmentally examine your behavior over the next few days. It can be a process, but the only one who can really type you is you.

Edit: I'd recommend using the Enneagram Institute's book, The Wisdom of the Enneagram if you can get your hands on it.

u/Banes_Pubes · 1 pointr/answers

Talmud is a lot less interesting than Kabbalah though. It's mostly laws and the Rabbi's reasoning for how best to carry out those Jewish laws and why that is. Also reading it can get confusing because there are A TON of rants throughout conversations because one thing leads to another before they finally come back full circle to finish what they were talking about. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting but just very different from Kaballah.

The only thing is the Jewish mysticism isn't that accessible. If you could find a good, accessible book on it though then you'd be golden.

Maybe start your research here and see what else comes up through your exploring. Also obviously look into The Zohar - the number one book on Jewish mysticism.

u/damaged_but_whole · 1 pointr/vajrayana

Okay, I hope everything goes more smoothly for you soon.

I keep running into obstacles myself. Now that I'm getting over the mental obstacles, I'm old enough to be hitting the physical obstacles of growing older.

Do you think I should delete this thread? It doesn't seem to be generating any advice from anyone who knows about such an idea as "archons" in Buddhism and I'm not sure the idea has helped you any...what do you think? Did it give you a clear idea to work with or did it just make your worst fears about the situation even worse?

In my opinion, a healthy attitude toward such things is found in Aristotle's quote:
>It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

In other words, if it is useful to us and we can not prove otherwise, we can act as if we are facing obstacles from such beings in order that we can work with that idea in some positive way. One benefit I can see right away is that it frames the predicament in such a way that it motivates us to practice and we can stop feeling guilty for falling into such ruts by realizing it is not your choosing. Even if it were to turn out there are no such beings, it is clearly not your choosing to feel this way, so it is accurate enough to frame it this way.

If this seems 'crazy' to anyone, keep in mind we personify things quite a lot in daily life without even thinking about it. We personify our cars when they won't start, for example. We really give "old Bessy" a feeling of hope and faith and love on a cold winter morning when we pump the gas pedal just right and gingerly turn the key in the ignition. She starts and we cheer for old Bessy. Then, we promptly shift out of "crazy" mode and into sensible thinking again. But, when old Bessy doesn't start, we are profoundly disappointed and sad...and not just because we will be late for work and see an auto mechanic bill in the near future. When the car fails to start, before we dissolve the idea of old Bessy as a living car with feelings, we feel flashes of disappointment that she let us down, sadness that she is dying and empathy for that old car that served us well for so many years and maybe even a tinge of guilt for being angry at her for not starting.

It might be beneficial for you to check out the Feeding Your Demons book. I'm not sure. I checked it out but decided it wasn't for me.

I did read Uncle Ramsey's Little Book of Demons and found it fairly entertaining and informative. It's not a Buddhist book, but if you could relate to the idea of "old Bessy" it might interest you.

u/martinibini · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Reading Rainbow... Reading Rainboooooooowww!!!! (totally singing the song now)

So I've had this book on my list for a while and I really really really want to read it. My health journey is also a knowledge journey and I'm learning about what goes in my body. I also love Michael Pollan's writing style. He has a way of turning scientific information into an almost-poetic work of art. I'm watching "cooked" on Netflix too! Fangirl!

u/squirreleegirl · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I just joined reddit and this was the first place I came. I'm not sure what that says about me but hi! A friend introduced me to the Enneagram, I got this book, and I've also been listening to Enneagram for Idiots podcast. I find this all so comforting and compelling!

u/atomicturnip · 4 pointsr/Fitness

Focus on your health and not your weight. Weight and appearance are extremely complicated issues emotionally and are not going to help you to improve your health. Accept your body as it is right now. It does not mean that you are at your ideal weight, but you need to be comfortable with who you are.

Your long-term project should not be weight loss. It should be achieving and maintaining health. And it does not end if or when you reach some target weight. It continues for the rest of your life. Your goal is to eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Weight loss is not the goal, but is an indicator that your are making real progress.

Read In Defense of Food and The End of Overeating for diet information. The China Study is very controversial, but it has been a great motivator for me. Read ACJN and other journals on a regular basis - doing research is a great motivator.

