Reddit mentions: The best upanishads books

I have this one http://www.amazon.com/Upanishads-Anonymous/dp/0140447490/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1381909094&sr=8-11&keywords=upanishads and it made me realize how the Upanishads went beyond religion and diktat, and are also excellent poetry and inspirational.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Try This] (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168517.The_Upanishads). Currently reading it myself.

Here is an Amazon link if you are in the US.

Plenty of translations of his commentaries. Here is one from a Google search https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LQ1NO6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1