05-19-2012, 03:45 PM
For spiritual books:
"The Enlightenment Trilogy" by Jed McKenna: This guy is totally different than anyone else I've read on the concept of what enlightenment is and what it is to realize oneness. He has been very misunderstood, as he has an approach that makes some people think he has no compassion and a big ego. But if you read between the lines, you'll see that's not the case, and that he mirrors other teachers who are widely respected.
But he does make explicit certain consequences of their teaching that they usually leave implicit for others to discover on their own, namely what the death of distorted emotion actually entails. He exemplifies Ra's "truly balanced entity," who doesn't feel emotional reactions anymore, and that's what scares people about him - he points out that there is fearful emotionality in their (attachment-centric) love of individual people and things, and that most of them have an addictive love of their self-image as spiritual seekers and the feeling of "going somewhere" that following teachings and methods gives them. He is clear that a path exists, but that it's an absolutely mind-melting personal existential crisis that leaves nothing behind, which is in contrast to the kind of path that makes people feel like they're at such and such stage of enlightenment or have mastered such and such meditation and are therefore ready for such and such.
He is happy, though, as a given, and calls his state "agape" at times - impersonal, constant love, and a sense of well-being which is there for no reason. He says that's just not what people want out of their spirituality most of the time, truth told, because it can only be present in the absence of their addictions, which he says they are usually subconsciously trying to perpetuate.
He also has a *lot* to say about synchronicity, especially in "Spiritual Warfare." He says that because he doesn't interfere with the natural work of the universe out of fear anymore, it just gives him the cushiest possible life as it leads him to do whatever he has to do to further the plan - all green lights, all the best parking spaces, money at the right moment, a dream house in Mexico, you name it. McKenna is well worth a read if you don't mind feeling criticized.
"The Center of the Sunlit Sky" by Karl Brunnholzl: It's a thick, academic introduction to Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka, or "the middle way"), but I found it readable. I was a philosophy major at the time and loved it. "Center" is a useful tome on how to reason your way into a realization of oneness. My mind was way too busy and unruly at that stage of my life to do calming meditation without just freaking out, so I felt greatly validated by being told, hey, there are some people who use their linear minds for this path and it's not all necessarily about sitting and meditating. The philosophy can be used to advance meditation, and the meditation can be used to digest the philosophy. They're a symbiosis in Buddhism.
Everything by Dean Radin: Dean Radin, the parapsychologist, gave me just what I needed to overcome my doubts about ESP, PK, et cetera. I was in some real denial about the existence of such things and he helped crack my shell, big time. Recommended for people with a strict physicalist outlook who want scientific proof that true interconnectedness exists.
Everything by Adyashanti: Adyashanti (Steven Gray) is a brilliant spiritual teacher, period. He's from Zen, but he doesn't cling to the lineage, and what he teaches is entirely in line with Ra/LoO. It's interesting that some people suspect Adyashanti is actually Jed McKenna (which is a pen name for an anonymous author). Adya has great videos on YouTube, and anyone would be helped by viewing them.
Others: Mooji (Anthony Paul Moo-Young) and John Sherman are two other nondual teachers whose YouTube videos I found indispensable. Gangaji (forget her real name) is good too. I also recommend Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That," which can be found as a .pdf online by just searching for it on Google.
"The Enlightenment Trilogy" by Jed McKenna: This guy is totally different than anyone else I've read on the concept of what enlightenment is and what it is to realize oneness. He has been very misunderstood, as he has an approach that makes some people think he has no compassion and a big ego. But if you read between the lines, you'll see that's not the case, and that he mirrors other teachers who are widely respected.
But he does make explicit certain consequences of their teaching that they usually leave implicit for others to discover on their own, namely what the death of distorted emotion actually entails. He exemplifies Ra's "truly balanced entity," who doesn't feel emotional reactions anymore, and that's what scares people about him - he points out that there is fearful emotionality in their (attachment-centric) love of individual people and things, and that most of them have an addictive love of their self-image as spiritual seekers and the feeling of "going somewhere" that following teachings and methods gives them. He is clear that a path exists, but that it's an absolutely mind-melting personal existential crisis that leaves nothing behind, which is in contrast to the kind of path that makes people feel like they're at such and such stage of enlightenment or have mastered such and such meditation and are therefore ready for such and such.
He is happy, though, as a given, and calls his state "agape" at times - impersonal, constant love, and a sense of well-being which is there for no reason. He says that's just not what people want out of their spirituality most of the time, truth told, because it can only be present in the absence of their addictions, which he says they are usually subconsciously trying to perpetuate.
He also has a *lot* to say about synchronicity, especially in "Spiritual Warfare." He says that because he doesn't interfere with the natural work of the universe out of fear anymore, it just gives him the cushiest possible life as it leads him to do whatever he has to do to further the plan - all green lights, all the best parking spaces, money at the right moment, a dream house in Mexico, you name it. McKenna is well worth a read if you don't mind feeling criticized.
"The Center of the Sunlit Sky" by Karl Brunnholzl: It's a thick, academic introduction to Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka, or "the middle way"), but I found it readable. I was a philosophy major at the time and loved it. "Center" is a useful tome on how to reason your way into a realization of oneness. My mind was way too busy and unruly at that stage of my life to do calming meditation without just freaking out, so I felt greatly validated by being told, hey, there are some people who use their linear minds for this path and it's not all necessarily about sitting and meditating. The philosophy can be used to advance meditation, and the meditation can be used to digest the philosophy. They're a symbiosis in Buddhism.
Everything by Dean Radin: Dean Radin, the parapsychologist, gave me just what I needed to overcome my doubts about ESP, PK, et cetera. I was in some real denial about the existence of such things and he helped crack my shell, big time. Recommended for people with a strict physicalist outlook who want scientific proof that true interconnectedness exists.
Everything by Adyashanti: Adyashanti (Steven Gray) is a brilliant spiritual teacher, period. He's from Zen, but he doesn't cling to the lineage, and what he teaches is entirely in line with Ra/LoO. It's interesting that some people suspect Adyashanti is actually Jed McKenna (which is a pen name for an anonymous author). Adya has great videos on YouTube, and anyone would be helped by viewing them.
Others: Mooji (Anthony Paul Moo-Young) and John Sherman are two other nondual teachers whose YouTube videos I found indispensable. Gangaji (forget her real name) is good too. I also recommend Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That," which can be found as a .pdf online by just searching for it on Google.