In terms of exercise, what worked for me was making a goal of working out an hour every day. The challenge is then to see how many days I can do this for. On average it works out to about 4 - 5 days a week at about 90 minutes per day.

You need to build up your cardiovascular strength a lot. Start by waking an hour or so a day. When walking does not get your heart rate up that much any more, switch to riding a bike. Whenever possible, exercise outside. Expose some skin and don't use sunscreen (not 11am - 4pm though) so that you get some vitamin D out of it too.

I have been fat since puberty. Not as high a BMI as you, but emotional pain is not exactly proportional to BMI. I didn't have any friends in college. I had no boyfriends. It took me 15 years to figure out how not to feel like shit. When you are a little girl/boy, you have an image of what you will be when you grow up. Then you grow up and it's nothing like what you expected. You need to get over it. You are fat and if anyone has a problem with it, fuck them.

u/Llyrellenya · 1 pointr/Enneagram

I haven't found one. I don't usually like personality quizzes, instead preferring to read up on type summaries from various sources and make my own determinations. I know that doesn't work for everyone, though.

The one quiz I did like was the one from this book, which actually has a separate 15-question quiz for each type. You answer statements with numbers from 1-5 based on how strongly you relate to the statement, then add up your totals. Something like this could help you figure out a tritype; it would usually come out to be your top number in each triad, and your highest of those three is likely your core. This worked for me, my wife, and my brother. (The highest of the two numbers on either side of your core would likely be your wing.)

If you can't get a hold of this book (it's a seriously good resource if you're interested in the Enneagram!), you could try doing something similar with online quizzes: just find your highest score from each triad, and then read up on descriptions of that type and see if it fits you, and how well. You can sometimes find overall descriptions of different tritypes, but they aren't consistent in my experience.

u/CactusMonster · 1 pointr/AMA

Sorry to hear that. Narcissists are a massive pain in the ass, especially when you're related to them.

I haven't read this, but my SO I mentioned read this and said it helped a ton: Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers

Also, to help yourself with any anger you have towards her (and anyone for that matter) I recommend Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh. Shit's enlightening.

Edit: links

u/michael_dorfman · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

Thich Nhat Hanh has a book entitled Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames.

But I'd recommend you also go beyond books, and visit a dharma center near you.

u/cat_mech · 6 pointsr/todayilearned

Let me ask you this, though:

>But there's also another worldview, secular humanism, which fits more or less the description I wrote above about buddhism, that doesn't carry the religious beliefs of buddhism.

Which religious beliefs are you speaking of? I cannot address the statement without the relevant evidence and information you refer to, being present. It goes without saying- the religious beliefs you state that Buddhism has and secular humanism lacks- would have to be presented first before I can address them and share my information/experience.

Also,

>Why should buddhism be preferable to secular humanism then?

I can think of several prongs on the response to this:

First, who stated that Buddhism should be preferable over secularism?

Following that, why assume that they cannot co-exist and compliment one another? What reason is there to start with the stance that with so much alike and so little dissimilar between the two, that the innate conclusion would be a demand that one be chosen 'over' another?

With so much alike and so little different, why should an antagonistic dualism or 'competition for exclusivity rights over the individual' ever be considered a logical default stance or be the relation between the two? Doesn't it seem that- if not the more logical option outright- at least the reasonable starting point would be to treat the two as essentially compatible and one or the other an extension of the philosophies of it's pair, with the addition of tenets or aspects it's kin-path simply feels no need for?

Of course, I cannot delve into the differences or religious beliefs without knowing what you are speaking of, so I can wait on that.

I'd like to suggest this book as well: The Universe in a Single Atom, by HH Dalai Lama.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Universe-Single-Atom-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

And point in the direction of this quote by HH:

>My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

And, in the hopes that the frame of review appeals specifically to the questions and answers you are seeking, here is a review and discussion of the book as found on skeptic.com:

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-10-19/

>Buddhism must accept the facts — whether found by science or found by contemplative insights. If, when we investigate something, we find there is reason and proof for it, we must acknowledge that as reality — even if it is in contradiction with a literal scriptural explanation that has held sway for many centuries or with a deeply held opinion or view.







u/ltcdrfuzzypants · 1 pointr/Anarchism

I am more of a non hyphenated anarchist myself but I think you may like Terence Mckenna I've taken a liking to his stuff. heres a youtube of him

u/mindroll · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

The Dalai Lama wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times: "If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/our-faith-in-science.html

Elsewhere he said:

“Suppose that something is definitely proven through scientific investigation, that a certain hypothesis is verified or a certain fact emerges as a result of scientific investigation. And suppose, furthermore, that that fact is incompatible with Buddhist theory. There is no doubt that we must accept the result of the scientific research.” https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-buddhism-the-most-science-friendly-religion/

"My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims." https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

u/KimUn · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

The DL said:

> If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/our-faith-in-science.html


> Suppose that something is definitely proven through scientific investigation, that a certain hypothesis is verified or a certain fact emerges as a result of scientific investigation. And suppose, furthermore, that that fact is incompatible with Buddhist theory. There is no doubt that we must accept the result of the scientific research.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-buddhism-the-most-science-friendly-religion/

> My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813/

u/sonar_un · 15 pointsr/environment

They reference Michael Pollan "In Defense of Food" in the article. I am currently reading another book by Michael Pollan called "Omnivore's Dilema" which is an incredible book on the history and techniques used by modern farmers, both industrial and organic.

This guy knows what he is talking about. I really recommend the read if you are interested in where your food comes from, which I believe everyone should know.

u/wickedcold · 1 pointr/science

>Somebody better come up with a marketable, sustainable, acceptable food source.

Well, you can start by reading this book.

u/rosedemai · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I also find this one incredibly helpful.

As a four still working on the confident thing.

u/Tall_for_a_Jockey · 4 pointsr/short

His book on anger was a Godsend when I was going through a tough time professionally. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is frustrated with a situation that they cannot change. Thank you for the positive feedback!

u/aventeren · 3 pointsr/vegetarian

My favorite Pollan quote goes something like "Eat Food, mostly vegetables, not too much." (I think it's from In Defense of Food)

u/kokooo · 0 pointsr/Health

If you have an hour to spare I recommend this talk by Michael Pollan on his new book: Food Rules. It is both informative and funny. Out of all the books I read on nutrition and health I got the most out of In Defense of Food.

u/Wood_Warden · 1 pointr/conspiracy

DMT: The Spirit Molecule :: describes how DMT spikes are released when we're born and die and the connections the author believes are made once we understand that the pineal gland is the seat of the spirit.

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna :: Discusses origins of mankind and the probable development of higher-consciousness through psilocybin and other entheogens. Also discusses beings in realms that closely resemble the same realms discussed in the book My Big T.O.E. below.

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock :: Discusses how, through different culture's entheogens (natural cultural psychedelics), one can see/visit/communicate with other beings co-evolving with us through history. Just like humans are evolving in this plane, this author believes that the stories of Elves or Fairies are the same beings that have now become Greys/Aliens in today's mythos. He discusses his journeys and experiences as well as other's first-hand accounts on certain entheogens and the patterns seen.

Not In His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash :: discusses how the current Judea-Christian god is a counterfeit-mimic deity (villain of the galaxy basically) and how we're trapped in a false-copy (matrix) of a more perfect realm. Goes through the Gnostic mythos that shows and explains how they came to write/believe such concepts.

My Big T.O.E./Theory Of Everything by Thomas Campbell :: doesn't use psychedelics to achieve other states of consciousness but uses transcendental meditation and science to map non-physical matter realities. The author is one of the early students from the Monroe Institute (of Out-of-Body experience fame).

u/aricbcool · 1 pointr/taoism

Rather than refrain from talking about zen, perhaps endeavor to further understand it.

Besides, you might find out that you understand it after all. :)

May I recommend a book?

u/TIME_Keeper15 · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

For Religion and Spirituality, I'd suggest starting with God Is Not One, it's a book that briefly yet thoroughly explains the eight major religions of the world. If any of them intrigue you, there are plenty of books in each religious study that can help you further, and most of them probably have their own subreddits. As for spirituality, it can be a difficult topic due to almost everyone having a varied sense of spirituality. I might recommend This by the Dalai Llama because of how well it covers modern spirituality playing in the modern world.

u/callousedfingers · 1 pointr/INTP

If I might recommend a couple, there are two books I read fairly frequently to help me keep my mind focused.

Buddhism Plain and Simple

The Way of Zen

I'd recommend them to anybody, but perhaps especially INTPs

u/jscix · 1 pointr/Buddhism

You may also consider giving this a listen, or buy the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Demons-Resolving-Conflict/dp/0316013137

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEbJ_maF_fo

A short description:

"Tsultrim Allione brings an eleventh-century Tibetan woman's practice to the West for the first time with FEEDING YOUR DEMONS, an accessible and effective approach for dealing with negative emotions, fears, illness, and self-defeating patterns. Allione-one of only a few female Buddhist leaders in this country and comparable in American religious life to Pema Chodron-bridges this ancient Eastern practice with today's Western psyche. She explains that if we fight our demons, they only grow stronger. But if we feed them, nurture them, we can free ourselves from the battle. Through the clearly articulated practice outlined in FEEDING YOUR DEMONS, we can learn to overcome any obstacle and achieve freedom and inner peace."
-- From amazon Review

u/haCkFaSe · 2 pointsr/books

I'd recommend Alan Watts. Here are two of my favorite:

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
or maybe
The Way of Zen

u/tathata · 8 pointsr/running

> "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I love this book!

u/witty82 · 5 pointsr/philosophy

I would consider reading Thomas Nagel's book "What does it all mean" as it gives you a good idea of what contemporary academic philosophy is like.

u/theksepyro · 0 pointsr/zen

Yea, I remember. I was sorta one of them, although i wasn't posting because i've got a 'lurk first, post later' mindset when it comes to joining a forum. The first two books I bought after my zen class in college were zen mind beginners mind and the universe in a single atom. I was here with just that a year before you got here.

>then people who had read Wumenguan.

Funnily enough, just a couple months before you arrived I happened upon blyth's translation of wumen's book at a second hand shop. and seeing as my prof had talked about it, snatched it right up

u/plato_thyself · 1 pointr/Meditation

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a beautiful book on anger, and here is a free translation of a speech he gave titled "Five ways of putting an end to anger". The Buddha has a wonderful quote: "Grasping onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intention of throwing it at someone else - you are the one who gets burned." Hope this helps!

u/momonto · 1 pointr/books

While I don't consider myself 'spiritual' or 'esoteric',

J. Krishnamurti's 'Freedom from the Known'

did something to my mind. Read some reviews.

u/NukesForGary · 8 pointsr/Reformed

Sounds like a dark night of the soul. Consider reading this book. It may provide clarity.

u/jplewicke · 5 pointsr/streamentry
  • You mentioned a while ago that you were going to try working on samatha / single-pointedness in the theory that ignoring distractions resulted in different purification experiences than dry insight. How has this been going?

  • You mention on your practice log that you did some chod practice based on Tsultrim Allione's Feeding Your Demons, and that it didn't stick with you despite helping you disidentify from some obsessive thinking. Do you have any more thoughts on chod, and is it something you'd consider revisiting in the future? What practices or attitudes have most helped you with integrating and healing shadow/unconscious/"negative" aspects of you?

  • What's your go-to response when you find yourself unusually reactive or identified with something?

  • A number of long-time pragmatic dharma practitioners have investigated different traditions in an attempt to find deeper psychological relief than they found with what they thought was MCTB 4th path. In light of this discussion with Jenny Foerst, what's your take on the Emotional Perfection models? Can sufficient practice actually eliminate all arising of deep-seated depression/anxiety/narcissistic wounds, or is it just a reduction and a change in their stickiness? Do you personally know anyone who's gotten past of all or almost all of their "stuff"? If so, are any of them regular pragmatic dharma practitioners rather than teachers with multiple decades of practice?

  • Along the lines of "the fourth jhana is hella imaginary", what role do you think that imagination plays in following the path?
u/abu_el_banat · 3 pointsr/TrueReddit

I second the suggestion to read Alan Watt's. The Way of Zen is a great introduction to the background, if not practice.

u/wezzz · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

Nhat (one of the great modern Buddhist authors) wrote a book specifically on this topic. I recommend it.

u/drasil · 21 pointsr/askphilosophy

Nagel's book is what does it all mean? a very short introduction to philosophy.

he's not kidding, either--it's only 112 pages of extremely easy reading. I've used it in teaching secondary-level intro philosophy survey classes as the first text. it's incredibly useful for total novices and the high school crowd.

if you have no idea what epistemology even is, this an excellent place to start.

u/bernadine77 · 2 pointsr/loseit

I'm in the same boat as far as feeling discouraged. I've been at a plateau for like 6 weeks and nothing has really had any effect whatsoever. It's very frustrating!

Can I recommend a few books? Maybe In Defense of Food or Food Rules. The author breaks down how our bodies deal with food and makes suggestions, citing good information.

u/glmory · 1 pointr/science

Michael Pollan, in Defense of Food, makes the argument that you should never buy any food item that makes a health claim. The foods that are actually healthy like Bananas, and beans rarely if ever make such claims while processed foods with little value often do.

u/mycleverusername · 127 pointsr/science

tl;dr - The title gives it away, but eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Basically, nutritionists don't know much about nutrition, they get bogged down thinking about vitamins and micro-nutrition, not macro-nutrition. That's why every 5 years eggs go from good-for-you to bad-for-you and back again.

Supplements don't do anything, because the vitamins usually work together, and if you don't have it's partners, it won't work much.

Processed foods and refined foods are horrible, they lack nutrient combos. The nutrients they add in may be lacking the undiscovered ones that allow them to work.

Don't eat packaged food with ingredients you don't know (chemicals and preservatives)

The most important parts are on page 11 & 12

(forgive my summary, I just browsed the article, I am summing up this and parts of his great book In Defense of Food)

EDIT: "Nutritionists" in this instance does not mean those unregulated people who call themselves nutritionists. I was referring to all nutrition scientists, including food scientists, dietitians, and nutritionists.

EDIT 2: Also, I'm not trying to make claims here people, just trying to sum up the article/book. I understand my comments are blanket statements, but that is what "TL;DR" is for.

u/mysteron2112 · 7 pointsr/Buddhism

>Buddhism ... science
>Apples and oranges.

On the contrary, we can compare some aspect of Buddhism and Science side to side. This book Universe in a Single Atom delves in the topic that Science and Buddhism have some similarities as well as differences.

Although the science in some part of the chapters, I might disagree with. Overall, Dalai Lama provides a great insight between the two.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Universe-Single-Atom-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

u/drunk_dreams · 5 pointsr/vegetarian

You can try In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. The basic philosophy of the book is "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

It doesn't advocate a strictly vegetarian diet, but more goes into the food production system in North America, and talks about things like the corn subsidies in the US, how many resources it takes to raise a cow, ect. It's a helpful book if you want to know how the food industry has changed for the worse (for our health and environment).

u/yahr · 2 pointsr/books

> I'm really interested in food and health and the whole industry behind it

in that case i might add. . .

u/dwelch91 · 4 pointsr/reddit.com

This is from Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" - in the book, he describes it as a condition or obsession, not a disease. You have to read the book to get the full context. It is certainly not a way to justify eating junk/fast food.

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455

Its a good book, BTW.

u/athanathios · 1 pointr/Buddhism

The techniques are often overlapping, much of the Guru stuff in Tantra, you don't want to mix or deviate from your instructor, but being creative and using ingenuity is often at the heart of a good practitioner's arsenal.

My household had/has some anger in it and I know it's infectious. I am wondering because it is a disorder, but sometime is a behavioral one. Thich Nhaat Hanh talks about it being inherited from father to son and so forth. For instance, I had anger before, but had to get out of the environment myself to fully let it dissolve. If you are interested you can check out his book http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

u/managingmiscarriage · 1 pointr/ttcafterloss

I enjoyed "Magical Beginnings" by Deepak Chopra. It helped me get in a headspace of preparing for another baby and helped me feel a little in control.
https://www.amazon.com/Magical-Beginnings-Enchanted-Deepak-Chopra/dp/0517702207/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

u/almostelm · 1 pointr/loseit

Here's all my favorites! For books:

Fast Food Nation.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manifesto.

Salt Sugar Fat.

"Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal".

For movies/documentaries:

Fed Up,

Fast Food Nation,

That Sugar Film,

Food Fight,

Forks Over Knives,

The Future of Food,

Sugar-Coated.

I believe all of these are on Netflix!

u/GreenyBlues · 1 pointr/Meditation

You might enjoy Running With the Mind of Meditation by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.